EAST MEETS WEST
By
It was the last day of work before a long weekend and the boys from LA’s Station 51 “A” shift were straggling in. Paramedics John Gage and Roy DeSoto were the last two in the locker room. Everyone else had headed for the kitchen and a hot cup of the coffee that the men of “C” shift had left for them.
Roy was almost finished dressing when Johnny walked in the door.
“Morning, Roy!” John uttered in between the notes of the tune that he was whistling.
“My aren’t you in a good mood! Did you have a good day off?” inquired Roy.
”Actually, partner. It wasn’t anything spectacular. Just a plain old day
at home for the most part. And, I met a girl. She is the most gorgeous thing
Roy---“ Johnny said as he turned to face Roy, who turned to hide in his locker.
Aha, thought Roy. I knew there was an ‘and’ to this story. He feigned interest in the story that Johnny was telling, shut his locker door and started out into the engine bay. Stopping Johnny in mid sentence, he said to him. “Come on Junior, you’re going to be late for roll call AGAIN!”
Johnny looked at his watch. “What?! It can’t be THAT late!” He quickly threw on his uniform shirt, slammed shut the door of his locker and ran out into the engine bay. He lined up beside his partner while buttoning his shirt.
Captain Hank Stanley just shook his head. All the years that he had known Johnny, he could count on one hand the times that he has come to roll call fully dressed and ready. “OK, men. I have an announcement. There is a big national EMS convention in the city this weekend and some paramedics from the East Coast have expressed an interest in a riding along with our units as observers. We are getting one of them sometime today. She’ll be spending the rest---“
Johnny stopped the Captain in mid sentence. “Did you say ‘she’ Cap? We’re getting a female paramedic as an observer?” Gage was so excited that it was all he could do to control himself.
“Yeah, John. Do you have a problem with that?” the Cap asked with a bit of sarcasm in his voice.
“No, sir, Cap. Not at all. It might be refreshing to have a female point of view around here.” John said.
“Down, Gage, down!” interrupted Chet Kelly.
Johnny continued. “No Chet. I just mean, that it will be nice to see what her point of view is as a paramedic. Don’t run into too many of them around here.”
Chet just snickered. He knew exactly what Gage was getting at. He was going to see if he could make an impression on the East Coast babe coming to stay with them for a while.
Captain Stanley called the attention back to the day’s duties. “Alright you guys. Marco, you are the cook of the day, Mike you’ve got kitchen duty with him. John and Roy, you’ll need to go to the west end of the county for hydrant checks. And Chet, you’ll be washing hoses down this morning. C shift had three fires last night and didn’t have time to get the hoses washed and dried. Marco, you help him until it’s time for lunch. Any questions?” No one said a word. No one dared. The Cap just didn’t like to argue about his assigning of chores.
“Good then. Let’s get to work…….”
#######
At Rampart Hospital, Roy and John were collecting supplies to replace what they had used on the patient that they just delivered to the emergency room. Roy had poured himself a cup of coffee, hoping to relax for a few minutes before they had to return to their hydrant checks.
Dixie McCall, the head nurse, leaned on the desk and asked them about the big EMS convention that was in town this weekend. “Kel is supposed to teach one of the classes on field protocols. Are either of you guys going?” Dixie inquired.
“It’s a long weekend off Dix, and the last thing I want to do is go to an EMS conference. But, I might just have to go sit on Doc Brackett’s class. See if I can learn anything new!” Roy said with a smile right before he took a last swallow of his coffee. He sat the cup on the counter, picked up his radio and started to walk away.
“What about you Johnny?” Dixie asked. “Any plans for the conference?” Dixie smiled knowingly at him. The only thing on Gage’s mind was meeting girls, and he thought that might be a great place to meet some new blood.
“Well, now that you bring it up, Dix, I was thinking of maybe hanging out with a few of the other guys there. I hear that there are EMS people from all over the country coming. Maybe we big city boys can show them how it is done!” Johnny smiled his crooked grin at Dixie as Roy just rolled his eyes.
“Come on, Junior. It’s almost lunch time and Marco’s cooking,” Roy said as he walked towards the doors.
“Oh yeah, I wonder if that girl paramedic got here yet? Let’s go! We can’t let her in the clutches of Chet Kelly! She’ll be scarred for life!” Johnny pushed Roy down the hall to the door. He just wasn’t moving fast enough for Johnny now that he had a reason to go back to the station.
Dixie overheard their conversation and started to call down the hall to them. “What girl paramedic?!”, but they were gone before she got it out of her mouth. She just shrugged her shoulders and headed toward the treatment room of the patient that 51 had just brought in.
Back at the station, Johnny ran into the day room, but stopped in the doorway so quickly that Roy ran into him. He couldn’t figure out where the girl paramedic was. Marco was busy at the stove making lunch, Chet and Mike were setting at the table reading the paper and the Cap was trying to find a decent show on the TV. Roy finally was able to push past Johnny and sat on the couch with Henry.
“So, uh, Cap. Where’s this East Coast paramedic we’re supposed to be getting?” Gage nonchalantly asked while stealing chips out of a bowl in the middle of the table.
“I don’t know Gage. She was supposed to be here by lunchtime. Maybe something is holding her up.” Cap returned to surfing the TV channels. Chet looked up from the paper he was reading.
“Maybe she heard what kind of ladies’ man you are and decided not to come, Johnny!” Chet egged him on.
“Very funny, Chet, “ he said through a mouthful of chips. Just as Johnny was getting ready with a comeback to Chet, the door buzzer sounded. Chet pushed back his chair with a screech to try to beat Johnny, who jumped over the edge of the table, to get to the door first.
“Kelly! Gage! Get back here!” Cap yelled. We don’t want to give her a bad impression in the first minute do we?” Chet and Johnny hung their heads and went back to their places at the table. “Good then. Now everybody, let’s behave, huh?” Cap gave his crew a look that they knew meant that they had better obey, or it will be latrine duty for everyone!
