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Subject: Banter Over Bacon
From: patti k (pattik1@hotmail.com)
Sent: Sun 7/11/10 11:30 AM
The gang was all together again around the lunch table.
Chet
Kelly looked up from the monster PB and J sandwich he
was building before Henry the dog's wondering
eyes.
Cap made a face. "Ugh.. how can you eat all that, Kelly? Makes
my stomach hurt just
watching you."
"What? This?" Chet pointed, carefully shoving another piece of
crispy pig back
under its whole wheat shell. "I'm hungry."
"You're always hungry." Marco said, fiddling with the
bandaid
that Roy had given him when he stopped his water I.V. begun
during their mock exercise
the hour before. "And thanks to you
and Johnny, I'm no longer thirsty." he glared.
Gage snorted
in amusement, trying to hide his reaction.
"You should be thanking me. Free water, paid for by
the county."
Chet said matter of factly to Lopez.
Henry barked at the tension between the two.
Mike Stoker chuckled. "Aw, look at him. He's hungry again, too."
he said, pointing at Henry, who
was occupying the chair Roy wasn't
yet in while he nosed around the refrigerator for a snack.
"Nah uh. No way. This fried pig's all mine. He's had enough." Chet
protested, yanking his plate away
in the nick of time before a drool
string from the basset's mouth could land on it.
Hank just
sighed. "Are you sure you're right, Chet? We all chipped
in for some more bacon."
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"Oh, come on, Cap. His belly's dragging the ground and he can't
even shred Randy the manikin's pants
legs off anymore. What does
that tell you?"
"That we're stupid firemen for letting him get
so fat." Stoker said,
stealing a slathered slice of bacon out of Chet's sandwich.
"Hey!" Kelly
shouted.
Marco celebrated. "You snooze, you--"
"All right, I get the picture. Next meal
I'll have you know I'm
breaking out the big guns to protect my food." Chet told him.
"Oh,
yeah? How?" Gage asked, biting into a carrot stick that
was more ranch dressing than vegetable.
"I'm leaving my toothbrush right on top of it." Kelly glared right back.
"Ewww.." Roy frowned.
"Now I'm not hungry." he said shoving the
doors of the refrigerator closed.
"That's the point."
Chet grinned, happy with the effect.
"So how did your second stage mock go?" Cap asked. "Besides
totally failing the travel-in time."
"That was her fault. You know, the younger one?" Gage said
about
the page haired Mayfair EMT. "She slowed down."
"Her name's Kate." Roy prompted, finally
shoving Henry off of his
chair and sitting down with a freshly full and steaming coffee pot.
He
was about to pour off the best layer at the top when Cap cleared
his throat, pro-offering an empty
mug from around a held up newspaper.
DeSoto sighed and dibbed out to him. "One lump or two?"
Hank
sniffed, still invisible behind his business section. "I like mine--"
"...black like soot, because
I'm a fireman. Yeah, we know, Cap." said
Chet. "Roy, you should know that, too. You give up to him
enough."
Gage broke into the conversation to prevent another sniping small beans
argument between
everybody. "Ah, she did just fine. She got kinda mad though
when my pants were still dry after I seized
a bit on the board half way into
Rampart. I thought she was gonna strangle me right then and there."
"Smart girl." Chet chuckled. "I'd be mad, too. You should have ruined your
shorts for her, Gage."
"Now that's disgusting, Chet." Johnny minced, getting mad, too.
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"Hey, realism is realism." Kelly defended. "So... Now her feelings are hurt."
he said lacing his fingers
together thoughtfully, questioningly.
Johnny was undeterred from his original impression. He held
up an
admonishing finger. "Okay, maybe I faked too much. But she's now got a
real solid medical
emergency experience under her belt. And who's to say
what I did was entirely wrong? We get ex-druggies
faking convulsions all
the time trying to get meds from us, isn't that right, Roy?"
"I suppose."
Roy said, sipping his coffee.
"And we never give them what they want." Gage said proudly.
"And they get mad, too." Roy surmised, wryly.
Hank just coughed. "You know I'm ordering you to
end all the fun and games
once you begin your ambulance company assignment tomorrow."
"Is that
coming so soon?" Chet celebrated, totally happy.
"Oh, hush." Johnny glared at him. "Yes, we'll
be leaving then." he
told Kelly. "Just as soon as our temporary orders go through Headquarters
and
our replacements arrive to take our place."
Woof! said Henry.
Johnny looked at Henry in
a double take, not believing his ears. "Do I bug you,
too? Do I?" he said, defensively.
