IN GOOD COMPANY

By Jane L and Whisper

We don’t own the characters of Emergency.  Mark VII and Universal do.  But they stopped using them, so we take them out to play from time to time. 

Part 1

Hank Stanley shuffled the last of the reports on his desk into some kind of order before filing them away.  Coming in early had become routine for the captain of Station 51.  It gave him a few semi-relaxed minutes to assess the paperwork, check over notes from the previous shift and generally get ready for his day.  Now that he had finished the paperwork, Hank smiled at the sound of voices in the engine bay signaling the arrival of the rest of his crew.

From his vantage point at his office door, Hank recognized Billy Hanks was already in the bay followed closely by Johnny and Chet.  Billy  was one of the paramedic trainees who had spent time at 51’s several years ago, and though he was no Roy Desoto, Billy had definitely come a long way since his days in training.  Now, with almost two years of experience under his belt, Billy had a solid place as one of Station 127’s paramedics.

“Hey Billy!”

“Hi Johnny.  Chet.  Good to see you guys.”

“You too.  It’s been a couple weeks.  How are things going?”

“Good.  Good.  Keeping busy.”

“Yeah, I hear you've been pullin’ a lot of overtime. Don’t overdo it man.”

“Nah.  Bonnie won’t let that happen.”

Their voices grew faint as the men went through the doorway into the sleeping quarters.  Hank was glad to see that Billy fit in well with the crew at Station 51.  It was never the same when one of his regulars was off for a shift, but having a good replacement made things a little easier, especially with the paramedic team.

Considering the stress of their job, having a partner they could trust was a huge part of their success in the field.

Hank grabbed his clipboard then headed for the break room.  C Shift was finishing their coffee and ready to leave as soon as they were released, meaning it was time to get the A shift started.   

“Morning Cap.  Coffee?”

Mike and Marco were already in uniform, both pouring cups of coffee at the counter.

“Thanks Marco, I’ll take a cup.”

“I see we have Billy instead of Roy today.  Everything okay?”

Cap felt some satisfaction at Mike’s question.  This was a special group of guys, definitely a family and not just in title.

“Everything’s fine, Mike.  Well, except that Joanne’s mom fell a couple days ago and sprained her ankle.  She’s going to be okay, but the DeSotos drove up to help her for a few days.  Roy will be back with us on the next shift.”

“Unless the old lady plays a trump card and talks them into staying longer.” 

The men laughed as Johnny walked past the table on his way to the coffee pot.  His sarcasm was clear and probably well-founded, since they all understood he’d been on the receiving end of more than a few jabs from Roy’s mother-in-law.

“Have a donut, Johnny, it might sweeten your outlook.”  Mike pointed at the box on the table.

C Shift rose as one and headed for the back door, their own camaraderie shining through as they hollered out “good lucks” and “safe shift” to their replacements.  When relative quiet had returned, Hank grabbed his first donut of the day just as Johnny reached for his second.

“Finish that quick, Pal, we have a station to clean.”

The next hour was uneventful as the crew worked together, quickly checking off their normal cleaning duties.  They were just sitting down for a training meeting when the klaxons sounded.

“Squad 51.  Man down.  1120 Torrance Blvd.  Time out 8:28.”

As the paramedics headed for the squad, Captain Stanley picked up the microphone and responded. 

“Squad 51.  10-4”

Within moments the door was up and the squad was turning out of the station, off for the first run of the day.  As usual, Hank made a mental plea for his men to come back safely.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“You two did a nice job on that last run.  Keeping that fracture stabilized the way you did will make all the difference in that young lady’s recovery.  I don’t think she’ll end up with any disability, thanks to you.”

“Thanks Doc.”

“Appreciate that, Dr. Brackett.”

Dixie smiled as she witnessed the exchange, not surprised to see a little red creep up Billy Hank’s face.  Even Johnny looked down when Kel was talking, a sure sign that the paramedic was affected by the physician’s praise.

“You’re welcome.”

“So where’s Roy today?”  Dixie interjected.

“Joanne’s mother hurt her ankle, so the family is visiting her.” 

“Oh no.  How did she get hurt?”

“Probably fell off her broom,”  Johnny muttered under his breath.

“What was that?” Kel asked.

“I said, I think she fell in her room.”  Johnny hurriedly answered.

“Oh.”

Dixie could tell from the sheepish look Johnny flashed to Billy, and that man’s return wink, that there was more to this story.  But then, she’d been on the receiving end of Johnny’s rants about Joanne’s mother before, so maybe it was Johnny’s normal observation of Roy’s mother-in-law.

“Well, I hope she’s not hurt too bad.”

“Nah, Roy should be back by our next shift.   Besides, this gives Billy a little time to brush up on his technique with his mentor.”

Dixie laughed outright as Kel rolled his eyes.

“Dr. Brackett to ICU.  Dr. Brackett to ICU, stat.”

“Back to work.  See you guys later.”

“Bye Doc.”

Kel hurried toward the elevator as Dixie returned to the nurses’ station.

“I have your supplies almost ready, Johnny.”

“Thanks, Dix.  We can definitely use them after the last couple runs.  Hopefully things will slow down a bit.”

Billy poured a cup of coffee while Johnny leaned against the counter.

“How do you like filling in at 51’s Billy?”  Dixie asked.

“It’s good.  Feels like home.”

“That’s a nice thing to say.”

“Well, it’s true.  If I didn’t have such a great partner at 127’s I’d put in for a transfer today.”

“Hey that would be . .  Wait!  That would mean that either Roy or . .”

Johnny stopped stuttering only when Billy broke out laughing.  Dixie enjoyed the various expressions that flew across Johnny’s face:  surprise, chagrin, acceptance, relief, and finally a smile.

“Okay, you got me there.  But you’d be my second choice after Roy, for sure.”

Dixie smiled as she tucked the last of the syringes into the box.

“There you go.  I think that’s everything.”

“Thanks Dixie.  We’ll see…“

“Squad 51, motor vehicle accident, corner of 10^th and Ash.  Time out, 10:15.”

“10-4, Squad 51.”

“See ya later, Dixie.”

The nurse watched the paramedics’ quick-walk down the hall as they headed for their next run.  Those two did make a good team.  She knew that Johnny had a special connection with Roy, but it was good to see that he could be comfortable working with Billy as well.

“Miss McCall, Dr. Morton needs you in Treatment Room 2.”

“Thanks Cindy.  On my way.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The squad backed into the station just as Mike set the casserole on the table.

“Just in time for lunch,” Marco announced. “Those two have had a busy morning.”

The paramedics walked in as he placed the last glass in place.

“Busy is right.  But this lunch is going to hit the spot.  Looks great, Mike,” Johnny announced.

The men sat down and quickly filled their plates, Johnny heaping two servings on his plate at once.

“I’m hungry,” he muttered to the five surprised stares.

The next few minutes were quiet as they dug in. 

“This is really good, Mike.”  Cap finally managed.

“Thanks.  It’s a recipe from my mom.  Figured it was worth a try here.  Chicken, noodles and cheese are pretty easy to mix together.”

“Well this one’s definitely worth repeating.”

Several grunts of approval were added.

The men had slowed down, the casserole passed for another round when Chet suddenly slapped the table.

“Oh hey Billy, I forgot to give you a message.”

“Message for me?”

“Yeah, man.  Bonnie called about an hour ago.  She said it was important that you call her back.”

“And you’re just now telling him?”  Cap muttered.

“Sorry.  We got busy with lunch, and it just slipped my mind.”  Chet answered sheepishly.  “Hope I didn’t mess anything up for you Billy.”

“No problem.  It’s probably just something about the house.”

“House?”  

“Yeah, we finally found a house we’re both interested in looking at.  Bonnie was trying to set up an appointment for us to see it this week.”

“Hey, that’s cool, man.”

“Good for you, Billy.”

“Alright!”

 

Mike watched as the enthusiastic responses brought a smile of pride to Billy’s face. 

“Thanks guys.  We’re both pretty excited.  That’s why I’m working the extra shifts.  We’re trying to get a little more money in the bucket for our down payment.  But I’d better check in with her before we get another run.  Great lunch, Mike, thanks.”

Billy pushed back his chair and headed for the phone.

“You’re welcome to use my office phone if you want a little privacy.”

“Thanks Cap.”

Billy hurried out toward Hank’s office as the captain stared at Chet.

“Next time write a message, you twit.”

Everyone laughed at Chet as he mumbled another apology.  The guys finished their last few bites as Mike collected the leftovers and tucked them into the refrigerator. 

“I think it’s your turn to wash, Chet.”

“Yeah, I know.  I’m coming.”

“What day will that be?”  Johnny questioned

“Oh shut up, Gage!”

The others grinned as Marco picked up a drying towel and waited on his friend to wash the first plate.   Mike settled down on the couch, happy for a minute to relax and listen to the friendly banter of his shift mates.  At the other end of the couch, Hank was looking through the newspaper, but peered over the top just enough to grin at him.  The two enjoyed the camaraderie of this group.  And even though Roy was missing, Billy fit in well enough to keep the exchanges relaxed.

“Hey Billy, did you get a hold of her?  Is it all set?”

“Yeah.  We’re meeting with the realtor Friday evening.  Bonnie is pretty happy.  She thinks this might be the one.”

“That’s great.”  

Billy joined Johnny at the table where the two relaxed as they watched Chet and Marco cleaning up.

“How’s the wedding plans coming along?”

“Good.  Real good.  Bonnie has a lot of relatives so it’s going to be bigger than originally planned.”

“You okay with that?”

“Yeah.  It’s a little out of my comfort zone, but I want her to be happy.”

“That’s great, man.  I’m happy for you.”

“You’re just happy it’s not you, Gage.”

“Shut up, Chet.  You have dishes to wash.”

Billy laughed along with the others, and Mike had to smile at the look on Johnny’s face.  He was irritated at Chet, as usual, but there was certainly a look of relief as well. 

“Well, Johnny, you -“

The klaxons saved the crew from Chet’s diatribe.

“Engine 51, Squad 51.  Fire at 127 N. Alameda.  Time out 1:35.”

The men were climbing into the trucks as Cap picked up the mic and confirmed their response.  With the crew in place and ready, Mike only had to wait a moment for Cap to shut his door before following the squad out of the station.  

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“I’m beat.”

“I’m not surprised.”  Johnny answered.  “You really need to stop taking so many extra shifts, Billy.”

“It’s not forever.”

“I know, but still it would be good to spread the extra shifts out a little.”

Billy yawned again before nodding slowly.

“You’re probably right.  This last week has been a little rough.  And Bonnie’s been wanting me to slow down.  I’m just anxious that we have enough to make the whole house thing work out.”

“I get that, man, but just be sensible about it.”

“You know Johnny, if I didn’t see you sitting next to me, I’d think I was talking to Roy.”

“Well, just blame it on all his good advice to me in the past.  Guess some of it has rubbed off.”

The two men laughed as Johnny backed the squad into the station.

“If we don’t get another call in the next fifteen minutes, we’ll be home on time this morning.”

“That works.  Think I’ll climb in bed and sleep all day.   Or at least until Bonnie gets off work.”

Captain Stanley was waiting for them as the paramedics climbed out of the squad. 

“Welcome back, you two.  I’d tell you that dinner is in the oven, but it’s time for breakfast.”

“Yeah, it’s been a long night, Cap.  We’re ready to call it a day.”

“Well you’re in luck then.  The guys are here for the next shift and they’re ready to go if another call comes in.  So you two can head home whenever you’re ready.”

“Thanks Cap!”

“Thank you!”

Their voices overlapped as the now rejuvenated paramedics turned toward the locker room.

“It’s been good working with you, Johnny.”

“You too, Billy.  Tell Bonnie hi for me.”

Their voices faded behind the locker room door as Captain Stanley headed for his office.  

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“How did the house hunt go last Friday?”  Marco asked Billy several shifts later.

“It was kinda fun to walk through the place, but it needed a lot more work than Bonnie realized.  By the time we spent all that money on the purchase, we wouldn’t have anything left to do improvements, so we’re going to keep looking.”

“My brother looked at quite a few places before he found the right one.  Don’t give up.”

“Thanks Marco, we won’t.”

“You won’t do what?”  Chet asked as he joined the two men in the Dayroom.  “Are you thinking about changing jobs or something?  What do you think, Billy?   Life here at 51’s is better than 127’s right?  Better grub, better company.”

“Nah, nothing like that Chet.  And you’re right, it’s pretty cushy over here.  But you know, it is a little quieter over at the other station.”

“Quieter?  Are you kidding?   Oh, wait, you must be talking about Gage, right?   But you’re filling in for him this shift, so that doesn’t count.  Roy’s awful quiet, so that shouldn’t be an issue.”

“Who said I was talking about Johnny or Roy?”  Billy winked at Marco who was enjoying the exchange.  “And where is Johnny anyway?”

“Oh, he drew the short straw or something and had to go sit in on some medical seminar Dr. Brackett recommended.  But what else would you be talking about?  I mean, our runs are similar to 127’s, so it has to be about the people.  And the only loud-mouthed member of this station is Johnny.  So why would you think this station isn’t quiet, I mean-”

The klaxons sounded causing six men to jump from their seats and head to the equipment bay.

“Saved by the bell.”  Billy laughed as he followed Roy to the squad.

