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we're in danger. We all have to leave now. Including you." he told the face bloodied girl.
"Ok..ok..*choke*..
I..." she gagged. "Fumes!" she coughed. "Can't..br--"
Dwyer gave her his mask. "Take your breaths
from this. Easy hon... No, you keep it. We'll share our air as we go!" he said, indicating himself
and Kelly. Holding his breath after speaking, he took Chet's mask when it was instantly handed
to him and used it aggressively to clear his head.
Seconds later, Chet and Gil dragged the girl
out of the car as carefully as they could. Then they started running with her in a two man arm carry.
Other firemen met them, including Cap, who shoved the trucking papers back at the driver
without reading them. The others holding the water curtain shifted one side of its arch until it
rained liberally over 51's planned escape route.
Hank started yelling. "Get those water cannons
to unmanned settings right now. Then pull yourselves back! Everybody hear me? Everyone get back
now!" he told them.
The acid fumes fighting firemen in the hot zone got out in seconds.
Panting,
but safely on the far side of the bridge, Vince took custody of the uninjured driver. "What's your
cargo?..Come on and tell me. Those men are risking their lives down there and I'm sure you don't
wanna get anyone killed by whatever it is you're carrying."
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"Uh,, I don't know, mister. I was just filling in for the r-regular guy." said the balding man with
a fake smile and stutter.
"That's a hefty fine. I hope your memory starts improving real fast.."
said Howard, visually making sure the rescue teams were retreating on the heels of Hank's abandon
everything command.
"I'm tryin' to remember.. I'm tryin' real hard. But I must in be shock or
something. Yeah, that's it.." he lied, taking a seat on the concrete guard railing near the sidewalk.
Vince scowled. Severely. He could see that the truck driver didn't have a single solitary scratch
on him. "I'm giving you one more chance to get honest with me. What's your cargo?"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cap was leaning over, his own mask tightly over his face after he had made sure the last of his
team was up the embankment. "How bad and what kind of an exposure did our victims get?" he asked
Gage while all of them rested.
"Just some HCL vapors on two of them. No direct contact." panted
Johnny, sucking hard off the air supply flowing into his scba mask. He glanced at his hands for
signs of burns after pulling off and abandoning his gloves. "The rest of us .....seem to be fine."
he gasped tiredly, pulling a new pair of work gloves out of his jacket's pocket.
"All right.
Load her into another flotation stokes and then we'll carry her ov-- Wait a minute.." Hank said frowning,
looking over the edge of the bridge's cement railing. "There's a new puddle forming under the second
truck." he told them. "Whatever it is, it's a clear liquid." Frowning, he pulled a penny out of
his pocket and gave it a hefty toss down to the accident site. It bounced a couple of times before
landing neatly into the new pool of slowly spreading, non-fogging, chemical.
|


A ring of turquoise immediate formed around it and bubbles of brown rose into the air as the coin
boiled and began dissolving. Hank's eyes widened and he lifted the walkie talkie, getting it to his
mouth as fast as possible. "Engine 51 to Battalion One. There's aqua fortis in truck two. I repeat.
Fuming nitric!"
##I read you, Engine 51. Get everybody clear immediately...##
Hank began
running. "Go.. go!.. Guys, get the vehicles off the bridge now! Dwyer, Chet ! Put her on top of the
engine. The second truck's gonna blow up bigger than we thought in a minute or less!"
Gil,
Johnny, Vince and the others scattered like chickens, picking either Squad 51 or the Ward engine in
which to make their escape.
Down below, the hose support crews were already gone, having left
behind the automatic water cannons.
Stoker was waiting for a fist's thump on top of the engine
cab that would tell him the girl was loaded safely on the engine's hose bed when he saw it. "Cap...
the second tanker's changing color. The top valve just blew open. See it?" he pointed quietly, hair
trigger tense.
"Yes, I do, Mike. Cr*p..Looks like it's gonna be sooner rather than--" he ansed.
