Bachelors and Brides
Part 2
After helping to transfer the victim from the stretcher to the exam table, Johnny stood nearby as Kel Brackett began to assess the man’s injuries. The doctor glanced at the paramedic and did a double take.
“Are you okay?”
“Hmmm?”
“You don’t look too good yourself. Maybe you should stop and see Joe before you leave.”
Johnny shook his head. “No. . .no. I’m all right.”
“You sure?”
His thought was No, but the words that came out were, “Yeah, I’m sure.” He glanced down at the man laid out on the table. Three months later and he got divorced. . . Then returned his eyes to Brackett. “Doc, do you need me anymore?”
“No, go ahead, Johnny. But if you do start to feel ill, be sure and get in here. One of us will make time to see you.”
“Thanks,” he said as he turned and headed for the door.
~*~*~
Roy looked over from Dixie McCall’s desk as his partner emerged from the treatment room.
“See what I mean?” he asked the head nurse out of the corner of his mouth.
She gave a quick glance, trying not to be too obvious. “He does seem like he’s got less spunk.”
“What’re you two looking at?” Johnny wondered as he joined them.
“Nothing,” Dixie said in a light tone.
The younger man looked from the nurse to Roy. “Okay, what’d I miss?”
“I was just telling Dixie how Lorraine invited Joanne to the wedding shower,” Roy lied.
Johnny suddenly appeared to turn pale.
“Are you okay?” the head nurse asked.
“Yeah,” he said with a nod. Noticing the supplies in his partner’s arms, he quickly suggested, “How about we get back to the station to eat. I could sure use some clam chowder.”
“Okay. . .” Roy wasn’t sure clam chowder was going to hold well if Johnny felt sick and was just trying to hide it. But he didn’t dare try to say anything more, at least not until they were alone in the truck.
~*~*~
“You know, clam chowder isn’t as good coming up as it is going down,” Roy stated as he drove the squad from Rampart.
Johnny glanced over and shook his head. “I’m not sick. Well, not in the way you’re thinking.”
“Well, what happened? You were fine till you got to Rampart.”
“That guy we just brought in. . .?”
Roy nodded and waited for more.
“He was having a nagging feeling before he got married too. And then he got hurt on his wedding day. . . before the wedding. So they got married at the hospital instead.”
“Yeah. . .so. . .your nagging feeling isn’t that big of a deal. You already said so.”
“I don’t even know what it is.” Johnny turned more to face his friend. “But that’s beside the point. Roy, they got divorced three months after that. It didn’t work out!”
“Maybe they just weren’t meant for each other. Besides, what’s that got to do with you?”
The future groom sighed in frustration. “I proposed in a hospital, remember?”
Roy glanced over in disbelief. “You’ve never let that bother you before.”
“No, but then I didn’t know about the ‘wrong location curse’.” He shifted in his seat to face forward again and looked out the passenger side window, as his partner responded.
“The what?”
Johnny once again was eyeing Roy. “You know.”
“Oh, I get it. This is to do with what Chet said.”
“Uh huh. I’ve been giving it a lot of thought.”
“Since when do you give anything Chet says a lot of thought?”
“Since you agreed.”
Roy couldn’t believe the conversation they were having. At a time he’d expected Gage to blow something off, it was actually sticking around. There had to be a way to fix it.
Joanne’ll never forgive me if I don’t. . .
“Look, do you love Lorraine or not?”
“Of course I do.”
“And were you happy after you proposed to her?”
“Sure,” he said in an upbeat tone. “But--”
Roy took his right hand off the steering wheel and held it up to stop Johnny from saying any more. “It was a romantic, spontaneous moment, right?”
The younger man gave it thought, a small smile forming as he thought back to the proposal. “Not overly romantic. But, it was nice; and spontaneous. Yeah, it was.”
“Well there ya have it. You knew it was right back then. You’re still the same people today, so it can’t suddenly be wrong.” Wanting to make sure he got the whole mess cleared up while he had his partner’s full attention, he continued on. “It’s probably just pre-wedding jitters. Everybody gets ‘em.”
“Did you?”
A sudden dejavu’ came over Roy as he recalled another conversation he’d had with Johnny earlier in their partnership.
“You know, this reminds me of that time you got the letter from the IRS about being audited. You were so worried, even when I told you I’d been audited and it wasn’t a big deal. You went on and on. . .even let Chet get to you then too, with the article about a guy being indicted on tax evasion charges or something to that order. And then by the time we all got concerned for you, it was over with and you acted like nothing was ever wrong.”
Gage was quiet a moment. “You could’ve just said ‘no’.”
“Okay, I didn’t get pre-wedding jitters, but don’t forget I knew Joanne since the fourth grade. Any nervousness was long gone by the time we were adults.”
“I know.”
“So why’d you start to compare me to everyone else?”
Johnny shrugged. “It just seemed like a natural thing to ask. It slipped out.”
“Well, do you feel better now?”
“A lot.”
Roy sighed in relief. “Good.” Now if I can just keep Chet from making things worse again.
“Just do me one favor.”
“What’s that?”
“Make sure I don’t wear tennis shoes to the church on my wedding day.”
Roy quickly glanced at his partner, then looked toward the street ahead. He decided that statement was better left unexplained. “Sure, whatever it takes to get you down that aisle.”
~*~*~
Roy felt like he’d dodged a bullet by getting Johnny confident again about his decision to get married to Lorraine. There hadn’t been anymore mention of the ‘wrong place curse’ the rest of the way back to the station, and all he had to do was get to Chet first to tell him to lay off the younger man on the subject. Then the problem would be gone for good. .
As he backed the squad into the station and parked it, his partner caught him by surprise.
“Hey, Roy. . .”
“Yeah?”
“Somethin’ just dawned on me.”
Roy turned off the ignition and looked at Johnny. “What?”
Johnny furrowed his brow, but remained facing forward in the cab. “When I asked you and Dixie what I missed, you said you’d just told her that Lorraine invited Joanne to the wedding shower. But it was really me who suggested it. . .” He turned to look at Roy. “. . .to you.”
DeSoto swore inward as he scrambled for an explanation, all the while trying not to show panic in his features. “I did say that. But it was just for Dixie’s benefit.”
“Huh?”
“For Dixie. Since wedding showers are just for girls, as you know, she’d much rather hear how Lorraine invited Joanne herself. Not that you had to think of it. It’s just a nicer story the other way.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. So I kind of lied.” Well, *that’s* not a lie anyway.
“Huh. . .girls are sure hard to figure out at times,” he said, opening the passenger door.
So are nervous grooms, Roy thought to himself.
~*~*~
The two paramedics walked into the dayroom where the others were cleaning up the dirty dishes from lunch.
“You guys ate all the chowder?” Johnny asked in disbelief as he went over near the sink.
“No, we saved some for you guys in the refrigerator,” Mike explained. “You just have to heat the stuff up.”
“In what?”
Marco handed him a sauce pan he’d just dried.
Johnny took it and walked toward the refrigerator where Roy was getting out the large bowl that contained their two helpings.
“I wish someone would invent a quicker way to reheat stuff like this,” Gage grumbled.
In the meantime Chet had remained quiet as he washed the dishes. He wanted to ask Johnny how he could forget he was going to be an usher at the wedding. But at the same time, he knew it could ruin his reputation to show it still mattered to him. He decided to keep quiet for the time being and ask Gage later if he could catch him alone.
~*~*~
Having finished putting the clean dishes away, Mike, Marco and Chet were about to go shoot a few hoops in the rear lot of the station when the klaxons sounded. The men stood in place listening to see who would be called out.
Johnny and Roy stopped eating, ready to get to their feet in case it was for them, but were relieved when the call turned out to be for the engine to accompany Squad 8 concerning a ‘man down’. Roy was more than happy it hadn’t been them sent to the scene.
Who knows, maybe this one is *at* a wedding. The last thing Johnny needs now is to talk to another guy on *that* subject. . .
After the engine was gone, the two paramedics finished their lunch, then cleared the table of their dishes.
