She Said, He Said

My first impression of John Gage wasn’t a favourable one I have to admit, but you have to understand, when I first met him he was trying to pick me up and doing a horrible job of it at that. He was regaling me with tales of his job as a paramedic with the Los Angles Country Fire Department, and admittedly I was only half-paying attention to him. You see I was trying to work at the time, at a cruising altitude of thirty thousand feet to boot. I’m a stewardess with Trans California Airlines and at the time was trying to work at my station. Putting together the refreshment cart for the economy class while John rambled on about some water rescue he and his partner had recently been involved in. So you can see where my attention was, never the less, I didn’t want to appear rude to a passenger so I allowed John to continue to try and dazzle me with his story.

I’ll admit, when I first laid eyes on him my stomach did a bit of a flip-flop, as the man truly is handsome. I remember being bowled over by his wonderfully warm chocolate brown eyes and he had this great smile, the kind that could warm a woman’s heart as well as other unmentionable areas of her anatomy. The problem was once he opened his mouth and started talking about nothing but himself, I lost that warm fuzzy feeling that initially came over me. Who in their right mind wants anything to do with such an ego, not me, I can tell you that much.

So I resigned myself to half listening to him and doing my job to the best of my ability while silently hoping the flight would go as scheduled and we’d be back at LAX within the expected hour and twenty minutes the flight usually took from Sacramento.

While he was continuing to entertain me with his tale I was unexpectedly asked to take the phone and talk to the flight’s captain, Captain Dowell. I excused myself and went to the phone and was asked by the captain to come to the front of the plane. As the senior stewardess on the flight, Captain Dowell explained to me that we had a medical emergency. It seemed one of our passengers was experiencing chest pains, was having difficulty breathing, was beginning to sweat, and was in obvious discomfort.

John immediately popped into my head so I headed back to his seat, which he’d gone back to, when I’d gently dismissed him earlier. I asked him if he’d been telling the truth about having some sort of medical background, he assured me he did. I asked him if he could come up and speak to the Captain. He and his partner willingly complied.

That’s when something miraculous happened. I witnessed John in action. Boy, my impression of him quickly changed. He set right to work and it was obvious to me that both he and Roy were deeply concerned by what they saw before them. Their first reaction lasted only for a millisecond before they went into full paramedic mode. John began checking our passenger over, asking questions, and loosening the man’s clothing and giving me instructions. I have to tell you I was nervous. I didn’t want to make a mistake that could cost this man his life. Honestly, I don’t know how the medical community does it on an ongoing daily basis.

Anyway, it impressed me that John would use whatever resources he had at his disposal. Including a scared, nervous, unsure of herself stewardess, but he did and with such confidence that just a small portion of it rubbed off on me. He made me feel like I could do anything I put my mind to, and do it with expertise. That’s a gift that not many of those who walk amongst us have, but John does. It’s truly admirable.

I’m happy to say that this episode turned out well for our passenger, sadly, not so for John and I despite initially looking like it would. Before he left the aircraft that day I asked John for his phone number, which he gladly gave me, as well as his schedule for the next few weeks. It started off well and admittedly I was beginning to wonder if I’d finally met the one! We had a lot in common, we read the same books, listened to the same music, and as it turned out, we both bowl. That was a pleasant surprise.

So, we’d go bowling, go out for dinners, and a few times when I was in town, we actually just hung out at his apartment listening to music, and if truth be known, a whole lot of necking and petting and…okay I think I’ll stop there. But I can tell you that Johnny’s self-confidence isn’t misplaced in this area either. But hey, I’m not one to kiss and tell so I’ll just move on.

Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse. Soon, some of John’s attributes began to annoy me. I mean, the man really needs to learn some table manners. He talks with food in his mouth and not just a little bit of food, but tons. Its very unattractive and half the time I can’t understand a word he’s saying. Then there’s his driving. Honestly, you’d think the man was Mario Andretti! Seriously, what’s the rush? Eventually, he’ll receive a rather large speeding fine and perhaps then he’ll admit I’m right. Then there’s my bowling. I think he’s intimidated that I bowl better than he does. I think he doesn’t know how to handle it. I’ve thought about throwing a few gutter balls, but in the end I don’t think it would help. I’d just become bitter and angry with myself and if nothing else, John isn’t stupid. He’d know I was throwing the game.

He tried to break off with me a couple of times now, but I don’t want to let go, but I’m quickly coming to the conclusion that it’s for the best. It’s sad, because he really is a nice, sweet, compassionate man, but not for me. I think he’s right. We’d eventually drive each other crazy.

