|
|||||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||||
............Part
Three........,
Johnny brought his attention back to the ambulance in front of him. It passed through the intersection just as the light turned red. He was right behind it with his own siren blaring, glancing quickly in both directions before preceding. Just as he approached the center, a pickup truck came barreling through the intersection at a high rate of speed.
"Aw, shit!" Johnny yelled as he swerved to avoid the truck. He saw the concrete truck in his path, but at the rate of speed in which the squad was traveling, there was no way he could avoid it. He threw his hands over his head instinctively before the impending impact with the massive vehicle.
*****
"Let's go to Rampart and restock," Brice told his partner. I can't wait to see Alica again... she said she was working today...
"We can wait till we get a run, Brice," Bellingham countered.
"The last shift left us short on saline. I think we should go now so we'll be prepared in the event of something catastrophic."
"All right, all right... but can I at least finish my coffee first?" Bellingham sighed. Something catastrophic? He expecting an earthquake today I don't know about?
"Very well," Brice agreed. "I'll finish straightening the drug box."
Just as Bellingham put his empty cup in the sink, the tones sounded.
"Station 16, traffic accident, corner of Del Amino and Canton, time out: 08:50."
The squad and engine pulled out of the station and arrived at the scene within minutes. A concrete truck sat, abit skewed, at the intersection. The uniformed driver was talking with a police officer, gesticulating expansively.
The office looked up, and gestured the squad to go to the other side of the mixer.
"Aw, HELL!" Bellingham screeched, as the other vehicle involved came into view. "It's one of OURS!"
"Call it in," Brice ordered, leaping out. "It's Fifty-one!"
As Bellingham did just that, Brice leaned in through the driver's side window. "It's Gage!" he called to Bellingham as he gently leaned the unconscious paramedic back in the seat.
Bellingham whistled. "Looks like he just drove full-tilt into the side of the thing!"
"Fortunately, he was strapped in. For a change." He shone the light in Johnny's eyes. "Pupils unequal and sluggish." He did another test. "Pain response nominal..."
****
Listening to it on the radio, Roy's fists clenched in helplessness. "Johnny, dammit..." he whispered.
Brackett gave orders for immediate transport. "Doesn't sound good," he mumbled. "...nasty head trauma..."
****
When the ambulance reached the hospital, Brice reported a change... Johnny's BP had dropped slightly.
Worried, Brackett tested Johnny again. He stripped off his shoe and sock to do a Babinski's reflex test --- and froze.
"What the HELL...." He stripped off Johnny's other shoe and sock. "Brice, get Dr. Early in here!"
"What is it?" Roy asked.
"His feet..." Brackett said. "They're all torn up!"
"WHAT?"
"BP's now 85/40, pulse is 130, respirations are 28 and shallow," reported Carol. She took the stethoscope from her ears and started to cut Johnny's shirt off.
"Okay, Carol," replied Brackett as he examined Johnny's raw feet. "Let's get a unit of packed cells up here. He could be bleeding internally. I also want a full skull series, cross table and lateral c-spine films,a chest x-ray and I want that left femur x-rayed." He glanced at Roy. "Not only could he have a serious head injury, but those bruises indicate that he hit the steering wheel pretty hard on impact. I'm fairly certain that he fractured several ribs, to go along with the femur fracture. I'm worried he could have some chest or abdominal bleeding." He continued to examine Johnny's feet. "It looks like he had several blisters break. Some of the skin has been rubbed pretty raw. Was Johnny complaining at all? They look pretty painful."
Roy sighed and tightened his grip on the counter. "He said that he was really tired from his date last night and right before we got called to the MVA he was gonna soak them." Roy scratched his head. "They didn't seem to bother him at the scene. He didn't even limp."
Brice returned with Dr. Early and Alica. "Wow," commented Alica. "I knew he was limping when we finished, but he never let on that it was that bad." She looked at the broken blisters that covered both of John's heels, the ball of his left foot, the side and last two toes of his right foot. "If I had known, we could have stopped sooner."
"Gage appeared to have the proper footwear, also," said Craig, puzzled. They stood in silence as they watched Dr. Early examine Johnny.
"What were you doing?" asked Dr. Brackett. He twitched his mouth.
"We were training for the upcoming marathon," said Alica. "Johnny heard Craig and I discussing it, and he joined us at the track."
"He won't be running in that marathon now," Roy said softly as he glanced at John.
Johnny moaned as Dr. Early completed his exam. "His pupils are sluggish, but reactive. This could just be a bad concussion. Brice, do you know if he hit the windshield?"
Brice shook his head. "He had his seatbelt on. The glass was cracked, but it appeared to have cracked from the impact of the truck."
Joe Early replaced the penlight in his pocket as the x-ray tech rolled the machine into the room. "We'll know more once we get the films."
"We should get out of the way," said Alica. "Let's go outside until they're finished."
She led the way out of the treatment room.
Click the patch to go back to the Main Page.
