Misunderstanding

By Terribv

It was a beautiful, sunny day in Southern California. It was just about noon and the temperature was a modest 82 degrees. Roy Desoto and his son, Chris, were working on Roy’s little sports car in the garage. Roy was performing his car’s necessary oil change and his eleven-year-old son, Chris, was assisting in the task. Roy thought it essential that his son know the basics of car maintenance and today was Chris’ first lesson in automotive care. In addition to that, it would give Roy some one on one time with his son. His kids were growing up so fast and he tried to squeeze in as much time with him as he could. His job at the fire station as a firefighter/paramedic, called for straight 24-hour shifts every third day. So, on his off days, if the kids weren’t in school, he relished his time spent with them and his wife, Joanne.

Joanne peeked her head into the garage and stifled a laugh at the sight of her two “men”. Sticking out from underneath the car was one long pair of legs and beside them barely visible, a much shorter pair. She could hear Roy patiently giving instructions to Chris and she hated to interrupt them.

“Roy,” she called out to her husband. “What time is Johnny getting here?”

“What time is it now?” he asked without coming out from his spot under the car.

“Almost noon.”

“Should be soon. I think he said somewhere between 12 and 1. Why? Did you need something?”

“No, I just didn’t know if he’d be here for lunch or not,” she answered.

“I guess count him in,” Roy said. Knowing his partner, he’d show up just as the food as put on the table.

“Chris,” Joanne called to her son, “don’t forget that you have to be at Jason’s at two.”

“Aww, Mom,” Chris complained from under the car. “I don’t want to go to his house. Especially if Uncle Johnny is gonna be here.”

“Chris, you have to get this project done. It’s due next week and you’ve hardly worked on it,” she lectured him. “I’m sure that you’ll be able to see Uncle Johnny before you go,” she added to try to appease him.

Joanne retreated back into the kitchen and Roy finished his task. He and Chris emerged from under the car. Both were splattered with oil and Chris laughed at his dad.

“What are you laughing at? You don’t look much better,” Roy teased his son as he ruffled his sandy locks.

“We better go get cleaned up before lunch,” he added. “We’ll give your mother a fright if we show up at the table looking like this.”

“Where’s Jen,” Chris asked. “I’d like to give her a big hug right now.”

“You stay away from your sister,” Roy admonished knowing that Chris wouldn’t really intentionally smear his younger sister with oil but he’d like to pretend he was just to get her upset.

“Okay,” Chris replied somewhat miffed. He wasn’t gonna have any fun today. He couldn’t tease his sister and he had to go to Jason’s which he definitely did not want to do. Maybe his dad would have something else to do that he would have to help with and he could say he forgot to go.

“What’s this project you’re working on, Chris?” Roy asked.

“It’s for science. We have to make a model of the solar system.’

“Well, that sounds like it could be fun,” Roy replied. “So why the long face?”

“Mr. Collins said he wanted us to work as teams. So, Brian and me were gonna be partners but Mr. Collins decided to assign us partners. He didn’t put anyone with any of their friends,” Chris complained to his dad.

“Well, it’s good to get to know new people, Chris.”

“Yeah, but he put me with Jason Gooden. Nobody wants to work with Jason Gooden, Dad. Nobody!”

“Aww, come on, Chris. He can’t be that bad,” Roy exclaimed.

“Yes, he is Dad. You just don’t understand what he’s like.” Chris rolled his eyes.

“So, tell me. What’s so awful about this kid that you can’t work with him?”

“Dad, he’s a dork. Everyone thinks so and they all laughed at me when Mr. Collins posted the partnerships.”

Roy had a great partner but he also knew what it was like to work with someone that you didn’t care for. He’d gotten stuck with Craig Brice enough times to know that.

“Chris, sometimes we have to do things that we don’t necessarily want to do. Sometimes we have to work with people that we don’t like. But we have to make the best of it. And you never know, this kid, Jason, could turn out to be a pretty decent guy if given a chance.”

“Not likely,” Chris replied.

“Well, you have to give him a chance. Do you remember when Uncle Johnny got hit by that car and I had to work with a different partner while he was out sick?”

Chris nodded. He remembered that so well.

“Well, I, uh,” Roy choose his words carefully. “I didn’t like working with him at all. He was so annoying. Just to make it through one shift was almost unbearable. He’s a good paramedic, don’t get me wrong but we’re just two very different people. He’s not the ideal partner, if you know what I mean.”

John Gage pulled his Rover to stop in front of the Desoto house. If he were lucky, Joanne would have lunch just about ready. Roy had invited him over to help fix the loose shingles on the roof and since he didn’t have anything better to do, he had agreed. Now, he was wishing he’d gone to beach instead. It was a beautiful day. Well, at least he’d be outside. Thank god, he didn’t have inside stuff to do. John Gage hated to be cooped up in the house when the weather was so nice.

He got out of his car and headed for the front door but stopped when he heard Roy’s voice coming from the garage. As he got closer, his partner’s words floated out to him and he stopped dead in his tracks.