“You want to wash or dry?” Roy asked.
“Well, considering we’ve only got our stuff and the pot to do, it really doesn’t matter.” When he saw Roy still waiting for a more precise answer, he replied, “Dry.”
The senior paramedic handed him a towel and proceeded to fill the sink with soapy water.
~*~*~
Still free from any more rescues, the paramedics got caught up on their log book before relaxing with some personal time. Roy sat on the couch in the dayroom reading a book, while his partner excused himself to the dorm to make a phone call to his fiancé.
It wasn’t long before the engine returned, the men coming into the dayroom mumbling about what a crazy afternoon it had been so far.
Roy looked up from his book. “What happened?”
“A man got stuck proposing to his girlfriend,” Mike explained.
“What?”
“You heard him,” Chet put in. “This guy got down on one knee to propose to his girl and he couldn’t get back up. . .could hardly move at all. He was stuck in that position in the livingroom of his apartment.”
“And you would think it would be his knee that was the problem,” Marco added. “But it was his back that went out on him of all things.”
“His back?”
Mike nodded. “He said he twisted slightly when he went to get up and something popped.”
“Ouch.”
“I know one thing,” Chet went on. “When I propose to Vanessa, I’m staying on my feet or just sitting down on a chair.”
“I guess Johnny may have saved himself some time since he was already in the hospital when he proposed,” Roy said with a grin.
“Speaking of Gage, where is he?” Chet wondered.
“In the dorm talking to Lorraine on the phone.”
The others took a seat at the table while Chet started for the doorway.
“Don’t go annoying him.”
The curly-haired fireman looked at Roy with an innocent face. “I’m just going to use the bathroom.”
As he left, Marco turned to Roy. “Do you believe him?”
“No, but Johnny’ll set him straight if he gets in the way. Besides, those two could use a little time in a room together. Maybe they’ll finally just air it all out and it’ll put an end to the bickering.”
“We can hope,” Mike added, looking at the doorway Chet had just exited through.
~*~*~
Johnny had just ended his phone call when Chet came into the dorm. Glancing over at the new arrival, he grinned.
“Did you come in to call Vanessa and ask her to marry you?”
“Huh?”
The paramedic got to his feet. “I figured maybe since you chickened out in person, you’d try it over the phone.”
Chet frowned. “Very funny. I’ll do it soon. . .when the time is. . .”
“Right.” They both said in unison.
“Look, I came in here for a sincere talk and you’re already trying to start something.”
“I’m not tryin’ to start anything,” Johnny said, a hand splayed across his chest. “I figured you would be since you came in here after me.”
“I just wanna know one thing.”
“What?” The paramedic stood waiting with his arms folded.
“How could you forget you asked me to be an usher at your wedding?”
“What?”
“You heard me. You said earlier that you forgot all about me being an usher. But you didn’t forget Marco was.”
“Oh for pete’s sake,” Johnny grumbled, his hands now resting on his waist. “Chet, I’ve got a lot on my mind. I can’t be expected to remember every little detail every minute of the day!” he added as he waved his right arm in emphasis.
“Yeah but--”
“Chet! Just wait till you’re in my shoes. You’ll see.”
“So there’s no reason behind it?”
“Oh, c’mon. Look, if it’ll make you feel any better, you can forget about it when you make me an usher at your wedding.”
The curly-haired fireman just stood looking at him a moment, a frown still on his face.
“What’s wrong? I thought that was a fair solution.”
“I wasn’t going to have any ushers. I mean, what’s the big deal?” he shrugged. “It’s a church; it’s one big room with plenty of places to sit all right there as soon as people walk in. It’s not like they’re gonna get lost getting to a seat. You’ve just gotta remind them that the front rows are for family only and it just takes someone standing at the door for that.” He shrugged again as he walked past Gage and out of the dorm toward the locker room.
Johnny slowly turned to watch his shiftmate leave, his face screwed up in disbelief. “Wait,” he said as he finally followed behind. “You were the one who kept reminding me to be sure and have some in the first place.”
~*~*~
A few days later, another duty for A-shift was beginning and the paramedics were getting changed into uniform while some of the crew from C-Shift remained at the station. Sitting at the table in the dayroom enjoying morning coffee, the three men who’d made the bet about Johnny getting cold feet were discussing the subject again.
“I don’t think Gage is gonna get cold feet.”
“Of course he is,” Dwyer assured. “He’s a bachelor type all the way.”
“I’m not so sure,” another protested. “Roy mentioned that his wife went to Lorraine’s bridal shower yesterday. So the plans haven’t changed yet.”
Dwyer got up from the table with a grin. “Yet is the key word.” As he approached the exit, he glanced over his shoulder. “Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I don’t want things to work out. I just can’t see it happening.”
The two men watched as Dwyer went into the apparatus bay, then went on to discuss what their plans were for the day off.
~*~*~
“Joanne loved the shower, and she and Lorraine got along great,” Roy was telling Johnny as he buttoned his blue uniform shirt. “In fact, Jo says they plan on doing some shopping together and having lunch soon.”
“So I heard,” Johnny said, not sounding happy. He looked down to fasten his belt.
Roy looked at him in surprise. “I thought you wanted them to get along.”
“I do.”
“Well, then why the long face?”
Johnny looked up at his partner. “Because Lorraine said Joanne mentioned us borrowing Jenny’s old play pen when the time comes that we need it.”
“Oh. . .yeah, she told me about that.” Roy tucked his shirt into his trousers as he continued, “I thought it sounded practical.”
“Yeah. Well. . .” He held up the list of baby names that he’d carried around with him another time earlier, a sour expression on his face.
“It’s longer.”
Johnny nodded. “And she’s still adding.”
“Back on the kick, huh?”
The younger man sighed. “I have a feelin’ we’re gonna have a little Gage crawlin’ around the apartment before our first anniversary.”
Roy closed his locker. “Kids do bring a lot to life. Once you have one, you’ll be amazed at how you want everything to revolve around the baby. You’ll forget what life was even like without one.”
“But the diapers, the bottles, the. . .the toys that end up everywhere on the floor. . .it just sounds like so much work.”
“It is a lot work. But it’s rewarding.”
“I guess it’ll be fun trying to make one.”
Roy gave his partner a grin and shook his head as he headed for the door. Somehow I *knew* that was gonna be near the top of his list.
As he reached to push the door open, Marco and Chet came in, the latter noticing the expression on Roy’s face.
“Okay, what’d we miss?”
“Nothing really.” He said as he continued on his way out.
Johnny closed his locker and hurried past the others, hoping to avoid having to explain anything.
Once the paramedics were gone, Chet glanced at Marco. “Somehow I get the feeling John’s got another problem.”
“These days, that’s almost a given,” Marco agreed, opening his locker.
~*~*~
After being dismissed from roll call, Johnny and Roy walked over to their squad to take an inventory on the medical supplies and to make sure the other equipment was still operational. Though C-Shift hadn’t reported any problems, it was routine for the next paramedic crew taking over on duty to check such things.
Marco and Mike headed out to the rear lot to hang hose while Chet went to the supply closet in the apparatus bay to get a broom, mop and bucket for the dayroom floor. As he pulled the items out, he heard Johnny call from near the squad, “Hey, Chet, did you ask Vanessa to marry you yet?”
The fireman mumbled an answer and took the broom into the room, then returned for the mop and bucket.
“What’d you say?” Johnny asked, coming around the rear of the squad from the passenger side.
“I said yes, I did.”
“You did?”
Roy couldn’t help but join them when he heard the good news. “That’s great, Chet. So where’d you end up proposing?”
Chet looked from Johnny to Roy, trying to hide an uneasiness he was feeling. “I took her out to dinner.”
“That’s original,” Gage said with sarcasm.
“So when’s the big day?”
The curly-haired fireman looked at Roy and shrugged. “I’m not sure.”
“That’s okay,” Johnny said, giving him a quick pat on the left shoulder. “At least you got this far.”
“Yeah. At least.”
“John!” Hank Stanley called out.
