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The Story Unfolds... Season One, Episode Seven.. Crazy Days Debut Launch: 15 April 2003. Link to Main Characters Gallery ***************************** From: Jeff Seltun <finiterider@yahoo.com> Date: Sat Apr 19, 2003 3:43 pm Subject: Here's to Irritability. Dixie McCall headed with a firm purpose for the cool caffeinated sanctuary of the main ER nurse's lounge. Her hair was ratty, her feet ached and she was grumpier than Kelly Brackett, even on his worst day. Joe Early saw her retreating form in the relatively crowded hallway and he called out, raising a few fingers in a hail. "Say, Dix.." McCall only saw red. "What now?!Can't you see I'm going on break here?" and Dixie whirled to face whoever was interrupting her rare hard won personal off time. She about faced sharply and angrily whipped the loose wispys out of her eyes with the only thing not frazzled by the 'Day from H*ll', her elegant fingernails. "Oh, it's just you.." Joe blinked in surprise and actually back peddled a few steps."Whoa.. Is that too much coffee talking or did that experimental resupply inventory nurse screw up the paramedic drug cupboard again?" Dixie sighed immediately in resigned instant apology and buried her head against Joe's shoulder. "Oh,.." she sighed in embarrassed apology. "Rewind the last five seconds, Joe please." And she lifted her head, straightening his lapels which were just as rumpled from the morning as hers was. "I'm snarly because I can't FIND any coffee. What IS going on around here? I swear every nurse and doctor's got a vendetta against me today. I can't find a single pot even partially full anywhere." "Well, how about in there?" Joe said helpfully, pointing to the nurse's lounge that Dixie had already been beelining for. "Thanks so much for the suggestion..." she said wearily. "Let's go and then you can tell me why you're here seeking me out." Joe grinned eagerly and darted ahead to open the door for his work beaten friend with a gallant "no after you" gesture. Dixie barely managed to muster a nod of gratitude. Then she rushed over to the silver pot glistening on the hot pad by the wall of mugs across from the couch, beating out a pretty young student nurse about to reach for it too. The candy striper beat a hasty retreat at Dixie's pounce. Smiling and purring ferally, Dixie grabbed onto the steamy handle. The heft of the coffee service in her hand made Dix double take and immediately she started swearing like a truck driver. "I can't believe it! I am seeing a whole wall of employee coffee mugs stained with today's coffee rings! Everyone's but mine.." and she slammed down the empty chrome pot back onto the counter with a bang. "Oo. Dix. Take it easy. Isn't there a whole can of Folder's in the cabinet above you?" Dixie banged the back of her head without looking into its door and the olive green cupboard swung neatly open behind her to reveal a lone, much bedraggled brand new coffee can, crushed flat like an accordian. "Brice's on duty today and whenever he is, coffee grounds evaporate like fog. Johnny Gage thinks he brews and drinks it all in one ten minute sitting. How else is Craig able to run at the mouth so much? That man's a high speed walking talking," her head bobbed " and coffee drinking, paramedic manual." Joe chuckled. "No, I don't believe that about the disappearing coffee thing. Brice's just got perfect recall and Kel thinks it's just coincidence about the coffee going missing from the rooms he's been in. He thinks that patient visitors are doing it." "Well, that doesn't fix my dilemma here now does it..?" and her lower lip quivered and she started whimpering explicatives, this time tinged with tearful frustrated barely contained rage. Joe winced. "Oo. Dix. Take it easy. Look, I got an idea for you. How about calling downstairs to commissary and ordering a fresh pot of coffee just for you. You could hide it in Kel's office where nobody else would find it.." he dangled, studying the thick gold rings on his fingers mildly."And Kel could run interference using his rank to keep the rest of the staff away from it while bringing that pot directly here." Dixie's tirade immediately broke off. "Now why didn't I think of that?" and her face beamed in discovery at Joe. Her face right away fell. "Oh, nuts..!" she said, leaning on the wall. "What?" "The commissary operator on duty's currently ticked off at me for begging ice off them