“Just to make it through one shift was almost unbearable. “

Man, is this what Roy thinks of me, Johnny thought to himself. No, I must have heard him wrong.

“He’s not the ideal partner, if you know what I mean.”

Man, I was right, he thought. Here I am on my day off coming over to help him out and this is what he thinks about me. Johnny was hurt. He couldn’t believe that Roy would say these things about him. And to Chris, no less. He walked dejectedly back to the Rover and leaned against the car trying to decide whether he should stay or leave.

In the garage, Roy struggled to find the right words with which to convince his son that working with someone new and different wasn’t necessarily a bad thing but he’d gotten off to a very bad start. He decided to try again.

“You wouldn’t remember this because you were very young at the time but when I first met Uncle Johnny, I never thought that we would be partners. He came to talk to me about the paramedic program. We were just trying to get it underway at the time. I had finished the first training class and we were trying to recruit guys to sign up for the next class. When he walked in, I thought, there’s no way he’s gonna do it. But he surprised me, he’d done his homework about the program and he had some good questions. To which I had some good answers, I might add and as we talked, I convinced him to give it a try. To give the program a try.”

Chris nodded at his dad to let him know that he was listening and Roy continued.

“Well, Uncle Johnny signed up and started the next training class. The Chief asked me to help with the training and the more I got to know Johnny, the more I liked him. We were as different as two people could be. I was married with two young children. He was and still is single and carefree but somewhere in that 3 months, we became friends. Despite our differences. When the class ended, I was told that I was being assigned to a brand new station. 51’s where I am now. I convinced the Chief to assign Uncle Johnny there as well. We’ve been partners ever since.”

Roy looked at Chris pointedly.

“Now, if I had dismissed Uncle Johnny straight off without giving him a chance, I might have let a very good paramedic and a very good friend walk right out the door. It would have been a huge loss to the department and to all of us.”

Chris nodded his head. He couldn’t imagine his life without his “Uncle Johnny”. He took them all camping with him. He watched them when his parents wanted to go on a “date” as his mom liked to say. He came to his sporting events and school plays. And he had saved his dad’s life a couple of times.

“Okay, Dad. You’re right. Jason deserves a chance. I’m gonna go get cleaned up so I can leave right after lunch.” Chris gave his dad a hug and ran out of the garage. He didn’t know why he’d hugged his dad but he’d wanted to and Roy was touched by his son’s action.

Chris spotted the Rover parked on the street. Johnny had the door open and was just about to climb in.

“Uncle Johnny,” Chris called out as he ran towards him.

“Hey there, Sport,” Johnny responded as he turned around. He took one look at the boy and knew that he couldn’t walk away now.

He held out his hand and Chris gave him a high five.

“We’re gonna eat lunch as soon as me and Dad get cleaned up. Mom said you could eat with us.”

“She did, did she. Well, that’s good cause I’m starving,” Johnny replied.

Roy had heard Chris call out to Johnny and he wandered out of the garage to greet his friend.

“Hey Junior. How’s it going?” he asked.

“Hey Roy,” Johnny responded dryly.

Roy noticed the lack of enthusiasm in his partner’s greeting and silently wondered what was bugging him.

“Joanne’s got lunch just about ready. You hungry?”

“So I hear. Yeah, I could eat somethin. That is if you’ve got enough. I wouldn’t want to be a bother or anything,” he remarked with just a hint of sarcasm.

Roy shook his head and laughed.

“You’re always a bother but it’s never stopped you before,” he teased his friend. He had no idea that his partner had mistook his comments about Craig Brice as being about him and that this latest comment would only add to the misunderstanding.

“Well, if I’m such a bother, then maybe I should go,” he retorted.

Chris looked from his dad to his uncle wondering what was going on. He knew his dad was teasing but Uncle Johnny didn’t seem to know that.

“Johnny, I was just kidding,” Roy said in disbelief as Johnny eyed him suspiciously. “You came to help me with the shingles, the least I can do is feed you,” he added.

The least you can do, Johnny thought. I guess the least is all you can do for someone who is unbearable to be around.

Roy had no idea what had gotten Johnny so moody but he’d learned to live with his moods and he chalked it up as another inexplicable John Gage tirade.

“Come on,” he said and he waved his hand towards the house. “Let’s go in so I can get cleaned up and we can eat. Then we’ll get started on those shingles. Okay?”

“Okay,” Johnny whispered. He had his head tilted towards the ground and was kicking the toe of his boot against the ground so Roy was unable to see the hurt that was still in his eyes.

Roy turned towards the house thinking that it might just prove to be a very long day.

Johnny pulled into the parking lot at Station 51 on Monday morning. It was rare that his two days off had fallen on the weekend and he was disappointed thinking about how he had spent them. Saturday, after getting off shift, he’d taken a nap and slept longer than he had planned so he’d lost most of the day by the time he had gotten off. His date with Cindy, the new nurse at Rampart hadn’t gone very well and to top if off, on Sunday he’d spent the day at his partner’s house. Normally, this would have been a good thing but not anymore. Not since he had inadvertently found out what his “friend” really thought about him.