Sue Hickman, that’s her name. So, this is what happened. I was on a flight with Roy, coming back from Sacramento. I was enjoying a friendly chat with Sue at the plane’s small intimate kitchenette. She was really into the fact that I’m a paramedic. She was especially enjoying my story involving a water rescue in the Domincus Channel. Some guy had driven his car into the deep waters and was trapped inside. Roy and I had to dive in and somehow get into the vehicle and rescue the guy. A small pocket of air was keeping him alive…and well; I’m a little off topic here. I tend to do that when talk turns to work.

Back to Sue. She had taken about as much time as she could spend one on one with me before she had to get back to work. I hadn’t forgotten she was actually at work. So I wasn’t worried when she had to leave me and attend to some other matters. So I made my way back to my seat beside Roy. Roy of course was his usual self. Accusing me of striking out. Roy seems to think I strike out a lot. Let me assure you, I do not! I know my way around a pick-up. Plus, I have the Gage charm. Yeah, I know chicks talk about it behind my back, it doesn’t bother me because I know they’re right and secretly they love it. I do have a certain way about me. Sometimes it’s a curse.

So Roy’s ribbing me about striking out so I took a few minutes to explain to him about the building of relationships. The man may be married, but he has no clue when it comes to women. So I continued on letting him know you have to take things slow. I mean, a guy doesn’t want to scare a girl off by being too pushy or aggressive. Women need breathing room, well, some of them do. Others don’t, but I’m not about to talk to you about such girls, but let’s just say I’ve known a few in my day.

While talking with my partner, Sue comes up to me and asks me if I was being truthful about having a medical background. I told her yes and she asked if I would come up front and meet the captain. Both Roy and I followed her as she continued on telling me she hoped I didn’t take offence, as some people tend to exaggerate. I told her I understood, and well, lets be honest, I know what she’s talking about. Some people do tend to elaborate in order to impress.

Sue introduced us to Captain Dowell who went on to explain that a passenger was experiencing some sort of medical emergency. Upon being brought to the passenger, Roy and I knew we had a heart attack on our hands and I can tell you it was not a nice feeling knowing we had over thirty minutes left in the flight and all our equipment was in the belly of the plane. Of course that didn’t stop us from reacting to the situation.

Roy went into the gut of the plane while I looked after our victim. Sue, to her credit, immediately began asking the other passengers if they could move forward up to the lounge. Quick thinking on her part so it didn’t take me long to enlist her help in Roy’s absence. She was level headed and I only ever had to explain something to her once or ask something of her once. I have to tell you, I was impressed.

After landing at LAX and turning primary care of the patient over to the on duty paramedics of Squad 51, Carlson and Dwyer, Sue took the opportunity to ask me for my phone number. After helping load the passenger into the waiting ambulance and accompanying the squad to the hospital. I quickly scribbled my number onto a piece of paper, well, actually it was a barf bag, but hey, in the dating world you have to use whatever’s at your disposal, right? I also gave her my schedule for the next couple of weeks, as she doesn’t live in L.A, but Oakland.

It took her only a few days to give me a call and soon we were talking more and more on the phone and learning we had more and more in common. Turns out we like the same kind of music, read the same types of books, and not only the same types, but the exact same books, and this is the biggy, we both bowl. How incredible is that?

It really wasn’t until we started spending some real time together that I had to rethink the whole dating thing. I mean, she started to suffocate me. She kept calling, even in the middle of the night and at the station no less. I mean, can’t she understand a guy needs his sleep? Especially if she wants to continue partaking in the kinds of activities that most dating couples do. Then she started trying to tell me how to drive, how to bowl, how to eat, I’m serious, she actually tried to tell me I should not only eat less, but actually put less in my mouth with each bite. Is this chick for real?

So, now you can understand why I had to break it off with her. It’s a shame, because she’s a nice girl really, just a little bossy. I don’t need a boss, I mean I have Cap for that. So I had to let her down nice and easy, I didn’t want to hurt her feelings after all. It took a few times as the first couple didn’t really go so well. I thought she understood where I was coming from but then she’d call me again. That went on for a few weeks before she finally got the picture. I wish her well and hope she one day settles into herself and can relax a little around a man. Just let him be and not try and change him. That’s my advice to her, in the mean time, I continue to try and pick up the nurses at Rampart and continually fail there for some reason. I highly suspect Dixie is sabotaging me, I just don’t know how, or if it’s for my sake or her nurses’.

The End.

Thank-you to both Peggy for the beta read and to Audrey for giving our story a home.

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Guest Dispatchers Stories by Sharon