The dark-haired paramedic walked along the driver’s side of the squad to see what the captain wanted. With Johnny no longer hanging around, Chet whispered to Roy, “Don’t tell Gage this, but Vanessa didn’t exactly say yes.”
“She said no?”
Chet looked to where Johnny had gone. When he didn’t see him returning, he added, “You’ve gotta know something about Vanessa to understand. She. . . uh. . .she's really stacked here," he said, indicating the chest area, "but not so much up here." He pointed to his head. "So she’s not always. . .well. . . real decisive.”
“So what did she say?”
Chet swallowed before replying, “Probably.”
“Probably?”
“Shhhh. You want Gage to hear? After all the hassles I’ve given him about Lorraine, he’ll never leave me alone.”
“That’s true.”
“What’s true?” Johnny asked returning.
Roy looked at the pitiful expression on Chet’s face. He couldn’t help but spare the guy a little agony. “What’d Cap want?”
“Hmmm? Oh, just to let me know his wife called and said she heard back from a florist she knows; she got us a discount price on the flowers for the wedding.” He sighed as he folded his arms across his chest. “Man, there’s more to gettin’ married than I ever thought. I don’t see how anyone can get divorced after all this work.”
Chet started wheeling the bucket with the mop inside toward the dayroom, when Johnny’s words stopped him. “So what was true? What were you guys talkin’ about?”
“I was telling him about how hard it is to understand women at times,” Roy said, still trying to save Chet. If he let Johnny know the truth, the younger man would have to make some kind of remark. And then when Chet eventually heard about the baby names, it would be a war of words. If he could keep both stories from being brought up, everyone would be a lot better off.
“Man, you got that right,” Johnny agreed.
“He sure does,” Chet mumbled.
“Maybe that’s what’s really been bugging you all this time. . .maybe you don’t feel like you understand Lorraine.”
Gage frowned at his partner.
“I did it again, huh?”
He nodded.
Chet continued on to the dayroom while he could get away; Roy returned to the tasks left with the squad, his thoughts on the two bachelors.
I wish they could just have a double ceremony and get this all behind them.
~*~*~
“So, Chet’s getting’ married,” Johnny said as he and Roy returned to the station after a call. “Man, I never thought I’d see the day.”
Roy glanced over with a smile. “I never thought I’d see the day you tied the knot.”
“I knew I would. I just had to find the right girl, that’s all,” he shrugged. “I kept goin’ for perfection and there’s just no such thing as a ‘perfect chick’,” he explained. “Take Valerie for instance. She was beautiful, but look how that went. There was Daisy, Sue, Barbara, Evelyn. . .”
“Paula Slayton. . .”
“Anita, Sheila, Jeanette, Amy. . .”
“Mary Lynn, Darleen. . .”
Johnny got an irritated look on his face. “All right, all right. I think we made our point.”
“Just trying to help.”
“Well, the fact is, I found the right girl for me and we’re gonna get married.” He still got a nervous twinge in his stomach at the mention of the words married and wedding, but Johnny didn’t want to share that tid bit of information with anyone, including Roy.
~*~*~
Back at the station, the paramedics climbed out of the squad where they were met by Captain Stanley. He’d just come out of his office.
“Ah. . .glad you guys are back. We need to have the meeting I mentioned at roll call, so now that we’re all here. . .”
“Oh yeah. . .the thing about going over rescue techniques in large stores, right?”
“That’s right,” he said, looking at Johnny. “There’s a lot of stuff that’s come down since two retail establishments have caught fire in the past several months. The last one almost cost one of the crew his life,” he explained as they followed him into the dayroom.
Having been informed of a meeting as soon as the paramedics got back, the others were already moving chairs away from the table and into place facing the blackboard when the three walked in.
The men took their seats as Hank walked up to the front of the room and began drawing a diagram on the board, occasionally glancing at the one on the paper in his left hand.
“So you think of a date to suggest to Vanessa yet?” Johnny asked quietly, leaning toward Chet.
“I just asked her to marry me last night. Give me some time.”
“Oh, c’mon. Didn’t you get an idea of a day you preferred when she said ‘yes’?”
Roy looked at his partner. “You didn’t.”
“That was different. I was in the hospital.”
“He can’t set a date until she says yes,” Marco put in as he turned around in his chair.
Johnny looked in shock at Marco, then to Chet. “She said ‘no’?”
Chet was staring at Marco, shaking his head in disbelief. “What happened to not telling him?”
“Sorry, Chet, I forgot.”
“She said ‘no’?” Johnny repeated.
“She said ‘probably’,” Roy said, figuring that was better for his partner to hear rather than assuming it was ‘no’.
Johnny screwed up his face in puzzlement. “Probably?”
Hank faced his men. “Okay, all set.” As he went on to explain the different points of the diagram, Gage still tried to process the ‘probably’ answer, often mouthing the word in silence.
~*~*~
After the meeting was over, Johnny stopped Chet from getting up from his seat. The other four crew members stuck around as well, while the captain returned to his office.
“How can she say ‘probably’?”
“She has a hard time deciding things right away.”
“Yeah, but this is a marriage proposal,” Johnny said, still baffled. “Who says probably?”
“Vanessa Vavoom,” Mike stated.
Johnny frowned. “Well, it’s the first I ever heard of it.”
“Go ahead and start cracking jokes,” Chet said, ready to face what he figured he had coming.
“Uh uh.”
Everyone looked at Gage in surprise. He in turn glanced at them, a bit surprised himself that they all expected him to tease Chet.
“Why not? He always does it to you,” Marco reminded.
“He does. And look what happened. He got a ‘probably’ for an answer to his proposal,” Johnny said with a wave of his right hand. “I’ve got enough going on as it is,” he explained, a hand splayed on his chest, “without jinxing myself before the wedding by hounding Chet about his marriage woes.”
“In other words, what goes around is likely to come around,” Roy commented.
“Yeah, somethin’ like that.” Johnny walked out, leaving four silent shiftmates standing in the dayroom. As had happened a few times before, Gage didn’t react like they’d expected.
~*~*~
Within the next ten days, Chet had finally gotten a firm ‘yes’ from Vanessa, and Johnny was quieter than normal as his nervousness increased the closer his wedding day got. With the ceremony just a week away, the nervous twinge in his stomach was there more often than not.
Chet came into the locker room to get changed into uniform; Mike and Marco were already there, almost ready for roll call.
“Morning,” the curly-haired fireman said with a smile as he opened his locker.
“You sure are happy today,” Marco remarked.
“Yeah, Chet. Does this mean you and Miss Vavoom finally set a date for your wedding?”
Chet looked at Mike and shook his head as he pulled out his blue shirt. “In fact we’re not gettin’ married.”
“What?”
Both men were shocked.
“We’re not gettin’ married.”
“But I thought she said ‘yes’ . . .”
“She did, Marco. But then I heard what happened to Gage yesterday . . .from Kirk on B-Shift.”
“What happened?” Mike wondered.
“Well, you know how we had three days off. . .so it was B-Shift, then C-Shift, then B-Shift again”
The two nodded.
“Apparently Gage has been under so much stress lately, he can’t think straight. He came into work yesterday, thinking we were on duty. . .” Having changed shirts, he buttoned his uniform one up as the others processed the news.
“So, what’s that got to do with you?”
“So, gentlemen,” Chet went on, stepping out of his denim jeans. “I’m not about to end up there myself. When Kirk called me yesterday and said, ‘guess who showed up for duty today’, I decided right then I was gonna talk to Vanessa and see about calling it off.”
“Let me guess,” Mike teased. “She said ‘probably’.”
“Ha!” He pulled up his dark blue pants. “Nope,” Chet said with a wide grin at being able to prove him wrong. “She said ‘maybe’. As in maybe it’s better to wait.”
“So, you’re just postponing it?” Marco wondered.
Chet tucked his shirt in and zipped up his trousers. “Probably.”
The other two closed their lockers and walked out, shaking their heads; Marco glad he was still very single and Mike that he was already married.