That was the first of several runs that kept the members of Station 51 busy.  Billy was grateful for yet another shift with this great bunch of guys, and he also appreciated the chance to work with Roy DeSoto again.  Not only was Roy one of the best paramedics in the business, he was also a patient man which made him a good teacher.  So not only was he getting paid for his extra shift, Billy felt he was getting a little extra training to boot.

It was almost lunchtime when the two paramedics found themselves on a call for a woman down.  They’d been met at the scene by a frantic husband with a crying boy, each pointing to a woman lying unconscious on the sidewalk.  Thankfully a police cruiser had beaten them to the scene, so after a few anxious moments, the paramedics were able to get to work.

Roy took vitals and Billy set up the bio-phone, quickly relaying the necessary information to Dr. Brackett on the other end of the line.  It only took a few minutes for the orders to come through.

“51, Start an IV with D5-W, and insert an esophageal airway.”

“10-4, Rampart.”

Billy sat back on his heels as he reached into the drug box, grabbing the necessary supplies.  Roy clearly had his hands full with the victim.   This call was definitely a tough one, and for the first time in quite a while, Billy felt just a little out of his league.

Scooting over to the patient, Billy handed the airway to Roy as he focused on getting the IV started.  The young woman on the ground before them was in distress, and they didn’t have many minutes to spare.  Knowing that her husband and small son were watching only added to the emotion of the situation.  Working hard to keep his focus on the needle as he skillfully inserted it into the woman’s vein, Billy suddenly realized that Roy had pulled the drug box over and was selecting another airway

“Roy?”

“I got it.”

Billy could tell from Roy’s expression that something wasn’t right, but he also knew this wasn’t the time to question him, so he continued with his job, taking another set of vitals after Roy had deftly inserted the airway.   It only took a moment to recognize that the airway was helping, and within minutes the patient's vitals were stabilizing enough for transfer.   The relief was shared between the two paramedics without a word, the tense silence broken only when Roy motioned to the ambulance attendants.

“Okay, we’re ready.”

Roy helped get the woman on the gurney then gathered up the equipment while Billy stayed with the patient.  As the attendants started to move her to the ambulance, Roy stopped to speak to her distraught husband.

“We’ll be taking her to Rampart General.”

“Can we follow the ambulance to the hospital?”

“You can meet us there.  Or you can ride in the front of the ambulance, if you don’t feel up to driving right now.”

“I think I’m okay.  And if I take my car, then I will have a way to get Bobby home later.  I mean, if ...”

“Mr. Evans, your wife is in good hands.  I know it all seems very frightening, but the doctors at Rampart are ready and waiting for her.  They’ll do everything they can.”

The father’s grateful ‘thank you’ was soft but heartfelt.  Taking his young son by the hand, he hurried off to his car while Roy closed up the bio-phone and followed the gurney to the ambulance.  He quickly traded places with Billy, taking his place next to the patient.

“I’ll see you at Rampart,” Billy offered as he climbed out of the vehicle.

As he closed the ambulance doors, Billy was relieved that Roy’s expression remained neutral.   Billy knew he hadn’t done anything wrong during this call, yet he felt that he hadn’t done something right.  Picking up the rest of the equipment, he walked over to the squad, grateful that the police had already dispersed the onlookers.   Billy stowed the gear in the proper compartments, then climbed into the driver’s seat.  Within minutes he was following the ambulance to the hospital.

Thirty minutes later, Roy was back in the driver’s seat as they left Rampart and headed back to Station 51.  Billy was quiet, his focus on the road ahead of them, fully aware that Roy was also watching him.  He wanted to ask the question, yet Billy held back, maybe afraid of what the answer might be.  Roy, however, evidently wasn’t going to let him off the hook.

With an unexpected and sudden turn to the right, Roy pulled into an abandoned store parking lot and put the squad in park.  Then he turned in his seat, eyes intent on his temporary partner.

“Okay, what’s going on?”

Billy couldn’t answer at first, wasn’t even sure he could put his thoughts into words.  But Roy’s persistent gaze and quiet patience quickly convinced him that he couldn’t ignore the question.  So he answered in the only way he felt was proper.

“I’m sorry.”

“What?  You’re sorry?”

“Yeah.  I’m sorry.  I know I screwed up back there.”

“Screwed up?  Wait.  Billy, I’m not following you.  When did you screw up?”

“The airway.  I handed you the wrong airway.”

Roy relaxed against the back of the seat, as if relieved and amused at the same time.

“Really, Roy, I should’ve figured it out.  It was a dumb mistake.”

“Billy, you didn’t make a mistake.  You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“But I gave you the wrong airway.  You had to take time to get another.  Johnny wouldn’t have done that.  He would’ve -”

“Johnny and I have worked together a long time, so yeah, sometimes we think alike.  He probably would’ve grabbed the smaller one, knowing that I would prefer that option in her case.  But that doesn’t mean you did anything wrong.  It simply means we have a bit more experience together.  That speaks more to the relationship Johnny and I have as partners, not a criticism of your skills.”

“But I -”

“But nothing, Billy.  You did an excellent job out there.  From your first connection with the worried husband to your handling of the patient, I have nothing but praise for your work.  If anything, maybe I should apologize to you for giving you the wrong impression.  It’s true that Johnny and I have such a long history that sometimes I expect him to know what I’m thinking.  But I shouldn’t expect that of you.  And I definitely didn’t mean to convey that.  I was very worried about that young woman, and I didn’t realize how my reaction might look to you.  So for that, I’m the one who’s sorry.”

Billy stared at Roy for several minutes, as if trying to discern the man’s words and their true meaning.  The quiet but calm look that Roy gave him was enough to convince him.

“So, are we good?”

“Yeah, we’re good.  And Roy - thanks.”

“You’re welcome.  Now how about some lunch?  This morning has been busy, and I’d like to get something to eat in case the afternoon is just as bad.”

The radio took that moment to come to life.

“Squad 51.  Man down on the corner of Lincoln and Morris Dr.  Time out 11:43”

Billy grabbed the microphone and responded as Roy put the squad in drive and pulled back onto the street.

“Guess this means lunch is out?”

Roy’s answer was drowned out by the siren as they raced towards their next call.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Roy climbed into the squad outside Rampart, grateful to escape the rain that was hammering southern California.  He wiped his damp hands on his pants before inserting the key in the ignition.  It was past lunchtime and his stomach was reminding him it had been too long since breakfast.  Roy tried to be patient as he waited for his partner to join him.  It had been several days since they’d worked together, and although sometimes Johnny could drive him crazy, Roy knew that he and his partner were meant to be on the same team.   Of course, right now, he wished his teammate would hurry up so they could get back to the station.

“I knew Dixie would take care of that little boy.”  Johnny muttered as he finally joined his partner.   “That kid was a handful.  Good thing his dad will be discharged as soon as they finish stitching him up.  No way should the nurses deserve to deal with that little hellion the rest of the day.”

Roy grinned as he drove away from the hospital.

“You’re just not used to toddlers, Johnny.   He was just being a normal four-year-old boy.”

“Well, if that’s the case, I’m happy to stay single.” 

Roy knew his partner wasn’t really all that serious, and he didn’t need to see Johnny’s grin to know that.   He might be immature at times, and unsure of his plans from one day to the next, but in the end, Roy suspected his friend wanted what Roy had:  a wife, a home, kids.  He didn’t get to focus on that line of thinking for long as Johnny immediately jumped to another subject.

“Hey, Roy, I’ve been meaning to ask you all morning.  How did you get along with Billy last shift?”

“Great.  He’s definitely turned out to be a good paramedic.”

“Easy to get along with too, don’t you think?’

 

“Yes, he is.”

“And the other guys get along well with him.”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Seems like everyone’s pretty friendly when he fills in.”

“Yes, I . . wait a minute, Johnny.  Where are you going with this?  Do you have some plan to dump your current partner and exchange him for a newer model?”

Johnny laughed outright.

“No, nothing like that Roy.  You’re stuck with me.  No, I was just thinking that maybe we could talk to Cap about including Billy and Bonnie for his birthday party next month.  You know, Billy has been working a lot these past weeks, and he’s mentioned several times that Bonnie doesn’t know many of the firemen he works with.  Since they’re getting married soon, I just thought it might be a good way to introduce her to some of the wives.  Never hurts for the women to have kind of a support system, you know?”

Roy pulled up to a stop light and took the opportunity to look over at his partner.

“Geez, Johnny, I’m impressed.  Not a bad suggestion considering that bachelor mentality you were just talking about a few minutes ago.”

“Hey, I can be insightful and sensitive.   Just doesn’t have to be for a wife of my own you know.”

Roy laughed.  Then suddenly his laughter turned into something of a moan.

“Ohhhh.”

“Roy?  What’s wrong?”

“Sorry, nothing really, just thinking about my wife.   And her mother . .”

“Oh, still not going so great, huh?”

“No, not at all.  I know we needed to bring her mother home with us, but it’s not easy having her in our house every day, especially when she’s got an injury to complain about.”

Roy sighed as he lost himself for a few moments in self-pity over his current mother-in-law problem.

“Looks like the storm is easing up; probably don’t need the wipers on high anymore,”  Johnny mumbled.  “Maybe you could find a program.”

“Huh?  A program for windshield wipers?  What the heck are you talking about?”

“Not for the wipers, Roy, for your mother-in-law.  Maybe you need to find someplace for her to go during the day, like a senior center.  Or someone else to visit with.  Hey, maybe you could introduce her to Cap’s sisters.  They must be close enough in age to have something in common.  Maybe Joanne could set up a lunch for the women, even if it’s just at your house.   It could be that Joanne’s mom is bored, and upset about being away from her home and she’s just taking all that frustration out on Joanne.  And you.”

Roy pulled up at another red light, his fingers drumming slowly on the steering wheel.

“You know what, Junior, you may have a good idea there.”

“Really?”  Johnny’s voice was filled with surprise.  “You think it might work?”

“Maybe.  And at this point, anything’s worth a try.   I think I’ll call Joanne as soon as we get back to the station.  We’ll see what she thinks.

Johnny leaned back in his seat, happy that there was a faint smile on his friend’s face for a change.  Looking out the window at the diminishing clouds, he noticed the first patches of blue sky.

“Hey Roy, looks like it’s going to be a nice day after all.   And we have another interesting call to bug Chet with.  Yep, it’s turning out to be a good day.”  

