OUT OF THE BLUE!
By
Saturday May 5 6:15am
“Come on Chris, if we’re going, we need to go NOW!” Roy DeSoto hollered at his son. It was 6:15 am and if Roy was to get to work on time after dropping Chris off at his friend’s, Scott, then they needed to get on the road.
Chris appeared at the top of the stairs in T-shirt, blue jeans and sneakers with his overnight bag, the green sleeping bag he used for camping and his pillow with the Snoopy pillowcase. “Ok Dad, I’m ready” he anxiously replied. “Bye Mom, I’ll see you Sunday night.”
“Bye, Chris, have fun at Scott’s cabin. Be good and mind your manners, please.” His mom warned as he flew out the door towards the blue Chevy pick-up. Joanne gave Roy a final good-bye kiss as he started for the door after his son. “Call me when you get to the station, I’m really curious about the Thompson’s new house up there in the canyon. Sounds like it’s pretty big and has a great view.”
“Do I detect a note of jealousy in your voice?” Roy chided. “Are you unhappy with this little mansion provided to you by your own heroic firefighter husband?” he said laughingly.
“Oh, just get going Mr. Hero and be safe today.” Joanne proceeded to slap him across the rear and push him towards the door. “And don’t forget to call me when you get to the station anyway!!”
Roy quickly joined Chris in the truck. They headed out on their quiet neighborhood streets and then onto the 405. They took the exit for Bear Creek Canyon and then after a few more miles and turns that took them away from the busy city, began climbing higher and higher into the canyon. Roy was really astounded with its beauty. Low lying scrub trees intermixed with taller evergreens crowed the hills, which were covered with boulders and rocks of all sizes. As they climbed higher the view became more spectacular. This part of the canyon was on the edge of Station 51’s response area but he had never been up this high before. He had heard that more and more people were buying land in the remote area but didn’t realize that so many people were already settled up here.
Finally, when they thought the road could go no higher, a small development of about a dozen homes appeared. It was almost magic as they drove from remote backcountry right into upscale civilization. The sight of this little neighborhood oozing of wealth and money took even Chris aback.
“Whoa!!’ muttered Roy in awe as they drove through the immaculate neighborhood of huge houses and manicured lawns. “Chris, what is the house number?”
Chris looked at a piece of paper he had clutched in his hand.
“Number 1477 View Ridge Drive, Dad. Scott says the house is painted gray, has lots of brick and a big water fountain in the front. He says it has a swimming pool in the back, but I don’t think we can see it from the street. And he has his own room with a bunkbed and his own bathroom, too.” Chris’ voice was starting to rise with excitement as he anticipated the type of house his friend Scott now lived in and was willing to invite him to.
Roy scanned the houses for numbers realizing that they were too hard to read because the structures were set so far back from the street. *Not a good thing if the fire department needs to find your house in an emergency* he thought. In some cities house numbers are painted on the curb in front of the house but so far the street in this little development had no curb and no sidewalks.
Finally, between the two of them, Roy and Chris were able to pinpoint the house they thought would be the Thompson’s. It did have some gray painted parts, lots of brick (all the houses had lots of brick) and a fountain in front (all the houses had a fountain in front), but the clincher was that there was a new Toyota Land Cruiser parked out front that was being loaded with sleeping bags, overnight bags and boxes of food.
“That must be it Dad. Oh…Oh...Oh…Oh… I think I see Scott. Yeah that’s it Dad! Hurry Dad!” Chris could hardly contain himself, he was so excited.
Roy pulled his poor beat-up looking pick-up truck apologetically into the long circular driveway. Before he had even turned off the engine Chris was bounding out the door grabbing at his camping gear, eager to meet up with his friend.
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Pete Barnes finished loading the bed of his truck with the tree branches and yard waste that he had collected while he worked on the Brecken family yard. They had moved into their new home on View Ridge Drive 2 months ago and just recently hired Pete to do their yard work. The developers had left behind a real mess of scrub tree branches and piles of weeds and debris. He had been working for more than an hour now finishing up the work he had started yesterday, he wanted to get done before the sun got too high in the sky and the temperatures began to rise. Pete knew that if he finished early and got this stuff dumped at the landfill he would have the rest of the day to just sit in his air-conditioned apartment watching movies and drinking beer.
He piled the last of the branches into the low-sided stake bed truck, and then threw 4 garbage bags full of debris on top. ‘That should hold it down’ he thought as he pulled on a limb to test the strength of his makeshift tie down. After a final look around to make sure he had not forgotten anything Pete jumped behind the wheel of his truck and prepared to make the slow trek down the hill through the canyon.
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Roy climbed out of his truck a little more slowly than Chris had and walked over with his extended hand to say hello to Scott’s Dad, David Thompson.
“David, so good to see you again. This is quite the place you have up here.”
“Thanks Roy, I’m glad that you were able to find the place. It was really nice of you to bring Chris over here. We are a little out of the way, you know.”
“Well, actually, David,” Roy said, “you’re located pretty close to Station 51…as the crow flies, and your development here is in our district. It would be quite a trek up here though for the engine, I hope you’ll never need our services.” Looking around he said. “Well it looks like you’re about ready to go here.”
Scott’s father replied, “Yeah, we are just about all packed up. I think my wife and Joanne exchanged all the pertinent information over the phone as to where we will be, phone numbers, times and all. So no need for you to worry. We’ll take good care of Chris and get him back home safe and sound on Sunday evening.”
“Oh, I’m not worried.” Said Roy. “Chris has really missed playing with Scott at school and I know for a fact that they will have a good time together this weekend. Maybe in a couple of weeks we can get the boys together down at our house.”
With that, Roy looked around the front yard for Chris.
“Well, I need to say good bye to Chris and then get on my way to work.”
David spotted the boys coming from the back of the house. “Chris, come tell your father good-bye, he needs to go to work now and Scott, we need to finish packing the car so we can get on the road too. Take care Roy, and thanks for bringing Chris all the way over here.”
“No problem David. Have a good time and we’ll see you Sunday after dinner.”
Roy turned to Chris and gave him a fatherly hug and one last reminder to behave himself and be a good guest.
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Pete Barnes’ truck ambled down the road. He knew he was going a lot faster then he should considering his precarious load, but right now his mind was only on one thing, and that was getting home before noon and then spending the rest of the day in a nice soft chair in his apartment with a cold beer in one hand and the TV remote in the other. The faster he went, the sooner he would reach his destination. That’s probably why in his daydreaming he over-steered the truck around a particularly tight curve, ran up on the shoulder of the road and then over-corrected his steering causing him to fishtail slightly into the opposite lane. This caused the yard debris to shift in the back of his truck. Three of the garbage bags and several of the bigger branches fell out and spilled across the roadway. The near miss startled Pete back to reality but he drove on oblivious to the hazardous situation he had just left behind.
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Roy climbed back into his pickup truck and started down the hill still marveling at the beautiful view of the city. Thinking ahead as to how his day would be at work, Roy was hoping for a nice slow, calm, quiet one and that included a day without any of Johnny’s ranting and ravings. As for right now, he could really use a cup of good, strong firehouse coffee. Ah, yes then it would start to be a good day. He settled in for the drive to the station.
Roy DeSoto drove along carefully minding the twists and turns of the canyon road, thinking about how difficult it would be for the big rig from Station 51 to navigate, especially if they were responding to an emergency. The squad by itself would have no trouble, he thought to himself.
Suddenly, as he rounded a fairly sharp curve he noticed his way blocked by several garbage bags and branches in the road. “What in the world…?” He said to no one in particular. Carefully avoiding any of the debris, Roy pulled over to the right side shoulder of the road.
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Further up the canyon on a side road that led to nowhere, Philip Conners was preparing to return to school and civilization. He had just spent 2 glorious days and nights out on a remote trail in the hills hiking, camping, studying and clearing his head in preparation for the final tests he would be taking to mark the end of his college education. It had been a long and arduous course of study, with majors in Chemistry and Biology, but now he was ready to face the real world and tackle a job he had been offered with a Bioresearch lab in Los Angeles. Philip was really excited about starting the new job mainly because he was desperately in need of money and in dire need of a new car. His 1961 Volvo sedan had been a great car all through school, but now it was giving him fits. No major repairs yet but just little annoying problems that one of these days would add up to one big headache and repair bill. He took one last look around at the beautiful California hills as he finished packing his meager camping gear in the Volvo and then started down the canyon road. Philip’s thoughts turned to Nicole, his sweetheart for the past 18 months. He started to daydream about when and how, in the next few months, after he was established in his new job, he would ask her to be his wife.
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Roy looked at the time on his watch. Seeing that he could still make it to the station in plenty of time to change his clothes and make roll call, without enduring the punishment of latrine duty, Roy decided he would be a good citizen and remove the debris from the road. He carefully stepped from his truck, watching for other approaching vehicles. Seeing none, he made his way into the road and began collecting the garbage bags and branches that were strewn every which way in about 30 feet of the roadway.
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Philip Conners was startled back to the present from his daydream of Nicole, when he realized his car was traveling down the curvy, canyon road faster than he ever intended it to go. All of a sudden he seemed to be screaming down the hill and around curves at an ever-alarming rate. He tried desperately pumping the brake pedal to slow the car but met with no resistance until the pedal slammed into the floorboard of the old Volvo. Again and again. Pump, pump, pump. *Oh shit, I have no brakes!* thought Philip.
He fought for control of the vehicle with all his might. His old Volvo did not have power steering, which made it that much more difficult to control the car around the sharp curves. With tires squealing and his brow breaking out in beads of sweat, Philip prayed to a higher power to see him through the outcome of this predicament. Suddenly, as Philip rounded a particularly tight curve, he saw a man in the road.
