& Jane Woods (just a little)
It was ten in the morning when they got the call --a fire in a chemical processing plant. Station 51 was the first on the scene. It was apparent from the beginning that it was going to be a two-alarm fire at least. Stanley had put in the call for additional units immediately, and had begun working out a strategy for fighting the fire until the Battalion Chief arrived.
The fire was currently in the East wing of the building. He had Marco and Chet working the western edge of the fire from inside, and the men from Station 127 working the eastern face of the building.
The oil in the parking lot, from years of badly maintained cars, had mixed with the water from the hoses, creating hazardous footing. A thick yellow smoke billowed out of the building, sporadically obscuring the firefighters. Occasionally, small explosions could be heard in the southeastern part of the building. Johnny and Roy had been sent in to search for any workers who may have still been trapped in the building.
About ten minutes after they went in, Roy came out, supporting a limping man. He led him over to the squad and eased him down beside it. The victim was lucky and had only sustained a sprained ankle.
"Where’s Johnny?" asked Stanley, walking up to Roy, H.T. in hand so that he could continue to direct the fire.
Roy looked behind him, as if expecting to see Gage. "He was right behind me Cap, I swear!"
"Damn," muttered Stanley, "he’s always the last one out."
Roy rose to go in after his partner when they both saw a figure running out of the building yelling and waving his arms. The firemen from 127 dropped their hoses and ran. Johnny, who was a several feet behind them, half dove and was half thrown to the ground by the blast of the explosion. He slid several feet before smashing to a halt against the engine, knocking Mike Stoker’s feet out from under him in the process.
Johnny immediately rose to his knees, putting his hand on Mike’s back. "Hey man, I’m sorry about that. You okay?"
Mike had one hand on the running board of the engine, the other was pressed to his forehead. He turned and Johnny could see blood dripping from between his fingers.
"Oh Man," said Johnny, grimacing at Mike’s bruised and bloodied face.
Roy and Stanley came running up.
"Hey, Pal, you alright?" Stanley asked Mike. "Damn it, Gage!" he exclaimed, when he saw Mike’s face.
"What’d you do, hit your head on the engine?" asked Roy, putting a supporting hand under Mike’s upper arm and helping to his feet.
"Yeah," replied Mike, shakily. He spun toward the engine then, remembering the gauges, and had to grab at Roy to keep from falling.
"Whoa," said Roy, helping him regain his balance. "I think you need to sit down and let me check you out."
When Mike started to protest, Stanley cut in. "Sit down, Mike, and that’s an order! Only Gage here is going to check you over instead."
Johnny took Mike’s arm and led him to the back of the engine so he could examine him.
"Roy, I need you to run the engine," said Stanley.
"WHAT?!?" exclaimed Roy.
"We’ve still got Marco and Chet in there, we can’t just cut off their water," said Stanley.
"But…" began Roy.
"And I’ve got my hands full until the Chief arrives," continued Stanley.
"But, Cap, I can’t run the engine…" began Roy again.
"Sure you can, Roy, you passed the engineer’s test, remember?" said Stanley, dismissing Roy’s objections and walking away to get a better view of the fire.
"Yeah, but that was over a year ago!" Roy shouted after him.
"You’ll do just fine. Mike can talk you through any problems," Stanley shouted back, before returning his full attention to the fire.
***
Mike Stoker was sitting on a treatment room gurney. Dr. Brackett just finished putting the last of three stitches in his forehead. "Okay, Mike," he said, placing a fresh bandage over the new stitches. "Now do you want to tell me what happened?"
When Mike remained silent, Brackett turned to Johnny, who was sitting on a stool, having several abrasions treated by Dixie. "How about you then?"
Johnny remained tight-lipped as well.
"You two didn’t get into a fight, did you?" asked Dixie, astonished. She wouldn’t put it past Johnny, being familiar with his hot temper. She knew Mike was about as cool as they came, though. She’d never even heard him raise his voice before.
