Station 19: The Unbreakable Team

Inescapable Hot Box - Chapter 2

 ~Maya Bishop~

 "Reis, can you... Uh... Can you hold Andy down so I can set the bone? If we are going to be stuck in here then I don't think it can wait... Since we might not make it out of here anyway." I stared down at Andy's face her arm still gently gripped in my hands I said "Andy? Hey Andy I need you to focus. Look at me. Embrace the pain okay." It hurts to see her like this to know that I was only going to cause her more pain. I continued to stared down as Andy tried to get her, pain induced, labored breathing under control. The moment she opened her eyes, her gaze locked with mine, she didn't have to speak a word her eyes said it all, begging for the pain to stop, for the torturing agony to end. Reis kneeling next to me broke me from my trance, she said "Is there like, a certain way you want me to brace her? Or does she just need to be unable to move away?" 

I shook my head to clear it before I said "Both. First place a knee firmly on her right shoulder, between the shoulder joint and her collar bone. Then you can just... Lean over and hold her other shoulder down with your hands, but make sure you keep your elbows locked." I watched as she followed my instructions to the letter then said "Okay. I'm ready whenever you guys are." I straddled Andy's waist and gripped her arm tightly in the appropriate positions to set the bone. Andy had her eyes closed, she is doing her best to control her breathing, and it was clear that she had locked her jaw, bracing for the pain to come. 

I said "Andy I need you to relax, I know that's not really possible, but do your best, you can't be tense if you want me to do this correctly... You have a minor break, the majority of the injury seems to be a rather large stress fracture, there might be some minor splintering where the door slammed onto the bone but without an X-ray there is no way to tell." Andy took a deep breath and slowly released it, she did this a few times before she said "Talk to me... Distract me... Please." I glanced at Reis and she immediately started going into detail about a car chase she had gone on yesterday. I waited to set the bone until Andy had let out a small laugh at a side comment Reis made about the color of the car. With a swift motion I set the bone causing Andy to scream in the shear excruciation of the action.

When I released her arm I pulled some gause from one of my turnout pockets to pack the breakpoint. I then tore a long thick strip of fabric from the bottom of my shirt and used it to tightly wrap her arm and hold the gauze in place. I then used both of our emergency ribbons to make a sling. I had been so focused on setting the bone and packing the injury to prevent swelling that I didn't noticed Andy was no longer screaming. Reis is worriedly, gently trying to wake Andy, I swallowed as Andy's cries of pain echoed in my mind. I said "It's okay... She's um... She's only passed out, from the pain..." Reis nodded and said "Should we move her closer to the garage door, farther away from the heat of the fire?" I nodded and we slowly dragged Andy to the lay near the garage door. I sat down next to Andy's limp form and pulled her up carefully to lean against me, I rested her head on my lap. Closing my eyes I leaned back against the garage door and let out a loud sigh. 

Reis's voice said "You really care about her don't you?" I smiled as I said "She's my best friend, she's practically my sister, and she's my commanding officer, plus her father and boyfriend would kill me if I let her d-." I cut myself off not even wanting to say the word knowing that our fate was sealed. We were trapped in this inescapable hot box of a garage and without anything short of a miracle there would be no way out. Reis said "Yea... There's all that but I've been getting vibes, vibes that say there's something more going on?" I let out a light laugh and said "Okay, yea, sure whatever you say Officer." I let out another laugh trying to prove to her that I didn't have a doubt but internally I started questioning if she could be right, and that scared me. It was probably just the heat making us delusional, as it slowly suffocated us, at least I hoped it was just that.

~Victoria Hughes~

I slammed my fist against the garage door shouting "Andy!!! Maya!!! Karen!!! Wake up!!! Shake this heat off!!! Embrace the pain!!! You have to find a way out of there!!!" Montgomery placed a hand on my shoulder as he crouched down next to me where I was slumped against the door he said "Vic-." I cut him off shouting "Please guys come on!!! I know you can do it!!! You have to find a way out!!! Andy?! Maya?! Karen?! Please..." Montgomery said "Come on Vic... Let's call Their families see if we ca-." I cut him off and said "No! I'm not giving up on them! There has to be a way out of there!" Montgomery's patience was wearing thin as he shouted back "I'm not giving up! They need something to fight for! Trust me, I know what you're going through! I feel the exact same way Victoria! Those are my friends, my family, in there too!" I purposefully hit him with my shoulder as walked past. Although I had only take a few steps away from the garage door when Travis said "Hughes!" I whipped around and said "What Travis?! You want to yell at me some more?!" He was kneeling next to the door as he said "Listen." My anger dropped away, into the air, as I ran to door.

~Andy Herrera~

I slowly and carefully pulled myself off the floor, wincing in pain as I brushed my broken arm against the garage door, I recognized the voices yelling on the other side of the door. Once I sat up I weakly said "Montgomery?" Maya rolled over next to me and watched as I weakly said "Travis..." His concerned voice said "Hold on Andy, there's somebody here who wants to talk to you." He screamed "Hughes!" Then there was the pounding of footsteps before she said "Andy?!" I did my best to make my voice strong, failing as my voice was still weak and trembling with each word. I said "We... Tried... Everything, there's nothing-." Vic cut me off as she said "No! You don't get to give up because we won't give up on you! You can find a way out of there!" 

I turned to Maya as she slowly pulled herself to sit up next to me, she weakly but firmly said "What's my rule?" I closed my eyes and weakly said "Embrace the pain." As I opened my eyes she smiled slightly and grabbed my hands, holding them in hers she said "That's right now... Embrace the pain and think... We can do this together... You and me... We can do this." I nodded weakly and said "The um... The only thing that can damage this garage is fire..." Maya weakly replied "We need an explosive... To dislodge the door... So those outside can... Can um... Can open it." Reis weakly cut in and said "The car... Has gasoline... We just need something... That um..." I finished her sentence for her, I weakly said "Something that would... Make a large explosion..." 

Maya weakly said "There has to be... Something in here... That would... Explode with enough force to... To damage the door." I was about to get up to start looking but Maya said "No Andy, you need rest... Your arm is already swollen... Save your energy... We will look fo-." I cut her off as I gasped in pain as I started pulling myself to my feet using my good arm for support. I raised my weak voice as I firmly said "I'll rest later... When we get out of here." She nodded and weakly said "Okay... Just be careful of your arm..." She glanced down at my swollen right arm as we broke off and started scouring through the garage with what little remaining strength we had left, trying to find something, anything that could blow the garage door open.