for the ER all morning." "Why is she mad at you for that?" Joe wanted to know, sipping his newly poured tea. Dixie's mouth thinned with regret. "Each time I called, that girl waved, the you-gotta-have- a-doctor's-order in my ear two seconds after what I wanted was out of my face. I must have called down there twelve times today, Joe, looking for some. For Treatment One's heatstroke. Treatment Three's sprained ankle. Treatment Two's first trimester morning sickness." Dixie shook her head to erase the images in her mind of the madhouse morning so recently played out in her recent memory. "I can't say that I was very charming to her by the tenth or eleventh call on hearing that same you-must-follow-procedure speech." Dix said sheepishly. "I get the picture. And I can see her point." "Huh?" Dixie asked not quite hearing him for the stream of complaints still pouring out of her lips. "Ah, Nothing. Oh, Hey, I got it! I'll call down FOR you and have it delivered ASAP to Kel's office. I'll let him know what's up with your coffee exclusitivity plans. I'm on my way in there now to see him so we can organize both our notes for the all paramedic's meeting this afternoon. Yeah.. He can accept the order, sign for it, then run it down here. How does that sound?" Joe suggested eagerly. "Like a godsen--" The red phone went off next to Dixie's head, making her startle off the wall with a yelp. She caught herself with a groan and blinked in cursing nonverbals and she picked up the receiver. "Nurse's lounge this is Dixie McCall." Joe saw her face sag into new depths of suffering as she heard the messenger on the phone deliver news. Dixie hung up the phone without looking and started banging her head against the wall. "Why why why? Oh, geez.. can it get any worse? OOOghhhh.." "What's up?" Joe asked. "Maintenance called and they're moving room by room to scrub the ventilation ducts in all the treatment rooms. I had forgotten they were going to do that today and I accidently filled every room with a patient." She wilted and began bouncing her head against the wall by the phone. Thunk. Thunk. To Dixie, the action was ....almost soothing. To Joe, it was a thing of worry. "Hey, quit doing that. You'll give yourself a headache." "I already got one from not finding any coffee remember?"" she moaned. But she stopped thudding her forehead against the wall. "But I thought I just figured out how to solve that dilemma.." Joe said confused. "No you didn't. My breaktime's over.." Dixie sighed, tapping her wrist watch. "Oh, h*ll.. See ya on the floor.." and she dragged herself back through the lounge door with all the weight of the world falling heavily back onto her shoulders. "Hey Dix..!" he called out after her. "What?!" she snapped. "Kel can always set up that coffee IV push for you, and run your line in brachially." Dix threw go away hands at him feebly for the joke as she paced the distance back to her chart piled desk without looking at him, with all the body english of the classic down trodden, picked on playground kid. Joe chuckled and continued heading down the hall for Kel's office. |
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"*&%@#! Look out below!" Marco hollered. The Station 51 gang, minus Cap, clustered inside the base of the hose tower where they had been watching Marco struggle with his penalty chore high above, scattered like so many chickens. Sixty feet of soggy heavy hose spaghetti-ed to the asphalt with a wet smack and the brass nozzle coupling end rang with a loud bell ping as it struck the ground before settling still. Chet cupped a hand and grinned as he shouted up to his coworker dangling precariously from his life belt from the haul up apparatus on the tower frame. "Hey Lopez, Cap's gonna flay ya alive if you dent any more of those connectors by bouncing them off the pavement like that." Marco glared right back down again, swinging comically from where he had slipped from the footstand. "Hey Kelly, I'm gonna loop the next one around your neck if you don't start zipping su boca ahora!" Roy was staying out of it, mildly discomforted by the tension between Chet and Marco on what was just payback on a lost bet. "Marco, he didn't mean it. He's trying to gloat a bit to get more effect out of it." "Yeah? Well you're not helping either.. You're all staring. I hate it when people stare at me when I'm doing something new. It makes me clumsy." Chet was about to issue another retort on the wide