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"Oh, sure! Your kind always do. Not that I'm saying you're the only one. As far as I'm concerned, every fireman in the building is involved." Shocked, Roy risked a quick glance at the girl. She had pulled her hand free from what he could only assume was her mother's grasp and was swiping at fresh tears. Roy darted a look around the vehicle bay. He could see Chet and Marco lurking just inside the door to the dayroom listening and he knew Johnny was hiding behind the squad, but no one leaped to his rescue. "What-uh... . . what . . . ?" She barrelled forward as if he hadn't even spoken. "And since you're responsible, you can deal with the results! Give it to him, Myra!" "But, Momma!" "GIVE it to him!" With a subdued sob, Myra thrust the basket into Roy's hands and turned and ran. Momma dusted her hands together in a satisfied manner and marched out after her. Roy stood stunned as the basket jiggled in his hands. Chet slunk out, sidled down to the door controls and closed the big bay door, then he, Marco and Johnny came over and gathered around. Johnny clapped his partner on the shoulder. "Something you need to tell us, Pally?" Roy gave him a look. Then he lifted the basket up and gingerly raised the lid to peek inside. A pink tongue came out and licked his nose. Drawing one corner of his mouth back in a tight grimace, he flipped the lid open. Six little white heads popped up. Some of them were beginning to develop the first of their black spots. "Puppies!" he exclaimed. "Dalmatian puppies!" Chet's brow furrowed. "But Boot isn't a dalmatian!" "You're right. Go tell Momma that!" Roy told him. "Uh, no thanks. I'll pass." "They sure are cute," Marco said, reaching out a finger to one of them. "Cute, yeah," Roy agreed, "but what are we going to do with them?" "You mean what are YOU going to do with them," Chet corrected him. "Yeah," for once John Gage sided with his nemesis and against his best friend. He smiled his slow, crooked smile. "After all, you're the one standing there holding the basket.... Daddy." |
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Roy glared at his partner, but any response he might have made was lost when the puppies all suddenly sat up, alert, tipped their little heads back and howled mournfully. Two seconds later the tones sounded. ##Squad 51. Man shot. 2253 Bernadette Plaza, cross street Wilshire. LAPD is en route. Time out 09:23.## Chet ran to copy down the address and acknowledge the call. Roy shoved the basket of puppies at Marco and he and Johnny jumped in the squad. Roy took the call slip Chet handed him. Marco re-opened the bay doors and the two paramedics sped away. |
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*************************************************** From: E!lf <eexclamationmarklf@yahoo.com> Date: Sun Dec 17, 2006 2:06 am Subject: Shot Up DeSoto thought aloud in his head. ::In the Roaring Twenties, during the golden age of silent films, this part of Los Angeles had been home to some of the brightest stars in California. To say that it has declined dramatically is an understatement.:: he mused. Roy guided the squad up a narrow, winding and badly potholed street, past dirty little bungalows and the rusting hulks of broken down vehicles. The radio came to life. ##Squad 51, be advised that your police backup has been delayed. LAPD and LACoSD advise you to await their arrival.## "Right." Johnny muttered. "And our victim lays out there and dies while we're sitting over here." Their address turned out to be a leaning gatepost standing beside an overgrown driveway. It looked like the place had been a mansion once on a large lot, but the big house was long gone and the lush gardens had gone to seed. Roy pulled to a stop. "Let's at least get the gear ready." Johnny jumped out of the squad and began pulling stuff from the squad's compartments on his side. Roy got out and circled in front of the truck to help, but as he set foot onto the cracked sidewalk, he found himself face to face with a large young man in torn jeans and a denim jacket who had emerged from the shrubbery beside the gatepost. "You guys looking for the guy that got shot?" the young man asked. "Yeah," Roy said. "You know where he is?" "Sure, he's back there." The kid pointed over his shoulder into the jungle-like growth of the vacant lot. "Back in the swimming pool." The kid started away but Roy stopped him. "Hey, wait a minute. Can you tell us anything more about him? Who is he? What's his name? You got any idea who shot him?" Johnny, standing behind the open compartment doors, froze when he heard his partner's sudden intake of breath. He peeked around the edge of the door and his heart skipped a beat as he saw Roy standing very still, looking into the muzzle of a gun. The kid laughed cheerfully and brushed the barrel of the gun against the blond paramedic's cheek. "You take real good care of him, now. He's one of my best customers." |
