One minute I was squatting next to a crumpled BMW and reaching in through the door to assess the driver. Due to the crash the door only opened about five inches. As near as I could tell the driver was relatively unhurt but he was on the verge of panicking. There were a lot of jagged pieces of metal and broken glass fairly close to him. If he totally freaked out he could inflict some serious damage on himself.
There was a guy from 127 working to cut him out. Most of the victims of this five car pile up had been seen to and there was one more squad on the way so I decided to stick with the panicky guy. Until he was free, there wasn't much I could do except try to keep him calm.
Then the next minute something snapped and the entire car lurched. My first thought was that the guy from 127 must have completed his cut. My second thought was that something was burning my leg. I looked down. It wasn't really a burn but a piece of jagged sheet metal from the door had sliced a six inch gash in my right thigh. After the initial shock of the air hitting it, it didn't even hurt. All I could do was stare at the blood gushing out of the deep gash.
The next thing I knew another guy from 127 was on one side of me and Captain Stanley of 51 was on the other. They were both talking to me but I couldn't focus on their words. They each grabbed one of my arms and pulled me away from the car. I guess the motion brought me around a little because I was now able to follow what Captain Stanley was saying.
"Just relax, Cassie. My guys just pulled up. ROY, JOHN, over here."
It occurred to me that a little pressure on that wound might not be a bad idea. I covered the wound with both my hands and pressed down. Now that hurt! I yelped before I could stop myself.
"Take it easy. Saunders, run down and get Gage and DeSoto up here."
"Right, Cap"
"Is she alright, Cap?" the other guy, the one with the power tool, called over.
"Better than you're gonna be when I get a hold of you!" I hollered at him.
"She's alright, Cap," the guy laughed.
The two paramedics came running over. I knew just what to do. "Roy, my patient --" I gasped.
"You take care of the victim, Roy. John, give us a hand over here, would you?"
Men were so easy. Let them think they were in charge but I knew damn well if I was I was getting my pants cut off it was going to be by the cute one.
"What happened to you?" Johnny grinned at me.
"Seem to have sprung a leak," I admitted.
"Well, let's see what we can do about that." He was calm and casual. Keep it light to keep the patient calm. Didn't he realize that I went through the same training as he did? "Gotta get some of this fabric out of the way," he said casually as he got ready to use his scissors on what was left of my pants leg.
"Hey, what makes you think I'm that kind of girl?"
He grinned but avoided eye contact I noticed.
"Look, John, if you don't need me I'm going to go back to co-ordinating."
"Sure, Cap."
"Cap, could you make sure Chet doesn't come over here. He's liable to over-react," I suggested.
"He's liable to throw up," Johnny chuckled.
"I was trying to be nice."
Johnny evidently was able to apply a lot more pressure than I had because as soon as he did I saw stars and things started to spin. The next thing I knew I was laying on the pavement with an O2 mask on my face. Johnny was talking to me but I couldn't follow him. Roy and Pidge both came into my line of vision also but everything felt unreal, like a dream. I was able to comprehend that I had an IV and wondered if that was why I couldn't focus. I felt tired but someone kept talking to me so I couldn't sleep. It was really annoying. If I had had the energy I might have taken a swing at somebody. It seemed to be bleeding an awful lot for such a stupid wound. I wanted to look at it but they kept laying me back down every time I tried to sit up.
"You lay still, girl! Don't you be giving these guys any trouble. You hear me?"
I could tell Pidge was worried. She could be a regular mother hen at times. I wanted to tell her I was okay but every time I tried to remove the mask somebody had a cow. So I just flipped her the bird.
"You have this kind of trouble with your partner?" she asked Roy, out of frustration I guess.
"On occasion," he smiled. "You've got to lay still, Cassie. We had trouble enough getting a vein for that IV. You don't want to pull it out."
"Even your veins are hard to get along with!" Pidge snarled but I knew she wasn't really mad.
"It took three paramedics to find one vein?" I had to give them a hard time. I'm a Kelly. I have a reputation to uphold.
"PUT THAT MASK BACK ON! Come on, Roy. Let's find us some patients who will appreciate us," Pidge told him.
Roy looked a little puzzled. The man's just been married too long. Now I owed my partner a favor and I knew she'd find a way to collect.
"How are you doing? Still feeling light headed?" Johnny asked kindly.
"No more than usual."
He laughed. He was cute when he smiled and really appealing when he was allowing himself to just be himself. Why do guys insist on putting on this weird persona when they are trying to get a date? Chet does the same thing. They think coming on strong is sexy or something. It turns off any girl with a brain in her head -- not that they are usually looking for brains. Maybe someday he'd wise up. In the meantime he was still cute and lots of fun to embarrass.
"Well you just lay still. There's an ambulance on the way."
"Ambulance?"
"Yeah, they wanna see you at Rampart."
"They've seen me before. I bring them lots of customers."
"Well this time you are a customer. Don't look so down about it. I've been a customer a time or two myself."
"But you didn't have to explain it to Captain Tacy."
"Good point. Want me to ask Captain Stanley to talk to her?"
"No. She doesn't scare me like she does you."
"Me? Do I look like I'm afraid of her? I mean a lot of people are but I'm certainly not one of them! For your information Captain Tacy and I have an understanding. Here's the ambulance."
"You sure are cute when you're flustered."
"Who's flustered?!"
"You are, Junior. Now if you two aren't getting along. I can ride in with the victim," Roy offered. Where had he come from all of a sudden? Maybe Roy wasn't so dense, after all.
"Who says we're not getting along. We're getting along fine, aren't we, Cassie?"
"Like brother and sister," Roy laughed.
I liked Roy better when he was dense.
Once I was inside the ambulance the heat started making me groggy again. I know he did all the right things but I was losing it. I fought it but eventually I guess I went out on him.
Everything else is sort of fuzzy. I remember snatches of the ambulance ride and winding up at the wrong end of the routine in a treatment room but the next thing that is really clear was Dixie calling my name.
"Wake up, Cassie."
"Why?"
"Because you're on the clock. What would Captain Tacy say?"
"Oh shit!" I tried to sit up. I was in for it now, although I wasn't sure why exactly.
"Easy there." It was Dr Joe. He pushed me back down. He was stronger than I thought he was.
"Lay still. You'll mess up my handy work."
"What handy work?"
"I just put 52 tiny unobtrusive stitches in your leg, Humpty, but you're all back together again."
"Better than all the king's horses and all the king's men. You better not have stitched out HOME SWEET HOME or I'll kill you."
"Now you tell me. Gee, I thought she'd like that touch, Dix."
"Leave the jokes to me, Doc."
"Everyone's a critic these days."
"Never mind him, Cassie. We're going to admit you for observation overnight," Dix explained.
"Mental observation, Twirp." I saw Chet standing in the doorway. Boy, Captains don't follow orders very well.
"What's he doing here?"
"We can't seem to get rid of him," Dixie sighed. "Alright, Chet a few minutes only. I mean that."
"Okay, Dixie. Thanks."
Dixie and Dr Joe left.
"What the heck happened to you?" He played innocent but I caught his smirk. He was never going to let me live this down.
"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at work?"
"Nope. Took a swing at Dale Richards and got suspended."
"What? Who's Dale Richards?"
"The jerk from 127 that ----"
"Of all the stupid, bone-headed stunts you've ever pulled----" Then I saw it. The corner of his mouth twitched. He was lying. I almost missed it with that stupid mustache. I'll shave it off him sometime when he's asleep. No, I'll pluck it out one hair at a time.
"Gotcha, kid," he grinned. "Roy and Johnny are here someplace. I just brought in the squad. Just wanna make sure you're okay. What a stupid injury. I thought Gage came up with some doozeys. Well, I gotta go. You need anything?"
"No, but will ya give Johnny a message for me?"
"What?"
"Tell him next time he cuts my clothes off I'll at least expect dinner out of the deal."
"I won't tell him any such thing!!!"
"Gotcha, Big Brother."
He left in a huff. I could rest well now. I still wasn't exactly sure what the heck had happened. I guess I didn't move out of the way fast enough. Laid low by a hunk of sheet metal. Real bright when you stop and think about it. I really didn't want to stop and think about it I was too tired but I had gotten Chet back so all was not a complete loss. And I got to embarrass Johnny Gage. I wonder if he knows that he is part of the nurses' orientation speech here at Rampart. Dixie claims he's a wolf. That might be worth looking into sometime.
"You ready to go up to your room and get into a real bed?" It was Dixie.
"What was Chet really doing here?"
"Insisting that if you needed blood that we take his not any from Central Supply."
"What?! His blood! I don't want his blood!! You didn't give me any?!"
"You didn't quite need any."
"But if I had?"
"I'm sure he would have been a perfect match," she smiled.
"I'll kill that jerk!!!"
"Cassie, he was concerned. That's what big brothers do. Mine would have been the same way. Now let's get you upstairs, huh?" She pushed the gurney I was on out into the busy hallway.
I just laid back down and closed my eyes. Ceiling tiles and florescent lights passing overhead can make you dizzy. That jerk Chet. Dixie was sure wrong about him. Maybe she was wrong about Johnny too.