open comment Marco had just made when Gage smacked a firm hand over Chet's mouth to hush him up. "Chet, enough's enough. Let's all just get go back inside and give the man some dignity on figuring out how to hang those things right up there, ok?" Kelly turned on his heels and regarded Johnny eye to eye. "This coming from the number one gloater at Station 51? Amazing. Gee, Johnny. And I was only imitating you, pal. You've been such an inspiration to me." "I don't follow." Gage said levelly. "Your behavior during our Phantom Strikes war last year. Man, that was without a doubt, the sweetest example of a pro prankster role model. Ya gotta gloat." "Not that much. You've been at him for ten minutes straight." "Well, you're all watching. Doesn't that make you just as guilty of contributing to my supposed delinquency?" "Yeah..it sure does. And I'm no longer going to be an accomplice." Roy said mildly, and he turned on his shoes and left for the kitchen door in a show of instant departure from the yard. "I'll set aside some dry towels for you, Marco, in the locker room!" "Thanks. Appreciate it.." the sweaty tired Lopez hollered back. Then he regained his feet once more on the platform. He restrung the hose's buddy line through the pulley to hand over hand the errant fallen hose back up onto the draining tower hook again. Marco made it a point to ignore those on the ground. Soon, his move worked and even Chet lost his desire to egg Marco while he toughed it out. There were still nine soggy hoses that needed to be hauled up manually by rope and drained from the to do pile. And the conditions of the bet Chet had outlined prevented the loser from getting any help doing the weekly tower chore. But soon, Stoker managed to slyly untangle a loop in the fallen hose with a foot when Chet wasn't looking.. Marco grinned when he saw him from the corner of his eye. ::Stoker. I love you. There was no way I was going to climb all the way back down to do that again..:: he thought in gratitude. ::I owe you one. Maybe even a whole afternoon's chrome polishing. That's if I ever get my arms back..:: One by one the guys left for breakfast and Gage made sure Chet went through the door without another gloating glance back, with a swift boot to his rear. "Come on, Caesar.. the arena's closed for the day." Gage scowled and he shot Marco an I'm sticking up for you look before he too disappeared into the station. ------------------------------------------------------- Cap was reading the paper in the recliner. "Was that another nozzle biting the dust a few minutes ago?" Johnny studdered. "Ah, no Cap. " he lied. "That was, uh.. Me.." he grinned badly. "I was testing out the bell on the old engine. I mean, we...have to make sure it's still in good condition after all winter under that tarp. Right?" "Hmph." Cap grunted from behind the stocks page. Johnny decided the grunt was one of agreement and that his fibbing worked. ::I'll sneak back out there after breakfast and help Marco pound that nozzle round again before Cap discovers it.:: He eased down onto the leather couch and immediately stood up again when he realized that he had almost sat down on their mascot. "Oh, sorry Henry.. Didn't see you there." "How could ya miss him, Gage. He's fatter than a turkey and he fills up that whole side of the couch." Kelly quipped. "I think, Henry needs to go on a diet." "Sounds like someone else I know.." Cap said seriously. "You know, a rep of 200 pushups might not be such a bad idea for you. And that's getting off light for a fireman who's just lied to his captain." His intended target, cleared his throat nervously. "Sorry, Cap. I'm having second thoughts about getting payback on our chili cooking contest bet like this." Gage said suddenly on the hot seat. "Right. " Stoker said sarcastically teasing. "If I ever believe that, H*ll'll freeze over." Stoker quipped. All the gang laughed,except Chet. "Geez, that's the last time I ever take up a betting challenge with you guys. Marco's just being a sore loser that's all. I can't believe you guys bought his I'm so wounded act." Kelly complained. "He wasn't acting." Gage glared. "Chet, there's collecting a bet and then there's cruelty. You standing there watching him was definitely uncool." "Well, I didn't see any one blindfolding your eyes shut, pal. I wasn't alone dodging those hoses Marco dropped now was I?" "That doesn't count. We weren't saying anything." Roy said. "You didn't have