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"Then why did you shoot him?" Roy could have kicked himself as he heard the words leaving his mouth, but it was too late. The shooter merely laughed. "Business, man. Strictly business." Sirens sounded in the distance. The kid tucked the gun back inside his jacket, laughed madly and ran off on foot. Roy slumped against the hood of the squad. Johnny closed the compartment doors. "You okay, man?" Johnny whispered. Roy nodded and pushed himself away from the squad. "You ready?" "Don't you want to wait for the cops?" Gage said incredulously. "What for?" Roy asked. "The shooter's gone." Johnny thought about it for a second, shrugged and half nodded. The two paramedics gathered up their equipment and headed back along the trail through the overgrown gardens. *************************************************** From: E!lf <eexclamationmarklf@yahoo.com> Date: Sun Dec 17, 2006 6:11 pm Subject: The Tattoo The path back through the greenery wound past ragged oleander and Mexican verde trees, belladonna lilies and summer lilac, of the once well-tended garden. The underbrush was heavily littered with beer cans and broken bottles and soon, a stench of human waste battled the sickly sweet perfume from the flowers. "He's over there." Gage pointed, following his nose. Roy hesitated, spotting something else surrounding them. Scattered in among the other weeds, the two paramedics caught the familiar, miniature palm tree silhouette of marijuana plants. ::Now isn't this wonderful ?:: he thought privately. ::Someone's private patch. If there are booby traps in here....:: They passed the burned out hulk of the old mansion and finally came to the swimming pool, half hidden behind manzanita bushes and pampas grass. The once-elegant pool was now just a kidney-shaped hole in the ground, the tiles cracked and heavily spray painted, the shallow end half filled with old tires and drifted trash. Their victim lay on his back, and bleeding beneath the limbs of a scrawny palm tree that had forced its way up through the broken concrete. They ran down the pool steps, the oxygen bottle rattling along behind on its wheels, and dropped to their knees beside him. Johnny set up the biophone and contacted Rampart while Roy did a rapid first assessment and cut the man's clothes off. |
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"Rampart, this is rescue fifty-one. How do you read me?" Gage began. "Johnny, look at this." Johnny glanced over and watched as Roy shone his penlight in the victim's eyes. "Pinprick pupils," Roy said. He turned the man's hands up and his forearms and the insides of his elbows were covered with needle marks. "And he's not breathing so hot. Grab his O2." "Ok." Johnny replied. ##We read you loud and clear, 51." Joe Early answered them. "Go ahead.## Johnny turned back to the phone. "Rampart, we have a male shooting victim, aged approximately 45, 160 pounds. Unconscious. He has been shot twice in the lower abdomen and is bleeding profusely. Vitals are:.." he reached for the notebook Roy was holding out to him, "..Pulse 130 and irregular, respirations about eight, blood pressure 72 over 26. Victim appears to be an habitual drug user and he's showing signs of having recently shot up, possibly with heroin." As he read off the vitals signs, he was simultaneously preparing two IVs of Ringer's Lactate with large bore needles while he boosted the man's breathing occasionally with the demand valve resuscitator. |
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Roy, likewise anticipating the doctor's orders, started strapping the wounded man into MAST trousers, being mindful of possible spinal injury. By the time Joe Early's voice came back over the phone, Roy had them carefully in place with their patient atop a long immobilization board. He checked the man's abdomen with a pat down under the main chamber. "The suit's controlling his hemorrhaging ok, Johnny." DeSoto said. "I'll get another pressure." Gage nodded. Joe Early began his orders. ##Okay, 51. Start two IVs, Ringer's Lactate, wide bore needles, full open. Apply MAST suit and inflate all compartments. 51, if he's under the influence of too much heroin, he could crash in an instant. Better insert an esophageal airway and get him on 12 liters of oxygen, with any needed support. Stay on his vitals, keep him well-ventilated, and transport as soon as possible.## "10-4, Rampart. Two I.V.'s RL, wide bore, full open. MAST suit is fully inflated. We're establishing that esophageal airway on 12 liters of O2. He has no airway complications." said Johnny, eyeing up what Roy did in front of his waiting hands before Gage reattached his working ventilator to the hub of the breathing tube. ##Ten-four, fifty-one. We'll be waiting. Rampart out.## Footsteps and crashing underbrush heralded the arrival of the ambulance attendants bearing a stretcher and closely followed by Deputy Vince Howard. The ambulance men ran down into the pool, set down the stretcher and helped the two paramedics bundle the victim onto it. |
