Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore 2

By Rona

“So who is she?” Roy DeSoto asked as his partner came into the locker room whistling cheerfully if tunelessly.

“Who?” Johnny Gage asked, glancing round, as though he would have missed seeing a woman in the station.

“Whoever she is that’s making you happy,” Roy responded dryly.

A crooked grin crept over Johnny’s face. He started to unbutton his shirt. “Her name is Alice,” he replied. “I met her last night when I was bowling.”

“I see,” Roy nodded and so he did. He saw that he was going to be subjected to a diatribe about this woman’s unlikely perfections and his partner could talk endlessly without any encouragement. “That’s good. See you at roll call.” Roy hastily exited the room, leaving Johnny staring after him, wearing a perplexed frown and very little else. After a moment, he shrugged and continued getting dressed. There would be plenty of time to tell Roy everything later.

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It was a fairly quiet morning for both the paramedics and the engine. As they returned from a supply run to Rampart, Roy pulled into a space in front of a small grocery store they often used when buying food for the station. “I’m cooking, so we’d better get some things,” he mentioned to Johnny.

“Good idea,” Johnny agreed. “I’m starving.”

“So what’s new?” Roy teased and then followed his partner’s eye line and noticed the person Johnny was waving to so enthusiastically. “Who’s that?” he enquired, as the young lady in question all but fell out of the apartment window above the grocery.

Giving Roy a look, Johnny replied, “Alice, who did you think?” He blushed slightly as he cleared his throat. “I’ll… uh… just wait out here for you, Roy.”

“All right,” Roy agreed cautiously. “I’ll take the HT with me, then.” He held his hand out for it, but Johnny’s attention was already on the apartment door and so Roy made life easy for himself and simply took the HT from Johnny’s hand. He didn’t think his partner even noticed.

The shopping didn’t take long, but Roy was disappointed to come out and find Johnny waiting for him in the squad. He’d wanted a closer look at Alice. He had seen that she was pretty and had long blonde hair, but that was it. For a moment, he wondered if he was going to have to deal with a post-dumping Johnny, but Gage had a goofy smile on his face that told Roy he and Alice were still an item.

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Life went on as usual for the next several months. Johnny seldom mentioned his love live and despite repeated jibes from Chet Kelly, kept his cool. Roy had still not met Alice, but he was liking what he heard and observed about her more and more. Johnny seemed – for lack of a better word – content. Johnny had always been prone to mood swings, but now he seemed more settled, more mature and Roy could only attribute the change to the mysterious Alice. After hinting to Johnny that it would be nice to meet Alice, and offering invitations several times, all of which Johnny managed to refuse politely without hurting anyone’s feelings, Roy began to divine that things might just be getting very serious. He couldn’t have been more delighted.

*********************************

The tones going off in the middle of the night were never a welcome sound. The address that accompanied the tones came as a shock to all the firemen, as they all recognised it as the grocery store where they preferred to shop. It was only once they arrived that Roy remembered the other important thing about that address – Alice lived there!

Shooting a glance at Johnny as they got out of the squad, he opened his mouth but didn’t get a chance to speak. Johnny was shrugging on his SCBA as he called to Captain Stanley, “There’s an apartment upstairs, Cap! We’ll need to check it out.”

“Be quick then!” Stanley ordered, for flames were curling around the windows on the upper floor.

Roy was ready and together, they ran through the misting waters and pushed open the door to the apartment.

The stairwell was smoky, but no flames were visible yet. Heat radiated off the wall that adjoined the store. The paramedics exchanged a glance, but said nothing as they pounded up the stairs. It took them several moments to force the inner door of the apartment and they hurried in.

The room was full of smoke. “I’ll check out the bedroom,” Johnny shouted and pointed to a door in the far wall. He barely waited for Roy’s nod before moving off.

Coughing despite his air mask, Roy quickly felt his way around the room, but it was empty. Another door beckoned and he put his hand on it before opening it. The tiny bathroom was empty but filled with smoke. Roy turned back, hoping that Johnny had found Alice, or that she was not there.

The thought barely crossed his mind when Johnny hurtled from the bedroom, arms empty. “Flashover!” he cried and threw himself at Roy.