He got on his HT. "Gil...tell me you guys are almost ready up there. I'm giving you five seconds tops
and no more!"
##Now, Cap, now! She's set! We're set. Go, Stoker!## said Dwyer as he and Marco
crouched over the woman's stokes in their masks to make sure the stretcher didn't shift as the Ward
lurched into motion. Sirens screaming, Engine 51 and Squad 51 took their hastily crammed in passengers
rapidly off and headed away from the overpass.
The engine's rear bumper was just clear of the
gap looking down over the truck accident site when a colossal explosion ripped the air, sending an
acrid white, brown and yellow cloud of ejected nitric acid, nitrogen dioxide and hydrogen gas
mushrooming into the air. It immediately coursed east along the wind's new directional path and away
from where fire companies were evacuating the first previously-thought-to-be jeopardized neighborhood.
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Captain Stanley radioed out the frightening new development. "Engine 51 to Battalion One. Explosive
decomposition! New cloud's drifting directly east. All initial rescue crews are clear of the hot
zone. I repeat all crews are safe, present and accounted for and off the immediate scene." Hank
reported. "My station's got three conscious victims inside of and on our vehicles. Our ETA to Triage
is in less than two."
##Hazmat's standing by for them, Hank. As soon as your station's showered
clean and declared available once more, get your men into the new neighborhood in full scba and
start your warnings. Evacuate all potential life threatened populations out of the area. That includes
all homes and businesses. Choppers are beginning the new announcements now from the air. Get
everybody clear at least a mile and a half upwind. First priority, there's a school on Maxwell Ave.
They're in session. Use your authority to use their buses and drivers as evacuation vehicles. It'll
be faster than waiting for custody and transportation vans from the P.D.##
"10-4, Battalion.
Get my personnel and my trucks decontaminated, and then get involved in a response to evacuate Maxwell
Elementary." Stanley repeated. "Copy that."
##Good luck, Hank. Be careful.##
"We will,
chief. Engine 51 out."
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**Warning. Medically graphic photos below.
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Station
51 had just pulled up on Maxwell Avenue with both of their sets of sirens wailing when a panic began
full blown on the school's playground. Young children began screaming in pain and running for the
school's open doors.
Just as suddenly, the brownish acid cloud lifted and spun away.
Seconds
later, one little girl fell where she was and didn't move.
"Vapors, Cap!" Gage yelled into his
radio.
##Get out there!## reacted Stanley, in high fear for those kids.
Frantic, Gage and
Dwyer shot out of the parked squad and they ran fast, motioning for the rest of the children escaping
the drifting acid cloud to keep going. "Close the doors completely shut after yourselves!" Johnny
warned, shouting loudly through his air mask so that he was heard.
Stoker, Kelly, Marco and Cap
split up into pairs to begin closing every open window and door they could find to slow the fumes'
penetration into the brick building.
Gil and Johnny ran to the little girl's side and rolled
her over, pulling the poncho that had covered her face up when she fell, away from her head.
He gasped suddenly, looking away.... "She's...."
Gil confirmed the finding. "...dead. I know."
he said, checking for the pulse that he knew was going to be absent from her neck. "Looks like acid
burns caught her in the face."
"And most likely in her lungs, too. Leave her. Let's go help save
the others.." said Johnny grimly. He rose after covering the tiny body up in the poncho. He left
a reflective fatality marker on top of her for recovery crews to find later.
|


Dwyer and Gage ran for the school's back side, seeking a way in. They found one and hurried inside."Cap.."
he reported in on the radio."One Code F in the yard. Are you guys in here yet?"
##Yes, we
are. Help us get them all into the gymnasium. It's away from the vents connecting the rest of the
school with the indoor swimming pool.##
Gage quailed. ::Oh, sh*t, that's right. Nitric fumes'll
make cyanide gas in contact with any form of pool chemicals.:: he thought desperately. "We're
on our way. We'll sweep the library for stragglers."