If the Cap had been in the day room at that particular moment, he would have seen all of his crew, except Roy, straightening their uniforms and smoothing down their hair. Gage was wiping the remains of his pre-lunch snack off of his lips.
Two minutes after he left, Captain Stanley returned with a pretty, brown haired, blue eyed female, dressed in blue flight pants and a white polo shirt. She stood in the doorway taking in the sight before her, slightly blushing at the men looking at her. Cap broke the silence and introduced her.
“Gentlemen, this is Ms. Susan Erickson, a paramedic from Pennsylvania. We are to have the honor of her presence during this shift to observe our operations.” The Cap then took Sue by the arm and introduced her to his men. “Sue, I’d like you to meet Chet Kelly, one of our firefighters…”. He paused long enough to let Kelly shake the hand that she offered to him. “At the end of the table is my engineer, Mike Stoker” he continued. “Hi”, Mike said and shook her hand. “Our cook for the day, Marco Lopez….” Cap noticed that their guest took a good long look at Marco before offering her hand to him. “Nice to meet you, Marco” she said. “What ever you are cooking smells wonderful!”
“I am glad that you arrived in time to try some” Marco said in a soft voice. The Cap noticed that he hadn’t taken his eyes from Susan since she had walked in. He turned her around to face Johnny, who was getting antsy and trying to get Cap’s attention, so that he would introduce him. “Here are the two gentlemen that you will be spending most of your time with, our paramedic team, John Gage and Roy DeSoto.” Johnny got up from his place sitting on the corner of the table and offered his hand to her first. She accepted it, and after a brief reciprocal handshake, took a couple of steps towards Roy, who was still on the couch, unable to get out from under Henry, who had crawled up on his lap.
“You’ll have to forgive me,” he said. “This is Henry, and it’s difficult to move him once he is settled.” Susan laughed and patted Henry on the head.
“Well, “ Cap said as he gestured towards a seat at the table. “Why don’t you have a seat? I think Marco is just about done with lunch.”
“I sure am, Cap.” Marco had put a big pan of corn bread on the table just a few moments earlier, and pulled a pot of steaming chili off the stove and set it down, while Mike got another place setting for their visitor. Everyone waited until Sue was seated, which Johnny made sure was done by pulling out her chair and waiting to push it in after she was seated.
Marco started to ladle chili into big bowls and laid the first one down in front of Mike, who was chatting with Roy, beside him. He then set the second bowl down in front of Johnny, and began filling the next. He stopped in mid-ladling as he thought to himself that it was awfully quiet, especially since Johnny had food in front of him. He set the third bowl down in front of their guest, who looked around at everyone watching her. She blushed slightly as she realized that they must be on their best behavior and were waiting for her to start.
“Gentlemen, please,” she gestured for them to begin eating. “I know that you have to eat when you can before you get a call. That happens to us back in Pennsylvania, too.” You could hear the audible sigh of relief as everyone relaxed. Marco finished dishing up lunch and sat down. He had strategically placed himself so that the chili pot was between him and their guest. That way, he could peek at her over the top and not look too obvious. At least, he hoped he wasn’t too obvious.
######
As luck would have it, the guys made it through lunch without a call. After the ice was broken, the lunchtime chatter was the usual banter back and forth, especially between Chet and Johnny. Sue nearly choked on her lunch a couple of times because she was laughing at their antics, and tried to figure out if they really liked each other or not. And who or what was the Phantom that they kept referring to? She hoped that she didn’t have the opportunity to find out!
While Mike and Marco cleared the table, Johnny set a fresh cup of coffee in front of Sue and sat down across the table from her. Chet had returned to reading the paper and Roy sat beside Johnny, who was squirming in his chair. “So, Sue,” he began. “We haven’t learned a whole lot about you yet.”
“I was having so much fun listening to you and Chet battle it out, Johnny. I didn’t want to monopolize the conversation,” she said with a smile as she looked out over her coffee mug. “Besides, I’m here to learn about you, right?”
“Well, we’d sure like to know what brought you here to our little piece of Paradise,” Roy pressed her in his unobtrusive, and slightly more tactful manner. “What got you interested in being a paramedic?”
“Ok, ok. I ‘spose you guys won’t let me alone till you hear my whole life’s story, will you?” Marco and Mike stopped washing the dishes and joined the rest of the crew at the table. They all wanted to hear about the paramedic from the East Coast that had entered their tight knit circle. Even the Cap had left the door to his office open so that he could hear what was going on while he did paperwork.
“Well, I had always been interested in medicine since I was a little girl. For as long as I can remember, the sound of a siren gave me a rush. I took courses through high school and started out in college to become a doctor. But, as fate would have it, I decided not to go to med school when I was a sophomore in college and was laid up with mono for three months. I figured if I couldn’t hack college, there was no way I would make it through med school. But I finished college and hoped to get a job in the medical field.” She paused slightly to catch her breath. Then, after nearly two years of trying and I still hadn’t landed a job in my chosen field, I went to medic school and here I am.” She said with a shrug of her shoulders.
“Do you have a lot of female paramedics back home?” Roy asked. “They are kind of a rarity out here.”
“In my medic class, out of 24, three of us were female. We had to prove ourselves, but we were accepted as one of the guys,” she said with a smile. “I remember one time though, when we were learning IM injections. My partner was male and refused to drop his pants for a shot in the butt. I’ve never seen any one’s face turn as red as his did that day!” Everyone laughed from the picture that her story brought to their minds. “But, no, there aren’t a lot of women. It’s still pretty much a male oriented profession.”
Marco had come around the table and warmed everyone’s coffee. “Thanks, Marco,” she said, looking at him and smiling. As he walked past her he caught a slight whiff of his cologne and wondered what it was. She followed him with her eyes as he completed his track around the table and then into the Captain’s office.