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Vince remained up on the edge of the pool, glaring down. "What part of 'wait for backup' don't you two understand?" "The part where our victim dies." Roy said shortly. "Anyway, the shooter's gone. He ran off to the west on foot." "What? You saw him? How do you know he was the shooter?" "He told us, more or less." Johnny said, grabbing the I.V. bags as his partner tucked the oxygen tank and drug box down beside the victim on the stretcher. "And he pulled a gun on Roy." "He what? DeSoto, are you all right?" "No," Roy said dryly. "He shot me and I'm dead." "Very funny. Later, when we're not so busy, remind me to start laughing." said Vince, finally noticing the pot plants blooming around the swimming pool. He pointed to his partner to begin courdoning the entire area off with police tape. The ambulance attendants headed for the road with their burden, Johnny pacing them. Roy gathered up the rest of their equipment and moved to follow. But Vince cut him off. "Vince! I have to go! I have to follow the ambulance! You know I have to stay close in case Johnny has problems! Let me pass." :: And I really,.. really need to get away from here.:: came another protest from inside his head. Now that their victim was on the way to the hospital with nothing else to focus on, he could feel the shakes seriously setting in. "I will in a few seconds. Give me something first! A name.. How about a description?" he prompted firmly. Roy paused, falling quiet and he thought about it. "He was just a kid. Young. Seventeen? Eighteen maybe. Big. Six one, six two. Muscular, not fat. Dark hair, brown eyes, light brown skin tone. Maybe Hispanic or mixed Caucasian and Hispanic. He was wearing jeans and a denim jacket and he had a gun the size of Sonoma County. He brushed it against my cheek and the barrel was still warm. I could smell the gunpowder." The paramedic's eyes glazed at the memory. "He said this guy was his best customer and he just shot him because it was business. Then he laughed and took off on foot westwards. About six minutes ago." Roy startled at some movement in his anxiety. Other officers were on scene now, marking the location of the two spent casings and searching the area for other evidence. Vince stepped aside and let Roy go by. "Easy... Okay, that's good. And thanks. I'm still going to need a formal statement, and one from your partner, too." he said, lifting his radio to call in a surveillance helicopter to begin a man hunt. "Right. Catch us when we're finished at the hospital?" DeSoto sighed. "Yeah, I'll be right behind you." Suiting actions to words, Vince followed Roy back along the path. |
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When they both got to the street, they saw that the ambulance was long gone. Roy made short work of putting away his gear, but then he paused as he was getting behind the squad's wheel. "Hey, Vince? One more thing. The guy had a tattoo on the back of his right hand. A dog. A big, mean-looking dog, ..uh,..like a bulldog or something." Then he caught the distant look in the deputy's eyes. "Uh oh, did I ring a bell?" "Maybe... Roy, I'm gonna need you to look at some mug shots, too." "Sure. Fine. Fine.. Uh,.. we'll see you there soon." he said, with a small, not so brave smile. Without wasting any more time, Roy shifted the rescue truck into gear and sped off in pursuit of the ambulance. |
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*************************************************** From: E!lf <eexclamationmarklf@yahoo.com> Date: Mon Dec 18, 2006 8:11 pm Subject: Interlude in the ER Roy backed the squad into place outside the ER entrance and ran inside. Vince, following close behind, was in time to see him disappear into a treatment room. Taking off his helmet, Vince slowed down and sighed. He went on to the nurses' station and soon cornered a cup of coffee from Dixie McCall. "How's the shooting victim doing?" he asked. Dixie shrugged. "They're still working on him. He was in respiratory arrest when they got here." She edged close and lowered her voice. "Johnny said the guy who shot him pulled a gun on Roy!" "That's what he told me, too." "Well . . . did you catch him?" she finally ansed after his next mouthful of java. "Not yet." "Well you'd better!" she glared, only half mock. Vince gave her a small grin and a teasing salute. "Yes, ma'am!" The base station radio interrupted them and Dixie turned away to answer it. ##Rampart, this is L.A. 110, come in please.## "Go ahead, L.A. 110." ##Rampart, we have a fifty-three year old male, approximately 180 lbs, who has been bitten repeatedly by a chihuahua.## Vince's eyebrows went up at that chief complaint. McCall noticed. "I don't know what it is about today. It's like it's the Day Of The Animals, or something, happening out there. Dogs are going nuts on their owners all over the place." "Let's hope these aren't pre-signs of an earthquake." Vince sighed. |