“WHAT THE….?”
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Roy walked over to where the last two large branches lay. One was in the middle of the road; the other was off to the left side near the guardrail, which was there to prevent cars going up the hill from going down the adjacent 40-foot embankment. Roy had picked up the branch from the middle of the road and was dragging it towards the last remaining branch, when suddenly he heard the horrible sound of squealing tires. He turned and looked up just in time to see the front end of an old car bearing down on him. Without another thought he threw the branch from his hand and fled towards the side of the road and the guardrail.
Sensing that the car was mere inches away from him, Roy flung himself towards the guardrail, intending to leap over it to safety. Unfortunately for Roy, as he was leaping, the left front fender of the Volvo clipped his right leg in mid-flight, which caused Roy to be propelled up into the air, over the guardrail and about 10 feet down the embankment. There was no way that Roy could stop himself from catapulting down the hill.
Philip saw that he was headed directly for the man in the road. He saw the man begin to run to the side. He saw the man begin to jump. It seemed everything he saw was happening in slow motion, he just didn’t know how to make it all stop. With the power of super-human strength that seemed to appear from nowhere, Philip pulled the steering wheel hard to the right and desperately yanked on the emergency brake. He felt the brake cable snap and at the same time his hand flew off the brake handle. Then he felt a little bump.
*Did I hit him? Did he get out of the way?* Those were his fleeting thoughts as momentarily he lost control of his car and it scraped against the guardrail with a sound like fingernails on a blackboard and then around the curve. Philip and his car continued on down the hill. Aside from the broken branch in the middle, the road behind him was empty.
As for Roy, he continued his uncontrolled descent down the embankment. It had about a 40 degree slope to it and was filled with many rocks of various shapes and sizes and trees, both big and small. He was slamming against rocks with his back, arms and legs that would then cause him to fly up into the air and land hard on the ground and then bounce and roll into more rocks. Luckily, he didn’t smash into any of the trees that would have caused him a great deal of harm. Unluckily, he didn’t smash into any trees that would have caused him to stop his wild descent down the hill.
Roy was vaguely aware of what was happening and desperately trying to grab at something, anything to make himself stop. But his mind was a jumble, the world was a blur and he had lost his sense of which way was up and which way was down. Nearly 35 feet down the embankment, Roy’s body slammed into a fairly large boulder that caught him on the shoulder and side of his head. It was probably a good thing that Roy was no longer conscious when his body did its final acrobatic maneuver of flying into the air and coming down hard, landing with his left arm wedged between two medium sized gray rocks. The rocks grabbed his arm and held it like a vise from the wrist to just above the elbow. Forward momentum was abruptly halted! One could almost hear the ripping and tearing of Roy’s shoulder joint and muscles as his body came to a stop.
Still, Roy’s problems were far from over. The slope that he had tumbled down had a sudden drop-off into a 30-foot deep ravine. Miraculously the rocks that caught Roy’s arm in a vise-like grip had also prevented him from falling off the ledge and into the ravine. However, Roy’s legs, right arm and most of his body hung suspended over the edge. Only his trapped left arm held between the rocks by his elbow joint was keeping him from plunging to certain death.
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Philip Conners had plenty to worry about. He had managed to keep his car on the road although it was still going at what he considered breakneck speed. Scraping against the guardrail where the man was had slowed him somewhat but not enough to bring the car under control or to a complete stop. He was trying to think of all possibilities of escape when the opportunity presented itself directly in front of him. In desperation Phillip threw the gear shift lever into reverse, aimed the car at the back end of the slow moving landscape truck and then flung himself across the front seat of the old Volvo.
Pete Barnes and his truck filled with yard debris, was just starting to reach the bottom of the canyon when he glanced in his rear view mirror to see an old beat up car bearing down on him.
The old Volvo protested but slowed as the gears were suddenly slammed into reverse and the car hit the back of Pete’s stakebed truck with enough force to propel him another 30 feet down the road even though he had his foot smashed on the brake pedal.
“Oh my God!!” exclaimed Pete as he threw the truck into park and turned off the engine. He was scared to death to get out of the truck to see what had happened to the person who was driving the car. But he knew it needed to be done. He did a cursory exam of himself. Feeling only a little stiffness in his neck he slowly climbed out of the truck.
“Hey! Hey, anybody in there?” Pete shouted into what was left of the Volvo.
Its front end was completely driven up and under the back end of Pete’s truck. The windshield and roof were smashed flat by the back end of the truck. The only recognizable section of the Volvo was the back window and trunk.
Pete stopped to listen and could not believe his ears when he heard a tiny voice from inside the destruction say, “Please, get help”.
“OK, OK”, Pete, said with a shaky voice, “You hang on in there, I’ll be right back”.
Looking back in absolute shock, Pete ran off repeating to himself “Oh Lordy, Oh Lordy” all the way to the nearest house he could find to summon help.
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“Mornin’, mornin’, mornin’ y’all” a practically giddy John Gage greeted Chet and Marco in the kitchen of Station 51. Spying Charlie Dwyer on the sofa of the day room with Henry in his lap made Johnny stop in his tracks.
“What are you still doing here, Dwyer?” he inquired with a frown. Looking around he asked, “Where’s Roy?”
“Not in yet.” Dwyer replied. “I don’t think he’s sick or anything and nobody asked me to fill in for him, so I guess I just sit here and wait ‘til he gets here.”
“Well, he better hurry unless he wants to inherit latrine duty from ol’ Chet there.” Johnny chuckled.
“Ha, ha Gage” sneered Chet. “I believe you have the duty today anyway. I seem to remember that last shift you were still in the process of dressing when Cap called for roll call. That means you were late and you get latrine duty for the next 3 shifts.”
Cap happened to walk in at the tail end of Chet’s tirade. “For once, I believe Chet is correct, John. You have the duty for the next 3 shifts.”
“Ahhhh, Cap!”
Johnny and Chet glared at one another. Each one debating on sticking his tongue out at the other but deciding against it in the presence of the Captain.
Cap scowled “Let’s get ready for roll call men.” As he clapped his hands together he questioned, “Where is Roy, by the way?”
Johnny took a sip of his coffee; “I don’t know Cap. It’s not like him to be late like this.” With a little more concern in his voice he said. “If he’s not here by the time we finish roll call, I’ll give Joanne a call. Maybe he just got a late start that’s all.”
Captain Stanley finished up with roll call and duty assignments, which included giving latrine duty to Roy, unless he could come up with a really good excuse for not being on time for work. Johnny was relieved and shot a smirk at Chet, but deep down inside he had a foreboding feeling that something was not quite right.
“Cap, I’m going to go give Joanne a quick call before I check the supplies in the squad.”
“Ok John. Find out what’s going on but don’t say anything to worry her.” Cap replied.
Just as John entered Cap’s office the klaxon sounded.
“Station 51. Motor vehicle accident with injuries. Bear Creek Canyon Road. Mile marker 8. Bear Creek Canyon Road. Mile marker 8. Time out 8:03.”
“Station 51, 10-4 KMG 365.” Cap responded on the microphone. “Dwyer, can you cover for DeSoto on this run?” Shouted Cap into the dayroom.
“Sure Cap. Roy’ll just owe me big time.” Said Dwyer.
“I’m drivin,” hollered Gage as he jumped in the driver’s seat.
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Roy briefly regained consciousness. His head was turned to the right and when he opened his eyes all he could see was sky and some blurry, green things that looked like trees in the distance. He knew where his arm and shoulder were (they were behind his head, he thought), because they hurt like hell. But he couldn’t see or feel the rest of his body. Trying to lift his head only caused more pain and little sparkly stars that blurred his vision.
He didn’t know where he was or why he was there. Right now Roy was too tired and hurt too much to care about anything so he allowed his mind to slip back into the obliviousness of an unconscious state.
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The squad and engine from Station 51 pulled up to the accident scene. Two patrol cars and several police officers were already at the scene. The first thought in Captain Stanley’s head as he surveyed the scene, was that nobody could have survived that! Jumping from the engine he began to issue orders.
“Kelly, check for gas leaks! Lopez, pull the reel line just in case!”
Gage and Dwyer grabbed their equipment from the squad and ran up to a very pale Pete Barnes who looked like he was going to pass out any second. Johnny began helping Pete as Dwyer ran over to the Volvo.
“Hey man, you OK?” Johnny inquired as he helped Pete to the side of the road to sit down. “Are you hurt at all?” he asked.
“N..n..no, not me. But somebody in that car is” he said pointing a shaky finger towards the Volvo.
Incredulously, Johnny looked at the car. “You mean someone is in there?! And alive?!”
“Yeah.” Said Pete “He’s been talking to me. Asking me when help is going to get here.”
“Hey Johnny, there’s someone in here! I need your help!” Dwyer called from the driver’s side of the tangled mess.
Johnny turned to Pete, “If you’re sure you’re OK I’m going to help my partner. But I want you to stay right here so I can check you out better in a minute, OK?” Johnny stood to go, one hand on Pete’s shoulder, looking at him closely.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little shook up. Go help that other guy.”
“What ya got, Dwyer?” Johnny asked running up to the paramedic.
“There’s one guy in here and from the sounds of it he’s not even hurt. Just stuck,” Dwyer answered in awe.
“Well, any suggestions of how to get him out?” Johnny asked looking around as if to find an answer.
“What if we used the engine to pull the car out from under the deck of the truck? Then we can use the K-12 to cut off the top of the car and hopefully the guy will just pop out, if he’s really not hurt like he says.” Dwyer reasoned.