“Sue, did you hear me?” Johnny was speaking to her.
“Oh, sorry. I was lost in thought there for a minute. What did you say?” She made sure that her attention was on Gage’s question. She didn’t want any one to suspect that she was more than a little interested in Marco.
“I wondered where you went to medic school. Are you part of a fire department?” he asked. This girl was pretty interesting, he thought to himself. It would be nice to go out with someone that he had something in common with.
“My medic school is one of the premiere schools on the East coast. Students come in from all over the country, but most are from the East coast. It’s a tough program and if you can’t handle it, you’ll wash out in a short period of time. But, if you graduate, you can just about have your pick of jobs any where in the country. A lot of our medics go to Nevada and Louisiana, places like that. And no, we’re not associated with any one fire department. We run rescue and medical calls all over, assisting both paid and volunteer fire departments.” She noticed Cap walking out from his office with his hands on his hips.
“Okay, you guys. I think it’s time for the inquisition to take a break,” joked the Captain. “John, why don’t you take Ms. Erickson to get a helmet and coat and find her a bunk for the night, huh pal?”
“Sure, Cap,” Johnny stood up and gestured for Sue to follow him through the door out into the engine bay. Roy followed behind and headed toward the squad. He opened the door to the compartment where they kept their turnout coats and made room for the extra coat.
Soon, Johnny and Sue were beside him, both of them laughing. “What’s so funny?” Roy asked.
“Our equipment isn’t sized quite right for the fairer sex!” Johnny quipped. “The turnout coat is a little on the large size, and the smallest helmet I could find almost covers her eyes.” Roy took the helmet from Sue and turned it upside down.
“I can fix that!” he tugged on the cords inside the helmet to tighten the flaps on the webbing that the shell of the helmet sat on. “There” he said, handing the adjusted helmet to Sue. “Try that.” She placed it on her head, and although still a little large, at least she could see now.
“Thanks, Roy.” She smiled warmly at him. “Now,” she said, as she turned first to John and then to Roy. “Where are you going to find a place for a single female to sleep in a bunkroom full of men?” Johnny thought for a moment. This could be a real challenge.
“Oh, I am sure we can set you up with something,” he said as his crooked smile emerged.
“OK, just so I don’t have to sleep in the shower!” she exclaimed.
“Nah, that’s Johnny’s place!” Chet yelled from the kitchen. Johnny rolled his eyes.
“Chet, shut up! Why do you always have to…” his voice trailed off as he stomped away into the dormitory. In the doorway, he turned around to see Roy and Sue watching him. Sue’s mouth was open in surprise. Roy just shook his head.
“Well,” he said, “are ya coming or not!?” Then he stomped the rest of the way into the dorm.
######
The threesome of paramedics decided on a single bunk near the back of the dorm. That way Sue could have her privacy and still be able to hear everything. John and Roy warned her that she didn’t have to worry about missing a call. The klaxons and lights turn on throughout the whole station, waking even the deepest sleeper.
“We normally jump into boots and turnout pants when the klaxons go off and we’re in bed.” Johnny informed her. “Those we might have a really hard time finding for you.”
Sue was sitting on her bunk and leaning against the wall beside it. “That I can take care of. I brought my own!” Both of the LA paramedics looked surprised. “Fellas, I’m a volunteer firefighter at home. What do you think WE jump into when the tones go off in the middle of the night?!” She smiled at the two speechless paramedics and started to walk across the engine bay to get her gear from the car she had rented.
Half way across the parking lot, she heard tones going off. Not sure what they were, she continued towards her car. Johnny ran out. “Come on Miss East coast medic. They’re playing our song!” Sue turned just a couple of feet from her car and ran back into the engine bay, the adrenaline pumping as she heard the Captain acknowledge the call.
Johnny handed her her helmet as she skidded to a stop beside the squad, and she crawled in between the two LA medics. Mike already had the engine pulled out onto the apron of the engine bay, waiting for the paramedics to get in the squad.
“Where’re we going?” Susan asked, excitement flashing in her eyes.
“To a vehicle fire.” Roy acknowledged.
“Oh,” Sue replied, sounding slightly dejected.
“The funny thing is,” Johnny began, “it is in an open field just outside the city limits. Rather an odd place for a car fire, unless there is more to the story.”
This might just be interesting after all, Susan said to herself. “Ok, let’s go see what you city boys can do!” Sue looked between the two men and smiled. The two paramedics exchanged glances and smiled to themselves. This was going to be a very interesting shift with this woman along.
When Engine 51 arrived at the scene, the vehicle was fully involved, including the passenger compartment. Captain Stanley acknowledged the engine and squad on the scene and jumped off the engine before it had been completely stopped. “Ok, boys. Can’t do much with this one except keep the fire from spreading to the surrounding area. Pull an inch and a half off and try to keep it away from the gas tank if you can!”
Marco and Chet complied, while Mike set the gauges on the engine to pump out the proper pressure for the hose. Chet braced Marco with one hand on his shoulder as he felt the hose charge. A second later, Marco opened the nozzle and began a spray pattern from the back to the front of the car. The burning foam and Naugahyde seat covers made a black, choking smoke that made the eyes of the two firefighters burn. They both had to keep wiping away the tears that the acrid, stinging smoke brought to their eyes.
Roy made the squad available at the scene since it seemed like this was going to be just a routine vehicle fire. The three paramedics leaned against the side of the squad waiting for the fire to be put out. Johnny was sure with that much smoke that Marco and Chet were going to need their eyes washed out after it was all over. When it seemed that they were getting a hand on the fire, he started setting out a couple of normal saline IV bags to use on his friends’ eyes.