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Dixie nodded and waved down the hall, signalling Joe Early, and turned back to the radio. "Do you have vitals, 110?" ##Not at this time, Rampart. We are still attempting to extricate our victim from the doghouse . . . .## Vince spit out his hard won coffee at that elaboration. Somehow, a doghouse and a hundred and eighty pound man stuck inside of it, hadn't computed. McCall chuckled and handed him some kleenix from a nearby tissue box so he could dry off his dark uniform. Twenty minutes passed. Vince listened in on 110's rescue, drank coffee, and used his radio to follow the progress -- or rather, lack of progress -- of the manhunt for the shooter. Finally Howard saw the treatment room door open as Gage and DeSoto came out together, shoulders slumped dejectedly. Kelly Brackett, following behind, regarded them kindly. "Listen, fellows, don't take it too hard. You both did an outstanding job, but that man had been abusing his body for years. He was probably only a few months away from death, even if he hadn't have been shot." "He's dead then?" Vince asked neutrally, walking up to where they were standing outside the treatment room door. "Yeah, a couple of minutes ago." sighed Kel quietly. "Do you know who he was yet? We'll need to notify his next of kin." Dr. Brackett said, folding up his stethoscope morosely. "No, not yet. We'll have to wait until we learn something from the medical examiner's office. He or she'll be able trace who he was through his dental records or through his fingerprints if he's got any kind of a rap sheet with us." Moving slightly away from the doctor and the two dispirited paramedics, Vince raised his radio to his mouth. "Attention all units. Be advised that the shooting on Bernadette Plaza is now a murder investigation." |
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*************************************************** From : Roxy Dee <laterrapincabesa@hotmail.com> Sent : Thursday, December 21, 2006 12:49 AM Subject : Puppies and Partners~~ Dixie McCall wandered over from the desk and placed a soft hand on both paramedics' shoulders. "That's one h*ll of a tough break, fellas. I'm sorry." she said. "I thought you really had that one in the bag." Gage shot her an irritated look. "Uh,..not that kind of bag. Sorry again." she shrugged. Gage swallowed around his doubly dry mouth left over from the long CPR they'd just completed and nodded. DeSoto leaned against the wall and closed his eyes wearily. Johnny smacked Roy on the arm seconds later and firmly pointed him over to the drinking fountain by the extra medical gear they had left there during their resuscitation efforts. Sighing, Roy started forward to slake his burning thirst. Brackett stopped him with the back of his hand. "I can do you one better than that. Let me buy you coffee and lunch in the cafeteria? I promise you, Sergeant," he told Vince. "..that you can question and interview my boys all you like after they've both got something solid sitting inside of them, warming their stomachs." "Fair enough. I have to remain here at the hospital anyway until our John Doe's been officially identified." replied Vince, who would be leaving soon for the police office set aside Rampart's sub-basement next to the county morgue suites. DeSoto had no doubt that he would return shortly with the promised mugshot album. "Say I'll meet you back here at the desk when you're free again, and you're good to go." "We'll buzz you." promised Gage empathetically, trying not to push Roy ahead of him with the defibrillator to move him on a little faster. "See you soon, fellas." Howard told them as he made his way to the employee elevators. They all heard him give out a shout when news finally came over his radio that the murder suspect with the bulldog tattoo had been successfully cornered in a nearby neighborhood backyard and safely apprehended. "We nailed him guys. Now all we have to do is find that f***ing gun." "Thanks for the news, Vince." Roy said, relaxing finally. "I needed that." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roy and Johnny seriously doubted that they could eat any kind of food right then but they chewed on a few mouthfuls anyway to humor Dixie and Kel when they all sat down at a table under the comforting shade of the eucalyptus tree casting its branches over the hospital's out door cafe' a few minutes later. "So, what's on your agenda for the day, besides going on your usual rounds and mopping up after the two of us?" Gage asked Kel Brackett after he had downed his fourth glass of milk. |