Johnny mulled the idea over for a second.
“Sounds good Dwyer. Let me go talk to Cap.”
Dwyer leaned in towards the car as close as he could get to the person and shouted, "Hang tight; we’ll have you out in a few minutes.”
Captain Stanley agreed with Dwyer’s suggestion of removing the car from underneath the truck. It only took a few minutes for Mike Stoker to position the engine behind the car and tie off a line from the engine to the axle of the Volvo. With Mike in the drivers’ seat he began to slowly back up the hill. With a lot of grinding and squealing resounding off the hillside, the car finally emerged from underneath the truck. Johnny and Dwyer made quick work of using the K-12 as a can opener to cut the flattened roof from the body of the car.
Peering inside they saw Philip Conners lying flat across the front seat. The steering wheel had been pushed back so it lay across the backs of his legs effectively pinning them down. Again using the K-12 and a chain the firefighters were able to pull the steering wheel up and off Phillip’s legs.
“Whoa…hold it there!” said Johnny as Phillip began to push himself up. “You may be injured and don’t really know it yet.”
“No, it’s OK. I’m alright, just a little stiff from being in there so long,” replied Philip.
“Well, Ok then. Step out here real carefully. I’ll help you get over the door. Are you sure you’re alright?”
Johnny said as he helped Philip from the car. “What’s your name? And can you tell me what happened here?”
Johnny and Dwyer helped Philip over to the back of the squad and eased him down to sit on the tailboard.
“My name is Philip Conners.” He slowly started out looking up at the two men. “I’ve been up in the canyon camping and was going home this morning because I have to be back at school for finals on Monday. Anyway, my car is old and needs work; heck I need a whole new car. I guess my brakes failed as I was coming down the hill and I couldn’t stop and then I saw this truck and before I could do anything I just ran into the back of it and. …OH MY GOD!!!”
He ended with a frenzied shout as he remembered his wild ride down the hill. “I…I think I hit somebody up the road a ways.” Philip finished in a whisper.
With the realization and shock of the accident starting to reach him, Philip turned white as a sheet and looked up at Johnny with wide eyes.
“I think I might have hit a guy who was walking in the road.” He said this more slowly and with a look of terror taking over his expression. With that he began to sob.
“Hey, hey, take it easy. Let me just check you over for any injuries and get some oxygen on you,” said Johnny.
“Its gonna be alright.”
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As John Gage was taking a BP reading on Philip Conners, the Thompson family along with Chris DeSoto was making their way down the hill. At about mile marker 10, no one in the Thompson vehicle noticed an abandoned blue Chevy truck parked in the shadows on the side of the road. A little further down the road, Scott’s father came upon an accident scene and saw the fire trucks, ambulance and police cars.
“Must be an accident up there. Hope everyone is ok,” he said.
The police were there directing traffic onto a side road, which took them out, around and away from the accident scene. Chris looked up and tried to see if he could see the number on the fire engine but the detour took them away from the accident pretty quickly and he was only able to get a glimpse of what he thought was a ‘5’ on the side of the squad that was there.
*That might be Dad’s station. I wonder if he’s there?*
After that little excitement, Chris and the Thompson’s continued on and headed for the coast.
“What ya got, Johnny?” Inquired Captain Stanley, leaning over Johnny’s shoulder.
“Well, Cap, I don’t think this guy is hurt too badly, just shaken up and a few minor cuts and bruises.” He finished putting the BP cuff away.
Getting up and motioning the Cap to follow him, John continued.
“He keeps saying that he may have hit someone with his car up the road a bit. It’s really got him freaked, so I think it’s worth checking out.” He said in a half whisper as he kept his eye on Philip.
Cap looked over at Philip sitting on the squad’s tailboard with his head in his hands.
“Let’s ask him how far back up the road. If there is a victim, maybe he can at least get us in the ballpark of an area to search. Does he need to go to Rampart?”
“Yeah we’re sending him and the driver of the truck in, but neither of them requires an IV, so we can let them go in unaccompanied.” Johnny walked over to Philip and knelt at his side.
Charlie Dwyer was just finished tightening the straps on the gurney getting him ready for transport to Rampart.
Gently Johnny asked, “Philip, you say that you think you may have hit someone up the road a piece. Do you think you can remember how far up the road that was?”
Philip gave the dark-haired paramedic a very apologetic look.
“I’m very sorry, but the best I can remember is that it’s about a mile or two back up there. I know it was at a pretty sharp curve and there was a guardrail that I scraped against…Sorry, that’s the best I can do.”
With that he looked away and closed his eyes, hoping to shut out the world and end this nightmare that had suddenly become his life.
“I hope you find him,” he whispered as the ambulance attendants wheeled him away.
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Cap moved over to where the engine crew had congregated after finishing their duties. No gas leaks were detected but the street was washed down as a precaution, the battery cables had been disconnected and the vehicles were readied for the tow trucks. Police officer Vince Howard was finishing up his report as he wandered over towards the Station 51 crew.
“Boys, Vince, we may have another victim up the road a way”
He went on to explain to the others what Philip had told him.
“Mount up Kelly and Lopez…Mike, let’s get this rig turned around and head up the hill. We’ll let the squad lead the way.”
“I’ll be right behind you Captain Stanley after I call my Dispatch,” said Vince heading towards his patrol car.
Cap keyed the mike.
“L.A...Engine 51 with Squad 51. We may have another victim associated with this accident at our present location, located along Bear Creek Canyon Road somewhere between mile markers 8 and 11. Please respond another ambulance. Will advise when we have determined exact location.”
“L.A... 10-4 Engine 51.”
Johnny Gage jumped in behind the wheel of the squad. Charlie Dwyer was in the passenger seat. This response was turning out to be a lot longer than he ever wanted it to be.
*Roy DeSoto, you are really going to owe me big time.* Dwyer thought.
“Man, is this run ever going to end?!” Johnny asked. “It’s already ten to nine! I didn’t get a chance to eat breakfast this morning and I’m really getting hungry.”
“I don’t feel in the least bit sorry for you, Gage. I’m sitting here working and DeSoto is probably back at the station lounging around drinking coffee and reading the newspaper! I should be sacked out in my bed right now getting about 6 hours of much needed sleep! We did have kind of a busy night, last night ya know.” Dwyer shot back, as he crossed his arms and looked out the window.
“Oh yeah, sorry about that.” Johnny apologized. “In all the excitement, I almost forgot I’m supposed to be working with Roy today.”
With that, Johnny chuckled as he eased the squad in front of the engine and slowly started up the hill.
“I guess we better keep a sharp eye out. You look on the right side and I’ll look left.” Johnny said. “I don’t know exactly what we’re looking for but hopefully it will be something obvious.”
Dwyer picked up the squads mic and depressed the key.
“Engine 51…this is squad 51. Let us know if you see anything unusual. You may have a better advantage point from there.”
“10-4 Squad 51” Cap answered back.
Slowly the two red trucks and Vince’s police car wound their way up the hill. Traffic in this area was pretty light so they didn’t have to contend with too many civilian vehicles and the ones they did encounter were coming down the hill instead of going up. No words were spoken, only seven pairs of intense eyes looking for anything out of the ordinary. They reached mile marker 9. Nothing. Slowly, slowly up the hill they lumbered. The road and the terrain off the right side of road were becoming steeper. The whine of Big Red’s engine pitched higher and louder as it strained to pull the heavy truck up the hill at such a slow speed.
“Squad 51...This is Engine 51. See anything yet.”
“Negative Cap. Still looking. Squad 51 out.”
They passed mile marker 10. About 50 yards up Johnny spotted the guardrail that Philip’s car may have tangled with. It was bowed out slightly and looked all scratched and scraped. Pulling to the right side of the road and stopping, Johnny and Dwyer jumped out of the squad and began looking carefully at the guardrail. Mike Stoker pulled the engine over behind the squad. Cap, Kelly and Lopez climbed off the engine and joined the paramedics by the rail. Vince parked his police cruiser behind the engine with his lights flashing as a warning to other motorists.
“Do you think this could be the spot?” Inquired Cap.
Looking closely and feeling the distressed metal, Johnny replied, “Well, this could be fresh scraping. It’s still pretty rough…like it didn’t happen too long ago.”
As everyone was surveying the guardrail and looking down the embankment for a possible victim, Chet Kelly happened to look up the road. About 25 yards away parked off on the opposite side of the road in the dark shadow of the hillside he spied an old blue Chevy truck.
He thought, *Gee, that truck looks a lot like….* His heart leapt into his throat when he realized just whose truck he was looking at and who was missing from morning roll call.
“Roy…!” Chet gasped.
All eyes turned to look at a stunned Chet Kelly. Following his line of sight the men from Station 51 spotted the blue truck up the road and it didn’t take but a moment before they all came to the same bleak conclusion.
“Are you sure it’s Roy’s truck?” Asked Cap hoping for a negative answer.
“Yeah, it’s his,” replied Johnny, willing the anxiety he suddenly felt to go away. “I can tell just by looking at the beat-up license plate and the dent in the left front fender. Damn! You don’t think…?”
Cap ran back to the engine to notify dispatch of what they had found and let them know that they would be commencing a search to find their missing paramedic. Johnny, Dwyer, Lopez and Kelly all ran to Roy’s truck wishing and praying that they would find Roy…and find him alive.
After doing a careful search of the area and not finding any sign of him, the men gathered back by the squad.
“Cap, we can’t find any sign of Roy around here.” Johnny said.
“Well, if he was the one that guy’s car hit, maybe he went over the guardrail and down this embankment.”
They all looked over the rail and began scanning the embankment.
Cap threw his leg over the guardrail and tested the ground with his foot.
