The Talker - part 2
When Johnny came into the locker room at the start of the next shift, he was just in time to see Chet standing in the middle of the room. His hands were out in front of his chest as he moved them, palms facing out, as if they were on a flat surface. Roy and Mike were watching him from near their lockers.
“What’re you doin’?” Johnny wondered. “Or do I wanna know?” He asked Roy.
“Probably not.”
“I’m miming.”
“We told him he’d make a better extra income mining,” Mike stated.
Johnny rolled his eyes. The bit of swelling around his left eye had gone away, and he was mostly just left with some black, blue and yellow coloring. The cut no longer needed the butterfly bandages. “So what are you miming?”
“There’s a mirror in front of me.”
“Oh brother. Look, just get changed,” Gage said as he opened his own locker.
“Some people gotta ruin all the fun.”
~*~*~
Two hours and another mime performance by Chet later, the Station was toned out for a man trapped. When they got to the scene, they saw there was a man seated up on a narrow ledge thirty feet above the ground. He was on the front side of a billboard in just his underwear, which was a pair of white briefs. The man looked to be sunburned, which of course meant he’d been up there awhile, likely from the day before. The billboard was located along a street that led out of town and was of a beautiful model taking a puff off of a Camel cigarette.
The structure of the huge outdoor advertisement was the typical rectangle shape with a lattice type frame work at each end to support it. The large gaps between boards made it nearly impossible for anyone to climb up easily, which left the firemen and cop puzzled as to how this man got up to the platform he was on in the first place.
“Apparently he’s been up there for a day or two, not sure why,” the police officer told the men. “A couple driving by saw him waving and called us as soon as they reached a pay phone.”
“We’re going to need a ladder or snorkel truck to get up there.”
“Snorkel might be easier on him,” Roy suggested.
“I think you’re right.”
While Hank requested the help, his men kept their gazes on the man and the board, still wondering how he got up there. Then Chet spotted something on the ground in the weeds near one of the frameworks.
“What’s that?”
He, Roy and Johnny trotted over. When they got to the base they saw it was a heap of clothing; a pair of black dress trousers, a white collared button up shirt and a black tuxedo jacket. A dark blue tie was draped over a weed a few feet away, and a pair of black socks and loafers were a few feet from it.
“I guess we know how he ended up like he is,” Johnny stated.
Roy nodded, his gaze again going up toward the man. “Except we don’t know why he’d take his clothes off and climb up there.”
“Even if he climbed up the supports, how in the heck did he get onto that ledge?” Chet voiced his thoughts out loud.
That wasn’t clear to anyone either.
Then Johnny noticed something else in the weeds. Something even as professionals they could do without. Dried vomit. It was possible their victim was sicker than he appeared to be. It was also possible that, being it was dry, that it was from someone else or perhaps he wasn’t as sick anymore.
~*~*~
Captain Stanley hollered up to the trapped man that he was sending two of his men to his aid as soon as the other truck arrived, and they’d be able to get him down then.
He just waved in return from where he was seated.
“I wonder what the odds are that he’s a mime. . .”
Hank just shook his head at Marco’s remark.
~*~*~
It only took the snorkel truck about ten minutes to arrive at the scene and set up. Then Johnny and Roy climbed into the bucket and were lifted up to the high narrow platform with the drug box and a handie talkie with them. Captain Stanley was standing by with someone they’d already contacted from Rampart on the biophone if needed. He could relay communications between the paramedics and the hospital with the use of HTs.
Though it was likely they could get him to the ground and then work on him, there was always the possibility of something the firemen were unaware of that could change the situation. There was also their knowledge that the man had likely been sick at his stomach.
They left the drug box in the bucket while they went to assess the condition of the still-seated man, Johnny with the HT dangling by its strap from his left wrist.
“Are you hurt anywhere?” Roy asked as they approached single file, Gage behind him.
“I’m fried. . .”
“Yeah, I can see that.”
“I’m nauseated.”
“Probably from being fried.”
Roy glanced over his shoulder after his partner’s comment, then returned his attention to the victim. Though the sunburn was what he’d call bad, the man was fortunate that because the billboard faced east, he would have been spared being exposed to the intense afternoon sun. That surely would've resulted in a severe burn.
“Yeah and from being drunk, then hung over, but I don’t think I have anything left to throw up. . .”
“How long have you been up here?” DeSoto questioned.
“Since night before last.”
While they conversed, Roy stepped over to the other side of him, forcing himself not to look over the edge and down. He didn’t like heights and didn’t exactly favor rescues that were off the ground. As long as he kept his bearings as to where his feet were, that was enough for him.
Johnny, on the other hand, had no problem with heights nor narrow ledges. Thus he did look over the edge out of habit before doing his part to assess the victim. He also couldn’t help but take a quick look at the very close-up picture of the model.
“And you said you consumed enough alcohol to make you inebriated?” Roy continued.
“Yeah.”
“Have you had any other fluids since?”
He shook his head slightly. “No. . .”
“Why didn’t you signal for help sooner? I know more than one car has to’ve gone by in the past day and a half.”