It had taken everything he had to remain civil in front of Joanne and the kids during lunch. And as soon as Johnny and Roy had finished the roof, he’d made his excuses and left. He knew Roy was aware that he was upset about something but he didn’t want to hash it out when the man’s whole family was around. And work wasn’t exactly the best place either.

He spotted Roy’s car already parked in his usual spot in the lot. He usually parked next to him but he was still in a foul mood and took Chet’s spot instead. He hadn’t gotten much sleep last night because Roy’s words still played in his head.

“He’s not the ideal partner, if you know what I mean.”

All night long, he kept hearing Roy repeat that over and over. “Well, I wonder who he thinks is the ideal partner,” Johnny said out loud. “Brice? The perfect paramedic?”

Maybe I should just ask for a transfer and he and Roy could be partnered permanently, he thought to himself.

He reluctantly got out of the Rover and headed into the station. When he entered the locker room, his partner was just lacing his shoes.

“Hey Johnny,” Roy called out.

Johnny acknowledged him with a nod of the head.

Guess he’s not in any better mood today, Roy thought as he watched his partner throw stuff in his locker. I wonder what’s got him all fired up and just when he’ll decide to share it with me. Roy was about to come right out and ask him just to get it over with when Chet popped into the room.

“Hey Gage, you parked in my spot,” Chet stated matter-of-factly.

“Oh yeah, I didn’t realize that they were personalized,” Johnny shot back as he yanked a white tee shirt down over his head and grabbed his uniform shirt off the hanger.

Chet look at Roy with bewilderment.

“What’s a matter with him?”

Roy shrugged his shoulders in answer and stood up. “It’s almost eight, you guys better hurry,” he said over his shoulder as he left the room.

“What’s your problem, Gage? Date with Cindy not go too well?”

Johnny hit Chet with a direct stare. “Not that it’s any of your business in the first place, but no, it didn’t go very well,” Johnny admitted. He pulled on his pants and stood up.

“But that’s not what I’m upset about. Do you think I’m annoying, Chet,” he asked seriously.

“Hell yeah, John. We all do,” Chet told him with a laugh. He rubbed his mustache and added, “you’re unbearable sometimes.” He chuckled as he left John Gage standing in the locker room with his mouth hanging open.

When Johnny finally recovered, he shouted at the closed door. “Who asked ya, anyway?”

Unbearable. That’s the same word Roy used. Was he really unbearable? He’d always thought that the A shift at station 51 got along well. Roy was his best friend. Key word being was, he thought snidely. Marco and Chet were pretty tight. They were all good friends and spent a lot of time off shift together as well. And now, he was finding out that the guys only tolerated him and that he was unbearable to be around.

“Gage, get in here. Roll call,” Cap shouted from the apparatus bay and Johnny hurried out tucking his shirt in as he went.

“Well, now that we are finally ALL assembled,” Captain Stanley stared at Johnny as he said this, “we can get on with duty assignments.”

“Kelly, Lopez, C shift left a lot of hose to be hung. Stoker, you got kitchen duty. Desoto, dorms.” He turned back to face Johnny and smiled, “And for out last arrival, latrines.”

“Aww Cap, come on. I wasn’t the last arrival today. Chet was,” Johnny complained.

“Were you or were you not the last one present at roll call?” Captain Stanley asked.

“Well, yes but …”

“No buts, Gage, latrines all yours and you can add sweeping the bay to that list as well. Anything else you want?”

“No, Cap,” Johnny answered wisely.

Roy groaned inwardly when Cap assigned Johnny with the latrines. Cap was a good man and he might have thought that he was punishing Johnny but he’s really punishing me, Roy thought.

“We have a drill scheduled for later this morning, Roy, so if you need supplies, make sure you get them early,” Captain Stanely told his senior paramedic.

“Yes, Cap,” Roy acknowledged.

“Okay, men, dismissed.”

Roy and Johnny immediately went to the squad to check their supplies and equipment. Neither man uttered a sound as Roy checked the supply box until Johnny made his morning biophone check to Rampart.

Dixie acknowledged and Johnny quickly stowed the equipment in the squad. Roy determined that C shift must have had a slow night because for once they were left with a good amount of supplied and would be fine for the first couple of runs.

Roy wanted to ask to Johnny what was bothering him but Chet was hanging around just waiting for the chance to get one over on Johnny and Roy knew that was the last thing his partner needed so he said nothing. He didn’t want to say anything to give Chet any ammunition.

Johnny watched Roy out of the corner of his eye. He couldn’t take it anymore. He opened his mouth to speak but Chet beat him to it.

“Hey Gage, you better get started on the latrines before you annoy Cap anymore than you already have.”

Roy rolled his eyes at what appeared to be the start of another standoff with Chet. He decided he didn’t want to hang around for this one and he headed off for the dorms.

