John Gage woke up in a strange place. He was facing the wall of a bedroom or living room. He opened his eye a little wider and rolled over to find the other side empty. He rubbed his eyes and remembered where he was. He was over at Chelsea Kelly's apartment. John got up and pulled on his pants and his shirt. He walked into the kitchen to find Chelsea making her morning coffee. She was dressed in her usual fireman uniform with the white name tag with her name engraved in it. 'C.Kelly Paramedic. Mobile Intensive Care Unit.' Johnny's said the same thing. They both worked at the same department with another guy in the Dodge 300 ton Rescue Squad. The other paramedic, Roy DeSoto, Chelsea had worked with for ages. Johnny tapped on Chelsea's shoulder and she turned around.
"Johnny you almost made me spill my coffee." She placed a hand on her heart.
"Sorry Chels." He apologized and she handed him a cup of coffee.
"We have to get to the station!" Chelsea said looking at her watch. She set down her coffee and bolted out the door with her keys in hand. Johnny followed behind. She locked the front door and rushed her Dodge black truck. They didn't talk on the way to the station, all Johnny did was hold Chelsea's hand all the way there. He knew they weren't together but he loved her. He didn't want to show his feelings for her and it be too soon. Of course being the only female paramedic in a fire station full of guys, she had a lot of guys after her. Marco Lopez, Mike Stoker and of course Johnny. John didn't know what it was about Chelsea that attracted him to her, he just love her. Roy had told Chelsea many times before that Johnny cares about her and there was no doubt in his mind that she cared for him too. Chelsea pulled behind the station and parked. They both rushed out and ran into the station. Roll Call would be in less than 5 minutes so Johnny needed to hurry. Chelsea ran across the apparatus bay and into the day room. Roy was the only one in there.
"Morning Chelsea!" Roy looked up from his spot at the table and smiled at Chelsea.
"Morning Roy!" Chelsea answered.
"How's Johnny doing? I mean can he work today?"
"Yeah he should be able to."
"Just after him having the flu and pneumonia, he was down a long time."
"Good thing I took him in because he wouldn't have made it much longer. With my paramedic training, I knew exactly what to do." Chelsea poured herself a cup of coffee and Chet Kelly, her brother, came rushing in the room.
"Roll Calls up!" He said and disappeared into the apparatus bay. We grabbed our hats from the closet in the bay and lined up behind the Squad. Chelsea was in between Roy and John. Captain Hank Stanley came out and they all acted normal.
"Okay firemen! Today you start more fire drills and the paramedics have a assembly at the middle school today at 11:00. I have an important announcement from the L.A. dispatcher. Starting today at 9:00, they are gonna ring the klaxons and they are going to test them. All we have to do is sit where we are and I will do our regular call tone. Alright you are dismissed." The group parted and went to the closet to put away their special hats. Chelsea headed to the Squad to make sure they didn't need any supplies before they got their first run. Next she tested the bio phone and the EKG monitor.
"Rampart base this is Squad 51."
"Go ahead 51."
"Rampart are you ready for the testing of the EKG monitor?"
"Ready."
"This will be lead 2." She turned it on and she got conformation that it worked. She disconnected the line to Rampart and put everything back in the Squad.
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In the day room, the guys were sitting together drinking coffee talking about the news. The klaxons rang out, interrupting their peaceful conversation. The cap got up and confirmed the testing.
"So how are you doing Gage?" Marco asked Johnny. Johnny looked at Marco and rolled his eyes.
"I've still got a little congestion but I'll be fine."
"Chelsea must have taken good care of you." Mike Stoker said smiling.
"Ohh hush it!" Johnny rolled his eyes. Chelsea walked in at that moment and everyone grimly greeted her. She looked around the room and then left.
'If no one wants to greet me properly, then I guess I'll fix up the Squad.' Chelsea thought to herself.
"Chelsea can I see you in my office?" The cap called out to Chelsea. She followed him to his office and sat down in a chair.
"What's up Cap?"
"Are you sure Johns okay to work? I mean he seems a little out of it."