to, you heard Marco. He said that being stared was just as bad." "Oh, Chet. You're impossible.." Gage said. "No, I'm just right for once so live with it." Cap finally cleared his throat, more than a few times. "Do I detect a little animosity here? I mean, I know we had a little too many weird and useless runs last night that kept us from getting much sleep, but this is just plain unprofessional behavior I'm hearing now." "Cap.. How can you say that? You're a part of it. You were the one who judged who's chili was best.." "Yeah, well you didn't see me out there staring like an MVA gawker now, did you?" That shut Kelly up and the feeling of tension in the room died away. Only the sounds of eating filled the air during the rest of the meal. Everyone winced when they heard another hose nozzle bite the dust out in the yard. |
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************************************ From : "Cory Anda" <andacory@hotmail.com> Subject :[EmergencyTheaterLive] One Thing After Another... Date : Sun, 27 Apr 2003 22:59:02 +0000 Marco Lopez finally had the tower squared away. One hand was still grooming his hair into place with a comb while the other shovelled breakfast into his mouth at a rapid fire rate when the inevitable call went out. "Madre dios! No otra vez.." Lopez cursed. "Always at a meal time." he grumbled throwing both comb and fork onto his plate. The rich tones from the speaker grill continued to sound a multiple tone run. Chet Kelly rose from his seat at the kitchen table, wiping his mouth with a hasty napkin. "I'm surprised you're surprised Marco. It's always once again around here." he said spinning around neatly in a dodge to avoid Stoker's chair as the engineer bailed it. "Let's move out.." Cap hollered, abandoning his paper and apple. "Here ya go, boy. I promise you an ample feeding of a lot more when we get back.." And he sailed a crisp meaty missile of bacon high into the air in the general direction of the station's snoozing basset hound. Henry's slumped body suddenly animated and his head shot up from the depths of the couch to intercept the tasty treat with a tail wag of instant forgiveness. Gage gulped down the rest of his milk and half a banana as he and Roy jogged to the rescue squad after the rest of the gang. He chucked his banana peel out the window neatly into a mop bucket leaning against the map wall. ##Station 51 with Station 10 and Truck 127. Unknown type rescue at the Los Angeles City Zoo. 18 south Ramsfeld Ave. Cross street, Hollywood Blvd. 18 south Ramsfeld Ave. Crosstreet, Hollywood Blvd. Informant on location requests all on response, to enter at the eastern gate. Time out, 9: 04.## -------------------------------------------------- Station 51 arrived first to the scene. Captain Stanley eyed where they were to go from his place, bouncing in the cab seat and he voiced one single solitary question to Mike, as he swung the wide wheel hard to the left to turn onto the zoo property. "Well, I'll be. Stoker. What day is it today?" "Sunday.." he replied. "Right. Then just where the heck are all the people? This parking lot's empty.." he muttered. Chet and Marco rubbernecked out the engine windows from where they were fussing into their trenchcoats. The squad and engine's sirens died away and they all piled out of the vehicles. Only birdsong met their ears. That and the wind. |
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Roy and Johnny ran up with all their med gear and a stokes stretcher. "Cap, we got it all. Roy wants to know if we should pack more rope in with the stokes here just in case w--" He broke off, seeing the engine gang standing mute and puzzled at the wrought iron gate that was ajar, next to the big metal sculpture of mountain gorillas. Roy and John were caught up in the not quite right feel of the location. Stanley pinwheeled around in place, his HT firmly in hand as he located the sign labelling the gate where they idled on the curb. "What the h*ll? This IS the east gate... Where's our informant?" Cap knew he had the right place since he could see the responding fire truck and station called with them just entering the corner of the avenue framing the huge empty parking lot on their way in. "Hey! Fire Department!" Gage called out inside the gate, hefting the weight of the gear inside of the stokes between him and a very quiet and alert Roy. Chet and Marco moved to help them manage their load. There was no reply. Johnny's voice echoed eerily through the fake stony animal exhibit cliffs and ringing eucalyptus trees dotting that side of the city zoo. There wasn't any sign of anyone at all rushing up in a panic to tell them exactly what the problem was. Cap got on the horn. "L.A., This is station 51, We're on scene. Stand by for details." ##10-4, 51.