“I was embarrassed,” he shrugged, wincing at the pain it caused to his skin.
In many locations across the country, a man in his underwear up on a billboard sign would have been reason to call authorities whether he signaled he was in trouble or not. But in the area surrounding Los Angeles California, it wasn’t unusual to see some strange goings on, thus it wouldn’t be considered alarming.
“What’s your name?” Johnny asked just before taking his pulse. Roy was checking his respirations.
“Herbert. Herbert Crum. Most people just call me Herb.”
The two completed the very brief initial check of the victim.
“Can you stand, Herb? We’d prefer to get you on the ground before we treat you.”
He nodded slightly at Johnny’s question. “Just don’t touch me very much. The sunburn. . .you know.”
“Gotcha.”
With that, they allowed him to stand with minimal assistance. It was a slow and tedious process, since moving was difficult in his condition. They knew he’d be weak and likely dizzy from the dehydration. So the paramedics mostly just steadied him to keep him from falling off.
The bucket was moved over the short distance so that the three could get in from there.
“How’d you get up here anyway?” Johnny wondered. “And why?”
“I’m not sure how. I was drunk, that’s all I remember.”
As he went to climb in after Johnny, Herbert continued with, “I was s’posed to get married day before yesterday. But my fiancée never showed up.”
Johnny held out his hands to kind of coral Herb, but resisted the temptation to assist him more since he was so sore from the sunburn.
“We were eloping. I had the tux, a full gas tank. . .everything was set. So when she didn’t show up, I went to the liquor store and got some beer and tequila. . .I guess I just drank and drank to kill the emotional pain, ya know? Next thing I knew, the sun was coming up and here I was. . .sick as a dog.”
He watched as Roy climbed in behind him, then went on.
“I don’t remember taking off my clothes. I don’t remember driving here.. . .I don’t even know where my car is!”
“You’re lucky you didn’t fall off of the platform. . .or that you didn’t cause an accident driving in that condition. You not only put yourself at risk, but others on the road.”
“I know. . .I know,” he agreed with Roy. “My mom belongs to a ‘Mothers Against Drunk Driving’ group. I know you guys won’t believe this, but I hate drunk drivers.”
The bucket reached its lowest position to the ground, and soon the threesome was out. Herbert was given an IV of saline solution to treat his dehydration. Afterward, he was gently placed on a stretcher and taken to an ambulance. As he was lifted inside, he told Johnny, “You know, I think the picture on the billboard is behind all this. I think I just wanted to be near a pretty face. . .”
Gage glanced up at the picture again before climbing up in the ambulance once Herbert’s stretcher was in place.
“See you at Rampart,” Roy said as he closed the rear doors.
~*~*~
“Well, you’re eye is looking much better,” Dixie commented to Johnny after he joined she and Roy at the desk near the base station.
He gently touched it with his left hand. “Yeah, feels much better, too.”
“And your shoulder?”
He moved the arm of his previously sore shoulder around in circles. “Still good as new,” he beamed.
“But he hasn’t been out on a date with Robin since the eye incident.”
“Because I didn’t want her feelin’ bad about my eye. . .even though she didn’t do the most damage, she might’ve felt like she got the ball rollin’.”
That sounded good to him for an excuse to toss out and it must’ve to them, too, because they accepted it. At least on the outside.
“So, we ready to head back?” Gage asked.
“I guess so.”
They bid Dixie a quick “See ya later”, then headed for the exit. It was then Johnny addressed their latest rescue.
“Man, ya know, I’ve been thinking about it since we got Herb down from that billboard. . . I can see why a man would climb up to get a closer look at the model’s face, drunk or not. Other than the cigarette, she was hot!”
“Better watch it. Robin hears you say that and she may be knocking you off a ledge soon.”
Johnny scoffed at the remark as they went out the automatic doors.
~*~*~
The next rescue was stranger than the last and Gage was beginning to wonder what had happened to the normalcy in the world that he’d been so sure had returned.
A young heavy-set woman in her early twenties had gotten second degree burns on her left hand when she’d placed it on the large front round heating element on the top of an electric stove. However, that wasn’t the bizarre part. It was when her roommate, who resembled Laurie Partridge from the Partridge Family TV show, told them Sharon had apparently been faking blindness the past few days. She was feeling her way through the kitchen when the roommate decided to not warn her about the burner still being hot from when she’d used it not long before. It put an end to the charade.
“It was just as I thought,” she said, a stern look at the injured girl. “All of a sudden she could see fine as she ran around the apartment holding her hand and crying that it hurt.”
“It was a miracle!” Sharon cried back between gritted teeth. “The pain was so. . . terrific, . . .that I got my. . . sight back.”
Seated on the couch beside her, Roy kept his attention on her hand as he saturated the sterile gauze he’d wrapped it in with saline from a bottle. The roommate was standing in front of them, Johnny squatted beside an end table nearby with the biophone set up.
“Well, how’d you get ‘blinded’ in the first place?”