Mike was getting concerned with how much water this fire was taking to put out. He was already half the way through his tank load and Chet and Marco hadn’t even touched the engine compartment yet. He wished that they would stop fooling around and put the damn thing out. Captain Stanley must have been thinking the same thing. He came over and took a quick look at the gauges, a look of frustration crossing his face. He knew his men were doing the best that they could, but what was burning that took so damn long to be put out?
Marco couldn’t stand the black smoke going into his eyes any longer. He shut the hose down so that he could switch with Chet and get out of the direct line of the smoke. The two had worked together long enough to know the routine, and as Marco shut the nozzle off and handed it to him, Chet planted himself for the surge that was going to occur when he turned the water back on. “Marc, this goddamn thing just won’t go out! I’m gonna hit the engine compartment and see if we can make a dent in this thing!” Chet yelled over the roar of the fire. Marco gave him a thumbs up and put a hand on his shoulder to steady them both. Chet turned the nozzle on and aimed the hose towards the engine compartment. At least that helped blow the black, stinging smoke away from them and their sore eyes.
Cap was watching the gauges over Mike’s shoulder and was getting frustrated with how difficult this fire was to knock down. He ran over to the two men fighting the fire. “Marc, what the hell is the problem?!” he yelled.
A frustrated Marco answered him. “I don’t know, Cap. This thing just won’t drown. And the smoke is really bad. Chet’s hitting the engine compartment to see if we can make a dent—“
“Oh, Shit!” Chet had turned the water off and was staring at a dark outline in the car. Both the Cap and Marco looked at him and then followed his stare to what he saw. “Cap, I think that’s a –” Cap patted him on the shoulder.
“Yeh, Pal. That’s exactly what it is.” Shit! The Cap thought. I knew this was too simple. Cap pulled the antenna on his handi-talkie and keyed the mic. “L.A., engine 51”
“Engine 51 this is L.A.”, came the voice acknowledging him.
“L.A. I need police and an ambulance at my location. Engine 51 out 45 minutes.” All of a sudden, the Cap felt very tired. He turned to look for his medics. “Gage, DeSoto, I think you should see this.” The trio of paramedics trotted over to the car and stopped suddenly when they smelled charred flesh.
“God, Cap!” Gage exclaimed. “It took this long to find this guy?”
“Gage, you saw how thick the smoke was. We were on top of this thing and still didn’t see any body in the car!” the Cap said a little more intense than he had meant to. “I guess there’s nothing you can do for the guy. I’ve called for an ambulance and the police. There’s going to be an investigation I’m sure.” Gage and DeSoto looked at their Captain. They knew that an inquiry would be started since there was a body found in the car. The question was, was the person still alive when they arrived on scene and they missed it, or was he dead long before this fire started? That was for the police to determine with their investigation. In the meantime, the fire department would have to keep the curious onlookers away.
Sue Erickson’s nostrils burned from the smell of charred flesh before she even got close enough to see what had gotten the Captain’s attention. She didn’t have to look at the blackened remains to know what he had found. But, her eyes were inexplicably drawn to the object sitting in the car, veiled in a haze of smoke. Chet and Marco had finally gotten the fire out by this time, but trails of smoke were still seeping out from under the car body. All of a sudden, she felt sick. Willing herself not to give into the growing nausea, she turned away from the vehicle and walked back towards the engine taking big gulps of fresh air. She didn’t stop walking until she was hidden behind Engine 51. And there at the edge of the field near a drainage ditch, she could hold back no longer and her stomach emptied itself involuntarily, the stench of death still in her nostrils.
#####
As the Captain returned to the engine to wait for the police and ambulance, he caught sight of Sue Erickson in the throes of dry heaves after there was no longer any stomach contents to be evacuated. He became alarmed when he saw her collapse onto her knees and saw the paleness in her face. He called for Roy.
“Roy, I think this call was a little too much for our guest. Go make sure that she is ok, huh, pal?” Roy looked over at Sue, who was sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest and her forehead resting on them.
As he walked over to her, he could see the remains of the rivulets of sweat drying her hair to her face. What he could see of her skin was pasty white and he was sure it would be cool and clammy if he were to touch her. Instead, he squatted down beside the ill paramedic.
“Sue? Are you ok?” Without removing her head from her knees, she slowly nodded her assent. Roy tentatively reached over to the wrist closest to him and felt for her pulse. It was strong, but a little rapid, and he could feel just a hint of moistness left on her skin.
When she was finally able to lift her head, she smiled shyly at Roy. “I’ll be fine, Roy. I’m not sure what came over me. Usually blood and guts doesn’t affect me. I feel like a total ass.”
“Well, I am sure that this isn’t something that you see every day in rural Pennsylvania, “ Roy said. “You get used to it.” Roy stood up and offered his hand to help Sue up. She looked at Roy for a minute and then took the proffered hand.
“Thanks,” she said. “I guess you big city boys aren’t so bad after all.” She smiled at him as they made their way back to the rest of the crew.
#####
The police had arrived at the call site and made it a crime scene. After they took all their measurements and samples for their investigation, the body was transported to Rampart Hospital to under go an autopsy to determine if the body was dead before or after the fire occurred.
John and Roy followed the ambulance to the hospital with the intention of replacing used supplies. They were hoping they could show off their East Coast medic too. She had kind of grown on them and felt she was a part of their crew and it’s family like relationship.
At Rampart, the paramedics found business to be slow. That was good they thought. Maybe it might be slow for them too, then.
Dixie saw the trio walk in, a questioning look in her eyes when she saw the unfamiliar female that was with her favored paramedics. “Hey, Dix!” Johnny said while walking around to the back of the nurse’s station to get a cup of coffee.
“Hey, guys.” Dixie smiled, her gaze fixed on the female of the group. She extended her hand to Sue. “Hi, I’m Dixie McCall.” Sue took her hand and firmly shook it.
“Dix, this is Sue Erickson. She’s a paramedic from Pennsylvania. Came out for the conference this weekend and is spending the shift with us.”
