Kelly’s borrowed alarm clock went off at six a.m.—sharp—and continued to go off until the spring mechanism unwound to the point where its loud, annoying ‘clang’ing became a mildly irritating ‘tap’ping sound…and then quit, entirely.
Gage crawled out bed, tossed on some clothes and then headed into the cabin’s kitchen.
The paramedic waited until the last possible moment, before disturbing the loft’s still-dozing denizens. “There’s coffee and pancakes!” he called up the stairs. “If anybody’s hungry…for food,” he wryly added, just beneath his breath.
“What time is it?” Chet sleepily pondered.
“Seven-thirty.”
Kelly’s “Ah sh—eeeesh!” cry was closely followed by a flurry of activity.
The cook snickered and returned to the kitchen.
A few minutes later, the loft’s former occupants appeared in the cabin’s cozy little breakfast nook.
Judging by the bags under their eyes, and by the way they had to practically drag themselves to the breakfast table, the pair had put that bed in the loft to good use.
Gage placed a platter—piled high with pancakes—and a pot of steaming coffee down on the set table and then assumed a seat, directly across from the groggy couple.
The paramedic was able to put up with the pair’s mushy terms of endearment. He even tolerated all lustful, furtive glances they managed to exchange.
But, when the two lovebirds started feeding each other pancakes, and licking the maple syrup from one another’s lips, the cook quickly excused himself and finished eating his breakfast in front of the fireplace.
Nikki put in an appearance around eight, as promised.
John loaned Vickie his helmet and snowmachine and Miss Norland led Chet and his ‘guest’ off on a deluxe tour of the best—and most scenically beautiful—snowmobile trails—in the entire surrounding area…including a brief sojourn into Wisconsin.
Shortly after the trio left on their scenic tour, several large trucks pulled up to, and went rumbling past, the cabin. During the course of the morning, and under the strict supervision of the FAC, what could be found of the plane’s wreckage was carted off.
Gage ignored the heavy machinery’s whining engines and grinding gears, and concentrated, instead, on relaxing.
John filled the bird feeders out on their cabin’s deck, swept off a comfortable wooden chair and then spent a somewhat disturbed, but still relaxing morning out there, sipping coffee and communing with a small flock of Black-capped Chickadees.
Gage even managed to get several of his remarkably tame feathered friends to land right in his motionless lap, and take sunflower seeds right out of the palm of his steady hand.
The fireman felt a profound calmness flow over him and suddenly recalled Dorothy’s words in final scene to ‘The Wizard of Oz’: “If a person can’t find happiness in their own backyard, they’re not going to find it anywhere.” Or something to that effect.
He figured it was the same way when it came to trying to find someplace to relax. If a person couldn’t relax in their own backyard, they most likely weren’t gonna be able to relax anywhere else, either.
John also now knew why Nikki liked being out there on the deck so much.
You couldn’t hear the wind, or the quiet chorus of singing birds when you were in the cabin.
As he sat there under a canopy of crystal blue sky, with a cool but gentle breeze caressing his cheeks, and the sun’s warm rays lulling him to sleep, the paramedic could actually feel the serenity and beauty of his surroundings sucking all the stress out of him.
The paramedic exhaled a contented sigh. He felt incredibly—and completely—relaxed. And he wasn’t even concentrating anymore!
By that afternoon, the recovered pieces of plane wreckage, and the FAC people, were finally gone—for good.
Peace and quiet returned, once more, to the mountaintop.
That is, until just before dark, when the sound of three, noisy, two-cycle engines suddenly broke the silence.
When the trio of bold explorers got back to the cabin, they discovered that John had supper waiting for them in the oven.
Nicole’s guests invited her to be their guest for dinner that evening.
The young lady accepted their gracious invitation, and the four of them finished off the last of their tinfoil wrapped pasties.
Four snowy/rainy RELAXING days later, it was, regrettably, time for the two Californians to take their leave of both Brule Mountain and Michigan.
John and Chet bid their unforgettable—and beautiful—hostess goodbye, and thanked the pretty miss—profusely—for her hospitality…and her friendship.
Nikki pulled Chet aside and slipped him a note, along with some ‘stern’ instructions.
Chet and Vicki headed back to Marquette in her car.
John followed them in their rental.
