This is a text version of the original still airing imaged, music soundtracked story. Emergency Theater Live, Episode Forty Five 45. Richter Six Season Six- Episode 45 Short summary- Roy and Johnny relive a flashback about a county wide earthquake they worked while teaching paramedic class. Joe Early struggles to save a little girl and the gang, Chet Kelly. Script Dialogue and premise by Michael Donovan©. ****WARNING**** The long summary to come is very story spoiling and will take away plot surprises if you read it now before reading the longer story below it. Decide now if you want to read this episode's detailed summary before doing so. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Long Summary- Gage and DeSoto are teaching paramedic students about the reality of real life rescue. Roy relates a tale of when a large earthquake strikes the whole county in a flashback. The gang is shaken out of bed at the station to response to a total search and recovery operation at an area hospital collapsed in a quake. Dr. Brackett and Mike Morton deliver a premature baby. A man is discovered in a work room in cardiac arrest and Johnny pulls out all the stops to find a doctor to authorize his medications. One blinded in an acid spill volunteers to help. Station 51 and Joe Early rescue an unconscious surgeon and a little girl from an operating ward. DeSoto frets about the lack of word about his family. Gage tunnels into a fire stairwell, only to find two people dead. A spunky Salvation Army volunteer cheers up Roy and Johnny while dolling out food and coffee. Kel Brackett learns his new mother's husband is the blinded M.D. and gets involved trying to help their emotional crisis. Roy learns the status of his home neighborhood.The last of the earthquake victims are found but at a price, Chet Kelly is buried under debris in an aftershock. He is found with a fractured shoulder and sent to be treated at Rampart by Dr. Brackett. DeSoto's story to his class concludes when the courageous doctor from the tale walks in to lecture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Story Unfolds... Season Six, Episode Forty Five §§ Richter Six §§ Debut Launch: May 1st, 2007. @@@Original Writer Credit for this entire episode goes to.. Richter Six, Mark VII Limited and Universal Studios Production # 35716 Original Teleplay Character Dialogue was written by Michael Donovan, August 30th, 1972.@@@ ------------------- http://groups.yahoo.com/group/emergencytheaterlive **ETL Writer's Preproduction List. *Cut and paste any link that is highlight broken into your browser address bar and the link will function. http://www.voyagerliveaction.com/emergency.html Emergency Theater Live Homepage. Click the TV set at the top of Emergency Theater Live's homepage to see the latest music soundtracked, imaged version of this episode after entering User ID 'efan' and Password 'frontrowseat' at the link above. This version of the current episode is scene delayed as compared to the most recent submissions shown in the text only file coming up below. You will need your Yahoo Email User ID and your Yahoo Email Password to access the file link below this sentence. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EmergencyTheaterLive/files/OurTheaterTale/EmergencytheaterTaleinOneFile.txt **Location to the Complete Current Story ************************************************************ From: "patti keiper" Date: Sat May 5, 2007 4:23 pm Subject: Shake, Rattle and.... Richter Six, Mark VII Limited and Universal Studios Production # 35716 Original Teleplay Character Dialogue was written by Michael Donovan, August 30th, 1972. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The day was warm at Los Angeles County Headquarters. Rescheduling had been the same as always from the chief with all the senior paramedic firefighters getting rotated through the training and breaking in of the new students who were now pouring into the mobile intensive care unit program in droves from elsewhere in the fire department. Johnny Gage didn't know what to think of the teaching requirement newly installed by Dr. Brackett. But it helped that all the classroom time going over the books and drilling skills contributed to his continuing education credits now deemed necessary to maintain his own certifications. He was tired, but smiling a bit as the experience brought back memories of Roy giving him the hard sell to join the paramedics when he had been a student. The promise of a full coffee pot went far to redeem the whole process in his mind's eye. Right along with the free donuts and the chance to lecture all the grunts while wearing doctor white. Roy figured his partner was probably still grinning like the Cheshire cat when his watch went off. It was time to begin day two of the paramedic orientation course. He walked into the classroom set aside for them in a fire training trailer on the fire academy cadet grounds, carrying the orange advanced life support books their class would need. He perked his ears as he opened the door and went inside. Johnny Gage was looking almost comical but in a way, slick in the long white lab coat as he spoke to the class clustered around him. "...and after the academic part, you'll spend a few weeks working in the hospital." A student raised his eyebrows, chewing absently on a pencil. "Why the hospital? We're gonna be doing everything in the field,...why not train there?" Roy dropped his stack of books on the table in front of him and began handing them out one by one after motioning to their students to come up and take one. "That'll come too, ....later." He smiled, leaning over the desk. "You learn in the hospital first, .. the RIGHT way. Then when you have a handle on that, you learn how to adjust to every goofball situation imaginable in the field." One nervous young firefighter, fidgetted with his new manual, goggling at the thickness of the soft bound text of pages. "Was it tough? I mean, you know, making it?" Gage made sure he didn't smile too much. "Having second thoughts?" The thin man nodded. "It's been on my mind." he admitted. "And it always will be." said Roy, sitting down near them. "The only advice we can give, is shoot your best shot." Then he smirked a bit. "I think Johnny here, was the first casualty." he teased. Gage made a mock insulted face and chuckled. "How's that?" asked the second student. DeSoto pursed his lips and picked up an old newspaper from the stack of them on the demo table outlining the success and media coverage Dr. Brackett's paramedic program had attained over the years. He handed the newspaper to him, pointing at the bold printed headline. "Well, if you recall, the quake hit at six in the morning. We'd had about five calls in the night before and had only been in bed about an hour.... "Tuesday, February ninth. I'll never forget that day. Our station was a pretty good distance from the center of the quake, but believe me.. we felt it!" Roy recalled. ------------------------------------------------------------- A rumbler shook the whole fire station, jolting the gang out of their beds. Johnny was thrown from his bed, his arms still wrapped about the pillow and his head struck the concrete block partition next to his bunk. Cap, Stoker and the others shot out of theirs and began scrambling into their turnout pants and boots, even as they winced and flinched and ducked as drinking glasses, pencils and even telephones slid off table tops to shatter and rattle on the tiled floor. Roy was dressed almost instantly. He hastily threw the sheets tangled around his boots away from him as he hung one arm on the brick divider next to Stoker's bunk to steady himself. He heard a groan from Gage, who hadn't yet gotten to his feet. "You okay?" he asked. Johnny, shaking his head dizzily even while he probed his hair for blood, muttered. "I'm not sure...what the devil?" Cap interrupted them. "Stoker, check the garage door. Make sure we're able to get the equipment out of here." Mike nodded and dashed out of the room as the quake finally died slowly under their feet. Hank continued to snap out orders. "The rest of you. Get to it. We'll start a patrol of the area for gas leaks and fire." he decided, going by the book. Chet Kelly went to his side as he pulled on one last suspender strap. "How bad do you think it is, Cap?" Stanley sighed, eyeing up the radio on the table by the window to make sure that it still had power. "That's the problem, we don't know." he said seriously while he jogged out to the apparatus bay to survey for damage. Gage convinced himself that he was all right from his jolt to the head. He smiled to reassure his partner. "Ever been in an earthquake before?" DeSoto shook his head in the negative. "You?" he asked. Johnny frowned and shuddered, burning off the last of his adrenalin jitters as he matched Roy's reply. "That scared the h*ll out of me." Roy helped Gage steady himself on his feet and together they ran to join the others. Relieved, DeSoto saw that the main door was just fine, rattling up in its tracks smoothly as ever. By the alcove, Hank hung up the mic on its spigot. "Dispatch says they're getting reports from all over the county. They're guessing we're at the edge of the quake." Johnny cracked his knuckles in anxious anticipation. "That means there's gonna be heavy damage." Stanley nodded, agreeing."We'll start checking out our area. If they need us, they'll call." Everyone began running for the trucks. Hank stopped his paramedics by gripping their elbows. He met their eyes significantly. "Gage, DeSoto. Better load up what extra medical supplies you can." he suggested. The abnormal advice served only to stir their fears of the possible scope of the disaster they had yet to see in their city. Without comment, they moved out. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Photo: L.A.County Headquarters day far shot aerial. Photo: L.A.County Headquarters front entrance, Photo: Hand written paramedic class sign. Photo: Roy teaching over a desk. Photo: Stack of paramedic manuals. Photo: A firefighter paramedic student asking a question. Photo: Roy sleeping. Photo: Cap snoring in his bunk. Photo: A building collapsing in an earthquake. Photo: John wincing from a hit head, in bed. Photo: Cap, Roy and Johnny talking in the vehicle bay. Photo: A seismograph tracing. Photo: Station 51's address numbers on its brick front. Photo: The squad and engine roaring down the highway. ************************************************** From: "patti keiper" Date: Sun May 13, 2007 4:31 pm Subject: Act 2, Richter Six.. Richter Six, Mark VII Limited and Universal Studios Production # 35716 Original Teleplay Character Dialogue was written by Michael Donovan, August 30th, 1972. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roy DeSoto drove slowly, picking no regular direction to travel in as they listened to the radio chatter over their frequency. The engine had split off from behind them long ago to cover different territory and to him, not having the Ward's reassuring bulk in his rear view mirror, somehow discomforted him. Johnny was trying to at least look relaxed, resting his elbow on the open window frame of the rescue squad. "Things look quiet enough. Guess all it did was rattle the area pretty good." he commented. DeSoto, worried but holding his roiling emotions at bay about things a little closer to home, finally reached over and grabbed up the mic. " Squad 51, is there any info on the Chatsberry area?" he asked L.A. L.A. responded. ##Squad 51, negative. Please restrict radio traffic to necessary messages...