##Yes. Do that. The air's ok in here.## reported
Cap. Over the frequency, Johnny could hear sounds of crying, panicking children and adults in the
background where they hurried across the floor of the gym, echoing in confusion behind Cap's voice.
##I've notified the chief of our predicament. Whatever you do, save what's left of your air while
you two find a way to get to us safely. Avoid any open windows. The cloud's sunk back down around
the school again.##
|


************************************************** From: Cassidy Meyers <killashandraRey@hotmail.com>
Date: Sat Sep 30, 2006 1:31 am Subject: Lock In...
Cap whirled when Gage and Gil burst
through a side gym door and slammed it shut behind them. It startled many frightened children sitting
on the gym floor until a couple of teachers calmed them down.
Gil shouted. "Cap, nobody's
left out there. Library's deserted."
"Good." Hank started forward. "I moved everybody to the
center of the gymnasium. Marco, string up a line from that emergency fire hose in the wall and charge
it. Some of these playground kids are probably acid burned and don't even know it yet."
Gage
gaped in surprise. "Cap, you guys brought in all our gear.."
"We sure as h*ll did. Brought in
the engine's resuscitator, too. And your irrigation bags from the squad. Get to work. We're gonna
have to dike up all the run-off when we start washing down the worst exposed kids. Use those sandbags
over there that I see under the bleachers. We'll spray all the stuff right into that janitor's
closet. There's a large drain in there. Stoker, look for any hazards outside the gym that might react
to the fumes that are gonna get into the hallways. Especially check out the chemistry lab. Last
thing we want is a fire spontaneously erupting on top of the rest of all this mess. Then get back
in here and help Gil and Johnny with any medical care." he said, sweeping his gloved hand in a
gesture over the crowded gym of sniffling, scared kids and quietly whispering adults.
Stanley
got on his radio. "Engine 51 to Battalion One. Here's our update. The gym is secure from outside air
and we're safe for the moment. But we'll need an immediate Hazmat reconnaissance to neutralize
any unseen chemical threats surrounding us. A couple of the teachers say there's a chemistry lab
nearby full of Class One reactants that the students were working with today."
##I copy that,
51. Let me know the number of injuries and the total head count of minors and adults who are with
you when you can. I've two doctors from Rampart suiting up and they'll be joining you soon to
help with your situation directly.They're Doctors Brackett and Cederstrom from Rampart Hospital.##
"10-4. Have a Hazmat pair bring them through the gym's south fire door. That stairwell's not
yet flooded with fumes."
##I'll tell them, Hank.## said the chief. ##Give us five minutes minimum
to get them in there to you.##
Hank pushed down his HT antennae with a harried frown. He looked
up when Gage began to speak to the gym at large as he and Dwyer stripped out of their air bottles
and turnouts to look less threatening.
|


"Listen up kids.. We're just firemen from the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Let me fill you
in on what's happening outside. Now I'm going to be completely honest with you. There's a pair of
chemical trucks burning on the freeway upwind and that's what's made us lock all of you inside
the gym here right now. We needed to get away from some bad smoke. But we're nice and safe and air
tight so don't worry. Stay calm. Now next question is for anyone who was just playing at recess when
you saw our firetrucks pull up to the school. Is there anyone who feels like they're getting
sunburned right now?" he asked the cluster of frightened children seated on the floor in front of
him. "Teachers, if you think you have any kids who do, raise your hands and we'll check them out
immediately. That vapor can be dangerous even though they're out of it. Kids, don't panic. The worst
we'll do to ya is get you wet, by giving you a free bath by fire hose. Won't hurt a bit, I promise.
Although ...we may get ya a little cold and make your teeth start chattering." he grinned.
A
bubbling murmur of faint giggles rose from the various groups of gathered students until a single
teacher's hand lifted urgently. "My kids were outside. Please, I have a few not acting normally."
