M is for Move

By

Jane Royce

The fire at the warehouse raged out of control, and despite the third alarm response, the fire was just not willing to give itself up.

The call arrived at the station at 0300h, too early for the daily workers to be present, which was a blessing for the firemen who had their hands far too full to have to worry about hundreds of possible victims, but left the men with many other worries including the biggest one of what was in the warehouse and how did the fire start.

"Gage, DeSoto, grab an inch and a half and enter the building on the south side!" Shouted Captain Stanley, his voice hoarse from barking orders to the men, his job as being first on scene meant that he was conducting the fire control.

Gage and DeSoto grabbed the line and entered the building as directed by their captain, the heat from the fire could be felt far from the entrance and the wind moved the flames in a southward direction. Both were grateful that there did not appear to be any victims in the area, neither wanted to be separate from a hose primed with water, the heat was just too much to bear.

"Roy, lets get the hose on this entry and then work inward" shouted Johnny to his partner, Roy simply nodded his agreement and positioned himself behind his partner to hold him steady in anticipation of the rush of water pressure. Johnny pulled back the valve and the spray fanned out with a great force.

The pair had been fighting a losing battle with the fire and the water, their efforts seemed to do little against this beast. The two seemed almost mesmerized by the flow of the water, the relentless dance of the flames and the sounds of men shouting to realize that the men were shouting at them.

"MOOOOOVE!!" shouted a team of men, including many of their station-mates. "MOOOOOVE!"

The men realized too late what was happening, the blast from the warehouse was too strong, and moved them under it's own power, with it's own force. DeSoto and Gage were thrown from the blast and engaged in an aerial dance that in other circumstances, might have been beautiful. Their landing was far from graceful though, as the two ended up in a broken heap several feet from where they last stood.

~~~~~

"Johnny, can you hear me? If you can hear me, I want you to squeeze my hand"

"Roy, come on now, it's time to open your eyes"

The ride into the hospital was swift and anxious, all eyes from all the men on the scene rushed to assist their fallen comrades when the building blew. All feared this in their own positions and all grew sick with worry when one of their brothers fell. It was a tense time and all men felt helpless.

~~~~~

"Roy, please wake up, it's been two days now and the kids are worried sick. Please, wake up" wept Joanne.

Johnny stirred first, 'why was Joanne crying, what's happening?'

"J-Jo" Whispered Johnny as he struggled to find his voice. His mouth felt dry and like it was filled with cotton.

Joanne rushed to Johnny's side, grateful that the hospital found a room that the partners could share. She could keep an eye on both of them and knew that the two would heal faster together then they would apart.

"Johnny, oh thank God you are awake! I have to get the doctor, stay with us now, don't go to sleep again!" Joanne rushed to the door of the room and shouted for the nurse.

"Johnny, you are going to be alright, you were involved in an explosion at a warehouse fire two days ago. You and Roy were both thrown from the blast and landed on the ground. You both have concussions and have been in and out of consciousness. You have a broken arm and leg, Roy has several broken ribs from where he landed on top of you. You are both going to be alright." Joanne explained to a confused Johnny Gage.

There was more, Johnny could tell.

"Jo-" Johnny was cut off by the entrance of Dr. Kelly Brackett.

"Johnny, how do you feel?" Dr. Bracket asked while pulling out a light to check his pupil response.

"Doc, I.." Johnny stopped, trying to drink in all that he tried to remember and all that Joanne had just told him. A look of confusion washed over him and Dr. Brackett began again.

"Johnny, you and Roy have been in an explosion and are going to be fine." Dr. Bracket explained.

"I know Doc, Joanne just told me but.." A look of panic stuck Johnny as he suddenly permitted all of this information to sink in. He struggled to sit up, to search for his partner.

"Hold on there Johnny" instructed Dr. Brackett as he gently pushed Johnny back onto the bed.

"Doc....Roy....Joanne..." Grunted Johnny as pain filled his head and made his vision cloud.

"It's going to be alright Johnny, Roy is beside you. He hasn't started to wake up yet." Offered a worried sounding Joanne.

This news did not comfort Johnny, who struggled to put the pieces together. He settled for a few moments, to allow Dr. Bracket a cursory examination of his neurological status.

Profound exhaustion overtook Johnny as he slipped into a sleep. Joanne looked wistfully over as her husband's partner, wondering when and if her husband would awake.

~~~~~

Johnny awoke again to the sound of shuffling feet. He gingerly opened his eyes and saw the remaining members of his station at the foot of his bed. he eyed them warily and looked around the room. he notices that Joanne wasn't in the room and began to wodner how long he'd been asleep.

"John" Captain Stanley began, "How are you feeling pal?"

"Cap, I feel like I have been run over by the engine" offered Johnny, weakly attempting humour.

"Good Gage, maybe next time you'll hear me when I scream at you" laughed Chet Kelly, who was instantly given an elbow to the ribs by Marco and Mike.

"I don't get it, what's he mean Cap?" asked Johnny.

"He means that we didn't hear him yelling at us to move" injected a voice from Johnny's left side, a voice Johnny was grateful to hear.

"Roy, you're awake! How.."

"Relax partner, I woke up after you fell asleep. Joanne filled me in and I sent her home to see the kids."

"Oh man, what happened to us, I feel like a train wreck!"

The station-mates lightly laughed at Johnny's analogy, he looked like a train wreck, but would be alright given time.

"The fire got too hot and we needed to pull back. I guess the wind and the roar of the fire left you two unable to hear our shouts to drop the lines before the blast. You two were the only ones to not pull back. You were thrown." Cap explained.

"Man, when you say move, you mean MOVE. You're right Cap, I don't remember much about the fire but I definitely don't remember you ordering us to pull back."

"Me either Cap, but I will next time, you can count on it" winced Roy.

"That's OK guys, we made you a little something to help you. A bit of a visual aid for those who can not hear." Chet laughed as he revealed: