Another Day Another Dollar

by Sue M

Disclaimer: Just playing. I know I can't keep 'em but if I could they'd be on season 10 by now!

A ficlet for Lu and Abs


Ezra groaned. As he wasn't in the habit of "tying one on" he knew this could be bad. He tried moving, everything seemed functional, but it hurt like hell. He looked around, where was this? Dust was in the air and the atmosphere was heavy. Ezra knew he was inside somewhere and flat on his back, but couldn't focus enough to get a clear picture.

"Focus, man," he thought to himself. Had he been alone? Suddenly it became clear. His heart started beating hard and fast as the memories came back in one huge block. His surroundings were the surveillance van, but it didn't look right somehow. He glanced painfully over his right shoulder and saw the top of a blonde head, beyond that was another head, black hair this time.

"Oh good Lord!" he whispered, his hazy picture was complete.

He, JD and Larabee had been viewing the surveillance tapes from the bust they'd just completed. JD had done his usual "bang-up" job and was making a back-up copy of the tape. Chris was with him to get an overview of the events and Ezra had joined them to return his mic and headset and had been engrossed in the detail on the screen.

Raised voices from outside the van caused them to look at the outside monitor for a second. A second or two was all that it took. The monitor showed the truck that had arrived at the warehouse hurtling towards them. They'd had no time to react. The surveillance van was parked on a road with an embankment that overlooked the warehouse. As the truck sped away attempting to escape, it sideswiped the van hard, causing it to tilt violently. Gravity and momentum took its course, flipping the van over and sending it rolling down the incline to land on its now partially collapsed roof.

Ezra called out to the two men, but there was no reply. Time to analyze his injuries. After much twitching and twiddling he'd concluded he had a leg injury, his shoulder seemed damaged and there was definitely something wet and sticky running down his face. He heard a soft moan.

"Chris?" he heard himself rasp out.

"Ezra?" came the reply, "what the hell happened?"

"I fear we may have been an obstacle to a hastily departing heavy goods vehicle!" Ezra answered. "Are you badly injured?"

Chris moaned again, louder this time.

"Shall I take that as a yes, Mr. Larabee?"

Chris huffed out a tiny laugh. "Yes you certainly can, Ezra. You?"

"Everything seems to be functional, albeit not as functional as I would like!"

"Shit!" Chris groaned again, hurting himself in an effort to look around. "JD! Where the hell is he?"

"He's directly next to you, but as yet I have received no response from him. Are you able to reach him from your position?"

Chris grunted, trying to reach out. "I can feel his head, shit, he's bleeding."

"Well, that probably makes three of us. I suggest you try to stay still now, there's no telling what injuries you may have sustained."

"You taking your own advice there Ezra?" Chris enquired.

"Unfortunately, I have something rather heavy lying across me so my choices are limited."

"A simple yes would have done!" Chris smirked and then grimaced as his ribs pinched.

A noise from the side had both men turning to it. Vin's face appeared at what was left of the windshield. His face relaxed as two pairs of eyes looked back at him.

"Y'all just gonna lie around there all day?" he asked.

"Shut up, Tanner and get us the hell out of here!" Chris yelled back.

"Everyone doin' ok?" Vin checked back.

"Your speedy assistance will help us answer that question Mr. Tanner, I fear Mr. Dunne may not be in good health as he hasn't moved since the incident."

A "Shit," and "cool it, Buck!" could be heard from outside as could the distant wails of emergency vehicles. Within minutes, but what seemed more like hours to the trapped men, a paramedic was inching toward them through the now removed rear doors. He acknowledged the men and attempted to assess their injuries, shielding them with a fire blanket while cutters removed parts of the upturned van for better accessibility. One, by one, starting with Ezra the men were removed on backboards. Once outside their injures were re-assessed and dressings applied. One ambulance, taking JD and Buck, was already on its way. Ezra looked up at Steve Brinkley, a paramedic he'd dealt with before.

"I assume I will live?" he asked.

Steve nodded, smiling. "Oh yeah, you're doing great. Might be a while before you take a long walk though, a broken leg and ribs will do that to you!"

Ezra rolled his eyes. "Oh, just wonderful!" then he went all serious, "What about my coll...my friends?" he inquired.

"Chris, is it? Well he's got some broken ribs, a head wound and a broken arm. The young 'un, don't know. Took him off pretty quick, probably want to give him a scan as soon as he gets to the hospital." Steve placed an oxygen mask over Ezra's face. "Try and rest, we'll be at the hospital in a few minutes.

+ + + + + + +

A few days later saw all three men sitting up in bed, heads and various other parts bandaged, but in good spirits.

"When can we go home?" JD whined. Buck flicked his nose.

"When it's time, eat your soup!" He laughed at the scowl he got.

"Mr. Dunne, Mr. Larabee and I would sign the damn release forms ourselves if it would just put an end to your complaining!"

"Oh, and you NEVER complain Ez, do you?" JD retorted.

"I can assure you, Mr. D..."

"Knock it off!" Chris growled then looked to Vin. "Get me another room or hand me my gun, now!"

They all laughed. The three men looked at each other, something silently passing between them.

Chris sighed. "Oh, one thing, Ezra, when you put in your expenses this time, could you manage to restrict the list to no more than two pages? Travis is getting back trouble from handling your expense sheets!"

Ezra sighed, "if you insist. Is there any restriction on the size of the paper used?"

END

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