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                         Attrition
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Page Three

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Stoker hefted up his scba gear and put it on. He patted Chet on the shoulder
for doing the same thing even though he was encumbered with a hose, as
he jogged by. "She's still breathing on her own." he shouted.

"Ok. Good to hear." said Chet and some of his creases on his forehead eased
out of active worry. "Thanks."

A few minutes later, Chet overheard a terrifying transmission from his
crewmate. "Rampart, we have two Code I and a female victim of a head on
frontal automobile accident. We've no paramedics at the scene except our
engine crew. We need a doctor a.s.a.p. for an entrapped critical, long term."

There was a pause, until Chet heard the statement that thoroughly chilled his
blood.

"...Rampart, the second and third victims ARE our paramedic crew." Stoker
swallowed.

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Marco looked up at a muffled poof just as Squad 24 and 99's Crown rolled up.
"Fire! Hey Cap! Fellas! We've got fire in the squad's engine block!" he yelled,
shooting out of 51's crumpled cab to snatch up the hose Stoker had left out
and ready for him. He could see the beginnings of flames licking up tentatively
around the hood. Their heat was already melting and curling up the windshield
wipers as he began sloshing a sharp spray of water up and down the squad's
front end.

Cap heard him and immediately dashed over, leaving Dixie warmly covered. He
waved at a firefighter climbing off 99's Tillerman's spot to go attend her.

He forced open Gage's side door with the pry bar and cast it aside. "Johnny, hey.
Listen to me. Is your back or neck hurting you?" Hank shouted, holding both hands
on either side of the Native American paramedic's face to get his attention. "You're
going to have to be moved fast because we're on fire."

"Huh?? Whaa..?" Johnny said groggily. "Us? Didn't...didn't know we were in a fire.."

"No, the squad. You crashed. It's starting to burn, John. We're getting you out."

"A crash?!" Gage startled. " Uh,.. *ow* I'm...I'm not hurting anywhere important.."
he moaned. "Go ahead and pick me---"

Cap wasted no time laying one of Johnny's arms over his shoulders in order
to get him onto his feet. They began to get out of the squad. "Brice!" Stanley
yelled. "Get DeSoto out! We're showing smoke! Kelly, protect the white car
with everything you've got but move back from us!"

Craig Brice, just pulling on his work gloves, hastened to comply.

A couple of 99's men got on Marco's hose to help him, and two others,
but 51's hood wouldn't open at their jimmying. "Here.." said Lopez, passing off
his nozzle stream to a pair of them. "I've got our jaws over there. I can pop it
open in two seconds. She's already running hot."

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Paramedic Firefighter Craig Brice slid in behind Roy, sliding a supporting
arm over his chest to hold him still. "DeSoto. Can you hear me?"

"Uh..." Roy groaned, flopping his head back limply against the other paramedic.
It was clear he didn't recognize Craig in the slightest.

Brice pinched him hard on the flesh underneath his upper arm.

"Oww!"

"I know that hurt. Answer me! Did you hurt yourself past this one wrapped
leg I'm seeing?"

Roy startled as awareness returned, along with a complete memory..
"The other car. Somebody's hurt! Johnny and I hit-- I've got to get over
there.." he gasped.

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Brice didn't mince words. "Fine. You're ready to leave. Come with me now
before we fry." he said, helping Roy get out of the squad as carefully and quickly
as he could. DeSoto moved, slinging an arm over Craig's shoulder. He began
limping immediately and soon, another firefighter ran over to help the two of them
make their escape.

They got away painfully slow. Only Cap and Johnny were slower.

BoooOOOOMmmmm!

Squad 51 annihilated herself in an exploding fireball as a burning fuel line
finally reached the gasoline tank.

The force of the explosion caught the backs of Hank and Johnny and they
were cast to the ground.

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"Cap, are you guys all right?!" Marco shouted, fighting back the spreading
fire fiercely while the other pumper got ready to join him.