“Shut up, Chet,” Johnny told the short Irishman as he watched Roy’s retreating back..

“Aww, what’s a matter, Gage. Mad cause I should’ve gotten latrine duty,” he laughed. “If you hadn’t been so busy asking me stupid questions about how annoying you are, I would have gotten it. So, I must thank you for that.”

“I said shut up, Chet,” Johnny repeated through clenched teeth.

Chet laughed as he walked out back to where Marco was waiting for him to help with hose. I always know what buttons to push, he thought happily. I hope Gage knows I’m just kidding him, though.

Roy stood at the base station waiting for his partner to emerge from treatment room 2 where he had escorted their latest patient. The man had been suffering from an allergic reaction to some medicine that his family doctor had prescribed for him. Both Dr. Brackett and Dixie were in with him now. Roy poured himself a cup of coffee and seeing his partner exit the treatment room, he poured one for Johnny as well.

As he got near the base station, Roy offered him the cup of coffee. Johnny took it despite his urge to say no but he had really wanted a cup of coffee and he wasn’t about to cut off his nose to spite his face. The day had been fairly average so far with a moderate number of runs. Even Captain Stanley’s drill had been routine.

“How’s Mr. Evans?” Roy asked his partner.

“Oh, he’ll be fine,” he answered. Johnny took a quick sip of his coffee and picked up the HT and made the squad available. “I’ll wait for you in the squad,” he quickly added before he turned to walk away.

Roy shook his head. “Well, I guess you’re ready to go, huh,” Roy said to his retreating back. He downed the last of his coffee and grabbed the HT from where Johnny had left it on the counter and followed his partner down the hall.

The ride back to the station was again quiet. Roy decided that he needed to put an end to this situation. It had gone on far too long.

“What’s wrong, Johnny?” he asked.

“Whadda ya mean?”

“Come on, Johnny,” Roy said in disbelief. “You’ve been moody all day.”

“I am not being moody.” Johnny was immediately on the defensive.

“Yes you are. You’ve hardly said two words to me all day unless it’s been about work. What gives?”

“Nothing Roy. I just don’t want to bother you.”

“Bother me! What are you talking about?”

“Nothing Roy. I’m not talking about anything.”

“I know and that’s the problem. You usually talk about everything, Johnny.”

“Well not anymore,” Johnny said as he turned his head to stare out the passenger window.

They were nearing the station and Roy decided it was best to leave it alone until they by themselves. He backed the squad into the bay and Johnny jumped out before he had even come to a complete stop. It’s almost like he doesn’t want to near me, Roy thought. He racked his brain trying to come up with something that he could have possibly done to slight Johnny but came up empty. He shrugged it off and made his way into the dayroom.

Chet and Marco were both there. Marco was preparing dinner and Chet was supervising over his shoulder.

“Chet, I don’t need your help,” Marco insisted.

“Yeah, well the last time we had your Chili, it was missing something. I’m just watching to make sure that you use all the ingredients.”

“Chet, get away from me,” Marco threatened and Chet backed off. He noticed Roy for the first time.

“Hey Roy, did you guys just get back?”

“Yeah,” Roy answered.

“Where’s Gage?”

“In the dorms I guess since he didn’t come in here.”

“What’s his problem today anyway?” Chet asked.

“How would I know?”

“You’re his partner,” Chet remarked.

“That may be but that doesn’t mean I know what his problem is.”

“Well, he better snap out of it. If there’s anything worse than John Gage, it’s a moody John Gage,” Chet commented.

“Chet, don’t start on him,” Roy said pinning him with a stare.

Seeing Roy’s expression change, Marco intervened. “Chet! I need some help over here,” he called out. All of the guys knew how tight their paramedic team was and even though Roy usually let John fend for himself where Chet was concerned, there were times when he was very protective of his friend. Marco knew that this was one of those times.

“Where’s Cap and Mike?” Roy asked thankful that Marco had diverted Chet’s attention.

Mike walked in at that particular moment answering Roy’s question.

“I’m right here and Cap’s in his office. Did you need something, Roy?”

“No, no. Just wondering where everyone was, that’s all,” he answered honestly.

“Well, I was reading in the dorm but now that Gage is in there, it’s virtually impossible,” Mike remarked.

Roy sighed and rolled his eyes. “Why? What’s he doing?”

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing. That’s what’s so weird. He just came in and laid down on his bunk. He seemed, well, sort of sad so I asked him what was wrong and he said nothing. I asked him if he wanted me to leave and he said that it didn’t matter as long as he wasn’t bothering me. After a couple of minutes, I couldn’t take the quiet anymore and had to leave. Did you guys have a bad run?”

Captain Stanley joined his crew in the dayroom.

“You guys had a bad run, Roy?” he asked repeating Mike’s last statement. He went straight for the coffeepot.

“No, Cap, everything’s been pretty routine today.”

“Oh, I thought I heard Mike say you had a bad run,” Cap replied.