## "Ok. Everyone.. You know the drill. Let's just... get in there and have a look around. If this is just a false alarm, I want to be doubly sure of it before we call it off. Stoker charge a line just in case this is a fire call." "Right, Cap.." they said. Hank led the way through the entrance gate and into the zoo and his men followed with the gear laden stokes. Inside, all was eerily quiet. Even the overhead skyway ride. Kelly mumbled to the others. "Man. Where is everyone? This is a weekend, shouldn't there be droves of people enjoying themselves right now?" "That's my understanding of it.." Lopez muttered, loosening his helmet strap. Cap and the men eagle eyed everything, alert for anything that might happen. What they didn't expect was a galloping camel running down the neat asphalt path, bellowing in fear. The gang barely got out of the way as the dromedary lumbered by, foaming at the mouth and gasping as it ran in the heat, past them. They had barely registered that fact into their minds when a low peeled threat call came from the direction from which the camel had run. The stunned firemen froze as a snarling black panther, quite uncaged and free, crouched to hiss at them in fear and anger. Cap lifted his HT. "Stoker.. We need that charged two inch with refrigeration now. We've a loose predator on us fifty meters down our path." he said quickly and quietly. Mike Stoker was there in less than fifteen seconds, backing up his crewmates with a fizzing nozzle aimed at the cat. "Easy.. Don't hit him. Just scare him." Cap ordered. The sun glistening ebony panther fled at the sound of the hissing barely contained pressurized water Mike released at a touch on his hose bar. It headed in the direction of the camel, uphill and into thicker cover. |
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"That would explain why there are no people around Cap.." Kelly said, swallowing around a very dry throat. Hank frowned, very very frustrated with the way things were going. "Open cages? No one around? What is this? Some kind of re-enactment of the Day of the Animals going on here?" "I loved that movie, Cap." Kelly chuckled. "But I don't think there's any filming scheduled for today. I should know. My sister lives a few blocks from here. Besides, there's no wrangler running after those two." "Somehow, I'd feel better knowing that this whole thing WAS a movie set, Chet. But things aren't feeling like that situation at all." Cap said, listening to an intuition that was screaming at him. Gage adjusted his helmet. "I know what you mean. Something's not right here." "Duh.." Kelly said, throwing a careless glove in the direction the big cat had bounded. "Didn't you notice our very large friend with all the teeth a few moments ago?" Mike Stoker began to relax and just sealed off the hose to closed again with a grin. The other guys chuckled. Gage said. "I saw him. I saw him. I'm...talking about the lack of people around here. I just wanna know how they vacated the premesis so fast. I mean, even if there's an escaped animal or two, there's bound to be some crazy yokel who'll want to hang around despite things, just to watch. Just like they do all the time at our fire calls. But I don't even see any of them right now." That sobered up everyone. "What's scarier than a four hundred pound very hungry black panther?" Hank asked frankly, still eyeballing where the cat had gone warily. Roy swallowed. "Do we really want to find out?" Hank blinked. "Gee, that's why we were called I suspect. Stoker, stay close with that hose and have it set to tight stream for our security." "It's set.." Stoker replied. Cap got on his HT. "Engine 51 to Station 10 and Truck 127. Hold your position. Notify Animal Control that we have a panther and camel loose on the grounds. There may be others nearby. We've a water line with us for safety." ##10-4. Standing by, Engine 51..