"You
bug everybody, Gage. Nothing new." Hank sniffed, turning a page.
"So who are we getting?" Kelly
grinned widely.
"Bellingham and Brice." DeSoto cut in.
The smiles wiped clean off Chet
and Marco's faces. "For the whole summer?"
"Yep." Gage grinned right back, enjoying himself. "Oh,
but don't worry. You'll
see us every once in a while, when we come in on an ambulance to pick up
the
squad's patients with a Mayfair crew or two."
Kelly shot back a reply. "Maybe you'll get
paired up with Kate Brown and Liz Stanton.
I'm sure they'll enjoy dropping a heavy stretcher wheel
or two on your toe every
now and then."
"Ha. ha. No. We're not at their base station. We'll
be at Mayfair headquarters in
Torrance." Gage breathed.
"Right next to Rampart?" Marco asked.
"Yep." said Roy.
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"Oh, far out! Then you can just walk on over to the cafeteria for some of that gourmet
food of theirs
when the Mayfair EMTs all snub ya for acting like superior paramedic
supervisors after you get there."
said Chet.
"He's not gonna be in charge. I am." said Roy.
"You are?" Johnny asked, doing
a double take.
"He is." Hank said, still hidden behind his newspaper.
"Oh." Johnny said.
"Well, guess I'm free to date a few of them since I'm not gonna be
their boss then."
Roy set
down his coffee mug. "Wait a minute, I thought you'd never date an EMT because
they aren't at a high
enough level for you skills wise."
"I've change my mind. That Kate, she.. she was something else.
She anticipated every
complication on me even before it happened. And that trick of using Marco's
EKG monitor to monitor me, was an absolutely brilliant idea! I mean, she doesn't
even have permission
to use one."
"It was an emergency." Roy drawled, defensive on her behalf.
"A fake one."
Johnny countered.
DeSoto just stared at him. "No EMT I've ever seen ever steps over their limits
of practice
for a real situation out in the field. I know Kate would never do that in real life."
"You know that for a fact, eh?" Johnny said, biting into another drowned carrot.
"Yeah, I
know that for a fact." Roy said getting up in arms.
"Money where your mouth is." Gage challenged,
grinning.
"You're gonna lose. I can't take your money." DeSoto said, tight lipped.
"New
EMT is new EMT, Roy. They all wanna out do the paramedics." Johnny said.
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"Since when are you the sudden expert?" Roy roared.
"Since I ran a mock with a one EMT called
Kate Brown." he chewed.
"You're impossible!" Roy told him. Then he looked at Cap with exasperation.
"Cap, she was fine. Absolutely rock star on all points. Johnny doesn't know
what he's talking about.
Must have been that crack he took to his head."
"I didn't hit my head today." Gage said.
"Not
today. I'm talking about the seven other times since I've known ya."
Roy snapped right back. "Your
symptoms are getting worse."
Chet started laughing out loud.
Woof! said Henry.
The
tones went off.
"Saved by the bell." Cap muttered gratefully as the whole gang leaped out of
their
chairs to run for the trucks.
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**************************************************
Subject: Side Move..
From: patti k (pattik1@hotmail.com)
Sent: Mon 7/12/10 11:36 AM
The door to the doctor's lounge swung open swiftly and quickly shut
again
behind where Joe Early and Kel Brackett were sitting at a table enjoying like
pairs of apples.
The bang it made was enough to make both doctors turn around.
"Sorry." said Dixie McCall, still
leaning on the wall in relief and partial guilt as
she held the door shut behind her.
"Problem?"
Brackett asked, wiping his mouth with a napkin.
"You can call it that." Dix admitted as she doubled
checked to make
sure no sounds of footfalls were following her to her refuge.
Joe merely smiled
and patted the chair in between them. "Don't tell me. Let me
guess. The antics of the boys in blue
again?"
"Oh, yeah...." McCall sighed in exasperation. "And the raging ire of some gals in white
as a result."
Dr. Brackett just chuckled. "Dix, I'm surprised at you. Running mock medicals
at
all the fire departments every month was your idea. With their call volume there's
bound to be a little
stress relief tossed somewhere in there for anything that's really
not an actual emergency."
"Not
this bad." she said.
Kel's eyes widened as he round pitched his apple core into the garbage near
the
beverage station. "Oh, don't tell me. Johnny Gage?"
"And probably Chet Kelly." McCall grumbled.
"I love those boys, but sometimes,
they just drive me up the wall."
"We saw that." Kel nodded,
inclining his head at the wall she had previously
pressed up against. "What was it that happened this
time?"