“It’s a little steep but the ground seems to be hard enough and there are plenty of rocks and trees for foot and handholds. Let’s fore-go ropes but I want everyone to be extremely careful. I want to get this search started right now. Spread out along here in a line and we’ll work our way down.” Cap commanded. “He could be anywhere behind these rocks and trees so look at everything.”
Slowly working their way down the hill the 6 men, minus Stoker who stayed with the engine to relay messages, were in a line that stretched about 50 feet across, with 10 feet in between each man. That way they could search the most ground in the shortest amount of time. If they didn’t find Roy in this area, they would go back to the top, reform their line and start again in another area.
About 10 minutes later after turning over every rock and looking behind every tree the men were nearing the point at which the embankment leveled off and then dropped off into the ravine. Discouraged that they hadn’t found Roy, Captain Stanley was just about to order his men back to the top to regroup and canvas another area when something shiny caught his eye.
A tiny bit of sun was shining through the clouds and treetops causing a reflection off something metal. Cap squinted his eyes and leaned forward to take a close look.
“Oh, my God.” He exclaimed as his eyes came to rest on the object of reflection. It was a watch. And that watch was attached to a wrist.
“John! Charlie! I think we got him!” Cap shouted.
Carefully Hank approached the area. He had yet to see a face and body of this person and didn’t know for sure if it was really even Roy. Upon closer inspection, Cap could see that it was indeed Roy and saw also that he was in quite a precarious position. The others came running to where Cap stood and were utterly stunned by what they saw!
“What the? …How…?” Johnny stammered.
Carefully he started to approach the edge of the embankment but hadn’t gotten closer than 3 feet from Roy when the dirt started to crumble and fall away into the ravine. Everyone gasped!
“Back off John, or you’re going to send both you and Roy off the edge!!” Cap shouted with urgency in his voice.
“Madre Dios.” Marco prayed.
Johnny tried leaning towards Roy as close as he could.
“Roy?” Johnny said fairly softly not wanting to startle his partner and cause him to fall. There was no answer.
“Roy!” Johnny said. This time louder, breaking the quiet of the of the forest setting. Still, no answer.
Studying the situation, Cap realized that Roy was in really rough shape and they needed to get him off this ledge as soon as possible. Heck, he didn’t even know if Roy was still alive. Hesitating, he looked over at his dark haired paramedic.
“John? …uh, can you tell if he is alive or not?” There, Cap did it. He quietly voiced the question all his men had wanted to ask.
Leaning over as far as he dared, John did a visual inspection of Roy.
“Umm... far as I can tell… yeah, yeah! I can see him breathing. It’s pretty shallow and slow, but he is breathing. His color is a little gray; he’s definitely unconscious and probably shocky. It looks like his arm is stuck between those two rocks and that’s what’s holding him on the edge there. Wow!” Johnny managed to exclaim. “My guess would be that his shoulder is probably dislocated along with who knows what other problems. Man! I have never seen anything like this before! Roy, how did you do this?!”
Chet, finally daring to speak asked, “How are we going to get him off of there, Cap?”
“It looks like that’s going to take some doing,” replied Cap thinking intently. “The edge there is too unstable for any of us to walk on, even John. No way can we get the ladder truck in here and I don’t even think a helicopter with a hoist would be able to reach him because of all the trees.”
“Well, whatever we do Cap we need to do it fast,” said Dwyer, who was also doing his own visual inspection. “He’s probably been there too long already and needs medical attention now!!”
“You’re right about that Dwyer!” Cap looked around focusing on trees to use for rope holds and other objects in the area that might aid in their rescue attempt. Suddenly he got a gleam in his eye as he hit upon an idea.
“Engine 51… this is HT 51. Mike, we found Roy! We need all the squads’ equipment. Put everything in the stokes including the backboard. Also…,” he looked around as he calculated just what he would need. “Get out 2 safety belts, some ropes, and 2 block and tackles and bring down 2, 16 foot extension ladders from the engine. I’m sending up Dwyer, Kelly and Lopez to help you.”
“Engine 51….10-4” came back Stoker’s detached voice.
The three named firefighters started to dash up the hill.
“Sounds like you have an idea, Cap.” Vince said.
“Yeah, I think I do. See how this sounds to you….” Cap began to explain. “We can’t walk close to the edge of the ravine without the ground giving way, so we need some type of boom to reach out and over the edge without touching the ground around Roy. From there we can at least get a life belt on Roy to insure that he won’t fall into the ravine and then lift his arm out from in between those rocks. And we’ll accomplish that by…” he continued on as he pointed out things to Vince.
Soon they heard the guys coming back with the equipment and went to help. Johnny took the biophone from the stokes and prepared it for transmission as Captain Stanley took the rest of the men to explain and set up his boom idea.
“Rampart, this is Squad 51, how do you read? …Rampart, Squad 51. Do you read, over?” Johnny said with impatience. “Come on…Come on….”
“Squad 51, this is Rampart. We read you loud and clear.” Dixie
McCall’s voice came back over the airwaves.
“Rampart, we have a 29 year old male, victim of a fall down a 40 foot embankment. Victim is inaccessible at this time. Please stand by.”
“Standing by 51. 51? How long until you are able to access the victim?”
Johnny looked at Captain Stanley. “20 –30 minutes, John.”
“Rampart…Squad 51. Extrication could take 20 – 30 minutes. Ah…Rampart, please be advised the victim is Roy Desoto.”
Dr. Kelly Bracket’s voice came over the biophone, “10-4 51. We’ll be standing by.”
As Johnny was talking with Rampart Hospital, Captain Stanley was directing his men and Vince in the set-up of his “boom” idea.
There were two large trees about 10 feet up from the edge of the ravine near Roy. They were about 8 feet apart. Chet and Marco took one extension ladder, laid it on its side between the two trees parallel to the edge of the ravine and lashed it to the trees’ trunks. This ladder would serve as a base or restraint for the ladder that would be the “boom”.
Mike and Charlie tied a short rope to each side of the top of the second extension ladder, the “boom”. This rope would serve as the yoke to which a block and tackle assembly was attached. Having a yoke would help stabilize the “boom” and prevent the ladder from tilting side to side as they lifted and lowered it.
A longer rope was drawn through the block and tackle and attached to a second block and tackle that was secured to a large tree 20 feet up the slope.
By placing the feet of the second extension ladder through and against the rungs of the base ladder the firefighters could raise and lower the second (boom) ladder using the pulley assembly. The “boom” ladder was also secured to the base ladder. As complicated as it sounds, the skilled firefighters completed this task in less than 10 minutes.
Now with everything in place, Mike, Chet, Marco and Vince were up manning the block and tackle assembly by the big tree that controlled the “boom” ladder. Captain Stanley and Charlie Dwyer were manning the rope attached to the safety belt that would be put around Roy. Johnny, being the lightest of the bunch, would be the one at the end of the “boom” ladder assisting Roy. He had his safety belt on around his waist to which he attached the safety belt for Roy. He also carried a cervical collar knowing he would need to secure Roy’s head and neck before moving him. He would have liked to take more equipment, like a backboard, but knew they could only put a limited amount of weight on the ladder in this position.
“Ok Mike, lower the “boom” ladder.” Cap commanded.
The “boom” ladder was lowered to about 5 inches off the ground right next to Roy where he lay at the edge of the ravine. The end of the “boom” ladder extended 6 feet out over the ravine.
“Ok….Stop! ….Now tie off that line and make it tight!” Said Cap. “John, are you ready?”
“Yeah, Cap. Let’s get this done,” replied John, with only a little shake in his voice.
Johnny warily started to creep out on the “boom” ladder. This idea of Cap’s was pretty far out there, but amazingly enough it seemed to be working. So far anyway.
He made it to the edge of the ravine and laid his body on the length of the ladder next to Roy. Being able to get a closer look now, Johnny was astonished at the extent of Roy’s injuries. And he knew he wasn’t even seeing all of them. He took the safety belt for Roy and looped the rope around one rung of the ladder. Then he reached down through the rungs with the belt and began to secure it around Roy’s waist. Roy’s eyes fluttered open and he began to moan.
“Hey, there Pally, just stay still and don’t move. We’re going to get you out of here.” Johnny calmly reassured him while continuing to fasten his safety belt.
Roy’s eyes were open but unfocused. He uttered one more soft moan then closed his eyes and fell back into unconsciousness.
*Just as well,* thought Johnny. *Its going to hurt like hell when we lift him out of here.*
He reached down to check for a pulse on the carotid artery.
*Hmmm…Wasn’t great, but it was there. *
Next he rested his hand on Roy’s stomach to count respirations.
*10 and shallow. *
Johnny carefully lifted Roy’s head and slid the cervical collar underneath and cinched it shut. Reaching over to where Roy’s arm was caught between the rocks Johnny grimaced when he saw how much swelling there was. He tried to move the arm but it was stuck tight.
*Looks like it’s probably broken, too*, he thought.
“Cap, there’s too much swelling already, I can’t pull Roy’s arm out of here. I’m going to try digging beneath it and see if I can slide it out that way. I need you and Charlie to pull up the slack on Roy’s rope.” John hollered.
“Got it John,” answered Cap. “Let us know when it’s enough.”
Johnny watched as Roy’s body slowly began to lift with the tension of the rope.
“Easy, easy…Ok, that’s good. Hold it there!”
Using the blunt end of the scissors from his belt, Johnny started to dig away at the dirt underneath Roy’s arm and between the rocks. The ground was pretty soft there and in no time Johnny had dug away enough to be able to slip Roy’s arm down and through the rocks all the while being grateful that Roy was unconscious because he knew this was a horribly painful process. Unable to secure his arm with anything, Johnny gently laid it by Roy’s side.
