The Pain That Never Seems to End
By Canadagal
Johnny looked at the biophone curiously. He knew that the piece of equipment looked familiar but the pain behind his eyes was making his thoughts scrambled. He picked it up and looked at the buttons. The biophone had already been set up so he figured it was a phone or something. ,”Ah hello,” he said, ,”is anyone there?”
”Unit calling in identify,” came the stern voice of Dr. Morton.
”Um I dunno what unit, I um not sure,” Johnny stammered.
”This is Rampart, identify yourself,” Dr. Morton said, very perturbed.
Johnny was rubbing his forehead trying to get his brain to work. Johnny didn’t realize he was still holding the biophone button now. ”man my head hurts,” he said out loud.
Dr. Morton was listening to the transmission trying to figure out what was going on. ”This is Rampart who is this?” he asked, a little more patiently.
”Ah this is Johnny,” he finally managed to get out.
”John, this is Mike Morton, what’s going on there?” he asked.
”Mike,” Johnny stammered out. ”um, my head hurts, can’t think,” Johnny was struggling hard to keep focused even on holding the biophone in his hand.
”Johnny where’s Roy?” Mike asked, ignoring radio protocol.
”Roy, um I dunno,” Johnny answered. Johnny looked around.
Mike motioned for Kel and Joe to come over to the base station. ”Something’s wrong with Gage. I have him on the biophone but he sounds very confused. He can’t seem to understand simple commands”
”Johnny, this is Joe Early, what’s going on there?” he asked softly.
”Doc, can you come fix my head, it hurts,” Johnny said, swaying slightly.
”Sure, Johnny, where are you?” Joe asked, ”I will come and help”
Johnny was trying to look around, but his vision was so blurry he couldn’t really make anything focus. “trees, lots of trees,” was all Johnny could say.
Dixie grabbed the land line to call the county dispatch office.
”We have Squad 51 on the base station. They have been involved in some kind of incident. One of their paramedics is on the biophone and it appears he has been injured”
The dispatcher assured them they would investigate the incident.
The call came into the Station house a minute later.
”LA Station 51, Captain Stanley speaking,” came the professional reply.
He was quickly told about the confusing transmission from Johnny and that they were to proceed to the last call that Squad 51 was dispatched to. The men were instantly alarmed that 2 of their own could be seriously injured and had no information on what had happened.
Back at Rampart Joe was trying to get more information from Johnny.
”Johnny, can you tell me what happened to you?” he asked.
Johnny was now sitting on the ground trying to stay upright. ”hurt head,” was all he could say.
”Johnny, we need to know where Roy is,” Joe insisted.
Johnny suddenly got upset. ”Roy, have to find Roy,” he said, as he dropped the biophone. Joe and Kel could hear Johnny stumbling to get to his feet.
”Roy, Roy,” Johnny was calling frantically. Everyone at the base station was on edge. It was obvious that Johnny had sustained some serious head injury but they were helpless to do anything until he was found.
Johnny’s voice became more and fainter as it seemed he moved further and further away from the biophone. ”Johnny, come back to the biophone,” Joe called to him. ”Johnny,” Joe yelled into the base station.
Johnny continued to stumble around. “Roy,” he kept calling, trying to find his missing partner.
”Johnny! Johnny,” Joe kept yelling into the biophone, but he was too far away or too disoriented to hear.
Joe turned to Kel. ,”If we don’t find him soon he could be in real trouble”
”Where the hell is he, and where is Roy?” Kel asked.
Engine 51 roared off to the last location of the squad. They had been dispatched to a man down call in Toner Canyon. As the four raced to the location, they all were on edge. Dispatch had tried repeatedly to reach the squad on the radio with no success.
Finally the engine roared around the corner and saw the squad parked on the side of the road. They jumped out of the engine and ran over to the squad. The compartment doors were open and some of the equipment was missing.
”Where the hell are they?” Marco asked, looking around. They looked around and found footprints leading to the edge of the embankment.