“Oh, so you’re the one that Johnny was talking about the last time they were in here. He walked out the door so fast after he realized you were coming that I didn’t even get a chance to talk to him about you.” She laughed lightly. “So, how do you like our fair city?”
Sue thought about her reply for a minute. “Well, I haven’t seen too much of it yet. These guys haven’t taken me too many places since I’ve been here!” she said as her eyes twinkled with glee.
Roy, understanding what she was getting at, replied. “The shift’s been a little quiet today. Haven’t had much to take her out on. “
“Yeh, kind of like this place. It’s unusually – uh—calm, “ Dixie said hesitantly, not wanting to break the spell. Dixie turned to Sue. “Well, Sue. Let me tell you. Just don’t let these guys get away anything. They might be the best paramedics we’ve got in this county, but they can also be the craziest. Especially Johnny over there. He’s gotten a reputation for some of the stunts that he pulls, on rescues and otherwise.” Dixie smiled knowingly at him.
“Why Dixie,” Johnny started. “I’ve always been crazy. It just took this long for you to find it out.”
“Uh-huh,” she drawled, nodding her head. Roy just rolled his eyes and Sue stifled a giggle.
“Come on, Junior. It’s almost time for dinner, and my stomach’s talking to me. See ya later Dix.”
Dixie waved at the departing medics. “See ya, fellas. And Sue, nice meeting you!”
Sue acknowledged her by turning and waving as they were walking out the door of the ER.
Johnny opened the door of the squad so that Sue could crawl in between he and Roy. The three sat there for a minute in an uncomfortable silence. “Dixie seems nice,” Sue said to break the tension.
“Oh, she is, she is!” Johnny said with a little more emphasis than was needed.
“She keeps her eye on us, that’s for sure,” Roy added.
“I’m just glad that you didn’t tell her how I christened your fair city after that last run! Might have given her the wrong impression,” Sue giggled and looked at Roy. Johnny looked back and forth between the pair with a confused look. Obviously, he didn’t know what the two were talking about and it was driving him crazy.
“What?! What do you mean?” Johnny questioned. Sue just smiled and looked at Roy, who put the squad in gear and started towards home. “Come on you guys. What happened?!”
Sue just shook her head, and shrugged her shoulders. It must drive Gage nuts when he isn’t right on top of everything, she thought. As far as I am concerned, that little incident can be our secret!
“Roy, come on. What does she mean?! Are you guys going to answer me or not!?” Gage demanded.
It was going to be a long ride back to the station.
######
Arriving back at the station, the crew of the squad found an empty apparatus bay. The engine had been called out again. In the day room, Marco must have been in the middle of preparations for dinner as half peeled and chopped vegetables littered the countertop.
“Ah, man!” Johnny frowned. “It’s gonna be another late dinner till the engine gets back!” Sue had been rummaging in the cupboards and refrigerator to see what there was to work with. After obtaining a few more ingredients, she set the huge stockpot on the stove and began throwing the chopped vegetables into it. “What are ya doin’ Sue? Marco’s cookin’!
Sue turned to the dark haired paramedic, and with her hands on her hips, smiled as broadly as she could. “Johnny, I would hate to see you fade away to nothin’ because you didn’t get a meal on time.” She paused for his reaction. She got nothing but a slack jaw and expression of surprise. “I’m going to make you guys a Pennsylvania Dutch treat! With the veggies started and some beef that I found in the freezer, I am going to make you a stew that will stick to your ribs!” She turned around to stir the ingredients in the pot.
“Ya know, Roy. This girl’s only been here a few hours and she is starting to act like the rest of the men in this station,” Johnny stated after sitting down next to Roy at the big kitchen table. Just then the air brakes of the Ward engine were heard as Mike backed it into the engine bay. Shortly, four weary firemen walked into the kitchen. “Everyone’s got an attitude!”
“Who’s got an attitude, Gage?” the Captain asked as he walked through the door.
“Our guest has learned how to handle Johnny Gage and he says we are influencing her with our attitudes,” answered Roy.
“I guess she’s just a quick learner, Gage!” Chet interjected, as he sat at the table. “Cap, do you think we can arrange for Gage to go back to Pennsylvania and we can keep Sue? At least she can cook!” Chet ducked just as Johnny threw a balled up piece of newspaper at him.
During this time, Sue was unaware that they were talking about her. Marco had come into the kitchen with the intention of finishing dinner, and found that Sue had it half the way done. They were engrossed in conversation and cooking when Chet made the crack about Johnny.
Within an hour, Sue had dinner on the table, and six hungry firemen dove into her Pennsylvania Dutch cooking. No one said anything about the amount of attention that Marco was giving to their guest, nor about the flour stuck to both of their faces after making homemade noodles together. It looked like they got more on them than in the pot!
After dinner, five very satisfied fire fighters relaxed in front of the television while Sue and Marco cleaned up. Cap sat in an armchair rubbing his belly, while Chet laid on the couch with Henry, half asleep. Mike was content reading a technical manual, while Roy finished up some paperwork. Johnny pretended to watch the television, while checking on what Sue and Marco were doing every few minutes. He couldn’t see what she saw in him. Must be the mustache, he mused.
#####
By 2200 hours, mostly everyone had turned in for the night. It was an unusually quiet shift and the men appreciated the time to relax and rest up. Sue and Marco were the only ones still up at that time. They had taken their coffee mugs out into the parking lot to talk after cleaning up from dinner and still hadn’t come in by the time it got dark.
On his way to the dorm, the Captain stuck his head out the open bay door and yelled to Marco. “Hey Marco, be sure to have our little girl home by midnight. And don’t forget to lock up when you finally come to bed!”
