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FULL MOON BLUES |
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| PAGE TWENTY ONE |
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Dusk had fallen, and all scene responding helicopters had been called off until first light. There was only one still scheduled to come in, to risk a night landing in a few minutes and that was the chopper bearing the Atlanta disease control experts. Dr. Brackett, and those unwounded, chose to sit on the floor, lined up against a wall all on a side, as they found themselves blinking, and still unresting, while they waited for a tell tale "thwop" of helicopter blades to come out of the starry skies. Their eyes similarly studied the tracing blip of activity on Lopez's monitor, hopelessly caught in its desperate amber dance, and the tiny light from it set their faces apart from the surrounding darkness. The only sound in the sleeping room of Station 51 was the wavering rhythm of Marco's irregular EKG as PVC's started marching more and more frequently across the screen. The EOA, still lay packaged and unused, on his abdomen. Dimly, in the background, they heard the shouts of firecrews and rescue workers outside, still sorting through the earthquake neighborhood for casualties. Bonnie, at last, had fallen into a fitful sleep. And the seismology reports finally coming in from Geological Survey, were showing that the ground was doing the same as well. The tiny aftershocks that came, barely jarred them from their frightening private reveries. Then there was a rustle as Roy excused himself verbally. He got up, stepping over pairs of legs and moved to the desk on the far side of the room. There he sat down in the squeaky desk chair turned on a battery lamp, and reached for the phone. The others slipped back into their irresistible snoozing as he began to dial out. Roy's face was now dust free, and the cut on his forehead had been tended to and bandaged, but the care he had received did nothing to ease the pain he was feeling inside from being away from his family. When the last number tumbled into the dialer, he did his d*mndest to keep all trace of it from his voice. "Hi hon. It's me again. No, the last tremor didn't shake us too badly. Well, only Johnny complained about that one because his Bier block was starting to wear off. No. no. He's fine. Dr. Brackett did some terrific vascular work on his hand and that metal rod came out without problems. Miss Thorne's coming along. She even had some soup earlier. Cap's better too. Doc finally authorized some MS for him after he was convinced that crack on his head was all superficial swelling with no underlying problems. Heh. He's even started captaining again. Well, unofficially of course. He's driving the other engine companies nuts asking for reports every half hour from his stokes. Yes, I heard. Only fifteen have died. We were very very lucky.." Roy's eyes filled at his next question. "H-How are the kids taking this whole "daddy's stuck away"thing? You didn't tell them everything did you? Good. No point to doing it, really, until you and I both have our answers. No, they're not here yet. And LAX is not taking any calls about any rescue operation's ETA. They're saving themselves for emergency inflight and relief traffic correspondence, only for situations priority marked in the disaster zone. Yeah. I know. Yeah, I-I'm agreeing with you, Joanne. The station's definitely in that area, but this virus thing is only secondary in their priorities." |
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He held the phone away from his ear and actually almost grinned when his last statement brought a tirade of reaction from Joanne about exactly what she thought of the Los Angeles County Fire Department /FEMA protocols.. When she was through, Roy spoke again, answering her next question. "No, he's about the same. We're keeping him comfortable and we've managed to drain some of that fluid in his lungs. I'll be frank because we've agreed to be thoroughly honest with each other..There's been some problems. Blood's beginning to show in his sputum and his temp's going up despite the ice baths. No, he's still breathing on his own on one hundred percent O2. " He broke off actually grinning.. "You're beginning to sound like a paramedic here, with all these questions, you know that... And what did Chris just say, I didn't quite hear him.. Oh. LOL! 'That's because mommy's married to the best one in the whole world huh?....' Thanks for repeating that hon. That was cute." Roy closed his eyes trying to picture his wife and son in his mind sitting at the dining room table, on the phone with him, but the picture wouldn't come. "T-That was very cute.." and his voice cracked. "You don't have to call Rose Marie Lopez on his update Joanne . Vince is already there with Marco's mom. Yeah. He went there himself before the news broadcast the station as being downed in the quake on the TV. Listen hon, I'll call you the moment we know anything more, all right. I've got to go. Time for vital sets all around. And I see a few saggy IV bags above a few stokes, too, that need changing over. "Yeah. You WILL most likely know sooner than I when the CDC arrives. D*mned press. They almost got in here once. If it weren't for Bonnie, we would have been neck deep in plague panicky reporters once they learned the quarantine orders weren't viscious rumors. "On channel five? All right, I'll try to peek out a head at ten and wave when the live broadcast outside starts up. No we've no power. But I've got a watch. I can do this. Might cheer up the kids.. "Those reporters need a scare or two to get off the driveway anyway. Cap's already crawling out of his skin over the damage done to the station vehicles. It'll do him some good if I can get them all to just to clear off. " He grabbed a water bottle and opened it but he didn't drink, at her next words. "I - I love you too, Joanne. H- Hug the kids for me, will ya? Talk to you in the morning...Yeah, I'll let Marco know you're praying for him. Bye." And he set the phone down with a soft snick into the receiver. Roy got back over to the populated end of the bunk room and returned to the others, reluctantly. |
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He had just sat back down to take a sleeping Miss Thorne's BP, when Marco on the bed, suddenly seized into a convulsion. Chet was there instantly, "Dr. Brackett!!" Brice, Gil and Roy jumped to their feet in moments, right behind Kel. They scrambled, reaching for...... ------------------------------------ ******************************** From: Sam Iam <lafddispatcher@yahoo.com> Date: Tue Oct 29, 2002 6:14 pm Subject: Setback Special Website Acknowledgement for Episode Images being provided from... Guest....KMG365 at Tigger's E Stuff Website http://exit3.i-55.com/~ffaller/emergency/ Also special thanks to site EMS Medical Consult : P. Keiper NREMT Minnesota ----------------------------------------------- >They scrambled, reaching for...... Marco's longboard and the O2 mask on his face. Johnny, jarred awake by the shouting, knew immediately what was happening at a glance. "Tip him over, guys, tip him over!" he said from his stokes. Brice and Gil each grabbed an edge of the long board and then turned Lopez onto his side, gracelessly. Roy slid Marco's non rebreather mask out of the way and angled Lopez's head back, lying his cheek on an arm. |
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FULL MOON BLUES |
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Click Rescue Squad to Goto Page Twenty Two :) |