Johnny began to whistle.

~~~~~~~

Roy and Johnny drove away from Rampart, heading back to the station just as the sun was beginning to rise over the city.  Their only run of the night had been a car fire with one victim who had a nasty burn on his arm.  His high level of anxiety resulted in a mild sedative being ordered, but the hospital detour had been brief, and Johnny figured they were only about 15 minutes behind the engine crew. 

“What do you think?” Johnny asked.  “Did the guys go back to bed?” 

“I doubt it.  Do you want to get donuts?” 

“Yeah.  Let’s get some OJ too.  Maybe we’ll continue to be lucky and end the shift on a quiet note.”

“Shhh!  You’ll jinx it.”

“You don’t believe in that stuff.  Remember?” 

“True.  And yet...”

Johnny looked at his partner and grinned.  “I respect a man who lives by his convictions.” 

Roy grinned as well and shrugged.  Putting on the voice that Johnny used when mocking someone’s false perceptions of Indian culture, he replied, “And yet, young John, one must not allow convictions to close an open mind.  There are times when it is unnecessary to tempt fate.” 

Johnny just rolled his eyes and shook his head.

As he pulled the squad into a strip mall with both a donut shop and a 24 hour convenience store Roy said, “I’ll get the donuts, you get the OJ.  And a newspaper.  You want your usual?” 

Ten minutes later, the six men of 51’s A shift sat around the kitchen table sharing coffee, donuts, and orange juice as they passed around sections of the morning paper and talked about plans for their next few days off. 

“So, Cap,” Marco asked, “are you going to try again to take Grace out for your anniversary prime rib at Lawry’s?”

“That’s the plan,” he replied.  “Now, if both the girls can stay healthy at the same time, and Grace’s mother can avoid any more fender benders, and my sisters can keep their hot water heater from bursting again, maybe we’ll actually make it this time.  You know, she asks for specific plans for an evening out a grand total of once a year.  And this is the third year that it’s gotten messed up.” 

“Hey, if you make it tomorrow, you’re only a month late,” Chet pointed out.  “That’s better than last year.”

“That’s not saying much.  Last year we made reservations at Lawry’s six times before we got there, and it ended up being seven weeks after our actual anniversary.  She’s a patient woman, but even so, that’s asking an awful lot.”

“Who’s a patient woman?”  The question came from Billy Hanks as he entered the kitchen, grabbed an empty chair, and pulled it up to the table.

“It’s good to see you, Billy,” Johnny said as he passed the box of donuts across the table. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“No coconut?” Billy asked, poking at the donuts remaining in the box.  “How come you didn’t get coconut?  Who bought these with no coconut?  And who is a patient woman, and what exactly is someone asking her to do, Cap?”

“I bought them,” Roy told him.  “There’s no coconut because you’re the only person I know who likes coconut, and you aren’t supposed to be here.  And Grace is the patient woman…. Billy, why exactly are you here?” 

“You know, Billy,” Chet suggested, “if you came over here just to have coffee and donuts with us then I just have to say, ‘You gotta get a life, man.’” 

“Chet, unlike you, I’ve got a life, and I’ve got a wife.  Well, not quite yet on the wife part, but soon,” Billy replied, before finally answering the question that had been twice asked.  “I’m working OT on your B shift today.  Baker called in.”

“You know you’re an hour and a half early, right?” Marco pointed out.

“Ummmm, yup.  I know that.  Bonnie’s car’s in the shop, and I’d already told her she could have mine today.  She had to be across town by 7:15 this morning, so she took a detour and dropped me off here.  The shift helps,” he added.  “I’m still trying to save money for a down payment on a house, but man it’s tough.  Like today.  This shift was going to be banked for the house.  Now it’s paying for the car.  One step forward, two steps back.  At this rate I’m not only going to not have more for the down payment, I’m going to burn through what I’ve already saved.”

Looking at Captain Stanley, Billy switched the conversation to the man’s upcoming birthday. “Cap, Bonnie said that I need to be absolutely sure that I thank you for including us in your birthday cookout, and that I should ask you to thank Grace.  So, Cap, thank you for including us in your …”

Cap stopped him.  “I got it.  Everyone’s a comedian this morning. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that Grace tells Bonnie that you thanked us.”

The room was momentarily quiet and Marco took the opportunity to get the attention of both Johnny and Chet before he said, “You know, I’m thinking that us single guys may have it pretty good.  What do you think?” 

“No argument from me,” Johnny said.

“I’m with Lopez and Gage on this one,” Chet agreed.  “Cap, exactly how many wives and mothers in law are going to be at this cookout anyways?  I’m suddenly remembering I might have other plans.”

“Ignore them, Cap,” Mike suggested.  “They don’t know what they’re missing.”

“I think we know exactly,” Johnny said.  ‘Mothers-in-Law, for one thing.”

Roy continued as if he hadn’t spoken.  “What’s Grace getting you for your birthday?  I know that you know.  You always know.”

“Really, Cap?” Billy jumped in. “You always know?  How do you know? Are you psychic?”

“She asks me what I want, then she gets it for me, you Twit.”

“It would have been better if you were psychic.  I’ve always wanted to know a psychic.  That could be really handy, you know?  Anyways, I digress.  What did you ask for?”

Before Cap could answer, Chet jumped in again.  “Hey Billy, what exactly are you high on today, man?”

“Life, Chet.  I’m high on life.  That and a pot full of high octane caffeine consumed at 5:30 AM.  Since I didn’t go to bed till 1:00 this morning, that was the only way I was saying yes when they called me at 5:00 to ask me to cover.  I figure that with this cup of coffee and a donut now, and a second coffee in about an hour, I’ll be able to postpone the need for a massive sugar fix for about another three hours.  Maybe I’ll stuff the pockets of my turnout coat with Snickers bars just in case we get caught on a long run.  I may need to rethink that though.  A pocket full of melted Snickers after a fire would be kind of gross.”

Roy looked at his former trainee and said, “You really need to rethink those additional cups of coffee, pal,” he offered.  “Maybe consider some protein instead.  You don’t want to exhaust the rest of the team by noon.” Turning back to Cap, he asked his question again.  “So, what did you ask for?”  

“The Essential Beatles compilation albums.”

“The Beatles, Cap?  Really?” Johnny wasn’t sure why the answer surprised him, but it did.

“Aren’t you a bit old for the Beatles, Cap?” Chet jabbed.  “Wouldn’t you rather listen to the Mills Brothers or Doris Day?”

Cap didn’t take the bait.  “Yes, the Beatles.”

There was something about the expression on Cap’s face as he said that, a mix of mischief and satisfaction, Johnny thought.  He was intrigued and needed to know more.

“So, spill, Cap. Why the Beatles?”

Cap looked around the table, his gaze pausing on their guest, and considered something before answering.  Having apparently reached a decision, he continued.

“Actually, they’re kind of special to both of us.  February 9, 1964, Grace went into labor with Janet, but she refused to go to the hospital because the Beatles were on the Ed Sullivan show that night, and she was not going to miss it.  We’d already sent Karen off to stay with my sisters so it was just the two of us.  We curled up together on the couch… well, to the extent that a woman who’s nine months pregnant and in labor can curl up… and watched the Beatles.  Between the teenage girls on the screen and Grace’s contractions, there was a lot of screaming in that living room that night.”  His face lit up with the memory. 

“So, was Janet born at home?” Roy asked.

“Always thinking like a paramedic, huh, Roy?” Cap was still smiling.  “No, Grace had long, drawn out labors for both girls.  We went to the hospital after the show was over, but she was still in labor for quite a while before Janet finally decided to make her appearance.”

Cap paused and glanced down at his hands folded on the table.  A smile washed over his face, and he seemed to linger in his memories for a moment before he looked up again at his men. 

“It’s a good thing that Janet was a girl or she might have been named Ringo.” 

“Ringo Stanley?” Billy asked.  “Ringo?  Really? Why not John, Paul, or George?”

Cap’s face turned just a slight shade of red.  “Grace likes Ringo best.  She thinks he’s ‘dreamy.’”

From the look on Cap’s face, Johnny knew there was more to it.  “You mean she thinks he’s dreamy like you, right?”

“No comment.”

“What’s your favorite Beatles’ song, Cap?” Marco asked. 

“I bet it’s ‘When I’m 64’, isn’t it?” Chet offered. 

“Chet, I’m older than you, but not all that much.  I think you get confused when you think about your age.  Your sense of humor may be only 11 years old, but physically, you are older than that.”

“You know,” Johnny suggested, “I may be wrong, but I’m thinking that maybe wanting a Beatles collection has less to do with the enjoyment that you’re going to get from listening and more to do with the enjoyment you’re going to get after Grace listens.” 

The look on Cap’s face made Johnny turn red.  “I mean ..., you know..., I mean,... you’re going to enjoy knowing that she was happy while she was listening to the album.”

“Uh huh.  I’m sure that’s what you meant.” 

Cap was blushing himself, but also smiling so Johnny relaxed, but quickly redirected the focus.  “You didn’t answer Marco’s question, Cap, and now you have me curious.  What is your favorite?” 

“I don’t know.  I’m not sure I have one.  I like lots of them.”

“Pick one,” Marco pushed.  “It doesn’t have to be your favorite, but one that you really like.”

Cap thought for a minute then said, “OK.  ‘With a Little Help from my Friends.’ I always liked that one.”

Chet choked on his coffee. Coughing he sputtered, “Uh, Cap.  That’s a great song, but it’s not the Beatles.  It’s Joe Cocker.”

Before Cap could say anything, a voice not yet heard from answered.  “It’s a Beatles song, Chet.  It was on their Sgt. Pepper’s album in 67.  Ringo sang the lead.  Joe Cocker recorded it in 68.   His hit #1 and stayed there for 13 weeks.  So it was Cocker’s hit, but it was a Beatles song first.” 

Six men stopped eating and drinking and all looked at Mike Stoker. 

“How in the world do you know that?” Johnny asked.

“I don’t know.  I must have read it somewhere.”

“So, you’re a big Beatles fan too.  Figures.” Chet added.

Mike shrugged.  “I can take ’em or leave ’em.” 

“Who do you like, Mike?” Marco wanted to know.

“Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Led Zepplin, Hendrix, Joplin … I haven’t heard anything to beat Black Sabbath’s ‘Paranoid.’  That is great music.” 

“You’re putting us on, right?” Chet was shaking his head.  “There is no way that the Mike Stoker I know is a headbanger.  No way.”

Mike smiled just enough to show that he was enjoying the reactions of his friends.  “If you mean, do I stand and bang my head up and down when I listen to Black Sabbath, then you’re right, I’m not a headbanger.  But if you’re using the term to simply mean people who like heavy metal music, you’re wrong.  It’s really the only thing I listen to in my car or when I’m working in my garage.  What’s the big deal?” he added. “Don’t any of you like heavy metal?” 

The facial expressions and head shakes around the table displayed a complete lack of support for Mike’s musical choices.

“I like ‘Smoke on the Water,’” Roy offered.  “Does that count?  Isn’t that Deep Purple?”

Mike laughed.  “Yeah, it’s Deep Purple. But it’s not really representative of their body of work.” 

“Yeah, that’s kind of what I figured,” Roy acknowledged.  “What about Patty?  What does she think when you listen to that stuff?” 

Mike smiled and shook his head.  “She likes ‘that stuff’ too.  We go to concerts whenever we can.  We don’t play it around the kids, but when we’re alone in the car it can get kind of loud.” 

“You’re blowing my mind here, Mikey.”  Chet was still shaking his head.  “Next thing you’re going to tell us is that your favorite way to listen to music is while you’re sharing a joint.” 

Mike paused for just long enough to make them wonder before saying, “No, but it does go good with a nice cold beer.”

~~~~~~~~~~

51’s A shift plus Billy were still talking about music when the phone rang at 7:30.  Johnny answered and quickly handed it off to Roy.  “It’s Joanne,” he told him, then turned and made a face at Cap that indicated this was not likely to be a feel-good conversation. 

Despite picking up a problem in the way that Joanne asked for her husband, Johnny hadn’t thought to suggest that Roy take the call in the office, which left all six men awkwardly listening to one side of a call that was clearly not going well.  Getting up and leaving would have made it worse, so instead they sat there and tried to look like they weren’t listening. 

“Wait a minute.  I thought she was going to Eileen’s today and coming back to our house on Friday…. Why are you asking me? Do you think I’m going to say no? ….  Uh uh, no way.  If you want her to leave you can be the one to tell her.  There is no way that you’re going to tell her you wanted her to stay but I said no…. No, I don’t want her to stay, but I’m not going to be the one who decides she has to leave. … Yeah, well, good luck with that.” 

Roy hung up the phone and turned back to face his colleagues.  “Don’t even…” he said, then turned and walked out. 

Johnny got up to follow his partner but was stopped in his tracks when the Klaxons sounded.  “Station 51.  Warehouse fire at 15 Weatherly Street.  Cross street Black.” 

Roy turned and headed back to the squad.  Billy stopped him.  “Look, Roy, this isn’t going to be quick.  I’m already here.  I’ll go with Johnny.  You go home.” 

Roy looked at Billy and then Johnny.  From his expression, Johnny knew what was coming. 

“Thanks, Billy, but no.  I can take the run.  But if you really want to do this, you can take Johnny’s place.  Either way, I’m going.”

Billy started to argue the point but Johnny stopped him.  “Forget it Billy.  He wants to go.”

“But it makes no sense.  Why not let me go, Roy?  You can go home and deal with the situation there.”

“He’d rather face a fire,” Johnny said.  Roy didn’t offer a counter explanation.

“Okay, how about you?  You stay and clean up and I’ll go.  That way you can leave on time.”

Johnny looked at Captain Stanley.  “Okay with you, Cap?” he asked. 

“I don’t care who it is, but there needs to be two paramedics in that squad right now so we can get out of here.”  He handed the slip to Roy and turned back and repeated “Now!”

Billy stepped around Johnny and climbed into the squad.  “Go home,” he told him with a huge grin on his face.  “But first you get to call Joanne and tell her Roy will be late.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~

Billy sat in the passenger seat of the squad as they headed back to the station.  Calling the incident on Weatherly Street a “warehouse fire” had been accurate, strictly speaking, but it had not been descriptive.  When 51 had arrived at the scene they had been met by an anxious and out of breath young man, who told them that he was in charge, that everyone had been evacuated, that he had completed the head count that was spelled out in the management manual, and that the fire had started in the men’s room at the back of the building, in that order.  The crew had entered in full turnout gear, to find that not only had the fire started in the men’s room, it had never left the men’s room.  More specifically, it had never gone beyond the metal covered trash barrel in the men’s room where a cigarette had been tossed, and a few paper towels had burned.

Billy turned to Roy.  “So, what do you think?  You think the guy ‘in charge’ is the one who threw the cigarette in the trash instead of flushing it?”

Roy shrugged.  “Wouldn’t surprise me.”

The men sat in silence for a minute before Billy spoke again. “Hey, Roy?  Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Are you happy?  I mean, are you and Joanne happy?”

Roy smiled.  “Mostly.  I suppose not every minute of every day, but most of the time.  Yes.”

“Are you happy you got married?”

“Absolutely.”

“So then Johnny was wrong?”

“It’s been known to happen.  Do you have a specific thing in mind?”

“About you preferring to face a raging fire than to go home.”

Roy smiled again.  “Oh that.  No, he wasn’t wrong about that.”

“But, if you’re happy…”

“Billy, it’s not Joanne I don’t want to face.”

“Her mother is that bad?”

“She’s that bad.”

“Worse than a raging fire?”

“Nastier, more difficult to contain, and far more frightening.”

“That’s pretty bad,” Billy said. 

The two men sat in silence, each with their own thoughts, the rest of the way back to the station.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Roy’s days off had gone about as he expected.  The tension at home had been so great that he found himself relaxing as he pulled into the station at 7:45 AM. The parking lot was never full to capacity, but in the half hour surrounding shift change, it could get close.  This morning as he came up the driveway he noted that some of the A shift were already there, and most were parked further from the door than usual.  Reaching the end of the drive he saw the reason.  The squad was parked in the lot just outside the bay doors, making it difficult to get to their usual spaces.  That’s odd, he thought, as he followed the others’ lead and parked over toward the far side. 