"The other guys seem kinda out of it too. But Johnny's fine to work."
"Your right. Something about the way the other guys looked at you when you walked into the day room. Are you sure you didn't do anything to upset the guys?"
"Cap I haven't been at the station more than 30 minutes! How could I have done something?"
"I don't know. I'm gonna get your brother in here to talk to you." Cap walked out and returned a minute later with Chet in tow.
"Chet are you or any of the other guys mad at Chelsea for any reason?"
"No Cap. She hasn't done anything wrong. She's my sister how could I be mad at her?" Chet looked at me with concern and then looked at the cap.
"I wanna know if the other guys have a problem with Chelsea! I don't want this to effect your work!"
"Not that I know of Cap. I don't have a problem with her. I know Roy doesn't have a problem with her and neither does Marco." The klaxons interrupted their talk session.
"Squad 51, Engine 10 Unknown Type Rescue. 2312 5th. 2312 5th. Cross street Emerson. Timeout 9:45." The dispatcher said.
The paramedics rushed out to the Squad and turned on the sirens and lights.
"Squad 51 10-4 KMG 365." The Cap handed Roy the slip and Chelsea handed it to John. When they arrived at the scene they saw a worried mother going up to them.
"Ohh please help him!" She cried and tugged at their sleeves.
"Okay ma'am just hold on. Who are you talking about?" Chelsea asked trying to get the supplies out of the compartments. Captain Jones, from Chelsea and Johnny's old station 10, came up to the firemen.
"Kelly, Gage. Its nice to see you again." Captain Jones held out his hand and both of the young paramedics shook his hand.
"Nice to see you to Cap. So what's going on here?" Chelsea asked looking around.
"Well the mother couldn't find her son and looked to out on the back porch she saw her son trapped in the boards in her porch." Cap lead them back to the yard. They saw the little boy trapped in between the boards.
"Help me please!" The boy yelled.
"Alright hold on." Johnny said, taking a hammer out to break the boards. He successfully broke the boards and Chelsea lifted the boy out of the crack.
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*At Rampart*
"Thank you firemen! You guys are the best!" Tommy, the little boy who was trapped in the boards, yelled.
"Your welcome." Chelsea answered for all of them.
"How exactly did Tommy get stuck in the boards?" Dixie asked.
"He was running on the back porch and fell right through the cracks. He's lucky he didn't injure his insides." John said.
"Yeah. Hey Dix, we better get back to the station. Lunch will be on." Chelsea waved to Dix and we walked out to the Squad. Chelsea and Roy walked to the back of the Squad while Johnny got in the passenger side.
"Do you wanna drive Chelsea?" Roy asked. She shut the compartment that held the bio phone, the I.V. kit, the EKG monitor and other things the paramedics need.
"Sure." She walked over to the drivers side and Roy slid in next to Johnny.
"Squad 51 available." Roy dubbed the rescue team available and Chelsea pulled out.
"Chelsea I have a question for you." Roy said.
"Okay. What is it?" Chelsea continued driving. Roy leaned over and whispered in her ear.
"Do you like Johnny more than a friend?" Roy leaned back over and looked at her in anticipation. Johnny looked over at the two, wondering what that question could be.
"Yes I do." Chelsea beamed.
"Ohh come on. Why aren't i in this conversation?" Johnny asked, frustrated.
"What do you want to talk about Gage?" Roy asked.
"I don't know. I just wanna be included."
"You are included. Roy was just asking be something a little private that I don't want the whole fire station to know by tonight." Chelsea continued thinking about Johnny and smiled.
"Hey did you see the new TV show last night?" Chelsea asked.
"I might have. What's it called?" Johnny asked.
"Adam-12." Chelsea answered.