Gage really didn’t believe she was either, but it would be interesting to hear the rest of the story. He noted the roommate rolled her eyes as the other stated it was from a breakup with her boyfriend.
“I loved him. . . so much, I guess I never wanted. . . to see another man. . . ever again. . . So my mind . . .took away my sight.”
“Oh brother. . .”
Johnny looked up at the other girl when he heard the comment. She’d echoed his thoughts exactly. Likely Roy’s, too, considering the eye roll from him as well.
Seeing she had Gage’s attention, she offered her explanation.
“Since she’s been goin’ to medical school, which has been months now, she’s gotten practically every disease and affliction a person can get. That’s why her boyfriend broke up with her. That’s why I told her I couldn’t share this apartment with her anymore. All of a sudden the other day she said she couldn’t see, but she didn’t want to go to a doctor. Said before it occurred, she read of a case where it happened to someone else and then their sight came back on its own after a few days. She knew I wouldn’t kick her right out if she couldn’t see.” She glared at Sharon. “She refused to go to a doctor because of this today, that’s why I had to call for you.”
“That’s not true, Jessica!”
“Oh yeah?”
“Hey, the two of you stop it.. .now,” Johnny said firmly as he got to his feet. He moved Jessica back a couple of steps. “You two’ll have time ta settle this later. Right now we jus’ need to get Sharon the medical treatment she needs and both of ya getting upset isn’t gonna help a thing.”
“Better get her a psychiatrist then!”
That was a given. They’d fill the doctor at Rampart in and Sharon would likely be referred for a psychiatric evaluation at the very least.
Johnny let Rampart know the ambulance had arrived on the scene and that they would be transporting the victim. He didn’t relay any of the other info, as it might deter Sharon from agreeing to go in for treatment. For the moment getting her to the facility was the most important thing.
Once Roy and Sharon were on their way in the ambulance, Jessica approached Johnny as he climbed into the squad.
“I don’t suppose you’d be looking for a roommate. . .unless you’ve already got one. . .”
“You mean me take on Sharon?” He shook his head. “I don’--”
“No,” she interrupted. “I was talking about me.”
Gage grinned slightly. “I appreciate the offer. But, no, with my schedule, I’m better off on my own.”
“Yeah, I kinda figured,” she glumly admitted.
Johnny glanced in his side mirror as he drove away. Jessica was still standing there, her gaze on the retreating squad.
“Don’t even give it a second thought,” he mumbled to himself. She’d do okay. She just needed time to find the right roommate. But that wasn’t him. He was more than certain his current girlfriend Robin would agree.
~*~*~
Once he was at Rampart, Johnny saw his partner exit from one of the treatment rooms. He made his way down the busy corridor to see how Sharon was.
“Were you able to tell Brackett about everything?”
“Not exactly. I didn’t wanna say too much in front of Sharon. He should be out to talk to us soon. She won’t have a ride for awhile, so we have time to fill him in.”
“Good deal. Whataya say in the meantime, we grab some coffee in the lounge.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
~*~*~
Roy was right. It wasn’t a long wait at all before Doctor Brackett came into the doctors’ lounge to talk to them. They told him all that Jessica had said. Just as they suspected, he was going to do his best to convince Sharon she needed more than just treatment for her burns.
As the paramedics headed for the exit after they were no longer needed, Johnny stated, “Ya know, if I wasn’t datin’ Robin, I might’ve just given Jessica a shot.”
“I thought you said she asked about being roommates. Not dating.”
“Well, yeah. Sure,” he shrugged. “She did. But after awhile it’d probly turn into somethin’ more.”
Roy glanced at the remnants of his black eye. “You have enough trouble when you’re seeing a girl on occasion. Living with one might just do you in. Especially one who just let her current roommate burn the hell out of her hand.”
Gage frowned and put a hand up to his left eye as they went out the automatic doors to their squad. Roy had more than made his point.
~*~*~
When Johnny and Roy got back to the station, the two were greeted by Chet as they climbed out of the squad.
“Hey, John. I think you missed a phone call from Robin.”
Gage screwed up his face as he came around the front of the squad to join Chet and Roy on the driver’s side.
“You think? Did Marco or Mike answer the phone or somethin’?”
Chet shook his head. “No. The phone rang and when I picked it up, there wasn’t any sound.”
It took Johnny just a couple of seconds longer than Roy to get the meaning and to figure out it was a mime joke.
“That’s not funny,” he mumbled as he headed toward the locker room.
Roy kept an amused smirk on his face while he watched him walk away. He then turned to Chet. “I have to hand it to you. That was pretty good.”
Chet took a silent bow, keeping in step with the mime theme, which made Roy shake his head as he walked away, the smirk still in place. The paramedic half wished his partner hadn’t left.
~*~*~
When Roy found Johnny in the locker room, the younger man had just pulled back from his locker. He handed the compact of pancake makeup he’d purchased on an earlier shift to him.
“What’m I supposed to do with this?”
“Give it to Joanne,” he shrugged.
“Are you sure? You know you have a date coming up with Robin.”
Johnny shut his locker and leaned with his right shoulder against it, a discouraged expression on his face.