"Which ones?" Gage asked, crouching near the windbreaker jacketed teacher. "Here, gimme your outer
coat, ma'am. It's probably been contaminated by the fumes." he said, reaching out for it. "Check
yourself over real good for skin problems. Let me know if you find any redness, itching, or swelling.
If you do, let me or my partner know right away and we'll start washing you down to stop the exposure."
Taking the coat from the woman with his jacket halligan used as a stick, he tossed it into the
closet where the water drain was located.
Gil and Gage began examining the knot of children who
had been outside. They began stripping them down to their regular clothes, removing shoes and anything
else that was clearly an outer layer. Marco washed these away from the paramedics with the charged
hose and he pushed them into the closet space vigorously.
Some of the children nearby laughed
in spite of their fear at the sight of seeing the shiny polished wooden floor getting soaked in
such a strange way. He took advantage of that. "Say, who'd like to help my fire captain here build
a sand castle of sand bags? We need a fort around that closet door to hold all the water and all
the things I'm pushing into it. Who wants to help him?" he asked. A lot of the older kids volunteered
by raising their hands. "Ok, great. Listen to your gym coaches first. I've already told them how
to build what we need. Go on, it's ok, go ahead. This fort's gonna help the others who are getting
set to take their water baths." Lopez explained.
|

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Gil quickly identified two children in the playground bunch who were just starting to wheeze. "Johnny,
this little boy in light blue's first. Can you get him on some O2? He's wheezing."
"Yeah. I've
got a little girl in green doing the same thing. Chet, can you get her started on the engine's tank?
Be sure to raise her head up."
"Ok, Johnny." Kelly said, easing the child's upper body into
his lap. "Hi there, little lady. My name's Chet. My legs are gonna be your pillow for a while,
is that ok? Don't worry. Your teacher's gonna stay right here holding your hand while I put this oxygen
mask on your face so you can breathe in and out a little better. Guess you earned yourself one
of the first hose showers, didn't you?"
The gasping girl nodded sleepily, tears leaking from
her acid reddened eyes. "Uh, huh..."
"I'll get you dried off real fast so you don't get too
cold. I promise." he said to her. "I got a blanket with your name on it waiting right here next
to us, ok? It's real warm. And look,..it's got teddy bears on it." he said, holding it up.
The
little girl laughed, but then she coughed liquidly. Chet glanced over to where the first little boy
was getting scoured under the hose spray. "Johnny.. she sounds wet."
"All right. We'll have
Brackett on the line in a minute. Help her on her inspirations if she needs it. This boy's got our
hands full. He's going out on us." Gage told him quickly.
Soon the male child was stretched
out onto the floor again amid the squad's opened medical gear. Gil put one of the teachers to work
irrigating the boy's acid burns with a running I.V. line from one of the saline bags. "Don't touch
the water that touches him. Let Marco here wash it away for you." Dwyer instructed.
"Ok.. uh,..
I understand." said the worried coach.
Gage and Gil fell deep into their assessments of the two
critical, fumes exposed children once the little girl had her rapid decontamination completed.
|


************************************************** From: 'patti keiper' <pattik1@hotmail.com> Date:
September 30, 2006. 16:39:07 CST. Subject: Caught
"Johnny?! Gil?!" came a loud, very welcome
voice. It was Dr. Brackett, peeling out of a Hazmat suit at the entrance to the school gymnasium.
Dr. Carrie Cederstrom followed him in with a very laden trauma and surgical pack as she peeled
it out of its protective covering.
"Over here! These two first!" yelled Dwyer from the circle
of firemen leaning over the hose water soaked pair of children.
Kel Brackett saw that Hank
Stanley had joined Kelly in keeping the little girl ventilating well.
"What do you have?"
Kel snapped out quickly, kneeling in between both kids.
"Nitric acid byproducts exposure,
gaseous form. Both were in breathing contact with a concentrated cloud for a minute or so." replied
Captain Stanley, thinking hard as he remembered the first moments that he had witnessed storming
onto the playground scene. "The fumes were bad enough to kill people, doc."