Cap heard Sue giggle. “Yes, sir, Cap!” he heard them say in unison. He stood watching the two for a minute, taking it all in. The couple, who had become fast friends, were standing in the shadows out by the wall bordering the parking lot. They were having an animated discussion. Cap smiled as he thought about a similar circumstance that he had when he first met his wife, Emily. It must be something about fire stations that is romantic to women. He’d heard about a lot of relationships that got started somewhere in a firehouse. He heard some more giggling and decided that he had better go to bed before he saw something that might be embarrassing to everyone.
As Cap crawled under the covers, Sue and Marco walked into the engine bay arm in arm. The night had gotten chilly, and they decided that it was time to go to bed. While Marco made sure that the bay doors were shut and locked up tight, Sue took their long empty coffee mugs and deposited them in the kitchen sink. She turned out the day room light and followed Marco into the dorm with the help of the recessed night lighting in the walls. At his bunk, he squeezed Sue’s hand and whispered good night. He sat on his bunk for a few minutes to be sure that she had gotten to her bunk safely in the strange surroundings. Not hearing any shins being banged or toes stubbed, he got undressed for bed.
Sue quietly made her way to her bunk, and arranged her turnout pants and boots for middle of the night use. She quietly got undressed and crawled under the covers. After listening to the slowed breathing of sleeping men for a few minutes, she drifted off to a peaceful sleep herself.
#####
She thought she was having a dream when the lights flashed on in the dorm and the klaxons awakened the crew of Station 51. She sat up on an elbow trying to figure out what was going on when Johnny appeared at the end of her bunk, pulling up his suspenders. “Hey sleepyhead. They’re playin’ our song again. Let’s go!” He disappeared as fast as he had appeared. By now, Sue knew where she was and what was happening. She threw back the covers, pulled on her turnout pants and ran out into the engine bay, one suspender still hanging around her hip. She had forgotten how heavy the boots were to run in and was winded by the time she reached the squad. Roy already had the engine started and Johnny was holding the door open for her to climb in. She reached for her helmet as Johnny slammed the door shut, and Roy followed Mike out, lights and sirens activated.
“What are we going to?” she asked no one in particular as she rubbed the remaining sleep out of her eyes. She noticed it was still dark, but that a hint of sunrise could be seen on the horizon. Must be about 5 AM, she thought.
“A house fire, possibly with entrapment,” Roy informed her. “At this time of the night, everyone was probably in bed. I hope it’s not a kid that’s trapped.” Sue nodded in agreement. Damn! She thought. I sure could have used a cup of coffee to get my heart started! She rubbed her eyes once more, wiping the final traces of sleep away.
They could see the flames of the fire from two blocks away. The Cap issued a second alarm before they even got on the scene. If there were someone trapped, it would be a miracle if they would be found alive.
Arriving on the scene, Captain Stanley ordered his paramedic team to pack up and do a search of the house. Information was relayed to him that family members were confirmed to still be in the burning structure. He hoped it wouldn’t be a body recovery.
After helping John and Roy with their air packs. Sue began pulling equipment out of the squad’s compartments. She felt helpless watching everyone work the fire. She figured at least she could set things up for injuries, just in case.
Suddenly behind her, she heard the blare of a car horn and squeal of tires. Spinning quickly around to see what the racket was, she saw a tall, blonde woman running towards the fire scene. She was screaming something, but Sue couldn’t hear it due to the sounds of the fire. She saw two well-built policemen tackle the excited woman before she broke through the fire ground barricade. Oh, God no. I bet that is a relative of whoever lives in this house! Sue thought. She saw the policemen bringing the sobbing woman over towards the squad. Before she could open her mouth to tell them that she wasn’t an LA County paramedic, they left the hysterical woman with her and returned to keeping the rubberneckers away.
The woman had collapsed at Sue’s feet and was crying hysterically. Sue knelt down beside her and wrapped her arms around the woman in a hug, rocking her instinctively like you would comfort a child.
By the time Sue got the sobbing woman calmed down, she had found out that it was her family in that house. There were two little girls, an older boy, and the woman’s mother. She had seen the light from the fire as she drove home from working the late shift at a nearby factory. Thankfully, a neighbor had come to Sue’s aid and took the woman to her home where she could be more comfortable. Thank goodness, thought Sue. The last thing she would need to see is the bodies of her family members being brought out.
The sun was starting to peak out over the mountains and began to blend with the flames from the raging fire. Neighboring houses appeared to be on fire themselves due to the sun’s rays and the flames reflecting off windows.
Suddenly, there was a crash and the sound of glass falling to the ground from a second story window. Sue saw Johnny wave his hand out the window, the unspoken words heard by Chet and Marco, who laid an extension ladder up to him. He appeared to have a small child in his arms. Then there was another crash and Roy was at an adjoining window with a victim. A crew from Station 36 grabbed a ladder and set it up for Roy.
Chet anchored the foot of Johnny’s ladder as Marco climbed up it to get Gage’s victim. Johnny had started to bring the victim out on the window ledge in anticipation of Marco’s arrival when all of a sudden there was a snap and a bolt of bright blinding whiteness from an overhanging power line. It swung down from its connection to the roof of the burning building and made contact with an unsuspecting Marco.
The ladder being made of wood prevented Chet and Johnny from getting the high voltage jolt, but Marco had been hit directly by the snaking wire. In what seemed like slow motion, Marco stood straight up on the ladder, crumpled to a heap and rolled off the side of it. He hit the ground hard, convulsions overtaking his body.
Sue was in shock at what had happened. Johnny and Roy looked on from their perches on the windowsills. For a second, no one moved. Then Chet, who was the closest, moved toward the now still Marco. With the threat of the live power line taken care of by the power company who arrived on the scene just seconds later, Chet felt for a carotid pulse on his friend. The look on Chet’s face told everyone watching that the unconscious fireman was pulseless. Chet glared at Sue, daring her to come help his friend, but also knowing that she was not certified to be a paramedic in California. A second fireman from Station 36’s came over and grabbed Marco under the knees, while Chet grabbed him under the arms, being careful to keep his spine in line as much as possible. Both the firefighters knew it was a gamble to move the unconscious man without spinal precautions, but there was more danger to him if they didn’t move him immediately out of the fire area.