~*~*~
Marco and Mike entered the dayroom where Roy was leaning against the counter near the sink sipping a cup of coffee; Kirk and three other firemen from B-Shift were sitting at the table watching Johnny go over a list of his and Lorraine’s major belongings that would need to be downsized in number soon. They had too much furniture between them to fit into one apartment, and Lorraine’s lease was two weeks away from running out; they would only be able to keep the extra furniture there until then.
Kirk shook his head as Johnny mumbled incoherently while making notations here and there on his list.
“Now what is he doing?” Marco asked.
When Roy explained, the fireman became interested. “Are you going to be selling any of it, Johnny? My Aunt Rosita is thinking of redecorating and she may want to take a look.”
When he didn’t get an answer, but rather more mumbling instead, he looked at Roy again.
“Don’t bother trying. I don’t think he even knows where he is right now.”
“I don’t think he knows where he’s been the past two days,” Kirk added, getting up from the table and pushing his chair in.
“Well, at least he’s not like Chet and chickened out,” Mike commented as he walked over to the couch and sat down.
The statement got everyone’s attention but Johnny’s and Marco’s, the latter having already been aware of the development.
“Chet chickened out?”
Mike looked at Roy and nodded. “He says it’s ‘probably’ postponed.”
“Chet chickened out?” Kirk echoed. “Wait’ll Dwyer hears. . .he’ll wish he made a bet on ol’ Chester Kelly instead of John here,” he said as he motioned toward the still oblivious paramedic.
Roy, Marco and Mike stared in surprised shock. “Dwyer has a bet on him?” the senior paramedic asked.
“Yeah, I thought you guys knew.”
“Ah ha!” Gage suddenly looked up, the list in his right hand. “I think I’ve got it figured out. If we sell my couch for $50, her kitchen table for $40, and her bed and dresser for $110, we’ll have an even $200 to start a savings account between us.” He looked around when everyone just stared at him, unaware they were still wondering how he could block out their conversation. “What? Are the amounts too high? Too low?” He looked at the list and chewed nervously on the tip of a pen. “You’re right, the numbers are off. . .”
“What about your convertible chair?” Roy asked, but his partner was already concentrating on the list and mumbling again. “We almost had him back,” he commented dryly to the others.
Just then Chet came into the room, receiving more attention than he wanted. “Okay, which one told?” he said with a sigh.
~*~*~
After getting sent out on a response just prior to roll call, Roy hoped to get his partner’s undivided attention as they headed back to the station. But Johnny had brought along his list and was about to go over his suggested prices all over again. Before he could get started, Roy spoke.
“Kind of a shame about Chet, huh?”
“What about ‘im?” he asked disinterestedly as he studied the paper.
“He called off the marriage to Vanessa.” He glanced over, a look of disbelief on his face. “You really didn’t hear us talking about it this morning?”
Johnny was stunned. “He what? You were?”
“Houston, we have a connection.”
“Very funny. Seriously, did Chet really call it off?”
Roy nodded.
“Why?”
“He didn’t wanna get distracted like you.”
“I’m not distracted.”
The senior paramedic eyed the list as he stated, “No, you just missed a whole conversation going over that and came in to work on a day off.”
“So, I’m a little out of it--”
“A little? I’d say more than a little. But at least you’re still ‘with it’ when it counts. You’d probably be a whole lot better off if you went on rescues non-stop from now till you’re at the church.”
“Yeah? And then what; sleep through my own wedding?”
“At least you wouldn’t be like that one guy from the tire store and end up in the hospital after a fall; you’d already be down.”
“Does Joanne ever get tired of your wisecracks?” Johnny teased. Before his partner could answer, he continued, “I know we’ve discussed this once before, but weren’t you even a little nervous about ending your bachelor days?”
Roy shook his head. “I never really had any. I mean, I was single. But since I was with Joanne the whole time, I didn’t feel like it was a huge change to get married, except to be living under the same roof. Don’t worry, you’ll do okay.”
“Can I ask a favor?”
“Remind you not to wear tennis shoes to the wedding. . .I remember.”
“Well, that too. But before that. . .like on the way back to the station.”
“What?”
“Can we stop at a drug store? My stomach kinda feels queasy.”
Roy quickly glanced at Johnny with concern, then returned his eyes to the road. “Why didn’t you say something at Rampart? You could’ve seen a doctor and gotten a prescription.”
The younger man shook his head. “It’s not that kind of queasy. And I’d prefer no one but you know.”
“You’ve got it.”
That settled, Johnny brought his attention back to the list. “I wonder how much I could get for the convertible chair.”
Roy declined to offer an opinion, figuring the junk yard wasn’t the answer his partner was going for.
~*~*~
Late the next morning Johnny sat on the couch at Lorraine’s apartment, watching her mother’s cat move its bed to a new location in the room. Lorraine was taking care of the pet while her mother and father repainted their livingroom and kitchen.
“If you could lift a couch, I think I’d hire ya in a heartbeat,” he said to the animal.
Lorraine gave a slight smile as she entered the room dressed in denim shorts and a pink blouse, a phone book in her hands. “Dad said he’d be more than happy to help us move the furniture out of here when the time comes.”
Johnny had to admit it was going to come in handy having a father-in-law who managed a moving company. But if we don’t have anywhere to move the stuff we don’t want to keep . . .
“Let’s just see what this used furniture store says, then we can make arrangements if we need to.”
She handed him the book as he reached over and moved the telephone that was on a nearby end table closer, setting the phone directory on his lap at the same time.
Lorraine sat leaning forward in a wooden rocking chair that faced the couch from across the room and waited as Johnny made the call. After a brief conversation, he returned the receiver to its cradle and smiled.
“I think we’ve got our problem solved. I don’t know why we didn’t think of this sooner.”
“I guess we’ve both had too much on our minds.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“Johnny,” Lorraine began, fidgeting with her hands as she nervously bit her lower lip. “Are you okay?” When she saw him looking at her with an unsure expression, she explained, “You just haven’t been you’re easy going self lately. “
“Oh. . .that. . .yeah, I’m okay. I. . .uh. . .I’m kinda still nervous about the wedding, you know. . . ” He noticed she still appeared worried, so he quickly reassured, “It isn’t that I’m not excited, too. It’s just that . . .well, I’ve never done this before,” he snickered.
“Are you sure that’s it?”
Johnny saw that the concern on her face remained and sighed. She was obviously genuinely scared and what he’d said hadn’t exactly helped. He knew it was going to take more than a few words to make her feel secure now.
Good goin’ . . .
He set the phone book off to the side on the couch, then pushed the telephone back a short distance on the end table, doing a double take in the process. A smile spread across his face as he stood up and made his way over to the rocking chair.
Squatting down in front of Lorraine, he looked into her green eyes and felt himself drawn into them all over again. Even with her being upset, the sparkle was still in them. Johnny gave her a crooked grin before leaning up and forward, planting a kiss on her lips, his right hand caressing her silky blond hair. Lorraine followed through, her eyes closed in the passionate moment as their kiss became deeper.
After several seconds, they both pulled back slightly and the paramedic could only find three words to say.
“I love you.”
Lorraine was teary eyed, both in relief and joy. Johnny gently wiped away a tear on her left cheek as he took in her beautiful features once again.
“Are you okay?”
“I am now,” she reassured. “I was so worried you’d changed your mind. I mean after you told me about Chet and then with you acting kind of different. . .”
“Not a chance. And Chet doesn’t know what he’s gonna be missin’ out on by waiting.” He glanced over his shoulder, then returned his attention to her. “Did . . .uh. . .did you ever figure out what was buggin’ you a few weeks ago?”
She nodded. “It’s silly. I didn’t want to tell you.”
“Can’t be any sillier than what was buggin’ me. I just figured it out.”
“Your dusting,” they both blurted out in unison. The couple looked at one another in amusement.
“You never move stuff when you dust,” Lorraine explained. “You go around things and it leaves a little ring around everything. I’d rather you wait and do it right later.”
Johnny had to smile. “I noticed when I slid the phone back a little, I missed where it had been sitting before and it kind of left a trail where I’d slid it; you don’t dust often enough.”