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"Me? Not much. It's just another slow Monday around mid-morning." he replied. Roy blinked and stacked up his sixth empty plastic cup next to his tray. "And how about you, Dixie? You already know about our future schedule. Johnny and I never know what we're going to be doing next." he smiled. Dixie hung her head over her salad at his very old firemen's joke. "I'm a new sponsor this week, volunteering for the Make A Wish Foundation." "Oh, yeah?" Johnny brightened up. "That's far out. Being given unlimited money to help make someone's final dream come true. Can you talk about whom you're getting to help out for a while with us?" Dixie smiled. "I can. And, I'm afraid I have a confession to make. The good doctor and I have carefully planned this very outting today just to set you two up concerning that very same subject matter." "No problems there." Roy grinned. "We were on to ya from the beginning. After all, how many physicians actually buy their paramedics full meals, complete with dessert, when they're still officially on duty for the day?" "So the two of us weren't subtle enough, eh?" Dixie asked, seriously doe-eyed. "Nope. But we appreciate all the food and the chance to get good and watered down again." Roy saluted them with a toast using another not yet drained glass of milk. "So fire away..." Johnny said, leaning a pair of elbows on the table in front of them. "Uh, no pun intended." Gage chuckled, rapping on the helmet he had resting on the table. "And we'll see what we can do for you." Dixie dove right in. "Ok, she's ten years old and she's in room 506. I can't tell you about her terminal diagnosis but you'll probably be able to figure that one out on your own. She's requesting to see a couple of paramedics who are also firefighters to see if their station would allow her to fulfill a lifelong wish of hers." "What's she asking for?" DeSoto wondered, folding his hands over his now empty spaghetti plate, his interest now piqued fully. Kel's eyes twinkled. "It's probably nothing big, boys. But I'm afraid you're going to have to ask her what she wants. So far, Dixie and I only know what kind of people she'd like to request as part of her Wish. And none of the why for." "Easily fixed. Is she outpatient?" Roy asked. "Yeah. She's only in for a few hours for some blood cleansing." Kel answered. "We can see her right now if you'd like. Might be a good idea to catch her before we all get ourselves busy again." Roy said. "All right. You two had enough?" asked Brackett. "Plenty." said Gage, rising from his chair. "Just let me go stash our gear in the squad first before we go up there. 506 you said?" "Yeah, bed two. She's wearing a yellow shirt with blue jeans." Dr. Brackett answered, reaching over to bus their dishes for them. "What else does she like besides firemen paramedics?" Roy asked, smiling softly. "She likes horses." Dixie said, handing Johnny a small packet of information they needed to work with to use the Foundation to purchase anything. "Now there's a keen topic right up your alley, partner." DeSoto grinned at Johnny. "That's why I picked you two as her recipients." McCall said, shooing them back into the hospital. "Call me if she's feeling nauseated. I don't want to interrupt the three of you while you're still deep into making your hot little plans." |
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"What's our budget's ceiling?" DeSoto asked Kel. "Fifty five thousand dollars. Give or take." Brackett replied with a grin. Gage whistled under his breath. "Oh my.. Don't tell me her anonymous benefactor's a natural born millionaire." "She is as a matter of fact." Dixie demurred. "Remember that odd media circus case involving that contested Shell Oil inheritance lawsuit last year?" "Yeah." "Well this woman's the rightful heir, come out of hiding. And the Make A Wish Foundation's her own personal first charity of choice. Have fun blowing the whole wad on my special little girl, boys." Dixie said tearfully. "We've got just a month left to spend with her at the very most, ok?" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chet Kelly's mouth dropped open when he found the cause of all the scratching they had been hearing echoing through the vehicle bay off and on all morning. "Say, Cap. You're not gonna believe this." "I'm not gonna believe what?" Hank hollered from inside his office. "Did you set those d*mn*d mouse traps like I asked you to, yet? I don't want those nasty germ ridden vermin to get anywhere near those pups of Roy's. Got it?" "I'm afraid you're going to have to come out here and see the cause of all the noise for yourself, Cap." There was a hasty rustle of paper and a firm bang from a hastily hung up phone receiver before Hank finally joined Kelly and the rest of the gang by the back garage door, now auto-retracted open. Cap skidded to a halt half way across the open floor where the squad usually parked. "How'd they get here? I- I.. I thought Bonnie was with her real owner and Boot was still holed up at 110's." Henry woofed a sudden greeting as he trucked out the kitchen door to greet the two "old" newcomers to what was now his fire station. Boot and Bonnie gleefully began to chase him, recognizing his current king-ship with an all out play feint, darting around and around the gang's legs, and wildly dashing in and out under the Ward fire engine. |