## The caps of 10's and Truck 127 replied over the frequency. The gang slowly moved up the path in the direction the two escapees had come, dragging gear and primed ice water hose behind them. Three wild animals later, Station 51 located the problem at a loud clattering sound that made their hearts leap into their throats. A man, fully clothed in jeans and nothing else, was climbing like an ape in an empty seeming exhibit with a row of keys and chains dangling from his pocket up where he darted about the rocks. He spotted the firemen and began to laugh drunkenly. "Bingo.." Kelly quipped. "Try a zoo employee suffering an O.D. of some kind." "Now I've seen it all.." Hank's eyes shot up. "Shh,, or you'll jinx us. The day's not over yet." Marco complained. "Ok... let's have at it." Cap said, and he took off his helmet to appear less threatening to the man. "Everyone, inside. And shut the door behind ya. Believe it or not, we'll be safer in, than out here." No one argued and the stokes, hose and gear quickly piled onto the yellow dirt in the animal exhibit. Mike Stoker tensed as a dust cloud and snorting met them from the left. They all unlocked once more when they saw the animals that called the enclosure the man had invaded, home. "Whew.. Just pigs this time..." Kelly sighed. "They're peccaries.." Gage corrected. "What?" Hank asked. "Wild pigs..I remember similar ones from the reservation.. They won't harm us. They'll run first. Just stay away from the piglets." Roy was ignoring the idle chitchat going on around him. His attention was fully on the man swaying like a monkey on the rocky shelf above their heads. "Hey... are you ok? We came to help you out a bit here." he spoke softly, moving slow. "Fat chance fire boy. You don't wanna help me. You wanna help them..." the sweating manic man gasped. To Roy, he looked violent. Then he saw the fresh oozing track marks on the man's arms and was assured that his first impression was a correct one. "Heroin..or something else." he sighed. |
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Cap's eyes fell to where Roy noticed those signs. "Looks like.. Ok, everyone, stay still and let Johnny and Roy handle him. Mike, make sure the way outta here's blocked." "We're locked in. I just closed the exhibit's gate." Stoker admitted. At those words the young wild haired man in blue jeans began to wail and fret. He started to scramble on the rocks and very nearly slipped on loose stone up where he was. Johnny threw out a hand. "Easy! Now we're not gonna hurt you. Careful.. Or you're gonna fall and hurt yourself.." "Whatda you care?" their victim slurred. "You justwanna come and get me so the fuzz can arrest me..." "Do I look like I'm wearing a pistol and cuffs? I'm not a cop here. Just a paramedic." At that word, the man's attention shifted from suspicion to craving. "Y- you got drugs down there? Really? Uh,.." and he scratched his feverish face, swatting at the dust in his nose. "Can I ..uh,...wanna share?" Gage's eyes flickered only for a moment in hesitation. Then his brainstorming began. He crouched down over the stokes and slowly, cautiously flipped open the drug and IV box. "Yeah man.. Look, I got some nice stuff.. Won't cost ya much.." he grinned in an act. "The first hit's free. Just like the west side. A real deal.." "I don't believe you." said the agitated man. "I don't even know you!" he shouted. "Does it matter..?" Gage shot back, setting his hands on his hips. "Look I haven't got all day. My buyer's gonna wonder where I am with the stuff if I'm not there in...twenty minutes.." Johnny made up. "And you know how that goes. I'll pay for the delay.. in skin.." The drug high man angled his head. "Prove your worth pusher.. I ain't got all day." Gage's face fell for one sec while the gang around him licked nervous lips and all had a full curiosity about what he would do next in his victim negotiation. Roy crossed his arms in amusement. And Cap felt confident enough to put his helmet back on. Johnny snatched up a saline push and unsheathed it, hiding its label so the man wouldn't see its non drug label's color. Then he tied on a tourniquet and fitted a needle onto the syringe. "Ooh, yeah. This is meperidine. Gives me a good rush. Especially on boring days like today. And its clean, Mac. Not cheap home lab sh*t. I think I'm gonna shoot it all for me since I don't like the way you're talking." He fingered a vein and stuck the needle home into his own arm and started depressing the plunger, sending the liquid in with a sigh. "No! Wait man... I was only kidding.. I trust ya.." the man fretted. "Gimme some.." |
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