"Yeah, I'm ok.. I think Gage is, too." he reassured Lopez.
Cap, protected by his helmet, rolled to his feet, but Johnny was lying face
down and turning purple. He was not moving even though he was still awake.

Cap rolled him over in a spine safe line. "Easy, pal.. Got the wind knocked out
of ya? It's all right. Just try to relax and it'll pass in a minute or so." he said,
looking up to make sure Brice and DeSoto hadn't come to any more harm.

They were unscathed. Cap could see that Brice had already transferred
DeSoto off to another man while he headed for the white car, loaded with
his gear and some of Squad 51's.

Hank looked down and starting smiling encouragingly as Johnny struggled
to breathe again. Hank took the hands that were lying on top of Gage's stomach
into his own. "Can you do it yet? Are the spasms easing up?" he said, beginning
to massage the constricted muscles around Johnny's waist.

Gage just squirmed on the ground and kept choking silently.

Stanley looked up. "Somebody get an ambu over here on the fly. My man
needs some help on one until he recovers from a kick to the diaphragm."
he said, tipping Johnny's head back to get him more comfortable. "Easy.
Easy.. We'll do it for you. Quit fighting for a sec until we get you going on
o2. Here it comes. Johnny, did you hear me?" he said as Chet and Brice's
paramedic partner came rushing in to assist.

It took all three of them to hold the mask over Johnny's darkening face
as he struggled in a panic until Cap held down his arms.

"Was he obstructed?" the paramedic asked.

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"No.. no. Just winded." Hank grinned. "He's just scared. He should
settle down once his lungs get some air. He's got other problems from
the crash but nothing at all here breathing wise except this."

Finally, they got the bag working and Johnny's chest rose. Immediately,
Gage calmed and went limp as dizziness from the squeeze valve's shot of
pure O2 began coursing through him. He closed his eyes in relief and just
let it happen as several more came and went.

Hank continued to massage the cramps rippling Gage's stomach into a tight
ball until...Johnny began breathing again in deep, hungry gasps. "There.."
Cap said, letting him go.  "See? It's over. Just like I told you it would." he said
watching the others switch out the bag for a positive pressure valve on
demand only. "Now stay down and let Marve here check you out. Roy's fine,
too. He's doing a little better than you, in fact. He's just asked about getting
over to the other car. And don't worry about her. She's still alive."

Johnny nodded weakily on the ground and tried to get his eyes to focus on
the faces ringing round him. "Who's...who's fault w--?" he broke off from
shortness of breath.

"Nobody's.." said Cap empathetically. "There are droplets of brake fluid all
over the street. It starts in a line trailing twenty feet away from the impact point.
That car had no brakes to stand on when it ran that red light."

"What's her ...what's her condition?" Gage said, pushing the oxygen mask
away briefly. He could feel himself growing stronger already.

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Only now did Cap's light expression begin to falter. Kelly's completely caved in
and that tipped Johnny off. "Who is she? Do we know her?" Gage asked,
getting angry even as he caught the same question in Roy's eyes where he sat
on the curb nearby next to a firefighter who was watching him.

DeSoto was fiddling absently with the cannula resting over his ears while his
cut forehead was getting wrapped up in dressings.

Hank hung his head. "Yes..uh..yeah, we do, pal." he said honestly. "I'm afraid it's
...it's Miss McCall from the hospital."

Johnny lay stunned, struck speechless even as Roy was. Only there was a difference.
DeSoto was mumbling a single sentence over and over again. "I saw her, Johnny.
I saw her.. And I couldn't get out of the way..." he sobbed.  Beginning to shiver,
Roy let the fireman who was monitoring him lay him down before he passed out in
shock. Blankets were tossed open, spread and used amply, but Johnny and Roy
no longer were aware of them even though their eyes continued to blink and their
sources of oxygen continued to flow.

A minute later, Johnny struggled to his feet.