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"A little too much honesty I guess. First an I.V. joke, then a serious mock
real enough to fool a
brand new EMT right up until a big grand mal started
en route."
"Ooo. I'm sure he didn't mean
any harm by that. You know how impressionable
young women are in a field dominated by mostly men."
Dixie grinned, finally relaxing. "Bite your tongue. Our day's coming. We have what?
One female
paramedic now, and two doctors?"
Joe just shoved his cup of untouched coffee over to Dixie. "Come
on, now. What's
the real problem? I can't see smoothing down another EMT/paramedic spat as anything
that would rattle you." He looked askance at Dixie, then at Brackett thoughtfully,
then he asked the
question. "So did you get an answer yet from some of them?"
Dixie made a face. "No. I was too
busy to even ask. You know I never interrupt
a mock coming into the ER out of character. Not until
it's over. And after this one
came in and I got all the hot air blown out of it, Roy and Johnny and
Marco had
already left to go back to the station."
"There's always a phone call."
"Roy
might be a good one to bounce things off of." Dixie said, thinking. "He's
got a good ear."
"Anything
I can help with?" Kel asked, curious, but polite.
"Joe and I decided that you probably can't.
It's something I need to do on my own
for my own health." McCall chuckled.
"Are you sick?
We do live together." Brackett said, getting worried.
"Not sick physically. You'd notice that
as soon as I was. No, Joe and I figured out that
I'm just a little emotionally maladjusted with my
small little place in the world and
with the larger scheme of things for some mysterious, annoying
unknown reason."
"Ohh.. G*d I've so been there. It's the job, right?" Kel asked.
"You got
it." Dixie sighed, depressed.
Kel got to his feet, looking at his watch. "If it means anything,
we all love you
and this whole place would absolutely fall apart, without you." Brackett said,
giving
her a kiss on the cheek. "I've got to go. I've a backlog of urgent care
patients to see."
"Good
luck." Dixie waved as he moved across the room to put his white coat
back on. Soon, he left room,
leaving Dixie and Dr. Early alone with their thoughts.
Joe sat quietly where he was, studying
the heavily tooth bitten skin of his apple
absently. "So what's the next step?"
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"I talk to them."
"So have at it. Then you'll have some peace of mind."
Dixie groaned and
got up from her chair and moved to the payphone on the wall
near the vending machine. She dialed up
the L.A. county dispatcher. "Hi, this
is Dixie McCall from Rampart Hospital's Emergency Room. Is Station
51 available?
No, this isn't business. Oh, I see. Thanks." She hung up the phone.
Joe raised
his eyebrows.
"They're on a run. They just left."
"Oh, tough luck! And this is your last
break?"
"Yep." Dixie said dejectedly, folding back into the chair next to Joe.
"I know
where you can find Roy DeSoto easily tomorrow. And I guarantee you
that he won't be going on any fire
calls."
"Oh? Where? Is he off duty?"
Joe shook his head.
"He and Johnny are part of
an occupation exchange program to fill a manpower
lack with Mayfair ambulance company. They'll be
right next door bright and early
tomorrow, at six a.m., reporting to the ambulance garage." Early
shared.
"How did you find out about that? That's news to me." McCall asked, surprised.
"Paramedic
Brice updated me during the last patient transport he brought in with
his partner. He figured I'd
be "more efficient" with current information about it."
Joe said dryly, amused.
"He thought
right." Dixie laughed. "Oh wow, having Roy and Johnny off a squad's
gonna feel weird."
"Not
half as weird as it's gonna feel for them acting as EMT supervisors."
"They'll manage." Dixie
giggled.
"Only if you can." Joe shot back.
Dixie smacked him on the arm for touching
a sore point again about her self doubts.
"Okay, I'll talk to him. But only in private. I really think
DeSoto's my choice, Joe. I sincerely hope he can help me figure out my head in time to save what's left
of my
sanity."
Joe just nodded in support. But then his whole face lit up.
"Say, Dix. Maybe
you can transfer over to the same program, too. You know.
Get in a change of environment away from
the hospital for a few months."
"Oh, that's craziness, Joe. You heard Kel. I'm indispensible."
Joe cleared his throat. "Are you kidding me? Both Carol and Betty are a force
of nature on your
behalf. Do me a favor, huh? Go talk to the administrator about this.
It would be a good thing for
you to do. Something new. That always clears my head."
"A vacation, huh?" Dixie said skeptically.
"No, a paid side move, just for the summer." Joe grinned.
