EMERGENCY TAG STORY
PART ONE

by PEJA

Damn.

How many times was this now.

How many times was he going to be sitting here beside a hospital bed, watching his partner struggling for his next breath.

Listening to the beep beep beep of the machines monitoring his condition. Just how the hell much was one human body supposed to take and still bounce back.

PART TWO
by Starbuck

Roy looked down at the prone form of Johnny Gage. A friend that never knew when to say 'no' to let someone else take the risks.

"Yeah right, that wouldn't be you would it Junior? Always thinking of others before you let them put themselves at risk. You won't let me do anything that you consider dangerous because I have a family, the same with Cap and Stoker. I guess Marco is now in that category that he has gotten himself engaged," Roy spoke to himself. He let his thoughts drift to all the times that he had been at Johnny's beside, recalling each harrowing accident that had landed him here.

The worst that he recalled was when Johnny was hit by a drunk driver. The sound of a human body being hit like that would never leave his mind, nor would the gut wrenching screams that Johnny had screamed earlier on today.

While fighting a blazing inferno in an abandoned building, the ominous creaking of the internal structure could be heard. When Johnny spared a glance at the structure above him he saw an iron girder begin to plummet towards the floor. Roy was in it's intended path. To late to call Roy, Johnny ran the few steps that separated them and leapt at Roy, pushing him out of the way. With no time to clear himself from the point of impact, the girder found it's victim where he lay face down.

"Aaaaaaarrrrgggggghhhhh!" Johnny screamed when he felt the girder hit the backs of his legs. The sheer intensity of the pain caused him to lose consciousness. The parts of the ceiling that had fallen with the girder buried Johnny completely.

Recovering himself from the push that saved his life, Roy sought out Johnny. He began to frantically dig at the pile of rubble, calling Johnny's name all the while.

His frenzied efforts were aided by Marco and Chet who had heard Roy's calls for help. With the roofing materials cleared, the three men tried to lift the girder without success.

"Hang on, I'll get Charlie…, he's here with One-tens," Chet offered, not really wanting to leave Johnny.

Roy nodded his thanks and set about checking Johnny as best he could. He could see that Johnny's face mask was cracked and had begun to pool with blood in the bottom of it. Johnny's left arm lay at an unnatural angle and from what he could feel of Johnny's ribs, he instinctively knew that several had been broken.

Chet returned with six men from the assisting company and with Roy and Marco's help, lifted the iron girder from Johnny's legs. Taking the trauma box that Chet had brought in with him, Roy secured a hard collar around Johnny's neck before permitting the men to ease him onto the backboard.

"Oh my God!" Roy spoke when he saw the mess that Johnny was in. Both had sustained compound fractures.

PART THREE
by Jenny Freeman

The ride to the hospital was a blur. Roy could not remember much of anything -- but the damn crashing sound of the monitors.

Brackett had had to PULL him off of John so they could work on him.

Even now they could not get him to leave.

*How much more, Junior,* Roy thought as he watched John struggled to breathe. *How much more can you take....how much more can *I* take?*

PART FOUR SOON