"This has got to be it." John was sure now and his fear returned as they got out of the squad and assembled their gear. They ran to the front side of the house. "Where is everybody?" John said. "Don't know." Roy said. "You think that with a ranch this big, they would have sent people out to fetch us." They went swiftly to the main entrance. They both knocked loudly "LA County Fire Department!" A heavy oaken door swung open. A woman who could only be Chet's sister spoke up. "Oh thank god!" she sobbed. "I thought you'd never get here." "Marjorie Kelly?" Roy began. "Yes. Please, this way. It's my brother. ." A sick emotion hit both Roy and Johnny as their unspoken dread was realized and given a name. Majorie said. "We warned him! But he just wouldn't listen!" "Easy Ms. Kelly. Just tell us what happened." John said. "A new filly came today, Chet, he figured he could handle her. She tossed him!"  She wrung her hands, overwrought. "Where is he?" Roy asked. "In back!!" Margorie indicated the sixth path to the right. She ran down the flowered, richly trellised way. "Hurry!!" The three wound down the yard to a wooded area. They rounded another tight curve between some hedges. to a riding corral next to a huge red barn. Near a perimeter fence, a demolished bird coop was strewn about. Marj called out, "They're here, Max!" And older man peered over some of the broken boards but he did not stand up. Roy and John headed in that direction. "Agh. guys. I can't stop all this bleeding." Chet was on his back sprawled six feet away from the outer fences inside the horse corral. His head lay awkwardly on top of a jumble of splintered boards. His eyes were closed and he was almost completely covered in tangled shed. John and Roy vaulted the outer fence and handed over their equipment to the roof of the demolished coop, looking for a way to Chet. There was too much wood blocking the way. The gear couldn't follow them in there. So Gage and DeSoto left all of it, just outside the ring of debris. "Chet?! Can you hear me?" John flung away some tangled chicken wire, fighting to get gear and himself near Kelly. Chet moved a little, not opening his eyes.  Gage clambered over the last of the debris. DeSoto beat him there. Roy put on a smile he did not feel. "Hey, Chet. How are you doing?" He put a grip on Chet's coratid artery, studying his face. Chet stirred and coughed. "Eh, Roy? What took you so long? Where've you been?" "Oh, joy riding." John said, clearing more debris away so he could get closer to where Chet was lying. There was a lot of blood on the ground. It seemed to be coming from below Chet's waist. ".and you?" "I.I decided to take a snooze under the trees, can't you tell? Oww.!" Kelly grabbed his leg. "Something's  somethin cracked.!" I think I'm dying here." John restrained him, nodding curtly to Max to keep up the pressure on the effected leg. "Easy now! Just take it easy. We'll figure this out and find a way to get you out of here."  He knew how close Chet's quip really was, deadly shock was closing the gap, fast. He knew that it would take more man power to bring Chet into the open where he could be treated. "Just lie still." "I know. I know that just as well as you do." Chet gasped. John peered under the makeshift dressing Max had made of his own shirt and was pressing against Chet's thigh, he quickly set it back. "Roy, I think the femoral artery's been nicked." Roy nodded grimly, taking a stethoscope out of the drug box and slowing picking his way through the debris again to use it on Chet.  Chet. Where else do you hurt besides your leg?" Chet sagged limp. "Chet!"  Roy dug a few knuckles into the bone in the middle of Kelly's chest and rubbed hard. Kelly jerked, driven awake again by the pain stimuli. "Huh?" Roy repeated his question. "N-No, where else really. I. I'm just a little dizzy. Listen, we've got to get out of here. Cielo's a killer, something just made her snap right before I was thrown. If she sees us, she'll trample you like she did me and this coop." A shrill scream of anger pierced the air. It came from the far end of the pasture. Staccato hooves paced nervously. "There." Chet gasped, "See that dust cloud over there? She's scented us." Marjorie glanced up in alarm from the outer fence, "Oh, no. Not again. Shall I get the rifle, Max?" John thought hard. "Just hold on here, everybody, Calm down. No one is going to shoot any horses. First things first. Cap'll be here in a few minutes . We'll let them handle her., O.K.?" Chet began to pant with air hunger in a reflex he could not control. A symptom of severe blood loss. "But you don't understand. She'll charge!" Chet sat up, and hung onto Roy's shoulder, trying to stay upright. "NO! It's dang--" He gagged in agony and nearly passed out. Roy caught his head as Chet fell back again locking all of his muscles around the pure agony erupting from his leg. "Ahhgg!" From twenty feet away, Marjorie quailed, "Oh, Chet! Don't do that to yourself." "Hey! Hey! Chet." John grabbed Kelly's face in a glove. "You're bleeding badly from your leg and all of this moving around isn't helping matters any! Now keep your cool." John ordered.  He pushed Max's trembling hands off of the gaping wound and pressed his own down firmly at a pressure point farther up. He didn't like the amount of blood he saw around him. Chet gasped. He slung an arm over his shaking face. "All right all right." Roy took some vitals. "BP's 80 Systolic. Pulse 140."  