The side of Dixie's mouth started
to quirk up a bit. "Might be kind of fun. It's been
years since I've worked out of an ambulance garage."
"That's the spirit."
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**************************************************
Subject: White Stuff and Red Tape..
From: patti
k (pattik1@hotmail.com)
Sent: Fri 7/16/10 5:06 AM
Station 51 rushed into an area of the marina
subdivision that was well known
to the fire department. Both the squad and the engine slowed down
when they hit ocean air congealed by the spring cold and the lack of any
wind. Stoker sounded an
air horn. *Blat! Blattt!*
Engine 8 replied with a like blast to orient them in the murk. Then
came
Captain Ed Stone's voice over the HT frequency. ##Engine 8 to Engine 51.
Warehouse B to the
north. Our hoses are parallel to the causeway. Come
on in.##
Hank gestured for them all to
pull up adjacent to Station Eight's L shape
command area that had been made using their squad and
Crown engine.
He leaped out of his cab and was met by his African American colleague
counterpart.
"Guess it was a false alarm, Hank." said Captain Stone. "We didn't find anything of
consequence
inside. Just some freshly dumped gasoline on the ground floor under
the foundations. No people on
infrared. No active fire or smoke. Just the same
burned out husk we've already known about from the
first. All of what we're
seeing here now is leftover sea fog."
Hank glanced around in the
thick afternoon haze, and sighed. "I can see why
a passerby thought it was on fire. Still smells
fresh. Bitter. Didn't this place
burn down almost two weeks ago?"
"Uh, huh." Stone nodded.
"It might be a good thing to sweep the whole area
again just to double check for a re-triggering
device. You know how some of the
torches in this neighborhood operate."
"Now why would an
arsonist attack a warehouse that's already been burned to
the ground?" Cap wondered, shaking his head
at the fumes smell.
Stone readjusted a sweaty helmet onto his head and unbuckled his chinstrap.
"I don't know. Maybe he or she felt there was no legal risk to it anymore."
Cap just chuckled,
annoyed. "Still trespassing and illegal burning."
Ed conmiserated. "A fire itch is a fire itch.
They've just got to see flames when the
urge gets bad."
"Sometimes, Ed, I wish all of them
could be legally blinded to deny them the thrill."
Hank gruffed. "Okay then. Guess we'll join you
in wasting even more city water to
wash it all down again to dilute out the dumped fuel." Hank grumbled
as he watched
Stone's men tackle the old, blackened rubble with fanning spray. Bright mist curled
around them in ribbons of milk, restricting their vision down to less than ten yards.
Stone
squinted in the intense sunlight effect magnified by the fog bank. "Our tanks
are almost empty. Wy-line
to a hydrant to finish up for us?"
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"Sure thing." Cap told him. "You can go, Ed, to refill, then return to quarters.
There's a fresh
water hydrant on the next block. We'll take it from here."
"See ya." Stone said. He whistled piercingly
to get all of his men's attention. All
five eyeballed Stone, stopping in their tracks. Ed made a
fast cut throat gesture
to tell them they were being cleared for a wrap up and return to base. His
crew
hopped to, working to drain out and refold their weakening half charged hose lines.
Cap
lifted his H.T. "Engine 51, L.A.. Station Eight is running dry so I've released them.
Still no active
fire or smoke at this location. But an arson investigator may want to see
this new attempt. Signs
are evident."
##10-4, Engine 51. Will advise Battalion One of your status.##
"10-4." Hank
replied. Then he donned his mask to join the others.
"Cap?" Roy asked, shouting through his mask
as he and Johnny hustled to
lay out line.
"Cold re-arson failure. Gasoline. No injuries. Wash
her down on the ground floor." he
told his two paramedics.
"Right." Gage replied, waving a
gloved hand once.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Ten
minutes later, the two fire stations had traded places. The county
followed up and sent out a canteen
to set up near them for R and R.
Johnny looked up when he heard bootfalls jogging closer in the
fog.
"I brought this for you and DeSoto, Gage." said Brice the paramedic. He was
wearing his
air bottle and mask loosely hung around his neck.
There was a thick red book in his glove.
"What's this?" Johnny asked, leaning on the squad's door impatiently
as he waited for Roy to finish
gearing up.
"A copy of the Los Angeles County Auditor's Operation Guidelines."
Craig explained,
offering it up.
Johnny didn't move, and only smiled back.
"We're not gonna need that. We're
just--" Gage said with amusement.
"...gonna be responsible for all the company's daily billing-per-run
forms and procedures." Brice finished, correcting him.
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"B-Billing?" Johnny stuttered.