The men carrying Marco laid him gently at Sue’s feet, Chet’s eyes begging her to take care of his friend.
Sue dropped to her knees and checked his breathing and carotid pulse at the same time. He, indeed, did not have a pulse and was not breathing. She threw her helmet on the ground and ripped off the turnout coat she was wearing. She carefully did a jaw thrust maneuver to open his airway, and began mouth-to-mouth respirations by giving him two full breaths. A check of his pulse seconds later showed he still had no heartbeat. She started CPR while Chet and the fireman from 36’s set up the resuscitation equipment. Half of the way through her second set of rescue breaths, Chet was ready with the bag valve mask and the rescuer from 36’s was starting chest compressions. She unpacked the electrodes for the cardiac monitor and pasted them on Marco’s chest. Turning the monitor on, it showed an erratic wavy line, ventricular fibrillation. He needed to be defibrillated immediately. She paused for a second, briefly thinking about what she was about to do and what it might do to her career, and then grabbed the paddles from the heart-starting machine. Pausing just long enough to apply conductive gel, she started charging the machine. She knew what she had to do to save her new friend’s life, even if it meant losing her own paramedic certification.
The machine sang it’s high-pitched song of being fully charged. Just as she was ready to lay the paddles on his bared chest, Johnny ran up and stopped her. “Sue!” he yelled at her to make her focus her attention on him. “I’ll take over. It’s ok.” Johnny knew, too, what kind of trouble she could get into, practicing without being licensed in California. Sue handed him the paddles. “Clear!” Johnny yelled. Sue watched the monitor on the defibrillator, preferring to watch it jump instead of the unconscious fireman’s body convulse with the electricity traveling across it.
“That’s good, Johnny. He’s back in sinus rhythm!” Sue exhaled the breath she was holding in relief. Johnny grabbed the biophone to contact Rampart. She grabbed an IV set out of the drug box in preparation for orders from Rampart to start heart-stabilizing medication on the downed fireman. Chet began to have difficulty keeping the oxygen on Marco. He was beginning to regain consciousness and was fighting the artificial breaths that Chet was trying to assist with. A good sign.
Sue laid a restraining hand on Marco’s arm and softly spoke calming words to her friend. At the sound of her voice, he relaxed and stopped fighting the medical intervention that he was being given.
Sue exhaled audibly, relief evident. She closed her eyes and said a brief prayer, thanking God for sparing this man’s life.
####
Roy slapped his hand twice on the closed doors of the ambulance to send it on its way. All told, there were four civilians, and Marco, that were victims of the early morning blaze. Amazingly, no one was killed, but all were taken to the hospital for further treatment. It was long past shift change, and there was still cleanup to be done from the fire.
Sue sat on the passenger seat in the squad, her head between her hands, eyes closed. She didn’t notice Roy had walked up and was standing in front of her. “Sue? You gonna be ok?” he asked.
She slowly lifted her head and nodded at him. “I really got more than I bargained for when I asked to ride with you guys. It’s been a great experience. But tell me one thing Roy.” She asked with a question in her eyes.
“What’s that?”
“How do you guys ever catch up on your sleep? These calls in the middle of the night are for the birds!” she exclaimed.
The look on Roy’s face told Sue that he agreed with her. “Yeah. Let’s go to Rampart and pick up Johnny.
Sue swung her legs inside the vehicle as Roy closed the door. He then entered the driver’s side and started the engine of the squad. He pulled out into the street that had been blocked off for the fire equipment and headed for Rampart Hospital.
The two paramedics rode to the hospital in an uneasy silence. Sue looked straight ahead at where they were going, occasionally biting her lip as an unwelcome thought passed through her mind.
Roy looked at her. “Sue, about what happened with Marco—“
Sue looked at Roy with narrowed eyes. “Roy, I couldn’t just have let him die!!” she interrupted emphatically. She had been waiting for the moment of retribution. Yes, she deserved it, but she had been given no choice. She opened her arms in front of her body, palms up, in an act of submission. “I just couldn’t watch him die,” she said in a soft voice. Her eyes showed of the pain that had haunted her since she began the unauthorized treatment. She looked away from him, not wanting to show the tears that were beginning to form.
Seeing the pain in her eyes, Roy pulled the squad over to the side of the road and shut off the engine. “Sue,” he started. “Sue, look at me,” he ordered. She turned her head to meet Roy’s gaze. He was surprised at how much conviction she had and it showed in her eyes as she looked at him.
“Sue, as far as I am concerned, you didn’t do anything wrong.” Sue, expecting a chewing out, couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She looked at Roy with questioning eyes.
Roy continued. “I spoke with Johnny. He said that you didn’t do anything that you weren’t supposed to do. He stopped you before you had a chance to defibrillate Marco.”
Sue’s shoulders, squared in defense, suddenly relaxed. The tears that she had been holding back squeezed out behind closed eyelids.
Roy reached out and squeezed her left shoulder lightly to gain her attention. He looked into her eyes and smiled. “You saved his life by starting CPR. That was something anyone off the street can do. You saved his life,” Roy emphasized.
Sue looked at him, relief evident on her face, and smiled shyly.
“Come on, let’s go see how he’s doing.” Roy turned and started the squad’s engine and headed toward Rampart.
###
It was several hours past quitting time when the squad and its crew finally returned to Station 51. Three weary paramedics headed into the kitchen to give the rest of the A shift crew a head’s up on Marco’s condition. They had all gathered there after shift change, awaiting word on their crewmate’s condition. B shift was already out on another run.
“So, boys, how’s Marco?” the Cap asked. The question was on the tip of everyone’s tongue.