“Guess we’ll have to change our habits, huh?”
“Put ‘em together and we should be fine. I’ll clean around stuff, then you can come behind me later and move everything and finish the job.” He stood up and reached for her hands, helping her to her feet. “Now, whataya say we take that drive we were planning on so we can have the picnic.”
Lorraine agreed and made sure the cat had plenty of food and water for the day before they headed out on their venture.
~*~*~
The paramedic took a bite of his sandwich as he looked across the blanket at his future bride. She was busy filling a cup with lemonade from the spigot of a jug and didn’t notice him eyeing her.
Johnny admired the way the sunlight fell upon her blonde hair as it filtered through the tree branches above them. He wished he had his camera handy to catch her in the natural setting and unaware.
As Lorraine brought the filled cup to her lips, she caught a glimpse of him looking at her. Locking gazes with him, she lowered the cup and smiled.
“You look content.”
“I am,” he stated.
“Me too.”
Johnny swallowed his bite of food and washed it down with a swig of his lemonade, then motioned for her to move closer, sliding his plate to the side. “C’mere.”
Lorraine held her cup out to the side as she complied after moving her plate of food over as well. After another deep kiss, the two once again found themselves lost in each other’s eyes.
All of a sudden the thought of having offspring between them didn’t sound like such a bad idea to Johnny. Especially if we have a girl who looks like her mom. I’ll just have to teach the kid to pick up a dust rag now and then. . .
~*~*~
“So, how was your day off?” Roy wondered as he and Johnny did a morning check on the squad the next shift.
Gage grinned. “It was great! I finally figured out what was buggin’ me all this time.”
The senior paramedic jerked his head up in surprise. “You did?”
“Yep. She doesn’t dust very often. She’ll vacuum till she nearly wears a hole in the carpet, I’d say. But as far as picking up a dust rag? It’s not likely we’ll go through a can of furniture polish before we have our second kid.”
Roy had to smile at the mention of children again. Gage was so wishy-washy on the issue; he didn’t even want to try to guess when that event might happen. “That’s it?”
“Uh huh,” Johnny confirmed as he looked over the drug box from his squatted position. “I used her phone yesterday and I’d moved it a little. When I pushed it back, I could tell I missed the regular spot. It wasn’t a real thick layer of dust, you know, but just enough to see the pattern.”
“I suppose you’ll be doing some housework.”
“Yeah. . .well. . .we kinda figured out we’ve been bugged about the same thing. . . sorta. . .I dust, but I don’t move stuff when I do it. So we decided we’re even.”
“Well, look at the bright side.”
Johnny closed the drug box and rested his left elbow on his knee, his hands clasped. “I can’t wait to hear this one.”
Roy shrugged. “It’s simple. If you ever get divorced, you two just have to write your names in the dust to claim what belongs to who.”
“Man, you almost sound like Dwyer.”
“Don’t tell me you heard about the bet he has with the guys on C-Shift.”
Johnny nodded. “Yeah, I heard.”
“Who told ya?”
“Chet. . .of course. I guess Marco told him and he caught me before I got out of the parking lot yesterday.”
“I was hoping you wouldn’t find out.”
“Roy, I don’t mind a friendly bet. It’s not like I haven’t made a few myself. Besides, he’s gonna lose.”
“I hope so.”
“He is. . and I’m in on it when he does,” he added with a grin.
Roy looked stunned. “You are?”
“Uh huh.”
“How’d you manage that? Or does he know?”
Johnny shook his head. “He doesn’t know. I had Stoney from 8’s get in on it. . .I called him before I went to Lorraine’s yesterday, and told him to say he heard by word of mouth and to bet for me. So he’s gonna. I figure the five dollars I win’ll pay for the card and flowers I need the first time I do something wrong and end up in the doghouse, so to speak.”
Roy couldn’t help but crack a smile. “You know, you really are ready for this marriage. I know I’ve said it before, but this only reaffirms it.”
“Whataya mean?”
“Because it’s obvious you aren’t going into this thinking it’s all going to be sunshine and roses. You’re already preparing yourself for the ups and downs. . .means you’re looking at it in a realistic way. Not everyone does that and the first problem that comes along knocks ‘em for a loop.”
“Oh don’t worry. . .I’ve learned a lot from what I’ve seen with you and Joanne.”
Roy’s smile faded slightly as he gave the statement more thought. Joanne and I don’t have that many downs, do we?
~*~*~
It was just after the lunch hour and the day had been going smoothly. Both the squad and the engine had been sent out on two calls each, only one with them responding together. But none of the rescues had been very dangerous for the men or taken very long.
After cleaning up the dishes from lunch, Johnny and Roy headed for the rear lot to join the others in a game of basketball. Just as they reached their destination, the klaxons went off.
“Station 51, man trapped. . .”
Before the remainder of the call was announced, the crew of A-Shift was trotting to their respective vehicles, the captain coming from his office to acknowledge the response. They soon found themselves on their way to a rescue they hoped would have as good of an outcome as the earlier ones had.
~*~*~
When they got to the scene, a woman and three young children stood waiting in a large grassy yard, half of it mowed. A one-story house was off to the side on the property. The back edge of the yard ended abruptly with a drop off.
The woman motioned for the children to stay where they were and hurried to the stopped squad and engine. As Hank and his men climbed down, and the paramedics exited their vehicle, she grabbed Johnny’s door, pulling it the rest of the way open before he had a chance to push it farther.
“Thank God you’re here!”
Glancing around he didn’t see any obvious trouble. “What happened?” Gage wondered.
Captain Stanley and the others made their way over by the time Johnny had spoken to the lady. They all listened as she explained.
“It’s my husband. He was mowing the lawn and when he got to the back edge, the kids said the ground broke off and he fell. He took a tumble down the side of the hill behind us.”
Johnny, Hank and Roy hurried over to where it was evident a chunk of the yard had indeed crumbled away. The men had to stop short of the edge, thus they were unable to look at the victim yet.
“Any idea how far he fell?” Hank asked.
“Yes, I called out to him and he said he was down about twenty-feet. He rolled into some bushes that stopped his fall.” She looked at the men, nervously biting her lower lip. “It’s a steep drop off. We’ve only looked at it once, otherwise we stay away from the edge of the yard since it does drop. We were going to put up a fence soon. ”
“Is the ledge along here,” Roy questioned, motioning toward the edge of the yard, “undercut the whole length?”
“I. . .I don’t know,” she said with worry in her voice. “We’ve only been living here a month so we didn’t even know it was.”
Johnny looked around. “Where’s the lawn mower?”
“It went over with him.”
He exchanged a quick glance with Roy, both were more than aware it could cause serious injury of it hit him during the fall, even if the motor shut off.
“Let’s get the ropes and safety belts,” Roy directed. Hank called Mike over and had him pull the engine part way into the yard so the ropes could be tied off on the bumper.
~*~*~
As Johnny and Roy started for the back edge of the yard, Johnny glanced over at his partner. “If Lorraine and I ever buy a house, remind me to make sure it’s got flat land all around it. And I think I want rock landscaping instead of grass.”
“Just be careful going down. You don’t want to end up in the hospital for your wedding in a few days.”
Johnny furrowed his brow. What *would* I do if I got hurt on the job before we get married?
~*~*~
After finally reaching the man and accessing his condition, the paramedics had a stokes lowered down to them. He’d been fortunate and although the mower was somewhat damaged, it hadn’t hit him at all, thus making his injuries less severe.
With the patient soon ready to be brought up, they each held on to a side with one hand, the other hand on their respective ropes. Chet and Marco pulled them up as Mike took on the task of bringing up the rope tied to the stokes. The captain supervised, reaching out for edge of the basket to pull the victim onto firm ground. He did it as quickly as possible in hopes of avoiding it going down again if more ground broke free; the paramedics were able to confirm that much of the yard edge was undercut, apparently the work of whoever lived in the house before. However a small section wasn’t, possibly why no one had fallen sooner.