"Of course. An ambulance company, even under a staffing switch,
is still a private business. Subject to all the same bylaws which govern
California's compensation
for services rendered. You do know how to
organize their books, don't you?"
"Well, I uh..
well, yeah.." Johnny insisted, feeling suddenly self defensive.
"Great. Then I'm sure Mayfair's
co-Rampart branch is being left in good hands."
Brice said, waving as he walked away with his manual.
"See you later."
"See ya, Brice." Gage said, stunned. He didn't show it until Brice's back
was
turned.
Roy walked by just then lugging a few empty air bottles from Station Eight.
Johnny
caught up with him and matched his pace.
"Roy? Listen to me for a sec. I gotta tell you. We might
be in for far more than
we can chew."
Roy didn't break his stride, forcing Gage to accept
a bottle from
his arm load so he could get a hand free to open the squad compartment
set aside
for empties. "In for what and where?" he asked blandly, concentrating
on what he was doing to stack
and chain the air cylinders in properly.
"This call looks pretty boring to me."
Gage made a
noise of disbelief.
"Not us, here. Our stint at Mayfair. Did you know that we'll be in charge of all
the finances, too?"
"Yep. I'm not surprised by that. But you sure seem to be." Roy pointed
out,
puzzled.
"Roy, think of all the paperwork that will need to be done!" Gage
exasperated.
DeSoto just shrugged. "So?"
"That's usually the case in a company who charges people for rides
and supplies.
Mayfair's been around for a long time and has maintained a good reputation
and relationship
with the fire department. That's probably why it was one of
the companies picked to be incorporated
into the county. Things there can't
be all that bad office wise. It'll probably be no big deal to
handle."
Johnny was not reassured. "I thought I was getting away from all the
figuring and
stuff. I'm not real good with numbers on paper. At all. Only with
ones in my head like medication
doses per weight or volume I.V. flow delivery
rates between needle sizes."
Roy just angled
his head.
"Tell me about it. That's probably why I'm stuck with resupplying our gear and
pharmaceuticals
all of the time." Roy bemoaned. "Dixie keeps sharing her undying
gratitute that it's me and not you
ordering our stuff for every shift." he said.
Gage just made a face.
"But rest assured,
you'll do fine with all of it. I'll offer you tips and pointers later, along
with my electric calculator."
Roy told him.
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Johnny just stared at Roy, looking small but quickly rock firm, in his full turnout.
"What you do
mean, me?"
Roy took off his helmet and ran some fingers through his sweaty hair.
"I'm gonna
be too busy supervising all of the new EMTs out on practical
ride alongs after they pass their written
tests with the county examiners."
Roy explained, folding his arms over his jacketted elbows. "There
won't be
enough hours in the day for me to do much of the office stuff."
"What? How? Why do
YOU get to be the one to go out in the field?" Gage groused,
unfastening his too long chin strap.
DeSoto was matter of fact.
"Because I'm gonna be the boss, according to Cap. And the highest rank
takes
out all the newbies according to regulations. Look it up." Roy said, closing
the squad tool
doors with finality. He strode off to climb into the cab on the other
side of the squad. He was after
one of the water bottles that Relief Aid had cast
inside of it.
Johnny's mouth flopped open
at being cut off but then he dissolved into irritation
when he suddenly found himself eyeing up the
departing Squad 8 and its auditor's
manual enviously. His handy talkie suddenly crackled, startling
him.
##L.A., Squad 51. What's your current status?##
Roy picked up the mic. "Squad 51,
L.A.. We're available. No victims at the scene."
*BEEP BEEP BEEP* ##Squad 51. Woman down. Unknown
unconscious. 914
Beechwood. 914 Beechwood. Cross street Melvin. A Mayfair has been dispatched.
Time
out : 18:49.##
"Squad 51, 10-4. KMG 365." said Roy as Johnny peeled out of his air bottle fast
to
heft it into the space on the roof into its rack behind the chrome railworks.
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Gage quickly got in and hefted up his HT a little closer to his ear in case there
were updates on
the way from the caller through L.A. "I'm set. Let's go." he said.
"We're gonna talk about this later,
Roy. I'm getting seriously freaked out about
this new mandatory exchange program."
"Volunteer."
he corrected. "I can't wait." Roy said, rolling his eyes as he waved
to Cap as they drove by with
their reds on. ::Here it comes. He's gonna tell me
anyway.:: Roy thought to himself.
"Did Cap
elect us with our permission?" Gage asked seriously.
In reply, DeSoto flicked on the sirens and
just drove, keeping his mind on business.
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