He looked at Max and Marj. "Listen. Someone's got to show the engine crew where we are. And we'll need some blankets from the house." John nodded, agreeing with the distracting tactic. The less Chet saw of his family's panic, the better off he'd be. ".can you do that for me?" Roy asked. They both nodded and Max crawled out of the debris pile, under the outer fence and together, they ran into the house and inside the rustic building. Roy watched them enter the house. Suddenly, Cielo Madre exploded from over the hill, right at the gap John had created for Roy and him to get to where Chet was lying on the shattered coop. Top speed. "Ahhh!" John covered Chet with his body while Roy picked up a timber and brandished it over his head, yelling. The infuriated filly drew up short twenty yards away. Her ears flattened against her skull. But she kept away. She was shaking her head and her skin was trembling in an odd way. John rose slowly back into his crouch and repositioned his hands over his pressure point on Chet's leg.  He noticed the horse's strange behavior. "Hey, Chet. Did you two run into any bee hives during your workout? That horse's coat is just crawling with hives and bee stings." "I thought I heard something." he winced as John bore down on his leg again, stopping the feeling there along with the blood flow out of his wound.  "nngg." he closed his eyes. Roy's voice came close to his ear. "Chet?" he began quietly, not upsetting the horse in any way. "You hurt only in your leg, right? Not your neck or your back?" "Yeah. "  Chet moaned, "I'm sure everything bad is just there." "Ok,. because we're going to have to move out of here before she gets any more bright bee sting crazed ideas. and that means moving before the engine gets here." Chet looked up and saw the horse glaring at him with a growing anger in her eyes. "Oh, wonderful." His face was very pale and sweaty. Roy indicated the outer fence. "If she breaks again, you're going to have to roll underneath that fence on your own. We'll try to ward her off you." "Good luck." he croaked. He swallowed with a dry mouth. "uh,. " his breathing shortened,".I.I think I'm going to be sick." Roy and John eased Chet onto his side and held him. Chet vomited. John spoke, "Easy,, it'll pass. You're getting shocky and this sometimes happens." Chet relaxed at the end of it, gasping. "Terrific. Hope it's over. " "It is."  John felt Kelly's BP slip lower in the pulse hold he had on one of Kelly's brachial arteries, monitoring. It disappeared all together. Damn! His systolic's dropped to seventy. "Come on, Cap,. get the lead out." he whispered, lifting eyes to the empty yard. Roy pointed towards the biophone near the edge of the coop pile. "I'll get Rampart." He crawled slowly over the wooden boards and under chicken wire to set up the aerial antennae and turned on the power. John nodded, "You're going to have to risk it. Chet needs an IV, now." Never for a moment did Roy's eyes leave the filly's. She snorted and pawed dust up while she shivered off the venom from her many stings. He held the phone up to his face, shielding the receiver in his hands. John began to gather up the half conscious Chet up by the shoulders, getting ready to pull him clear. He swallowed hard, watching the filly watch them. Roy's lips moved. He spoke quietly to hail Rampart. ".rampart. this is squad 51. .do you read." The returning reply boomed, "Go ahead, 51." It was Dixie's voice. John and Roy froze as the horse whipped in a full circle and shifted a defiant head in their direction. She snuffled loudly, catching the scent of the men. She trumpeted low in her chest. Suddenly, she bolted low and fast, at them. "LOOK out!!" John cried. Roy abandoned the biophone and together, he and John heaved Chet Kelly gracelessly through the coop's tangles, ripping their own clothes in their haste to get away with him safely. Together. they rolled Chet under the outer fence. Chet yelled aloud in pain when he landed, but he was safely on the other side. Roy glanced back over his shoulder in fear. "Let's get out of here!" he shouted at Gage. They vaulted the fence just as punishing hooves raked the air inches away from where they had been. ----------------------------------------------- At Rampart, Dixie frantically tried to raise the squad. Early looked up. "What happened?" as he entered with Dr. Brackett. "I don't know. I was answering 51's rescue call when I suddenly lost contact. I heard John yell. Then nothing." Joe thumbed the board. "51, This is Rampart. Do you read? Over." More thuds, then a crash. The line buzzed static. "Nothing." he said. Dixie tried once more, "51, do you copy? What's your status?" More static. No reassuring voices. Brackett straightened irritably, "Dix, notify the fire department dispatch about this. I want to know what the hell is going on over there!" Having silenced the red box, Cielo Madre then vented her fury on the other strange boxes left abandoned by her feet. Then she took off running around the far side of the barn. --------------------------------------- The force of their momentum had flung Roy and John hard to the ground. Roy shook his head, clearing away stars. He recovered and saw Chet face down, motionless, a short distance away.  "Chet!!" John stirred too, climbing to his feet. "Roy?" "Chet! Can you hear me?" Roy shouted again. He didn't move. Together Gage and DeSoto ran over to Kelly just as the engine crew flew across the yard with the O2 apparatus. "Chet?" John called urgently. Roy and Johnny rolled him over as a unit. A fresh blood stain discolored the grass underneath him and was spreading out slowly. His face was grayish looking. Roy covered the gash with his bare hands, bearing down on it. John listened by Chet's mouth for breathing. Cap ran up and knelt by Chet's head, "We heard you ran into trouble through dispatch. Rampart got worried. How is he?" John frowned, straightening, "He's in deep shock, we had to get away from the horse as quick as we could and it's torn the femoral artery completely. Marco. help him on the O2, will you? He's breathing too shallowly right now to do much good." "Right." Marjorie and Max had returned only moments before with blankets. Chet's sister stood, transfixed, tears welling up into her eyes. "What's wrong with him.?" she demanded. "Why isn't he awake?" Her brother's ashen color terrified her. "Tell me!" Mike Stoker got up from the ground and led her away,  trying to calm her down. Roy spoke in a dry voice, "Cap, we've lost all of our equipment. Is the ambulance on the way?" Marco nodded, giving Chet mask assisted ventilations in time with Kelly's own weaker attempts at breathing using the demand valve thumb button. "Last check, it's ETA was six minutes." he answered Roy. Cap wiped his mouth. "Anything we can do?" he asked John. "Yeah, go get a stokes and the engine cab's first aid kit. And the mast suit. And the defibrillator.!" Moreno went with him. "Johnny. This isn't working." Roy said, looking at his bloodied hands and a fresh welling making its way up around them. "How's his BP?" "60 systolic. I can barely get a carotid.  Marco, start hyperventilating him. Last thing we need is him crashing on us. Go to 30 a minute and see how he does." Gage suggested. Marco nodded, stepping up his delivery rate of pure oxygen into Chet's lungs. Cap and Moreno soon returned, laden with the mast suit case and the defib box. Roy saw his equipment lying around in the sun just out of reach. He identified a few things that were still intact. "Maybe I can go back into the corral and get a hemostat or something to clamp off this artery. " he said urgently.  His fright was growing. John nodded. "Marco." He gestured. Marco relieved Roy at his pressure point while Mike took over the O2 vents without missing a beat. Roy arose. Max joined him back by the corral, as Roy slipped on some gloves over his soiled hands, listening for signs of Cielo Madre's return. Max tossed his burden of blankets on the ground, "You're not going back in there."  Roy shrugged, "Somebody has to. Chet can't wait for treatment much longer." He watched  as Johnny, Moreno, and Cap moved Chet onto the mast suit trousers and fastened it up everywhere but where the artery wound was. "They can't pump up that mast suit to buy him some time until I clamp off that bleeder first. If I can't get that clamp, nothing we do will do any good." He ran back to the squad and got out the cab's fire extinguisher. He lugged it back with him. "Listen, Max. Have you ever worked one of these before?" "Sort of, once at work, for a safety test." "Here's your chance to shine. This is simple. You pull out this ring here and just squeeze the nozzle, see?" A puff of CO2 streamed out. "I got it." "O.K, let's go." Roy glanced over and didn't like what he was seeing by Kelly. Cap was seated and waiting with his jacket and gloves off over Kelly's chest which was now bare.  Cap's getting ready to work if Chet codes. Come  on Chet. Hang in there.  Roy amended his snatch list to include an endo trach tube along with the hemostat, and dressings. "Let's hurry." he told the trainer. Moreno had linked LA dispatch through a landline talkie into the ranch phone, which Marjorie had threaded through the yard.  Cap relayed vitals to Rampart at John's direction.  Desperately ordered by Brackett, John finally got his authorization for the use of rotating tourniquets in an attempt to keep oxygen flowing to Chet's brain despite his critically low blood volume level.  The EKG they had on the monitor was wrought with shuddering PVC's brought on by the blood loss. It wasn't resolving into normal sinus rhythm, despite the tourniquets and the hyperventilations. John was worried, Chet wasn't even trying to breathe anymore, and John could do nothing else to help him. It was now entirely up to his partner to get that hemostat clip from the corral. "Roy.. get that clip. He's starting to cave." Cielo met Max and Roy at the perimeter of the fence with reddened eyes. She snorted, facing them. "You circle left, I'll go right. If she charges you, use the extinguisher. The vapor and the noise should spook her long enough for me to get that trauma box." Max nodded, licking his lips. They climbed the outer fence, sitting on its edge for a moment. Then they started creeping forward towards the coop and the scattered medical equipment. "Easy, girl." Roy soothed. She charged. Max discharged a plume of vapor directly at her head. She reared. Roy bolted for the equipment. He snatched up everything he came for. On a second thought, he ran over to the IV kit and started scooping up IV bags and tubing boxes. "Come on!!" Max shouted, "She won't hold for long." Roy grabbed the trauma box up again and retreated, shedding packets and meds along the way. He got outside the corral in seconds. Max gave a roar and threw the extinquisher bottle itself at the beast. He rolled under the outer fence in the nick of time. Both were safe. Max helped Roy carry his armfuls back to the others. "Fancyfoot work, guys." John grinned.  