A collective sigh of relief could be heard from the men on the hillside. Up to this point the silence had been deafening as each man was unknowingly holding his breath.
“Ok Cap, I think we’re ready here. I can’t do anymore for him until we get him on solid ground.”
“Mike!” Cap shouted. “Raise up the “boom”…real slow!”
Mike, Chet and Marco began to pull the rope that would raise the “boom” ladder. Slowly Johnny and Roy together were lifted from the edge of the ravine.
“Keep pulling…a little more…little more…Ok, stop!” Shouted Cap. “Hold it right there.”
The “boom” ladder was held at a 20-degree incline. Roy hung limply by his safety belt 10 feet in the air on the ravine side of the ladder but now well away from the edge. Johnny was on the up-hill side of the ladder guiding Roy’s body and trying to keep it from swinging back and forth.
“Ok, Cap. Get ready to lower Roy’s line.” Johnny directed. “Marco, come take Dwyer’s place and Dwyer, get the backboard ready. We’ll try to just lay him down on it as he gets closer to the ground.”
Johnny slowly descended the ladder as Cap and Marco were lowering Roy. He and Dwyer eased Roy gently onto the backboard. Johnny was worried. During this entire ordeal, Roy had not made one single sound, no moan, no scream, no nothing.
Dwyer picked up the receiver of the bio-phone, as Johnny began to get Roy’s vitals. “Rampart. Squad 51.”
“Go ahead 51” Brackett jumped on the line as if he had been standing on top of the machine waiting for their transmission.
“Rampart, we have extricated our victim. C-collar has been applied. Victim is on a backboard. He has an apparent dislocated left shoulder, left arm and wrist fracture.”
Looking down Roy’s body, Dwyer could see the odd angle of Roy’s right foot.
“Possible broken right ankle and numerous abrasions and contusions about the head and chest. Victim is unconscious at this time.”
Taking Johnny’s little notebook from him, Dwyer continued his transmission.
“Vitals are as follows: pulse 45, respirations 10 and shallow, BP is 90 over 50. Pupils are unequal and sluggish.”
“51. Immobilize shoulder and arm, splint the ankle. Start IV D5W TKO; put him on 15 liters of O2 non-rebreather. Monitor vitals every 5 minutes and get him in here as fast as you can!”
Dwyer repeated back the instructions from Rampart and signed off as Johnny started the called-for IV, then carefully wrapped Roy’s arm and shoulder to immobilize it. Dwyer applied the oxygen mask and splinted Roy’s ankle, working as quickly as they could yet carefully knowing the urgent need to get Roy to the hospital.
“Cap, is the ambulance here?” inquired Johnny.
“Yeah, they’ve been waiting up top for about 15 minutes now.”
“Ok, we’re ready here. Let’s lift up and put him in the stokes. On three…one…two…three!” commanded Johnny.
Roy’s backboard was carefully lifted and loaded in the stokes stretcher. Under the watchful eyes of Johnny and Dwyer, Cap, Marco, Chet and Mike each took a corner of the stokes and gently lifted their friend and co-worker, hoping to give Roy a smooth, easy ride up the hill. At the top he was loaded into the ambulance with Johnny in attendance and whisked off to Rampart.
Dwyer finished loading the supplies into the squad and followed after the ambulance. Cap and the rest of the engine crew headed back down the hill, each saying a silent prayer for Roy, to retrieve all the gear they had used in this very unique rescue.
*This certainly has to be one for the books.* thought Cap.
Roy held fairly stable all the way to Rampart, but never regained consciousness. Johnny checked his vitals every 5 minutes during the 20-minute ride, talking to him constantly and willing him to awaken. He had just replaced the bag of D5W with a new one when the ambulance arrived at Rampart. Dixie McCall and Kelly Brackett were at the door of Rampart’s ER waiting for the ambulance to arrive.
“Treatment room 3!” Brackett ordered as soon as the doors of the ambulance were flung open.
Taking a quick cursory look he questioned Johnny. “What the hell happened?!”
“Far as we can tell, Doc, he was hit by a car, fell down an embankment and caught his arm between some rocks. Actually, it was the rocks that saved his life; otherwise he would have ended up in a 30 foot deep ravine.”
Johnny reiterated all this while he helped to transfer Roy from the gurney to the table in exam room 3. Dixie began the task of removing Roy’s clothing and getting a new set of vitals. Still, there was no response from Roy. He remained deathly quiet throughout the whole procedure.
“Thanks, Johnny. We’ll take it from here,” said Brackett.
“But Doc….” Johnny protested.
“Don’t worry John; we’ll keep you informed as to his condition,” said the Doctor as he motioned for Carol to escort Johnny from the room.
Forty minutes later, Hank Stanley and the rest of the crew from Station 51 filed into the ER waiting room. Spying Johnny splayed out in one of the uncomfortable, plastic waiting room chairs; they all went to congregate around him.
“Any word yet, Johnny?” Asked Cap.
Sitting up straight in the chair, Johnny rubbed his hand over his face, “No, nothing yet. Dixie said she would be out as soon as they knew anything.” He said sadly.
No sooner had those words been spoken than both Dixie and Dr. Brackett came to see the men in the waiting room.
“Good, I’m glad that you are all here. Did anybody contact Roy’s wife?” Began Dr. Brackett.
Johnny answered, “Yeah, I did Doc. She had to find someone to watch Jennifer, but she should be here pretty soon.”
Somberly, Brackett began. “I think you all know Roy is in pretty bad shape. Right now I would list him as critical.”
A sharp gasp was heard from all the men.
Brackett continued, “However, the good news is that his injuries are not considered life threatening. He has a pretty severe concussion, which we will be keeping a close eye on in case a subdural hematoma develops. The abrasions and contusions will all heal eventually. Right now though despite the head injury we have to take him up to surgery to reduce his shoulder, get it back in place and at the same time we’ll cast his arm and his ankle.”
He paused.
“My suggestion to you gentlemen is to go back to the station and get some rest. Roy will not be up for any visitors until probably sometime late tomorrow evening.”
Cap answered for all his men. “Thanks Doc. Will you give us a call and let us know how the surgery went?”
“You bet, Hank. We’ll take good care of him.”
Captain Stanley turned to Johnny. “John, I’d like to allow you to stay here for Roy, but I need you to work this shift. The department is really short-handed today. There is nothing you can do for him right now anyway. Doc said that he’d keep us informed.”
“But Cap….” Johnny pleaded. Roy had always been there for him when he was injured and now he had the chance to repay that debt.
Dix stepped in. “It’s ok Johnny. I’ll take good care of your partner. You go back to work and when you get a run you can stop in and see him. He might even be out of surgery by the time you get back this way.” She smiled.
Johnny finally agreed and all the men from Station 51, minus Roy, headed back to their rigs and the firehouse.
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Later that afternoon, Johnny peeked in the ICU waiting room. “Hi, Joanne.” He said softly.
Joanne looked up and gave a little smile. “Hi Johnny, I’m glad you’re here.”
“Yeah, we finally got a run that we had to do a follow-up on. How’s Roy doing? Have you been able to see him?”
“Only for a couple of minute’s right after he came out of surgery. Dr. Brackett said his shoulder was a real mess. But with time and lots of physical therapy he should be ok….Johnny, what happened to him?”
“Well, I don’t know for sure. We were called out on a run right away this morning to an MVA. This guys’ car was all smashed up underneath the bed of a flatbed truck and believe it or not the guy was hardly hurt. But he kept saying he thought he might have hit someone further up who was in the road. Well……”
Johnny went on to explain to Joanne all that he knew of the accident and the jury-rigged rescue they had to do.
“…So I guess we’ll just have to wait for Roy to fill in the missing pieces, like, what was he doing in the middle of the road? And why was he up that canyon road anyway at that time of the morning!”
“Well, I can answer your second question,” said Joanne. “Roy dropped Chris off at Scott Thompson’s this morning. His folks just bought a new house up there at the top of the ridge. They invited Chris to go to their beach house for the weekend. He won’t be back ‘til tomorrow evening….I thought about calling them there, but I didn’t want to spoil their weekend too.”
“Oh, that’s probably a good plan,” said Johnny. “But it still doesn’t explain why he was in the middle of the road!”
At that moment the door to the ICU waiting room opened.
“Hi Johnny.” Greeted Kelly Brackett.
“Hey Doc. How’s Roy doing?
“Well, Johnny…” said Doctor Brackett as he poured himself a cup of coffee. “He’s looking pretty good…now. That shoulder of his was really in rough shape.”
“How so, Doc?”
“Well, not only was it dislocated, but all the muscles and tendons were torn. It should heal fine but he will need a lot of time and physical therapy before it will be back to normal. Can you explain to me how so much damage could have occurred like that?”
Johnny got up and poured himself a cup of coffee and offered some to Joanne, who accepted his offering.
“Well, Doc. The only way I can figure it out is that when he was bouncing down that embankment, he happened to come down with his arm right between the two rocks.”
He said this as he demonstrated with his own arm.
“His arm then stuck there but the rest of him went over the edge into the ravine. So that’s probably when all the damage happened. The weight of his body falling ripped all that stuff in his arm. As gruesome as that sounds, those rocks saved his life! Kept him from falling another 30 feet.”
Joanne gasped at the thought of Roy’s body falling off the embankment and into the ravine.
“Well, if that’s the case, Roy is one lucky guy,” said the doctor. “Maybe some of your luck has finally rubbed off on him.”
That brought a smile to John and Joanne’s faces. John sobered quickly though.