“No, it’s Johnny, Cap,” Chet piped in. “He’s being so quiet today, it’s downright annoying. He’s no fun at all today. If he doesn’t snap out of it soon, the Phantom might have to step in,” Chet added rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

“Kelly, the Phantom better not make an appearance this shift. Is that clear?” Captain Stanley ordered.

“Yes, Cap.”

Captain Stanley turned back to his senior paramedic. "Roy, is something wrong with John?"

"Not physically, Cap. I honestly don't know what's wrong. He came over yesterday to help me with the shingles and he was moody then. He didn't even really stay long."

Captain Stanley looked at each of his men and they all shrugged their shoulders. None of them had a clue as to what Johnny was upset about. The five men were silent as each pondered the problem.

"Now that I think about it," Chet began, "this morning I was kidding Gage about his date not going well and he said that's not what he was upset about. Then he asked me if I thought he was annoying."

"Well what'd ya say," Roy demanded.

"I, uh, I said yes but I was just kidding him," Chet stammered.

"Man, Chet, what'd ya say that for?" Marco chided.

"What're ya getting all over me for? I was just kidding him, he knows that."

"Come on, Chet, this is Gage we're talking about," Mike replied. He turned back to Roy. "You know, that fits with what he said to me. About not wanting to bother me, I mean."

Roy nodded his head in agreement. "He said something to me about bothering me, too."

"Of course, what do I do? I leave the room probably confirming for him that he was bothering me," Mike added.

"But that doesn't account for his moodiness yesterday," Roy said more to himself than anyone else.

"Somehow Johnny's gotten the idea into his head that he is annoying to us and he's had it confirmed," Cap looked at Chet as he said this and Chet opened his mouth to protest his innocence but Cap held up his hand. "Kelly, I know you didn't mean it but you said it, nonetheless. Now we have to undo it.'

"But how?" Marco asked.

"That I don't know," Cap stated as the tones sounded sending the five men running. Sounds like a big one, Captain Stanley thought as the tones continued to sound for various other stations.

Squad 51 pulled out of the station first with the engine following close behind. The two vehicles raced along the streets. Johnny gave Roy directions as they went and in no time, they pulled up in front of the office building. Chief McConnikee was already at the scene and Captain Stanley reported in.

“Hank, we’re pretty sure everyone’s out but I have 36’s squad doing a quick check. Send Gage and Desoto in to speed things up. Have your other men attack this from the back with an inch and half.”

“Right, Chief,’ Captain Stanley acknowledged. He turned and made his way back to where is men were getting the gear on. “Gage, Desoto 36’s is in there doing a sweep. Chief wants you to help them out. Kelly, Lopez we’re going go at this thing from the back. Mike,” Captain Stanley didn’t even need to tell Mike what his role was as he was already in motion knowing that he needed to get the Engine around to the back of the building.

Johnny and Roy finished securing their air tanks and masks and made their way into the building side by side. They had been informed that 36’s was on the fourth floor making their way down. They decided that they would start at the bottom and make their way up to them. They had to do a thorough check of each of the offices to make sure that everyone was out.

The each took one side of the hallway. The smoke was thick as they quickly made their way through. For each office checked, they marked the door with an X They reached the end of the hallway at approximately the same time and took the stairs to the next floor where they would begin again in the same fashion.

Roy was about halfway down the hallway when he heard an explosion. It wasn’t anything major but it had come from somewhere on this floor. He ran back out of the office that he was searching and looked around. Johnny was nowhere to be found. After a few precious seconds, he saw him stumble out of a door further down the hallway.

“Johnny,” he hollered He rushed to his partner’s side. “Johnny, you okay?” His voice was muffled because of the air mask but Johnny had heard and understood and waved him off.

“I’m fine.”

“What happened?” Roy had no clue what caused the explosion.

“I, I’m not exactly sure. Electrical overload, I think. Nothing to be bothered about. I put it out with their fire extinguisher. Look we better finish.”

Roy didn’t like it. He’d seen Johnny stumble out of the door and felt sure that something more had happened than just a small electrical fire but they had a job to do and his partner was insisting that he was fine so he nodded his agreement.

Johnny made his way into the next office. His head hurt like hell but he wasn’t about to tell Roy that. They had to finish their job and he wasn’t going to bother Roy with something minor. When the fire broke out, the force of the explosion knocked him to the ground and he’d cracked his head on a desk on the way down. He’d picked his helmet up and secured it back in place. He was sure that it was nothing but man did it hurt and he’d only seen double for a couple of minutes before his vision cleared.

Roy was carrying the HT and it came to life as they were finishing the second floor.

“Engine 51 to HT 51. Come in HT51”

“HT 51,” Roy responded.

“Clear the building HT51.”

“10-4 Engine 51,” Roy acknowledged the order.

He went back out into the hallway to find Johnny. He saw his partner getting ready to enter the last office on his side of the hall.

“Johnny, come on, Cap wants us out.”

“Let me just check this last one, Roy. I think I heard something,” Johnny hollered back.

