Disclaimer: The characters of Emergency! belong to Universal and Mark VII. Christy Todd was created by Daryl Henry and some of the dialogue is borrowed from this episode written by him. No copyright infringement is intended.

The Fairer Sex

Missing scenes from ‘Women’

By Rona

“Get her out of here!” Johnny gasped, handing the injured child to his work-mate. He scrabbled around under the constricting debris to get himself out. He kicked away some stuff and completed the about-turn before sliding out.

But fate conspired against him. A beam, dislodged by Johnny’s movement, crashed down, landing across the young paramedic’s left ankle. Johnny let out a cry, grimacing in pain as he twisted his lean body around to peer at the object that had him trapped.

Panting, Johnny fought to free himself, kicking at the beam, grunting with the effort. It moved – grudgingly – but it moved. Johnny winced as he tried to take some weight on the injured joint. He scrabbled away on his hands and one foot, trying desperately not to think of the time wasted under that beam – time that he didn’t have to spare. The bomb was due to go off at two – how much time remained?

*****************************

Outside, Roy looked up from where he crouched beside the bomber, Monty Beaudine, and saw the two firefighters, one of them carrying the little girl. He looked behind them expectantly and it took a second before he realised that there was no one else in sight.

“Marco, isn’t Johnny with you?” he asked.

“He was right behind us when we got the girl out,” Marco replied.

Glancing at Captain Stanley, he said, “Johnny’s still in there.” Roy rose to his feet and picked up his helmet, moving without having made a conscious decision. “I’m going in after him.”

For a moment, Roy expected Stanley to protest, knowing that there were only a couple of minutes – at most – before the bomb went off. But Stanley nodded. “Roy…,” he started.

“I know,” Roy replied. He hurried off, strapping his helmet on as he went.

Beside the squad, Christy Todd, the reporter who was riding with them, stood silent, clutching her helmet in her hands. She watched Roy go, suddenly wondering if perhaps she had made a mistake; if perhaps the men weren’t just being macho for her sake. Behind her, she heard Stanley ordering Beaudine to be taken to the ambulance. But along with everyone else, her attention was now focused on the derelict building in front of there, where two firefighters’ lives hung in the balance.

*******************************

Accidentally touching his sore foot to the floor, Johnny lost his balance and tumbled to the ground. He glanced despairingly towards the exit, but he had to pause to catch his breath. Pain was radiating up his leg and Johnny was beginning to think that his ankle really was broken. It was a thought he hadn’t really allowed himself, but as the time ticked relentlessly away, Johnny was forced to admit that his injury was slowing him enough that he might not manage to escape from this doomed building.

Suddenly, there was movement at the door and a firefighter clad in turnouts appeared. Johnny didn’t know how he knew, but he was sure it was Roy, even before his partner drew close enough for Johnny to make out his features in the dim light.

“Come on, time’s running out,” Roy shouted and hoisted Johnny to his feet, slinging his partner’s arm around his shoulder and putting his own arm around Johnny’s slender waist. He felt at once that Johnny couldn’t put weight on his left leg, but the younger man hopped gamely alongside Roy, not protesting the fast pace the older man set.

They reached the door and Johnny grabbed for the railing at the steps outside and Roy went first, letting Johnny use the railings for balance, although he never let go of his partner completely. The moment that Johnny’s good foot touched the ground, Roy once more was supporting him, dragging him away from the building as fast as they could go. Johnny’s breath panted away from him, but he uttered not a single sound of protest.

They had just reached the squad when the building went up. Roy let go of Johnny and sank down onto the squad’s running board and slipped his helmet off. Johnny peered over the top of the squad for a moment, then grabbed at the wheel arch and pushed his own helmet off. The pain from his ankle suddenly hit him and he groaned, bent forwards, clutching his leg, before sinking to the ground, leaning his head against the comforting bulk of the squad’s wheel.

After a moment, he looked up at Christy, who still stood there silently and then he ducked his head again, concentrating only on keeping the pain contained.

“Roy.” Stanley was beside the senior paramedic. “We need you to look at the child.”

“Right,” Roy nodded and rose to his feet, one hand touching Johnny's shoulder for a moment before he whispered, “I’ll be back as soon as I can, Junior.”