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"Hey, knock it off all you hairy, four-legged twits. You'll wake the puppies!" Hank roared. All three dogs screeched to a halt, and regarded Cap's face with surprise. Then their mouths fell into happy grins and they made an immediate beeline for the bunkroom, with Henry leading the way, to where the basket of dalmation puppies was being kept inside Henry's doghouse. "Oh no, no.. no.. no.. no!" hollered Cap in a vain attempt to stop them. "Cap, let em go. They're all fire dogs. They know better than to wake sleeping babies, don't they?" Marco asked. Hank ran a hand through his hair in irritation. "Let's just hope you're right, Lopez. Last thing I need is a pack of overexcited puppies running around the station, piddling all over the place." "Yeah, aren't we glad we've got just the concrete and tile flooring." Chet quipped. Hank nailed him with a glare. "For that you've got puppy bottle feeding and their latrine detail until the pound gets here to take them away for Adoption Day on Friday." he fumed. "Hey, take it easy. I'll do it. I'll do it. Geesh what is there about today to get all worked up about? It's not like we've had any engine calls yet to go on this morning." Kelly groused. "You want to know why I'm all worked up? I'll tell you why I'm all worked up. Your ever loving crewmates just agreed to Wish host a little girl at the station for a week so she can learn enough to write a final semester report for her fifth grade class about firemen lifesavers. That's why.." Stoker, Marco and Kelly all went thoughtful. Then... "Cool." said Stoker. "She'll be someone nice for all the dogs to play with. And the puppies, too." said Marco. "Right on, man. She's more than welcome here. I'll hang the privacy curtains myself." declared Chet. "When's she coming?" "She's on her way right now." Cap said, all of the hot air leaking out of his sails in the face of his men's open and honest enthusiasm for the added complication to their day to day routine. Then he sneezed. Hard. "OhHHhh. Not again." he grimaced, snatching a hand up to his face quickly to catch a trickle from an active bloody nose. Mike whipped out a handerchief and handed it to Hank. "Did you forget to use the Vaseline Roy and Johnny left out for you last night to coat your sinuses from all the dry winter air, Cap?" "Yes. I had a ton of paper work to do last night and this morning." Hank grumbled. He coughed wetly when blood finally worked its way back and into his throat. "I don't have time for this.." he sputtered. |
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The guys led him over to the radio receiving alcove and over to the garbage can resting there under the writing shelf. "Spit it out. I'll go get some ice." said Kelly. "Then sit down on the bench. Stoker went to grab more dressings so we can pack you off on that side before you drip out onto your uniform." Kelly ran off and disappeared into the kitchen. The engineer began digging through the engine compartments for their road side first aid kit. Cap sighed, watching him, and then he sat dutifully. He began leaning forward to clear out his mouth into the garbage can they had given him. |
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He was still sitting there when the front doors opened to admit the squad, Roy, Johnny and a tiny new passenger sitting in between them. "She's here already. Ah, isn't she a little darling." said Marco, rising from where he had been crouching next to Cap. "Well, hello there little miss. Welcome to Station 51. What's your name? Como te llama?" he asked. |
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*************************************************** From: "Patti" <pattik1@hotmail.com> Date: Thu Dec 21, 2006 11:09 am Subject: The Angelic Act.. The girl before Marco was pale, but she smiled like the sun only an instant after he did. "Am I really here?" she asked excitedly, brushing long wavy curls out of her tom boy like face. Her eyes were brown and she seemed to be of half Italian descent. Johnny Gage, seated next to her, took off his helmet and hung it on the hook behind him in the cab. "Yep. You sure are. And your mother's right behind us. She went to go park your station wagon in the back." said Johnny, getting out of his side of the squad. The petite girl frowned briefly and made a small face of disappointment. Roy clarified matters. "Don't worry. Your ma'll only be here for a little while to sign some permission papers. Then it'll be just seven of us, for a week, like we promised." He wiggled fingers to get the girl's attention in order to help her climb across the middle seat into his arms for a lift down. "And this handsome gentleman fireman addressing you.. is Mr. Marco Lopez." "Hola, Marco. I'm afraid my spanish isn't so good yet. But I keep trying." she said, accepting Marco's greeting handshake. Lopez chuckled. "That's all right. I can give you a few handy pointers over tacos. You like those? That's what's for lunch in about fifteen minutes." he offered. |