Roy stopped short as he entered the back door to the station.  There, in its usual spot, was the squad. He stepped back outside and looked closer at the vehicle parked there, seeing the number 10 on the door for the first time. Entering the bay, Roy found himself turning left instead of right. Changing into his uniform could wait.  He wanted to know why squad 10 was here and that answer was mostly likely to be found in the kitchen and day room.  Sure enough, he found four paramedics sitting at the table with Chet and Mike.  Tom Wheeler was there, but instead of his partner, Glen Kirk, he was with Billy Hanks.  They were sitting across from 51’s C shift paramedics, Charlie Dwyer and Jake Morris.

“So what gives?” Roy asked.  “Did I miss a notice about a meeting, or is this just an unscheduled paramedic convention?” 

Wheeler answered. “Dwyer and Morris were on a run when engine 51 got called out.  We got called in.  Ended up a 2 man job all the way to Rampart  so we had to leave our squad at the scene. Someone from your engine crew was going to bring us the squad, but then we met up with these guys at the hospital.  So we got nice and cozy and all rode back here in your squad.  That way the engine crew just had to bring our squad here instead of Rampart.

“You know,” he added, “that truck is really not big enough for four grown men, and I have to tell you, with the four of us just finishing up a couple of heavy lifting rescues, one with smoke, that ride was not the most pleasant I have ever taken in my life.”

Dwyer grinned, “It probably wasn’t the smartest decision that we made today.  It is definitely not designed to carry four adults.  I think Billy spent most of the ride on Tom’s and Jake’s laps. We should have made you ride on the back, Billy.  But don’t worry, Roy.  We left the windows open for you and Johnny.  Hopefully it will air out a bit before you need to get in it today.”

“Uh, thanks … I guess,” Roy answered. “Maybe there’s some Lysol in the supply closet.  So, Billy, you working with 10’s now?”

“Just covering for Kirk.  You know how it is. Still working on that new house and all.”

“Hey guys, not that you aren’t welcome guests, but don’t you want to get going? You want to be back at 10’s before another call comes in so that A shift can take it, right?  Unless your A shift is also here and just hiding somewhere.”

“Our A shift is here.  You’re looking at them,” Wheeler answered.  “We’re pulling overtime.  Fred and Luke are off doing some community service thing today, so LA asked us to cover until they’re done about 3:00.  Captain Sullivan is with them so Hookrader is covering for him.  We thought it might just be nice to be ‘stuck’ here as long as we can get away with it.”

“Right,” Roy said.  “If I were you, I’d be needing lots and lots of supplies from Rampart today.”

“Really?” Johnny asked as he entered the room.  “Why?  What are you guys doing here?  Great job parking your squad, by the way.  Did you need to take up half the parking lot?  Wait a minute.  Billy, you keep showing up where you don’t belong.  You working 10’s today?”

Looking at his watch, Roy grabbed hold of Johnny’s shoulder and changed his direction back toward the door.  “I know all the answers. I’ll fill you in while we get changed.  Otherwise we’re going to be late.”

“Oh, okay.  Good plan,” Johnny agreed and followed Roy toward the locker room. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Despite being in the middle of a cup of coffee, at 8:00 Jake Morris stood up and said, “It’s 8:00.  Roy and Johnny are here.  I’ve gotta get home. Tom, Billy, good seeing you.  Hope you get a chance to shower before we meet again.”  Turning to his partner he said, “You coming, Charlie?”

Charlie shook his head. “No car today, remember?”

“I can give you a ride, you know,” Jake told him.  “Unless you just want to hang out here all day.”

“Thanks, but Julie is picking me up, and I’m going to take her out to breakfast.” 

“Julie, huh?” Wheeler smirked. “What happened to Marcia?”

“If you must know, I’m having dinner with Marcia.”

Watching this exchange, Chet shook his head in amazement, acknowledging that somehow, Charlie Dwyer often succeeded where the rest of the single men of Station 51 failed.  It seemed all he had to do was smile and he had a date. 

“So Charlie,” he asked, “does Julie know about Marcia?”

“Probably,” Charlie answered, to Chet’s surprise. “They’re roommates.”

“How do you get away with that?” Chet wanted to know.

“I guess I’m just that good.”

“I think this is where I came in … about two years ago… I’m out of here.”  Jake turned and left. 

Chet turned to the man sitting next to him.  “Hey Mike, I think I’ve got something going on with my car. Will you come take a look?”

“I’m an engineer, not a mechanic, Chet.  I drive the rigs, not fix them.”

“I know that, but you know more about this stuff than I do, and I don’t have the bucks right now for a mechanic to figure out what’s wrong.”

“Is it the pickup?” Charlie asked.  “I have a friend who loves to work on those things.”

“I wish,” Chet said.  “That died a couple of months ago.  I’m driving an old Ford LTD now.” Turning back to Mike he said, “What do you say, Mike?  Will you take a look?  If I ask Roy and Johnny, Johnny will have it in 100 pieces all over the parking lot before he admits he has no idea what he’s doing.”

“Sounds like something he might have picked up from you,” Mike answered as he rose from the table.  “I’ll take a look, but don’t count on it doing any good.”

Much to Chet’s dismay, Dwyer, Wheeler, and Billy all stood up to join them as they headed for the parking lot. Great, he thought, instead of Mike’s help I’m going to end up with a dozen different opinions.  “You don’t all have to come,” he suggested, knowing the suggestion would be ignored.

“Come where?” Cap asked as he entered the kitchen with Marco.  “Where are you all going?” 

Mike answered. “Chet’s got a problem with his car, Cap. We were just going to check it out.”

Seeing an opportunity, Chet tried to change direction. “But it can wait until later, Cap.  Johnny and Roy are in the locker room.”

“No we’re not,” Johnny answered, now in full uniform. “What’s wrong with the car?”

“Nothing that can’t wait, right Cap?” Chet said. “I’m sure you’re anxious to get started with roll call and this morning’s chores or something.”

“Actually, I don’t have anything that’s time sensitive today, Chet, but thanks for taking that into consideration.  As for roll call, it looks to me like everyone’s here and then some.  Let’s go look at that car of yours.”

Chet suspected that Captain Stanley knew exactly why he was trying to shift directions.  His boss’s flexibility was likely less an act of kindness and more a payback for the water bomb that had ended up soaking Cap instead of its intended target last shift.  Nevertheless, he tried again. 

“No, really Cap.  It’s a personal problem that should not be dealt with on work time.  If it’s still happening at the end of shift, I’ll just get it towed.”

“Don’t be silly, Chet,” Cap responded.  “Between ... wait, let me count … the nine of us, one or two of us might have an opinion about what’s wrong with your car.  Anyways, it’s worth a try, right?”

“Sorry, Chet,” Dwyer interrupted, looking at the young woman who had just walked into the bay.  “Looks like my ride is here. You’ll have to make do with eight of you.  But don’t worry, I bet Johnny can help you out.”

Chet watched Dwyer put his arm around his breakfast date as they left, before turning back to see Johnny looking at him with a somewhat evil grin on his face. 

“Sure, Chet,” Johnny said.  “It probably just needs a few adjustments. You know, take a few things out, put a few things back.  Let’s take a look.”

Chet gave up and headed into the parking lot. “Thanks a lot, Mike,” he muttered to the man walking next to him.

“Hey, don’t blame me, pal.  You’re the one who brought it up in front of Charlie, Tom, and Billy.  I just answered Cap’s question.  Besides,” he added quietly, “Roy and Johnny really are the ones most likely to know what’s wrong and how to fix it.  And you don’t have to let anyone take anything apart, you know.”

“I suppose,” Chet admitted. “Besides, I’m not sure it’s safe to even drive out of this lot so I don’t have a lot to lose.”  He thought a moment before adding, “except my pride and my sanity, that is.”

Once in the parking lot, the men headed toward a large, bright yellow, four-door sedan backed into a space across from the squad. 

“Pretty car, Kelly. At least you can always find it in a parking lot.” Wheeler offered. 

“Yeah, well I didn’t buy it for the color.”

“Sounds like you didn’t buy it for the engine either.  Why did you buy it?” Wheeler asked. 

Chet chose to ignore him and instead reached under the hood and released the latch.  “I think it might be the transmission, but I sure hope not.”

Chet climbed into the car while the other seven men stared at the engine with expressions that seemed to indicate they were considering what they were seeing.  Chet suspected that for most, it was more performance than reality.  Only Johnny reached in to check anything.  He fiddled with something, but Chet couldn’t see what.  After a minute Johnny stepped back and said something to Roy. 

Before Chet could ask what Johnny had found, Marco spoke up.  “So turn it on, Chet.  It’s hard to tell what’s wrong when it’s not running.  You got your keys?”

“Yes, I’ve got my keys. But you guys all need to stand back if I’m going to turn this thing on.  It was bucking all over the place when I drove into the lot.”

The men all stood back.  Chet yelled at them to back up further.  Satisfied that they were now far enough away from potential harm, with the hood still propped open, Chet pumped the gas pedal twice, then with his foot firmly on the brake, he turned the key.  Nothing happened. 

“Damn it.  It at least started this morning.”

“Hold on, Chet,” Johnny told him.  “Is it off?” 

“It’s off and still in park.”

“Okay, keep it that way for a minute.”  Johnny stepped back to the car and looked closely at something.  “Can someone get me a flat head screwdriver?”

“Now wait a minute, Gage,” Chet yelled from inside the car.  “Don’t go taking my car apart.”

Johnny stepped back. “I’m not taking anything apart, Chet.  The battery connection is loose.  I was just going to tighten it, but if you don’t want me to, no problem.”  He turned to walk away.

It was Mike who stopped him.  From his seat Chet couldn’t hear what was said, but after a minute Johnny turned back to Chet.

“The loose battery doesn’t explain whatever was happening before, but it might have come loose when the car was ‘bucking’.  It would explain why it won’t turn over now.”

Chet was trying to figure out how to accept Johnny’s help without eating crow and didn’t notice Roy under the hood until the paramedic stepped back and said, “Try it now, Chet.”

Avoiding all eye contact, Chet quickly checked to make sure all of the men were visible and again away from the car.  His foot still on the brake, he turned the key.  This time the car started, and the engine purred. 

“Sounds good to me, Kelly,” Wheeler offered.  “I think it’s your imagination.”

“Yeah, well, it’s still in park,” Chet told him.  With his foot still on the brake he carefully shifted the car into drive. He felt the car try to pull forward but his foot on the brake held it in place.  That was all he felt.  The bucking that had been there earlier was gone. 

“It’s fixed.  All right!  What did you do, Roy?”

“I just tightened the battery connection, Chet.”

“So, the battery caused it to buck?  How could it do that?”

“It couldn’t,” Roy said. 

Chet watched as Roy looked over at Johnny and raised his eyebrows, turning the conversation back over to him. Chet groaned to himself as he realized that it was something that Johnny had done that fixed the car. He looked at Johnny. 

“So tell me.  What did you do?”

Johnny just shrugged.  “You had a loose spark plug.  I tightened it but you’ll need to get it adjusted with the proper tools.” 

Chet was surprised that there was no animus or mocking in Johnny’s tone.  Just a statement of fact.  His face turning red, he knew he would have to thank Johnny in front of not only their crew, but the other men there as well.  That was going to be a major blow to both their images, but it had to be done and done right.  Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and stepped out of the car. 

Chet wasn’t sure what happened next. Everything seemed to happen in the same instant.  No sooner was he standing on the pavement than he realized the car was moving, heading straight for the squad. The men around him were shouting.  He tried to jump back into the car to stop it, but he only got his right leg in before he found himself falling back to the pavement. 

For the briefest moment in time, Chet knew what was about to happen and knew there was nothing that he could do to stop it.  He was face down on the pavement.  At least part of him was under the car.  His car was in drive and moving forward without a driver to stop it. Four hands grabbed for his shoulders, but it was too late. His car was going to run over him and hit the squad.  Chet braced for the pain and closed his eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~

Captain Stanley watched the expression change on Chet’s face as he came to understand that Johnny had fixed his car and was not going to rag on him here, not in front of Wheeler.  Cap knew that Johnny would have words for Chet later, words that would shift between passionate annoyance, and animated teasing.  But the words would never move into anger.  He was considering how that could be possible when he heard Marco yell, “Chet!  Stop!”

His attention forced back to what he was seeing, Cap watched as Chet exited, then tried to re-enter the now moving car.  Cap was just one of three men who tried to grab for the man as he hit the ground. The other four tried to get hold of the car.  None were close enough to succeed, and Cap held his breath as he helplessly watched the car run over Chet’s legs.  He heard rather than saw the car hit the squad, never removing his eyes from the man on the ground. 

Immediately everyone was in motion.  Roy, Johnny, and Mike were kneeling on the ground at Chet’s side.  Tom and Billy were getting equipment from their squad. Cap reached inside the car and removed the keys then looked and found Marco standing directly behind Mike.  Seeing the fear in the man’s face, Cap decided to remove him from the scene for the moment. 

Pulling Chet’s friend away from the action, Cap moved him toward the station.  “Go call it in.  Get an ambulance, and have them pull Squad 10 out of service.”

Marco took one more look at Chet before he answered, “Got it, Cap,” and ran into the station. 

Turning back toward the action, Cap was relieved to hear frustration in Roy’s voice as he told Chet to stop moving around and just lie still.  When he heard Chet’s response he allowed himself to take a deep breath and offer up a prayer of thanks. 

