What I Didn’t Know

By Mychand

Mike Stoker strolled into the station and headed back to the lockers to change.  As he entered, he caught part of the conversation between his co-workers, John Gage and Roy DeSoto.

“Johnny, that is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.  Where in the world did you get that idea?” Roy asked.

“There you go again.  You never have faith in me, Roy.  Just for once I would like you to at least go along with one of my ideas.”

“What?  I always go along with your hair-brained ideas.  For once I’d. . . ” Roy stopped mid sentence and looked at Mike who was smiling as he watched the exchange between the two partners.

“Mike, what’re you smiling about?” asked Johnny.

Roy chimed in, “You look like the cat that ate the canary.  What’s going  on?”

“You guys are what’s going on.  This is great.”

Johnny finished buttoning his shirt and shut his locker.  “What’s great about the two of us arguing?”

“Oh, it’s not about your arguing. I’m taking this class on human nature and we have to write a paper on how co-workers interact and build relationships. I’m writing my paper on you guys.”

“Why’d you pick us?” asked Johnny.  “Why not write about Chet and Marco?”

Mike opened his locker and began to change. “Well, you two are partners and best friends.  Besides, Cap gave me permission to do this and he said you two would be the best candidates.”

Johnny shot Mike a disgusted look. “Are ya gonna be following us around all day?”

Mike laughed.  “No, I’m around the two of you enough as it is to get the information I need.”

“Will we get to read this before you turn it in?” Roy asked.

“Yep, I’ll let you read it first. Don’t worry.  It’ll be great.  Maybe the two of you will learn something about yourselves.”

“Don’t worry, he says,” Johnny repeated as he and Roy headed out into the apparatus bay.  “Why do we always have to be the guinea pigs?”

“Why are you worried? This might be a good thing.  Unless you’re afraid I might be right about all of your hair-brained ideas.”

“Roy! I…..” Johnny wasn’t able to finish his sentence.  The station was called due to a fire in a local grocery store and Hank Stanley called out to
his men that they were taking it.

Gage hurried back into the locker room to get Mike, who had just finished tying his shoes and was closing his locker.  The two ran to their respective
vehicles.

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When the crew arrived, the grocery store was filled with smoke and flames were shooting from a section of the roof.  The store’s manager ran over to greet them.

“You have to help him!” yelled the manager.  “My assistant manager was in the back room.  He never came out.”

“Have you checked the rear entrance?” asked Stanley.

“Yes.  Two of my stock boys came out of the back door but they didn’t see him.  There’s a side door to the offices but the door seems to be jammed.”

“Did everyone else get out?” asked Roy.

The manager was hesitant.  “I believe so.  We just opened so there were only a couple of customers in the store.  I know all of my employees got out
except for my assistant manager.”

“Okay, show my paramedic the side entrance,” the captain requested, indicating Roy. “Chet, they may need your assistance in getting the door open.  Johnny, go in through the front and make sure no one else is left inside.”

As Stanley was balking orders, crews from another station pulled up to assist.

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Roy and Chet followed the store manager to the side entrance.  After a little effort, they managed to get the door open.  The smoke was thick but
the fire hadn’t reached that area of the building.  Roy carefully began his search of the back offices but could not locate the assistant manager.  He
radioed the captain and advised that he was going to head toward the front of the store and join Johnny in his search.

“Johnny! Hey, Johnny, where are you?”

“I’m over here, Roy.  So far, I don’t see anyone.  Did you find the assistant manager?”

Roy yelled back, “No, he wasn’t in the offices.  He must be out here somewhere.  We need to keep searching.”

After an extensive search, the paramedics came up empty handed.  Roy radioed the captain again. “Engine 51, HT 51”.

“Go ahead, HT 51.”

“Cap, can you ask the store manager if there is any other back area that the assistant manager may have gone to.  He wasn’t in the offices and we can’t find anyone out on the main floor.”

“Will do, Roy,” replied Captain Stanley.

A minute later the captain radioed back.  “The manager said that there is a break room on the second floor.  There’s a stairwell near the loading dock. That seems to be where the fire originated.  I’m not sure that you’ll be able to get access to it.  It’s been fully engulfed since we got here.”

The paramedics quickly found the stairwell to the break room.  The other firefighters had already broken down the door and were attempting to
extinguish the flames.  They had made it halfway up the stairs.  Roy and Johnny followed in an attempt to get to the second floor.

Chet was at the top and quickly headed back down towards the pair. “It’s no use guys.  The second floor only consists of a small area and it looks like it’s about to go.  There’s no way we can get up in there now.”

“Alright!” yelled Roy.  “We need to get back down and make sure there isn’t anyone underneath this area.  I’ll radio Cap.”

Before Johnny, Chet, Roy, and the other two fireman were able to climb back down the steps, an explosion rocked the stairwell sending all of them
tumbling to the bottom in one swoop.

Shaken by the explosion, the five men were slow to get up from the short fall they took on the stairs.

“Is everyone okay?” Roy asked.

“I think so,” replied Chet.

The other two firemen seemed to have faired well. Johnny was the only one who hadn’t budged from his position at the bottom of the stairs.

“Johnny! Johnny, can you hear me?” Roy yelled.

Johnny didn’t budge.  Roy gently lifted his partner up onto his shoulder and carefully carried him out of the building.  Chet followed closely behind
until they had reached the entrance, and then went back in to assist with the fire and to help the other firemen on the scene continue the search for the
missing employee.