Prior to checking back in to their original hotel, John stopped at The Camera Corner to pick up several rolls of film he’d sent off to be developed.
The paramedic purchased a picture frame, to go with one of the photos he’d had blown up, and then finally returns to the Ramada Inn.
John carried his packets of pictures and his heavy suitcase up to his old room.
The photographer looked over his developed pictures for a while, and then headed over to the hospital, to thank Dr. Hunter—in person—for vouching for him with the Iron County Medical Commissioner.
Dr. Hunter filled the paramedic in on how Jack and Billy were fairing, following their surgeries.
Gage was relieved to hear that the two ‘guardian angels’ were recovering well from the crash. Their rescuer was also delighted to learn that the pair intended to purchase a new Life-Flight plane, so that they could continue to fly people with medical emergencies to distant hospitals.
John returned to the Ramada Inn and asked the desk clerk to give them a couple of wake up calls around six, or so. Then he exchanged some paper currency for coins and headed for the nearest pay phone.
He called Stacey, just to hear the sound of her voice. He bid the girl sweet dreams and a goodnight, and then turned in.
Chet and Vickie dined and danced one last time in The Discoverer’s Lounge.
The couple then retired for the evening.
Speaking of discovering things…
Gage was awakened, at precisely 6 a.m., by the loud, annoying ringing of a telephone.
Kelly completely ignored his wake-up call.
The muffled, but still annoying, ringing continued.
So John stumbled across the carpeting and rapped, rather loudly, on the door to Chet’s adjoining room. “C’mon!” he insincerely urged. “If we miss this flight, we miss them all.”
“Is it always this difficult for you to get out of bed?” he heard Vickie ask.
“I can get out of bed—easy,” he heard his sleepy chum reply, “unless you’re lying beside me…” he romantically tacked on.
Gage wasn’t the least bit surprised to discover that the beautiful young woman had spent the night. In fact, he would have been shocked, if she hadn’t. John blinked his own sleepy eyes and then headed for his shower.
Chet and Vickie saved water, by showering together.
The couple also shared breakfast—together.
John was packed and ready, and waiting for Chet, in the lobby.
The pair walked in, hand-in-hand, and the three of them headed out to the parking lot.
The artist retrieved a tall, gift-wrapped cardboard box from the trunk of her car and presented it to the U.P.’s departing visitors, as they were packing their rental.
Kelly thanked her and then bid the beautiful young woman a lingering—and surprisingly emotional—goodbye.
Having been there…and done that…himself, Gage didn’t rush their departure, even if it meant that the two men might miss all of their flights.
The two men reached the Marquette County Airport at about a quarter to eight.
“Before I forget,” John announced, as the pair were pulling their suitcases from the trunk of their rental car. “You were absolutely right!”
“Of course I was right! I’m always right…About what?”
“This trip. You said it was going to be great, and it was.”
“Damn straight it was great,” Chet smugly agreed. “It was even greater once we ditched the itinerary.”
“Anyways, thanks…for inviting me along.”
“Thanks…for coming along,” Kelly countered. Then he gazed up at the bleak, overcast sky they were about to take off into, and quickly changed the subject. “I don’t know about you, but, after all the snow…and the rain…and the blizzards, I am really looking forward to seeing some good old California sunshine again. Man, I can’t wait to get back to the blue skies and sunshine!”
Weather wasn’t the paramedic’s chief concern, at the moment. All John was ‘really looking forward to seeing again’ was a certain California girl.
The ‘blue skies and sunshine’ would just be a welcome bonus.
The travelers turned their rental car in, checked their luggage and boarded a North Central DC-10, nonstop, to Detroit.
The Jumbo Jet touched down in Los Angeles, and John Gage promptly set his watch back to Pacific Standard Time.
As they were taxiing over to the terminal, Chet Kelly gazed out their plane’s portal at a row of thunderclouds looming ominously on the horizon. “We haven’t had clouds like those around here for over eighteen months,” he glumly realized and turned to share his gloom with his traveling companion. “We must a’ brought ‘em back with us from Michigan.”
John just nodded, and kept right on staring—trance-like—at the 8x10 framed photo in his lap.
The rolling aircraft finally reached the terminal building and rumbled to a stop.
