911: Eclipse of the Heart

Chapter 22 - Fluke

"Hen. What the hell is going on?" Bobby called over the radio again. He looked over at Eddie with fear covering his face, "Hen. Do you copy?"

"Yeah... I copy, cap." Hen said in a melancholy tone.

"What happened?" Bobby asked, starting to sound more and more worried.

"I'm trying to figure that out for myself, Bobby." Hen said.

"Is it..." Bobby looked down at the ground.

"...yes..." Chimney said over the radio.

"Oh my god." Bobby looked at Eddie, "I have to get up there."

"Bobby, she has three people up there that are going to do everything that they can to help her. We have to help the people in here." Eddie put his hands on Bobby's shoulders.

"But... Kymberly." Bobby looked up and made eye contact with Eddie.

"I know, Bobby. But we have to do our job, alright?" Eddie stared back at him. Bobby slowly nodded his head.

"Kymberly, do you copy?" they heard Hen call over the radio, but there was no response, "Firefighter Douglass."

"I'm almost down to her." Buck's voice crackled.

"Buck, what happened?" Bobby asked.

"I'm not completely sure. All of a sudden we heard a snap and she fell about a hundred feet. The rope finally caught her... I think she hit her head on a window." Buck said, breathing heavily, "I got her. She's... She's unconscious."

"Take your extra clips and try to hook them to her harness." Hen instructed.

"I... I got it. Try pulling us back up." Buck called. Bobby closed his eyes and leaned against the wall.

"Bobby, it's going to be alright. They will take care of her." Eddie said calmly.

"I can't lose her Eddie. I've already lost so much in my life." Bobby said, almost in tears.

"You can't think like that, cap. Hen, Chimney, and Buck are going to take care of her." Eddie said as he started pounding on the door in front of him, "LAFD. Is anyone in there?"

"I hope she's alright." Bobby said.

*****

"I've got her." Chimney said as he leaned over the edge of the building and grabbed Kymber out of Buck's grasp.

"What happened?" Hen looked at Buck.

"I... I don't know. It all happened so fast. One second she was stepping off of the fire escape, next thing I know she's a hundred feet below me." Buck said as he hoisted himself up over the edge.

"She's definitely got a concussion." Chimney said as he pulled her eyelids back and shined his flashlight at her eyes.

"It feels like the harness broke a few ribs, too... We need to get her on a backboard." Hen said.

"You don't think she broke her neck or back, do you?" Buck looked up at Hen.

"I don't know." Hen looked back at him with a worried look. Carefully, they placed the backboard underneath her and put a collar on her neck. "We've got to get her to the hospital, and fast."

"What do we tell Bobby?" Buck asked.

"Nothing right now. He knows something happened to her, but he can't know how bad it is right now. He has people to save." Hen said.

"You got it, cap." Chimney looked over at Buck, "Ready to bring her down?"

"Yeah." Buck nodded as he grabbed onto the side of the backboard. They lifted her up gently, and quickly made their way to the ambulance.

"Should one of us stay back with Eddie and Bobby?" Chimney asked Hen.

"If one of us goes in there, he's going to ask a million questions rather than focus on the task at hand. I think it's better that we all just go with Kymber to the hospital." Hen said as she started up the ambulance. Buck got in the front seat and Chimney got in the back with Kymber.

"You're going to be alright, Kymber. We all believe in you." Chimney said as he carefully grabbed her hand.

"Bobby will kill us if she's not." Buck said.

"No he won't because it wasn't any of our fault. It was a fluke accident." Hen said as she flipped on the sirens and sped off towards the hospital.

"He's probably a mess right now." Chimney said as he started an IV in Kymber's arm, and placed nasal cannula in her nose.

"Without a doubt." Hen sighed.