Disclaimer: Of course, the guys belong to Universal and Mark VII. Just having a little fun.
A
MOST MAGNIFICENT LITTLE BRAT
By: Vanessa Sgroi
“Station 51. Child trapped.
The crew from Station 51 groaned as yet another meal was interrupted. They tossed their barely touched sandwiches on their plates and rushed to the vehicles.
They arrived on scene to find a neatly dressed young woman with a dirty, disheveled little boy by her side. Jumping down from the engine, Captain Stanley approached the two.
“Ma’am, what seems to be the trouble here?”
“Well, this little boy came running to my house asking for help. My house is just over the ridge there. He says his friend is trapped in a cave up the way a little.”
“So you don’t know either of these boys?”
“Oh, no. I’ve seen them playing over here, and I’ve chased them away several times. But, they keep coming back.”
“Son, what’s your name?”
“B-B-Brian.”
“And what’s your friend’s name?”
“T-T-Tommy.”
“Well, Brian, can you show us where this cave where Tommy’s trapped?”
“Y-y-yes.”
“It’s okay, Brian. You don’t have to be scared. Ma’am, we’ll take him with us, can you wait here and point the police in the right direction?”
“Oh. Okay. I can do that.”
Captain Stanley picked Brian up and hurried over to the squad. At his approach, Johnny opened his door.
“Gage, this is Brian. His friend, Tommy, is trapped in a cave up the road. Brian’s going to show you where the cave is.”
“Good deal, Cap. Hi, Brian. I’m Johnny, and this guy over here is my partner, Roy. Why don’t you sit right here so you can see out the window?”
Once they had Brian situated, the vehicles started off, and it didn’t take too long for the emergency vehicles to reach the cave. Two bicycles lay on their sides not far from a fairly small circular opening in the rock face. The six firefighters quickly exited their vehicles.
“No. He’s just stuck.”
“Stuck how?”
“His hand.”
Ever patient,
“In a hole. He put it in there but couldn’t pull it out.” The boy shrugged.
“Cap, Brian says Tommy’s not injured but has his hand stuck in a hole.”
“All right. We’ve been checking out this entrance. It looks like Gage is going to have be the one to go in. He’s the only one who’ll fit.”
Gage nodded in agreement. “Yeah, it’s gonna be a tight fit all the way.”
The paramedic grabbed a rope and a flashlight.
“
“All right.”
With a little help, Johnny slowly made his way into the narrow tunnel. The tunnel pitched down slightly and from what he could tell, it ran about eight feet back. Pushing the flashlight in front of him and pulling the rope, he inched along. There was no spare room whatsoever, and he felt sharp rocks scraping at his back and sides. Man, is it tight in here. Gage hissed as a particularly pointy rock gouged his right side near his hip.
Finally the torturous crawl was over, and he dropped down into the cave-like hollow. The area wasn’t very wide, but it was surprisingly high enough that he could stand straight with room to spare. It didn’t take long to locate Tommy in the enclosed area.
“Hi, Tommy. My name is Johnny.”
“So?”
Gage was taken aback by the boy’s surliness. “I’m with the Fire Department and I’m here to help you get unstuck.”
“Maybe I don’t want to get unstuck.”
“Well, you can’t stay here all night. You’d get awfully cold and hungry.”
“I don’t care, stupid.”
“And your parents would miss you.”
“Still don’t care, ya big dummy.”
The paramedic approached the boy.
“How about we check out that hand?”
Johnny felt a sharp pain in his knee just as he started to reach for Tommy’s wrist.
“OW! Hey, why’d you kick me?”
“ ‘Cause I wanted to. Bet it hurt too!”
Gage sighed and resisted the urge to rub his sore knee. Setting the flashlight down so it pointed at the correct spot, he once again reached for Tommy’s arm.
“YEOW! You pinched me!”
The boy’s talon-like fingers had dug cruelly into the underside of Johnny’s upper arm.
“Now, Tommy, stop it! I’m just trying to get your hand outta that hole.”
“I don’t care. You’re such a baby. Baby, baby, baby!”
The dark-haired paramedic’s patience was starting to wear thin. He took a deep breath and reached for the boy once again. This time he was able to partially examine the situation without interference.
“Relax your hand. Let’s see if we can slip it out.”
Gage was concentrating on turning the boy’s arm so he never saw the fist heading his way. The fist rammed into his eye. Johnny’s head snapped to the side and his forehead impacted with the unyielding rock. Blood poured from the gash the rock created. He shook his head to erase the spots dancing in front of his eyes.
“Ow, damn . . . I mean, darn it.”