Hank stopped Chet from restraining him. "Let him go. Let him go, pal. We
can't force anything on him that he doesn't want." He said, pointing to 24's
medic, who wasn't doing anything to stop Johnny's movements either. Then
Stanley took the still unsteady Gage softly aside under his arm as he
re-covered his shoulders with the fallen blanket. "What do you want to do until
the ambulance gets here? You can do anything you want except go over there."

"The engine, Cap. I want to sit in the engine. Everybody's looking at me."
Johnny said quietly, still thinking about Dixie.

"Okay. That's all right by us." Stanley accomodated. "We'll get you back on
some O2 while you're sitting up in one of the seats." he said, making eye contact
with the other paramedic, who was nodding his head in agreement. "And then
both of you are going to submit to a complete examination, some vitals signs
and maybe an EKG reading or two, okay, pal?"

"Is Roy coming with me?" Johnny asked, his eyes staring blearily.

"No, I think he's decided to stay right where he is for the moment." said Cap,
seeing that Roy's eyes were closed where he lay on the grass in a vain attempt
to forget the whole experience. "So getting going if you're going. I'll help you
over there and then I'll have Chet here stay behind to keep an eye on you while
you're getting checked out and treated."

"Like I have any choice.." said Johnny meekly. "The chief's here." he said, pointing
at the Battalion car that was just pulling up.  "And I know HE'LL just back you up on
anything you decide about me to the max."

Hank smiled in amusement. "Remember, those were your words.."

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Stanley hurried on by DeSoto, where he lay on a cot getting loaded up
by ambulance attendants and Brice's partner. He knelt by Craig, who
was working feverishly over Dixie's still form. "How is she?"

"She'll do a lot better once we get her out of here. We have a lot
of cutting to do before we free up her legs." said Brice.

"I'm still working on that. Urban rescue is still a half minute away. Don't
worry about catching fire. 99's laid down foam. Anything else
I can do for you? Your partner's about ready to take off with my two men
for the hospital."

Craig immediately began a flow of oxygen through a non rebreather mask
at the news of their passed fire danger. He deftly placed it over Dixie's face.
"Yeah, know how to string up intravenous lines?" Brice asked him.

"I learned from the best.." he said about Roy and Johnny. "Gimme."
he said, reaching for the boxed catheter set up and saline bag Craig
had set out next to Dixie's head. "Stoker's already told Rampart the
prelim report. All they need now..."

"... are the nitty gritty details." Brice finished for him. "Which they've
just received about Miss McCall." he told Cap. Then his face became
haunted. "They aren't too happy about who it is.."

"You told them?" Hank gaped.

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"Yes, I did. It was the fastest way to get a hold of Dixie's medical chart,
which her surgeon is doubtlessly going to need to see once we've
successfully extricated her." Craig said simply.

"Fair enough. Who's flying out here to attend vigil?" Hank asked.

"Dr. Brackett."

Stanley sighed in relief. If Dixie had any chance of surviving her lung
trouble, Kel was the one to pull her through it. "Ok, I'll send a man out to
go meet him. Where's he landing?"

"I arranged for that used car lot a hundred feet to the north, Captain. See
that orange, round Spirit of 76 rotating sign over there?" Brice asked
without looking away from the ET tube he was attempting to thread down
Dixie's windpipe. It wasn't going well.

"Got it. Need anything else?" said Cap distractedly. He didn't even notice
when Craig gave up on establishing an advanced airway.

"Yes.. a full CPR standby crew. We stand a good chance of needing them
if she's not out of here in an hour." Brice said, switching McCall back to an
oropharyngeal and an active demand valve with which to boost her
suddenly very weak breathing attempts."I'll need one of them in here right
now to take over ventilating her. Her left lung's starting to collapse."

Hank frowned, casting his eyes to the active EKG monitor that was fluctuating
an erratic heartbeat of 140. "She's fading that fast?"

