Letters

There's a song on Brad Paisley's new CD 'Fifth Gear' titled 'Letter to Me'. . .it's an adult writing a letter to his 17 year old self . . .soooo the challenge is: Have a character from Emergency! write a letter to himself/herself from any time frame to another.

*The idea was inspired by Brad Paisley's song and no copyright infringement is intended

There are going to be times when you are sitting at your desk at Station 51 thinking how on Earth did I get this group of misfits for fireman, especially John Gage. He has been to the emergency room and spent more nights in the hospital than any of the other men all put together. You will grow to love these men just like they were your own children. They all will become a part of your family, even though they are considered an extended family. These men will stand up for each other and help to protect each other on and off duty, especially on duty. They all risk their lives every day and it will be your job to help make sure they all come back safe and sound at the end of each run.

Now, Hank I know this sounds like an awful lot on your shoulders but you will be able to handle it. You will do anything to help keep this men safe while on the job and they would do the same thing for you and they will. There will be times when you have to send the men into situations you don't want to but you know in order for them to saves lives they will have to risk their own lives and they all know this. Yes, you will blame yourself when one of them gets hurts but they will tell you they knew the dangers. John Gage will always be the one who you will have to worry about more than anyone else but he will always be there when a crisis arises and his knack to sense danger will help him go far in the department as will your help to nurture his career.

Take these words to heart and always remember these five men who you work with on a day to day basis will be the best friends and colleagues you will ever have in your life.

Dear John,

Hiya there. How you likin' the 21st Century? Better than this one, I hope! Listen, the reason I'm writing you way off in the future like this is, I'm hoping by now you won't maybe be quite so annoyed with me and I really would like a chance to explain that it seemed like a good idea at the time.

I mean, think about all the things Chet's done to me over the years! C'mon, now! You can't expect a guy to not want to get a little of his own back once in a while. And, okay, so maybe it wasn't the most, well, levelheaded thing I've ever come up with, but how was I to know that everyone would over react so badly.

It seemed like a good idea at the time!

And it could have been so funny! Okay, so maybe you doubt me, even now, but it could have been! If everything had come off the way it was intended to. I mean, how was I supposed to know that what the joke shop sold me was a distilled form of it? I thought it was just, you know . . . So of course I used as much as I figured it would normally take. It's not really my fault when you think about it! Anyway, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

So, anyway, I hope things are a lot better by the year 2000! It'll have been a quarter of a century by then, after all. People gotta forget stuff eventually. But . . . uh . . . are you off of latrine duty yet? Can you close the windows at the station? And most importantly, is Roy speaking to you again? 'Cause if he is, you gotta tell him that I SWEAR I thought Chet was gonna be the next one through that door. Tell Roy he's my very best buddy in the whole wide world and I would never, EVER intentionally spray him with skunk scent!

If it'd been Chet like it was supposed to be, he'd have deserved it. That's why it seemed like such a good idea at the time.

Your pal,

Johnny Gage.
Carson California, summer 1975

Well, I'm sitting here in the emergency room waiting room (again) and waiting on my partner (again) and I just happened to remember another time when I was sitting and waiting, depressed and discouraged and thinking the future was empty and bleak. I wish I could send this back in time to you, but since I can't, well, I suppose it doesn't hurt anything to make believe, does it? And, if nothing else, it'll help me pass the time while I wait.

So there you are, sitting at that little table, all alone, thinking this is pointless. The legislation is shaky at best, Brackett is dead set against you and you haven't even filled the second damned class. It's just a matter of time before the dream falls through. You're going to have to go back to being an ordinary rescue fireman, but now you'll know each time what you could have done. Every time a child dies in your arms because you couldn't give him an IV, every time you lose someone to heart failure that could have been reversed with the defibrillator, you'll know. And knowing you, I know you'll blame yourself.

Well, Mister, I've got news for you. In about three minutes that door is going to open and the most exasperating individual west of the Atlantic Ocean is going to walk in with an unsigned paramedic training application and ask you for just a little more information. That fellow, Roy, is one John Roderick Gage and he's gonna wind up as the best partner and the best friend you could ever want.

Just keeping him alive is gonna be a challenge for you. Now, I'm not saying that Johnny is accident prone, but his theme song could easily be Day Tripper. I don't think there's a structure in Los Angeles that he hasn't tripped over, slipped on or fallen off of. There've even been a few times when he nearly got himself killed. Like the time he caught a monkey virus. He'll be okay, but the monkey won't make it. And then, there'll be the time when he gets bitten by a snake. Again, Johnny will pull through (though the snake won't make it). And the time when he gets hit by a car. (Johnny survived, but the car was a total loss.) It's gonna be a wild, nerve-wracking ride for you. But as long as you just hold on, one day you'll find yourself sitting here (again) waiting on Johnny.

At least this time he isn't in one of the treatment rooms or the casting room or on his way up to emergency surgery. He's just in the men's room. Y'see, he caught his shirttail in his zipper. I told him I'm not helping him with that one. He'll get himself disentangled eventually (though the shirt might not survive) and then the two of us will be joining Dr. Brackett, believe it or not, and Dixie McCall and Joe Early and a lot of other people. We're going to a ceremony to mark the opening of our new paramedic training facility and the graduation of the 1,000th paramedic in Los Angeles County.

Just hang on. You're going to succeed. We're out there making a difference every day.

Below is a letter responding to a challenge that Audrey posted on the AllE group. I hope it makes you smile too.

If you’re reading this, it must be 1 year to the day after you came into existence through your jokes on your shift mates—Gage in particular.

You’re probably sitting on the bench in front of your locker, staring at this and wondering what possessed me to write it. I bet enough time has passed that you’ve most likely forgotten the matter.

I’m curious: has it been 1 year since I placed the letter on the shelf in my locker—did you find it sooner, or was it later? To refresh your memory, 1 year seemed like a good timeframe for reading it—not too short, not too long.

Do you remember the shift—how you were plastering Gage with water bombs? I can’t believe he didn’t run out of dry shirts, the way you soaked him so many times. Remember how Johnny tried to trick you into opening his locker but you outfoxed him by changing the angle of the bomb? Then the kid died and you got caught. Can you hear Gage’s words? Does the memory bring a smile to your face?

Now to the purpose of this: are you still alive, or have you faded with time? Hopefully there are still some jokes in your arsenal to bring some comedy to a stressful career. Remember: everyone needs a stress reliever from time to time.

Would a water bomb for one of your shift mates (maybe even Cap) be a good thing right now?

Dear Craig,

I’m writing to you from about ten years from the time you read this. I know you don’t like the use of first names, but you’re gonna learn soon enough that there’re much bigger things to worry about in life. Maybe you can stop now and save yourself some needless anxiety. Life’s too short to worry about that kind of stuff.

You might want to ease up on the obsessive organizing and alphabetizing, too. Your mom’s pantry that you spent hours on recently. . . about two months down the line, you’ll never recognize it. Shrug it off, because you’ll have a lot less aggravation going to the bowling alley with Bob Bellingham when he suggests it than spending another three hours redoing what won’t stay organized again anyway.

You also might want to try be a little more easy going with Roy DeSoto when you step in for his injured partner. He’s a good guy. Someone you’ll want in your corner someday. Like when you try to run a paramedic committee. It wouldn’t hurt to annoy his partner John Gage less then too. He’s wiser than you’ll give him credit for.

More than anything, have some fun, lighten up.

Oh and speaking of lightening up. . .that guy you send in your place for your graduation to captain. . .he’s not gonna fool anyone.

Take it easy (and I mean that literally),

Craig