“Johnny, Cap wants us out NOW,” Roy yelled but Johnny disappeared into the office.

Roy was pissed. Johnny had disregarded a direct order from Captain Stanley. The alarm on his tank signaled it’s warning. Roy went in after Johnny ready to pull him out if need be but found his partner kneeling over a victim. Roy’s anger at his partner disappeared as he went into rescue mode.

In actuality, there were two victims in the office. Both were unconscious and Johnny had taken off his mask and was holding it over the face of one of the victim’s. Roy used the HT to let his captain know that they would be bringing out two victims. Both paramedics scooped up a victim in the traditional fireman’s carry and left as quickly as they could with Roy leading the way.

Once they were outside and a safe distance from the building, they deposited the man and the woman on the blankets that Mike Stoker had put out for them. The oxygen, biophone and drug box were waiting for them as well. Roy nodded his thanks to the Engineer. They could always count on Mike.

Roy established the necessary link to Rampart and treatment was begun. Johnny leaned forward to grab an IV solution out of the drug box when he collapsed.

“What the hell,” Roy exclaimed. “Mike!”

“I got him, Roy,” Mike assured. He moved Johnny out of the way as Roy continued treatment on their two victims. “Cap,” he called out, “Johnny’s down.”

Captain Stanley rushed over to his crew.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know, Cap, he was working on the guy over there and he just went out,” Mike explained as best he could. Cap was immediately on the HT reporting a Code I and requesting squad 36’s paramedics to their location at the scene.

When squad 36’s paramedics got there, Steve Bell took over treatment of Johnny’s patient and Tom Nolan began assessing Johnny.

“Desoto,” he called out to Roy, “what did Gage hit his head on?”

“Hit his head? Johnny didn’t hit his head,” Roy replied without ever taking his eyes off of his patient. He desperately wanted to see what was wrong with his friend but he had to take care of his patient.

“He’s got blood all over the back of his head,” Mike confirmed.

“There was a small explosion but Johnny said he was fine. He never even had his helmet off,” Roy said in disbelief.

The three paramedics secured their patients for transport. Johnny had moaned and showed signs of coming around but nothing more. It was decided that Roy would ride in with the first two victims and Tom would go in with Johnny. Roy wanted to protest the arrangement but knew that he needed to stay with the patients that he’d begun treatment on. Steve would bring in the squad.

“Roy, let me know how Gage is. I’ll have Chet bring in the squad as soon as I can free him,” Captain Stanley instructed his senior paramedic. He always hated it when one of his men was injured and Johnny seemed to top that list. He was going to tell Roy to come back with 36’s paramedics but he knew that he’d want to stay at the hospital until they knew what was going on with Johnny.

“Will do, Cap,” Roy acknowledged.

“I’m fine, Doc,” Johnny repeated. “You don’t need to keep me here.”

Kelly Brackett folded his arms across his chest and looked directly at the paramedic. “You were unconscious, Johnny, for ten minutes. You are not fine and I want you to stay here overnight.”

“But Doc…”

“You and I both know that I can’t make you stay but I won’t release you to go back to work,” Kel stated cutting off Johnny’s protest.

“Come on, Doc. That’s not fair. I only needed a coupla stitches. It’s no big deal.”

“You call ten stitches a couple,” Kel challenged.

“Well, okay, it’s more than a couple but…”

“Johnny,” Dixie said sharply, “Kel’s only looking out for your best interest. Now you’re staying so you better get used to the idea.” She softened her tone and added, “besides there’s a new nurse on three that I don’t think you’ve met yet.” She winked at him and smiled.

“All right, all right. But I still think it’s unnecessary,” Johnny agreed begrudgingly. The last thing he needed was to have Dixie mad at him.

“Good,” Dixie said as she smiled sweetly at him. “I’ll just call upstairs and have them get a room ready for you.” She rolled her eyes at Kel as she left the room.

She bumped into Roy as she stepped into the hallway.

“Sorry Dix,” Roy said sheepishly.

“Quite all right, Roy, no harm done.”

“How is he? How’s Johnny?”

“As stubborn as ever. Kel’s keeping him overnight for observation and he’s not too happy about it,” she answered.

“No. I imagine not,” Roy stated knowing his partner very well. “Can I see him?”

Kel joined them in the hallway and had heard Roy’s question.

“Sure, Roy, go on in.”

“Thanks Doc.”

Roy pushed the door open slowly. Johnny was lying on the treatment table looking like he’d rather be anywhere else than here.

“Hey Junior,” Roy called out. He looked at Kel and nodded, “Doc.”

“Hey,” Johnny replied. He was expecting to hear Johnny start complaining about his unexpected stay but it didn’t happen.

“So, Dixie says you’re gonna be keeping her company tonight,” Roy grinned.

“Yeah, so I’m told.”

“It isn’t gonna be that bad, Johnny. It’s only one night. You’ll be out tomorrow morning.”

“I guess.”

“You want me to swing by and pick you up,” Roy asked.