"Ohh yeah. That's a good show from what I saw." Roy nodded. The paramedics stayed silent, only listening to the sound of the tires on the road and the breathing of each other. It felt good to just be by them and Chelsea felt she belonged for just once. When she was 5, she ran away from home. She couldn't stand her big brother, Chet, who was only 6 at the time. Chet would make fun of her because she was more Indian than he was. She awoke one morning at the crack of dawn, packed her bags and went to find an Indian reservation. When the sun rose into the sky that day, Chelsea had finally made it to the Cherokee reservation. The Chief welcomed her wholeheartedly and she was soon given a name. Rain dancer. A nice young couple agreed to take her in as their own. The mother, Sun Riser, loved Chelsea and took good care of her. The father, Horse Whisperer, also looked after her. Chelsea sat in the teepee and wondered what her family back home was thinking. They were probably knocking on every door, asking and hoping that they would find Chelsea alive. Chet was worried the most. He had let his little sister leave. Sure he was mean to her and teased her but that didn't mean he didn't love and care for her. For days he didn't eat or sleep. He watched as his parents fell into a deep depression and the family was no longer happy. Chet sat in Chelsea's room, looking at her pictures and hoping that she would be home soon. When Chet was old enough to understand what he wanted to do, he decided to be a firefighter. His dad was a policeman and his mother was a painter. The search for his little sister came to a close when he was 8. The Los Angeles Police Department dubbed Chelsea Cherokee Kelly dead. A funeral with an empty casket was held. Chet knew his sister was safe somewhere and he prayed that she would soon come home. All the pictures of the happy family were taken down and put away in boxes. Chet went through them constantly and wondered was his later was like now. August 28 came around and the family went to were Chelsea's empty casket was buried to celebrate her birthday.
"She would have been 10 today." His mother said with no emotion. His father smiled and they ate cake in peace. Chet went to the 8th grade, still thinking about his sister every minute. He smiled at random times, thinking about her laugh. Chelsea on the other hand, decided it was time to leave the reservation. She was going into 7th grade. She walked back to her family home but couldn't face the thought of seeing them after all these years. She got enrolled into public school and went to school just like the other kids. One day, Chelsea's school had an assembly and she had to sit by an 8th grade boy. She looked at the boy and smiled happily.
"Hi!" She said.
"Hi." The boy with green eyes replied.
"What's your name?" Chelsea asked.
"Chester Kelly but all of my friends call me Chet." Chelsea started to cry.
"Chet! It's me Chelsea! I'm back!" She cried and Chet held her in his arms. That day the Kelly family was reunited. Chelsea smiled at the memory and backed the Squad into the apparatus bay. She shut off the squad and got out. Roy and Johnny followed Chelsea into the day room where she hugged Chet from behind.
"What is that for?" Chet asked clearly surprised.
"No reason. I was just thinking about how close you guys came to loosing me when I was little." Chelsea turned around and walked out of the day room with out a word. Chet looked around and smiled.
"I love your sister Chet." Johnny interrupted Chet's thinking.
"Ohh yeah? We'll you'll be glad to know that she dating Mike."Chet smiled at Mike who nodded to confirm that he is dating Chelsea.
"Why does everyone always take the girl I want?" Johnny threw the dish he was drying on the ground and cut his wrist with a sliver of glass on purpose.
"Chelsea!" Johnny yelled and held onto his bleeding wrist. Chelsea heard her name being called and rushed to the day room. What she saw when she got there she couldn't believe. Chet was on top of Johnny, holding him down, Mike took the sliver of glass away from Johnny and applied pressure on his wrist. Marco ran in with the drug box and first aid kit in tow. Roy looked at Chelsea and ran off to get the Cap.
"Alright everyone back!" Chelsea bent down over Johnny and checked his pulse. He look up at Chelsea and whispered "I'm sorry."
"Sh. Roy pulse is 35. Respiration is 12. Pupils are equal and reactive. BP is 40 by palpation. He's lost a lot of blood. Mike get the engine running. Chet get the stokes." Chelsea applied a tourniquet to his arm and Chet brought in the stokes. They lifted Johnny onto the stokes and carried him to the engine. Time was everything. If they didn't get him to the hospital soon, he would bleed out. Chelsea hoped to God that it didn't happen that way.