“Ya know, you’re enjoying this way too much.”
Roy couldn’t deny it. He once again wore an amused grin. Johnny pushed off his locker and reached over to open Roy’s locker.
Suddenly the tones sounded and the paramedics listened a moment to see if it was going to be for them. As soon as they heard the words “Squad 51, child injured. . .”, Roy tossed the make-up compact in his now open locker and led the way out of the room as they listened to the remainder of the information about the call.
~*~*~
After the rescue where an infant took an unexpected tumble down some steps in a walker, the paramedics were back at Rampart. Luckily, it was only a couple of steps and the surface was covered in shag pile carpeting. But the baby girl still sustained a slight concussion and would need to be hospitalized at least for overnight.
Roy joined his partner in the treatment room to see how the little victim was fairing. The cries as she protested Doctor Early examining her was a good sign.
After a brief time, the two exited the room and immediately ran into the very concerned parents. Once they assured them that they’d be able to see their daughter soon, and that so far she was doing okay, Gage and DeSoto went over to Dixie’s desk near the base station. She’d just returned from assisting in another treatment room.
“How’s the baby?”
“Lookin’ good so far,” Johnny stated.
“Certainly sounds like she’s got a great set of lungs.”
“That she does,” Roy agreed.
“Oh, hey, they finally found Herbert Crum’s car.”
Johnny arched his eyebrows in surprise. “They did?”
She nodded. “And you’ll never guess where.”
“At his ex-girlfriend’s place?” Roy guessed.
“No. About three miles from the billboard. Out in the middle of an open field.”
“Three miles?” Johnny couldn’t imagine walking that far so drunk that a person couldn’t remember anything. He wondered if part of that journey was done on hands and knees.
“That’s right,” she assured. “Three miles. I guess if he could walk that far, then climbing up onto the billboard doesn’t sound so far-fetched now does it?”
“Sure doesn’t.”
“How’s the girl. . .Sharon. Did she see a psychiatrist yet?”
Dixie shook her head. “She refused. But her parents came to be with her and give her a ride later. Kel made them aware of everything before they saw her. He recommended they try to convince her to go through with it.” She shrugged. “That’s about the most we can do.”
They had to agree. Not every case ended in what they’d think of as ‘the right way’. It was just a part of the job. But both doubted Jessica would put up with her as a roommate anymore. She just seemed to have really had her fill of it all.
~*~*~
When they were finally off shift the next morning, Roy headed home to his family and Johnny went to his apartment. He needed to take a brief nap, then shower before calling Robin to see what she wanted to do later in the day.
~*~*~
Two days later Marco and Roy walked into the kitchen area of the dayroom to chat with some of the crew from the shift before theirs and were surprised to see Johnny seated at the table with not a single mark on him, except the yellowish coloring that was left from the black eye he’d had earlier. Both expected him to at least have his other eye blackened since he was going out with Robin.
Greg Simmons, one of the crew members from C-shift, pointed to the still-in-one-piece paramedic.
“Can you believe it? I lost five bucks because of him.”
Johnny rolled his eyes at the remark as Simmons went on to explain he’d been in on a bet with a couple of others on what injury Gage would get next. He’d picked split lip.
“So who won?” Marco wondered.
Johnny’s surprised gaze shot up at him. That was the first thing on Marco’s mind? Who won? But he kept quiet and let Greg answer.
“He did,” he shrugged, again with his finger pointed at Johnny. “Kirk predicted it would be a bloody nose. Tony was sure it would be another black eye. He didn’t get any of that, so he gets the money.”
“An’ I wasn’t even in on the bet.”
Roy wondered why his partner wasn’t happy. Normally if he’d have won fifteen dollars, especially without putting in any amount of is own, the John Gage he knew would have been ecstatic and gloating. Maybe even cocky and annoying. But in this case, he was subdued. Something told him there was a small detail the younger man was leaving out. He would have to ask later.
~*~*~
By the time roll call came, Mike and Chet had joined the others around the table in the dayroom. Simmons had left, as had the rest of his shiftmates.
Roy filed out with the others to line up in the apparatus bay, but stuck his head back in the other room when Johnny hadn’t immediately followed. It was then he saw him slowly making his way toward the door, a slight gimp to his walk.
“Uh oh.”
“Don’t say a word.”
“Okay. But I thought you didn’t get hurt?”
“That’s about seven of ‘em.”
“But it wasn’t ‘a’ word.”
Johnny stopped about three feet from the doorway. “I’ll explain later.”
“Sure. But I think ‘later’ might be sooner than you think. There’s four other guys out there that’re gonna be curious, you know.”
The tones sounded before Johnny could respond and the paramedics were sent out on their first rescue of the morning before they had to line up for roll call. Gage shoved away his problem and rushed behind Roy to the squad, while Captain Stanley acknowledged the call.
Soon they were on their way for a ‘man shot’.
~*~*~
“What in the world. . .” Johnny said as Roy pulled the squad up to the address.