"Not if I can help it." said Brice empathetically as he tore away the occlusive
dressing Cap and Stoker had taped into place.

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"I want options and I want them now, gentlemen." said Kel, slamming his hand
down on his desk inside his doctor's office. "I fly out in five minutes."

Joe Early and Mike Morton refused to be intimidated. They wanted to get some
results in favor of Dixie's continued well being almost as badly as Dr. Brackett did.

Joe picked up the phone and made a fast phone call.

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Dr. Alonzo "Gonzo" Gates kissed his current girlfriend and her kids
goodbye as he stumbled, pajamas and all, into his clothing at the
foot of the stairs.

The statuesque model spoke up as she opened the front door.
"Must you go in this late?"

"Honey.. Dixie McCall's a good friend of mine and any favor Kel
Brackett says I might be able to swing for her is almost too little
to ask. I owe that man my very career." Gonzo said empathetically.

"Ok, go. Then hurry back." she said, kissing him passionately.
"Shall I let Trapper know where you're going?"

"He already knows. He's the second doctor Kel's team is calling in."
said Gates. He got into his car and lifted up the car phone
wired there. "Operator, please connect me up to Doctor
Trapper John McIntyre of Mercy General, right away. This is a
matter of life and death."

Seconds later, Gonzo Gates was speeding up the freeway towards
Rampart Hospital and the surgical wards there.

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It wasn't ten minutes later when Joe Early and Mike Morton got
their counterparts from across town fully updated on Dixie's
deteriorating condition. "Fellas, glad you came. Kel's already at
the crash scene." said Dr. Early. "Here's the absolute latest medical
data I have and this is coming directly from them. Would you mind
stepping into the Base Station? You can talk to Kel directly in there
via radio while you're reading all our notes."

"Right this way, gentlemen." said Mike Morton, indicating the way
to walk with a cast out hand. "The fire department says she's almost
free of the wreckage."

"How's she pinned in, doctor?" asked Trapper John, M.D. as he rubbed
his bald pate and salt and pepper beard thoughtfully.

"By both legs, below the knees."

"Are there any other complications going on right now?" asked Gonzo
Gates, the curly haired, brown eyed young doctor.

"Yes." replied Joe. "A very big one. She's developing a severe tension
pneumothorax on the left side."

"Oh, that's not good." said the mild mannered soft spoken doctor who could
have been Joe Early's twin in temperment. John leaned into the live EKG
monitor displaying her circulatory vital signs. "Is she intubated?"

"Nope. They couldn't establish one." said Morton. "Brice says he's
seeing too much swelling from soft tissue neck bruising to get one in."

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"Is she ventilating ok otherwise?"

"Yeah, they're using an OPA and a demand valve. But she's still sitting
at 86% PaO2 according to pulse oximetry even with a clearly patent airway."

Trapper frowned. "That's going to cause problems. Positive pressure's not
the answer in the long run, it'll only worsen her perfusion over time due
to inadvertant barotrauma or gastric distension."

"I'll tell Kel to switch it out for a bag valve mask." said Morton, thumbing down
the base station's talk button. "Rampart to Squad 24. Do you read me?"

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The noise of the working sawzalls and K-12s were deafening as Marco,
Stoker and Cap set to work splitting what was left of the car open
above Dr. Brackett and Brice to get to the seat struts that were
still trapping the nurse to the floor.

"Squad 24, go ahead." replied Craig swiftly, plugging his uncovered
ear.

##Our consultants recommend switching out to a gentler delivery on ambu.##
suggested Morton.

Kel was overjoyed to hear his colleagues were at the hospital and beginning
to prepare for Dixie's surgery. "I concur wholeheartedly, Brice." he said. "I was
just about to have you change her over to something different. Get it done
while I get this ready." he said, drawing out a long needle for Dixie's emergency
pleural decompression. "What's her latest pressure?"