"No," said Stoker, but he didn’t elaborate. He looked up as Roy entered the treatment room.
"Come on, guys," wheedled Dixie. "You know I’m going to find out eventually."
"Can I go now, Doc?" asked Mike, ignoring Dixie and sliding off the table.
"Yeah, sure. Come back in seven days to get the stitches out, and those bruises should be close to healed by then too. If you have any blurred vision or dizziness, I want you to get back here ASAP understood?"
Mike nodded and left the treatment room without a word.
"Okay, you two, what happened?" asked Brackett, turning to Johnny and Roy as soon as the door had closed behind Mike.
"I don’t want to talk about it," said Johnny, putting on his jacket and leaving the room as well.
***
Once he was out in the corridor Johnny glanced around. Mike had grabbed a seat and had a magazine in his hands but he wasn't looking at it. There was no way Johnny could discreetly slip off to ICU without him noticing and the last thing in the world Johnny wanted was to have any of the guys find out about Aline. He'd given this whole matter a lot of thought and he had decided that his so called bad luck with women was due to the fact that he had talked about all his potential dates with the guys first and that had somehow jinxed the whole thing. Well, that was not going to happen this time. No one, not even Roy, was going to know anything about her until things were well along in their relationship. Not that they actually had one yet but that was a only a matter of time. He leaned against the wall and allowed himself to daydream about the great time they would have on their first date -- once he got up the courage to ask her out. These things took time, after all. First he had to establish a rapport with the girl. He would have to apply all of his famous Gage wit and charm. And in a few weeks she would be eating out of his hands. He could be patient. He had all the time in the world. He had already established the fact that she was new in LA and she had no current boyfriend. He was definitely holding all the cards this time.
***
"Spill it, Roy," said Dixie, backing the paramedic up against the wall, before he too could make an exit.
"Well, there’s not much to tell really. Johnny came running out of the building, slid, and knocked poor Mike into the engine face first."
"Sounds like an accident to me," said Brackett, puzzled by Mike’s reaction.
"Well, see, Mike had this big date with Rita Roland day after tomorrow," said Roy. "He’s had it arranged for weeks."
"The model?" asked Brackett, interested.
"Yeah, that’s the one. Some friend of a friend of his set it all up for him. She’s only going to be in town a few days."
"I can’t blame him for being upset about it, after all she’s quite attractive," said Brackett. When he saw Dixie glaring, he quickly added, "If you like that type."
"I don’t think he’s really mad at Johnny, but Johnny feels real bad about it," continued Roy.
"I can see why he would," said Dixie, still glaring at Kel.
Brackett changed the subject. "I heard you got a temporary field promotion."
"Yeah," said Roy, with a far-away look in his eyes.
"Uh oh," said Brackett. "You’re not thinking about trying to make it permanent?" He didn’t want to lose one of his best paramedics.
Roy shrugged and slipped out the door. He looked down the hall and saw Mike and Johnny, sitting back-to-back in the waiting room. It’s going to be a long ride back to the station, he thought.
***
The ride back was deafening in its silence. Roy gave a small, inaudible sigh of relief as he backed the squad and its passengers into the station.
Lunch was ready when they arrived. The rest of the crew greeted them as they took their place at the table. Marco put a plate in front of each them, and they helped themselves to burgers from the platter in the middle of the table.
"You want something else, Mike?" asked Marco, when he saw Mike was having trouble eating the hamburger.
Mike put the burger down dejectedly and chose a french fry instead.
"There’s some leftover clam chowder from last night still in the fridge," said Stanley, helpfully.
Mike shook he head and continued to chew gingerly on the fries.
Stanley shrugged and turned to Roy. "So, how did you like being an engineer? Any chance you might change your mind after all?"
"Naw," replied Johnny, with his mouth full, "he loves being a paramedic."