A police officer who’d arrived at the scene just moments before them was out of his car and in the process of taking what looked like a rifle out of a woman’s hands. In the meantime, a soaked man in a woman’s plush green bathrobe was climbing down out of a large orange tree in the front yard.
“Maybe he was stealing her oranges for breakfast,” Roy said before opening the door and climbing out.
Johnny glanced at him as he opened his door as well. He wasn’t sure if Roy was joking or taking a real guess.
But it didn’t matter. They’d be getting the answer soon anyway.
The paramedics made their way up to the threesome, Johnny still with a slight limp. The had-been-treed man now had both bare feet on the ground and the officer had the ‘weapon’ in his possession. Turned out it was just a bebe gun.
“I don’t think you’ll be needed,” the cop suggested. “I guess whoever called this in figured you would be by the time it was done.”
Roy and Johnny looked from him to the woman, then to the man in the robe before both returning their attention to the police officer.
“What happened?” Roy asked, voicing his and Johnny’s thoughts.
“I’d like to get the explanation on this myself.” The policeman turned his full attention to the woman. “It’s your turn to talk.”
“He’s a cheater!” She fumed. “I found the evidence in his shirt pocket!”
The robed man held up his hands in defense. “Honey, I swear, it’s not what you think!”
She looked at the paramedics. “You’re both men. Tell me, where else would a pretty note with a hotel name, room number and date and time come from but some little flusey who’s having an affair with a married man?”
Roy didn’t answer, Johnny just shrugged, not sure it was such a good idea to say anything.
“Did she hit you anywhere?” The cop asked the husband.
“You mean with the bebe gun?”
He nodded.
“Yeah. Mostly on the legs while I was climbing the tree. If she hit the robe at all, I wouldn’ta felt it.”
“You want to take a look at him?” The officer asked Roy.
“Sure.”
While he examined the man’s lower legs, hoping the robe stayed shut since it dawned on him that was likely all the man was wearing, Johnny was still trying to take the whole thing in. But they soon would discover the man was okay, there was no need for medical treatment. None of the bebes had penetrated his skin.
It turned out that the woman had checked her husband’s shirt pockets before doing laundry when she found the note in one. She’d confronted him while he was in the shower and he’d grabbed a robe and ran for it because of how furious she was at him. As he ran past her, she went another direction and grabbed the gun. She was a bad aim but took shots at him anyway as he climbed the tree to escape her attack. Neighbors who saw the altercation outside thought she was shooting him with a real gun, even though there were no loud popping sounds.
As the paramedics headed for their squad, they heard the man repeat to his wife, “I didn’t go to any hotel. I wasn’t planning on meeting her there!” He then added, “I just accepted the note to be polite. What else am I supposed to do? She’s practically throwing herself at me daily!”
“Something tells me he isn’t exactly smoothing things over.”
“He’s certainly not doing himself any favors,” Roy agreed.
They both climbed in the squad after returning what little equipment they had pulled out to its compartments.
Johnny glanced out his window at the couple once more as Roy drove away. The police officer had managed to talk the wife into handling the situation without violence, but she was carrying on animatedly with her hands as she gave her husband what looked to be a few more cross words.
“I’ll bet she’d make a pretty good mime.”
Roy shot him a quick glance, then returned his attention in front of them with a shake of his head.
~*~*~
As they neared Station 51, Roy ended a casual conversation he and his partner were having with, “So it’s later.”
“Huh?”
“You said you’d explain later why you told Simmons you didn’t get hurt, yet here you are kinda favoring your right leg. So is it later enough?”
“Oh that.”
“Yeah that,” Roy said. He brought the squad to a stop in the street, then put it in reverse to back into the station driveway and apparatus bay.
“I s’pose.” Johnny paused a few seconds, then turned in his seat to face the older man. “Ya know how I went on a date with Robin again.”
“I think we already clarified that.”
“Right. Well, I let ‘er pick what we should do. An’ she wanted ta see that movie ‘The Poseidon Adventure’. . .you know, the one with Carol Lynley.”
“Oh yeah. Gene Hackman and Shelley Winters are in that, aren’t they?”
“Yeah, yeah. Them, too.”
Roy smirked. Of course his girl-crazy partner would focus on the pretty young star in the movie.
“At first I thought I was sunk,” Johnny continued, the maybe unintentional pun broadening Roy’s smirk. “I mean, I could just imagine what could happen sittin’ next to Robin in a movie theater. But believe it or not, we made it through the whole entire movie without incident. Nothin’ happened at__ all. So I figured, if we could be that close for nearly two hours an’ me come out unscathed, why shouldn’t I be safe in the great outdoors?”
By now Roy had brought the squad to a stop and turned off the ignition, but both men stayed seated inside to go on with their conversation.
“So. . .”
“So. . .I thought a walk on the beach would be good. You know, the sand between our toes, the surf covering our feet, a stroll out on a pier to watch the sunset . . .”
“Sounds nice.”
“And it was. Until we got to the end of the pier.”
“What happened?”