“I’m okay, damn it.  Just get away from me.  Where’s my car?”

~~~~~~~~~~

Johnny was at Chet’s side before the man opened his eyes and started to swear.  There was no need to move him.  The car had continued its forward motion and was now connected with the passenger’s door of the squad, fifteen feet away. 

Looking up, Johnny found Billy at his side.  “Can you guys grab equipment?”

“Mike,” Roy said, “grab a backboard, will you?”

“I don’t need a Goddamn backboard, Roy,” Chet protested as he tried to push himself up and roll over.

“I don’t think so either, but you’ll be more comfortable lying on that than the pavement,” Roy told him. 

“I’m okay, damn it.  Just get away from me,” Chet demanded.  “Where’s my car?”

“It’s getting intimate with 10’s squad at the moment,” Johnny told him. “I think they’re having an up close and personal experience so let’s just leave them alone for now. You just need to behave and let us play paramedic.  And for Pete’s sake stop moving.”

“Play paramedic with someone else.  Get off of me.”

Johnny suspected that the last order was specifically directed at him since he was trying, without total success, to keep Chet from pushing himself up and rolling over.  From the mechanics of what had happened and the way that Chet was moving, it was obvious that the only injuries were to his legs, but they couldn’t let him roll over on his own until they knew just how badly his legs were injured.  A displaced fracture could sever an artery.

“Look, Chet, if you’ll work with us, we’ll get you on your back, but you have to help us instead of fighting us if this is going to work. Did you hit your head when you fell?” 

Chet was propped up on his elbows to get his head and shoulders off the ground.  Johnny tried to feel for any bumps or blood beneath his hair since Chet had declined to answer his question.  The result was Chet twisting his neck to try to escape the ministrations and Johnny pulled back.

“Cut that out,” Chet complained. “I want to sit up.”

It was Wheeler who responded. “You will, man.  But one step at a time, okay?  After all, like it or not, you just ran over your own legs with your own car.  You can protest all you want, but we all saw it happen.  That boat you’re driving has to weigh close to 4000 pounds, so you just need to let us follow protocol and stop making a fuss.  After all, no matter how you look at it, you brought this on yourself.  Literally.  You don’t want four perfectly good paramedics to get in trouble with Brackett just because you wanted to sit on your ass, do you?” 

“You’re the ass, Wheeler,” Chet nearly shouted.

Billy stepped in. “That may be, Chet. But he’s not the one that just had two tons of metal roll over his legs.  So tell you what, I’ll promise to keep him out of it if you promise to work with your own personal team of paramedics and stop fighting them.”  Billy made eye contact with Wheeler to make sure he was listening and said, “Wheeler and I are going to stay out of the way, Cap.  It doesn’t look like this is a four person rescue.  We’re right here if you need us though.”

“Thanks, guys,” Roy said.  “Maybe you could get on the horn to Rampart.  Call in as 51.  Doesn’t look like your squad is going anywhere for a bit.” 

“Oh, for cripes sake, will you guys cut it out?” Chet pleaded. “The car just went over my legs, and they don’t even hurt.  I don’t need a backboard, and I don’t need Rampart or any of the ridiculous things they’re going to tell you to do.”

Johnny smiled when Roy completely ignored Chet’s pleas. That was probably the most efficient way to handle this.

“Mike, can you get a pulse?”  Roy asked as he moved to Chet’s legs. “Hey, Chet,” he said, “You’ve got a nice, bright tire track right above your ankles.  At least we know for sure where you got run over.”

As Roy started to cut the first pant leg, Chet kicked out in protest.  Johnny wasn’t surprised when Captain Stanley chose that moment to step in and let his presence be felt.  Bending down to where Chet could hear him without looking around to try to see him, Cap spoke quietly but firmly.

“That’s enough, Chet. I know you’re upset, and maybe even a little bit scared.  I know I would be if I were you.  You were, after all, just run over by your own car.  I know you’re not in pain, and I’m real glad about that, but here’s the thing.  Massive spikes in adrenaline can mask pain.  You and I have both seen it time and again, people who don’t feel the pain until they start to calm down.  So here is what you’re going to do.  You may like to pretend you don’t, but I know you trust both John and Roy, so you’re going to answer all their questions both thoughtfully and honestly.  You’re going to do everything they tell you to, and you’re not going to do anything they tell you not to.  Okay?”

“Look, Cap -,” Chet started.  Cap cut him off.

“I am looking, Chet.  And what I see is a man whose legs just got run over by his own car.  And we both know that if you have a broken bone, and you move wrong, you could go from fine to in trouble in seconds.  So kicking your legs is a stupid thing to do.  I’m being nice right now.  And I’m going to continue to be nice until you get cleared to come back to work.  As it stands at the moment, when you return, I’m going to still be nice because so far I’m worried, not angry.  But if you don’t start cooperating, that could shift very quickly.  Is my message getting through?”

Chet hesitated then said, “10-4, Cap.  Message received.”

“Excellent,” Cap said.  “Roy, how do his legs look?”

“Surprisingly good, Cap.  Chet, you don’t have any visible breaks and we know you can move them.  I’m going to have to feel your legs where the car made contact,” Roy told him.  “If you’re going to start to hurt, it’s likely to be now, so you just need to let me know.”

“I told you, it doesn’t hurt,” Chet insisted. 

“Okay,” Roy said, “you just tell me if that starts to change.” 

Johnny checked the BP and watched as Roy ran his hands over Chet’s shins, applying pressure as he went.  As he reached the place where the tire tracks had been, Chet tensed, then spoke.

“Okay.  Alright.  I was wrong.  It hurts.” 

Roy stopped immediately. “How bad does it hurt, Chet?”

“It hurt when you pushed on it, but nowhere near as much as it should.”

“Which leg?” Johnny asked.

“Both.  But it’s already better.  It really only hurt when Roy was squeezing them.”

“In that case, Chet,” Roy told him, “I won’t squeeze them again.”

“Gentlemen,” Cap pronounced from a few feet behind Johnny, “I believe that you now have yourself a compliant victim.  Right, Chet?”

“I guess so,” Chet conceded before adding, “Sir.”

“All right then,” Roy said.  “Your legs may be broken, but I think we can all agree from the way you’ve been moving that you don’t have a back or neck injury.  But the backboard is still the easiest way to roll you over without you moving your legs at all.  Besides, that way you can lie on the board rather than the pavement.  It will be more comfortable.”

“Right,” Chet muttered under his breath.  “When’s the last time you heard someone use the words backboard and comfortable in the same sentence?” 

Johnny listened as Roy distracted Chet while he and Mike prepared the backboard.

“I didn’t use them in the same sentence,” Roy pointed out, “but I think you did just a few weeks ago when you were calming down the lady in the car wreck who had a broken hip.  Something like, ‘you’ll feel a lot more comfortable once we get you on this backboard.’  You remember anything like that, Chet?”

“Yeah, well I say a lot of things I don’t mean to victims.  Anything to keep them calm, you know? …. Hey, wait a minute...”

“Anything to keep them calm, Chet,” Johnny repeated, the teasing clear in his voice.  With a change in tone he added, “So we need to keep both your legs from moving at all when you roll over.  We can do it with the backboard or with splints.  You’ll be on your back much quicker with the backboard, but it’s up to you.”

For a moment Chet looked like he was going to argue, but when he spoke, he mumbled, “Fine.  Whatever is fastest.”

“Okay, Chet,” Roy said, “We’re going to get you onto your back.  You don’t do a thing.  Once you’re on your back, we’ll finish our assessment and then, in all likelihood, you can sit up. You tell me right away if anything starts to hurt, right?”

“Well, since I’m not allowed to object, I guess I’ll just say, sure, Roy, whatever you say.”

“You’re a smart man, Chester B,” Cap told him. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Chet sat on the backboard and waited for the ambulance to arrive.  Somehow he had managed to convince everybody who mattered that he didn’t need splints on his legs.  Even so, with the ambulance delayed, he was having a hard time sitting still, and he was glad only Marco was at his side when he shifted to try and get more comfortable.

“Stop moving, Amigo,” Marco whispered.  “You want them to secure you to this thing?  Look at it this way, Chet, at least Rampart didn’t make them start an IV or stick you on oxygen, right? You won’t even need Roy or Johnny to go in with you. So just stay still.”

“Small favors, I guess.  Oh man, I don’t believe this.  Look at the squad.  What am I going to tell Charlie?  He gets angry when we scrape a tire.  What’s he going to say about this?  And my insurance company? ‘Well, sir, you see I put the car in drive then decided to get out and see what would happen.’ My rates are going to go through the roof, Marco.”

“Maybe not,” Marco said. “Your car barely has a scratch.”

“Yeah, but the squad’s going to need a new door.  I’m screwed.”

“It will work out. But you better not get yourself worked up or your vitals are going to change and Dr. Early might change his mind about the need for an IV, you know?”

Chet saw the reflection of the flashing red light as the ambulance pulled up in front of the station.  Marco rose from his crouch and said, “I’ll go tell them to come out back.”

“There’s not much room to maneuver back here at the moment,” Billy said, looking at the car and the squad still blocking most of one side of the lot.  “What about if we just bring the gurney back through the bay and have the ambulance stay where it is.”

“I’ll go get them,” Wheeler said, adding in a louder voice, “Wait till I tell them what happened!”

Chet growled at him then suggested, “Why don’t I just walk out there.  I really don’t need a gurney, you know.  My legs are just fine.”

Cap looked like he was about to say something, but Mike beat him to the punch.  “I found the owner’s manual in your glove compartment, Chet.  I thought they might want to know at Rampart that the car weighs 4,089 pounds.”

“Yeah, well it’s not like all 4,000 pounds were on my legs.  Three of the wheels were on the ground, remember.”

“Oh, well that’s okay then,” Marco said.  “It was only 1,000 pounds of weight on your legs.”

“Well, technically…” Chet started before being interrupted by Roy. 

“Technically, Chet, you need X-rays before you can put any weight at all on your legs, so give it up.  You aren’t standing on, or even moving your legs until a doctor at Rampart tells you it’s okay to do so.”

Wheeler and the ambulance attendants had arrived with the gurney and Chet started to push himself up off the ground.

“Don’t be stupid, Chet,” Marco told him.  “You keep pushing it and you’re going to make Cap mad and none of us need that, especially not you.”

“OK, Chet,” Johnny said, acting as if he hadn’t heard or seen any of what had transpired in the last few minutes.  “We’re going to lift you onto the gurney, then you can choose whether to sit up or lie down on the way in.”

If Chet was going to object he didn’t get the chance because Cap was there.  “Roy’s going to ride in with you, Chet.”

Chet looked at Roy and expected to see him just as surprised as he was, himself.  But there was no sign of surprise in his face, and Chet decided that he was likely complicit in the decision.

“No IV, no pain meds, I don’t need a paramedic with me.”  Whatever Cap was about to say, Chet cut him off as he continued.  “But if you insist, have Gage ride with me.”

“Why?” Cap asked, his narrowed eyes and his tone clearly communicating his distrust in Chet’s request.

Johnny prevented the need for Chet to answer. “Sounds good to me, Chet. Let’s get this show on the road.”

It took only a matter of minutes to get Chet onto the gurney and into the ambulance.  It was going to be a short and easy ride.  Both attendants rode in front leaving Chet and Johnny with some privacy once the doors closed.

“Okay, so spill.” Johnny said, looking Chet square in the eyes.  “Why didn’t you want Roy to ride with you?  What’s going on?”

“It’s got nothing to do with Roy.  I needed to talk to you.”

Johnny was clearly surprised, and Chet suspected that it was only the fact that he was a patient in an ambulance that kept Johnny from offering some snide remark.  Chet was counting on that continuing to allow him to say what was on his mind.

“Look, Gage, I owe you an apology for what I said about you ruining my car if you touched it.”

“You didn’t say anything like that.”

“Oh, well, maybe I didn’t say it to you.  I’m pretty sure I said it to someone. I said that you would take it apart and have it in 100 pieces then not know how to put it back together.”

Instead of the expected jab, Johnny just laughed.  “Look, Chet, it’s not like there isn’t precedent for thinking something like that could happen, though I might point out that you were right there with me more than once when we took something apart. But since when do you feel the need to apologize for something that you said to anyone but Cap?”

“Since I said it in front of Wheeler.  I know you and he don’t always get along so good and, well, our crew can rag on each other all we want, but not in front of people like Wheeler.  Hell, for all I know he could talk to that reporter friend of his, you know?”

Johnny thought about that for a minute then shook his head. “Wheeler likes to talk himself up, but he’s never played anyone else down.  He just likes the spotlight is all.” 

“You know,” Chet said, “it really is your’s and Roy’s fault.”

“Really?  And how exactly do you figure that?”

“Well, if you guys hadn’t found and fixed the loose battery connection, the car never would have started and I wouldn’t ever have taken it out of park.  And not only that, if you hadn’t fixed the spark plug, I wouldn’t have gotten out of the car to apologize to you and thank you, and I never would have driven over my own legs.”

“Uh, you could have waited”

“Nope.  I ragged on you in front of Wheeler and Hanks so I owed you an apology and thanks in front of Wheeler and Hanks.”  Chet smiled for the first time since all of this had happened.  “I just wanted to get it over with quickly and didn’t take the time to put the car back into park.  So, you see, really it’s your fault.  You distracted me.”

The ambulance was pulling into Rampart so Johnny suggested, “Tell you what, Chet, next time you feel the need to apologize, how about just skipping one of the water bombs instead? In the meantime, if we’re talking all serious when we go into Rampart, Dixie’s going to think you're really hurt or something so let’s leave that here.”

“Good point.  Last thing I need is them deciding that I have a head injury because I said something nice about you.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Dr. Early was headed toward the bay station when the ambulance arrived at the ER.  Noting that Chet was sitting up and not showing any sign of pain, he smiled as he greeted the men.

“Well, Chet, I have to say, you don’t look like a man who just had a car run over his legs.  What room?” he asked when Dixie joined them. 

“Three.”  Looking at Johnny she asked, “Everything okay?”

“No change,” Johnny answered, looking a bit puzzled.  “Why?”

“I guess I thought that since it happened at the station and there was no IV or pain meds that he’d have been arriving without a paramedic escort.”

“Oh, that.  You’d have to ask Roy about that.”  He nodded toward his partner who had just joined them.  “I think he was part of that decision.”

Dixie looked at Roy, eyebrows raised.  “Well?”

Roy responded as they entered the treatment room.  “Captain Stanley and I were a bit concerned that Chet here may decide to walk into the hospital if left to his own devices.  He doesn’t seem to think that he’s hurt, and we thought it would be unfair for the ambulance attendants to have to be the ones to hold him down.”

“Give me some credit, will you?” Chet complained.  “Did you guys really think I’d be stupid enough to pull a stunt like that?  One way or another, Captain Stanley would have found out, and I’d have gotten latrine duty for a month.”  Twisting to face Dr. Early, he quickly added, “But in all fairness, Doc, I’m not hurt.  I really don’t even need to be here.” 

“You may not be hurting, Chet, but you do need to be here.”  Dr. Early reached out to stop Chet from moving his legs as he tried to move himself from the gurney to the exam table.  “And until we have X-rays that prove otherwise, we’re going to assume that your legs are broken, so we do the moving for now.  So tell me, did you really find a way to drive your own car over your own legs?”

The radio in Johnny’s hand signaled, checking the squad’s status as Chet began his explanation.  He confirmed their availability and said, “We have to go.  Chet, we’ll catch up with you when we can.  Dix, can you call the station if you know something before we get back?”

“Sure thing,” Dixie assured them.

Roy made sure he had Chet’s attention then told him, “Chet, you’re in good hands so relax.  And behave.”  Turning to Doctor Early he said, “Doc, just in case he fails to mention it, you should know the car was a 4 door LTD.  It weighs in at over 4,000 pounds so it’s not exactly a VW bug that ran him over.”

“Thanks, guys,” Dr. Early said.  “Don’t worry, we’ll take good care of him.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Two hours and three runs later, Roy and Johnny finally returned to the station.  The phone was ringing as they entered the kitchen.  Johnny picked it up as he walked by.

“Station 51, John Gage speaking.”

The voice on the other end belonged to Chet.  “Hey, I just wanted to let Cap know that Doctor Early pulled me from duty for the rest of the day.”

Looking at Al Sax, a fireman from 86’s, drying lunch dishes, Johnny grinned.  “No kidding, really?  Hey, Cap, it’s Chet.  He wants you to know that he won’t be back today.  How are you Chet?  We were just at Rampart.  They told us they sent you home.”

“Yeah, nothing broken, barely a bruise.  I guess I’m pretty lucky, huh?”

“Up to a point, maybe,” Johnny smirked, looked at the button to activate the speaker on the new phone, and pressed it.  “I mean, no broken bones is pretty lucky, for sure.  But overall, I don’t know.  Hey guys, what would you call a fireman who somehow manages to drive his own car over his own legs then crush the door of a visiting squad?  I’m not sure lucky is the word I’d choose.  What do you guys think?”

“Lucky is not one of the words Charlie used when he saw the squad,” Marco said, loud enough to make sure Chet could hear.

“Oh man, I am so screwed.  Is Cap still worried or has he switched to ...?”  Chet stopped himself mid-sentence.  “Hey, wait a minute. What did you do?  Did you turn on that speaker thing?”

“Of course he did, you twit,” Cap said.  “This is exactly the kind of situation that they invented speakers on phones for.  Did I switch to what?”

“Just great, Gage,” Chet complained.  “And after I was nice to you!”

“You were nice to Gage?” Mike asked.  “When were you nice to Gage?”

“I can be nice sometimes,” Chet declared, “even to Gage.  And you guys should be nicer to me, you know.  I mean, I did get run over by a car.”