The two weary travelers disembarked.
Gage glanced anxiously at his watch. “I hope I didn’t give her the wrong flight num—”
“—Excuse me,” a beautiful brunette suddenly said. “Are you two looking for Stacey Ferrel?…Hi, I’m Gerry Mills,” the girl went on, seeing the duo’s uncertain nods.
‘Ah, yes…Stacey’s roommate.’ Kelly gave Gage an aggravated glare, which his aggravating pal pretended not to notice.
“Stacey sent me to pick you up. She’s so-o sorry she couldn’t make it, herself. Oh, it’s nothing serious,” the woman went on, noting their worried looks. “She thinks she just has a touch of the flu, or something.”
The man with a stuffed moose in one hand and a picture frame in his other exhaled an audible sigh of relief and his worried expression turned to one of extreme disappointment.
Gerry managed a slight smile. “You know, this is embarrassing. But Stacey told me that ‘John’ would be the one without a mustache…”
“I’m John,” the taller of the two mustachioed men introduced. He stuck the stuffed animal under an armpit and extended a moose-free hand. “John Gage.”
So…this was the guy that got her roomy to break her ‘I don’t date cops or firemen’ rule. Well, now the woman knew who—and she could definitely see why. Gerry took and shook the good-looking paramedic’s proffered palm. “It’s nice to finally get to meet you…John.”
“And, I’m Chet,” his chum quickly chimed in. The Irishman juggled the tall cardboard box he was carrying into one arm and then nudged ‘John’ out of the way, so he could take and shake the lovely young lady’s hand, as well. “Do you work for the department, too?”
“No. No, I’m a para-legal for an LA law firm, McGuinnis-Crocker-Patterson & Doyle,” Ms. Mills politely replied and promptly pulled her hand back. “C’mon. The two of you must be tired. What do you say we go claim your luggage and then see about getting you home?”
“Thanks for meeting our plane,” Gage gratefully acknowledged. “You didn’t have to bother, though. We could’ve grabbed a cab.”
“It’s no bother,” their pretty chauffeur assured them both. “I just happened to have the afternoon off.”
The pair picked their suitcases up from a conveyor belt in the Baggage Claim area and then followed Stacey’s roommate out of the main terminal and into the…rain?
“Plea-ease?” John Gage pleaded into the mouthpiece of his apartment’s phone, about an hour or so later. “I have to see you!”
“Puking doesn’t bother me. I’m a paramedic. Remember? I could come and…hold your hand…and fluff your pillows…and take care of you…and ‘comfort’ you.”
“It wouldn’t matter if you were a doctor. You’re not immune to disease. You were just in an Intensive Care ward two short weeks ago. What I have could be highly contagious and I don’t want to risk you getting sick—again!”
The frustrated fireman flashed the feisty female an unseen frown. “All right then…When can I see you?”
“I’ll call you. Hopefully, this is just one of those 24-hour bugs.”
“Okay. But, if I don’t hear from you within the next 24 hours, I’m coming over.”
As per Doctor Kelly Brackett’s standing orders, immediately upon his return—and, even before unpacking—the recuperating paramedic put an appearance in at Rampart General Hospital’s Emergency Receiving.
Brackett ushered Gage into an empty exam room and gave him a complete physical.
The fireman flinched as the physician’s probing fingers found a sore spot.
Kel glanced up. “Your ribs still bothering you?”
“I still feel a twinge, every now and then,” the apparently still-recovering paramedic confessed. “It’s not anything that would prevent me from goin’ back to work, though.”
“I thought we agreed on a temporary leave of absence,” the physician reminded his stubborn patient. “I thought we agreed on a month.”
“Yea-eah…” Gage regrettably admitted. “But I can relax without concentrating. So I don’t have to concentrate on relaxing. An’ there’s nothin’ else for me to do…but go back to work.”
Kel finished his exam and watched wordlessly as the fireman slowly began to re-don his civies. Finally, the physician felt compelled to comment. “Physically speaking, you are a different person. You’ve managed to regain most of your strength, and even some of your weight,” he paused to smile and shake his head. “I can’t get over that mustache! I even feel like I’m talking to a different person.”
“You are! I am a different person! I’m totally relaxed, now. I feel…at ease. It’s hard to explain. I just feel…great! And, I am very anxious to get back to work.”