Johnny frowned. “A pair of seagulls flew really close an’ she shouted ‘Look!’ Next thing I knew I was over the rail and off the end of the pier, as upside down in the water as the Poseidon. I recovered and got my bearings, then came up to the surface. Pretty quick, too, ‘cause I’d scraped my ankle and leg on something. . .still not sure when or what, it all happened so fast. . . and the salt water was killin’ me. I swear I never swam my way back to shore so fast before.”
He reached down and pulled up his left pant leg slightly and pushed down his black sock to show Roy part of the scabbed over wound with bruising surrounding it.
“So how come no one else won the bet?”
“They may’ve got the right idea, but they all got the what part of it wrong. ‘Sides, would you lettum’ win on a bet about you?”
“No, I guess not.”
The two them turned their attention to a knock on Roy’s window. He rolled it down when they saw the captain looking back at them.
“Is everything okay?” Hank wondered.
“Sure, Cap,” both responded, which caused him to raise an eyebrow.
The double answer made it seem like they were up to something.
“Really.” Johnny assured. “We were jus’ talkin’ about ‘The Poseidon Adventure’, you know, with Carol Lynley.”
“Oh! Hey, it’s a good movie. You know, Earnest Borgnine and Stella Stevens are in that.”
“Yeah, them too.”
~*~*~
The paramedics wandered into the dayroom again, this time to do their chores. Captain Stanley had informed them that the room was going to be their responsibility for clean-up throughout the shift.
First thing they saw was Chet put an empty glass in the sink, then turn around and give a wave.
“Ah, c’mon, man,” Gage said with a roll of his eyes. “Lay off the mime stuff, would ya?”
“Actually he’s got a sore throat,” Mike Stoker told them from where he stood nearby the silent fireman. “He’s trying to save his voice by not talking around here. Only when he has to on responses.”
“Really?”
Chet nodded animatedly.
“So we won’t be hearing much outta you for the majority of the shift. . .”
Chet shook his head.
The dark-haired paramedic glanced at his partner, a grin on his face. “I guess I can put up with a little miming here and there for that.”
Could he ever.
“Yeah. Let’s see how long it lasts once he sees you walk further into the room.”
Chet’s gaze shot to Johnny after Roy’s comment. “What’s he mean by that?” He managed, his voice definitely raspy and just above a whisper.
“Nothin’. Nothin’ at all.”
Johnny wore an exaggerated smile as he purposely made his way over to a chair, not showing a sign of any pain anywhere.
“We’d better get out to the hose rack before Marco turns us in as missing in action,” Mike told Chet. Still not sure he wasn’t missing out on something, Kelly gave Gage a long look as he followed Mike out.
When they were gone, Roy asked, “How long do you think you can keep it hidden?”
“I can manage. It just bothers me after I’ve been off it awhile. I’ll jus’ hafta grit and bear it,” he shrugged.
“You mean ‘grin and bear it’, don’t you?”
He shook his head. “Uh uh. Believe me, I may hafta grit my teeth at times.”
~*~*~
By the time they finished cleaning the room, Johnny proved to Roy he was right. Although it still bothered him some, he could manage without limping. And as he predicted, a slight gritting of the teeth helped.
~*~*~
Though he could’ve done without them, Johnny had to admit Chet’s miming skills had improved by late afternoon. So much so that he’d actually started to become entertaining. Even to Gage.
“Maybe we oughta put up a sign outside the station an’ sell tickets.”
Captain Stanley snickered at his youngest paramedic’s comment to Roy as he walked past the two working on their squad. Although, when it came time for the yearly Firemens’ Charity Talent Show in a few months, Gage’s idea could pay off if it came to fruition.
It was a thought the captain would have to share with Chet. He’d talk to him before the shift was over.
~*~*~
It was just before dinner when the tones sounded and a voice from Dispatch came over the speaker.
“Squad 51, possible drowning, 2136 West Citrus Avenue, two one three six West Citrus Avenue, cross street Twenty-First Street,. Time out 17:24.”
The paramedics trotted to their squad while Captain Stanley acknowledged the call at the podium on the side of the apparatus bay.
~*~*~
When they got the scene, Johnny and Roy were hailed to the front door of a one-story home by a frantic young woman in a bikini. They had the equipment likely needed for the situation in hand and quickly followed her through the home as she explained that the victim was still under water, she’d been unable to get him out.
As soon as the threesome emerged out the back door to where a large in-ground swimming pool was in the yard, both paramedics hurriedly set the equipment on the concrete patio surrounding the pool. Johnny carelessly threw off his shoes as he charged toward the water, then dove in, still otherwise fully in uniform. Roy followed right behind him.
It wasn’t until his feet were underwater that Johnny remembered he had an injury himself. Once the sting of the chlorine reminded him, he nearly gasped.
The dark-haired paramedic managed to keep his focus solely on the victim, shoving his own little problem aside. Soon he and Roy had the swimming-trunk-clad man out of the water and laid on the concrete. Gage performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation while Roy contacted Rampart.
After a brief time, the victim was on his side and coughing up water. It was a relief to the paramedics.
“How long was he under?” Johnny asked.