The firemen gathered around in a concerned group as Roy knelt, biting off the paper wrapping of the hemostat. He probed the wound for the bleeder. He found it and clamped the torn ends. The horrendous outflow of blood there ceased. Quickly, John and Roy pumped up the mast suit to its max levels. They got three IV's of D5W running full volume through Kelly's carotid arteries, the only ones not collapsed by Chet's basement level BP. Roy held aloft his prize find he had gotten from the battered corral, a syringe of epinephren, at just the right concentration, 1 to 10,000 dilution for a man Chet's size. He squirted its front load into the sky to dispel any air then added it IV push as fast as he dared. John looked at Mike by Chet's head. "Is he breathing now?" Everyone waited without moving for his answer. Stoker nodded, feeling resistance beginning against his demand valve triggering, "Yes. and he's pinking up." Gage grunted, taking a BP. He smiled, "It's up, 90 over 60." Marjorie and Max hugged each other. The EKG settled into a normal beat moments later. Cap was estatic. "Way to take it out of the woods, Kelly!!" he shouted, ruffling his unconscious crewman's hair affectionately. His relief was infectious. And everyone smiled for all they were worth. "Come on you guys... move!" Cap roared as he saw the ambulance  attendants enter the yard. "On the double.!!" --------------------------------------------------------- "And the rest was easy.." John Gage said. "Once we were in the ambulance, Roy radioed ahead to dispatch to maintain contact with you guys via the C.B. radio in the driver compartment.." He leaned back in his chair and stretched, a Cheshire's grin on his face. Dixie nodded appreciatively, "And after another injection of stimulant, Chet did nothing else but improve." she smiled. "You boys amaze me with the exciting rescues you find yourselves in so often. They make events around here seem like a walk in the park!" "Now I wouldn't say that." Roy countered, "What about that gang fight earlier today? All those cases came here, right? You must've had fun keeping them from killing each other." Dixie laughed. Dr. Early had been listening in while he ate his apple. "Say, How's Chet Kelly doing now? I heard from Kel that he lost almost 4/5th's of his blood volume in the field and didn't arrest. Now that's what I call one lucky b--" Dix shushed him,. "Doctor. There are young ears here. Frankly, mine. " John sighed chuckling at the good natured banter around him, "We just heard. He's in recovery. The surgeons found no internal hemorrhaging apart from that right femoral artery. He will be up and around on crutches in about a week." "Well, give my regards to him for me will you?" Early said, walking away. "I've got rounds." "Sure thing, doc." Roy replied. He tapped John on the arm, "Maybe we should phone the guys and let them in on the good news." "Ooo, yeah.., Well, gotta go, Dix." "See ya fellas." ------------------------------------------------------------ A few days later over lunch, the gang carried on lively conversation. The B Shift was just getting off and the two crews shared their week's highlights. John gestured grandly, concluding his story. "And there we were, one crazed horse and a lot of smashed equipment." Gil chuckled. "You got us beat, Gage. The most I've ever totaled was my helmet, last year, in the McGuire warehouse blaze." He sipped his coffee adding, "How much did it cost to replace all of the squad's gear?" Bryce interrupted. "Plenty!!" It was Cap. "Chief McConnikee still won't look me in the eyes when I told him why I needed a complete refit inventory. I've been trying to live up to his expectations. Really I've tried. But this oddball rescue has undone years of careful kissing up, ever since I was caught setting h-"  he broke off, embarrassed about something. John grinned wryly. "Cap you have to remember that he may NEVER forget that you set his hat on f--" "Don't say it Gage! Now's that's an order!!" John and Gil snapped dutifully into attention. "Yes sir.!" Cap glared at them a second or two before he went through the double doors leading out of the kitchen. Gil let out  long string of giggles he had barely managed to contain in front of John's Cap'n Stanley. "On fire?! You mean Cap torched that ol geezer's hat? Boy, he must have had a death wish or something." John shooshed, trying to silence Gil to no avail. "Shh, He still might hear you." Gil was dying against the wall. John eyed him critically. "I gotta live with him, you know."  The glower faded into a smirk, "Yeah. he pulled that when he was still a wet behind the ears cadet looking for a promotion a month early. McConnikee has a memory like an elephant!" Gil was still tearing up, "W - What's he like?" "Who?" "M- McConnikee?" "Oh, oh. oh. The old goat still dishes out holy hell come inspection day. And WE suffer the brunt of it. You should see Cap before one of these things. He's a basket case." Gil laughed harder and started to leave. "Serves him right, Johnny. See ya next week." He left for the locker room. "Take care, man." John said grabbing a plate and piling on breakfast high. "Mornin." he drawled. "Did you hear?" Mike spoke excitedly, "Chet leaves the hospital tomorrow." "All right!" Marco cheered. "About time." John nudged Roy's elbow. "I'll just bet he's sick of all those bedbaths, eh?" He sniggered evilly. Roy waxed stone faced. John's face fell, "Sorry I keep forgetting that you are a married man and can no longer appreciate the fin-"  He trailed off, uncomfortably caught in Roy's baleful stare. He swallowed, "Forget I even said it." he sniffed. "Forget I ever even mention bed b-- Marco.!  You look like a man who could use some more potatoes. Here, have some more. They're great! I try to eat some every w--" Marco was staring at his plate. John quit spooning out the spuds. A pile of them five inches high overflowed the edge of the plate, running onto Marco's fingers. "OOps! Sorry, Marco, I---Here., have a towel." John retreated from the table. Roy chuckled, following, a bowl of oatmeal in hand. "Johnny, you've got to ease up on all of that caffeine. You're gonna kill someone one of these days." "Oh, Ha. ha." John dripped sarcasm, "Very funny." he defended himself neatly, "So,.." he smacked his hands together. "When's the big day? For your trip, Roy?" Roy acted as if he had smelled something vile. He spoke out of the side of his mouth, "Day after tomorrow." he whispered. "You're leaving when?" John said a little too loudly. Roy leaped up from his chair, "Oh, come on Johnny. Shhhh! You know I don't want word of this spread around." John basked in his success. "Ok. ok. Mum's the word." He looked around, bored. "I wonder what's on TV." He flicked on the tube. "BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Station 51. Shed fire. 6560 Montezuma Road.." Roy paled suddenly. "My god! That's my--" He took off running. The implication of what he had said struck John with a sick weight. "Cap?  