“I heard that! You said a swear word! You said a swear word!”
“Tommy, can we just get this over with?” The paramedic wiped away the blood that trickled down his face. His abused eye was rapidly swelling shut.
When the boy didn’t say anything, Johnny took a hold of his arm once again.
“Okay, Tommy, I think I can get you out with a little petroleum jelly.”
Gage keyed the handy talkie and requested some petroleum jelly, a tongue depressor, and a file. Just as he let go of the button, he felt Tommy’s teeth sink into his arm.
“AAAHHHH! Why you little . . . You bit me!” Geez, I’m not gonna survive this kid.
Returning to the opening of the tunnel, Johnny retrieved the requested items ferried down on the rope. At Tommy’s side again, he filed down the sharp edge that appeared to be the biggest hang up. Using the tongue depressor, the paramedic liberally applied petroleum jelly and with a couple of soft tugs, the boy’s hand popped free.
“Okay, Tommy, you’re . . .”
The kid was off like a shot toward the tunnel.
Gage sighed and keyed the HT.
“Uh, guys, he’s on his way up.”
Slightly dizzy, the dark-haired paramedic raised a hand to
his forehead. Damn, still bleeding.
Gathering up the few pieces of equipment, Johnny made his way to the tunnel. Getting back out proved to be harder because of the incline and his now-limited vision. Pushing with his feet, Gage slowly propelled himself forward. Once again, that one sharp rock scraped along his side. Great. I’ll have matching wounds. Anxious now to be out, Johnny gave one last mighty push and emerged through the opening. Hands reached for him and helped him the rest of the way out.
Once he was standing straight, the rest of A-shift gaped in shock.
“Johnny, what the hell happened to you in there?”
“That . . . that kid happened.”
“Gage! You mean that little itty bitty boy beat up a big man like you!” Chet’s voice rang with amusement.
“Oh, be quiet, Chet. Or I’ll stuff YOU down that tunnel.” The younger paramedic started to step forward but immediately began to sway.
“Whoa, c’mon, Junior. Let me help you to the squad.”
“Tell me what happened.”
“He punched me in the eye. I was bending to look at his wrist and my head connected with the wall.”
“What’s the blood on your arm?”
“Oh, he bit me. Pinched me too.”
“And why are you limping?”
“He kicked me in the knee.”
“Sounds like he was a holy terror down there.”
“I’m tellin’ ya, Roy, he’s . . . he’s the worst kid I’ve ever seen. OUCH!”
“Sorry. I think
you’re gonna need stitches in that forehead. What’s wrong with your side, uh, both
sides?”
“Uh, no. That was from a sharp rock in the tunnel, one going in and one coming out. It was so narrow in there, I couldn’t avoid it. How’s the boy?”
The blond-haired paramedic shook his head. His partner was amazing. After everything the kid did to him, he was still concerned for the boy’s well being.
“He’s okay. Not even a scratch. Vince is going to take both boys home. Well, let’s get you over to Rampart.”
* * *
Johnny sighed in relief when he felt Morton place the last stitch in his forehead. After several snickers over Gage’s predicament, the doctor had finally cleaned up the paramedic’s various wounds and stitched close the cut on his forehead.
“I’m tellin’ ya, Doc. You just wouldn’t believe this kid. Every time I tried to reach for him, he’d do something else. I couldn’t wait to get out of there.”
“I’m sure it was a harrowing experience. Hmm, maybe it’s you, Gage. Maybe you just bring out the worst in kids, particularly nine-year-old boys.”
The paramedic grumpily pulled on his ruined uniform shirt
and left the treatment room, leaving behind the still snickering doctor. Spying
“Man, Morton’s still in there laughing at me.”
Suddenly a loud and strident voice filled the air. “I want to see a doctor and I want to see one NOW. My son’s hand is stuck in this vase it won’t come out.”
The three individuals at the base station turned to see a heavily made up, matronly woman marching toward them dragging a blond-haired boy behind her.
Johnny gaped in disbelief and resisted the strong urge to
hide behind
“Well, finally, someone who’s actually working around here! My son has his hand stuck in this vase and I want it out of there. I demand to see a doctor!”
A small smile curved
The two paramedics watched as they disappeared into the treatment room Johnny had just vacated.
A few moments later the head nurse returned to the base station. With a look of complete innocence, she glanced at Johnny and Roy.
“What?”
“Thanks, Dix.” The dark-haired man flashed a tired grin at the head nurse.
“Hey, it’s the least I can do.”
“Ahhh! Why, you little . . . You bit me!”
***
The End ***
Guest Dispatchers Stories By Vanessa
