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| PAGE THIRTY EIGHT |
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Chet's face soured a bit, but the twinkle didn't go out of his eyes. "I'm not going to let you burst my bubble, pal. What I did, is saving his life man. That's cool." Johnny was about to say it was he who gathered the blood donation and Brackett who actually completed the transfusion but he hushed down, settling for a secondary Chet tease idea. "Hey Chet, I know you're cold because I drained out all your blood. Bet you're real thirsty too. Here, have a pop.." Chet reached for it, and Johnny jerked it away, holding it over his head, making the shorter curly haired fireman grab for it unsuccessfully. "Come on, Chet. You can do better than that. Can't you?" And he tossed it to Roy without looking for him first, trying to get his partner in on a monkey in the middle game. Roy didn't go along with it and tossed the 7up to Chet anyway. "Johnny. Ease up. Let him bask in the transfusion thing. It IS kinda cool." "Yeah?" Johnny said, helping the teeth chattering Chet open the 7 up bottle. "Well, I don't need to exchange blood with anybody to know who my brothers are. In this station, we are all brothers. Tied just as deep in the blood as we are as a company's crew because of what we do here." He offered Chet half of his jelly sandwich. "Amen to that Gage.." Chet said. Then he looked up, feeling that someone was missing. "Hey,.. where's Stoker?" Cap entered the bunk room just then with a followup about the Arco call going on across the street. "It's official, a natural gas ground seep. A big one underway. Mike says it was a fire truck inspector's vehicle that landed on the pipeline during the last trembler, which shattered it." "Anyone hurt over there?" Gil asked. "You can send Roy, Brice or me if you'd like. I've slept enough." "No, Stoker says that man got outta there ok.. Sounded like he's been put on a front wash down. He didn't sound overly nervous. Seemed like everything's under control. Oh, and he says the bats are here. A crewman from Eight's has been sent to go get them.." Drs. Taylor and MacPherson both sighed in relief. "That was fast. This is all new territory for us about this female mother bat immunity theory, but even that chance is better than we would have had even with immune plasma transfusions from the victims who've survived Marburg." Miss Thorne came out dressed in the clothes Johnny had provided and her head was wrapped in a towel. "I'm out.. Who's next..?" "Me.." Chet said. "I gotta warm up somehow.." And he shivered rushing around Cindy in his blanket, clutching his soda in his other hand. On a thought, he ripped off his smiley face bandaid and stuck it onto Johnny's forehead with exaggerated deliberance, with a firm smack. "Here. I believe this fangy guy belongs to you.. I know I don't need him anymore." And he grinned as he disappeared behind the steamed up wooden door. The guys sniggered as Gage was left to pull it off along with a bit of hair. "Oww.." Arff! Johnny knew an amused doggy bark when he heard one. "Quit laughing Bonnie. No more sandwiches for you girl if you keep that up..." Roy pointed to his arm. "Want mine to?" he said, pointing to his bandaid. "Still needs an artist's signature." "Ha ha.. very funny.." Gage said. Dr. Brackett looked up from Marco's EKG. He had taken a gamble and had pumped up the last chamber on Lopez's mast suit to its top level. The PVC's were gone. He was smiling when he got up to recheck Cap. "Johnny, grab one last vitals set on Captain Stanley here would you? And I don't think you need your IV anymore while you're at it, too, Gage. You've finally pinked up." "Thank you doc.." he said, joyfully pulling out his IV. |
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Roy was right there to put on his bandaid. "Welcome back to duty Johnny." "You have no idea....." Gage gushed, patting the table for Cap to sit on for a blood pressure check. He exuberantly wrapped it around Cap's arm and pumped it up with style. Cap said. "Hey, am I next to be off medical leave?" "Give it until nightfall captain.." Dr. Brackett said. "I usually watch black out concussion cases for at least twelve hours after the initial injury." Cap was crestfallen but compliant. He sat still, letting Gage take his BP. "Good enough for me. Maybe that gas leak at Arco will be over by then. One less headache for me to worry about.." and he laughed at his own joke. An HT crackled to life on the desk. ##Station Eight Firewatch to Station 51.."## Cap was still encumbered by a BP cuff, so Brice took up the call. "Go ahead Station Eight FW." ##This is Engineer Manney. I got three squeaking little friends with ASAP shipping orders that I'm to give to you, priority run. I'm almost there. I'm just up the boulevard rounding the refinery. My ETA is one minute.## "That's great to hear. We'll be waiting. The CDC lab docs are eager to get their hands on em." Brice said. "We'll watch for your vehicle." Everyone in the room started cheering at the good news. ------------------------------------- Over by the refinery, Mike Stoker noticed a feeling of something not right. He again glanced up above him and saw nothing amiss. But an unfounded instinct made him look back towards the boulevard in front of his demolished station. Then a movement and a glint caught his eyes through his air mask, near the refinery's entrance next to Station 51. The lighted natural gas chimney antennae tower where the steam had been rising, suddenly groaned in tortured metal and shuddered. Four hundred feet of solid metal and pipes suddenly gave way at the base, like a felled tree, from a hidden structural rend no one had seen. Soon after, the entire antennae spire began to fall towards the boulevard and the triage tents. Mike dropped the hose and went running out of the water's spray and jerked his handy talkie to his mouth. "Everybody heads up!!! Falling antennae tower!!!!" --------------------- |
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