Mike met the paramedics at the squad and laid out a blanket for Johnny.  Roy quickly began removing his partner’s gear in order to assess his condition.

“Johnny? Johnny, can you hear me? Answer me if you can hear me.”

“Damn, Roy. I can hear ya already.”

“Are you okay?  Are you hurt anywhere?”

Johnny attempted to sit up but Roy firmly placed a hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down to the ground.

“I’m fine.  You used my body to break your fall and knocked the wind outta me, that’s all.”

Roy wanted to laugh but a bit of guilt set in.  “Oh, so that’s what I landed on?  Well, give me the satisfaction of checking you out to make sure there
isn’t any damage.”

Gage grudgingly went along with Roy’s request.  DeSoto informed Rampart of the situation and relayed vitals.  Morton requested to have Johnny brought in as a precaution.

“Man, I don’t know why I need to go to Rampart. I’m fine.  I just had the wind knocked out of me.”

“Johnny, it’s no use arguing the issue.  You’re going in.”

While Johnny gave Roy a dozen reasons why he didn’t need to go to the hospital, Stanley joined them and provided an update on the victim they had
been searching for. “Roy, they found the Assistant Manager. Looks like he was making coffee in the break room when the fire broke out.  He may have been gone before we got here.”

DeSoto’s mood grew somber.  “Alright Cap.  I have to take Johnny in to Rampart to get checked out.”

“Okay, I’ll have Chet pick you up with the squad.”

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An hour later, Roy found himself in the waiting room at Rampart hospital. It was taking Dr. Morton a long time to assess his partner’s condition. Just as he was about to get up to inquire on Johnny’s status, Dixie came over to fill him in.

“Hey, Dix, any news yet on Johnny?”

“Yep, they just got back his x-rays.  It looks like he has a couple of fractured ribs.”

“Really? Wow, he said he felt fine. I’m surprised.”

“Well, he’s going to be just fine, Roy.  You can see him in a few minutes. I’ll let you know when Dr. Morton is done poking and prodding.”

Roy was relived. “Thanks, Dix.”

@@@@@@
 

Roy continued to wait for news on Johnny.  Chet joined him just as Dr. Morton came out of the treatment room and approached them in the waiting
room.

“Well, your partner’s going to be just fine.  He’s going to need some time to heal but there doesn’t see to be any other damage.”

“Great, thanks,” replied Roy.  “Can I see him now?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“Come on, Chet.  You can come too.”

Roy slowly opened the door to the treatment room and saw his partner stretched out on the table, his torso wrapped to keep his ribs secure.  His
eyes were shut and he was deathly still.

“Johnny?”

Gage opened his eyes and peered up at his partner.  “Oh, hey Roy. Sorry. They gave me something for the pain so I’m a little sleepy.”

Roy smiled.  “It’s okay partner.  We need to get back to the station.  I’ll come back and check on you later.”

“Okay.  Morton is making me stay overnight as a precaution. He said I could go home in the morning if I promise to rest.”

Johnny closed his eyes and was sound asleep before Roy and Chet left the room.

“He didn’t even notice I was here,” complained Chet.

“It’s okay, Chet.  We’ll tell him later. He’s just a bit out of it right now.”

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Four weeks later Johnny strolled into the station. It was his first day back and he had been given a clean bill of health.

Roy followed him in and they went to the locker room to change. Mike Stoker had gotten there just before them.

“Hey, guys!” said Mike.  “I got an ‘A’ on my paper.”

Johnny looked perplexed. “How in the world could you write that paper about us when I haven’t been here for weeks?”

“You didn’t have to be, Johnny.  I’ve been working with you guys for years. I just tapped into everything I already knew. Roy, read it and gave the
okay.”

Roy avoided looking at Johnny as he began to undress and change.

“Roy? You didn’t tell me about reading his paper.”

“Uh, I guess it just slipped my mind.”

Mike chimed in, “I have it right here, Johnny.  You want to read it?”

Johnny shot Roy a dirty look and snatched the paper from Mike  “Yeah. Yes, I do want to read it.  I want to know what Roy is hiding from me.”

“I’m not hiding anything.  Go ahead, read it.”

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The morning was quiet. Johnny spent the next hour reading and re-reading Mike’s paper.  Roy watched Johnny’s expressions carefully yet he didn’t let on that he had been paying attention to him.  Finally, he couldn’t resist asking. “Well, what do ya think?”

For once, Johnny was nearly speechless. “Uh, I don’t know what to think. I mean he does make a lot of sense. I just didn’t know that about us. Did you? I mean, of course I knew we were best friends. But, the rest . . .”

Roy hesitated. “Well, no. I didn’t either.”

“It’s kinda nice to know though,” replied Johnny.

“Yeah, I guess it is.”

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Beyond the background information on the partners and Mike’s theory of why their relationship works, Johnny and Roy found one section to be a real eye opener.  The part read as follows:

The partners argue about silly things on occasion. In my opinion, this is
just their way of coping with the downside of the job they do. I feel it
also helps them deal with the realization that their job is dangerous and on
any given day, something could happen to one of them.  I don’t think either
of them ever realized how important they are to everyone on our crew. They
have no idea how respected they are by so many in the department.  I don’t
know of a single paramedic that wouldn’t want the working relationship these
two men have. It’s one of respect and trust. They are best friends.

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