“So, you got into your car, turned it on, put it in drive, then got out,” Cap said.  “Not that I’m implying anything by that.  I just want to make sure that I’ve got the details right for my report.”

“How are you feeling, Chet?”  It was Roy who decided to shift the tone of the conversation.”

“Me? I’m fine. It really is kind of amazing when you think about all the things that could have gone wrong, but I’m completely fine.”

“Really?”  Mike pressed, “No pain at all?”

“It hurts some, but they didn’t even give me any pain meds, nothing but Tylenol. They would have if I wanted it, but there’s no need. Changing the subject Chet asked, “Hey, you guys are still going to come over and watch the Lakers Celtics game tomorrow night, right?  They’re at home, but it sold out so it won’t be blacked out.”

“Tell you what,” Marco answered.  “We’ll still come if you let us do all the work.  We’ll bring the snacks and even clean up.  You just sit there.”

“Well, I’m not going to object to that,” Chet told them.  “Hey, Cap, you think it’s okay if I leave my car there until next shift?”

“Not only do I think it’s okay,” Cap answered, “but I think it’s an inspired idea and a mature decision.  It’s probably best if you and your car have a little time apart from each other for a while.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Roy looked at his watch as he rang the bell at Chet’s apartment.  The game had started 20 minutes ago and he figured he would be the last to arrive.  He also assumed they would be annoyed with his delay since he was bringing a key component of the refreshments. 

“Sorry I’m late,” he said when Marco answered the door.  “I got delayed, but I did bring the beer, and it’s straight from the cooler at the liquor store so it’s already cold.”

The TV was on in the living room.  Johnny was on the couch and Chet was stretched out on a recliner.  “Still no pain meds?” Roy asked Chet.  When he said no, Roy tossed him a beer, put the rest of the six pack on the coffee table and said, “I’ll put the rest of these in the fridge if there’s room.” 

“There’s always room for beer,” Chet said, “but if not, feel free to take out any non-essentials, which includes anything that’s not beer.  Oh, except for the dip.  Leave the dip.”

“Hey, Roy,” Johnny called out once Roy was in the kitchen, “you want to bring some of that dip back in here with you?”

Roy returned to the living room, dip in hand, and took up a seat next to Johnny on the couch.  “Cap and Mike on their way?”

All three of the other men in the room looked at each other before Chet said, “Nope.  Seems their wives had other plans for tonight.  How’d you convince Joanne to let you come?”

“She had other plans that didn’t include me.  I think she needed some time away from her mother so she went to the movies with friends and intentionally picked a movie that her mother wouldn’t want to see, some science fiction thing.  At least that’s what she told her mother. I assume her mother expected me to stay home with her and the kids.”

“How’d you get out of that?” Marco wanted to know.

Roy had a duplicitous smile when he answered.  “Well, you see, I have a 5 year old daughter who is susceptible to bribery, and the promise of a trip to the ice cream parlor tomorrow was enough to convince her to ask her grandmother if they could have some special time with just her tonight.”

“You’re good,” Marco said.

“He’s had years of practice,” Johnny said.  “So Chet, you haven’t said much about your accident.  How’re you feeling?  Any pain, swelling, bruising?  Maybe I should take a look,” he added with a grin.

“I’m fine, and stay away from me.  I’ve been doing everything they told me to do.  I’ve been icing them and staying off them as much as I can, which is why you guys are going to be waiting on me hand and foot tonight.  So don’t get any paramedic ideas in that scheming little mind of yours.  Tonight is about basketball, not cars or hospitals or anything else you can dream up.”

With that mandate in mind, the men all allowed their attention to be drawn to the TV as the game heated up.  The Lakers vs the Celtics could always be counted on for some excitement, and the acquisition of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was adding the promised thrill to the game. 

As half-time approached it began to occur to Roy that, despite his protests earlier, Chet had been less animated than usual.  He suspected that the accident had been more upsetting than Chet was willing to admit, and he began to pay closer attention.  It was only then that he noticed things that made him think Chet was not feeling as good as he claimed.  Chet was shifting his position in the chair with some frequency.  Twice Roy saw him look at his left leg while he flexed his ankle and noted the corresponding grimace both times.

When the buzzer sounded for half time, everyone but Chet got up to stretch, take bathroom breaks, and grab some food. 

“Hey, Chet, you want another beer?” Marco called out from the kitchen. “How about some wings?”

Something about the way that he answered, “Sure,” caught not only Roy’s attention but also brought Johnny back into the living room.

“You okay?” Johnny asked. “You need some help there?”

Chet was struggling to close the recliner and Roy guessed that was the source of his distress.  He watched as Johnny bent down and pushed the foot rest closed, then offered him his arm to help him get up. 

“You headed to the bathroom?” Johnny asked.

“Yes, and I can do it myself.”

“That’s good, because I’m not offering you help in the bathroom.  I am offering a hand to help you up out of the chair if you want it.”

Chet brushed him off and pushed himself up out of the chair.  He was struggling but managing until he put all of his weight on his left leg as he tried to take a step forward.

“Goddammit,” he sputtered as he fell forward.  Only Johnny’s quick grab kept him from landing on the floor.

The swear brought Marco running back into the living room, and he pulled the coffee table out of the way as Roy and Johnny lifted Chet off his feet and headed for the couch.

“Oh no, you don’t,” he was saying.  “We’re not doing this again.  I can stand up, you know.”

“It didn’t look that way to me,” Roy said as they positioned him on the couch. “Looked to me like your leg collapsed.”

“Yeah, well it just fell asleep, that’s all.  I guess I didn’t move it around enough.”

Roy’s look at Johnny was not missed by either of their friends, both of whom reacted to the sudden change in his expression. 

“You have any stuff in your cars?” Marco asked.  He didn’t need to specify what kind of ‘stuff’ he was talking about.  Chet jumped all over it.

“No way! Get away from me.”  He tried to pull away from Johnny who was removing his sneakers, but his efforts resulted in another cry out, this time in pain.  “Damn it!  It’s numb and feels like it's on fire at the same time.  How the hell is that possible?”

Roy took hold of his wrist to check his pulse while Johnny checked the pulse in his ankle.  He watched Johnny’s face and read the slight gesture that said what he found wasn’t good.  “It’s going to be okay, Chet,” he assured his friend. “Try to calm down.”

“What’s going on?” Marco asked.  “What happened?  He was fine.”

“It can happen with this kind of injury sometimes,” Johnny explained.  “It’s going to be okay.”  Turning to Roy he asked, “What about it?  Do you have any ‘stuff’ in your car?”

Roy knew that a BP cuff and a stethoscope would be helpful right now, but his own bag of supplies was at home in his closet.  “Unfortunately, no.”  He immediately regretted the use of the word ‘unfortunately’ as he watched Chet’s anxiety build.

“You’re going to be okay.  Try to put everything else aside and focus on your leg.  Am I right that it hurts more now than it did last night?”

“I know I’m going to be okay.  It just fell asleep!”

“Does it hurt more now than last night?” Roy repeated the question. 

“Yeah, but they told me that might happen.   They told me the pain might get worse today.  Look, I’m telling you, my leg just fell asleep.  I must have been sitting wrong, putting pressure on the wrong place or something.  It’s no big deal.  Leave me alone.”

Roy doubted that his friend had any idea how close he was to the likely explanation, only the pressure causing the problem was probably not external.

“Is your right leg at all numb or burning?” Johnny asked.

“No, my right leg is fine.  It doesn’t even hurt.”  He moved his right ankle and toes, as if to demonstrate the accuracy of his statement. “Now leave me alone!”

Johnny pressed on.  “Can you move your left foot like that?”

Despite his growing agitation, Chet made an effort and managed to turn his left ankle.  His toes barely moved.  Johnny just said, “Okay,” again making eye contact with Roy.  This time, Chet did not miss it. 

“Enough with the meaningful looks already,” he complained.  “If you have something to say, just say it.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Not for the first time in the last few days, Marco felt helpless as he looked on at what was playing out in front of him.  He watched as Chet began to panic. He knew that his friend could be ornery, but it wasn’t like him to resist medical attention, especially when it was so obviously needed.  He understood it yesterday.  Yesterday he had been embarrassed by the circumstances and the fact that it had all played out in front of Wheeler and Hanks.  Pushing back against the idea that he was hurt and the ensuing, very public, medical attention had been his attempt to save face. 

But today was different.  Chet wouldn’t be embarrassed in these circumstances, not in his own apartment with his friends.  Marco took a moment and considered everything that had transpired in the last few minutes.  He looked at each of the men, considered the looks that had passed between them, their expressions, the words they had spoken, their tone of voice.  And he understood.  Johnny and Roy were worried.  And that was scaring Chet to his very core. 

With that realization, came the knowledge of how to help.  “Hey, guys,” Marco said, “can we all just stop for a minute?”  He wasn’t surprised at the look of confusion from Roy or the glare from Johnny.  He pressed on.

“I know time is important, but give me just a moment, okay?  I think I can help.”

“Go away, Marco,” Chet told him.

Marco just smiled.  “I will in a minute if you want me to, but first listen for just a minute.  Un minuto, por favor, mis amigos?”

Everyone was silent for a moment, then Johnny spoke.  “Sure, Marco. What is it?”

“Thanks,” Marco said.  “Johnny, Roy, you guys are clearly really concerned about something that you know and we don’t.  You think you’re protecting Chet by not putting it into words.  You think that will help him stay calm, but you’re wrong. He’s worked rescues with you guys too many times to not know when there are things that you’re leaving unsaid.  We both have.  

“Chet’s pushing back because he’s scared.  He wasn’t scared until he saw your reaction when his leg gave out.  Now he’s scared because he thinks you’re scared.  If he’s wrong, tell him.  If he’s right, tell him.  Because my guess is that whatever you think is wrong, it’s no worse than what he’s imagining right now.” When no one said anything, Marco added, “Okay, I’ve said my piece.” 

It was Chet who spoke first.  “You’re nuts, Marco.  I’m not scared.  My leg is fine.  These guys are paranoid.”

Johnny and Roy both started to speak at the same time.  They seemed to know what the other one was going to say because Roy turned the floor over to Johnny without hesitation or further silent communication. 

“Okay, Marco, fair enough,” Johnny started.  “You make a good point.”  Looking directly at Chet he said, “I don’t know if you’re scared or not, but Marco’s right.  We’re worried about this development with your leg.  Do you want us to tell you why?  Keep in mind that we have no way of knowing what is actually happening to your leg right now, but we can tell you what has us worried.”

Chet said nothing. 

“Chet?” Roy pressed.

“So tell me already!”  The plea had the emphasis of a scream but the volume of a whisper.  “How can it be possible that my leg can be numb and hurt like hell all at the same time?”

“I’m not sure, but I’m guessing that if you really focus, you’ll find that your shin hurts on the inside and is numb on the outside, and your ankle and foot are feeling a bit numb,” Roy suggested.

“Yeah, you know, you’re sort of right.  I think.  It’s hard to tell for sure.” 

Johnny interrupted, “I’m going to call an ambulance and call into Rampart while you guys talk.  Also, Chet, we need to look at your leg.  Do you want us to cut your jeans or do you want us to help you take them off?”

Marco knew he had done the right thing when he heard Chet’s answer. 

“Is it safe for me to move around enough to take them off?”

“Probably.”  Johnny smiled.  “Tell you what though, why don’t you let us help.  If you can tell Marco where to find some shorts, you can put those on if you want.”

“Bottom drawer of my dresser in my room.”

“Do I need to get you boxers too?”

“I already have on boxers, thank you very much.  And yes, they are clean.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Johnny moved to the kitchen to find the phone and Marco went to find shorts, which left Roy kneeling on the floor next to Chet, on the couch.

“So, you still want to hear this or would you rather wait and let the doctors at Rampart talk to you after they check you out?”

“I want to know why you turned pale when I said my leg was numb,” Chet told him. 

“Sorry,” Roy said, “I didn’t know I did that. That was an overreaction on my part. I guess I just worry more about you than a stranger, you know?”

“Enough with the delay tactics, Roy.  You’re going to have me thinking I’m going to lose my leg if you don’t get to the point.”

“You aren’t going to lose your leg.”

“Roy!”

“Okay.  Any severe blunt trauma to your leg, say like getting run over by a 4,000 pound car, can cause all kinds of injuries including the obvious and immediate ones, like broken bones or crushed muscles and tissue.  Luckily those didn’t happen to you.  Another thing that can happen takes longer to show up.  You could have a compartment injury.”

“What does that mean?   I’ve never heard of that.”

Roy explained as best he could.  “Your lower leg is made up of several compartments that are each surrounded by a tough membrane.  After a trauma like getting run over by a car, the muscles and other tissue inside the membrane can swell and bleed.  The membrane around the compartments is, by design, not very pliable so it doesn’t easily expand to make room for swollen tissue or extra fluid. So instead, pressure builds up inside the injured compartment.  The pressure can interfere with the blood flow in your leg and can mess with the nerves.  Early symptoms include a burning pain when you stretch the muscles in the leg.”   

“What about the numbness?” Chet asked, some of the panic beginning to build again.  “Where in the progression does the numbness come in?”

“I don’t know.”

“Roy!”

“I’m not holding back, Chet.  I really don’t know.  It’s one of the symptoms.  But I don’t know how to measure how far along it is.  When did the pain first start to get worse?  Do you know?”

“I don’t know.  Before the game.  Before you guys got here, but it wasn’t bad then.  It just started to get bad a few minutes ago, right before the buzzer.”

Johnny was back, holding the phone tethered to the jack in the kitchen by a very long cord. “And here I thought that look on your face was because Havlicek stole the ball.” 

Roy was pleased to see Chet smile, but it was only for a second before the pain returned to his face.  Johnny saw it too.

“I called the station.  The squad is out and the nearest available one is at least 30 minutes away, but it’s headed here.  I called an ambulance.  I’m going to call Rampart now.  I’m guessing they’re going to tell us not to wait for the squad and to bring him in once the ambulance gets here.”

Considering everything that had transpired in the last 10 minutes, Roy made a quick decision. “Tell you what, why don’t you let me call Rampart while you help Chet lose the jeans.  You two seem to have a certain rapport going on here.”

Johnny didn’t object and handed the phone to Roy.

“Okay, Chet, time to show us your skivvies.”

Staying next to the couch where he could hear and be heard, Roy dialed Rampart.  He didn’t recognize the voice that answered.  She said her name, but Roy didn’t catch it and he didn’t ask her to repeat it.

“This is Roy DeSoto, a paramedic with Station 51.  I’m off duty, and I’m at a silent alarm.  I need to speak to one of the doctors, Dr. Early if he’s there.”  Roy only had to wait a minute before the line reopened.  It wasn’t Dr. Early but it was the next best thing.

“Roy, it’s Dr. Brackett.  Joe’s not on duty tonight.  What have you got?”

“Doc,” Roy started, “I’m with Johnny and we’re at Chet Kelly’s place.  Did Dr. Early or Dixie tell you about what happened to Chet yesterday?”

“Only briefly.  We’re working different shifts this week and haven’t seen much of each other.  Dixie said something about him being run over by his car.  She said he was okay.  What’s going on?”

“Doc, we came over here tonight to watch the Lakers.  We don’t have any equipment.  The car was a 4,000 pound sedan.  One tire ran over the back of his legs, about four inches above the ankles.  Chet was mostly okay when we got here about 90 minutes ago.  He’s been keeping his legs up and icing them. But he’s started experiencing burning pain in his left leg that gets worse with stretching.  He reports that it started about two hours ago and has been getting progressively worse with a real escalation in the last fifteen minutes or so.  He didn’t say anything and we only found out about it ten minutes ago when he tried to get up and fell because of the pain in his leg and numbness in his foot and ankle.  His lower leg is badly swollen and the skin around his lower shin is pale, tight, and cold.  There’s bruising visible.  We have no way of getting a blood pressure.  He’s breathing fine and his pulse is 84, strong in his wrist, diminished in his foot.  He’s having trouble moving his toes.”

“It sounds like a compartment injury.  Do you have a squad coming?”

“That’s affirmative, but it’s at least thirty minutes out.  The ambulance should be here in five.” 

“Okay.  Don’t wait for the squad.  Get him in here as quick as you can.”

“10-4.  Once the ambulance gets here we’re about ten minutes out.”

“Okay, Roy.  I’ll be waiting.”

“Thanks, Doc.”

Roy saw the ambulance out the window just as he finished the call. Knowing that the men with him had only heard one side of the conversation, he told them, “It was Brackett.  He doesn’t want us to wait for the squad.”

“I’ll ride in with him,” Johnny offered.  “Why don’t you cancel the squad, and we’ll meet up with you when you get to the hospital?”

“Okay,” Roy agreed.  

Johnny reached into his pocket and tossed Roy his keys.

“What’s this for?”

“I have more than two seats in my car and that might come in handy.”

Chet was cooperative and let his friends move him to the gurney without complaint.  Once the ambulance doors were closed, Marco turned to Roy.

“What’s with the car?  Do you guys think Brackett’s going to let Chet come home with you?”

Roy shook his head.  “There is no chance of that, Marco.  I’m guessing that Johnny thought you might want to join us at the hospital.”

“Chet thinks Johnny means he might be coming home tonight.  I know he does.  I could see it in his face.”

“That’s okay, Marco.  If that’s what he heard, then it’s what he needed to hear.  There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“I guess so…. Roy, what’s going to happen when he gets to the hospital?  How do they fix this?”

“I don’t know all the answers, but I’ll tell you what I do know on the way.  Come on, let’s go.”