Johnny had just taken a large step into the grass when Roy didn’t make his far enough and the ground broke away from underneath his right foot. Caught by surprise, the senior paramedic went down awkwardly, though not far.
”Roy!” Gage called out as he looked over his shoulder at his partner. The pained
expression on the downed paramedic’s face had him worried.
~*~*~
A day later, Roy was resting in the hospital, anxiously waiting to be discharged soon. With Joanne’s visit over until she could get the kids to a second available babysitter, Johnny was keeping his partner company for a brief time. Sitting in a chair near the side of the bed, the younger man shook his head.
“I still can’t believe you fractured your fibula. You know how rare it is to just break the one bone and not the tibia too?”
“Yeah, I do. And I consider myself lucky since Brackett said it should heal without me needing physical therapy. Just goes to show, though . . . anything is possible, depending on the landing.”
“Man, and here I thought I had to be careful because of the wedding. Now look.” Suddenly he got a worried expression on his face. “Oh no.”
“What?”
Still lost in thought, he barely heard Roy. “Huh?”
“You said ‘oh no’ so I said ‘what’. . .what’s oh no?”
“The wedding.”
“Don’t tell me you changed your mind. . .”
Gage jumped up from the chair. “No, of course not; but have you forgotten? You’re in it!” He rubbed at his forehead as if trying to soothe a headache.
Roy shifted his position on the bed, being careful of his casted lower left leg. “I don’t know. . .it’s only a few days away. . .I probably should just sit in the pews with Joanne and the kids.”
“Roy, you gotta be in it! You’re my best man!”
“Well, you don’t expect me to stand up there on crutches, do you?” The look he got in return was answer enough. “You do expect me to stand up there on crutches.”
“Roy. . . my best man. . .” Johnny groaned. “How can we have a wedding without you as a part of it? It’s like Jerry Lewis in a movie without Dean Martin, Reid on patrol without Malloy, Andy Griffith without his deputy Barney Fi--”
“Wait a minute,” Roy interrupted, a hand raised. “You were doing good till you mentioned Barney. You’re forgetting who isn’t gonna be there for who.”
“What ever,” Johnny said with a wave of his right hand. “You know what I mean. It’s like Tonto without the Lone Ranger.”
“Okay, okay. . .I’ll try to be in the wedding. But I may never feel my armpits again after I lean on crutches through a whole ceremony.”
“I’ll arrange for a wheel chair,” Johnny quickly promised, taking a seat again.
“That could work. Sure beats crutches.”
“So you’ll still do it?”
Roy smiled. “I’ll do it.”
“Good deal.” Johnny got to his feet once more and started for the door.
“I sure feel sorry for Lorraine if she ever tries to get out of one of your ideas.”
The younger man glanced over his shoulder and grinned. Not saying a word, he returned his gaze forward and continued on his way out of the room, a bounce to his step.
~*~*~
After driving to the church, Johnny parked his Land Rover in the lot and quickly made his way toward the building where a few of his and Lorraine’s friends were already gathering inside. It was finally the day of the wedding and his nerves were at an all time high.
“Relax, man,” he told himself as he smoothed out his tuxedo jacket. “Things went really good last night.” But even thinking back to the success of their wedding rehearsal the night before didn’t seem to calm him down. “Roy. I just gotta find Roy and talk to him. He’s always good at setting me straight.” The dark-haired paramedic made his way into the lobby of the church and scanned the room for his partner. He wasn’t there. Then it dawned on him, he hadn’t seen the DeSoto car outside.
I hope they get here soon.
“Hey, John!” Chet called out, waving him over.
Gage looked with half interest, then did a double take; his eyes opened wide when he saw the well-dressed fireman beside a pretty woman who could easily pass for Dolly Parton from the neck down, except for being taller.
Oh man! Chet was right. Triple D’s.
Johnny slowly made his way over and forced a smile. “You must be Vanessa. I’ve heard a lot about you,” he added, glancing at Chet to avoid staring at the obvious cleavage showing from the low-cut neckline of her dress.
“I hope it was all nice,” she teased.
“Oh, it was,” Johnny assured. “It was. Huge compliments.”
Chet scowled at the remark, then looked down at the paramedic’s shoes. “Uh, John. Do you realize you’ve got white tennis shoes on with your tux?”
“Ten. . .nis. . .shoes,” he stated as he eyed his feet. “Ah man,” he groaned.
“Guess you better go back home and change ‘em.” He glanced at his watch. “And make it fast.”
Johnny shook his head. “No, my good shoes are in the Land Rover. I didn’t wanna risk scuffin’ ‘em, so I carried them and wore these,” he said, pointing down. “I thought for sure I’d remember to change them before I got out of my truck.” How could I *possibly* forget? he wondered to himself. One thing was for sure. He hadn’t forgotten about the man from the tire store. With an agonized look on his face, he pulled a set of keys from his pocket. “Hey, do me a favor and go get the other shoes.” Johnny tried to hand them to Chet, but the other pushed the keys away.
“Me? Why me? You left ‘um. Besides, I’ve got a job to do in here. I’m an usher. . .or did you forget again?”
“No, I didn’t forget,” Gage answered with more annoyance than he intended. He once again smiled at Vanessa in an attempt to make up for the snappy reply in her presence. “C’mon, Chet. Marco can usher them in if they wanna get seated early. Speaking of,” he said, glancing around, “where is Marco?”
“He took his family in already,” Chet explained. “You told him to bring the whole family if he wanted, right?”
Johnny nodded.
“Well, he did; pretty much anyway. So he thought it would be a good idea to get them all settled in now.”
Just then Johnny’s future father-in-law came into the lobby with a few of his friends. Having driven Lorraine to the church, his wife stayed with her to help get her ready in another room while he joined the other men. Seeing his chance for a better excuse, Johnny grabbed Chet’s right hand and slapped the keys into it, then quickly trotted over to the others.
Chet frowned. “Wait here,” he said to his girlfriend. “Boy, I can’t wait to get even with him for sending me to get his shoes.”
“What’re you going to do?”
“I’m gonna make sure the guys in charge of decorating his truck for after the wedding really go all out, that’s what. He’s gonna have so many cans tied to the rear bumper, all of LA County is gonna hear them driving through town when they head for home.”
Vanessa watched as the fireman trotted away, then went over to a couple of ladies standing nearby who knew Lorraine and introduced herself.
~*~*~
Soon Roy and his family came into the lobby, the senior paramedic also wearing a tux, though one of his pant legs was slit on the side enough to accommodate his cast. Joanne held hands with Chris and Jennifer while Roy hobbled alongside on his crutches.
Having just finished changing his shoes, Johnny got up from the bench he was sitting on and hurried over. Joanne gave a brief wave and smile as she quickly led their two children to the bathrooms.
One look at the tennis shoes in Gage’s hands and Roy had to grin. “You forgot, didn’t you?”
“Kinda. I was nervous.”
“Was?”
“Am, alright? I am.”
“I hope you remembered the wheel chair.”
“Of course I did.”
“And I take it you watched your step when you went back out to get your other shoes?”
“I did better than that. I sent Chet,” he said, motioning toward the curly-haired fireman and Vanessa. The two were mingling with other off-duty fire fighters who had arrived.
Roy looked over, then eyed his partner. “Triple D’s” the two said in unison as they each nodded in agreement.
~*~*~
Relieved to have his family settled, Marco smiled as he came out of the main room of the church and saw that more people had arrived, including the groom. Captain Stanley and Mike Stoker were just making their way in from outside with their families as well.
“Get everyone situated?” Johnny asked.
“Finally. At first the little ones didn’t want to sit still, then Momma decided she wanted to be on the edge of the main aisle instead of next to my cousin Amelia who was sitting farther in. Aunt Rosita didn’t want to be in the middle of everyone. . .” he sighed. “If you ever have a big family, don’t take them to a place where they all will have to sit on one long bench.”
Johnny snickered at the comment, feeling more relaxed after seeing the familiar faces of his shiftmates here and there.