"Even glancingly,
less than a minute's long enough to cause some real problems." said Cederstrom. "How about any of
the rest of these children?" Carrie asked, glancing around at the teachers and elementary school
students watching them quietly from the other side of the gym.
"They're fine so far." Gage
answered, looking up from the stethoscope that he had placed over the little boy's ribcage. "Doc,
the girl's in a lot of pain. The boy's got acute signs of PE and wheezing developing that's equally
distinct on both sides. She has some, too, but it's to a lesser degree."
"How so?"
"Hers
isn't audible in the lower fields."
Kel ran over his fast triaging list. "Ok, how about these
burns?"
"We're seeing regions of eschar, on their faces, heads and hands in areas that were
air exposed and out of their clothing." Gil answered.
"Tissue dessication already?" Carrie sighed
sadly. "All right. We'll get these two airway secured first. Then, captain, please continue their
decontamination washing." she told Hank. "As for the rest of you.." she addressed the others of
Station 51. "Be vigilant for signs of laryngeal edema developing on anyone else here. If you find
someone who can't or is having trouble talking, bring them to us immediately. They'll need inhalant
counteractives."
Brackett nodded at Carrie in agreement, drawing out a pediatric endotrachael
tube and laryngoscope from his jump bag, sized for the little boy. "Johnny, Gil.. treat their
acid burns as thermal burns. Use non-adherent gauze and wrapping to cover them up after you finish
scrubbing off all the chemicals. Then give me some vital sig---"
|


"Doc,.. she's obstructing on me.." said Chet Kelly, glancing up quickly from where he was lightly
demand valve triggering breaths into the little girl.
"Carrie..Get over there..." Brackett ordered
bruskly."If you can't get a tube down.."
"I know." Cederstrom said urgently. "I've got a cricothyroidotomy
kit already laid out." she told him. "Fireman, try repositioning her head." Carrie instructed when
the child began to struggle in a panic.
Chet retilted carefully, trying to ignore her weakily
flailing arms and legs. He tried actively to force oxygen into her lungs with a new technique, using
a rapidly placed ambu, with Cap helping him, but.."It's not working, doc. Not at all." said Kelly
as the little girl finally passed out from anoxia. The child's features started turning dusky as
all of her breathing attempts ceased. "She swelling up too much. Now, I've got no chest rise whatsoever."
"No chance endotracheally now. All right. I'm going in for that cric." Cederstrom informed them.
"Prep her neck, Mr. Dwyer." Carrie said, glancing at Gil's name tag.
Gil flew, reaching for
the surgical bag the doctors had brought with them.
Just a betadine splash later, the scalpel
and trailing narrow needle guide gripped deftly in Carrie's gloved hands, sliced down...
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Outside
in the hallway, the roving Hazmat crew startled. They found a fifty gallon metallic barrel full of
turpentine that had been in the process of being delivered by a UPS man for the art department.
Working swiftly, the team took great care in removing the container from the school.
They
set it out into the open where they used water spray and fog to keep it cooled down.They made sure
they didn't get any water inside the drum where the nitric acid fumes that were still drifting through
the neighborhood would be able to exothermically react to it. The potential for a large explosion,
was averted.
But the swimming pool store room wasn't so fortunate. It ignited spontaneously
when acid gas found a roll of aluminum foil and the new fire, spreading quickly to the roof through
the ventilations shafts, created another problem for the fully suited up Haz mat crews to handle
when they shifted gears to aggressively protect all the people still trapped inside the school's gym.
Hank and the other firefighters looked up at the sound of a muffled explosion breaking out from
somewhere inside the school.
Kids began to quietly panic and mill about numbly at the noise.
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Captain Stanley immediately soothed them. "It's all right, kids. It's all right! That isn't anywhere
near us!" Then he got on his HT with the Hazmat crews and Battalion and got a full report from the
source itself.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gil and Johnny had finished stringing up I.V. lines over the two stabilized children now lying in
plastic stokes under burn sheets that were covering them to keep them warm and out of uncompensated
shock.