Cap! That's Roy's place!" "Wha?! Desoto's ?!! John, you drive!" They left at a dead run. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- The squad, squealing, slowed. Roy was out the door and into the yard before Johnny could even bring the truck to a complete stop. Roy didn't pause to put on his overcoat. "Joanne?" he fidgeted in a panic in the driveway. Then he took a hold of himself a little, looking around. "T-The car's gone. Maybe Joanne and the kids went shopping."  He ran back to the truck. The engine screeched, pulling up. The sirens faded. Cap stepped out of the cab. He smiled when he saw that the fire, was indeed, only involving a small backyard shed. He tried to alleviate some of Roy's stress, "When I meant you could invite us all to a BBQ, I didn't have this in mind, DeSoto." and he grinned.. Roy didn't grin back. Cap got serious, "Roy? What's in there?" On the lot, was a gray two story structure. Its roof was under repair, only tar paper covered it with stacks of roofing tiles piled at one end. A half built porch surround the front door of the little house. A small garden shed ten feet from the house was totally engulfed in flames, which threatened a nearby telephone pole. "Roy!" "What? Oh,, uh.. I have about five pounds of termite repellent in there. And two five gallon jugs of gasoline." his face furrowed, "And my BOAT!" "Easy there, Roy, ah. we'll try." Cap offered. John had his coat on and he was trying to give Roy his. "Johnny.., I gotta know...What if… one of the kids?!" Roy looked stunned. John made sure he had eye contact with his partner, "Go ask the neighbors. And Vince. He's over there." He called, "Vince!!" The big cop turned. John urged, "Go ask him, Roy." Roy moved leadenly. John noticed that he was still holding Roy's overcoat in his hands. "Ah,, R--?" He gave up, letting it fall to the ground. He sprinted over to Mike and Marco, setting up the hydrant. ---- Roy was in despair. Vince had said he hadn't seen his kids. Roy cast about into the crowd. ---- A hose was dragged across the yard. Marco and Moreno twisted on its nozzle head. "You men!" Cap directed, "Use a medium spray. Protect the house!" "Right, Cap!" "LA , this is Engine 51. We have a burning free standing garden shed. It contains insecticides and two cans of unexploded gasoline. Please notify the gas company to cut their service to the entire block. This fire might upgrade." "10-4, 51. Will stand by." Cap surveyed the scene and noticed DeSoto shifting among the onlookers. Oh, well. he thought to himself. He's gotta reassure himself that his family was nowhere near that shed when it went up. I'll let him. "Mike! Set up the second hose for the shed. I'll have Roy help you in a moment!" ---- On the outside of the firefighting trucks, Roy was only half scared. Inside, his reasoning warred, making him jumpy. Then he saw someone he knew. "Carrie!" A slight, young girl clutching a teddy bear turned toward the sound of her own name. She gave a cry and started to run when she saw who it was who wanted her. "Carrie! I have to talk to you." Roy shouted. He easily overtook her. He kept a hand on her shoulder. "Carrie, you and my daughter are friends, right?" She nodded. And started trembling. "Are you scared?" Carrie's face pinched and she began to cry without a sound. Roy knelt down. "You don't have to be frightened. I -I just want to know ab--" Roy paused, not wanting to frighten the tiny girl unnecessarily, "You and Jessica and Michael had a sleepover at my house last night. Right?" She squeaked, still petrified, in a soft voice, "Yes." "Do you know where Mrs. DeSoto and Michael and Jesse are now?" Carrie suddenly cried harder. Roy became alarmed, "Carrie? What's wrong?" "I" she looked at the ground. "I was playing in the shed. I- I found the matches in the street and and they started the fire." She rushed into Roy's arms, bawling, "I didn't mean it!" She cried in catching, wet sobs, "Mr. DeSoto, I knew.. I knew it was wrong. Jesse and me,  w--" "Jesse?! Where is she?" "She." Carrie screwed up tight. Roy held Carrie away from him gripping her arms firmly. "Did they go shopping?" Carrie became quiet. Four fingers found her mouth. He repeated his question. She studied the ground, then she nodded, "Yes, Mr. DeSoto." "Thank you, Carrie...Cap!! She says they're not home!" He turned to her and knelt again.  "Carrie, Would you tell that policeman over there that I sent you to him? That he's supposed to watch you until the fire's out?" Another nod. She ran off. Roy sighed, returning to his company's engine. What a day, he thought, straightening his helmet. My boat, torched! Mike handed Roy's overcoat to him, "Rough, eh?" he asked. Roy nodded. He placed his jacket between his knees to hold it while he adjusted chemical gauges. Cap called from across the yard. "Well, so much for that vacation, eh, Roy?" He grinned broadly. Every head ducked. One of the gas cans finally had enough. The shed sprouted a fire ball, which sent a viscous black plume, high into the air. John and Cap regained their feet and redirected their water stream onto the shed. Roy winced. "Oh, well, I've always said I wanted to rip down that old shack anyway." Mike chuckled. The shed went again and this time, the telephone