“Yeah,” Johnny replied. He tried to relax his white-knuckled grip on the wheel arch, but failed. He wanted to remove his turnout coat, because he was far too hot, but he couldn’t seem to let go.

“Let me help you, John,” Stanley’s voice suggested quietly in his ear and without waiting for a response, the captain of 51s opened the jacket and slipped it off Johnny’s shoulders. He gently prised the slim fingers from their hold and pulled the jacket off, studying Johnny closely the whole time. “Come and lie down,” he added, easing his younger paramedic back onto his turnout coat, which now lay on the ground. “Marco, get me a blanket?” he requested.

Reaction was starting to set in. Johnny was shaking like a leaf in a breeze. He was grateful for the warmth of the yellow blanket, although he wasn’t cold. He closed his eyes against the bright sunlight and heard Stanley on the HT. “LA Engine 51. We have a Code I at this location.”

“51 LA,” came the response.

“Where do you hurt, John?” Stanley asked.

“J-just my ankle,” Johnny replied, his teeth chattering. “I dislodged a… a beam, Cap. It came down on my ankle.”

“Take it easy,” Stanley advised. “We’ll get you to Rampart real soon.” He smiled. “Relax, pal.”

“How’s the little girl?” Johnny asked.

Glancing over to where Roy worked on the child, Stanley could see that the little girl was sitting up, her tears drying as Roy put a band-aid on her elbow. “It looks like she was lucky, John,” he replied. “A few cuts and bruises. Her mother’s with her.” A young woman, looking barely old enough to have a child, was hovering over the girl, sobbing.

A few moments later, Roy was back at Johnny’s side. He smiled at his partner, all the while assessing his condition. “How’s the girl?” Johnny repeated.

“Going home with her mother,” Roy smiled. “She’s fine, thanks to you.”

The tension went out of Johnny’s body, leaving him distressingly limp. Christy glanced worriedly at Roy, who ignored her. In fact, everyone was ignoring her as they tended to the victims. “Good,” Johnny sighed.

“Let’s get some vitals here,” Roy suggested as he picked up the BP cuff and wound it around Johnny’s arm. “Cap, could you contact Rampart? I’ve asked the ambulance to hang on.”

“Sure, Roy,” Cap replied agreeably and opened the biophone. “Rampart this is Squad 51.”

“Go ahead, 51,” came the immediate response.

“Rampart, we have an injured fireman here,” Stanley went on. “He was trapped under a fallen beam. Stand by for vitals.”

“Standing by,” Brackett replied.

Roy reached for the receiver. “Rampart, vitals are; BP 120 over 80, pulse 100, respirations 25 and shallow. Victim has probable broken ankle, is conscious and aware and in considerable pain. Be advised, the victim is John Gage.”

“10-4, 51.” Brackett sounded thoughtful. “Did Johnny ever lose consciousness?”

“Negative, Rampart,” Roy replied. “There is no sign of head trauma.”

“51, give 5 milligrams MS IM and transport as soon as possible.”

“5 milligrams MS,” Roy repeated. “The ambulance is on scene, Rampart.” He put down the receiver and reached into the drug box. “I’ll give you this, Johnny and then we’ll get you packaged.”

“Thanks,” Johnny grunted. He winced as Roy plunged the needle into his flesh, but within a few moments, he was floating away, the pain gone for the moment. He was barely aware of being loaded onto the gurney and into the ambulance.

********************************

Riding in with Chet in the squad, Christy shot a sideways look at him. The fireman seemed to be quite relaxed and Christy wondered about it. “Aren’t you concerned about Johnny?” she asked. “I thought you firemen were a band of brothers.”

“We are,” Chet agreed. “And yes, I am concerned, but Johnny was conscious and although he was in a lot of pain, he’s not badly hurt.”

“Oh, you macho men!” Christy snapped, annoyed. “He might have a broken ankle.”

