



 |
FULL MOON BLUES |
 |



"Oh, man.." Cap groaned. "I didn't want to see that.." he said as a falling rafter kicked loose from
a wind gust, and smashed into the main dome light on top of the Ward's cab, pulverizing it.
Vince
piped up to Stone's men. "Ok, let's get these kids out of here. They're students from Grover Middleland
school. That's their teacher lying over there. Move out. I've got additional squad cars here so
we can evac all of them."
Firemen moved to escort the frightened children away from the scene.
Roy rose to his feet. "Johnny. Hey. I've got to go back inside. Take it easy now. And try to
get along with Brice, huh? He's going to be senior assessor here, even over you, all right?"
He jogged, gripping his handy talkie, and ran by Brice, who was coming, helmeted, with gear.
"I know that. I'll be a professional!" Johnny shouted after his partner. He winced when the effort
shot a bolt of pain through his hand.
"That's professional patient, Gage. The moment Squad
8 got on scene, they bumped you out of service man.." Chet said.
"Don't rub it in, Chet."
Johnny spat.
His anger was tempered when Bonnie, suddenly free of her children charges, came
running up. She reared up, planting kisses of worry and affection onto his chin.
Johnny smiled
in spite of himself.
Brice rushed by Roy without even looking fully at him.. "The woman?"
Roy said, running in the opposite direction. "Still breathing.. Marco's gas inhalation too!" he
shouted after him. Roy wheeled, reluctant to leave the yard, until Cap re- enforced his departure
to the kitchen phone with an arched eyebrow..
Captain Stone was on DeSoto's heels to make
sure that flashlights were delivered to the dark kitchen for Roy's note dictation via landline.
He sent more men arriving from the responding units to the surrounding area to cruise for trouble
spots beyond Station 51's scene. As an after thought, he got his engineer to pull up 51's squad and
the LaFrance out of the garage once the worst of the roofing debris had been pulled off of them.
Stone huffed a breath on his sleeve and polished the door handle of the engine when he saw Hank
watching him once the two trucks were free of the garage rubble.
Cap chuckled when he saw that
little move and lifted his HT. "Needs a lot more than a wax job, Ben.. Appreciate it, though."
Stone added, ##I'll have my crew check em out. Neither of them are leaking fuel.. I got a fanning
hose wash on them just in case.##
"Take good care of my boys and my station.." Cap sighed,
and he let Stone's men move him to a stokes for a lie down and soon, he was fitted with an O2 cannula
and his turnout was removed. Hank's HT, however, stayed fast in his grip by his head, where he
could hear everything, even as he let go physically and mentally. He felt a man move closer
to monitor him as he closed his eyes.
"Night Cap.." Gage said, lying in his own stokes. "Don't
doze too deep with that headcrack of yours."
"I won't. Just don't gore Brice with that hand
pike of yours."
"Deal."
|



Moments later, Brice finished crossing the yard and he knelt by Cindy Thorne first for a new vitals
set.
He looked up to see Bonnie still bathing Johnny's chin with kisses and Gage being too
out of it to push her away. "Getting mouth to mouth from a dog, Gage? Must be protocol I haven't
yet heard about."
"Very funny. This dog saved my life, I'm not about to tick her off by complaining.."
he said, lifting Bonnie into the stokes where she promptly laid down in between his legs, setting
a worried muzzle and front paws onto his stomach, still softly whining with stress.
Brice
curbed his banter. "What have we got here Gage? Roy didn't tell me much.."
"Stoker revived
the woman. No trauma. Cap's got a blow to the back of his head. Pupils equal and reactive. Marco's
out, febrile after unknown LOC drop. BP, 94/60, Resp 12, shallow. Pulse 92. Me, I, uh.. Almost choked in
a cave-in. Puked out a lot of ingested mud. Chest seems clear. And I got this little little..problem--mm
." he said lifting his stabbed hand.
The sight of the rod made Brice pause and he sank
his glasses lower on his nose to get a closer look at it from where he was listening to Cindy's
breath sounds through a stethoscope.
Brice asked Chet, "Blood loss.." he said. snapping
his fingers, about Gage.
"Oh, uh, Gage lost about 600 CC before I got that tourniquet in plac--"
"Get him on a cannula, Kelly. 4-6 liters O2. Use our unit. Elevate his legs. Then position
your captain with his head raised. I'll be right with you, Gage. Almost through assessing this
woman." Brice said.
But Johnny didn't answer.
Gil arrived from the rubble and took
Brice's pointing hint to check Johnny's consciousness level as Chet followed his medical orders
to a T.
The two Station 8 medics got to work..
--------------- Inside the dark
and silent kitchen, Roy's face was illuminated by flashlight and he took the phone from the Station
8 paramedic waiting for him there. "Thanks Gil. I'm trading places with ya.."
"Sure thing.
It's Brackett on the line." And Gil ran off to the yard.
Roy set his HT on the phone top and
nodded to the fireman with the flashlight to go about his business, grabbing the torch from his
gloves as he set the kitchen phone receiver to his face. Roy shifted the light under one arm
so he could see his notepad. "Rampart, this is Squad 51. How do you read?"
|

 |
 |

As he waited for a return, Roy had his first real, thinking look at the devastation that the
quake had brought to his station. He watched as a frightened sparrow arrowed through the
airspace where the garage roof had been.
::Will we be able to get over all of this?:: came
the thought, unbidden.
A familiar voice broke Roy out of his fear. ##This is Rampart. Go ahead,
51. You're reading loud and clear..##
Roy sighed and almost sobbed when Kel's steady confident
baritone met his ear. "Doctor Brackett. We've uh, four victims at our location. The earthquake
has pretty much destroyed the stationhouse here. Trauma is apparent. Three of my victims are...
are Code I. Victim one. A female approximate age, twenty two. Found apneic from natural
gas inhalation. Now breathing on her own on one hundred percent 02. Victim two. Unconscious.
Moderate gas inhalation and etiology of unknown fever on ten liters O2. Victim three. Cave-in.
Obstructed airway now relieved. Ingested mud. Foreign body impalement of the left hand. Arterial
bleeding is under control. Victim four. Possible head injury with history of blackout,
awake and oriented. Pupils equal and reactive."
##10-4, 51.## came Kel's voice. Roy could
hear the man's concern seeping through his doctor mode even through his short reply back. #Can
you give me full vitals for Victim one?#
"R-right. doc.. uh. ..s-she's.." and his voice
caught; the sudden realization of what had happened finally sinking in. "Well, she's like I said
and..and.. I- I'm sorry doc.. I can't--"
At the base station, Dixie and Kel's faces fell
out of their professional shells at the sound of pain in his voice. Brackett was stunned, hearing
his best medic fall apart on the job. He felt Dix tap him sharply on the arm and looked up to
see her give him a do something look.
|




Click Rescue Squad to Goto Page Sixteen :)
|


|