## replied Sam Lanier, before he resumed checks and relaying search reports from other units patrolling service areas like Station 51 had begun to do. DeSoto, biting his lip, sighed with anxiety as he mentally chided himself for tying up the emergency channel. Gage, leaning a couple of fingers on his chin, studied his partner in calm empathy. "Roy, anything can knock out a phone line.." he said. Startling, on the steering wheel, Roy's knuckles whitened as his attention was drawn back to the radio as aftertones began to sound. ##Engine 197, Engine 226. Patrol 67 reports extensive damage in Soledad area. Numerous fires, major structural damage. Respond to---## Tuning out the radio, Roy tried to relax back into the driver's seat as he licked his lips dryly when the airing failed to impart the one bit of information that he badly wanted right then. Gage didn't take his eyes away from Roy's tense expression. It was total uncharacteristic fretting he read coming from his partner. So he said it like it was. "If anything's happened, she'll know what to do, Roy." "Yeah.." DeSoto replied, not reassured nor convinced, still thinking about his family. Johnny studied DeSoto, trying to convey firm confidence, when the tones from H.Q. sounded again. ##Engine 51, Squad 51...Engine 127, Truck 127, Engines 68, 225, 65 and 70. Patrols 65 and 68. Respond to Alameda Hospital. Soledad reports wide spread destruction.## Roy's mouth dropped open as Johnny snatched up the mic a little too fast. "Squad 51." acknowledged Gage quickly as Roy turned on their lights and sirens, doing a U-turn in the boulevard. Johnny hung up their radio. "That's about thirty miles from here." he estimated. Roy gaped as he forced himself to talk a couple of seconds later, working through a strong reaction that Gage could see visibly. "...and about five minutes from my house." Johnny's eyes widened in dismay when the fact he didn't know, sank in. Willing calm onto Roy, he set his hand firmly onto his shoulder in unspoken support as DeSoto jumped them into authorized emergency speed. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was three minutes later and Roy and Johnny began to see signs that they were at the edge of the quake. Sewer caps were thrust through fractured sidewalks like bizarre toothpicks angling from the ground. There was already a stench of decay in the air. Gage pointed to the first indications and Roy nodded as they swept by the sight. Then there was no more time to notice details. Squad 51 pulled into the older suburban hospital's parking lot and there, both paramedics were stunned. "Dear G*d!" Johnny exclaimed aloud as they rushed to what they thought was a rudimentary fire department staging area. All they could see was the twisted structure of the hospital and ground eruption flipped cars. At its base, the lot was alive with fire equipment, police cars, white clad doctors and nurses and gurney wheeling patients moving in all directions. Pandemonium barely described the events now underway before them. Swallowing, Roy slowed into cautious gear and he went where they were directed into the chaotic open maw of the forming disaster operation. There was a flurry of activity in and around the command post trailers. Roy and Johnny could see a Battalion Chief briefing a handful of fire captains, including Captain Stanley. They were all clutching newly plastic wrapped waterproofed HTs. Hank nodded minutely when Roy and Johnny parked and started unloading all their stokes and medical gear, making eye contact only long enough to let them know he was aware they had arrived. Putting on their turnouts and scba, Roy and Johnny swiftly got ready. The first thing DeSoto did was check their reception via biophone. "Rescue 51 to Rampart Base for radio check." he gasped, speaking loudly. There was no immediately reply and he and Johnny shared a single significant glance in concern when static poured out of the receiver. Roy tried again. "Rescue 51 to Rampart Base." he hailed turning up the gain and rechecking the terminal's antennae port. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Nurse Dixie McCall looked up and saw the red light go on inside the base station at Rampart. She hurried into the room, barely avoiding a collision with a gurney in-pouring into her emergency department in the corridor. The silence from the din of the ongoing disaster, took her breath away. She paused only long enough to learn who it was who was hailing. ##Rescue 51 requesting radio check with Rampart Base.## DeSoto's voice repeated. Dixe lifted her head and pressed the talk button, frowning in concentration. "Rescue 51, This is Rampart, go ahead." she replied. ##Rampart, we've been assigned to Alameda Hospital. Verifying radio communication from this location.## Roy answered. In the background, Dixie could hear fire department chatter and the shouts of disoriented patients being evacuated from the shattered building in droves behind his voice. "10-4, I read you loud and clear. Doctor Brackett has sent Joe Early with a triage team to your location. How bad is it?" she asked, finally pausing and resetting the recording tape when she realized they weren't yet with a patient. Roy's voice sounded stressed for a reason McCall couldn't identify. ##Extensive damage. There appears to be many injuries. Evacuation is underway.## DeSoto told her. "10-4." Dixie said, putting the channel on standby. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DeSoto closed up the biophone box and behind him, Captain Stanley and the other captains broke up from the briefing with the Chief. He crossed over to where both his station's trucks were angled and faced his men. Chet, Marco, and Stoker already had their gloves and air bottles on like Cap did. Stanley sighed, his voice charged with all business. "Okay, we've got a search and rescue detail..north half of the West Wing. We'll start with the first floor. Stoker and Lopez, you take the North end. Gage and DeSoto, up the middle. Kelly and I will work our way in from the South end. Check every room and mark it. If you need assistance, give us a holler." Gage eyed the building still spewing dust in front of them. "It looks like the first and ground floors got it the worst." he said. Hank nodded. "And they're the only way out for the people above them." Stanley said, sweeping a hand over the jumble of broken cars that were aggressively getting sprayed down by distantly placed water curtains. The mangled rows of displaced cars were acting as a barricade, preventing the full reach of the aerial ladders that were trying to extend out to uneffected windows. One managed to connect at last and firefighters rushed up the handholds from the engine's receiving platform. Stanley gestured and the gang snapped into action. They gathered up flashlights and the most critical of the medical and extrication gear. The gang started separating when DeSoto hesitated and turned to Hank. The expression in his eyes spoke volumes.. "Cap..." Hank immediately understood having anticipated the question. "I'm sorry, Roy. There's been no reports on your neighborhood." Roy nodded under his helmet tightly, regarding Stanley with unspoken thanks. He looked away then and headed off after his partner. Hank watched him go until another call for him came over his portable radio. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Under the shadow of a lifted aerial ladder, Gage and DeSoto worked their way around fresh rubble, trying past the patient patio where they knew large glass doors must have been. Johnny located the entrance to the hospital proper and staff cafeteria. "This looks good as any.." he said. Roy agreed with a nod and together they forced the door open with tools and entered. A minute later, they were passing evacuating patients and other search and rescue teams rushing to other areas of Alameda's twisted bulk. As they passed a badly crushed and jammed emergency exit stairwell, Johnny hesitated at a sound, a questioning almost panicked vocalization from behind the warped door. "Wait a minute.." Gage said to Roy. Johnny moved closer to the door, carefully listening in his helmet. A knocking sound rewarded him as he looked up, probing for hinge weaknesses with a halligan. "Somebody in there?" he shouted. "....yes... please help me. " said a female voice, it was strained with pain. Reacting, Gage and DeSoto snatched a prybar from their gear and they began forcing their way through the door to get to her. Loudly, Roy gave an order. "Move away!" he said. The two firefighters continued to exert their combined strength against the door until finally, it began to creak open, the spidered tiny glass window it contained splintered and broke apart as a gap opened. A small nurse in a dirty ripped uniform jammed her torso out of the darkened staircase and she coughed. Gage and DeSoto pulled her out into the corridor and helped her to her feet. Johnny held her arms, searching for blood. "Are you all right, Miss?" The young nurse wiped off dust and grit from her mouth as she reassured herself with her own running hands that she was truly uninjured. "Yes. I've been trying to find my way out of the ground floor for an hour. They need help. In surgery." she exclaimed. Roy took off his helmet and offered her a sit down onto one of their gear boxes. "What kind of help?" he said, crouching by her side, eyeing her up carefully. The shaken nurse shook her head. "I...I just don't know. No one can get in. They can't get out. The walls and doors are crushed. It's horrible!" she trembled. DeSoto stood, satisfied the woman wasn't in any danger from shock. He refastened his helmet. "We'll take a look." he told her as she stood once more with growing strength in the cleaner air. Johnny and Roy gathered up their gear, heading for the stairwell again. She stopped them. "Try this way first." she said, pointing to a turn down the busy hallway. "Maybe we can get in through the ampitheater." she suggested. The two paramedics nodded for her to lead the way. The darkness of the shattered but still open aisled ampitheater was almost absolute and its tiled walls eerily reflected the light beaming off their flashlights as the trio made their way through the viewing door on the lower level. They made their way over to the viewing glass balcony in the observation theater and looked down. All three of them gasped. Fractured beams of light from the still powered patient floor shining through a broken ceiling beam above them was the only illumination in the pitch black surgery room. On a gurney, lay a young girl receiving oxygen and anesthetic from a blue gowned nurse. On the floor at their feet the paramedics could see another nurse looking up from an injured surgeon lying awkwardly on his back. Roy and Johnny aimed their flashlight beams downward and the two staffers looked up suddenly with urgency. The bright red gap of an opened body cavity glinted at the child's abdomen which was covered quickly with a sterile drape when a stream of dust began cascading down from the ceiling. DeSoto could see the kneeling nurse had already begun an I.V. on the unconscious oral airway aided doctor lying in front of her. They could see blood on his forehead. DeSoto turned to the nurse who came with them. "They're setting up a field hospital in front. Get a doctor... a surgeon if you can. We'll try to get down there." he told her. The nurse nodded, accepting Roy's flashlight gratefully and she hurried back the way they had come to summon the help he requested. Johnny began testing around the viewing glass edges as he shined his torch onto the broken concrete buried door to one side of the surgery. "No telling how long it'll take to dig through that mess." he muttered, trying to see if the child was still breathing on her own without the surgical nurse's assistance. Roy peered around. "Then maybe going through the top here will be faster." he said, pulling their HT out of his pocket. "Squad 51 to C.P. Requesting screwdrivers, rope, lighting and two stretchers be brought to the surgical ampitheater. Entrance is located at the west end side of the hospital." he reported. Worried, Roy and Johnny looked down as the glass muted nurses below them looked up with anxious expressions as they worked to stabilize their patients. ##10-4, 51.