“Has he regained consciousness yet, Doc.?”
“No.” Dr. Brackett explained. “We did an X-ray series of his skull and saw what might be a small hematoma.
That may be why he is not coming too yet. But it’s very small and we want to give it some time to see if it will dissolve on its own. I’d rather not have Roy go through more surgery if it’s not necessary.”
Johnny and Joanne nodded in agreement.
“So, if there are no more questions, I have to get back to the ER.”
Dr. Brackett looked at them with concern. “Are you two going to be alright?” He asked.
“Huh…umm sure, Doc,” answered Johnny as he collected all his thoughts which at that moment were a thousand miles away.
“Good, I’ll see you later then.” He said as he walked out the door.
“Johnny? Would you like to go see Roy with me?” Said Joanne. “The nurses have been letting me see him for a few minutes each hour and its time again now…. Do you want to come?”
“Yeah, I would Jo, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course not, Johnny! After all, you are family!” She said as she grabbed
his arm and pulled him from the couch towards the door.
Johnny and Joanne quietly entered the ICU area. Listening to the whirring, swishing, thumping and beeping sounds that were all an integral part of the ICU, Johnny slowly moved to the third bed down from the Nurses station. Every sound there was an indicator of life in its continuance. Johnny hated those sounds. He’d had to rely on them at times as his own life hung in the balance after more than one life threatening injuries or illnesses.
Joanne walked quickly to Roy’s bedside and took hold of his one good hand. He was as white at the sheet he was laying on. His left shoulder and arm were swathed in a white bandage that covered more than half his torso. His right leg from foot to mid thigh was raised off the bed by several pillows and in a soft, white cast. But it was Roy’s face and the exposed part of his torso that got Johnny’s attention….There was so many cuts and bruises! His right eye was swollen shut and all black and blue. Roy must have hit every rock and tree root there was going down that hill, thought Johnny. He quietly stepped in and put his hand on Roy’s right shoulder.
“Hey there, Pally.” He spoke softly. “You look a little worse for wear. Doc says you’re going to be all right though. They’re taking real good care of you.”
Just then the HT Johnny was carrying beeped three times.
“Looks like I have to get back to work, Pally. See ya again soon.” John said softly.
With a quick wave at Joanne he was hurrying out the door to join up with his temporary partner.
Joanne watched him go.
She turned back to Roy, squeezed his hand, gave him a kiss on the forehead and quietly said, “I love you, Sweetheart.”
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Joanne had spent most of the day at Roy’s bedside until finally leaving for home at about 4 o’clock with strict instructions to the nursing staff to call her if there was any change in his condition. Jennifer had spent the day with friends.
At 6:45 a car pulled up in the driveway of the DeSoto home. Joanne and Jen had just finished their dinner when their company arrived and went outside to meet the happy, excited people who were spilling from the vehicle.
“Don’t say anything to Chris about Dad yet.” Joanne warned Jennifer. “I want to tell him later after everything settles down.”
“Ok, Mom,’ replied Jenny.
“Hi Mom!” Chris ran up to his mom and gave her a great big hug. “We had the best time! The beach was great!! Where’s Dad? I want to tell him about the neat caves we found!”
“Chris, Chris settle down. Dad’s not home right now…..David and Lynn how are you? Sounds like you had a good time.” Joanne greeted the Thompson’s.
“Hi Joanne,” greeted Lynn in return. “Yes, we had a very good time and as you can hear the boys had a great time. It was so nice of you to let Chris come with us. He and Scott get along so well.”
“That’s nice to hear. I know Chris really misses seeing him at school. We’ll have to let them get together real soon, maybe down here next time.”
“That’s funny...Roy said the exact same thing yesterday morning when he dropped Chris off at our house. You two must really share some close vibes.” David commented, not knowing that as he spoke Roy was lying in a hospital room, seriously hurt and unconscious, and Joanne was dreading how she would tell her young son about the accident that happened the morning he left for the beach.
“Well, there’s school tomorrow so I guess we better get going, David….Scott!” Lynn called to her son. “Say goodbye to Chris now, we need to go home and get ready for tomorrow.”
“Ok, Mom.” Scott called back with a sigh. “See ya Chris. Thanks for coming with us.”
“Yeah, see ya Scott. I had a really good time, thanks.”
The two boys parted company as the adults finished their conversation. The Thompson’s climbed into their vehicle and left on their journey home. Joanne DeSoto slowly followed after her children into their house.
After emptying Chris’s bag of dirty clothes and sand, Joanne was able to coerce him into taking a nice, hot shower and then got him into his pjs, even though it was still pretty early in the evening. She figured now would be the time to tell him about what happened to Roy.
“Chris, we need to talk.” She began.
“Yeah sure, Mom. Ah…where’s Dad?
“That’s what we need to talk about Chris.”
Slowly and carefully Joanne explained to Chris what happened to Roy. She thought she had done a good job of detailing the accident and Roy’s injuries, without getting too technical for the 10 year old, but in the end was totally unprepared for Chris’ reaction to all that had happened.
He just sat. Mutely quiet with a blank look on his face. After a few silent minutes, Chris asked a couple of questions concerning the location of the accident and the time that it happened. After she had answered those, he quietly got up from the couch and barely whispered, “It’s all my fault.”
Then he left the room.
Joanne sat dumbfounded as to why Chris thought this was all his fault. She couldn’t imagine why he would think that. Later that night as Joanne readied herself for bed; she checked on Chris and found him quietly crying in his sleep.
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Joanne was up, already dressed, had called the hospital to check on Roy’s condition and was now fixing breakfast for her children when she heard a pair of feet lightly pad into the kitchen. Without even turning around, she knew the feet belonged to Chris.
“Mom?” He said softly. “Do I have to go to school today?”
Joanne had been expecting this question from both her kids this morning, so during the long night she had time to debate with herself on what she should let them do about school. Jen had had a pretty restful night but Joanne knew that Chris tossed and turned and had bad dreams most of the night.
“Chris, I would like to let you stay home from school, but there is really nothing that you can do for Dad if you do stay home. You can’t go see him at the hospital yet because he is still in ICU. So…I think it would be better if you went to school and did all the things you normally do. That way, it will take your mind off Dad and even make the day go by faster for you.”
Joanne looked at her son and was struck again by how much he looked and acted like his father even though he was only 10; the same blond hair, the same blue eyes. Right now the blond hair was mused up from a restless night in bed and the blue eyes looked so sad and were rimmed with redness, the kind of redness that comes from crying. Joanne felt so bad for her son but she felt this was the right thing to do today.
“Now go jump in the shower.” She said. “It will make you feel better and then get ready for school, please. I’ll have breakfast ready by the time you get back down here.”
With slumping shoulders weighed down by a heavy heart, Chris left the kitchen to go back upstairs to do as his mother had asked.
A few minutes after Chris left, Joanne replayed the same scene with her daughter, Jennifer. And she too was sent off with the same instructions her brother, Chris had received. Finally, Joanne could get on with the task of making breakfast and planning her day.
Joanne thought about the reactions each of her children were having to Roy’s accident. Roy had been injured many times before and even required hospitalization; the kids seemed to take it in stride as just a part of life.
This time Jennifer was reacting about the same as she had before, but Christopher’s reaction has been so out of character for him. Joanne felt that Chris was taking Roy’s injury harder than ever before. And she couldn’t understand why he should think that all this was his fault. Before she could come up with a good answer, Chris and Jen were sitting themselves at the table awaiting their breakfast.
*Maybe this is hitting him harder because he is getting older.* were Joanne’s final thoughts about the subject as she joined her children for breakfast.
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It took two long days and nights before Roy finally began to show signs of consciousness. The hematoma Dr. Brackett found grew a little larger than he would have liked but then it began to dissolve on its own, so no further surgery was necessary. Between Joanne, Johnny, Dixie McCall, the doctors, the crew of Station 51 and various other firefighters, Roy was never alone. Someone was always at his bedside, monitoring his breathing, holding his hand, checking his bandages and talking to him. After the first day the nurses in ICU started to turn a blind eye to all the visitors at Roy’s bedside, even though technically they were not allowed to be there. They seemed to be a very concerned group of people though and the nurses already knew what a special person Roy was, so they felt that it was in the best interest of everyone to let the visitors be.
Dr. Brackett was in the process of doing his morning rounds, checking the status of all his patients. He was in Roy DeSoto’s room at the time with Dixie McCall when he noticed it. In fact they both noticed it at exactly the same time. ‘It’ was that eerie kind of sensation you get when you feel someone is watching you. Dixie was reading Roy’s BP rate and Dr. Brackett was looking at Roy’s medical chart. Simultaneously they both felt ‘it’ and looked at Roy. He was silently looking from Dixie to Dr. Brackett and then back to Dixie through his half-closed left eye. Not making any sound, not moving anything else, just the one eye going back and forth, back and forth.
“Well, hello handsome,” said Dixie ever so quietly. “Are you finally going to wake up?”
No answer, the eye going back and forth ever so slowly.
Dr. Brackett scowled and looked closely at his patient.
“I don’t think he’s quite all there yet Dix. But it just might be a good start for him. What are his vital signs?”
Dixie relayed the readings she had just taken to Kelly Brackett who wrote them down on Roy’s medical chart. By the time they looked up again from their work, Roy had shut his one good eye and had fallen back to sleep.
Dr. Brackett twitched the side of his mouth as he looked at Roy.
“Well, his vital signs are looking better at least. But if he isn’t showing more signs of consciousness by, say…oh…2 o’clock today, then we’ll do a few more neurological tests to find out what’s going on in there. OK, Dix? ...Dix?”