”They must have gone done here,” Captain Stanley said, ”Grab two life lines and let’s head down”
Chet and Marco rushed off to do as the captain asked. Soon the three of them were being lowered down the side of the embankment. They got to the bottom and found the trauma box on its side.
”Okay we know they were here,” Chet said, “now which way?”
“Well let’s head this way,” Hank said, motioning in a particular direction. The three walked on for about 200 yards before they found Roy lying on the ground. He was obviously unconscious. ”Roy,” Marco yelled, running to his side.
Roy was slowly coming around, ”Johnny?” he asked, as he tried to focus.
”Roy, what happened?” Hank asked concerned.
”Cap?” Roy asked, still trying to focus.
”Roy, what happened and where is Johnny,” the captain asked again.
Roy was finally sitting up by this point. ”We were on a man down call,” Roy explained. “When we pulled up there were two men waiting for us. They said their friend was down the embankment,”
”What happened?” Cap asked.
“Johnny grabbed the biophone and drug box I had the trauma box. We got half way down the hill when they jumped us. They grabbed the drug box and made Johnny go with them. They had a gun pointed on him. They told me if I tried to follow they would kill him,” Roy paused, ”then I felt this hard thump to my head and the next thing I remember is you waking me up,”
”Which way did they go?” Cap asked, ”Johnny's been on the biophone so he has to be around here somewhere”
”Johnny on the biophone, so he’s okay then,” Roy said, still a little lightheaded.
Cap hesitated. ”Well not exactly. The Docs at Rampart are pretty concerned. Johnny is very disoriented and can’t tell them where he is”
Roy tried to get up, “We have to find him,” he said instantly, as a wave of dizziness washed over him.
”You just sit down. I am going to call this in,” Hank said picking up his HT.
”LA this is Station 51, we need an additional squad and at least two engine crews for search. Also dispatch LA Country Sheriff. We have two Code I’s at this location. Be advised one of the Code I’s has not been found yet,” he said, as he ended the transmission.
Soon the back up units arrived and the search was on for the missing paramedic. Chet and Marco joined in the search. Roy was treated by Squad 99’s paramedics and transported to Rampart. He was a very reluctant patient but was finally told bluntly by the captain that he was going to the hospital.
Johnny, meanwhile, had stumbled back to the biophone. ”Doc,” Johnny said, as he grabbed the biophone again.
”Johnny, how you doing?” Joe asked, as he patched the conversation to the dispatch so it could be relayed to the search team.
”Doc, can’t find Roy. Head hurts. Arm hurts,” Johnny stammered.
”Johnny, where exactly are you?” Joe asked.
Johnny tried to look around but the dizziness was getting worse. ”Don’t know,” he finally said.
”Doc, I don’t feel well. Head hurts, side hurts. Lots of blood,” he continued to stammer.
"Johnny, sit down” Joe said firmly “Don’t move around,” Joe was worried that Johnny could be aggravating whatever injury he had.
”Kay, doc. Gonna sleep now,” Johnny said, his voice starting to slur.
”NO!” Joe said loudly. ”Don’t sleep, Johnny. Stay awake,” Joe commanded of him.
”Tired, sleep,” Johnny said, his voice growing more and more weak.
The transmission was being relayed over the radio to the HT that Captain Stanley was holding. ”Damn he’s fading on us,” Hank said, “We have to find him fast”
The searchers pushed harder and faster. They all knew that Johnny’s golden hour was fading away.
”Johnny, answer me,” Joe called into the biophone.
No response.
”Come on, Johnny, talk to me,” Joe said again, his hope fading of hearing Johnny’s voice again. He really believed that Johnny had passed out.
The ambulance that brought Roy to Rampart had just pulled into the ambulance bay. He was alert and sitting up on the stretcher. He heard Joe Early yelling into the biophone.
”Doc, any news from Johnny?” he asked, as he made the attendants wheel him over to the base station.
”I lost contact with him 5 minutes ago,” Joe said, discouraged.