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"Thanks, Marco. I like tacos. I'm Felicia. I'm sorry I can't tell you my last name. Mom says only the captain gets to know that. And any doctors, if I gotta go see some for another tune up while I'm here. Thank you everybody for granting my Wish. Don't worry. I'm an A student. I promise I'll write a really, really good report and I won't say anything bad. I can't if I want to get to the sixth grade. I'll let you read it before I hand it in to my teacher, Mrs. Mulligan." "Sounds like you have everything squared away except for putting down the actual words, Felicia." said Marco. "I've been thinking about what to say for a long time, but I know I need a little more time seeing how everybody here works at their job to get everything exactly right." said the little girl, touching the side flasher on the squad's door with undisguised curiosity. A new voice piped up. "You've come to the right place. We're the busiest fire station around these parts." Mike Stoker slammed shut an engine door loudly and that was when the three of them noticed that he had a portable first aid kit in his hands. Johnny looked up, casting a glance around for the reason why. A few seconds later, they noticed a forlorn Cap parked on the wooden bench next to the soda machine by the large wall map near the office. "What happened to him?" Gage asked Marco, when he spotted the blood soaked cloth in Hank's hand as it sat over his nose. Roy's eyebrows went up, too. "Did he lose a tug of war rope game with Henry or something?" "Nah. He forgot to apply his schnoz lube last night." Stoker shrugged. "Things aren't too annoying yet. Chet's getting some ice for him to put on his forehead." Felicia's mouth fell into an "O" of concern and she padded quickly across the garage space to get to him. "Oh, I'm sorry." she said to Cap. "I get nose bleeds, too, on my bad days. Here, I know just how to handle them. Want me to help you with it?" she asked Hank. "I know just how to get them to stop. Fast." Cap's eyebrows furrowed into brief puzzlement before amusement began to surface. "Be my guest." he told their young charge as he kicked the bloody garbage can under the bench where she couldn't get too near it. Felicia reached into her jeans pocket and pulled out a plastic sandwich bag which she put on like a glove to wear. Then she dug that thumb against the side of Cap's nose until it closed off just his one bleeding nostril. Then she used her free hand to hold and grip the back of his neck gently. "I'm going to squeeze a bit back here, ok?" she said, digging her fingers deeper into his thick curly hair. "Sure..Anything you say." Hank told her, trying not to laugh out loud. He even leaned forward further so she could reach the back of his head even easier. Hank held still when she began to lightly massage the area where his skull met his neck bones. "Ughhff. Ow?" he said when he began to feel a tingling pressure under his skin and the tightening of muscles he didn't even know he had somewhere deep inside his forehead. "That means it's working." Felicia told him. "Only a little bit more." she told him quietly. "My bleeds quit right away when I do this." |
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Roy and Johnny gathered around, pursing their mouths shut in growing amusement where they stood watching the whole affair as they both leaned against the side of the squad. "Here you go, Cap." said a returned Chet a few seconds later, handing off the ice bag. He only hesitated briefly at the sight of the girl who was apparently effectively treating Cap. Hank took the bag from Kelly but he didn't use it. He let it stay dangling between his knees. Felicia let go when Cap began to clench his eyes shut against the tingling. "Ok. It's stopped." she told him, letting him go. Cap instinctively brought the handkerchief up to his face again but the strong trickling didn't return. He breathed in experimentally. "There's not even a clot inside." he told the paramedics. "Thanks miss. Wow, I feel like a new man." he said, standing back up onto his feet. Roy and Johnny's eyes grew wide and they both briefly examined the truth of what Cap reported with their probing penlights. "Really? The bleeding's over?" Gage asked. "Yep. Incredible. Usually these last a half an hour or more for me. How did you do that?" Cap asked the little girl. "I just want people to get better. And then they just do." she shrugged. Stoker smiled. "Sounds like Dixie at the hospital's been a big influence on you." "Oh, she has. But this is something I've always been able to do." said Felicia. "Then I'm very glad you got here. We wouldn't have had any fun at all if I couldn't eat lunch because of my nose." Hank said, tweeking hers. He peeled the blood smeared bag off Felicia's hand and tossed it away into the waste can along with the unused ice bag. Then he shoved the whole mess into Chet's stomach. "Here, Kelly. Make yourself useful and go clean that up for