Dr. Brackett looked at her with concern.
“Dix?” He repeated.
Dixie, who had been deep in thought staring at Roy, finally came out of her reverie.
“Huh? …Oh sorry, Kel…You know Roy is such a good, kind-hearted person, I was just thinking how many people will be affected if anything happens to him.” She said softly, eyes brimming with tears.
Kel looked at her closely. “Including you, huh?”
“Yes, including me! …Especially me! Kel, I really love these guys.” She pleaded. “Please don’t let anything happen to Roy!”
With that she quickly left the room to get her emotions in check and to get on with her duties.
Kelly Brackett watched her leave with sadness in his own eyes. He looked down at a sleeping Roy DeSoto, twitched his mouth twice.
“We’re doing everything we can for you Roy, please don’t disappoint us. If you can, let’s do this one for Dixie.”
With that, he sighed and quietly left the room to give the ICU nurse updated instructions for Roy’s care.
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Joanne was once again sitting by Roy’s bedside. She had been there since arriving at the hospital shortly after sending Chris and Jen off to school. There had been a lot of people in and out of Roy’s room, visiting, checking his vitals, checking his condition and checking on Joanne. The guys from the station had been in and out as time would permit; it was a day off for them.
Johnny had spent almost all day Sunday by Roy’s side and most of this morning sitting with Joanne. As difficult as it was for him to sit still for so long, Johnny found that when he was by Roy’s side he felt almost a magical calming effect.
*I guess this time it’s my turn to watch over you, partner* he thought.
He was extremely worried about his friend and very concerned that he had not woken up yet. Johnny had talked with Vince and the police investigating the accident scene and it was determined that what happened had been a freak accident with Roy just being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“Johnny, you’ve been here a long time today. Why don’t you take a break and go home for a little while.”
Joanne said feeling the restlessness in her husband’s best friend and partner.
“You’ll be going back to work tomorrow and I’m sure there are some things that need to be done around your place before you go to the station in the morning.”
Johnny knew she was right, but just had a gut feeling that right now was not the time to go.
“I’ll go in a little bit, Joanne. I promise.”
For the next 20 minutes he and Joanne sat and quietly talked about “things”…what the kids were doing, what the weather was going to be like for the rest of the week, who the new nurses were at the hospital that Johnny had taken an interest in. On and on they talked not noticing that someone was quietly watching them.
Finally, during a lull in the conversation, Johnny glanced over at Roy. He had to do a double take when he realized that Roy was staring at them through his one good eye.
“Roy!” Johnny exclaimed a little too loudly as he jumped out of his chair.
Catching Roy’s grimace at the unexpected sound and movement, Johnny calmed a little bit and slowly moved in closer.
“Roy …hey partner. How are you doin’?”
Joanne moved in next to Johnny, a look of relief and a smile on her face.
“Hi, Honey,” was all she had the courage to say, not trusting her emotions.
Everything was still a little blurry, but as Johnny and Joanne moved in closer, Roy was able to recognize them and a small smile curled at the sides of his mouth beneath the oxygen mask.
A sigh of relief escaped from both Johnny and Joanne as they could see Roy recognized them and knew who they were.
“Roy, I’m going to go get a nurse and have them page Dr. Brackett. I’ll be right back, Ok?” Johnny said with the hint of a smile in his voice.
Roy nodded his head ever so slightly, but they could tell that he heard and understood what Johnny was saying to him. Johnny gave Joanne a huge smile and a hug as he scurried out of the room.
“J…Jo...”
“Don’t try to talk, honey. When the Johnny and the doctor get here, they’ll tell you what happened.”
Joanne knew that would be the first thing on Roy’s mind and she wasn’t sure of all the facts of the accident and would rather that Dr. Brackett explain the injuries.
“…’k...”
Joanne just looked at Roy with love and awe, softly stroking his right hand and arm and whispering thank you’s to a higher power above.
Roy was just starting to drift off again when Johnny, Dr. Brackett and Dixie McCall came rushing into the room.
“Welcome back, Roy. We were beginning to get a little worried about you,” said the doctor. “I’m going to ask Joanne and Johnny to leave for a few minutes so Dix and I can do a quick examination. Is that ok with you?”
Again, Roy ever so slightly nodded his head. Already he was feeling very fatigued. Johnny and Joanne took that as their cue and quietly left the room.
Doctor Brackett exchanged the oxygen mask for a nasal cannula and then began the assessment of his patient as Dixie began to get a new set of vitals.
“Ok, Roy, you know the routine. What is your name?”
No answer. Brackett looked over at Dixie.
“Roy, what is your name? Can you tell me?” Doc Brackett asked again.
Roy’s eye was open and he looked as though he was deep in thought.
“Rrr…oy…D…ssss…o…o.” The slurred words came very slowly and with much hesitation.
“That’s good, Roy. Now do you know where you are?”
Again Roy looked like he was thinking very hard.
While closing his one good eye and wincing in pain, he managed to mumble, “Rrr...am..ppp..arrr. Hhh…hurts.”
“Are you in a great deal of pain, Roy?” Doctor Brackett queried.
“Mmm…mmmm,” was all that Roy was able to respond.
The doctor looked at his ill patient with sympathy and then over at Dixie. After checking his pupil responses and reflex responses in his right arm and left leg and checking his shoulder and ankle injuries Dr. Brackett concluded.
“Ok, Roy. You did fine. I have something here that will help ease that pain.”
He motioned for Dixie to inject the pain killing medicine into Roy’s IV line.
“Roy, this should make you feel better. I want you to relax and get some sleep now. I’ll check on you again in a little while.”
After the 20 minute exam, (which seemed like hours to Johnny and Joanne) Dr. Brackett met them in the hall.
“Well, the prognosis right now looks pretty good. All his neurological signs appear to be getting better. His vision is probably a little blurry and his response to my questions and commands were a little slow, but I think with a lot of rest and time those problems should clear up. His vital signs look good.”
“Is he still awake, Doc?” Johnny asked anxiously.
“No, the exam we just did took a lot out of him and he’s in a lot of pain, so between that and the pain medication we just gave him he’s a pretty tired guy. He fell asleep while we were finishing up in there. But like I said, he looks good. If his progress remains steady we can move him to a regular room….say…day after tomorrow. Ok?”
Johnny was beside himself with joy. “Ok? You bet its ok. Hey thanks Doc. Thanks a lot.”
After shaking Dr. Brackett’s hand, Johnny took off down the hallway almost running into a male orderly laden with clean towels.
“I’m going to go call Captain Stanley, Joanne. I’ll be right back.”
“Do you think he’s a little bit relieved? Asked Dr. Brackett as he looked at Joanne with a smirk on his face.
“I know he is and so am I Dr. Brackett. Thank you so very much for my husbands’ life.” She answered gratefully. Then she turned and went back into the ICU to sit with Roy.
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Joanne was busy in the kitchen fixing breakfast for Chris and Jennifer. It was good to be home and doing things around the house again. She had spent many long hours at the hospital with Roy but now that he was doing so well with his recovery she felt she should spend more time with kids. Hopefully today they would be moving her husband from the ICU to a regular room.
Roy’s vision was pretty clear now and he was beginning to remember some things about the accident, his vitals had also remained pretty stable, which pleased the doctors. Now, maybe Chris and Jen would be able to visit their father. Chris especially, she felt, needed to see him. Since the accident he had become so withdrawn and quiet. He was even snapping at Jennifer and arguing with his friends at school. This was so unlike Chris who was always even-tempered and had a steady calmness about him much like Roy.
Slowly and quietly, Chris appeared in the kitchen and sat down at the table.
“Good morning, Chris. Are you ready for breakfast?” Joanne asked the quiet boy.
“Yeah, I guess so.” He answered back in a voice barely above a whisper. He sounded so tired and weary.
Trying to sound upbeat, Joanne said, “Would you like to go see Dad today after school? I think he should be in a regular room by this afternoon. I’ll see if Dixie can sneak you and Jennifer up to see him. I know he really wants to see you two.”
Joanne looked at her young son. She was waiting for an excited outburst of enthusiasm to her statement but it never came. Instead, Chris just sat there with his shoulders slumped and his head down looking like he could cry any second. Joanne’s heart skipped a beat as she realized Chris was trying to deal with a situation larger than his young mind and age could handle. But what was it?
“Chris, honey. What’s the matter?” Joanne queried her son. “What’s bothering you? …Is it something about Dad?…Are you scared for him?…hmmm?….Please tell me.” She pleaded.
She waited.
“It’s all my fault.” Chris whispered.
“What?” Joanne couldn’t believe she heard him correctly.
“It’s all my fault!” Chris repeated a little louder and with more emphasis.
Joanne looked at him incredulously.
“Just how is this your fault?”
Chris becoming agitated, jumped up from his chair at the table and began yelling, “it’s my fault because I made Dad drive me up to Scott’s and…and he got hurt on his way back from there! If I didn’t go to Scott’s this would never have happened and Dad would be ok right now!!”
He suddenly sank back down onto his chair and threw his head down onto his crossed arms, sobbing.
“No Chris, no. This is not your fault. What happened to your Dad was just an accident. There is no way that you could have known that this would happen.”
Joanne looked at her young son; head still down on the table, his shoulders trembling.
“Oh, honey. Is that what’s been bothering you lately? How can I make you see that this is not your fault?”
She knelt beside her son as he sat in the kitchen chair, wrapping her arm around his small back and shoulder.
“Chris…sweetheart. No one is blaming you for this accident. Not me, not Jenny and certainly not your father. I am so sorry you feel this way and I’m sorry I didn’t realize that this is how you were feeling about the whole matter.”