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"She's....80 systolic with both I.V.s wide open." Brice rechecked by palpation.

"Are you absolutely sure she's got a tension pneumothorax working?" Kel
asked again as he swabbed down her second intercostal space anteriorly
on the same side as the torn hole they had found over her ribs.

"Most definitely. Yes, she does. She's quit all attempts at breathing on her own.
She hyperresonant to percussion, and now there's this unilateral absence
of breath sounds where there used to be distinctly audible rales on the right."
said Craig. "And only now have I seen these signs of tracheal deviation."

"All right. That's the classic triad. Call someone in here to hold her still
for us. I'm going in." ordered Dr. Brackett.

Craig got on his radio and Marco Lopez was the first one to answer him.
He was soon there, protecting Dixie from adverse movement, while Kel
advanced the thoracic needle down to its open hub. A sharp hiss of escaping
air gushed out and then lessened bit by bit as the increased pressure inside
Dixie's chest released out the needle. Kel kept it in for a few seconds more
before he withdrew it.

Then he nodded at Craig to start ventilating her again.
"See if you can splint her internally with the demand valve. I want to see if
her lungs have reinflated ok." Brackett said. Brice hastened to take over for
the fireman working the bag at her head while the doctor listened carefully
at several places over Dixie's skin with his stethoscope.
He looked up after a few delivered breaths and finally, he smiled. "Well,
that did it.  And I see absolutely no evidence here that she's flailed."

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Brice nodded his head. "I didn't see any paradoxical motion either."

"Most likely her tension pneumo was brought on by a blunt rupture of a lung
surface rather than by any lacerations inside from broken ribs." Kel looked
relieved and actively happy for Brice's benefit. "Good call on that. There was every
chance in H*ll that Dixie could have needed that chest tube. Only an x-ray or a
doctor could have decided which was her best course of treatment. Glad you
dragged me out here today. "

"We had to, doc. She's special." said Marco sheepishly.

"That she is. To me and just about everybody else I hear." he grinned. "Brice,  
run in more Normal Saline to counteract any internal chest bleeding I might have
set off. Administer another 250 cc fluid bolus and titrate her two I.V.s
accordingly until we get her to level off at a rock solid hemodynamic status level.
I don't think she needs a rapid sequence intubation. She's tolerating the oral
adjunct all by itself very well."

Brice called out a finding as he flipped a switch to get a new paper tracing
of Dixie's slowing and now normalizing heart rhythm. "She's back in NSR,
doctor. I'm seeing a regular rate of 90."

"Great news. I really didn't want to tangle with adenosine just to handle
her wide width PSVT while we're still stuck in here. The ceiling's too low
for cardiac compressions."

"Is she headed for surgery?" Marco asked, trading out the positive
pressure for the bag again when Brackett waved at him.

"Yes. Her left lung's only partially back to snuff." he said sealing off Dixie's
chest wound completely with a firmly taped moist dressing. "That chest
tube's gonna go in to finish evacuating out the remnants of this pneumothorax.
I can't use her existing wound because of the danger of contamination  
in the field. I have two very good surgeons standing by at the hospital
right now to handle its placement into a second site."

"Do I know them?" Brice asked.

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"Probably not. But they're both very easy to get to know. I know you'll like
them. I've been thinking about trying to get them to transfer into our territory
for months now. They do very good work." Kel said of the emergency department.
"They go by the names of Alonzo "Gonzo" Gates and Trapper John McIntyre."

"I'll remember them." said Brice thoughtfully. Right then, there were shouts of
triumph. Dixie had been sawed completely free and soon all the rescue
machinery fell into blissful silence.

"Never doubted that for a second." Kel quipped. Letting go of his doctor mode,
Brackett took a few moments to caress Dixie's hair tenderly and he leaned down
to whisper encouragement into her ear. "You're ok now, love. Wake up just as
soon as you can, all right? There's nothing else to be afraid of. We're all here
together with you, and I'd be lying if I didn't say this : We're missing out on not
seeing both your beautiful blue, Irish eyes smiling up at us. Roy and Johnny
are a-o-kay, too, and waiting for you to show up at the hospital."