Both were breathing and being closely monitored by new attending firefighters while
everyone waited for the all clear signal from Hazmat that things were safe enough outside to begin
their evacuation of the school.
Carrie was cleaning up in a bowl of antiseptic.
"That
was fine work, Doctor Cederstrom.." Kel complimented her.
"I should say the same thing to you,
Doctor Brackett.." she teased. Then she cast a worried eye on her young patient. "Did I ever tell
you how much I hate chemical induced injuries?"
"You have. Frequently." Kel said, giving her a
squeezing hug in congratulation.
"Hmm..That's so nice." she crooned, pulling away affectionately.
"Wow," she said, stepping back. "Blue becomes you." she goggled as she admired the color of the
triage jumpsuit Kel was wearing. "I like the way it brings out the color of your eyes."
"Do
I have to become a surgeon then, to keep on wearing it so I won't lose you?" he teased.
"Fat
chance of that happening." She didn't elaborate on which aspect of the question she was commenting
on. "Speaking of which, shouldn't Roy DeSoto be fully awake now following his ear surgery? It's been
six hours since." Carrie wondered.
Kel looked at his watch as he put away the biophone that
he had used to order tests through Dixie that he wanted for the kids that Carrie and he had airway
saved for when they finally flew into Rampart. "He is. Dixie said so. His bilateral tympanoplasties
finally decided to quiet down without a hitch. That odd, new vertigo of his has gone away. Tell everybody
with Station 51 that Roy's completely comfortable now and that he's been absolutely guaranteed by
his ENT to make a normal, and very fast recovery."
"I'll go tell them now. They need a stress
reliever. And so do I." she smirked.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
McCall met the two doctors' chopper when it finally arrived at the hospital along with their two tiny
patients. "Kel, Radiology's ready to get those chest and upright abdominal films as soon as you're
inside. And yes, I've ordered the labs to get their complete blood counts; EKG; electrolytes; glucose;
liver and renal functions; and type and cross-matches for whole fresh plasma right when you four
wheel them into Treatment Two.." she said.
"You're a miracle worker.." Kel smiled, affectionately
grasping McCall's elbow as the nurse hurried back out of the rotor wash zone along with everyone
else.
"Careful, Kel. I may start believing that."
"Too late. You're pretty full of yourself
already." Cederstrom chuckled.
"It serves its purpose." McCall shrugged. "Long hours with short
pay... That's a pretty tough thing to survive with around here. Who knows? Maybe being inwardly
and outwardly conceited keeps me cool." she laughed, winking at Carrie with amusement.
"I'll
vouch for that." Kel said. "Crustiness has always served me well."
Dixie just rolled her eyes
as she brushed the hair away that was getting sharply helicopter blown into her face. "Ughhh..Doctors..."
she chided in mock sarcasm. Then she gestured to the orderlies that she could see coming from
the hospital to get them to step things up a little.
Gil and Gage quickly helped the hospital
men steer their patients' stretchers into Emergency as fast as they could go.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was several weeks later.
A fully healed Roy, Gage, and Dixie were relaxing in the nurse's
lounge over hard won cups of coffee during a break in yet another hectic day of rescues.
Dixie
blew air over her mug to cool it. "So,.. how do you really feel about Carrie Cederstrom..." she baited.
Johnny practically spat out a mouthful of coffee in shock and surprise.
Roy deftly handed
his partner a napkin from the dispenser so he could clean up his face.
Gage sputtered in surprise.
"Shouldn't I be asking you the same thing?" he challenged McCall.
"Well, I don't see why not.
Turnabout's fair play." she admitted. Then she thought over things carefully. "She's good for Kel.
And what's good for Kel, is good for me. I had my shot at him... and... if it means I have to bow
out gracefully, then so be it. They both deserve to be happy."