pole toppled. onto the house! It sprayed sparks. Embers fell and caught on the exposed tar paper on the roof. Stray bits caught on the naked timbers of the porch's virgin framework. The house was threatened. "Oh no." Roy whirled back to the dials, connecting hose couplings to their ports rapidly. "Stoker! DeSoto! On the double!!" Cap hollered. Then a strange thing happened. No one saw it. A burning bundle of roofing tiles cascaded off the top story. It fell and hit the ground, splattering sparks. Several of these sparks wafted into a open basement window. A colossal explosion ripped through the house's bottom story. It spewed columns of twisting fire from all of its foundation windows. Every one was stunned. What had happened was a freak occurrence. The furnace had blown. "LA, We have a fully involved two story structure fire. Roll an additional unit to the scene. Advise the Power company to terminate power to both 65th Avenue and Montezuma Road!" "10-4, 51." LA's backup call echoed in between the houses all the way down the block. A four tone sounded over the PA system. Station 38 got called out. "Mike, Roy!! Cover that shed!!" Roy was whipping on his over coat when a Chrysler station wagon thunked over a curb across the street. It was Roy's wife. The overcoat dropped. Joanne DeSoto rushed out of the car. "Oh my god, Roy!" she ran to him. Roy's son, Michael, followed. Roy tried to reassure his family, "It's all right honey. You've got the kids." Numbed, Joanne only sobbed. Then, "Daddy?" Michael called out. "Yes, Michael." Roy answered his eleven year old son. "Jesse didn't go to the store with us today. She stayed back to eat lunch over at Carrie's house." "What?!" Joanne started nervously. She put a hand to her mouth. "Roy, where is she?" He whirled to the house. "Roy!!!" A man's voice. It was Vince. He was hustling Carrie ahead of him, holding her arm. "Go on, Carrie. Tell the fireman what you told me!" She started bawling. Cap ran to the little girl. "Listen, honey. We're not angry. We just need to know where Jessica went when the fire started." Carrie wouldn't look at Cap, even when he hefted her up in his arms. Furious, Roy looked at her, "Forget about the lying! Please, tell us!!" She was crying weakly now, "I didn't mean to start it. The match fell and and..." "Where?!!" Vince demanded. Carrie jumped, She blurted in a rush, "She went to get kitty out!!" Joanne screamed, "Jesse! My baby.!" She fainted. Roy automatically caught her and eased her to the ground. He made a small noise of pain in the back of his throat, checking her. "She's all right.. Vince!!! Stay with her!" Vince nodded, taking Carrie from the captain's grasp. Standing, Roy faced the house. Cap knew what Roy was going to do. "No!! DeSoto!!"  He missed catching him. Roy ran, fast. John noticed him, "Hey. Where are you going? Wait a minute!" "Jesse's in there!" "What?!" "I've got to get her out! Jessica!! John lunged and he and Roy grappled, "Are you crazy, man. You need a mask in there. An overcoat.!" "Let-- me-- GO!!!" Roy heaved away, breaking free of John's hold doing his best racquetball court spin. He ran. John stumbled. Roy disappeared into the smoke. John ran towards the house. "Roy?!!" Cap shouted aloud, "Gage!  No! Get a mask and belt on. Moreno, with him!!" "But." "NOW!!" Marco and Mike helped Gage and Moreno put on their apparatus, tying lifelines to them. Johnny and Joachim tested their mask's seal potency. Someone tossed Roy's overcoat to them. Johnny snatched it. Marco drenched the two with a fanning inch and a half as they entered the house. Greasy black smoke billowed out into the yard. The heat was oppressive. It pushed out in palpable waves. On the street, Mike sat by Joanne's head. Vince crouched nearby. "Mrs. DeSoto?" Lying there, she moaned. Cap flew to the cab. "LA, we've one or more victims at the scene. Respond with an additional rescue squad and ambulance." "10- 4, 51." Cap shielded his eyes against the inferno, "Come on!" he hissed. --------------- John stumbled over the front door landing.  He couldn't see. "Roy? Jesse! Where are you?!" The din of the flames was maddening. --------------- In the kitchen, Roy was blinded. Even on hands and knees, he choked. "Jesse!" He crawled further along, heading towards a certain corner. "Jessica! Can you hear me?" His hands struck a hard object. Pieces flew into his face. The litterbox!! It would be here that Jessica would try to aim for first. "Jesse!" He groped, and found a soft body.  Soft fur. The kitten, it was dead. -------------- John gasped. Behind him, Moreno had reached the limit of his hose's length. He tapped the back of Gage's jacket. Gage turned. Moreno made a cut throat gesture. John shouted through his face plate. "All right. Cover me!! Grab my lifeline. Give me a lot of slack. I'm going on ahead!" Moreno shut off his useless hose He grabbed onto John's rope. "Ok, go!!" There was very little flame. The smoke was ink in the air. John could feel the fire's heat seeping through the floor boards beneath his feet.   "Roy? Jesse!" ---------------- Roy reeled, dropping the kitten. He was suddenly dizzy. A hallway opened to his right. "Jesse!" The darkness ate up the sound. Then, ''Daddy?!" It was clear, unmistakable. Roy choked violently. It was getting very hard to breathe. He hugged the floor. "Jessica?! Where are you?" No answer. "Jessica!" "Daddy...!!" "I'm coming!" Roy's mind raced. He needed help. Part of the ceiling creaked above him. He faced the kitchen again. "Johnny I found her!! She's in h--" A collapsing timber smashed into his face just then. Roy tumbled bonelessly. ---------- John froze in midstep. He thought he heard Roy to his left. "Roy? Where are you?" He got down onto his hands and knees, sweeping the hot carpeting. "Roy??" He rammed a shoulder painfully into a frame of a door. His hand sank into tile. The kitchen!  "Roy!!" He didn't hear anything except the popping of the flames. John advanced, running a glove over his visor to clear away a film of soot. He saw a dark form. He reached. Whatever it was pushed and slid away from him when his glove hit it. "Aghh!"  He looked. It was a dead animal, a young cat. "Roy!! Can you hear me!" John was near exhaustion. He rested, sucking in huge lungfuls. How long had he been inside? Two minutes? Ten?  He sank down to his belly and peered down a hallway. Some fallen debris blocked his line of sight. He shoved it away. Then he saw blue on the rust tiles in the smoke. A shirt?! "Roy!!" He scrambled on all fours. It was him. Pulling off a glove, John felt for a carotid. It was there. And moist breath flowed across his knuckles. John looked up. "Jessica?!" The sound fled. Flames crackled, growing louder. SNAP!!!!  A rumble grew. The ceiling started raining shards. John threw the coat over Roy and stretched out over him. He froze, breathing in tight painful gasps. The vibrations ebbed as quickly as it had come. John moved. He jerked twice on his lifeline and began lugging Roy backwards by the arms. Moreno met John at the entrance into the kitchen. The heat grew intolerable. He helped John hoist Roy onto one shoulder in a fireman's carry and picked up his hose. A cooling spray steamed off their overcoats and hissed onto the floor. "Let's go!" John cried. "I got him!" Slowly, they inched their way to the outside. Finally, John burst out of the smoke with his burden and into sunlight. Mike and Marco dropped their line to aid him. "He's breathing!" John shouted "Take him!"  They did. John ran back into the flames. ----- The overcoat slipped off onto the lawn and halfway to the street. Roy's shirt was only blackened and not burning. Cap had seen them coming. Already, he had set up the O2 and had spread out a foil blanket on the grass. They laid Roy on it, wiping away soot and cinders from his nose and mouth. Joanne ran from her place on the curb to him. "Roy!" Moreno hurried back to his place on the front door. He began to spray it down, watching for signs of Johnny re-emerging with the girl. Mike placed the respirator mask over Roy's face and began to demand feed him pure oxygen. Marco rechecked for a heartbeat. "Roy.." Joanne knelt down and began to shake her husband. "Roy.. Where's Jessica?" Cap pulled her away, "Johnny's getting her out right now! You've got to believe me." Joanne sagged in his grip and sobbed weakly. Cap let her go. She sat where she was and reached out, calling to her husband. "Roy..?"  Marco held a four by four over the gash on Roy's forehead.  "Roy!" she cried. "Joanne." Cap said, "He'll be all right. He just got knocked out, that's all. We're just aiding his breathing with the demand valve until he wakes up. He's ok." She wept, lowering her head. Marco touched her arm. She looked at him. "Do you want to help?" he asked her. Joanne nodded. "Here, hold this dressing tight, but don't get into Mike's way. O.K." "Sure." Marco moved over. She took over applying pressure to the head cut. Mike glanced at her, "You're sure you're ok? " he asked again, carefully holding Roy's head back while he delivered the O2. "Yes, I am. I just want my Jesse." She started weeping. Marco sprinted back to support Moreno at the main hose. ----------------------- Inside, John crawled quickly back to the litter box. He went into the hallway beyond it. "Jesse!" Five doors displayed themselves. He kicked in the first one. It was the bathroom. "Jessica?!" No answer. Randomly, he passed by three doors tried the one on the end. It banged open revealing a child's room. Dolls! "Jesse! Can you hear me?!!" "Here!" Muffled. It came from the closet. John whirled and tried the doors. They were locked. "Jessica !  It's Uncle Johnny ! Get up! Open the doors."   John took off his mask and unbuttoned his overcoat. The door cracked open a little bit. John kicked it ajar. Jesse coughed. She was on her hands and knees. "Mommy! I want my mommy!!" She stumbled. John caught her, "I got ya.." He wrapped her with him, inside of his overcoat. He stood, carrying her. "Here. Put this on your face.." He gave her his mask. She held it. "Breathe in!" John put his helmet back on.  He found the path leading to the outside. He tugged on his line, coughing. The ceiling spat sections free around them. John choked, running, covering the girl's head with an arm. They got out of the house. ---------------------- Moreno and Marco rose to help. "She's all right. I got her." He waved them away.  The two fireman remained behind. John sat Jesse down over by the silver blanket. She ran to her mom. Joanne enveloped her inside a big huge. "Jessica. My girl. Mommy's so happy to see you!" "Mommy, the kitty's dead." she trilled. Then Joanne simply cried over her. ----------------------- John shed all of his apparatus. "Mike?" "He's coming around." Roy half moaned, half out. He didn't cough. John looked at the little girl and turned her face in his hand. Her skin was very dirty, but not burned. Her crying attested to clear lungs. She was stable. "Cap! Could you get the biophone and set it up?" "Sure thing, pal." Sirens wailed and engine 38 skidded in front of the house. More hoses were stretched. Vince helped Cap carry over the other gear. A new voice cried out; a child's. "Mom?" Joanne turned. Michael peered fearfully out from around the corner of the engine. "Michael!!" Joanne held out her arms to her son. The boy hesitated when he saw his father lying so still. Joanne understood at once. "It's all right. They're taking good care of him. Daddy's going to be ok." she reached out again.  