The Promise- Alternate Ending

By

Jane Royce

"Sit on him Johnny, sit on him!!" Yelled Dr. Brackett as he slowly rose in the cherry picker of the ladder truck, he was anxious to get his patient under control before anyone else was hurt, or before he hurt himself further.

"Sit on him Johnny, you have to sit on him!!" Brackett shouted again "Can't this thing go any faster" Shouted the anxious doctor to the fireman beside him handling the controls.

"I'm sorry doc, this is the fastest she can go, and the safest" The weary firefighter explained. It had been a long ride up and he was just as concerned as Dr. Brackett was about the patient, but more so for Johnny Gage, someone he considered a friend.

Slowly the basket approached the landing where John Gage was embattled with a patient who had leapt through a window six stories above the ground just moments before. Whatever propelled the patient to act this way must account for his super human strength and Johnny knew he was in trouble.

*Sit on him* were the words that kept repeating in Johnny's mind, but Johnny felt that this was a battle not meant to be won. The patient was so very strong and could out maneuver Johnny at every angle. He also had an extra 40 or so pounds on Johnny as well, which put him even more at a disadvantage.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the basket got level with the ledge and Dr. Brackett could clearly see the struggle that had ensued. Johnny was bleeding badly on his back and Dr. Brackett surmised that the glass from the window which broke when his patient crashed through it, was the culprit. He imagined that it was difficult for Johnny to gain a stronghold with his own injuries to consider. He watched helplessly as Johnny was kicked repeatedly in the chest and abdomen by the agitated patient.

"Get on him Johnny and let me inject this into his leg. It will calm him down!" Dr. Brackett ordered.

Johnny nodded his understanding and tried one last time to get the upper hand. With all the strength he could muster, he grappled against the patient and managed to get on top of him. With his own leg, he pinned the patient's leg to the ledge and yelled "Do it now Doc, I can't hold him".

With a mighty plunge and a sudden kick, Dr. Brackett quickly injected the medication into the muscular leg, but it was at the halfway mark of the injection process that Dr. Brackett and Johnny both realized the error in their approach.

With a final push and yell, their patient launched himself from the top of the ledge to the ground below, he could be heard laughing before there was silence, that patient was aware of no pain on that day, his final day.

Johnny too, was feeling no pain and this was welcome. The injection was working quickly, so Johnny's last clear thought was that perhaps Dr. Brackett got a good vein.

"Oh god no Johnny, oh no!" Shouted Dr. Brackett, wracked with guilt and shock over the events which had just unfolded. Dr. Brackett launched himself out of the basket and quickly turned Johnny over to assess his injuries. He was pleased to not that Johnny had a good and strong pulse and that his breathing was slow, but steady. He knew that the dose of Valium that Johnny had been given would not likely cause him harm, but nevertheless, the accidental administration hit him in the chest like a bullet.

"Get me a stretcher now!" Shouted Dr. Brackett to Roy, who stood in the window stunned at the chain of events which unfolded before him just moments before. He was jolted to activity by the panic in Dr. Brackett's voice. He quickly ran to get the stretcher as more hospital staff came to see what the fuss was about.

Carefully and quickly, Johnny was placed on the stretcher as an orderly helped Dr. Brackett in through the window. As a team, they rushed down the hallway to the elevator to the ER.

The doors seemed to take forever to open, but once they did, the unit worked quickly to assist, word had spread fast.

"Johnny, Johnny, can you hear me?" Asked Dr. Brackett, trying to sound professional in light of all that had just happened.

"Johnny, answer me, I need to hear from you" Prompted Dr. Brackett again as he quickly inflated the blood pressure cuff to get a reading. "Damn, 90 over 60, lets get him on 6 liters of oxygen for support!" He ordered of anyone who was able.

"Dammit, how the hell did this happen?" Dr. Brackett shouted, not expecting anyone to have an answer for him. No one did. Everyone just stood in stunned silence as Johnny lay on the stretcher, in a stunned dream-state. No one could do anything to allay the guilt that Dr. Brackett felt.

"Kel" Stated the calm Dr. Early who learned from other staff, what had happened. "Come and sit down, let me look at Johnny for a little while."

"Joe, I did this to him, I did it. I HAVE to be here in case he needs me. I can't believe it, I just can't believe it!" shouted the anxious doctor.

"Roy, Dix, please take Kel to his office for a little while, he needs to calm down. Johnny will be fine, he's had higher doses of Valium than what he had today, he'll be fine." Dr. Early instructed.

"Joe's right Kel, you aren't doing yourself or Johnny any good" whispered Dixie, they both knew she was right. Dr. Brackett acquiesced.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Man oh man, what a trip!" Johnny shook his head incredulously as Roy recounted the events that led to his friends' latest admission to hospital.

"It was quite a trip indeed partner, Dr. Brackett is feeling really bad about what happened out there." Roy continued.

"I am gonna be fine though Roy, and to tell you the truth, I am happy that I didn't have to be awake to feel the stitches in my back! Sixty stitches you say? Man, I am glad I don't remember that!" Johnny joked.

"Yup, sixty stitches all in small lacerations along your back, you did a good job of cutting yourself on that ledge." Roy said.

"Man, well I feel fine now, when can I go home?" Johnny asked.

"I heard that, and you are here until tomorrow morning. You are doing well, but you've also had a dose of medication that wasn't meant for you. I'd like to keep you here a full twenty-four hours to let it wear off." Dr. Early stated as he entered the room

"Hey doc, how's Dr. Brackett doing, I hear he's taking this pretty hard." Johnny asked.

"He is, but he is better now that he knows you are out of danger. It was quite a shock to him, and he will have to explain things to the hospital committee, but there will be no charges laid." Dr. Early continued.

"Charges?" Roy asked.

"Yes Roy, you see, if medication is administered maliciously, charges can be laid, but in this case, this was a mistake, there were witnesses to this and it was really only the fault of the patient."

"Oh man, that's incredible! He didn't do it on purpose, it WAS an accident, the guy was just too strong, he was full of power, or something!" Johnny exclaimed.

"Or something" whispered Dr. Brackett as he slowly entered Johnny's room. "He was visited by a friend moments before he jumped out of the window Johnny, his friend gave him a shot of heroin. He reacted badly to it and likely did have superhuman strength, there was no way that you alone could hold him off."

"Oh man, it's amazing. If I hadn't been there, I would not have believed it myself" stated Johnny quietly.

"The main thing now is that you are getting better." Dr. Early stated.

"Yeah, I feel fine now and Doc....you are not to blame for this. I have been knocked down harder than this before and always came out on top." Johnny smiled.

"Thanks Johnny, and I will be here to help put you back together when you are knocked down." Smiled Dr. Brackett.

The End