There was an almighty bang and the floor bucked precariously. Slowly, Roy raised his head and realised that they were both still all right. “Let’s get out of here!” he shouted, hauling Johnny to his feet.

They ran towards the door and just as Roy cleared the door, the floor behind gave way, taking Johnny’s leg down with it and trapping him. His forward pace abruptly halted, Johnny tipped over. His helmeted head crashed heavily off the doorframe and he let out a cry of pain.

“Johnny!” Roy was by his side in an instant, reaching to pull his partner free from his entrapment. There was no time for niceties – Roy simply pulled and hoped that he wasn’t injuring his partner further. Johnny let out a screech of anguish but Roy didn’t – couldn’t – stop. Johnny’s leg came free and Roy slung his partner over his shoulder and stumbled into the stairwell and down the increasingly shaky stairs.

Fresh air had never seemed so good. Hands grabbed Roy’s arms and helped guide him to the squad. He laid Johnny on the ground and shrugged off his SCBA. Cap was helping Johnny. “Are you all right, Roy?” Cap asked, anxiously.

“Fine,” Roy replied, although he was feeling decidedly shaken by the close call. “Can you get our gear, Cap?” He reached for his bandage scissors and started to cut away Johnny’s pants leg. “What hurts, Johnny? Talk to me.”

“M-my leg,” Johnny groaned. “And my head.”

Looking at Johnny’s exposed limb, Roy saw the deep gash up the inside of Johnny’s thigh. Splinters of wood showed here and there. It was bad enough, but could have been worse. He glanced up in time to see Johnny wince. “What?” he asked.

“My ankle, too,” Johnny replied, defeatedly. He shook his head when Roy turned to the injured leg. “No, the other one.”

“Okay.” Roy took the drug box from Cap. “Could you set up the biophone, Cap?” He leaned over to peer into Johnny’s eyes. There was a gash on John’s forehead and judging by the helmet, the gash had been caused by the inside of the rim. “Pupils equal and reactive. Pulse 100, respirations 20. BP… BP 130/85.”

It was only a few more minutes before Johnny was loaded onto a stretcher and placed in an ambulance. The doors closed and the vehicle moved away. Roy looked down at Johnny, who had his eyes closed. The pain relief he had been given was beginning to make him drowsy. “Johnny…” Roy hardly knew what to say. “Alice…”

Opening his eyes, Johnny smiled. He actually smiled! A grin crept over his face. “Alice doesn’t live there anymore,” he reported hoarsely.

“She…she doesn’t?” Roy stuttered.

“No.” Johnny’s eyes closed again for a second before he forced them open to reassure his friend. “You see, Alice moved in with me yesterday and I was gonna throw a party to announce our engagement this weekend when we’re all off.”

“That’s fantastic!” Roy exclaimed. He grabbed Johnny’s hand from under the restraining blanket and pumped it as hard as he could – which wasn’t very hard under the circumstances. “Junior, I couldn’t be more pleased!”

The smile that spread across Johnny’s face told Roy of how deeply happy the younger man was. “She knows about firefighters, Roy. It’s in her blood. Her dad and her granddad were both firemen. You better call her when we get to Rampart.”

“It’s a strange way to meet for the first time,” Roy commented.

“I was gonna introduce you to her before the weekend, Pally, honest,” Johnny murmured. His words were starting to slur. “I just couldn’t believe it myself. I wasn’t shutting you out intentionally – or not like that.” Johnny couldn’t think of how to explain his need to keep this wonderful feeling private for a while until he was sure that his love was reciprocated.

“I’m not hurt,” Roy assured him. “I knew it was good for you, Junior; I could see how happy you are.”

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In actual fact, the meeting wasn’t that strange after all. Alice was a lovely, sensible young woman, pretty and clever. She didn’t panic when Roy phoned her and when she arrived at Rampart, it was clear she adored Johnny and fully understood what she was getting herself into. She and Roy hit it off immediately.

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Johnny’s injury was not as serious as it could have been and after a day in the hospital, he was allowed home. It was serious enough for Johnny to be off work for a few weeks to allow the leg to heal and so, as had originally been planned, invitations were issued for that weekend for Johnny and Alice’s engagement party.

The End

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