Michael ran to her, crying. Joanne hugged both of her children tightly to her. ------------------ John didn't notice them. He got out his penlight and checked out Roy's eyes. "Roy? Can you hear me?" Roy remained unmoving. "He's out again." John glanced at Mike, "Is he pulling any air at all?" "About one every three." Johnny nodded, taking a BP. "Marco, could you get his actual respiration rate and his pulse?" "Yep." John pulled off his stethoscope and slid it around his neck. He picked up the biophone. "Rampart, this is squad 51, do you read?" Dr. Early clicked on, "Go ahead, 51." "Rampart, I've two victims of a wooden structure fire. Victim one's an unconscious Code I, Victim's two's a little child. She's about five or six year's of age. Conscious and alert..." At the hospital, Dix bit her lip. "A code I?  A downed fireman!" Early frowned. "51, Go ahead on victim #1." "Rampart, ah, Victim one's Roy DeSoto. He's unconscious due to a blow to the head. He's also suffering from moderate smoke inhalation. He's got a weak breathing response. We're giving him fifteen liters of O2 via positive pressure/ assisting. He has responded somewhat to ventilations. There's a large hematoma and laceration on his forehead. Pupils are equal and reactive." "51, What are his vitals?" John looked to his notepad, reading what both he and Marco had written down. "Vitals are " BP 100/74, Pulse 94, Respirations unassisted are at 6 per minute. Request permission to start an IV." "Go ahead, 51. Start an IV of 500 ml D5W TKO. Give him .5 1/10,000 mg epinephren IV push. Let's see if he'll take an interest in breathing on his own." "Ten four, Rampart, Victim Two appears to be very frightened but not at all shocky. No burns are evident. Do you want a set of vitals?" "51, How's she perfusing?" John looked down at Jesse who was still gripping her mom tightly in an embrace. "She's crying strongly, without coughing, Rampart, without distress." "51, Supervise Victim two for any changes in respiratory status and use 4 liters of O2 when necessary. I want a new set of vitals on Victim one in five minutes. Transport both victims as soon as possible." "10-4, Rampart. IV. D5W TKO with .5 1/10,000 mg epinephren IV Push, Victim one. Supervise pulmonary status, use four liters O2 on symptoms, victim two. Vitals to follow." "Standing by, 51" John tore open an IV package and box of tubing. He strung it and got a line in and running. He handed the bag to Vince. He drew out an epinephren syringe. He looked to Mike. "Watch his pulse when this goes in." Stoker nodded. John injected the drug slowly into the IV port. A minute passed. Mike spoke up, "I'm getting some arrythmias." John checked Roy's carotid.  "He's fine. A few odd beats with epi's ok." Roy started coughing. Mike removed the mask. Joanne reached out. "Roy?!" Her husband relaxed again and became still. Mike replaced the mask. She looked up, worried, at Gage. John noticed her concern. He shrugged, "He's thinking about it." Joanne gave a teary smile and a small laugh. She wiped away her running mascara. Roy began breathing regularly. ------ John felt a tug on his sleeve. It was Jessica. "What's wrong honey?" "My throat hurts and my mouth is all dry." John noticed the child's breaths had become a shade shallower and labored. "Trouble getting air?" "Umm hmm." "OK. I'm going to give you some oxygen through a tube in your nose. It will get rid of that stuffiness you're feeling, all right?" Jesse nodded. John adjusted a nasal cannula around her head and brushed some hair out of her eyes. "Will this make me all better?" "Sure will. Now you go sit down by your mother, ok?" He poked her in the nose. She giggled and nestled back into her mother's arms. The radio crackled.  "51, what's the status on Victim #1?" John picked up the receiver. "Rampart, Victim One's still unconsc--" Roy sat involuntarily, sitting bolt upright, upsetting Mike's hands with the O2 mask. "Jesse!!" John and Cap flew at him, trying to restrain him before the IV was torn loose. "Roy.. Roy..!" John yelled. "You're out and on the street. Take it easy. Jessica's right here!!" Roy struggled, still fuzzy. ----------- Early was frantic, "51, do you read? Over?" It went ignored. John and the others really had their hands full. "Roy! You'll tear out your IV! For Pete's sake.. Do you want to scare her?" The wild look on Roy's eyes faded and he slumped back down. Mike caught his head, so he wouldn't bang in on the ground. Roy's breath caught, he choked hard. "Wha??" He voice cracked. Then he turned his head and saw his daughter in front of him. "Jesse?" She ran to him. John rocked back on his heels running a hand through his hair, "It's about time you woke up." Joanne chortled. John angled an ear, he heard jarbles or something by his knees. "Ooops.!" He snatched up the landline "Ah, Rampart, Victim One's now breathing on his own. C-Color's returning rapidly. He moves about voluntarily without any signs of impairment." "I'll say." Cap said rubbing out a bruise he got in Roy's struggle to consciousness. John started to laugh and he couldn't stop. The landline to Rampart was strangely silent through the open line. Then Dix's and Joe's laughter joined in. Author's comments: Comments:   This is the first story I ever wrote with Emergency! It was written in the 1980's long before I ever became an EMT. I wrote it so I could have my OWN episode. To see something I never saw on the show itself.  The gang getting into hot water via the tradition of Virus and Snakebite.  Hope you've enjoyed this story. More will be coming. See The Face In The Mirror, written twenty years after Home, with the experience of a paramedic career behind it. :) :) :)  Thank you gentle readers. return to main page