“Not very long,” the girl answered. “When I called, he was still struggling to keep his head above water. He yelled out then that he couldn’t swim.”
Johnny and Roy both eyed the slowly recovering man with the oxygen mask now over his nose and mouth. He sure wasn’t ready to answer the next question, so Gage asked her again instead.
“Well, why did he go in the pool if he can’t swim?”
“I don’t know. This was only our second date, so maybe he was afraid to tell me. . .?”
That Johnny could understand. After all, he’d only been on a few dates with Robin and he wasn’t at a stage yet where he was comfortable to mention her habit of talking with her hands so animatedly to her. Even with the bruises and scrapes it cost him to go on a date.
Roy, however, wondered if nearly drowning was worth it.
~*~*~
Johnny had forgotten all about the wound on his leg again. It hadn’t hurt anymore by the time he had climbed in the ambulance with the victim. It was still covered by his dark sock, so he’d have to look at it later and see if any of the scabbing had come loose. At least it was probably held in place if so.
The victim’s condition had improved markedly by the time they got to Rampart. Johnny initially went into the treatment room with him, answered a few brief questions for Doctor Early, then went back into the corridor to find his partner. He hoped they could get back to the station without delay to change into dry, clean uniforms.
Roy was one step ahead of him. He was waiting near the base station, more than ready to head back when he saw Johnny approaching. “Let's go. These wet uniforms are anything but comfortable."
“You musta’ read my mind.”
“I hope not. That’s the scariest thought since getting my tonsils out a few months ago.”
Gage turned toward Dixie. “Nice guy, huh?”
She smiled at their playful teasing, then sincere concern replaced the happier look. “Are you okay? You were limping a bit.”
“Yeah, I am. I’m fine.”
“He just feels like he’s been on the Poseidon. . .when it turned upside down,” Roy offered. “And now we both look like it.”
“Oh, I saw that movie. Carol Lynley played the singer.”
Johnny’s lower jaw dropped. Dixie even remembered Carol Lynley was in it, but Roy and the captain didn’t? If that’s what being married did to a guy, he was ready to stay single for a lot longer.
~*~*~
When the medics changed out of their wet clothes, Gage looked over his wounded leg once his socks were off. The scabs were softer and could be easily removed if he wanted. But so far they’d stayed in place, attached. He figured if he left the whole thing to dry, all would be okay. In fact, due to the chlorine, he might even heal a little quicker. He’d just need a large bandaid to put over them for protection.
~*~*~
Johnny limped a little more due to the large bandaid on his lower leg. It pulled on his skin when he moved a certain way, so he had to be careful. Too much and it would pop loose.
“So what happened to you?” Marco asked Johnny after the paramedics joined the rest of the crew at table for dinner. “Chet wants to know,” he added, which explained why his wording of the question didn’t sound quite like him. .
Gage saw an opportunity to spare him from ever having to let the other guys know what he’d told Roy.
“I hit my leg on something on my way into the water.” There, he didn’t even have to lie. He just had to leave out what water he was referring to.
“You okay?” Captain Stanley wondered with concern.
“Sure. It’s just a scrape.”
Roy took a bite of his fried chicken, figuring he’d stay completely out of the conversation.
~*~*~
The next morning the men from A-shift headed out of Station 51 once B-shift took over. Johnny had plans to call Robin. He wanted to go out with her again. He’d just need to avoid waiting lines at restaurants and piers at the ocean.
He’d given careful thought as to what to suggest they do. Bicycle riding seemed safe enough.
As long as it’s not a bicycle built for two. . .
He was approaching his Land Rover in the rear lot of the station when Chet and Marco came out, also headed for their vehicles, and seemingly avoiding eye contact with him. Roy and Mike had just left, Captain Stanley was still in the office talking to the next captain on duty.
Somehow he got the feeling a second bet had been made on his chances of surviving another date with Robin, this time involving his own shiftmates. But some things were better left unknown. At least for now.
~*~*~
Roy stared wide eyed at his partner when it came time for their next duty He’d just poured himself a cup of coffee and turned away from the stove, cup in hand, when Johnny walked in. Both men were in uniform, ready for when roll call came in ten minutes. The crew of C-shift was still out on a rescue.
“That can’t be from Robin.”
The younger man gave one firm nod. “Indirectly, it is.”
This time Gage had come in with a scraped up right forearm, a bruised elbow, a bandaid on his chin, and an obvious limp. . .again.
“How. . .?”
“Well,” Johnny began as he pulled out a chair from the table in the dayroom and eased himself down into it. “You remember I was trying to think of what Robin an’ I could do for a date that wouldn’t put us too close together.”
“Right.”
“So we went bike riding.”
“Don’t tell me. . .it was a bicycle built for two.”
“No. We were on separate bikes in the park, you know, ridin’ on a path. We were far enough apart, but beside each other. And, we got to talking about this and that. . .it all seemed to be goin’ great. That is until Robin really got excited about a new gig she had in LA.”