# replied the incident commander posted outside. ------------------------------------------------------------- Photo: Squad 51 pulling up. Photo: Roy and Johnny in squad on mic. Photo: Destroyed cars by hospital building. Photo: Engines respond to hospital. Extend ladders. Photo: Dixie with long hair at the base station. Photo: Battalion chief orders gang. Photo: Roy and Johnny search with scba and flashlights. Photo: A white capped nurse. Photo: Surgery nurses working frantically. Photo: Injured doctor on the floor. Photo: Roy and Johnny in scba talking on an HT. ************************************************** From : patti keiper Sent : Friday, May 18, 2007 8:34 PM Subject : Deliverance.. Richter Six, Mark VII Limited and Universal Studios Production # 35716 Original Teleplay Character Dialogue was written by Michael Donovan, August 30th, 1972. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was ten minutes later. Johnny Gage finished removing the last screw in the windowframe of the observation room. Carefully, he, Chet and Marco lifted out the glass pane and set it aside onto the floor out of the way. Other firemen entered the surgical amphitheater with portable lighting and there was a flurry of activity as it was plugged in and hooked up to battery power. Gage and DeSoto began lowering themselves into the surgical suite below on a rope with belts. Roy's feet touched the gritty floor. Disconnecting, he removed his gloves and moved towards the surgical table. "We've sent for a doctor." The nurse on the child's head nodded. "How long has it been?" she asked, over her bright blue surgical mask. Roy looked at his watch. "The quake hit at six. Just a little over an hour." He glanced down at the little girl, lying intubated and still on the bed. "How's she doing?" "Critical." replied another nurse, looking up from where she was monitoring the girl's vital signs from a stool next to them. A thump turned Roy's head back the way he had come. Joe Early, his face twisting with effort, was being lowered on a rope. He was wearing fire turnout over his hastily zipped up triage jumpsuit and surgical top. Johnny was examining the surgeon on the floor in a fast survey. "Welcome aboard, doc." he said. "Sorry it took so long. Things are busy out there." replied Joe. He knelt next to Johnny when he gestured that the man was first to be treated. Gage sighed, lifting his hands away from a carotid pulse. "I recommend we move the doctor here out. He's taken a pretty good crack on the head from that surgical lamp." he said, pointing to the shattered one lying broken on the floor near them. Joe peeled back the head bloody surgeon's eyes. "He's stable?" Johnny nodded. "Nurse Wells has taken good care of him." Early looked up at her after checking the doctor's I.V. flow rate. "Stay with him, Nurse. Tell the triage team to send him to Rampart." Wells assented as Gage got up to accept a stokes that Marco and Chet were lowering down to them from the opened window. Joe rose to his feet, peering in the darkness to avoid debris. He crossed over to get Roy's report on the little girl. "Things aren't quite as simple here, doc." DeSoto said. The nurse delivering oxygen to her spoke. "The doctor had just started an appendectomy." she said, lifting the sterile drape over the child's lower abdomen. "I've done my best to keep the incision sterile." Joe bent down and looked at the wound. "What do you think, doc?" asked DeSoto about her options for extrication. "I'd think we'd better finish the job, right here." said Joe, crossing over to a sink nearby. "Get some light on the patient." he said to the firefighters working above them in the viewing balcony. "I'll need surgical gloves." he said to the nurse as he turned the water spigot. Nothing came out. Joe frowned. "...and how about a bottle of alcohol?" he requested. A couple of minutes later, Johnny was free to help. Together, he and Roy got the trays Joe needed laid out. Sweating, Joe began where the M.D. had left off. Silence fell as the third nurse and the stokes were lifted out of the room. The heat was intense and Early's brow was covered in perspiration. "Hernostat.." he called out. The vitals nurse handed one to him using a sterile towel. Joe used it. Then,..."scalpel.." he said. The nurse caught her breath a minute later. "Doctor, her blood pressure is dropping." Joe didn't look up. He started to work faster. "Respirations?" "Shallow." she replied. Nearby, Roy turned up the girl's new Ringer's I.V. "Just give me thirty seconds." Joe said to her. He reached into the incision with a precision scalpel slowly. He jerked it out again when the room suddenly began to shake violently around them. Everybody tensed nervously and cast their heads about, studying the swaying ceiling and especially, the ring of fragile glass windows ringing above them. They held and soon, the aftershock passed. Early returned to work as he made a careful cut and cauterized the bleeder he had made in the girl's intestinal wall from the snipped free appendix. A few seconds later, he slowly looked up. "Vitals?" The nurse at the girl's head smiled over the intubation tube. "Improving." Early nodded, shifting on a foot. "Let's close." Roy and Gage, beside him in surgical masks, also grinned in relief. They looked on with interest as the nurse handed Joe suturing equipment and a forcep fitted with a curved needle and thread. Early felt their concern and he winked at them, to let them know they were in the clear at last. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Outside the shattered hospital a while later, an ambulance opened its rear doors to receive the sleeping, recovering little girl being carried by attendants and overseen by the head surgical nurse. Gage and Roy left the building, brushing off earthquake dust from their turnouts. Nearby, Joe Early was talking on their biophone, set onto the ground. The anesthetic nurse, watching everything, leaned on the wall with fatigue as she finally gave into relief.. and some rest. Johnny, noticing, crossed over to her. "How do you feel?" he asked the nurse. "Like crying.." she replied, not smiling. "Only I'm too tired." Gage gripped her arm in comfort. "That was some job. Pitch black and you kept her going." Biting her lip, she squeezed out a half grin as she looked down. She pulled out a penlight from her dirty pocket and flicked it on. It didn't light. " The batteries died just a few minutes before you came." she sobbed, smiling. Grinning, Johnny gave her his spare to replace it. Joe Early was deep into conversation with Rampart. "The McBurney type incision was used. I'm also sending along a culture for lab analysis. Conditions weren't the most sterile so keep the antibiotic therapy going a little longer than usual." ##10-4, Joe.## replied Kel Brackett over the line. ##What about the rest of it?## the doctor asked. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- In the base station, Kel scribbled more onto his notes as Joe replied back. ##Evacuations still underway. I had a talk with the administrator about thirty minutes ago. Our best estimate then was about two hundred patients to go. That's not counting injured employees.## Sighing in dismay, Brackett told his colleague the straight truth. "10-4, Joe. We can handle about a hundred more,.. unless other areas pick up." Early copied him. ##Ten four.## Dixie entered the alcove from the busy, crowded corridor desk. "Kel, Obstetrics is loaded. Another one came in. Treatment One." Kel's eyebrows raised as he toggled off Joe's connection. "Premature?" McCall nodded. "One month. Mike Morton's with her." Brackett licked his lips, accepting the news as just another brick on the pile. "I'll give him a hand." he said, moving off. "Call obstetrics and ask them if they can accomodate a few more patients." Dixie frowned. "They've already doubled up on their rooms." Brackett held open the door. "Then suggest some partitions in the hallway." he told her. Kel moved off towards Treatment One, making his way through the throng of the injured and the sick. Dixie began to pick up the house phone when she was interrupted by the approach of Katy Anderson, a small elderly woman in her early sixties. She was favoring a left arm that was totally immobile. "Nurse.." she grimaced. "Please.. You must help me." she said with a sob. Dixie whirled, recognizing the woman immediately. "Mrs. Anderson, what are you doing here?" Katy sagged visibly where she stood. "I.. I can't move my arm. ..I can't.. Won't someone please help me? It's.. paralyzed." McCall reclarified their situation. "Where's Nurse Collins? Wasn't she helping you?" Katy answered reluctantly. "She was called away." Dixie nodded in understanding. "We are terribly busy." she said, setting down Joe's patient tape recording. Anderson sensed Dixie's growing distractions. "But I'm paralyzed. Can't you understand?" she said wailing weakly, insisting. McCall stood and aided her to a seat in the Nurse's station, comforting her with a grip around the shoulders. "Certainly I can, Mrs. Anderson. Here, sit down." Katy did, still holding her arm. "There." Dixie smiled. "Now let me ask. Does your arm hurt anywhere?" Katy met her eyes, timidly. "No. It's... just paralyzed. I can't move it. Right after the quake is when it happened." Dixie reacted, thinking. "Yes, and you told the doctor that?" she asked. The older woman nodded. "I don't think he believed me." McCall checked the pulse in that wrist, feeling its temperature. "Sure he believed you. It's just that there's so many serious injuries coming in..." she broke off, realizing that a lecture was upsetting Mrs. Anderson. She rethought her plan of action. "Tell you what. We're so overloaded with work, we could use some help." she suggested, when her findings proved that everything was normal in the arm. "Help?" Katy piped up in a sniffly daze. Dixie met her eyes evenly, narrowing them in consternation, but mildly. "Is your right arm okay?" "Yes. I guess so." peeped Katy. "It would be a real help if you could write out some identification tags for us." Dixie told her. Katy reacted with hope and surprise. "Me? You want me to help?" Dixie smiled, nodding slowly. "And when we get caught up, maybe I can get the doctor to take another look." she said, patting the left arm significantly. "What do you say?" Katy was bewildered. "I...I guess it will be all right." Dixie gripped her chin and slid the tags and patient lists in front of her. "Terrific. Now,..here's the tags. Just make one for each name on these lists of paper, okay?" Katy was still uncertain and it showed in her voice. "O-okay." Dixie nodded with satisfaction and winked assuringly at her as she left the desk area. Anderson wondered a few beats but never figured out that she had been outmaneuvered. She shrugged and began her task like a shy librarian who had the pressure taken off on a heavy load of books. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- In Treatment One, a 21 year old Kathy Williams lay in heavy pregnancy, wincing in pain and trying to breathe deeply. Brackett, with the intern Mike Morton and a nurse were preparing her for delivery. An orderly entered with an emergency incubator. Kathy grunted as she struggled not to push when she saw it." I.. I just don't understand. My doctor said it was a perfect pregnancy. It's too early. I...I have a month to go.." she panted. Kel looked up from his examination of her. "Now, don't worry. This earthquake has caused a lot of women to deliver early. You're going to be fine. Breathe deeply now." he ordered. Kathy did so, looking up at Morton, who was holding her hand with his free one. "My husband.. have you been able to locate him?" Morton shook his head. "I'm sorry. All the phone lines to that area are out." Kathy slumped back onto her pillow as another contraction eased up. "Isn't it ironic. Married to a doctor and he's never around when you need him." Brackett shot a questioning glance over at Morton. Williams missed it. "I..I guess they held him over because of the earthquake. They're.. probably getting a lot of patients, too." Mike replied to Kel. "Doctor Mike Williams. He's an intern at Olive View. Works the midnight to eight shift." Brackett and Morton interacted knowledge they didn't want to impart in looks as Kathy was lost in another severe labor pain that almost lifted her off the bed. She screamed as they began work to bring another life into the world. END Act One ----------------------------------------------------------------- Photo: Hands unscrewing screws closeup. Photo: Marco and Chet working in helmets, dark. Photo: Johnny Gage being lowered on rope. Photo: A child being intubated in surgery. Photo: Joe Gage in surgery. Photo: A surgeon's scalpel. Photo: Joe on the phone. Photo: The opened biophone on the street. Photo: Gage talking with a nurse. Photo: Dixie with an older lady. Photo: A panicky triaged woman. Photo: A doctor examing fetal heartsounds. Photo: Brackett and Morton working surgery. ************************************************** From : patti keiper Sent : Sunday, May 20, 2007 6:05 PM Subject : The Nature of Folks.. Richter Six, Mark VII Limited and Universal Studios Production # 35716 Original Teleplay Character Dialogue was written by Michael Donovan, August 30th, 1972. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The day was crawling by like a snail. Slowly though, the response to Alameda grew stronger and more organized. Copter ten had been cleared to land on the roof, evacuating the most critical injuries that were being found inside to other hospitals. At the north end, the emergency room's crushed receiving dock became the source of numerous litters being carried by firefighters, attending the trauma victims, and the dead. The fire department radio only punctuated the scope of the disaster that had befallen them county wide. Vast numbers of apparatus and situation reports echoed off the twisted building in splinters, matching the whole fever pitch of the scene unfolding within its shadow. Roy and Johnny picked up their pace a little faster in the parking lot, heading for the partially buried doors. Chet Kelly crawled out from underneath an exposed rafter capped crack in the pile and he motioned to them. "This way." Gage cleared his throat of dust. "Whatta you have?" Kelly showed them the widest way into the rubble and he started shoving their medical gear that they had carried into a hole in front of him. "Found a guy in Central Supply, tangled up in a conveyer belt." he replied. Hurrying, the three of them followed somebody's trail line in which led to the rescue site in the bowels of the hospital. Already, the area was lit up by portable lights focused on a gnarled conveyer track buried in debris. Already, Captain Stanley, Lopez and Stoker were pulling off pieces of rubble from around a specific spot. Hank didn't look up as he kept digging when he felt Roy and Johnny appear behind him. "He must've crawled under there for cover when it hit." he clarified. DeSoto shoved his helmet a little higher up onto his head. "Have you been able to talk to him?" Stanley shook his head. There had been an adverse change. "It's been about ten minutes. We're just about through to him." Roy and Johnny moved their gear over to a safe open area and began pitching in with the task of widening their access hole. Roy found something in the dust and picked it up. It was a name tag which read Walter Jacques, Supply Clerk. Gage grunted and one last boulder of concrete finally fell away into eager firefighter hands. Inside, he could see the sprawled but unpinned frame of the fifty something man, lying on his side, coated in plaster powder. Roy quickly exposed his neck, feeling for a pulse with a gloveless hand. "He's arrested." he said when he felt no beat or signs of respirations. He turned Walter onto his back, crouching beneath the low ceiling of the collapse and began C.P.R. "Start some air." he ordered. Kelly nimbly wormed inside the gap with the oxygen bottle and began bagging Walter on ambu. Johnny, meanwhile had snatched for the biophone. He looked up after checking its antennae and wires multiple times. "Something's wrong. I can't get a transmit light." he said to the others. DeSoto grunted, keeping his compressions fast and firm. "We need a doctor's approval for drugs and he's gonna need some." he said, casting a head down at the man he was working on to further show that he was actually injury clear and possibly suffering from a non traumatic condition. Gage moved. "I'll try to dig one up." he said tightly, getting frustrated with the dead phone. He got to his feet, heading for the door with his HT to find some open sky. Roy motioned for Lopez to take over the C.P.R. so he could hook up the ekg monitor unfettered. Marco began counting off sets to match Chet's ventilations. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gage turned around in the darkened hospital corridor full of evacuating personnel and patients. He collapsed his handy talkie's antennae derisively and repocketed it. No one at Command had a doctor in the triage center to spare and L.A. was tied up to the point of standstill on live medic calls, so Johnny began searching among the Alameda staffers for some help. He shouted at large. "Anybody know where a doctor is close by?" Most of the nurses and orderlies around him shook their heads and kept on rushing their victims to the much safer conditions outside. Sighing in frustration, Gage headed for another group of rescuers. "I'm looking for a doctor. It's urgent." he said, whirling in place, still in his helmet. He recognized a pair of paramedics bearing out a man on a litter wearing white bandages over his eyes. He approached them, hoping for better information. "You guys seen a doctor around here?" he asked them. Unexpectedly, the man on the stretcher in their hands replied. "I'm a doctor, but not in much shape to do anything for you." Gage looked down and suddenly realized that the paramedic firefighters' victim was wearing a lab coat, complete with a broken stethoscope angled around his neck. Johnny looked up at the medics. "We found him in the lab... Acid." they told him. Johnny knelt down where they had paused and now, he could read the Doctor's name tag. Williams, it said. Gage grunted in disappointment when he saw the stains of burns soaking through the dressings covering the physician's eyes. Williams heard him. "What is it?" Johnny hesitated, looking around again for another option, but he didn't find it. Gage sighed. "I'm a paramedic, doctor. We have a man in full arrest." Williams was in pain, but sharp. "..and need approval for drug administration?" Gage touched him, gripping his hand in greeting. "Yes, sir." "Well, that's one contribution I can make. Let's go." he told the medics carrying him. No one protested it. Johnny led the way. -------------------------------------------------------------------- The scope displaying by the gang's knees was sounding a steady alarm tone. Kelly was still providing breaths to Jacques around Marco's C.P.R. compressions. Gage and the firefighters with their stretchered burden arrived with a scuffle on stone. Johnny could see Roy was in the process of starting an I.V. Johnny couldn't wait with his news. "I got a doctor." he explained. DeSoto looked up at his partner with a puzzled look and glanced again at Williams as he was set onto the ground near them. "He's blind. Hit in the face with acid." Gage told him. Roy pursed his lips in an obvious I know that frown. Williams spoke up. "Okay, what's going on?" he asked strongly over the noise of shovel digging and other search activity going on around him. Roy shifted his eyes, not really believing what he was hearing coming from somebody who was most definitely still a disaster victim. After a beat, he said. "I had a rate of 32, doc. It dropped to ten. He's male, Caucasian, about fifty." Williams turned his bandaged head toward the sound of the wailing ekg monitor declaring crisis. "I.V.?" DeSoto replied. "Yes, sir. D5W." The doctor asked more. "Respirations?" Roy said. "Almost none." Johnny was crouched in front of the Datascope, studying it. "Roy,..straight line. Ventricular standstill." he said when it changed into something new. The ekg screen's activity levelled downward as they watched. Williams coughed. "Do you have atropine?" he asked, breaking them out of a freeze. DeSoto held up a grimy hand. "Right here in my hand, doc." he said quickly, holding it up so Gage saw that it was uncapped and ready to use. "Push two milligrams." grunted the injured doctor as he felt himself getting covered with a shock blanket by Cap and Stoker. Roy did so, injecting the bradycardic fix into the I.V. port. "Two milligrams." he parroted. Then his eyes fell on the monitor again where course wavers of reactive V-fib were beginning. "Recommend we increase the drip." he reported. Williams nodded from where he lay. "Okay." Gage opened up the clamp on the I.V. to wide until the flow began to gush into Jacques' vein. "Take a reading.." gasped the doctor on the ground, trying not to wince because of his burned eyes. DeSoto nodded to Marco to stop C.P.R. for a few moments. A sluggish ventricular attempt rewarded them on the monitor. Roy smiled. "He's tracking.. about twenty." he reported to Williams as he gestured to Lopez to start up again. The doc smiled. "Okay. Let's try some Isoproterenol. Two milligrams." Gage reached into the drug box, fitted a needle and squirted out a payload of air from the medication before he injected it into Jacques' intravenous port. "Two milligrams of Isoproterenol pushed, doc." he said. "Okay, hold up on C.P.R. Take a reading." Williams panted. They did so, and the oscilloscope began to show a faster rate. "Thirty five, doc." DeSoto called out. "Increase the drip." Johnny turned up the dial and finger flicked the drip chamber a few times. "Drip increased." Roy nodded as he read the screen. "Forty five, fifty, sixty..." "Easy." gasped Williams. "Try to hold him at seventy." DeSoto and Gage adjusted the I.V. until the warning alarm went away. "Seventy and holding." Roy finally said, after confirming what they were seeing with a carotid pulse check. Walter began to come around, twitching under the flowing oxygen mask and bag Chet held over his nose and mouth. Gage grinned. "We have a conscious patient, doc." Taking a deep breath, Williams finally let his head fall on the pillowed emergency blanket that was warming him. "Good enough. Keep him stable.. and get him to a hospital." the doctor swallowed dryly. He finally let Hank set him on some oxygen. "Yes, sir." said Roy. Lopez, Kelly, Cap and DeSoto began loading up Walter onto a stokes as the other paramedics picked up Williams, too. Gage crossed over to him. "For the report, doc. Can I get your name?" The doc replied. "Williams. Mike Williams. And you?" "Johnny Gage." "Nice job, Gage." said the doctor, finally relaxing into rest. "Good luck, doc." Johnny told him, grasping his shoulder for a bit. Trying hard to smile around his pain, Williams half grinned. Then he was carried away. Roy and Gage watched him go with Walter's party thoughtfully. Johnny was reflective. "It's something how people hold together when the chips are down." Roy nodded, reaching for their medical gear to package it up. "I hope he gets the kind of help he just gave." Gage nodded in agreement, wholeheartedly. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alameda was bleeding smoke on the other side of the parking lot. A fire escape stairwell tower had collapsed onto the pavement and camp crews were hard at work chipping into the concrete slabs for access. A skip loader was hauling away hastily tossed debris and a crane was being used to move cement and tangled re-bar from the site under excavation. The gang from Station 51 hurried over to this next assignment with full regalia. Hank shared what he already knew. "The best run down they could get from the Administrator is a good possibility one and possibly two people were in that smoke tower when it went." Johnny looked over at him from the scene. "Do they have a handle on how many are still missing?" Stanley shook his head. "They're working on it now. It's a big job. I understand they did retrieve the hospital records about thirty minutes ago." "That'll be a start." Gage said, tightening his helmet. Hank whistled piercingly as he held up his arms, calling for an all halt. "Okay! Let's hold it up a minute! Hold up!" he shouted. The gang waited while all the workmen with the heavy equipment shut them down one by one for complete silence. Then Hank nodded at Kelly and Johnny who went into the exposed horizontally lying stairwell with Kennedy probes. Repeatedly, Gage and Chet shoved the listening rods in between boulders and cabling, tilting their heads as they waited for any sound made by survivors. The hush over the scene grew eerie, as echoes of helicopters landing and taking off on the other side of the parking lot droned softly over the sound of sirens coming from the city. Then Chet looked up. "I've got something." he said to Cap, nodding firmly in his earphones. All eyes turned to him as he probed a little deeper, arrowing in on a telltale sound only he could hear. Chet held his breath, grimacing as he moved his head around a sharp outcropping to get to the narrow crack he had found a little closer. He let out his breath explosively. "Somebody's in there.." he said, listening again for a few seconds. "Yeah. I can hear them breathing." Kelly pulled out the long probe as the crews around him enthusiastically re-began the work of removing the gigantic pile of collapse in front of them. He patted the rock gratefully, offering a gesture of encouragement to those still trapped beneath it. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Photo: Gage and Roy running with gear through the parking lot. Photo: Chet talking with Gage in helmets. Photo: Roy, Johnny Gage searching through rubble. Photo: Gage running through a darkened hospital. Photo: A head injured man. Photo: Chet and the gang digging out someone. Photo: Crews digging out. Photo: Sifting through rubble closeup. ************************************************** From : patti keiper Sent : Tuesday, May 22, 2007 8:04 PM Subject : The Dark Hole.. Richter Six, Mark VII Limited and Universal Studios Production # 35716 Original Teleplay Character Dialogue was written by Michael Donovan, August 30th, 1972. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Progress was inexorably slow. Johnny and Roy's focus had narrowed down to one collectively shifted piece of debris at a time. A steel rod here, a chunk of concrete there. But progress was being made only as fast as it could go that still allowed for their relative safety. DeSoto pulled out a large slab of concrete and heaved it aside, panting. He sat back, taking a short break, leaning on his knees. Gage was digging quickly, when he noticed his partner was looking somewhat dejected and hardly working. He put an encouraging smile on his face. "Word will come soon, Roy." he said. Roy shook his head, licking dry lips, reluctantly meeting Johnny's eyes with his own. "Chatsberry's a big area." he whispered. Then he finally gave voice to what was bothering him. "Why nothing?" Johnny paused in his work, sat down next to Roy, and laced his dusty gloves' fingers together. "Maybe, that's good. If there's no significant damage, they wouldn't be reporting on it." DeSoto, eagerly grabbed onto the thought. "Or the word's not getting this far.." He looked up at a crackle coming from a portable radio, tuned to a local news network. ##...The earthquake which measured 6.6 on the Richter Scale, shook the entire Los Angeles area. The epicenter was in Soledad Canyon, 10 miles east of Newhall and six miles north of the heavily populated San Fernando Valley. Fire and Police dispatchers have been swamped with calls. Major rescue activities are still underway at the Alameda Hospital which houses 800 patients and staff. Hardest hit areas include the Saugus-Newhall area, San Fernando and portions of the Chatsberry area.## Roy startled, beginning to listen more closely. ##Helicopters and ambulances have been dispatched from the entire county to assist in evacuation. There are few accurate estimates of the number injured or dead. At 3pm, Governor Ronald Reagan declared a state of disaster. He is scheduled for an inspection tour of the area...## The workman shut the radio off unexpectedly as he returned to work with a new pair of digging gloves. Roy and Johnny hung their heads, fatigued and rattled by the news. Johnny looked up at Roy. "Want to ask the Captain for relief? You could probably check it out in a couple of hours." DeSoto just turned back to the debris pile in front of him, and started to dig again. "We're still getting life signs down in there." Johnny nodded and joined him to help shift a large slab he had gripped. Near them, a skiploader took another careful bite out of the fallen stairwell. Everywhere, crews were brightly colored pools of exhaustion, and depression. Another hole presented itself and Gage inserted the listening end of his Kennedy probe into the gap. He bent over the earphones as he listened to the sounds down below at another all halt called for by Captain Stanley. He smiled. "We've still got life signs. Just a couple of feet to go." he reported loudly, so everyone could hear him. Renewed, the rescue diggers turned back to the rubble pile with fresh energy. Gage, sweeping away plaster and wall sand, spoke. "Can you even imagine what it's been like for whoever's in there?" he asked Roy. DeSoto shook his head, pushing away another boulder. "I have a feeling they're going to be mighty happy to get out." A crumbling sound threw Johnny off balance in a hole. Roy caught him by the shoulders reflexively, thinking it was the start of a cave-in. But then a happy shout reassured him. "I'm through!" Gage reported, excited as he thrust his front half in a little deeper. Other workman gathered around and began to feverishly pull away more debris, making the hole around Johnny's arm, even larger. Hank approached. "Can you squeeze in?" Gage looked up. "Yes, sir. I think so." Cap nodded. "Better check their condition." Johnny nodded, glancing up. "Somebody have a light?!" he yelled. A workman passed a flashlight over to him. Gage flicked it on as he turned to Roy and Cap. "Give me a hand." Hank and DeSoto helped lower Johnny into the widening, sour smelling hole. As the fire paramedic disappeared into darkness, the other workers silently gathered around, waiting and watching. The seconds dragged and expressions of worry and hope shifted on their faces when they realized the moment they all had been working for had finally come. A beam of light danced up from the hole and slowly, Gage pulled himself out. He sat on the edge of it and dejectedly turned off the torch as he looked up at the others. "Two people, they're both dead." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The gang had gathered around the Salvation Army Canteen set up in the parking lot under some thick shade trees that hadn't been shivered apart by the quake. A young woman in her early twenties was cheerfully handing out donuts and coffee to the weary firemen from her counter. Roy and Johnny didn't yet know her name. They greeted Sally Thompson with just a look as they leaned tiredly into the window of the trailer when they realized that no one needing relief, was behind them in line. "How's it going, fellas?" Sally asked, smiling brightly as she handed them two full steaming cups. Not wanting to relive the earlier part of the afternoon, they both shrugged noncommittally. And failed to hide their real emotions. "Oh, oh.." Sally softened, toning down her good mood. "Don't tell me ol' mother dejection is setting in?" She set down her towel, untied her apron and left the trailer to join them at their side. "Can I get you something else?" she asked seriously. "Thanks, no. This is fine." said Gage. Sally studied their faces and didn't look away. "Been here long?" Gage took a sip without really tasting his coffee. "Quite a while." he nodded, looking at the cracked up ground underneath his shoes. Thompson touched his turnout sleeve. "Pretty rough in there, huh?" Johnny didn't look up, but he spoke, answering her. "It wouldn't be bad if....we could find a few more while they're still alive." Sally pegged where they had been. "Oh, yes. I heard. Those two people in the Smoke Tower." Roy and Johnny nodded, rubbing at the dirt on their skin. Sally's voice changed with some news. "Did you hear about the four people they were excavating for in the Payroll Room?" DeSoto reacted with interest. "No, what about them?" he asked. He and Johnny exchanged half smiles of hope. Sally took their cups, and topped them off again with a pot near her hand. "It took them almost six hours to get to them. The people hid under desks in the room." "They got them out?" Johnny asked, some life returning to his whole body along with a grin. Sally smirked neutrally, then she nodded finally, just to tease him. "A little tired and scratched, but alive and well." Gage sighed and relaxed against the counter top. "That is good news." Sally smiled even bigger at the sight of his face. "That IS what I'm here for." "Huh?" sputtered Johnny. Sally cocked her head, all teeth and glowing happiness. "Good news." she replied. "I'm in charge of morale around here, you know." she said no nonsense. Roy and Johnny both smiled, and this time without the accompanying strain, as they realized that the cute, pert girl in front of them