The doctor looked thoughtful.
John looked hopeful.
Brackett spun on his heels and began heading for the exit. “When you’ve finished dressing,” he called back over his shoulder, “I’d like to see you in my office.”
His former patient looked even more hopeful and speeded up the rate at which he was tugging on his blue jeans.
The completely redressed paramedic stepped up to Brackett’s office, just a couple of minutes later.
The door was open and his physician was on the phone.
So John slipped, silently, inside and assumed a seat, directly in front of his doctor’s piled-high-with-folders desk.
“Oh, I’m sure there’s some paperwork involved,” Kel told whomever it was that he was speaking to. “There’s always paperwork involved…I see…Yes. Just a moment—” The doctor placed a hand over his phone’s mouthpiece and addressed his visitor. “You really feel you’re ready to go back to work?”
Gage replied with a hairy grin and a nod.
“Well, you should know better than anyone. Is tomorrow morning too soon?” Brackett further inquired. “They could really use you. I’ve just been informed that—due to an extreme, and continuing, shortage of manpower—the Fire Department has been forced to take several of its Rescue Squads temporarily out of service.”
The paramedic found the thought—of entire areas of the county being left without some form of Definitive Care—positively horrifying. However, tomorrow morning was too soon. Gage was real eager to get back to work, all right. It’s just that the gentleman had wanted to spend some time in the company of a certain beautiful, blonde-haired, green-eyed girl—prior to doing so. “Tomorrow’s fine,” the fireman found himself saying, as his sense of duty won out.
Kel looked somewhat relieved and quickly uncovered the mouthpiece. “He’ll be there…You’re welcome. Oh, and, thank you…Right…Goodbye.” Brackett hung up his phone. “Congratulations! You are now—officially—a working stiff, once more.”
John reached across the desk to shake his doctor’s extended hand. “Thanks…for everything.”
“You have yourself to thank, mostly. For cooperating—” Kel pulled his hand back so that he could pick up two of the three newspapers that were setting there, amidst the rest of the mess on his desk. “—almost 100 percent.”
One headline read: ‘California Visitors Save Heart Attack Victim’. Another read: ‘One Man Killed in Iron County Plane Crash—Two Others Rescued’.
John couldn’t see the third paper’s headline. But he figured it probably said something along the lines of: ‘Last Snowman of the Season?’ “How—How did you get those?”
“Chet sent them…instead of post cards.” Kel stared at the young man seated directly across from him for a few moments. “If I hadn’t read it with my own two eyes, I never would have believed it!”
“Yeah? Well…I still don’t believe it! And I was there! I’m tellin’ yah, Doc…It doesn’t matter where you go…or what you do. There’s just no ‘getting away from it all’!”
“So it would seem…” Brackett sadly surmised and skimmed over one of the articles again. “Mr. Gage was unavailable for comment?”
“Hey, what can I say,” the paramedic calmly stated in his defense and flashed his doctor a sly—slightly askew—smile. “I was trying to relax,”
His physician-friend was forced to grin.
THE END
Author’ note: This is just the conclusion of EMERGENCY! Book One: “There’s Just No ‘Getting Away From It All”. The story-line continues in the sequel, EMERGENCY! Book Two: “If Wishes Were Horses”.
Sneak peak at the first chapter to the sequel:
EMERGENCY!
Book Two
“If Wishes Were Horses”
By Ross
Chapter One
“If
wishes were horses,
Beggars would ride.
If turnips were watches,
I would wear one by my side.”
—Author Unknown
“Good morning! Good morning! Good morning!” John Gage enthusiastically—and most energetically—exclaimed, as he came bursting into L.A. County Fire Station 51’s locker room the following sunny a.m..
Chet Kelly, who had accompanied his chum into the room, stared at their stunned shift-mates for a few moments and then accusingly inquired, “You guys been workin’ hard? Or, hardly workin’?”
There followed much backslapping, handshaking and wisecracking, as Roy, Mike and Marco welcomed their fellow firefighters—and friends—back to the station.
Gage grinned, seeing that ‘the guys’ were all staring at his hairy upper lip.