She tried to look in his eyes to see if she could read what he was feeling, but he looked away.
“Now why don’t you go get ready for school and we’ll still plan to go see Dad this afternoon. Ok?”
Chris looked at his mom and she could tell he was still blaming himself. What could she do?
She thought to herself, *I need to talk to Dr. Brackett about this*.
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Wednesday May 16th
Roy had finally gotten home from the hospital on Tuesday afternoon. Because his arm was in a cast and his shoulder was still wrapped tight against his body there was no way he could use crutches to get about on his broken ankle, so he had to come home in a wheelchair. With Johnny’s help, Joanne was able to get Roy from the hospital room to the living room of their home.
It had been decided that Roy would take up residence on the couch in the living room for the next few days until Brackett gave the approval for a walking cast for his ankle. Right now with a cast that extended from his toes to mid-thigh, stairs were out of the question as well as walking in general. The only place Roy was allowed to go gimping to on his casted leg, was the bathroom which was about 10 normal steps down the hall. Needless to say, his first night home on the couch had been a very uncomfortable ordeal, one that he was not looking forward to tonight.
The day had been uneventful. The kids were in school all day; Joanne was being the ever-wonderful homemaker and watchful caregiver. Roy spent the day trying to find various comfortable places to sit and rest. First he was on the couch, then in the wheelchair, then on a kitchen chair watching Joanne prepare their lunch, then out on the deck in a lounge chair. Each place was comfortable for about 30 to 40 minutes and then Roy would want to move. Joanne was getting tired of this routine real quick but knowing just how much Roy must be hurting, she was willing to make allowances and helped him move each time with a smile on her face. She began to think it might be a good idea if Johnny took up residence with them for a week or so.
That evening Roy was really tired. And since he had been up and around more than he should have been he was also hurting everywhere and anywhere a body could hurt. Joanne was tired from helping him during the day and the kids were just plain tired from a long day at school. The DeSoto household was locked up and the lights off by 9:30 that night.
Roy slept fitfully for about 2 hours on the couch. All his aches and pains seemed more vivid in the quiet and darkness of the night. He hesitated taking the pain medication the doctor ordered because it made his mind feel fuzzy and out of control. His back was really beginning to bother him so he pushed himself into a sitting position and carefully swung his casted leg around to rest on the coffee table. Maybe taking a pain pill now would help him sleep through the rest of the night. He had just gotten into a semi-comfortable position and was about to reach for the pill bottle and glass of water that Joanne had left nearby when he thought he heard a noise coming from upstairs.
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11:51pm
Chris DeSoto had gone to bed early just like the rest of his family. He quickly fell into a deep, hard sleep. His sleep though was fraught with horrible scenes of cars hitting faceless people and faceless people falling down big hills and faceless hurt people all covered with bandages.
Much of what his young mind was dreaming was how he envisioned what had happened to his Dad. Finally, at one point in the dream, one of the faceless people suddenly became his Dad! Chris watched in terror as a car came flying down the road and ran into his Dad and then watched in horror as he went tumbling down the hill. Chris looked for his Dad, calling out for his him.
“Dad! Dad! Where are you?” He shrieked aloud from his bed but yet still asleep.
Roy heard Chris calling him from upstairs and not realizing that Chris was still asleep and dreaming answered him back.
“Chris, it’s alright son. I’m here. I’m downstairs.” Roy tried to talk in a hollered whisper so as not to wake Joanne or Jennifer.
Even in his sleep Chris was able to hear his father’s voice call to him. He got up out of bed, still asleep, and went in search of his Dad.
Dreaming that his father was down the hillside, Chris started for the edge of the hill, looking over the embankment. He could not see his Dad but he knew he must be down there.
“I’m coming Dad!” He hollered and then stepped off into the darkness he thought was a hill but in reality was the stairway leading from the second floor to the first floor of the DeSoto house.
With a sound loud enough to wake anyone sleeping in the house, Chris tumbled and rolled down the long flight of stairs and landed in a heap at the bottom. Fortunately for him the stairs and landing were carpeted.
Realizing now what was happening, Roy, forgetting all his pain, leapt up from the couch and hastily limped to his son. Awkwardly lowering himself to the floor to get at Chris’ level, he began to visually check the boy out.
Fearing to even touch him, Roy softly called out his name.
“Chris, Chris? Can you hear me? Are you alright son?”
Chris moaned a little and then began to sit up, wincing as he put pressure on his left arm.
By this time Joanne and Jenny who were wakened by the commotion were standing at the top of the stairs.
“Joanne, call the fire department.” Roy said once he saw she was there.
Joanne raced into the bedroom to make the urgent call.
Chris continued to sit himself up.
“Chris, please lie back down,” said Roy, unable to stop his son.
“Dad?” Chris looked in confusion at his father. “How did I get down here?”
“You must have been dreaming son. I think you were sleep-walking and fell down the stairs.”
Chris settled himself on the rug next to Roy.
“I’m ok Dad. My arm hurts though.”
Roy carefully felt along Chris’ left arm with his good right hand. Chris winced a little as Roy passed over the elbow joint and felt down towards the wrist.
“Well, Chris, it looks like you may have a broken arm there. Do you hurt anywhere else?” He inquired.
“No Dad, I’m ok.”
Roy carefully pushed himself into a sitting position and then leaned against the wall. Chris gingerly slid over and cuddled himself halfway onto Roy’s lap under the comfort of his Dad’s right arm.
“Chris, what caused you to fall down the stairs? What were you dreaming about?” Roy asked softly of his son.
“Mmm…I think….” Chris said into Roy’s chest. “I can’t remember too much. I just remember a car and then you were falling down a big hill. I had to get to you!”
He paused.
“Oh Dad!” Chris started to cry. “I’m sorry I made you get hurt Dad. If you hadn’t taken me to Scott’s house that car wouldn’t have hit you and you would be alright now.”
Looking at Roy he said. “I’m never, never ever going to Scott’s house again! It was all my fault!”
Now sobbing Chris buried his head into Roy’s chest trying to quell the anguish he felt.
“Chris, Chris.” Roy pleaded to his young son.
Taking Chris’ chin with his good hand and tilting his head up so he could see Chris’ face Roy continued.
“I think deep, down inside you know that this was not your fault. It was a freak accident and I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It didn’t happen just because you went to Scott’s house. Bad things like this just happen once in a while.”
He looked at Chris and saw that he wasn’t totally buying the explanation.
“But if it makes you feel better and you really believe this is your fault, I do forgive you and I still love you very, very much.”
Holding his son on his lap and hugging him as hard as he dared, Roy felt all the tension and fear Chris had been harboring inside for two weeks finally begin to leave his small body. Gingerly guarding his arm, Chris snuggled into his fathers shoulder and let the tears of relief freely fall as Roy continued to gently hug him. It wasn’t much and probably didn’t need to be said in the first place, but the power of those four simple words (“I do forgive you”) had just released all the guilty feelings Chris had embraced for so long.
Joanne watched this intimate moment between her husband and son finally realizing why Chris felt he was responsible for Roy’s accident. She felt a little envious of their close relationship but was glad to see that things were beginning to turn around for Chris. She got up to go to the front door as she heard the rescue squad siren approach their street.
The paramedics from Station 36 arrived about 2 minutes later to find father and son still in each others embrace. As much as he hated to let his son go, Roy knew that Chris needed to be treated and transported to the hospital.
After scrutinizing the care paramedic Tom Donner and his partner Paul Bennett had provided for Chris, Roy watched as Tom opened the biophone and contacted Rampart Hospital.
“Rampart, this is Squad 36, how do you read?”
“36, we read you loud and clear.” Kel Brackett’s voice came back over the biophone.
“Rampart,” continued Tom. “We have 2 victims here”
Tom glanced at Roy as Roy looked back at him in confusion, 2? Roy looked around the room for the second victim. Tom caught Roy’s eye and gestured towards his leg. So concerned for his son, Roy did not even notice that in the act of jumping off the couch and getting to his son, he had cracked the plaster on his leg cast. It didn’t really hurt until now…now that he noticed it, but he knew that the cast was going to have to be replaced.
“Victim 1 is a 10 year old male. He fell down a flight of stairs and appears to have fractured the radius and ulna of the left arm. No other signs of injury. Patient is conscious and oriented. BP is 110/90, pulse is 105 and respirations are 28. Victim is in moderate pain. Victim 2 is…”
Tom looked at Roy. With resignation in his voice he continued on the biophone.
“Doc, victim 2 is Roy Desoto. Victim 1 is his son, Chris. Roy went to help Chris after falling down the stairs and cracked the plaster on his leg cast. I think he should come in at this time also.”
Tom smiled at Roy as he tried to sink down into the wall he was leaning against knowing that this was not something Dr. Brackett wanted to hear in the middle of the night.
“36, splint young Chris’ arm and administer .25 mg MS IV for pain. I concur with your assessment of victim 2. Transport both boys as soon as possible. We’ll be waiting for you.”
“10-4 Rampart.”
“Well, you heard the man, Roy.”
“Yeah, I heard, I just didn’t like the way he used the word ‘boys’. I was just trying to help my son!”
“Hey, I understand, Roy.” Exclaimed Tom as he began to prepare the IV for Chris. “You don’t have to explain it to me. Save it for Brackett.”
With one arm in a splint and an IV in the other, Chris was picked up by Paul and carried to the waiting ambulance. He placed Chris on the bench seat and buckled him in tight. Joanne waited with him while Paul went back in the house to help his partner load Roy onto the gurney. Once Roy was settled in the ambulance with Tom and Chris they took off for the hospital with Joanne and Jenny close behind in the family car.
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