“Well,” Roy started. “It seems as though the quick work by Chet and our east coast counterpart helped Marco come out of this fairly unscathed. He’s not showing any sign of heart damage and just has a slight burn where the cable contacted his turnout coat. He’ll be in the hospital overnight, but his prognosis is excellent.”
Cap clapped his hands together and smiled. “That’s wonderful!”
“Yeah, he had me really scared!” Chet interjected. “And Sue, I’m sorry I put you in the spot that I did. I knew that you weren’t legal in California, but…” his voice trailed off.
“Chet, Roy and I have already been over this,” she started. “I didn’t do anything the rest of you couldn’t have done.” She smiled at the rest of the crew. “But now, gentleman, I think I need to take my leave. I originally came here to attend an EMS conference to get caught up on the most recent advances in emergency medicine. But I think my experience here with you guys beats anything I can learn in a classroom. But I really do have to leave. Maybe I can find a class I can sleep through to try and get caught up on what I lost last night.”
“Just make sure it’s not Kelly Brackett’s” Johnny warned.
“Ah yes. I never did get to meet the infamous doctor. I will make it a point not to fall asleep in his lecture.” Sue smiled as she gazed at the crew.
“Well, gentleman, I will take my leave for the time being.”
“You’ll come back and visit us before you leave for home, won’t you?” the Captain asked.
“You can count on it, Cap. Besides, I’m one of the family now, right?” Her eyes sparkled as she reiterated a comment that she had heard earlier from one of the men.
“Sue, how about a lift to the conference? I’m headed that way myself,” Johnny asked.
“Well, Johnny. Tell ya what. I’m going to go back to my hotel room, take a nice hot shower and I’ll meet ya in the lobby in an hour. I’d like to pick your brain about a few things,” Sue explained.
Chet spoke up, always having to have the last word when it came to Johnny. “Sue, that will be mighty slim pickin’s with him. We all know that he only has half a mind any way!”
Everyone groaned at Chet’s joke as they all filed out to go their respective ways.
####
The day had dawned like any other beautiful Southern California day. It was the first shift back from a long weekend for the men from Station 51’s A shift. Mike was just putting up the American flag out front when Sue, on Marco’s arm, walked through the engine bay.
“Hey, Marco. Sue. How ya feelin’ pal?” Mike said as he shook Marco’s hand.
“Wow, Mike. You really do talk!” Sue observed. “Nah,” the engineer said. “That’s just a nasty rumor flying around.” He clapped her on the back and walked into the break room. Sue and Marco followed.
Roy was the first one to spot the couple. “Hey, Sue! How ya feelin’ Marco?” Roy shook his hand.
“Well, thanks to this brave lady, I am healing quickly,” Marco said as he put his arm around Sue. Marco pulled out a chair at the table for her and the Cap put a steaming cup of coffee in front of her as she sat down.
“How long will you be out for, Marco?” the Cap asked.
“The doc said I can go back the first shift next week if I feel ok,” Marco informed his superior.
“Great, Pal. You just take it easy till then,” the Cap ordered. Everyone got quiet, not knowing what to say next.
Roy broke the silence. “So, Sue. You’ll be on your way home soon, I take it?”
“Uh, yeah. I have a late afternoon flight. I have to work tomorrow myself. I wanted to keep my promise that I would come to see you guys before I left.” A cloak of silence soon filled the station again.
When no one else came forward with anything else to say, Sue continued. “I just wanted to tell you guys how great of an experience this was. I learned a lot about myself, as well as how EMS in the big city works. I owe you all a lot.”
“We enjoyed the opportunity to show you how we work,” Roy said with a smile. “While it’s a little different, we enjoyed having a female in the station.”
Johnny entered the room from the engine bay with a package under his arm. “Yeah. And like you said, you grew to be part of the family in such a short period of time. We wanted to give you something to remind you of all of us. Here.” He handed the brightly wrapped package to the surprised paramedic. A blush started creeping up her face.
“Ah, geez, guys. You really didn’t have to do this….” She started tearing at the wrapping paper like a child on Christmas morning. Inside was a box with a Station 51 sweatshirt and a picture of A shift in formal uniform, framed, and signed by everyone.
“I don’t know what to say,” Sue began.
“Say you’ll come back to visit us,” Cap began. “Soon.”
“Oh, I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that, Cap,” Marco said. “She’s coming back as soon as she can get scheduled into a civil service test sitting.” Everyone looked at her in amazement.
“I guess I just got hooked!” Sue shrugged her shoulders. “Besides, I have to come back to make sure Marco is getting along after his accident.”
“That wouldn’t be the only reason, would it?” The Cap asked with a smile playing on his lips.
“I’m leaving all my options open!” she said, patting the hand that Marco had around her shoulders.
Just then the tones went off for a full station response. As the men headed for the equipment, they all took a moment to offer hugs and best wishes to their east coast counterpart.
After the trucks had exited the station, Sue and Marco sat relishing the silence and the time alone.
“Well,” Sue began slowly. “I think it’s time to get me to the airport.”
“Yeah,” Marco said, obviously distressed at the idea. He stood up from the chair he was sitting in, took both of Sue’s hands in his and pulled her into his embrace. She pressed her body into the warmth of his and smelled the scent coming from his skin, arms wrapped tightly around him. She laid her head on his chest.
“Thanks for saving my life,” he whispered and kissed the top of her head.
She lifted her face to his and nuzzled his nose with hers. “Hey, I couldn’t let you die. I wouldn’t have a reason to come back to LA then.” She smiled and laid her head back on his chest, gently rubbing his back with open palms. He smelled the scent of her hair, the fragrance of her body. He wanted to remember this woman, to imprint her face and the sweetness of how she smelled into his memory for as long as he could. He was sure that the months that it would be until she returned would seem to never end.
He held her a little bit closer. A little further away from the east coast. A little closer to his heart.