Chet turned his head and gave Christy a smile. “Compared to some of the things that have happened to Johnny, this is nothing,” he told her. “He caught a rare virus from a monkey and almost died,” he went on. “He lost consciousness 200 feet up the side of a building, trying to save someone else. Roy ended up having to go down and save them both. We really thought Johnny was going to die that time.” Chet frowned, remembering those anxious days while Johnny lay in a coma. He shook the image from his head. “Fighting a fire is really dangerous,” he added. “A building collapse is quite common. Johnny was lucky that beam didn’t pin him too hard, or he wouldn’t have got out and neither would anyone who went in after him.”

“Did Roy know how close that bomb was to going off?” Christy asked, remembering the paramedic’s set face as he ran past her.

“Yes,” Chet replied. Christy was rather surprised at the single word answer.

“I suppose Johnny is his friend,” Christy surmised. “That’s why he did it.”

“Johnny is Roy’s friend,” Chet agreed. “But he would have done the same for anyone in that position. Haven’t you realised yet? That’s part of what they do. Both Johnny and Roy were rescue men before they became paramedics. That means that they go into the fire, more often than not in front of the hoses, and look for people. And once they’ve done the hard work of carrying the victims out, they then have to treat their injuries.”

“Oh,” Christy said, in a small voice. She really hadn’t taken in the things she had seen that day. She began to wonder how much else she had missed through trying to prove that she was as good as the firemen.

They arrived at Rampart and Chet backed the squad into its usual place at the emergency entrance. He led Christy inside and glanced around. Dixie was at the desk and Chet headed over in that direction. “Hi, Dix,” he greeted her and the head nurse smiled.

“Hi, Chet,” she responded. “You bring the squad in?”

“Sure did,” he nodded. “How’s Gage?”

“Sore, but he won’t even have to spend the night here.” Dixie’s smile broadened. “Compared to some of the things that’ve happened to him, breaking an ankle is quite tame.” Chet laughed and then excused himself.

Frowning, Christy put her shoulder bag on the counter and sighed. Dixie gave her an amused look, but didn’t say anything. It only took about a minute for the flood gates to open. “Johnny could have been killed today, couldn’t he?” she asked.

“Yep,” Dixie nodded. “Roy, too. In fact, any of the firefighters who were in that building.”

“Why do they do it?” Christy asked, clearly perplexed.

“I don’t know,” Dixie admitted. “I suspect they don’t entirely know either. They all want to help others – that’s part of it. But I don’t know that’s there’s a definitive answer. But I will tell you one thing, Christy. None of them are in it for the glory – I’m afraid that’s something they don’t see enough of. And to be truthful, most firefighters don’t want glory. They want to save lives.” Dixie smiled. “They are a special breed.”

“I’m beginning to realise that,” Christy admitted.

Dixie smiled again.

*********************************

The door to treatment room four finally opened and Roy appeared, closely followed by Johnny, who was hopping on a pair of crutches. “It’s a nice clean break, Johnny,” Brackett was saying as he emerged. “But stay off it as much as possible to begin with, all right?”

“Sure, doc,” Johnny agreed. He looked cleaner than the last time Christy had seen him, the soot washed from his face and hands. Roy smiled.

“I’ll keep him down,” he assured Brackett. “I’ll keep an eye on him.”

“Hey, I’m a big boy,” Johnny protested. “I can look after myself.” He spotted Christy standing there and gave her a crooked smile. Christy suddenly realised that she had been so busy trying to prove to herself that all firemen were big-headed macho men that she hadn’t realised how nice Johnny, Roy and the others really were.

It was food for thought that kept her quiet on the ride back to the station.

************************************

A few days later, Johnny struggled to his feet to answer the apartment door. Christy stood there. To say Johnny was surprised was something of an understatement. “Come in,” he offered.

“I thought you might like to see my article before I submit it,” she told him.

Seating himself, Johnny took the proffered papers and began to read. “Help yourself to coffee,” he told her. “I’m a bit restricted in bringing it to you.”

“I’m fine,” she replied.

Shrugging, Johnny looked back at the papers. His initial trepidation gave way to a feeling of pleased surprise and then he could feel his face flush with embarrassed pleasure. “Do you really mean this?” he asked, looking at her.

“Yes,” Christy replied. “I’m sorry I was so horrid to you.”

“Ah, forget it,” Johnny grinned. “But I was wondering….”

The End

*Click on the picture of Johnny to send Rona feedback

Guest Dispatchers            Stories by Rona