~~~~~~~~~~

The ambulance ride started out in silence.  Chet wasn’t sure what to say or what to ask and Johnny wasn’t volunteering anything, so other than Johnny asking Chet if he had adjusted the gurney back to the right position, nothing was said.  It was Johnny who finally broke the silence.

“So, anything you want to ask or say before we get to Rampart?  We’ll be there in about …” Johnny looked at his watch, “eight minutes.”

Now that Johnny had invited questions, Chet realized he did know what he wanted to ask.  “Roy said I wasn’t going to lose my leg.  Am I going to lose the use of my leg?”  Chet wasn’t sure that he even really wanted to know the answer, and he found himself holding his breath while he waited for Johnny’s response.

“You’ll have to ask Brackett that question, Chet, but I’d be shocked if his answer isn’t some version of no.  My guess is that you’re going to be completely fine.”

“So, assuming it is this compartment thing you think it is, what do they do for that?  How do they treat it?”  Chet kept a close watch on Johnny’s face, waiting for any indication that he was being less than honest or evasive in his answer.  He saw none.

“I’m not sure, Chet.  I think it depends on how bad it is.  I know sometimes there’s surgery involved, but I’m not sure that’s always true.  I’ll tell you what I am sure of, though.  Dr. Kelly Brackett is the best trauma doctor out there.  You can trust him to figure it all out, and you can trust him to tell the truth.  The man does not pull punches.  Listen to what he says, and ask him what you want to know.  And for God’s sake, do what he tells you to do.”

Chet watched as Johnny’s face broke into a full grin.  “And my best advice is to take that last part real seriously.  You do not want to cross that man and ignore his medical advice.  If he tells you to stay off that leg, you do not argue, you just say ‘Yes, Sir!  How long, Sir!?’  You got it?”

“Got it… Hey, Johnny?”

“Yeah, Chet?”

“Sorry for being a pain tonight.  And thanks for everything.”

This time Johnny put on an exaggerated look of alarm.

“What?  I’m trying to be serious,” Chet complained.

“I know that, Chet,” Johnny told him. “But the last time you decided that you needed to apologize to me and thank me, you climbed out of a moving vehicle to do it.  You aren’t going to try to do that again, are you? Because this ambulance is moving a whole lot faster and weighs a whole lot more than your car.”

Chet raised both his hands in front of him.  “Hands off the eject button. I promise.”