Dixie offered up her first sigh of recovery through her deep unconsciousness, in
response to his familiar touch, as she began to fight the bag.

"That a girl. Keep it up." grinned Brackett tearfully. Then he looked up fearlessly.
"Ok, guys. Let's get the show on the road. We'll take her out by K.E.D., rapid
extrication. Then let's stretcher her out to the chopper."

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Click the EKG tracing for a music soundtrack change.

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Marco Lopez drove Squad 24 the fastest three miles of his life behind Roy
and Johnny's ambulance in order to get to Rampart. He burned just as bad
as the others to be there in the waiting room with the rest of the crew for
word of Dixie's final outcome following emergency surgery.

Kel Brackett wasn't one of them, to pace the floor with fretting and superficial
chatter. He had bullnosed right into the operating room, to oversee every
step of the procedure.

Hank Stanley pushed away the coffee he hadn't touched. "I sure hope she's
gonna be all right. Geez.." he said. "She was still breathing when I left her
with that firefighter." he said, punching the wall absently in worry with a fist.
"Just what the h*ll happened?"  he asked, pushing up the sleeves on his
turnout jacket.

Johnny Gage looked up from the ice bag he was applying to his head.
"Needle decompression, from what Brice told me. Now receiving that kind
of radical treatment's bound to tire her out a little. She'll be fine. Her x-rays all
came back negative across the board. No fractures, no spinal separations,
only cuts, bruises..." he began, retying his hospital robe on more tightly
around himself.

"Along with that huge hole we found in her chest." Hank countered.

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Roy piped up from the wheelchair he was sitting in so he wouldn't have to
walk on his recently stitched up leg. He, too, was wearing a hospital gown,
a condition of his required overnight stay as authorized by the battalion chief.
"She was poked by something sharp. Her ribs weren't broken, Cap. She should
recover fairly quickly. There was no sign of internal injuries cropping up in the
pre-op room."

"That remains to be seen post operatively." said Trapper John ominously.
"One can never tell at this stage of the game. Gonzo and I were just in
there and she was still intubated and being respiratory supported."

Gonzo slapped Trapper's arm to shush him. "Trap, don't go scaring them
unnecessarily. Guys, her pressure's up and remains good. Don't listen to
an old geezer like him." he said jerking a thumb at his colleague. "Sometimes,
he doesn't even know what he's talking about."

"Hey," protested Joe Early. "Watch whom you're calling old." Early glared in
a tease. "He's younger than I am."

The whole room of firefighters burst out laughing.

"Ah, maybe I'm not old on the calendar by your books. But to me, I'm sore
all over. Observing Dixie's two hour exploratory procedure's got me creaking
in every joint." Trapper said, reaching under his white doctor's coat to stretch
out one of them.

Gonzo Gates jumped to his feet. "I can fix that. After all, Nurse Brancusi says
massage therapy's my current specialty."

"Oh, ho!" Trapper celebrated. " I knew you two love birds were hitting it off
on the sly. Nurse Ernestine Schoop said as much."

"We are not." Gates protested.

"You are, too." said Trapper, right back. "How else would anyone who's not a patient
of yours know about your extraordinary skills as a hands on PT?"

Gonzo glared at him. "Ok, shut up right now. And lie down so I can work your kinks out."
he said, pointing to Brackett's office desk.

"Anything you say, 'doctor.' " teased Trap of Gonzo's liaison with a nurse who was
far older than he was, as he peeled off his surgeon's scrubs top to lay down
on his stomach. "Far be it from me to tell you how to play doctor."

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Gates parked his butt on the side of the desk and he made sure his first loosening
exercises hurt a bit for good measure. "Doesn't that feel nice? We'll have you fixed
up in a jiffy. Now about spreading my love life all over the county..." he warned,
leaning low to one of Trapper's upturned ears.