Suddenly two little boys came out of the main room of the church, one of Marco’s brothers with them. Marco and Johnny watched as the kids were ushered toward the bathroom. Only a few seconds later, his cousin Emilio, Amelia’s twin brother, came out with another little boy and headed in the same direction.
Marco’s mouth dropped open when his older sister came out next with two of his very young nieces, followed by his Aunt Rosita who was helping his grandmother along. . .all of them were heading for the bathrooms as well. His grandfather soon lagged behind the others.
After they all passed by, he shook his head in disbelief. “Madre` Dios! Why did I bother to get them seated early?”
Johnny looked at him in surprise. “Can you say that in here?”
“I’m sure the Great Man up above was saying the same thing as he watched them come back out after all I went through.”
“Well, at least they all didn’t get up and come out.”
Marco eyed Johnny a moment before stating, “They may as well have. Only Momma, my sister Nita and my cousin Amelia are left.”
~*~*~
Having returned from the restrooms with her children a bit earlier, Joanne DeSoto was talking to Hank and Mike’s wives as their husbands all gathered in another area of the lobby; the Stanleys’ ten and twelve-year-old daughters watched over Chris and Jennifer DeSoto, who were both much younger than them.
As Vanessa made her way over to the women to introduce herself, Mike’s eyes opened wide. “Holy--” He cut himself off as Chet joined them.
“So what do you think of Vanessa?” Kelly asked his friends.
Marco rolled his eyes and Johnny kept quiet as Roy said, “She’s all you said she was.”
Hank simply nodded his approval as he looked over at the buxom beauty and Mike commented, “You sure her last name’s not Vavavoom?”
Chet beamed with pride.
~*~*~
As more people came in, Marco and Chet went on duty as ushers. However, before Marco could get his first non-related guests in to be seated, a woman standing at a nearby podium stopped him.
“They need to sign the guest book first.”
“Guest book?”
“Yes,” she nodded. “All guests need to sign the guest book so the Gages can look back years from now and remember who attended.”
A sudden sinking feeling came over him as he envisioned having to bring the majority of his relatives back into the lobby after just having gotten them situated a second time. Then his mood lifted again as a thought occurred to him. He grabbed the book and a pen from the podium, quickly signing ‘The Lopez Family’ on one line, then handed the book to the couple he was escorting.
As Marco and Chet carried on with their duties, a frantic bridesmaid came running into the lobby in search of Johnny. When she saw him near the DeSotos, she hurried over.
“Johnny, we’ve got a problem!”
With an alarmed expression on his face, he asked, “Is it Lorraine? Did something happen to her?” Before he even got an answer he started to step away, his stomach already starting to do flip flops. She grabbed his upper left arm, stopping him.
“No, no. It’s not her. It’s Lindsey, the flower girl! She threw up! No one knows if it was just nerves or if it’s a flu bug, but who can take that chance? She might. . .well, you know. . .in the middle of the ceremony.”
Being that it wasn’t directly involving his bride, he felt his own stomach calm down again. But there was still a sick child on their hands. “Does she need one of us to take a look at her?”
“No, she’s resting okay. We’ll holler if we think it warrants more attention. But you don’t understand . . . you’re flower girl-less.”
“Well, how important is the flower girl in a wedding?”
“I’ve never been to a wedding that didn’t have one.”
Johnny looked at Roy, then Joanne. . .his eyes next rested on little Jennifer, then went back to Joanne. “Can she. . .?”
“Oh. . .I don’t know, Johnny, she’s never--”
“Never been a flower girl before? Well, this is the perfect chance.”
Joanne eyed her husband to get his opinion. “Why not? Maybe she’ll have fun.”
The mother sighed. “All right. If she wants to.”
“How about it, squirt?” Johnny asked, squatting down to Jennifer’s level. “You want to be the flower girl in my wedding?”
“Yes! Yes!” she squealed, jumping up and down. “Oh yes!”
“Will the dress fit her?” Joanne wondered.
The bridesmaid scrutinized the child a moment. “Close enough!” she stated as she took Jennifer by the hand and quickly led her away.
“Maybe I’d better go with them.”
“Jo, it looks like she was fine with the girl. She’ll be okay.”
“Roy. . .”
“I sure appreciate this,” Johnny said with a smile. “Now we just gotta hope the ring boy doesn’t get sick. ‘Course I guess there’s always Chris,” he added with a snicker.
Roy could see worry still on his wife’s face. She obviously didn’t appreciate Johnny’s humor at the moment. “Relax. The chances of the ring boy getting sick too are pretty slim.”
“It’s not that. It’s Jennifer. I have a feeling she’s either going to be so enthused, she’ll toss the flowers across the church; or she’ll be so scared, she’ll freeze up and not be able to move.”
Roy sighed. He was just looking forward to sitting down for awhile.
~*~*~
After most of the wedding guests and relatives had been seated, Johnny started toward another door that was to a narrow hallway leading to an entrance closer to the alter. With his wife and son already taken care of and in their seats, Roy hobbled alongside his friend.
Suddenly they were stopped by a familiar voice.
“How’s our groom doing?”
Johnny turned around and smiled at the late arrival. Dressed in a knee length flower print dress was someone he’d known for quite a few years.
“Dix! You made it.”
The nurse smiled and motioned toward the entrance of the lobby. “I’m not the only one.”
Gage looked over and continued to grin as he saw Kel Brackett come in. The doctor was dressed in a light blue polyester suit and had dropped Dixie off near the door before continuing on to park his car.
“Alright. This is great.”
“We wouldn’t miss it,” the doctor said as he joined them. “Someone from Rampart needs to be here,” he kidded. “Joe and Mike are on duty, but they send their best regards.”
“We would’ve gotten here sooner,” Dixie explained, “but my cat picked the wrong day to slip out the door when I opened it for Kel. It took us a little while to get her back inside.”
“Sounds like my kids,” Roy put in. “Not that they’d slip out the door, but their timing with some things can really throw off a well-planned outing.”
“How’s the leg?” the doctor asked, motioning toward Roy’s cast.
“Doing fine so far. I’m ready to ditch these crutches for a wheel chair for awhile though.”
“I don’t blame you a bit. Gets tiring leaning on those things.” Brackett returned his attention to Gage. “So, you ready for this?”
“Right now I just wanna get it over with before anything else goes wrong.”
Both the doctor and nurse gave a questioning look.
“The flower girl got sick,” Roy offered. “Nothing serious, just an upset stomach. But Jennifer had to step in for her at the last minute more or less.”
“Ah, I see,” Kel said. “Well, don’t let us hold you up. We’ll go take a seat and let you two get in with what ever you need to do.”
“Thanks, Doc. Chet or Marco can show you in.” Johnny motioned toward the two men.
Kel held out his arm for Dixie. “Shall we?” With a nod, she slipped her arm in his and the two headed for the ushers.
“I guess I don’t hafta worry about us ending up at the hospital now,” Johnny stated as he watched them walk away. “If anything does happen, we’ve got plenty of help right here to get us by at least till after the ceremony.”
“Good. That’s one more thing off your mind. Let’s go,” Roy said as he hobbled on his crutches again.
~*~*~
As Johnny and Roy got into place and situated at the alter, the guests in the pews talked quietly while they waited for the ceremony to begin. A small bouquet of pink roses and baby's breath was attached to each end of the pews and larger ones were placed near the front of the church in tall vases on either side of the aisle and in arrangements on the alter itself.
Roy looked up at Johnny from his chair. The groom was obviously nervous again, a somewhat worried look on his face.
“You going to make it through this?” he quietly asked.
“Huh?”
“I said, you think you’re going to make it? As in to the point where you say, ‘I do’.”
“I do. . .as in I do think I’m gonna make it. I just . . .” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “It’s just I’ve never had so many emotions hit me so hard at once. Not like they are now. Roy, I don’t know what I’m feeling for sure. . .happy, nervous, excited. . .I mean it’s all good. . .even the nervous is a good nervous, ya know? It’s just a lot to decipher at once.”
“Relax. If you weren’t going through all that, I’d be worried about you.”
“Yeah?”
Roy nodded. “Once things get started, you’ll settle down.”