me. I've got an introduction to make. Come on, miss. Let's go find a sink to wash off a bit first. Then let's go meet your mom for that necessary meeting before we chase her away for good. Are you ready for a lot of company besides us? There are nine fire dogs hiding someplace around the station. And six of them... are puppies." he told her. "Puppies? I like puppies almost as much as I love horses." Felicia crowed. Gage cleared his throat. "Yeah, well, we'll get your horse fix in sometime this week, too. And that shopping spree on our off days. I've got a ranch and four mustangs just waiting around, bored, at home." said Johnny. Felicia giggled and nodded eagerly at the suggestion. Then she followed Cap politely into the locker room. A woman who could only be the girl's mother came out of the kitchen where Marco had fetched her at a ring of the doorbell. "You think she'd have chosen Disneyland or Universal Studios for her final fling at the world." said the woman bravely. "But no, she wanted to stay in a firehouse and shadow some paramedics whom she considers her heroes." |
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"Hello, ma'am." DeSoto and Gage greeted her. "We'll take good care of her. Dixie McCall's taking this time off to be able to stop by each day every few hours to make sure Felicia's vitals stay normal and that all of her medications are taken properly. Does your daughter have any dietary restrictions or other situations we should know about that might effect her ability to get up with us at all hours of the night when we get called out?" "None that really matter at this point. She has no real physical restrictions, either. Her body tells her when to slow down. The first thing she'll do when that happens is that she'll ask permission to quit whatever's she's doing long enough to go take a nap somewhere in the sun or under a warm blanket. I'm just worried that she'll effect how you'll be able to carry out your normal jobs." said the sad, dimly haunted woman. "We've got that covered." said Gage. "You see, we have a fireman who's not actually one who drives a truck that's just like ours. His name's Charlie and he's one of our fire department's mechanics. He'll be chaparoning Felicia at all of our response scenes, including watching over her and he'll keep her from the things that she shouldn't be observing as situations warrant. If you'd like, we can have Dixie ride along with the two of them, too, if that'll make you feel more comfortable. We won't be placing her in any danger. Not even in the slightest. For a fact, Dixie's the one who trained both of us when we first started out in the paramedic program five years ago." Felicia's mother shook her head. "I trust you. Please do whatever you feel's best. For some background, Felicia's father was a....fire chaplain." she breathed deeply. "But he was killed in a freak car accident when Felicia was five. She was in the car with him. That's probably where she got the idea to want to go see the places where he lived his working life when he wasn't off duty and at home with us. Then.. when my daughter got sick a year later, I.... didn't know what to do to help her with that. Not until Dixie came to me last week and told us about the Foundation. Then everything just got miraculously clearer and clearer. And now we're here. I want to thank you for taking her in." said Felicia's mother seriously, but then unbidden tears filled her eyes. She brushed them impatiently away. "We're glad you came." said Johnny, taking her hand. Roy smiled. "Did you know your daughter's real good with first aid?" The mother's eyes remained clouded. "Umm, she was in the girl scouts once." "Well, she helped out Cap a couple of minutes ago with an intriguing new way to handle a nose bleed. Johnny and I were actually struck speechless and I'll have to admit we were completely dumb founded with the results she ended up with." The mother dropped her head. "Oh, her "healing." She been doing that since she was a baby. It doesn't matter if it's.... a skinned knee or a headache. When Felicia's around, everybody's pain and suffering seems to...just disappear. You know what I mean?" "Yeah." said Johnny softly in awe. "We saw that." The mother looked up with shining eyes when she saw Cap returning from the bathroom with her daughter. "Some days, I think it's so entirely not fair that she'll never grow up to become a nurse or even a doctor. No, it seems like Felicia's one angel that G*d wants back to His side far, far earlier than most." With a sharp honk, Charlie the mechanic's horn jarred them as it sounded from the rear. Marco jogged over there, after showing Felicia the way to the kitchen as Cap went into the office with Felicia's mother, and popped open the doors for him. "Howdy, boys. Is she here yet? Boy am I ready for a day out on the town with a beautiful young lady." Charlie said, polishing his fire department badge nervously. "Which way did she go?" |
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