“Good plan.  Looks like we’re here.” 

~~~~~~~~~~

Dr. Brackett had been with Chet for about fifteen minutes by the time Roy entered the treatment room.  Despite his desire to be there for Chet, Marco had agreed that it was best for him to wait in the waiting room.  Roy wasn’t surprised to find Chet connected to a heart monitor, a BP cuff, and an IV.  Nor was he surprised at the palpable tension in the room.  It only took a minute for him to understand that the tension did not come from Chet pushing back, but rather from his fear at what he was being told. 

“We’re going to insert a needle right about here,” Brackett was saying, pointing to a specific spot on Chet’s injured leg.  “That will let us read the pressure inside the injured compartment.  When it shows what I know it’s going to, we’ll take you into surgery and relieve the pressure.” 

Chet had gone white and looked like he was about to pass out.  Johnny had obviously noticed too and moved a few steps closer.  Roy positioned himself so that he was in Chet’s line of vision. 

“It’s just a needle, Chet,” Roy said.  “You can handle it.”

Chet looked at him, but didn’t comment.  Instead he spoke to Dr. Brackett. “No offense, Doc, but if you know what it’s going to show, why even do it?  Maybe we should just skip over that part.” 

Dr. Brackett looked at Roy and acknowledged his presence then turned back to Chet.  “What I know is that it’s going to show an elevated pressure.  What I don’t know is just how elevated it’s going to be, and the surgeon needs to know that before he starts the surgery.”

“What do you mean, ‘before HE starts the surgery’?  Aren’t you doing the surgery?”

The monitor clearly showed Chet’s increasingly rapid heart rate and Roy watched as Johnny tried to intervene.

“Breathe, Chet,” Johnny told him. “You keep forgetting to breathe.  You do remember how to breathe, right Chet?  In … then out … then repeat.”

“You want to trade places, Gage?” Chet shot back.  “I’ll stand there and tell you how to breathe, and you can sit here and let them stick a foot long needle in your leg.”

“The problem with that scenario, Chet,” Johnny countered, “is that you can’t stand, remember?  Isn’t that kind of why you’re here in the first place?”

Anyone who didn’t know the two men would wonder why Johnny was sparring with an injured man.  Anyone watching the heart monitor, which, Roy noted, was exactly what Doctor Brackett was doing, would see that Johnny was succeeding in calming him down.

“Besides, Chet,” Johnny added, “no one said the needle was a foot long, right Doc?”

By the look on Doctor Brackett’s face, Roy knew Johnny should have left that one alone.

“It’s not a foot long, no,” Brackett said and quickly diverted the conversation.  “So Chet, you asked if I’m going to do the surgery.  The answer is no because I want you to have the best qualified surgeon, so I got an orthopedic surgeon to do it for you.  Believe me, he’s the one you want doing this, not me.” 

Brackett paused, looked at the heart monitor that was back to reading 110, and rechecked Chet’s BP himself.  He made a decision.  “Chet, we’re going to change this up a bit.  Let me tell you what happens next, okay?”  He didn’t wait for Chet to respond.  “Here’s what we’re going to do.  We’re going to get some diazepam into your system, and you’re going to feel a whole lot better.  In fact, I’m guessing that you might fall asleep right here and sleep through everything.”  He nodded at Carol and said “8 mgs.  If I got the dose right, Chet, the next thing you’re going to remember is waking up after your surgery is all done.”

“Wait a minute,” Chet objected, as Carol injected the sedative into his thigh.  “I know I signed all the papers agreeing to all this.  And I trust … you and all… I’m not … questioning …” Chet’s voice was growing weaker with each word. “I just want … know… How … long … the need…”

Roy watched as Chet’s eyes closed, his breathing slowed to normal, his heart rate slowed from 110 down to 60, and his body relaxed for perhaps the first time since yesterday morning. 

“Doctor Brackett, is he going to be okay?” Roy asked.

Brackett nodded, but also held up his hand to indicate that he needed Roy to hold his question for a minute. “Carol,” he said, “they’re waiting for him in pre-op.  I’ll call them and they can do the pressure test right in the OR before the surgery.  There was no need to put him through that down here.  Transport is already waiting in the hall.  Can you go with them and stay with him until they’re ready to start?  I don’t think he’s going to wake up, but if he does I want him with someone he recognizes.”

“Is Marco with you?” Johnny asked Roy who nodded. “Doc, what about if Marco waits with him until he goes into the OR.  That way if he wakes up, Marco will be there to keep him calm.  It will probably help keep Marco calm too.”

“Perfect,” Brackett said. 

Roy stayed and helped move Chet to the transport gurney while Johnny went to get Marco and Doctor Brackett called upstairs.  In less than two minutes, Chet was in the elevator and Roy turned back to Doctor Brackett. 

“Doc, is he going to be okay?” Roy asked again.

“He is,” Bracket confirmed, without hesitation.

“Is his leg going to be okay?” Johnny asked.

“That depends on a lot of different things, Johnny, but from what I saw here, I think his leg will fully heal.  We’ll know more after the surgery and more again after the swelling has time to go down.  Depending on the surgery, his initial recovery might be a bit complicated.”

“What does that mean?” Roy asked.

“Let’s go into my office and I’ll explain it all.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Johnny looked at his watch.  It was almost 12:30.  Marco had come down and told them that Chet had woken up in pre-op just long enough to ask again, how long the needle was before they took him into the OR.  Marco was now off somewhere in search of something they could eat while they waited.  Roy was on the phone trying to calm down his mother in law who had apparently taken the phone out of Joanne’s hands in order to tell Roy what she thought about his decision to abandon his family for the night.  Johnny had agreed to call Captain Stanley.

They should have called him sooner, but he and Roy had agreed that since they weren’t on duty and Chet was in no immediate danger, it would be better to wait until they had something definitive to tell him.  That decision had not been well thought through.  An earlier call would have left Cap worrying until he heard more, but a call at 12:30 AM was going to create panic before the man even knew who was on the phone.  For just a moment Johnny considered waiting to call until morning, but he knew that was the wrong decision.  Captain Stanley would want to know now, especially if anything went wrong during the surgery.  Johnny picked up the phone, took a deep breath, and dialed.

~~~~~~~~~~

Cap was fully awake with the first ring of the phone.  Being woken up by bells at work was par for the course.  When it happened at home it was never good news, and it usually meant that sleep was done for the night. The last time it had happened it had been his mother-in-law, calling to complain to her daughter about a fight she had just had with her husband.  He groaned at the thought. It had been a long two days with no sleep last night.  A second night with disrupted sleep was the last thing he needed.

“Hello?”  It was a greeting said in a way to let the caller know that he really meant, “Who the hell is calling at this time of night?” 

The way that Johnny said, “Cap, it’s Johnny,” told him that the message couched in his hello had been received, and Cap immediately regretted it. 

“John, are you okay?  What’s wrong?  Where are you?”

“We’re at Rampart,” Johnny told him.  “We brought Chet in.  His leg went sour.  He’s in surgery.”

“Oh crap.  I knew it was too good to be true.  What happened?  What went wrong?  Did they miss something yesterday?  Is he going to be okay?”

“Nobody missed anything, Cap.  It’s a compartment injury to his leg.  It develops over time after an injury like Chet’s, anywhere from a few hours to a few days.  Pressure builds up in the leg as things swell.  I’ll explain more later. It went from no big deal to really bad during the first half of the game tonight.  It’s really a good thing we were there.  He’s in surgery now to relieve the pressure.  They won’t know for sure until the swelling goes down, but Doctor Brackett doesn’t think there will be any permanent damage to his leg.”

“Well, that’s good at least.  How upset was he?”

“He was pretty freaked out at first, but Marco really helped.”

“Well, that’s good.  So, obviously he’s going to be out for a while.  How long do you think he’ll be in the hospital?”

“That depends.  It could be a few days, it could be a week or more.”

“That’s a pretty big range.  It depends on what?”

“The swelling.  They have to cut through the compartment membrane to relieve the pressure.  Sometimes the swelling is so bad that they have to leave the incision open until the swelling goes down.  If that happens he could be here a while.”

“Oh my God, that’s terrible.  Does Chet know that might happen?”

“No.  He didn’t ask and Brackett didn’t offer.”

“So I assume if that happens, he has to stay until they can close the incision?  They can’t bandage it and send him home to wait?”

“Cap, they have to fully open the membrane to relieve the pressure.  The incision will be big.  Chances are they’ll be able to close it tonight, but if not, he’s not going anywhere until they can.”

“What are the chances?”

“I tried.  Brackett never quotes odds.  He just says that the chances are good they’ll be able to close it tonight.”

“Did you guys know this could happen?”

“You mean the possibility of needing to leave the incision open?  No, I never heard of that until Brackett just told us.”

“I don’t mean that.  I mean the injury, the compartment thing.  Did you guys know that could happen?  Did you know it was a risk?”

“Yeah, I guess.  I mean, we’ve seen those types of injuries.  They aren’t very common and usually they go along with broken bones, but yeah, we knew it could happen.”  Johnny’s voice changed before he added, “Why?”

Cap immediately knew he’d made a mistake.  He knew Johnny’s “Why?” was a loaded word and question, a word full of two days of stress, exhaustion, worry, and likely misplaced guilt.  He didn’t know why he’d even asked in the first place, and it had been a badly timed mistake. He likely just created a problem for Johnny, and he was about to pay a price for a question taken as an accusation. 

“Forget it, John.  I don’t know why I even asked.  I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Really Cap? ‘Cause I know why you asked, and I think you did mean something by it.  You think we should have anticipated this and somehow even prevented it.  You think we should have warned Chet and you that it could happen.  Maybe you think that we should anticipate everything that could possibly happen when one of us gets knocked down at a fire or gets a paper cut.  You want us to tell you everything that could happen any time someone breathes in smoke at a fire? If so, you better make time in our schedule because it took me months of training and hundreds more hours of reading, and asking questions, and experience to learn everything I know, so don’t expect that I can summarize it for you in five minutes.  And in the grand scheme of things, I don’t know squat, so don’t go thinking I can prevent bad things from happening after…”

Cap had wanted to cut in, to stop whatever it was that was building on the other end of the phone, to interrupt the escalating crisis, but he had no idea how.  But someone did.

“No, I’ve got this.  Let me handle this,” Johnny was saying to somebody.  Next thing he knew Roy was on the phone. 

“Captain Stanley?” Roy asked.

“Yeah, Roy.  I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to …”

Roy didn’t let him finish.  “Look, Cap, I don’t know what’s happening here, but I do know that it’s been a really long and stressful night on this end.  Unless you have any questions about Chet, maybe we should just postpone the rest of this conversation until morning.”

What a mess, Cap thought before saying, “You’re right, Roy.  I’m sorry.  I’m worried about Chet.  I didn’t mean to accuse anyone or imply anything” 

“I know, Cap.  I get it.  Let’s talk more in the morning.”

“Can you put Gage back on?  I promise I’ll be nice.”

Roy didn’t answer but a moment later Johnny was back on the phone. 

“Sorry, Cap,” he said. “I was out of line.”

“Me too. I’m sorry.  I’m worried about Chet and none of that belongs on you or Roy. You two did great.  You always do.  Thank God you were with him when it blew up.”  

“Yeah,” Johnny agreed.  “It could have been really bad if it had waited ‘til morning.  Who would have thought a basketball game could have saved the day, huh?”

“Really.  You know, you may not believe me, but I really do appreciate the fact that you called.”

“I know.  Hopefully I never have to make another call like this one.”

“Agreed,” Cap said before asking, “Friends?”

“Friends,” Johnny repeated.  “Get some sleep.  Roy will call you if anything happens overnight.  Otherwise, no news is good news, and we’ll talk in the morning.”

“Good night,” Cap said, then hung up the phone.  He rolled over and prepared to tell his wife what was going on, but first he offered up a prayer for Chet, then added one for Johnny and Roy.

~~~~~~~~~~

Roy took the phone from Johnny’s hand and hung it up. “Come on,” he said, “Marco’s in the cafeteria.  I don’t know if he found any food, but he found fresh coffee.”

“You know, Roy,” Johnny said, following his friend to the promised caffeine, “paying attention to other people’s feelings can be exhausting… especially when they’re your own… I mean… Well, you know what I mean.  At least I hope you do, because I don’t.  Maybe you can explain it to me someday.  Anyways, I’m thinking I’m ready to be done with ‘feelings’, mine and everybody else’s.  I’m thinking it may be easier to be shallow and stoic.  At least, I’m considering it as an option.  What do you think?”

“I don’t know.  A stoic John Gage?  A shallow John Gage?  I just don’t see it.  But I certainly know where you’re coming from, and I’m right there with you tonight.  Come on, let’s go find Marco.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Dr. Brackett didn’t have to search far to find the men he was looking for.  He found them sitting in an otherwise abandoned cafeteria. Despite being tired he made sure that he wore a very visible smile on his face as he approached the table.  There was no reason for even a few minutes more of unwarranted worry. 

“Doc?” Johnny asked, getting to his feet as he approached their table. 

“Sit down and relax,” he told them.  “He did fine.  He’s going to be okay.”

Sitting down to join them, Brackett turned to Marco.  “Marco, it’s good to see you.  They tell me that you kept Chet calm when he came around for a minute in pre-op.  I’m glad you were there.”

“Me too, Doc.”

“Well?”  Roy pressed.  “How did it go?  Was it complicated?”

“I’d have to say it went just about as well as was possible.  They were able to release the pressure, cauterize a few small blood vessels that were bleeding, and close the incision.”

“And the prognosis?” Johnny wanted to know.  “Is he going to lose any of the functioning in his leg or foot?”

“The prognosis is excellent.  He’s likely to have some minor lingering neuropathy, but it shouldn’t cause him any problems.”

“Neuropathy?” Marco repeated.  “That sounds kind of serious, Doctor Brackett. What is that?”

“It’s a fancy way of saying nerve damage, Marco.  It can be serious, but it’s not going to be in Chet’s case.  He might have a few spots on his leg or foot where he can’t feel things like hot or cold, that type of thing, but it won’t interfere with anything.”

“Is he going into ICU?” Johnny asked.

“No need.  He’ll go to a med/surg floor for a few days then go home with physical therapy.  From where I sit, I think that there are 2 things that may cause him distress.”

“And they are?” Roy asked. 

“I don’t know Chet very well so I don’t know if this will be an issue for him or not, but the incision was pretty big and is going to leave a significant scar up the back of his leg.  It will eventually fade a bit, but it’s always going to be visible.”

“That won’t be a problem,” Marco said with confidence.  “He’ll wear it as a badge of honor and tell all the girls who will listen about getting run over by a car.  He might even throw in the fact that it was his own car, depending on the girl. You said two things, Doc.  What else?”

“Like I said, I don’t know Chet very well, but from his reaction tonight, I suspect that this will be a problem for him.  That pressure test that he got to sleep through tonight will need to be repeated at least once more before this is over.  It’s not pleasant and can be upsetting for people who are tense about needles.  He may need some hand holding of sorts, Marco.”

“Whatever helps, Doc.  But he’ll be fine now that he isn’t panicked about his leg.”

Johnny nodded in agreement.  “He wasn’t himself tonight.  It won’t be an issue.”

“You guys aren’t on duty again today, are you?” Brackett asked.

“No, we’re off for another day,” Roy told him.

“Okay, good.  Chet’s going to sleep through the rest of tonight and well into the morning.  You guys are going to go home and sleep.”

Seeing that Roy and Johnny were about to protest, he continued.  “No objections allowed, gentlemen.  Consider it a direct order.  I get off shift first thing in the morning, but Joe and Dixie will be here, and I’m telling them that you’re not allowed back in this hospital until at least 4:00 PM.  You can consider that a direct order as well.  I know I don’t have the authority, Marco, but that goes for you too.  The other guys can come see Chet if he needs company.  You all need sleep.” 

Part 2