THE UNORDINARY ORDINARY by Ro It was the start of a late shift for Captain Hank Stanley and his crew, which included Engineer Mike Stoker, Firefighters Marco Lopez and Chet Kelly and Paramedics Johnny Gage and Roy Desoto. Johnny and Roy had to make a trip to Rampart Hospital for supplies that C-shift failed to pick up before they were off. "Man, I couldn't believe how long it took us to get supplies from Rampart. We barely get on shift and we have to pick up supplies not to mention how crazy it was there." Johnny sighed as he and Roy stepped out of the squad. "I can't wait to get a good night's sleep." "Not if the alarm goes off in the middle of the night," Chet interrupted as he watched Johnny and Roy sink down on the couch with Henry. "You would jinx us wouldn't you!" Johnny snarled. "Me, jinx? I'm merely stating a fact that's all." Grinned Chet as he turned off the T.V. and walked out of the day room. "He's always like that! Why does he always have to be like that? He's one big pain in my…" "Let's just head to bed before we don't get any sleep," Roy interrupted. "HEY! Who's side are you on anyways?" Johnny snapped. Roy just waved his hand at Johnny as if to say forget about it and walked across the bay to the dorm. Johnny followed, still grumbling about Roy taking sides. Already asleep for the night were Hank, Mike and Marco; with Chet tucking himself in, still giggling at Johnny. Johnny, turning in as well, yawned and said goodnight to Roy, although he was still mad at Roy's attitude and him taking Chet's side. E!E!!E!E!E!E! The klaxon shattered the silence of the darkened dorm. All six men jumped up and started dressing until they heard the calm voice of Sam, the dispatcher. "Squad 51, unknown type injury, corner of East H20 and 8th street, time out 0536." "Ugh," Hank mumbled as he wrote down the address, "Squad 51, KMG 365." He handed the paper to Roy, who passed it to his partner before pulling out of the station. They arrived on scene to find a run down house with boards covering all the windows. There were also dried up bushes, plants and trees surrounding the place as well as overgrown rotting ivy climbing the house's outside walls. It looked more like a dead dark forest then a house. "Is this the right place?" Johnny asked, staring in disbelief at the house in front of them. "Corner of East H20 and 8th," Roy replied. "This is the address." "Well let's check it out." They climbed out of the squad, gathered the basic equipment they needed and stepped carefully up onto the crumbling porch. Johnny banged on the door, "LA County Fire Department!" He banged some more. "Hello, anyone there? This is the Fire Department!" Johnny and Roy looked at each other, puzzled and growing concerned. Johnny banged on the door one last time. Both paramedics jumped back in shock as the door clattered noisily to the ground. Johnny peered into the gloom. The house was totally empty; no furniture, no appliances and definitely no injured victim. "How can this be the right address? There's no one…" Johnny broke off as the HT crackled to life. "Squad 51 cancel." Confused, Roy replied, "Squad 51, 10-4." "Roy, something weird is going on here. I mean, we get called for an unknown type rescue and we end up in this abandoned house and then the call gets canceled! How is that possible?" "I'm as stumped as you are, Johnny. Come on, let's go on back to the station." E!E!!E!E!E!E! When Johnny and Roy pulled into the station they found Mike polishing Big Red. "How was the victim?" He asked. "What victim?" Roy asked, slamming the door. "There wasn't one." Johnny noticed the puzzled look that flickered across Mike's face. "See what happened was," he started. "We get there and the house was boarded up." "But that's not the worst of it," Roy jumped into the conversation. Johnny, glaring at Roy, continued, "We get the door busted down and the place is completely empty! And then headquarters calls and tells us to cancel." Mike stared at them for a moment, "Seems to me someone's playing a trick on you." He turned around and went back to polishing his baby. Johnny opened his mouth to finish talking to Mike but was interrupted by Marco coming in from the day room, "Breakfast is on, guys. We're having hamburgers and fries." Roy turned around in shock. "HAMBURGERS AND FRIES FOR BREAKFAST!?" "Why not?" Johnny grinned. Johnny hurried into the day room to join the others at the table, always ready for a hamburger. But as soon as he pulled his chair in the klaxon sounded. "The first time we have hamburgers and fries for breakfast I have to miss it!" Johnny grumbled as Sam, the dispatcher's, voice was heard. "Squad 51, possible drowning, 788 9th street, crossroad Pike Street, time out 0745." "Squad 51, KMG 365." Hank handed Roy the address, stepped back and watched as the squad pulled out into the morning traffic. E!E!!E!E!E!E! When Johnny and Roy arrived on scene, a chill went through both of them. "Whoa, this is a weird place," Johnny said as he grabbed the bio phone, looking around the whole time. "Almost looks like a…" "Oh please hurry!" A woman's voice came from the backyard. "Please, I'm back here and I don't know how to help him!" Johnny and Roy ran to the backyard. Roy stopped dead in his tracks, dropping the drug box, spilling the contents around his feet and stumbled as Johnny bumped into him. "Roy, what are you…" Johnny broke off in mid-sentence as he saw what Roy was looking at. "Is that the victim?" "Yes!" The woman shouted. "Don't just stand there, help him please!" "Uh, Roy?" "Yeah I know, we're not vets," Roy replied as they attempted to help the