“Nah, you don’t have to bother. I’ll work something out,” Johnny replied.

“It’s not a bother, Johnny. You need a ride home and I have to pass by here on my way home,” Roy told his friend.

“Yeah, but who knows what time it’ll be and you’re gonna need to sleep. I don’t want you to have to hang around here all day, you know?” Johnny glanced at Roy. “You’d better head back to the barn. Cap’s gonna have to get a replacement for me as soon as possible”

Roy just stared at his friend. He desperately wanted to know what was going on in that mind of his. Anytime either of them had been hospitalized, the other was there and here was Johnny practically pushing him out the door.

“John…”

“Roy, I’m fine. Just go, okay.”

“Well, okay, you’re sure you’re okay. I mean you said you were fine before and you weren’t,” Roy reminded him.

“I said I’m fine. You don’t need to waste your time here with me when someone out there might need some real help.”

“How about I call in the morning to see what time they’ll be releasing you and we’ll work it out from there,” Roy suggested. He wanted some time alone with Johnny to find out what was going on and why he felt like he was bothering everyone. He knew his friend needed some reassurances, he just didn’t know why.

“Yeah, whatever. If that’s what you want to do,” Johnny said without emotion.

“It is what I want to do. Whatever else you’re thinking, just get it out of your head. I’ll call you in the morning, right?”

“Right. Now get out of here, Roy,” Johnny said with a smile. His first smile in the last 24 hours. Roy smiled back. Tomorrow, he thought, maybe tomorrow I’ll be able to fix whatever Johnny thinks is wrong.

After Roy left and Johnny was transferred to his room, he had time to think about what was going on. He and Roy had been friends for a long time now. Ever since Johnny finished his paramedic training. They spent a lot of time together not just on the job but personal time as well.

Now, that he had time to think sensibly, he wondered why Roy would say that he was not the ideal partner. He never liked when Johnny took time off and he was stuck with Brice. Was he just saying that or was it true?

The more he thought about it, the more he began to feel that he must have taken Roy’s comments out of context. When Roy called tomorrow, he’d let him come by to pick him up and then he’d just come out and ask him what he was talking about with Chris in the garage. I may have overreacted, Johnny thought, I’ve been known to do it before.

Station 51 got an early morning call and when the guys got back in, it was well after shift. Everyone was trying to hurry to change into their civvies so that they could get home. Roy picked up the phone to call Joanne to let her know that he’s was going to go straight to the hospital to bring Johnny home.

She picked up on the first ring.

“Hello.”

“Hey Babe, I’m late.”

“I noticed that,” she said with a laugh.

“I might be a little more than late.”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, well, not really. I mean Johnny got knocked in the head. They kept him at Rampart last night. I said I’d swing by and take him home,” he explained.

“Oh. What time is he being released?”

“I don’t know, why?”

“Because my car won’t start and I have to be up at school in an hour. Today’s my volunteer day.”

“Oh, yeah,” Roy acknowledged. “Look I’ll swing by and take you to school and then I’ll go to the hospital. They never release anybody before noon anyway. Is that okay?”

“That would be great, Roy. Thanks. I hope Johnny’s okay.” She was just as fond of the man as her husband was and hated to hear that he’d been hurt.

“He will be. I’ll see you in a bit, Jo.”

Roy hung up and hurried to change his clothes. He picked up his wife and dropped her off at the school as he promised and then made his way to Rampart. He should have stopped to call Johnny and let him know he was coming but he hadn’t found the time and besides he wasn’t going anywhere.

He arrived at the hospital at 11:30 and was shocked to learn that Johnny had already been released.

“When did you release him?”

“About 9:30, Roy,” Kel said. “I did early morning rounds since the ER was slow and there wasn’t any reason to keep him.

“Didn’t he tell you that I was coming to pick him up?”

“Yes, he did, Roy,” Dixie cut in, “but when he didn’t hear from you, he decided to call a cab.”

“Why didn’t he call the station, they’d have told him we got back late from our last run?” He asked this last question more of himself than anyone else, but he said it out loud and Dixie answered.

“Said he didn’t want to bother you.”

“Great. Just great,’ Roy muttered.

“What was that, Roy,” Dixie questioned him.

“Nothing, Dix. It’s just that somehow Johnny’s gotten it into his head that he’s, I don’t know, bothersome or something. I really don’t know how it got started but it’s just snowballed ever since.”

He paused before continuing.

“I’m sure it’s even worse now because I didn’t call him like I was supposed to.” Roy shook his head. He felt bad because he knew he should’ve taken a few minutes to call Johnny and let him know what was going on but he just assumed Johnny would be waiting when he got here.

“Well, that certainly explains his melancholy mood this morning,” Dixie said bringing Roy out of his self-admonishment.

“I’ll see you, Dix. I’m gonna head on over to his place and make sure he’s doing okay.”

“Okay, Roy. See ya and hey Roy,” she called out.

Roy looked over his shoulder.

