I Am Morgan

Chapter 46: Just Drive The Truck

"Engine 51, Truck 81, Squad 3, Ambulance 61. Structure fire, 16th and Wabash."

We're driving along to the scene and all is well. We're ready, Truck is ready. Squad is ready. It's a big fire and smoke can be seen from miles away. Truck 66 from Austin is also on the call. We're just driving. Then suddenly we see the crash.

Truck 66 smashes into the side of Truck 81, causing it to completely tip over onto its side. The right side of the metal is completely crushed and con-caved.
I can already see the smoke, boys.

"Mayday! Mayday! This is Squad 3 to main! Truck 81 and Truck 66 have collided on the corner of 24th and Wabash. We're gonna need ambulances as many as you can get! This is bad!"

"Oh, my God." I look at the wreckage and smoke where the vehicles collided and I can see Dawson panicking. "It's gonna be fine." I tell her.

"Confirming that Truck 81 and 66 are out of action, requesting that Squad 3 stay. Please reassign other units to the structure fire." Severide radios and then turns to his Squad. "Mills, Capp, Tony check 66. Brett and Newhouse, you're with me."

Newhouse, Brett and Kelly climb onto the side of Truck 81 and look through the windows. Everyone's okay, other than Mouch who is heavily bleeding from an injury to his eye.

I climb up the side of the engine as well and look through the door. "Mouch, talk to me."

"It's my eye," he tells me. "I hit something... a door frame, I don't know."

"Let me see, hon." He looks up at me and I take in the extent of the injury. It's completely swollen up already and is saturated in blood. "All right, don't worry. We're gonna take care of you."

I turn to Kelly and Newhouse. "I need to go down there and put pressure on that until you can get him out."

"Are you sure?" asks Kelly. "Can't I send Newhouse down instead."

"Can you pass me my jump bag, I'm going down." I ignore his comment and Brett hands me my bag before I lower myself inside the Truck and tend to Mouch.

Outside I can hear a lot of commotion and noise while I try to clean up Mouch's wound as best I can. "How bad is it?" He asks. "Be honest."

"I don't know yet," I admit. I can't see much because there's too much blood and swelling.

"Am I going to be blind?"

"Mouch, I am not gonna let that happen, okay? Just let me clean you up." I continue to hold gauze against the wound.

"We're going to bring him up." Severide calms down and I nod, moving out the way while they get him out of the wreckage and then I climb out.

"Morgan!" He calls.

"I'm here, don't worry I got you."

"I can't see. Aw, jeez, I can't see."

"Mouch I need you to calm down." I turn to Otis and Herrmann. "Help me get him to the ambo?"

"Yeah," they say and help him stand up and walk to the rig. He climbs in the back where Dawson is with McFarland from 66. He looks like he has a possible broken arm and multiple lacerations.

"Oh, my God." Dawson bends down to take a look at his eye.

"I know, I know."

"What happened?" she asks.

"Oh, real simple." McFarland leans forward. "81 blew the light."

"We did not blow the light." Mouch retorts.

"Oh, yeah? Which way does your seat face?" McFarland asks.

Mouch pauses. "Backwards, but—"

"Yeah, so you don't really know, do you?"

"Listen—"

I slam the back door shut cutting their argument off and leave them with Dawson while I go to the drivers seat and drive us the Chicago Med.

The rest of 51 meets us there once they've cleared the scene.

"I guess they were trying to cut across from Michigan, but they had to know we were coming up Wabash, right?" Herrmann says in the main hall.

"Either way, they got to slow down and have a look. Everyone knows that." Kelly replies.

"Unless they had the green." Newhouse replies almost hesitantly.

"Please," scoffs Herrmann. "They didn't have the green. What the hell, Newhouse?"

"Are the cops still all over Cruz?" asks Capp.

"Yeah, now they're demanding piss and blood." Otis rolls his eyes.

"Standard procedure," I retort.

"Is that Molina's wife?" Otis looks across the hall. We all follow his eye-line and see a small lady crying into one of 66's men's arms.

"Poor kid," mumbles Herrmann.

"Good news on Mouch," Dawson approaches us all. "He's still going to be able to watch T.V. with both eyes."

Thank God.

Cruz exits from behind a curtain after being checked over and all of 66 on the other side of the hall turn and stare at him with venom in their eyes.

"Okay," Chief catches our attention. "Everyone from 51 let's move out. Nothing more we can do here."

We all do as we've been told.

"We should have a spare truck here from the shop pretty soon." Casey tells Chief back at the firehouse. They rode back in the Squad 3 engine.

"That old beast with the bad clutch?" asks Cruz with evident distaste in his voice.

"We gonna get anybody to fill in for Mouch?" Herrmann asks quietly.

"I'm rehiring the whole crew. You guys are done with your shift."

"Chief, that's not necessary." Casey shakes his head.

"You've been rattled. Go home and rest." Chief replies.

"Can I trust you to pick up Alice later from Cindy's?" I ask Kelly. "I have a shift at Molly's."

"Can you trust me?" He repeats. He almost sounds angry. "What kind of question is that? Can I be trusted with my own daughter? I love her!"

"I know that," I put my hands on his arms. "I just need you to not get drunk tonight."

Every time we get 48 hours off he goes into a black hole of drunken mess.

"Not get dru... what do you take me for? I'm not an alcoholic."

"I know, I... I just... it's... can you just pick her up?" I repeat my question.

"Yes! Yes, I can." He snaps and then storms away.

"Okay then." I breathe out.

*

Turns out Mills had another episode at the last call and he failed a physical exam so he's no longer on Squad. He's asked to become a paramedic on 61 if Dawson becomes a candidate.

Mouch is walking around looking like a pirate but he will recover. He's not back to work yet either.

Cruz has been suspended from his driving duties pending investigation and Otis has taken his place for now.

Dawson doesn't have a place at Austin as the candidate position was filled by somebody else. However, Boden has agreed to allow Dawson onto Truck 81 as long as she and Casey aren't married and don't display their relationship to anyone. At all.

Kelly and I barely talk.

That's the latest drama from 51.