"Love life? Did I mention anything about your long history of sordid romances here?"
McIntyre puzzled.

"You did." said everyone in the room.

"Oh, ok, so I did. Well, I stand.. er.. lay before you.. most humbly corrected." he apologized
to his co-colleague as Gonzo continued to lay in hard with his massage techniques.

Gonzo switched his hands for a pointy, sharply pressed elbow, working deftly. Right
along the spine. "Say you're sorry."

"Sorry for what?" McIntyre quipped. He immediately gulped it down when Gonzo
laid most of his weight down onto the elbow. "Owww..Ahhh! Ok. ok... I'm sorry. I'm
sorry..." he chuckled. "Are you satisfied?"

Gonzo squinted both eyes at him for long seconds as he stepped back away
from Trapper. "Has your back stopped hurting you yet?" he finally asked.

Trapper continued to laugh loudly in embarrassment as he rolled over. Then
he stopped laughing, turning his attention inward. "Wow, yeah. Pain's gone."

"There you go. Put your shirt back on. Congratulations. I cured you." said Gonzo
with a diffident, still hurt stare.

"You sure did." said Trapper instantly, still hoping to soothe his friend.

"Too bad I can't cure you of a serious case of gossiping lip." Gates whispered
under his breath as he sipped some Folders.

"Wha? Huh?" said Trapper, still fighting to get his head through his scrubs uniform's
neck opening. "Did you say something to me, Gonz?"

"Nothing. Go sit and enjoy your coffee like the rest of us are doing. We
should be hearing word about Dixie's recovery any moment now. It's nine o'clock
p.m." Gonzo told him, looking carefully at his watch.

"Already?" asked Johnny in surprise. "Boy, was that a fast four hours."

"It helps that you were sleeping for most of it." said DeSoto, not looking up
from his magazine. He scratched an itch under his head bandage.

"Look who's talking Mr. Nap Man. Who needed smelling salts to come around
in the ER this afternoon?" Johnny snapped at him.

"Gentlemen,..the phone's ringing.." said Chet, pointing to the red one on
the wall. He stood up and answered it briefly before he cupped the receiver
into a palm. For some reason, he was keeping a very straight face. Then
he came out with it. "Sounds like it's Dixie, calling from her room already?"

Every male in the room fell over themselves and each other trying to reach
the phone. In the end, it was Joe Early, who held the phone receiver. "How
are you doing, hon? Back from recovery so soon? Uh..huh. Uh..huh. If those
pain meds aren't working for you well enough, I've got five doctors in mind
who'll order you more.. Ok.. uh..See you soon. Bye bye."

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Early hung up the phone with a bang. "She wants to see us. Uh, that's in between
all the puke pans. The anesthesia's doing a number on her.."

"She wants us to visit her right now?" asked Gage eagerly, hardly believing his
ears.

"Yep." said Joe.

Everyone stampeded, rushed or hand wheeled their wheelchairs
out the door and to the elevators in seconds.

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Kel Brackett's office door closed soundly behind them.

Joe Early remained leaning where he was against the wall, smiling hugely.
"That's fine. Somebody'll remember to come back in here soon to ask
me exactly what room number and floor she's on. Nobody on the staff knows
that yet except me. I think I'll wait around right here for a couple of minutes until
somebody finally pokes their head back in. Then I'll show them the way." he
celebrated.

Joe Early got busy pouring himself another suddenly very tasty cup of java.
"Here's to you, Dixie." he toasted to the air. "Welcome back."


FIN

Episode Forty One,  Attrition
Emergency Theater Live

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We hope you've enjoyed
Attrition
as much as we've enjoyed producing it for you. Please click the banner below to view this  forty first episode's End Credits. :)
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Click Kel Brackett to go to Page Four
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                        Attrition
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