drowned dog. "Uh, ma'am? Why didn't you call your vet's office?" He asked as Johnny started CPR. "Because this is my baby, my only child and all I have is the number for the Fire Department," the woman said. "And the Fire Department helps animals get outta trees so why not help them when they drown?" She added. Johnny, still doing CPR, glanced up at Roy with a look of total disbelief. "Please, please save him. Please," the woman cried repeatedly. "WAIT!" Johnny stopped. "I've got a pulse." All of a sudden the dog jumped on Roy, licked him and ran off. "HEY! I'm the one that did all the work!" Johnny called after him. "Where's my showness of appreciation! Dumb dog!" "Ah, Johnny? Where'd the woman go?" "Who cares, she probably went after her child. Come on, let's head back to the station." E!E!!E!E!E!E! "A dog, Roy, a dog! We had to rescue a dog!" Johnny's voice floated ahead of him into the day room. "One of your girlfriends again, Gage?" Chet smirked. "Why you little son of a…" "John," Hank interrupted. "Don't you and Roy have paperwork to do?" "Do you want the drowning victim or the cancelled call?" Roy asked, trying to keep the tension level in the room down. "I'll take the dog." "So it was one of your girlfriends," Chet smirked again. "WHY I OUGHTA…" "JOHN!" Hank snapped. "Kelly ya twitt! Lay off him! You've got latrine for a month!" "Ah Cap, I'm only having a little fun." "I can make it two months if you'd like," Hank quickly responded as Johnny started laughing at Chet getting a taste of his own medicine. "What're ya doing?" Johnny asked as Roy pulled him out of the day room and towards the office. "Keeping you from getting latrine duty with Chet. Now let's go work on the runs we've had." "Did you see the look on Chet's face when Cap gave him latrine duty?" Johnny gloated. "It was perfect." "You're just lucky you're not facing the same assignment." "Yeah, that's gonna work," Johnny muttered, glancing up as the klaxon sounded once again, extra loud because they were standing right under it. "Station 51, car accident, 915 Ava Street, crossroad Main, time out 1012." "Station 51, KMG 365." E!E!!E!E!E!E! Upon arrival at the scene, Mike pulled Red as close to the car smashed into the telephone pole as he could, making sure to leave room for the ambulance. Johnny and Roy were already out of the squad and looking in the car. "Hey Cap?" Johnny called. "There's no one here!" "What? There's no way anyone could've gotten outta a wreck like that. It's not possible!" Hank stood there in shock for a minute before ordering the crew to start looking around. "LA, Engine 51 at scene. There's no…JOHNNY LOOK OUT!" Hank dropped the HT and pointed to a man with a gun. The man, all bloody and limping from an obvious wound on his upper thigh, raised a large handgun and fired at an unsuspecting Johnny. "NO!" Roy yelled as he jumped, pushing his partner out of the way as the bullet slammed into his body. "ROY!" Hank cried as he watched the body of his senior paramedic hit the ground at Johnny's feet. The man took another shot, this time grazing Johnny's left arm. Not realizing he'd been shot, Johnny knelt down next to Roy. Mike, who was by the engine, had a clear chance to tackle the man and did so, just as the police rolled up to the scene. "Cap, I need the drug box!" Johnny called. "And the trauma box!" Hank just stood there frozen. "NOW CAP!" Johnny's yell finally penetrated the fog and got all the men moving again. "Hang in there pally!" Johnny reassured his partner. Roy was losing a lot of blood fast from the wound in his chest. "He's still conscious." Hank noted as he placed the drug box near Johnny. Johnny grabbed the drug box without seeming to hear what his Captain was saying. "Roy, just look at me, you're gonna be O.K." Roy looked at Johnny one last time, before closing his eyes. His whole body jerked as he took one last breath. "NO!! YOU'RE NOT LEAVING ME!" Johnny screamed as he started CPR. "Stay with me, Roy!" After several minutes of CPR, Hank whispered the hardest words of his career. "John, he's gone." "NO HE'S NOT!" Johnny yelled, tears running down his face. Hank tried to grab the paramedic. "GET OFF ME! GET THE HOSPITAL ON THE PHONE! HE'S NOT DEAD! I CAN SAVE HIM!" Hank tried to grab Johnny again. "Johnny, please…" "NO, NO, STOP! DON'T LEAVE ME ROY! COME BACK!" "Johnny, Johnny!" "GET OFF ME!" "Johnny! Johnny, come on, junior, wake up." Johnny slowly opened his eyes, laying in a pool of sweat on his bunk, all his shift mates standing around him, concerned etched on their tired faces. "R-R-Roy? You're not dead?" "No, I'm not," Roy smiled. "But I saw you, I saw you get shot," Johnny whispered. "How is it…" "You had a nightmare," Roy replied. "Yeah, you were screaming and thrashing about," Mike added. "I-I-It was only a dream?" Johnny asked. "LA testing with Stations 36, 14, 110 and 51." Came the calm voice of the morning wake up alarms. Hank walked back over to the radio by his bunk. "Station 51, KMG 365." "Well, it's my turn to make the coffee," Marco said then everyone but Johnny and Roy followed him out the door to the kitchen. "Um, Roy?" "Yeah, Junior?" "Y-Y-You saved my life." "Johnny, it was a nightmare," Roy said, smiling. "I know, I know, but you took a bullet for me. You saved me." "Well, now you owe me one." Roy turned to walk out of the dorm, paused in the doorway and looked back at Johnny, still sitting on his bunk. "Oh, by the way, I'd save your life if it was for real, Junior." Roy walked out the door, but still heard the soft words behind him. "I'd do the same for you too, Pally." --THE END-- feedback for Ro |