“Good luck,” Dixie said with a smile.

He nodded his head. He was definitely going to need some luck on this one.

Roy knocked on the door for the second time. He was sure Johnny was home because he took a cab home from the hospital and his Rover was still in the lot at the station. Or was it? Roy had no way of knowing. Johnny could’ve easily taken the cab to the station to pick up his car. That thought hadn’t even occurred to Roy as he drove over to Johnny’s ranch. If that were the case, he could be anywhere. But why wouldn’t he come home?

After knocking several more times and not getting an answer, Roy decided to wait him out. Johnny had to come home some time and Roy would be waiting when he arrived. They had to get this settled once and for all. He settled down into one of the lounge chairs out on the back deck and it wasn’t long before he was sound asleep. He hadn’t realized how tired he was and he hadn’t gotten very much sleep the night before and sleep came easily for the tired paramedic.

He awoke to find his partner kneeling beside the chair.

“Johnny, where’d…”

“Roy, you scared the shit out of everyone.”

Both men had spoken at once and laughed.

“What? Who’d I scare,” Roy asked.

“Your wife, for one. She’s been looking everywhere for you.”

“Joanne? Why is something wrong?” He immediately sat up.

“No, it’s just that’s it’s almost five o’clock and she hasn’t seen you since this morning. She thought you’d be home sleeping when she and kids got there. But you weren’t.”

“Almost five o’clock,” he shouted. “Johnny, I came here looking for you but you weren’t home. I…I fell asleep. Jeez, I didn’t realize I was that tired.” Roy rubbed his hands over his face and yawned.

He looked at his friend and was happy to see Johnny’s lopsided grin. He pointed a finger at him.

“I am going to call my wife and let her know where I am and then you and I are going to have a long talk. Is that clear?” Roy said sternly.

“Yes sir,” came the mock reply.

After Roy made the necessary phone call to his family and assured his wife that he was fine and would be home soon, he went back outside to where Johnny was waiting. He wasted no time in getting down to business.

“First off, are you okay? I mean really okay. I don’t want to hear that bullshit you fed me yesterday.”

“Yes, Roy. I’m fine. Really,” Johnny assured him. “I have a little headache but the doc said that’s to be expected. I’m not even gonna miss a shift.” He added with a smile.

“Good,” Roy said. “Second, where did you go today when you left the hospital?”

“I went to my Aunt’s house. I had promised her that I’d come by and do a few things and I didn’t want to break my promise.”

“Okay, now, what’s all this crap about you thinking that you’re bothering everyone?”

Johnny looked down at the ground and ran his hand through his hair.

He had made up his mind in the hospital that he was going to talk to Roy about this before it went any further but now that he was confronted with it, he was hedging. He felt stupid. He knew it had to all be a big misunderstanding. Roy was his best friend, wasn’t he? They didn’t get this far and put this much trust in each other to spoil that by some misunderstanding.

“When I came by your house the other day, I heard you and Chris talking in the garage. I heard you say that you didn’t like working with me at all. That I was so annoying. And that Just to make it through one shift was almost unbearable,” Johnny admitted.

“But the kicker, Roy, is that you told Chris that I was not the ideal partner.” He looked up at his friend and saw that Roy was about to interrupt. He held up his hand to stop him. “I was hurt, Roy. Really hurt. And then when I asked Chet about it, he agreed with what you said.”

“After I stopped to think about it. I mean, really think about it, I knew that I had to have misunderstood what you said but then…”

“But then I didn’t call you this morning like I said I would,” Roy finished.

Johnny grinned.

“Johnny, you did misunderstand what I said. I was talking about Brice. If you had listened to the whole conversation instead of just part of it, you would have heard me tell Chris about how we met and became friends right away even though we’re as different as night and day. About how I think you are a very good paramedic and an even better friend.”

Johnny smiled. A huge smile.

“You said that about me?”

“Yeah, I did. And I meant it. So, the next time you get one of these warped ideas into your head, come and talk to me, okay?”

“Yeah, okay.”

“I’m serious, Johnny. Yesterday you hid an injury from me and I won’t stand for that. I’ve got to know that we can trust each other.”

“You’re right, Roy and I apologize. But to be honest, I really did think I was okay.” Johnny told his friend.

“Well then you should’ve told me that you hit your head. And you disobeyed an order but it was a good call. You found those two victims and they’re both gonna be okay because of it.”

“Did you tell Cap about me going in there after you told me not to?”

“No, that’s just between us and besides it’s never going to happen again, right?” Roy hit his partner with a direct stare.

“Right, Never again, Roy,” Johnny answered with a smile.

“Come on, Junior,” Roy said as he stood up. “Joanne’s got dinner cooking and there’s plenty. Come on over and eat with us.”

“Are you sure it won’t be a bother,” Johnny asked. Roy spun around to find Johnny grinning at him and he laughed as well.

“You’re always a bother, remember?” Roy stated as the two friends went back inside so that Johnny could lock up.

Stories by Terribv Guest Dispatchers