When Roy didn’t interject with a comment, he said, “Roy, she let go of the handlebars! Both of ‘um at the same time! All I could see was an accident coming. I immediately stopped my bike and tried to scramble off at the same time, you know, to help her. Unfortunately, it didn’t go smoothly. My left foot got caught on my bike and that crash I saw coming? It was me.” He eyed his minor injuries. “Luckily crashing with a stopped bike isn’t nearly as bad as when it’s in motion.”
“What happened to Robin?”
“Oh, she was fine. She was just fine. She had to stop to see if I was okay.”
“Ouch.”
Mike, Marco and Chet had come into the room, and Mike had been the first to comment with the one word expression.
Chet walked over to a cupboard near the stove, opened it and pulled out a glass jar. It had several pieces of paper money in it, mostly ones. He took it over and set it in front of the hapless paramedic.
“What’s this?”
“Our bet money.”
“Again?”
So his earlier inclination had been right.
“And again, it’s all yours.”
“But why? You just heard me tell Roy how this happened.”
“Yeah, but you look pathetic. For that alone, you should get the money. I know Kirk and the others would agree.”
Johnny glanced at Roy. He assumed he wasn’t in on it since the senior paramedic didn’t react.
He shrugged the whole thing off.
“Ya know, at the rate I’m goin’, I’m gonna need a squad coming to my rescue during one of our dates.”
He wondered what he was going to do. He liked Robin a lot. There was no way he wanted to hurt her feelings. But he also wondered if maybe she just wasn’t the girl for him after all.
Jessica came to Gage’s mind. But a glance at his healthy hands reminded him what happened with her. Women sure had become too dangerous lately. He hoped it wasn't a lasting trend.
Maybe I’ll just keep things as they are and leave it all up to fate.
When the latest shift ended, he did just that, with hopes he wouldn’t regret it.
~*~*~
Two days later and the start of another shift. . .
“You’re still in one piece! Didn’t you go out with Robin again?”
After a quick glance at Roy as he opened his locker, the civilian-clothed Gage shook his head, a discouraged expression on his face. “No, and I don’t think I will be anytime soon.”
“You broke up with her?”
“No. No, I didn’t break up.” He glanced over when Chet came into the room to get changed into uniform. “Kelly, why don’t you tell Roy here what happened with me an’ Robin.”
Chet half smiled. “Oh, he probably doesn’t wanna hear about that.”
“Sure I do.”
“See? He does. So tell ‘um.”
The last few words sounded more like an order than a suggestion.
Chet opened his locker and grabbed a blue uniform shirt off a hanger as he began with, “Well, you know how Cap wanted me to do a mime act for the talent show in a few months.”
Roy nodded.
“It seemed like a good idea to improve on my already growing skills.” He ignored Johnny’s verbal scoff as he went on with, “So I went to check out a mime school in LA . .a friend told me about it.”
He had changed into his uniform shirt and was in the process of stepping out of his jeans. Without a hitch, the explanation continued.
“It turned out that Robin was the guest non-speaker that day. . .you know, since it’s a class for mimes after all.”
Roy couldn’t hide the amusement on his face.
“So after the class, we got to not talking to each other. One thing led to another and before I knew it, I’d somehow agreed to go out on a date with her! I’m not even sure what I didn’t say,” he shrugged.
John rolled his eyes. He still couldn’t believe it.
“So what happened to you saying I can really pick ‘em and all that?”
“I didn’t pick her,” Chet assured. “She picked me.”
“You’d better be prepared with a raw steak or two, some bandages. . .maybe even crutches might not be a bad idea,” Roy suggested.
Chet shook his head. “No, I don’t think I have to worry. I’m much quicker on my feet than him.” He motioned toward Gage with his head.
Another scoff was heard from the younger dark-haired paramedic. “Keep believin’ that, Chet. Keep believin’ that.”
~*~*~
The next time on duty, Chet came in with a slightly blackened left eye. Before anyone in the locker room had a chance to say a word, he explained that he’d ducked in plenty of time, but came up too soon and caught Robin’s right hand in the eye when she re-emphasized a point she was making.
"You can have Robin back. I don't think this amateur mime," Chet said as he pointed to himself. "Is ready for the real deal."
"That's okay. I don't think this non-mime is either." Johnny reached in his locker and handed him the compact of pancake makeup. Never having taken it home to Joanne, Roy had given it back to him after the bike accident. “Here. You’re gonna need this, for now anyway . . .”
Chet stared a moment at the container and with a screwy look at Johnny, slowly took it.
“Well, that relationship sure capsized on you like the Poseidon,” Roy said to his partner with a slight grin as he closed his locker.
Johnny pursed his lips, then came back with, “Tell me about it.”
“Hey, I love that movie!” Chet chimed in. “Ya know, Pamela Sue Martin’s in it.”
Johnny sighed. “Yeah, her, too.”
I can’t even remember now what inspired this story, other than the picture. :o) ‘The Poseidon Adventure’ was one of the first run of disaster movies released in 1972. The actors and actresses mentioned were really cast members, no disrespect is meant in using their names in fan fiction. In fact, it’s meant as a small tribute to them. :o)
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Stories Page March Picture 2008