DeSoto, especially, wasn’t quite sure what to make of, either the mustache on, or the amazing transformation in, his—recently deathly-ill and bed-ridden—best buddy. “Johnny, you look…great!”
“Thanks! I feel great.”
Seeing as how Mike and Marco had struck up a separate conversation with the no-longer-missing member of their Engine crew, John struck one of his own up with his partner. “So-o…How many different replacements have they sent over for me?”
“Ah, let’s see…Wright was here the first week. Potter was here the second week. Franklin was here the third week. Brice was here last week. I don’t know who’s next. I sure hope it’s someone I can get along with…”
“Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll get along just fine. Who’s been replacing Chet?”
“Pete Hanson has been here the whole two weeks.” Roy couldn’t seem to stop smiling. “It sure is good to see you again. When did you guys get back?”
“Yesterday afternoon.”
DeSoto’s smile did a disappearing act. “You must be tired from all that traveling. Shouldn’t you be home…resting…in bed?”
“Heck, no! I’m good ta go!” Gage enthusiastically declared, with wave of his arms and yet another hairy grin. “And, I can assure you that my next replacement will be someone you can get along with.”
Kelly caught the paramedic’s comment and shot him an ‘oh brother’ look, but remained silent.
Roy had found Johnny’s first statement slightly reassuring and his second somewhat intriguing. “What? Have you heard who they’re sending over?…Who is it?” he further inquired, following his friend’s nod.
“See if you can guess…”
DeSoto’s jaw dropped open. “Do you realize how many paramedics there are in this county?”
“Apparently, not nearly enough,” Gage grumbled beneath his breath, but then prompted his partner again. “C’mon. Guess…”
Roy exhaled a sigh of resignation. “Do I know him?”
“Extremely well.”
“Have I worked with him before?”
“Definitely!”
“A lot?”
“A whole lot!”
DeSoto winced. “Not another week with Super Medic? Craig Brice?”
“No. It’s not Brice.”
“It has to be Brice. He’s the only guy I’ve worked with a whole lot.”
“The only?”
“Well…except for you. But, you don’t count.”
John arched an eyebrow. “Oh?” He crossed over to and opened his locker. “Brice was wearing my helmet again, wasn’t he.”
Roy stepped up beside him. “Yeah. Why? How could you tell?”
“I can see myself in it. Brice is a great polisher.” Gage set his shiny headgear down on the bench in front of his locker and began unbuttoning his shirt.
“What are you doing?” his partner nervously inquired.
“I’m taking my shirt off.”
“I can see that. But, why are you taking your shirt off?”
“Because a long-sleeved shirt would look ‘tacky’ under a short-sleeved uniform.”
DeSoto’s jaw dropped again. “You-ou?!”
Gage rested a hand on his shocked associate’s shoulder. “I knew—if I gave you enough hints—that you could guess.”
“B-But…you can’t come back yet! What about your temporary leave of absence?”
“Turns out, two weeks was temporary enough.”
Roy’s smile made a spectacular reappearance. “This is really on the level? You can really come back to work?”
Gage finished buttoning his light blue uniform shirt and gave his happy pal a grin and another definite nod.
“All right!” DeSoto declared, looking and sounding positively ecstatic. He gave Gage’s back a few more congratulatory slaps and his right hand another hearty and heartfelt shake. “It’s great to have you back…Partner!”
“It’s great to be back…Partner!” John announced, sounding equally jubilant. He slipped his blue jeans off and his uniform slacks on. “I really missed working with you.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” The pensive paramedic pulled his boots on and pinned his badge and department nameplate in place. Then he threaded his belt through the loops in his navy blue britches and attached his paramedic’s assessment kit to it. Gage got his shirt’s tails tucked in and began fumbling with his belt’s buckle. “A month is a loooong time.”
DeSoto finished changing and shot his friend a solemn sidewise glance. “You have no idea what a loooong time is, until you’ve worked a shift with Craig Brice.”
John sniggered delightedly and finally finished snugging up and fastening his bootlaces. The fireman then bent down to snatch his glistening black helmet up from the bench.
TBC…in the rest of Chapter One of the sequel to “There’s Just No ‘Getting Away From It All’”, EMERGENCY! Book Two: “If Wishes Were Horses”
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"There's Just No 'Getting Away From It All' Story Series Page Stories By Ross