“I hope so. . .”
~*~*~
Hank Stanley looked at his younger paramedic and smiled. It almost looked like he could topple over. I remember feeling like that, he thought to himself. He glanced at his wife beside him, then returned his attention to Johnny. He’ll be fine.
~~~~~~~
Chet tried to picture himself standing in Johnny’s place up at the alter. But when he glanced back at the double doors Lorraine would be coming through, he pictured Vanessa instead, carrying a ball and chain with his name engraved on it. A shudder ran through his body. He noticed Vanessa look at him with concern and shrugged.
“Chilly in here,” he mouthed.
~~~~~~~
Marco sat waiting with a smile on his face. He was just glad the ushering job was over and his family was staying seated. He’d been to plenty of weddings with his large family; he’d learned to enjoy the moment and look forward to the reception afterwards.
~~~~~~~
Mike gently squeezed his wife’s hand as they waited for the ceremony to begin. Having only been married a year and a half themselves, the experience was bringing back some wonderful memories of their own.
~*~*~
Soon the music started and a friend of Lorraine’s began to sing ‘There is Love’. All eyes fell on the rear of the main room where the double doors opened and in walked the bridesmaid that had made the frantic appearance in the lobby earlier. She calmly made her way down the aisle in her light pink and lace trimmed dress that was a few inches below her knees in length, a small bouquet of white and pink roses mixed with white baby's breath in her hands.
As she reached the alter and stood in place, Lorraine’s sister appeared as the maid of honor. The slim red-head slowly made her way down the aisle, her dress and bouquet matching that of the bridesmaid.
Next the ring bearer, who was a six-year-old cousin of Lorraine, and Jennifer began their journey down the aisle as well.
Roy grinned at the pale pink lacey dress that looked to be a size or two too big for his daughter. Her feet barely showed from under the hem when she took a step and the short puffed sleeves were nearly down to her elbows. But she did look sweet. He eyed Joanne, noticing she too couldn’t help but smile; until they saw their daughter suddenly eyeing the ring bearer in his tuxedo. By the time the two children were halfway down the aisle, Jennifer had only remembered to toss a few of pink and white flower pedals to the floor. Her main attention was still on the boy who was older and taller than her.
Johnny looked down to the side at Roy. “I thought Jennifer didn’t like boys.”
“She didn’t when we got here. But you know how girls are. They change their minds enough. I just can’t believe she picked now to find one she does.”
“Why not?” Johnny asked sarcastically. “Must be somethin’ about flower girls. . .one gets sick and the other love sick.”
They both looked to see Joanne trying to give inconspicuous hand signals to Jennifer in an attempt to get her back onto the flower tossing duty.
“Man, have you got some fun years ahead of you,” Johnny commented.
Roy sighed as his wife’s attempts failed to change their daughter’s current trend. “Don’t remind me. . .” And to think she’s only four.
Once the children reached the alter, they split up; Jenny going over to the maid of honor and bridesmaid, and the ring bearer joining Johnny and Roy. But the little girl kept a shy grin on her face as she kept her eyes on the handsome young man. She would have kept everyone’s attention up front with her unusual behavior, but the Wedding March started to play and the bride was about to begin her walk down the aisle with her father escorting her.
Suddenly Johnny knew what Roy had meant. All his emotions pulled together as he watched his beautiful bride walk towards them, her features slightly hidden by a veil. A long train trailed behind her gown as she carried a large bouquet that matched those of her maid of honor and bridesmaid.
The groom just felt happy. That was the only way he’d describe it if anyone asked. He knew more than ever now that he was ready for this marriage and he was looking forward to spending every minute he could with the sometimes quirky love of his life.
Soon the couple was taking the vows and before he knew it, Johnny was a married man. When it came to the kiss at the end of the ceremony, he gently lifted Lorraine’s veil and smiled warmly at the tears of joy forming in her eyes as she smiled at him in return. Both had a sparkle in their eyes.
Lorraine tilted her head up slightly and Johnny kissed her lips, first lightly, then deeper as emotion took over. After a long twenty-five seconds, the couple slowly parted and couldn’t help but blush slightly at the applause they received.
Both grinning wide, they made their way up the aisle amidst the equally happy guests now on standing up as the couple went by.
Chet Kelly shook his head. I can’t believe he did it.
A few guys in the crowd could smile for two reasons. The fact John Gage’s wedding went well and that they’d be collecting on a bet from Dwyer soon. He’d be getting enough visitors during his current shift on duty.
~*~*~
Johnny and Lorraine lined up in the lobby with her parents and the wedding party, Roy back to using his crutches. This gave them a chance to thank guests for coming as they filed out of the church. It also allowed the guests opportunity to give the newlyweds their congratulations. Afterwards, the family and members of the wedding party returned to the main room for pictures before they’d be heading on to the reception.
~*~*~
Finally it was time to leave the church. All worries of anything going wrong had long left Johnny as he and Lorraine hurried down the steps and sidewalk to Lorraine’s Blue Pacer. It was decide that would be more appropriate for the bride to get into rather than Johnny’s Land Rover.
Despite the unexpected change in cars he’d be driving, the paramedic didn’t miss a beat. If anything, he was relieved after seeing the words ‘Just Married’ written in white shoe polish on the vehicle’s body and windows. After helping his wife in, he trotted around the front and got in on the driver’s side.
As they pulled away, Hank Stanley’s eyes widened at the decorations dragging from the rear bumper.
“Good Lord, who ever did the car had a little overkill on the cans.”
“A little?” Marco echoed. “I’ve been to a lot of weddings, Cap, and I’ve never seen so many cans tied to a car in my life! Listen, you can still hear them clanging,” he commented as the car disappeared to the side of a building after Johnny turned a corner.
Chet stayed quiet, a devious grin on his face.
~*~*~
Having returned to work a few weeks earlier after his honeymoon in sunny Florida, Johnny sat on the edge of his locker looking over a list in his hands. The dark haired paramedic looked up when Roy came in for the first time since breaking his leg.
“Hey, welcome back! Welcome back.”
“Thanks.”
“How’s the leg?”
Roy looked down and smiled. “Good as new.”
“Good deal.”
The senior paramedic glanced at his partner. “So how’re things going?”
“Great, Roy. Really great. I still can’t believe it all went off without a hitch. . .the wedding, the reception, the honeymoon. And,” he added, “I’m still very happily married.”
“Well, you’ve got a lot more time ahead on that. You haven't even made it three months yet.”
“Yeah, well, all I know is that Chet sure didn’t know what he was talkin’ about when he said it mattered where a guy proposes.”
Roy decided this time not to comment. He opened his locker and then glanced at the paper in Johnny’s hands. “Don’t tell me Lorraine already wore out the new vacuums. . .”
“No, of course not,” came an irritated reply.
“You two are already working on having kids?”
“No. . .well, not directly. I mean if it happens, it happens” he shrugged. “But it’s not like we’re trying to--” He looked at his partner. “Do you really need to know all this?”
Roy shook his head ‘no’. “I just want to know what’s with the list this time.”
“Oh, we’re thinking of getting a pet. We’re moving to a bigger apartment than mine and they’re allowed, so. . ..”
“I see. You know, pets are almost as much work to take care of as kids.”
Johnny nodded. “That’s why we’re trying to get something small and low maintenance.” He looked over the list thoughtfully before looking up at his friend again. “Whataya think of a goldfish named Kirby?”
The senior paramedic just shook his head and rolled his eyes as he unbuttoned his shirt. Catching his reaction, the younger man sighed as he glanced back at the list.
“A turtle named Hoover?”
I can’t wait till they actually try to decide on a name for their first kid, Roy thought sarcastically to himself.
Thanks to Jen B. for asking for this story, as I wouldn't have tried if it wasn't for her. :o) And thanks to Carol Orndorff for beta reading it after I posted each part to the ALLE Fan Fic list. :o) Also, thanks to the ALLE Fan Fic list owners. Some stories are easier to write in progress on their list and may still be sitting incomplete if not for their forum. :o)
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