New! 11/19/19
The Computer Date by Marty P.
Split
By Audrey W.
Roy DeSoto stood in front of his locker, dressed in the tan slacks and light blue shirt he’d arrived at Station 51 in. It was a few minutes after seven forty in the morning, and the paramedic had till eight o’clock to get changed into uniform.
As he unbuttoned his shirt, he peeked around the edge of his locker to where his partner John Gage was standing on the opposite side. He couldn’t see the younger man, but could hear him fiddling with hangers as he got ready for their next shift as well.
They had started out their partnership with lockers beside each other; at one time just one locker between them, but on the same wall. However, awhile back they’d had a dispute that left John unhappy with Roy. It got to the point Gage wouldn’t say much of anything to him, except for when he had to while they were working. It was then Roy had decided it might make things easier for him to come in to the other row of lockers so they could have some space apart before having to work side-by-side.
Funny thing was, things had smoothed over and returned to normal through a natural progression for some time, and now Roy couldn’t even recall what the dispute had been about. He wondered if Johnny could.
~*~*~
John Gage looked down as he put his dark blue uniform jacket back on a hanger. It had fallen off and was lying in a heap on the floor of his locker when he opened the door. Dressed in dark trousers and a tan shirt, he glanced at his watch, the jacket still in hand. It was just under twenty minutes before roll call.
He could hear his partner on the other side of the row of lockers. How long had it been since Roy moved his belongings there? He couldn’t recall exactly. He also couldn’t remember exactly what had started the argument that caused a rift in their friendship to begin with, nor why the senior paramedic remained there after things returned back to normal.
~*~*~
“Hey Johnny/Roy?”
The two paused after they spoke in unison.
Both peeked around the edges of their lockers and eyed one another. A slight smile appeared on Roy’s face as a crooked grin did the same on John’s.
They often could sense what was on each other’s mind, thus no explanation was needed.
As he motioned toward the left with his head, John stated, “Ya know, your locker here is still empty. None of the guys bothered to move into it after you emptied it out.”
“After roll call, when I have a little more time.”
~*~*~
Once they were both in uniform, the two paramedics exited out the doorway that led to the apparatus bay.
“Man, I can’t believe you don’t remember what we were fightin’ about either.”
“I know. . .”
The conversation carried on till they realized it was best they didn’t recall. To do so might start the whole sequence of events all over again.