“Let me try,” Roy said. as he clicked the base station link, “Come on, Junior, answer me,” Roy said, “Don’t ignore me”
Johnny was lying on the ground beside the biophone. His eyes were closed and he was basely conscious. He heard Roy’s voice.
He squeezed the biophone button,”Roy,” Johnny said in a voice barely above a whisper.
”Johnny, you hang in there. They are going to find you soon,” Roy said.
”You okay?” Johnny asked, weakly.
”I’m fine, let’s just concentrate on you,” Roy said
”Thanks, Roy,” Johnny whispered
”For what, Johnny,” Roy asked, nervously.
”For being a great partner, for always being there. . . ,” Johnny’s voice faded off.
”Johnny, answer me, Johnny, answer me,” Roy called frantically into the base station.
There was no more response out of the biophone.
The silence in the room was almost painful
Joe, Dix, Kel and Roy all looked at each other. No one knew what to say.
They all stared at the base station and heard the slight static as the link remained open with the biophone in Johnny’s hand. Several long minutes passed as Roy continued to coax Johnny into responding. Everyone thought the worst.
All of a sudden they heard voices in the background, “We found him!” the voice yelled.
Roy recognized the voice as that belonging to Chet Kelly. ”Johnny,” Chet said dropping down beside him. He pried the biophone out of Johnny’s hand. ”He’s alive,” Chet said. He’s got a bad bump on his head and he’s bleeding from his side. You’ll have to stand by until we can get a paramedic to him,” Chet said.
”10-4 standing by,” Kel said, as he looked at the others gathered.
”At least he’s alive,” Joe said with concern.
It was at least 10 minutes before paramedics made their way to Johnny's location. Roy had reluctantly allowed himself to be examined by Mike Morton in the meantime, with the strict understanding that he would be informed how Johnny was doing.
Finally paramedic Belliveau’s voice came over the biophone. “Rampart, this is squad 45. We have him. He’s unconscious. He has a large lump on the back of his head. He also is bleeding profusely from what appears to be a gun shot wound to the abdomen. We are applying dressing to stop the bleeding. Stand by for vitals,” he said.
Soon Johnny was readied for transport. His condition was critical as he was rushed off to the hospital.
The next few hours were a frantic fight to stabilize him. He had lost a considerable amount of blood and the concussion he had sustained was quite serious. After surgery he was finally on the road to recovery.
It was over 24 hours before Johnny finally fully regained consciousness. The first person to see him was Roy, who was roomed with him.
“Hey, ” Roy said, seeing his partner waking up finally.
“Hi” Johnny said as he started to look around. “What happened?” Johnny asked.
“Don’t you remember?” Roy asked.
Johnny closed his eyes as he tried to think back. “The man down call,” he said.
“Yeah that’s right,” Roy nodded.
Just then the door swung open and the room filled with friends and family.
“How you feeling, Johnny?” Joe Early asked.
“Better, Doc,” Johnny said. “Side still hurts and I have a major headache, but I guess that’s to be expected”
“You sure had us scared to death yesterday,” Kel said, speaking for the entire group.
“Sorry about that,” Johnny said, grinning a little. “Wasn’t my finest day”
“What do you remember about yesterday?” Kel asked.
“All I remember is Roy being knocked out by those idiots and them making me walk away from him. They made me walk for quite a while” Johnny explained. “The two of them started arguing about what to do with me. I figured it was a good time to run for it. I made it over this hill, I was still carrying the biophone. They must have seen me because I felt this intense burning in my side before I fell” Johnny stopped. He didn’t say anything for a few minutes.
“Johnny?” Roy asked, wondering why he stopped talking.
“After that, all I recall is snippets of conversations” Johnny said. “and I remember being in so much pain”
“Johnny, we were all in pain. Listening to you, scared to death that they would never find you in time,” Joe said, “It was a never ending pain for all of us until they finally found you”
“A pain we never want to go through again,” Roy said, with relief.
Johnny smiled at his friends, as he realized the depth of their friendship, “Amen to that,” he said.
The End