was also very good at her job. Sally knew her mission had finally been accomplished. She got back inside the small white and red trailer, retied on her apron and started washing her hands vigorously under a water dispenser. "Now," she addressed them, looking up. "As I asked before. Can I do anything else for you?" she wondered mischievously. Gage snorted, grateful. "You've done more than enough. Morale wise, that is." he told her. Sally gripped the edges of her frilly red apron, and curtsied. "Thank you, kind sir." she remarked, her eyes twinkling as she did so. DeSoto chuckled at last, a soft released sound. "Uh, miss.." "Sally. Sally Thompson." she offered. Roy's face crusted over again in a blanket of worry and that made Sally's do the same thing. "Sally, is it possible you've heard anything about the Chatsberry area?" She set her hand on his, where he was gripping his cup tightly. "I'm sorry." Then she realized. "Your home?" Roy looked down, hiding his reactions. But she could still see the glint of tears welling in the corners of his eyes. He spoke, fighting them back. "I guess no news is good news." DeSoto tried to smile back at her. "Thanks, anyway." He started off, moving after Johnny, who had drained his cup and tossed it away into a garbage can, but was stopped at her voice. Sally cupped her hands around her mouth, animatedly mirthful. "Well, give me a chance, will you?" Roy turned around, confused, with some amusement at being resummoned. She clarified, licking at the point of a pencil unnecessarily as she pulled out a napkin from the automatic dispenser near her elbow. "Name and address, please, sir.." she sniffed, acting like a snobby hotel front desk woman. DeSoto's mouth returned to a ghost of relaxation at her exaggerated play. "Roy DeSoto. 1610 Kelmore." he told her. Sally wrote it down. "Sixteen Ten Kelmore." she nodded deftly. "I'll see what I can find out." she promised, dropping the funny air instantly. "It's nice of you to offer." Roy said politely, not assured. Then he looked back at Gage who had returned after trashing their snack leftovers. "We'd better get back to it, Johnny." Roy turned and walked off, heading in the direction of the Command Post table so they could get their next assignment from a battalion chief. Johnny watched him go on ahead. Gage turned to Sally. "You think you can find out something, for real?" Sally straightened her body. "I wouldn't put him on." she said seriously. Johnny looked around, eyeing up the totally destroyed landscape around them. "But.. but how?" Sally smiled, with confidence. "Don't underestimate the power of the Salvation Army. I can't guarantee anything but.. I'll give it a try." Gage grinned. "Can't ask for more'n that." he nodded politely, tipping the edge of his helmet at her in salute. He turned to follow Roy. "Hey, fireman." Sally shouted after him. Gage turned. "Keep smiling." she said, with a broad grin, wearing her apron like Little Bo Peep around her face in mock. Johnny chuckled and instantly began liking her. He waved back, then hurried to catch up to Roy. "Nice kid, huh?" he said. "Yeah.." DeSoto replied, still down. Gage smacked him on the arm. One that wasn't sore. "Come on." he drawled. "Who knows? Maybe she'll learn something for you." he suggested, infected with confidence. DeSoto was morose and his answer stung the air between them. "I won't hold my breath, okay?" he said, not meeting his eyes as a dull grimness began to retake its hold. Johnny stopped in his tracks, at a loss for words. He started to say something, but then broke off, uncertain. All he could do, was follow him, wherever he went. Around them, the cacophony of rescue continued, drowning out the birdsong coming from the quake dusted trees. ....END of ACT TWO... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Photo: Roy and Johnny in helmets looking serious. Photo: Animated gif, scanner radio. Photo: Johnny seeing something through a debris crack. Photo: Cap leaning on wall in a helmet, tense. Photo: Search rescuers getting food at a Salvation Army Canteen. Photo: A sooty Roy and Johnny leaning on the squad outside. Photo: A very concerned young woman close up. Photo: Roy, looking scared, day in turnout. Photo: Animated gif, salvation army disaster services truck. Photo: DeSoto, Gage and Cap returning to a collapse site. Photo: Wide angle view of a disaster scene by a fallen building. ************************************************** From : patti keiper Sent : Thursday, May 24, 2007 6:20 AM Subject : The Long Hours.. Richter Six, Mark VII Limited and Universal Studios Production # 35716 Original Teleplay Character Dialogue was written by Michael Donovan, August 30th, 1972. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ It was quiet at Rampart on the general patient floor. Dixie McCall smiled as she handed a newborn baby off to Kathy Williams where she lay on a bed. The night was almost peaceful as the young mother sighed wearily, accepting the child. Dixie beamed. "Your bouncing baby boy." Kathy, with tear filled eyes, took her son and held him tightly as Dr. Brackett entered. "Now, didn't I tell you everything would be okay with that delivery?" Kel asked. Williams nodded. "Is he.... Is he really all right?" Brackett grasped one of the infant's hands to test his grip. "Oh, a little on the lightweight side, but a few weeks should take care of that." Kathy wiped her eyes and pulled the blanket away from the baby's face and admired him for a few seconds. "He's so wrinkled." she smiled. "But the spitting image of his dad." Dixie and Kel shared a look that they couldn't quite hide. They tried to tone it down but Kathy picked up that something was wrong right away. As she tried to learn more, Dixie moved to gather the baby up into her arms. "Okay, visit's over. Back to the nursery for this young man." Kathy let him go and watched as Dixie left the room softly. "Doctor, something's wrong.. What is it? The baby?" she immediately fretted. Kel touched her arm. "I told you. The baby is fine." he said as the smile washed off his face. "What is it then? Something's bothering you." she insisted. Brackett sat down on the edge of Kathy's bed. "Your husband, Mrs. Williams." Kathy sat up in her sheets, gripping them. "Mike? Something's happened to Mike?!" Kel sought to calm her, taking her hand. "The earthquake almost completely destroyed Olive View. Doctor Williams was in the laboratory.." Williams interrupted. "Oh, G*d, no!" Brackett kept right on talking, sharing more. "We have him here, now." "Here?" she asked. "What happened to him?" she said, beginning to sweat. "Now take it easy." Kel soothed, not letting go of her. "I want you to listen very closely to everything I say." Fearfully, the new mother waited on the verge of panic, as she learned about her husband. "He was working with some acid. When the shock of the earthquake hit, it spilled. His eyes are damaged." Kel said. Kathy tried to absorb the news. "He's blind? Mike's blind?" Brackett handed her a tissue, as tears began to roll down her face. "We don't know for sure how bad it is. I've brought in Doctor Lindholm. He's the best in the country. He's been with Mike for several hours now." Mrs. Williams regarded Kel, unbelievingly for a few moments, shaking her head. Turning into her pillow she began sobbing violently. "He hasn't even seen his son." Brackett leaned closer. "There's hope, Kathy. And you have to give it to him." She looked at him with a kind of anger. "It will kill him, doctor. You don't know how he's worked, studied.. His whole life is medicine." But then her fire faded into grief and she threw up her hands, looking away as she cried. Kel stood. "And it's not over. You have to believe that. Or he won't be able to." he said. "That's why I'm telling you now. There's thousands of people that this disaster has affected. Many have lost their lives, hundreds are homeless and injured. The ones that have made it through have only one thing to go on. Hope. And that's what you must give your husband." Kathy started to compose herself as her thoughts raced a mile a minute. "Does.. does he know I'm here?" Brackett shook his head. "I haven't told him anything .....about you or the baby. I want you to tell him." She looked away, grimacing at an ache that was more than just from her body. "I-I don't know if I can face his disappointment." Kel smiled. "I think you can. Doctor Lindholm has him scheduled for surgery in the morning." "Surgery?" Brackett nodded. "It's the only chance he has. And you're the only one that can make him believe it." Kathy stuttered. "He.. he doesn't want the operation?" Kel just sighed. "He's taken all day to convince himself. He won't believe it will work." "Will it, doctor? Will it work?" She began sobbing when Kel didn't say anything more. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dixie was at the nurses' station, handing Katy Anderson a styrofoam cup of tea. The older woman accepted it gratefully and returned back to work on some nametags. Dixie smiled at her perserverance. She moved off to sit on a stool next to where Kel was returning a patient chart. "How'd she take it, Kel?" He lowered his eyes, absently toying with the chart rack. "We'll know better in the morning." Dixie pouted. "Poor thing. She's really been through it." Kel moved over to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup. Dixie declined the offer of one. "I just hope she has the strength for her husband. He's going to need all she can give." he whispered. "Miss McCall.. Miss McCall?" a voice began, breaking into their thoughts. It was Katy, the senior who was complaining of a paralyzed arm at the desk. McCall moved to her side. "Yes, Katy?" "I've finished everything you gave me." And with both hands, she handed Dixie the box of completed identification tags. "Thank you, Katy. I see your arm is better." noticed Dixie. Smiling broadly, Anderson beamed in her frame of gray hair. "About an hour ago. It was like a miracle. All of a sudden, I noticed I was using it." Dixie smiled. "That's wonderful, Katy." "Is there anything else I can do?" McCall took her hands gratefully. "You've done more than enough. Why don't you go home and get some rest?" Katy nodded. "Maybe tomorrow. I'm sure you'll still be busy. I'd like to help." she said sincerely as she started heading off. "And we'd be pleased to have you." Dixie said after her. "Good night." Kathy wished them, waving her left arm. "Good night, Katy." McCall said, still smiling. Kel crossed over to his head nurse, his curiosity peaked. "Well, what was that all about?" Dixie lifted her eyes up at his. "Our earthquake brought on total paralysis in that little lady's left arm." Brackett folded his arms together. "And you found a cure." he said, not surprised. Dixie nodded significantly. "I call it, psychological nursing for imagined physical defect." Kel snorted. "I'm impressed." "You should be. After all, am I not your favorite nurse?" she said, leaning into him. He advanced toward her and they melted into a brief hug. "Maybe I need a reminder." When he lingered, she fended him off playfully, pointing toward Emergency. "We're still in the midst of disaster, doctor. Back to work." Kel stopped teasing her hair around her cap. "It was nice forgetting for a minute or so." Dixie sobered. "Yes. Yes, it was." She took in a deep breath. "I wonder how things are going for Joe and the boys." Brackett started off, heading for his next patient. "I'd imagine about two degrees worse than they are here." Dixie responded with a look of worry and fatigue as the weight of her responsibilities came flooding back. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The darkness all but enveloped the temporary field hospital serving as a morgue and triage center outside of Alameda. It was composed of mattresses and beds placed in the less damaged south parking lot. A small medical supply tent was near the center and a scattering of tables were randomly arranged throughout the area. Ambulances continued to shuffle patients from the location. There were but a few patients left to evacuate. The patch of pavement was poorly illuminated by portable lights as Joe Early, DeSoto, Gage and Cap gathered near one of the tables, hovering over some paperwork. Early pointed. "...And if these records are accurate, according to my count anyway, all but four people are accounted for." Gage took in a deep breath and let it out again forcefully. "Out of over eight hundred, that's pretty close to done." Hank rubbed his dirty nose. "Yeah, if we can find them." Roy looked at all three of them. "Any suggestions?" Cap nodded, loosening his helmet's chin strap. "I just went over it with the C.P. staff." He showed them a map of the hospital. "Every area's been gone through, except these three.." he indicated with a finger. "All on the ground floor. The pharmacy, medical records, and the kitchen." Early had an idea, flipping through his papers. "Maybe we can narrow it down." he offered. The others didn't catch on. Joe reiterated. "All four are hospital employees." he said, studying the map Cap had given them. "One's a custodian, two are dieticians, and one's a maintenance man." Johnny thought he saw where the doc was heading. "None of them would normally have business in the Pharmacy or Medical Records, would they?" Early snapped his fingers. "That leaves the kitchen." Hank smiled, appreciating Joe's angle more and more. "It's sound. I'll have a talk with the Operational Chief. Maybe we can change our priorities." Joe eyeballed him eagerly. "If we're right, four lives may depend on it." They hurried into action, heading for Incident Command. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Full darkness had closed in around the Command Trailer as Hank Stanley stepped down its steps, closing the door. DeSoto, Gage and other firemen were waiting for him at the bottom stair. Hank smiled. "The Chief agreed. He's moving all available resources to the kitchen area." Chet smiled. "Great. Let's go." Cap held up a hand before they scattered for fresh gloves. "Hold on." he chuckled. "I appreciate your enthusiasm. But your tour of duty's over. You guys need some rest. " Kelly shoved out his lower lip casually. "Not me. Besides, if we find em tonight, there will BE no tomorrow. You have yourself one volunteer, Cap." Chet said, saluting him with firm humor. Most everyone else agreed with him, murmuring. Stanley saw them all step forward. He shrugged. "It's your time." he said finally, giving in. "Then let's get to it." Gage said for his fellow stationmates. They made for the base of the hospital's ruins, at a run. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Photo: Dixie tired in a treatment room. Photo: A new mother and her baby. Photo: Doctor Brackett listening in a patient room. Photo: A frantic blond haired woman, sitting up in bed. Photo: Doctor Brackett, stymied. Photo: Dix and Kel discussing the status quo. Photo: A night command post table and battalion chief. Photo: Cap showing the gang a map at night. Photo: Chet smirking confidence at night. Photo: Cap thinking at night in a helmet by the engine. Photo: Joe, looking down and thoughtful in whites. Photo: A night fire scene and cop car. Photo: Roy grabbing gear out of the squad at night. ************************************************** From : patti keiper Sent : Thursday, May 24, 2007 2:59 PM Subject : The Ties to Life.. Richter Six, Mark VII Limited and Universal Studios Production # 35716 Original Teleplay Character Dialogue was written by Michael Donovan, August 30th, 1972. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Johnny stopped in his tracks. He had forgotten Roy's situation for a moment. His smile fell away when he saw the sober reflection on DeSoto's. "Roy, you go on ahead." he said, pointing to the relief tent. "I hate to leave you guys." Roy said, ansing. "Forget it. I'd go myself if I didn't know about my family." Johnny replied quickly, feeling a lot. Roy stood there, looking lost in his turnout jacket. "I've got to go, Johnny." Gage finally grinned, making shooing gestures. "Well, quit talking and get outta here." Roy nodded, starting to move away. Gage felt a pang for Roy when he stumbled once, starting to run for the communications tent. ::We're all tired.:: Johnny thought. ::And scared, him most of all.:: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- As he hurried away from the volunteer group, DeSoto was crossing the parking lot near the Salvation Army Canteen truck. Sally Thompson was walking a fast pace toward him. "Hey, Roy DeSoto!" she shouted. DeSoto dragged himself somewhere out of worrying H*ll. He blinked, bringing himself to the present, trying to place her. "Remember me? The morale officer?" she said, reaching his side. She took his hand, lifting up a piece of paper. "I have something to keep you smiling.." she beamed. A sob escaped Roy, as he began to grin in relief, happiness. He covered his mouth with his hands, controlling a reaction of profound release. It only grew bigger as he heard the news that he had for so long hoped for. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the ground level, Gage and the other personnel from Station 51, were already casing a way in. Johnny set his glove on a badly crumpled door leading to the kitchen. "The whole roof is down in there. Looks like we start right here." A voice from outside, joined them. "Well, then, let's get to it." said Roy DeSoto, entering. Everybody became infected with his happiness as Roy got to Johnny's side as fast as he could. "Like she said, the Salvation Army can get around. Everything's fine at home." The gang sighed and muttered thanks, offering their warm glances at Roy before turning back to work. They chuckled, sharing Roy's relief. "Keep on smiling." said Gage, handing Roy a pair of fresh digging gloves. Then all got back to the serious work of making their way into the debris filled kitchen. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The firemen had made their way several feet inside. Others were present, in the background, hauling out the debris passed to them. The mood gripping everyone, was serious. Gage stood up for a few moments, stretching his back. "This is going to take a while." DeSoto nodded, grabbing a sip from his water canteen. "And chances of survival don't look so good either." Chet Kelly pulled away some debris near them, a slab of concrete, revealing a void. "Well, here's about six feet of free space." he celebrated. The gang moved into where he was kneeling as Kelly began crawling down into the gap. "If I dig around long enough, we might tunnel under every--" Chet's sentence was drowned out as a tremendous aftershock erupted, causing new debris to fall around them in great clumps and clouds of dust. "Kelly! Watch it!" Johnny hollered as soon as it started. Chet, hearing him, tried to escape his confining hole, but it was too late. He disappeared beneath a pile of falling debris. Little time was wasted. The gang started feverishly digging at the pile of rubble on top of Chet's position. Gage began to cut into a large cross beam with a K-12. He finally cut through enough to shut the saw down. Others moved in and muscled it out of the way. Gage moved back to give them room. "Kelly?!" Johnny yelled. "Can you hear me?" The gang froze, locked into ice, listening for a response. Five seconds went by. Then ten. Fifteen. Kelly's muffled voice filtered up through the boulders. "Yeah..*gasp*..Listen, ......I can't......do much." Gage didn't like the sound of his voice. "Are you hurt?" Chet didn't reply back right away. When he did, he already sounded weaker. "I think so. My....my shoulder." his voice panted. "Don't move around then." Johnny hollered back. Hank tapped Lopez and Stoker on the shoulders. "Let's get some support beams in there." he ordered. Mike and Marco grabbed a couple of hydraulic support poles and they began working to jam them into the fallen structure arching over Chet's location. Gage and DeSoto continued to pull at the rubble until finally, Johnny broke through. He looked up and saw Kelly, lying on his side, covered in debris. Johnny wormed his way in on his stomach to his side. "How you doing?" he asked, pulling off a glove to feel Kelly's carotid. Chet didn't lift his head. "Pain's....starting to creep up on me." "Where?" Gage asked. "Right shoulder...It's hurting..*gasp* ...bad." Kelly's face was glistening with sweat. Gage shuffled around on the shards, examining Kelly briefly. Johnny sighed when pressure to his abdomen didn't cause Chet to scream. ::No belly involvement here, causing that shoulder pain. Good.:: he thought, counting Chet's respirations with a hand. A few light fingers elicted a scream over the point of Chet's shoulder. Gage apologized by gripping his face to hold him still as he trembled. Johnny began to back out when he trusted Kelly could stay conscious for him. "Sit tight, partner." He reconfirmed that he could still get Chet's pulse down to the wrist. ::Pressure's still good.:: Johnny sighed in his mind. ::Good enough for a pain killer.:: he decided. Chet opened his eyes. They were very bright, not yet cloudy with his growing bodily distress. "Have I got a.. choice?" he tried to joke. Gage got out the same way he came. He was helped free of the hole by DeSoto. Hank gathered close to hear. Johnny told them. "He's got a broken shoulder." DeSoto guessed Johnny's plan of action. "Morphine?" Johnny looked at them all. "He's gonna need it." Then he buried his worry down deep. "Let's get this hole a little wider." They moved in, resuming their dig as fast as they could while Roy set up a line to Rampart and dragged the drug box over to where Johnny could reach it. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was midnight in Treatment Room One at the hospital emergency room. Chet Kelly was immobilized in a fresh shoulder splint and bandage that already bore a tangle of still damp teasing autographs from just about the entire staff of Rampart. And his crewmates. "...and would you believe I volunteered?" he said, feeling no pain from the narcotic that was still working on him. Kel Brackett chuckled. "I thought you were in the Army once, Kelly." Chet blinked a couple of times, thinking. "Yeah, I was. What's that got to do with it?" he wondered blearily as his EKG bleeped out near his head. Brackett regarded him with amusement while he took another blood pressure. "Wasn't that the first lesson? Don't volunteer for anything?" Chet shrugged, and didn't wince at all. "This was was different, doc." Kel sighed, taking off his stethoscope. "Yeah, it is." Kelly sighed, and watched his I.V. drip for a while. Finally, he spoke. "Have you heard anything from the guys?" Brackett hung his head. "They're still digging." Chet squeezed his eyes lids together, fighting off the sleepies. "Have they found anyone yet?" Brackett shook his head. "Not yet." Kelly panted with remembered suffocation. "I was in there... only about twenty minutes. Those ....poor souls." he said, gripping his chest sympathetically. He almost pulled the oxygen mask that was around his neck, back over his nose and mouth. Almost. Brackett frowned at the image in his head about those still buried in sympathy. But then Dixie poked her head into the door. "Kel." she motioned. Kel crossed over to her, carrying Chet's chart. McCall indicated the corridor. "Kathy Williams, she'd like to see you." Brackett nodded, passing off his examination chart to Dixie. "Get Kelly to the cast room as soon as you can. That morphine is going to start wearing off." Dixie nodded and entered the room as Brackett left for the hallway. He found her sitting in a wheel chair by the nurse's station. She was in her own robe and slippers. Kathy afforded him a half smile. "How are you feeling?" he asked. "Okay. Modern medicine.." she chided. "Put mother up and get her moving, eh?" she smirked. But then Williams sobered. "Doctor Brackett, I've been giving it a lot of thought. I'd....like to see Mike now." she told him, with resolve filling her eyes. Brackett sighed to himself and smiled. He moved to begin pushing her down the corridor to the elevators leading to the surgical floor leaning close to listen to Kathy rehearse what she was going to say. He set a hand on her shoulder and wasn't surprised, when she grasped it for encouragement. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kel knocked on a patient room door and pushed it open. "I have a visitor for you, Mike." he said. Mr Williams was lying with his head raised in bed. His eyes were covered with thick, clean bandages, wound firmly around his head. He angled his face in apprehension, when a delicate perfume told him who it was. "Mike?" Kathy said as Kel wheeled her to her husband's side. "Kathy...." he sighed. Then he got angry and pressed back onto the bed stiffly. "I told you I didn't want visitors, Dr. Brackett." Kathy didn't flinch. She leaned forward. "Mike, I'm your wife, remember?" Williams didn't soften. "I can't get it out of my mind." Kathy glanced to Kel and then back at her husband, when Brackett nodded encouragingly. "Sounds to me like you're...you're just giving up." she said, pulling herself up straight, feeling ire for the first time. "No," said Williams sharply. "I'm facing facts, Kathy. I'm blind. You know it. I know it. And nothing's going to change." he said flatly, turning away from her. Kathy melted, moving close to Mike's face. "I'm told there's a chance." Mike shook his head. "Kathy, I'm a doctor, remember?" Kathy started smiling and the tears began to fall as her joy began to soar. "You're also a father, Mike. Can we at least tell our son you tried.. you had some hope?" she pleaded with conviction. "The baby, you....." he broke off. William's I.V.'d hand groped around until he had found her small, tiny one. His fingers found a hospital bracelet taped around her wrist and his mouth dropped open at the final piece of evidence that told him everything he was hearing, was true. Kathy nestled her soft face near his torn one. "He's beautful, Mike." Williams laid quietly for long seconds, slowly moving his head. "Mike?" she asked, lifting her head from his shoulder. She felt her husband grip her grasping fingers tightly and he began to cry silently. Feeling the old love returning, Kathy brought his hand up to her cheek, desperately crying, softly, so only he could hear her. Brackett lowered his head gratefully, and backed out of the room as softly as he could. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kel ran into Kelly as he was being wheeled from the treatment room by two attendants.. Chet held up his good arm above the gurney, calling for a halt. Dixie was nearby at the desk, working steadily. "Dix." Chet asked. "Heard anything from the guys?" McCall shook her head. "Not for an hour or so." she replied. "They're keeping the radio on. I'll check if you'd like.." she offered. Chet gripped the erected railing bar on his bed with his left hand. "Would you?" Dixie nodded and crossed to the open base station at his feet. "Rampart Base to Rescue 51." she hailed. ## 51, go ahead, Rampart.## came Johnny's voice over the sounds of sawing. Dixie smiled. "I have a fireman here that would like to know how things are going." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In the kitchen, it was obvious much work had been done over the past few hours. Gage cupped the biophone over his mouth as he answered her. "51, it's slow. No luck so far. How is he?" Johnny asked, dropping formal on the air conduct. ##Coming along just fine, 51.## Dixie answered. "10-4." said Gage. Then he smirked. "Tell him, it's because we gave him the best of care." he jabbed a little louder so Chet would hear him over the K-12. His vocal volume over did itself when the buzzing noise cut off as it completed its task. Dixie started laughing. ##10-4, 51.## Over the line, Johnny could hear Chet chattering, animatedly. All was well. Gage shook his head in disbelief and in humor and he hung up the biophone. Then the weight of the job still ahead fell heavily back onto him. He rejoined Roy who was probing the rubble in a new place with a Kennedy probe. "Anything?" DeSoto shook his head, pulling off the earphones, looking like the mood that had ruled him most of the day. Dejection colored him. "If they're in here, there's one chance in a million they're still alive." Johnny nodded, pursing his lips together in nonacceptance of the poor odds. "Then we give them that chance." he said, beginning to work at his assigned debris clearing area once more with renewed strength. Roy studied Gage in full agreement, his expression reflecting affirmation. He also dug in, pulling a large stack of debris from a wall. A clang of metal greeted him and he jumped back in surprise when plaster fell away to reveal the edge and latch of a large walk-in refrigeration box. "Johnny!" he shouted. Gage, dropping what he was doing, hurried over. His eyes got big fast when he realized the same thing Roy was thinking. He felt the door carefully. "Is it possible they...?" DeSoto started grinning. "One chance if there was any." he said. Johnny nodded eagerly and turned to the others working nearby. "Hey! We just found a new priority!" he shouted happily. Hank and the gang from Station 51 looked up and began quickly moving to the newly found door. Gage and DeSoto were already hard at work, clearing the rest of it free, pulling debris away from it. Johnny reached for the latch, hesitating, as the spectre of death and doubt suddenly flooded forth. Roy nodded at him, smiling in encouragement to go ahead. Gage threw his shoulder into budging the handle. It wasn't enough. So DeSoto helped him. Together, the two paramedics forced the door open and the entire crew moved inside to gaze into the box. Marco Lopez flipped on a large flashlight. Two females and two males were lying on the floor. They were exhausted, weak, but they were moving... and alive. The gang reacted and crouched inside individually to start their rescue and extrication. Collectively, they were gratified almost openly that the battle for life against time, finally, had been won. Gage and DeSoto began calling out found vitals to Stoker, who was note taking near the still open to base biophone. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DeSoto broke out of his reverie in the classroom as the tale he had been telling to his and Johnny's paramedic students concluded. "..and they were the last four to be found. We went home at ten o'clock the next morning." he smiled, rebuttoning up his white lab coat in front of the desk. One of the students lifted his chin. "...And found your house, a shambles. Like mine." he said empathetically. Gage sucked down another gulp of cold coffee, spilling a little on his instructor's coat. A student tossed him an abdominal pad so he could avoid a stain. "Wasn't bad at all, I know." said Johnny, thanking the student with a look as he wiped his lapel dry. "I helped him patch up the cracks." he said with amusement. The group chuckled and the reluctant student from earlier spoke up when the babble had died down. "Whatever happened to the doctor that gave you guys a hand?" he asked. "Mike Williams?" Gage clarified. His eye was captured by the sight of a figure approaching their training trailer, just outside. "Well,..." Johnny said significantly. "He had his operation and..the result... you can see for yourself." he grinned as the trailer's door knob began to turn. "He'll be handling your next session." he chuckled as the whole class turned around to regard the new man who was arriving. The door opened and Doctor Mike Williams entered, carrying a handful of pass out material. It was more than obvious, that he wasn't blind at all. Johnny held out a hand, looking scholarly. "Gentlemen, I'd like to introduce your next instructor, Doctor Mike Williams." he said. The class broke out into applause that was smattered with a few cheers. Williams looked up from his organizing with confusion enough, that it caused him to move over to where Gage and DeSoto was standing. "What's this all about?" he asked, puzzled. DeSoto decided not to enlighten him. "They're glad you're here, doc." he said simply. Johnny and he smiled at each other knowingly as the applause went on long and loud as Williams looked about in polite confusion at everybody around him. Outside, the day turned absolutely beautiful... Especially in Roy and Johnny's eyes. They both smiled when they saw the reluctant student off in a corner by himself, already diving deeply into his paramedic books with a solidly renewed conviction. FIN Episode Forty Five, Richter Six by Michael Donovan Season Six, Emergency Theater Live Mark VII Productions and Universal owns all of Emergency!© and its Characters. © 2007. All rights reserved. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Photo: Roy and Johnny looking pensive in turnouts at Rampart. Photo: The gang digging at a wall. Photo: Chet falling, landing on his shoulder. Photo: Gage searching in a low place, close up. Photo: Gage treating a hurt Chet amid tangles. Photo: Brackett examing a shoulder splinted Chet at Rampart. Photo: A baby in an incubator. Photo: Chet in a wheelchair by the base station. Photo: Gage on the biophone, surrounded by debris. Photo: Roy treated blanketed victims with med gear. Photo: Gage and Roy teaching defib to students. Photo: A young, fresh doctor, looking up. Photo: Gage and DeSoto smiling in formal uniforms and ties. ************************************************** Emergency Theater Live® =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ ETL Hosts : Patti Keiper and Erin James in the United States **Theaterhost@voyagerliveaction.com Emergency Theater Live® "Offstory" Email Address For Midi Music Requests and General Inquiries http://www.voyagerliveaction.com/emergency.html Emergency Theater Live® Homepage http://groups.yahoo.com/group/emergencytheaterlive Writer's Pre-Production Distribution Site http://www.myspace.com/emergencyfans Emergency Theater Live®/Emergency Fans Unite at MySpace ETL's Emergency Community Forum http://emergency.tv-series.com/ ____________________________________ Mark VII Productions, NBC, and Universal owns all of Emergency!© and its Characters. 2009©. All rights reserved. ========================= ***NOTE: All author writings submitted to the theater will be set free onto the web to reach as many readers as we can manage to find. 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