"Well are YOU?" Johnny asked, boldly.
Roy nudged Johnny in the ribs for his insensitive jab.
"Yes, and no. I'd be inhuman if I said
I never wondered about what could have been between him and I if things ever got different."
"I guess.." Gage said, uncertain.
"So how about you?" Dixie fired right back.
"How about
me what?" Johnny looked at McCall in confusion.
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"Are YOU happy about how you're handling how you feel about Carrie Cederstrom?"
"Well, I
uh.. Should I even be concerned about that? I mean-" Johnny shrugged nervously, rubbing his face
in self consciousness.
"Yes." "Yes." said both Roy and Dixie at the same time in exactly
the same tone of voice. Nurse and paramedic looked at each other and chuckled in companionable
irony.
Then Dixie added more. "You did give her a ride home to Kel's the other night after
taking her out for coffee."
"You did what?!" DeSoto's mouth flopped completely open. "Johnny,
that's hedging the bet a whole lot, you know that? Do you really wanna win one over on Gil that
badly, that you're resorting to subterfuge?"
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"I never.. I didn't.... I...wasn't ...t- taking Carrie out on a date. I was... thanking her for saving
your hearing, pal." he finished lamely. "Dr. Brackett said that he trusts me absolutely with his
chick. Heh." he sighed, leaning back into his chair. He immediately sat back forward again, getting
mad. "Is this the thanks I get for showing your new trauma doctor a little bit in the appreciation
department?"
"Hey, what about me? Who do you think was holding the puke basin under your partner's
chin when he was still upchucking his guts out after his anesthetic?"
Johnny immediately began
to look uncomfortable, as if he were about to become sick himself.
"Were you there at all,
Johnny?" Roy wanted to know.
"Well, I uh.. No.. I.. I.. I was working." Gage said defensively.
Somehow, he didn't see the smirk of anticipated set up beginning to spread over Roy's face where
DeSoto sprawled next to him on the couch.
"So was I." Dixie glared right back through tight lips.
"So when's my date of appreciation for a night on the town with you gonna be, huh? Don't you find
me attractive?"
Gage went completely speechless at that one and he blushed five shades of
red that was clearly visible even through Johnny's natural skin tones. Roy didn't miss the telltale
fidget of his fingers on the table top and neither did Dixie.
Johnny shot up out of his chair
swiftly and he began backing away to the door."Uh,.. excuse me, both, would ya? I think I.. drank
a little too much coffee..Nature's calling." And he bolted from the lounge like a jack rabbit
out of a smoked out hole.
DeSoto blinked matter of factly and took in another sip of his coffee.
"Boy do I know that one to be true.." he mumbled.
Dixie smacked her hand on the table in front
of him derisively to get his attention."A bet's a bet. You owe me five bucks, Roy. It sure looks
like he does." she said with an amused chuckle and a very significant emphasis.
|


Roy took a deep breath, lowering his eyes, thinking, the smile still on his face. "You know, Dix..
I'm not so sure I just saw what you think you've just seen."
McCall leaned in on Roy, real
close. "Come on, quit kidding. I'm a very mature woman. You can't fool me with any such line. Chet
Kelly told me all about what to look for on him." She tweeked DeSoto on the nose with a long fingernail.
"Do you know what Chet told me that gave him away?"
"No.. what?" Roy said meeting her eyes
with trepidation.
"He told me,..'The hands never lie.' So pay up if you know what's good for
you, Roy. Or I may get ugly." Dixie promised.
"Not in a million years." he said, not meaning the
money at all.
Slowly then, with good natured resignation, Roy reached for his wallet.
FIN
Season Five Episode Thirty Seven Primary Complaint
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as much as we've enjoyed producing it for you. Please click the banner below to view this 37th episode's
end credits. :)
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( Nitric acid and copper = copper II nitrate and water and nitrogen dioxide 'poison')
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Click Stoker and Cap to go to Page Five
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