"Well now, I don’t know," said Roy, a little annoyed at Johnny’s presumption. He hid a grin when Johnny halted in mid-chew, looking at him in surprise. He had made up his mind that he’d rather be a paramedic than an engineer, but sometimes Johnny assumptions irritated him.
"You’re kiddin’," said Johnny, as he swallowed a mouthful of burger.
Roy winked at Mike to let him in on the joke, but Mike didn’t so much as crack a smile. The alarm sounded for the squad just as Roy bit into his burger.
***
The squad pulled up to a small ranch. A man who appeared to be in his early fifty’s walked up to meet them as they got out of the squad.
"He didn’t want me to call you, but I thought it was better to be safe than sorry," said the man.
"Who didn’t want you to call us?" asked Roy.
"George, our vet," answered the man, pointing to a man in his late twenties sitting on a bale of hay and leaning against the barn.
Roy and Johnny walked up to the man. "What’s the trouble?" asked Roy, in a friendly tone.
"I was going to inject that bull there with a tranquilizer so I could work on him," said the young man, pointing to a small pen where 2000lb bull stood completely confined. "I don’t know what possessed me, it was a stupid thing to do, but I climbed up on the top of the railing and straddled him so I could get a good injection site. He reared straight up and knocked me about five feet over there," continued the young man, pointing to the left of the pen.
"Did you hurt yourself?" asked Johnny, still a little puzzled why they had been called.
"Well, not exactly," said the vet, holding up his hand. "When I got up, the needle was sticking in my hand."
"How much tranquilizer was still in the syringe?" asked Roy, realizing the potential seriousness of the situation.
"All of it," replied the young man. "But I don’t think I got injected with any."
Roy and Johnny exchanged a concerned glance. The vet was already beginning to slur his words a bit.
"I’ll get the gear and call an ambulance," said Johnny, jogging back to the squad.
"What kind of tranquilizer was it?" asked Roy, knowing Rampart would need the information.
"Huh?" replied the vet. He began sliding off the hay bale.
"Easy there," said Roy, supporting the vet as he slid to the ground.
Johnny came jogging back up with the gear.
"Hey, George!" said Roy, shaking the young man, "George!" There was no response.
"Did you find out what it was?" asked Johnny as he handed Roy the B.P. cuff and opened an orange box, setting up the radio to broadcast to Rampart.
Roy shook his head and proceeded to take the man’s blood pressure.
Johnny glanced around and saw the syringe lying on the hay bale. He carefully picked it up and dropped it into an empty compartment in the drug box so that Rampart could analyze it.
Roy finished the vitals, and reached for the radio. Meanwhile, Johnny got up and went to talk to the rancher.
"You didn’t see where he put the bottle he filled the syringe from, did you?" asked Johnny.
"In his bag," replied the rancher, pointing to the vet’s truck.
Johnny went over to the truck and found a medical bag sitting on the tailgate. He opened it, hoping to find the bottle. What he found were about ten empty bottles of various drugs. Apparently the vet had either been really busy that day or wasn’t very tidy. He walked back over to Roy who was still talking to Rampart.
"…stand by." Roy turned to Johnny, "Did you find anything?"
"Nothing that will help."
Roy continued his conversation, "Negative, Rampart, drug unknown at this time." Roy heard the siren of the approaching ambulance. "Ambulance has arrived."
"10-4, 51, Transport as soon as possible and bring that syringe. Keep me updated on his vitals."
"10-4," replied Roy.
"He’s gonna be alright, ain’t he?" asked the rancher as he and Johnny stepped back out of the way of the ambulance attendants. "I mean, they usually give animals the same stuff they do people, right?"
"Drugs are usually given according to weight," answered Johnny. "And that bull over there outweighs him by a heck of a lot."
The rancher grunted in agreement.
***
"Maybe she’ll like it," said Chet. He and Marco were sitting at the table with Mike, trying to cheer him up.
"Right," said Mike, sarcastically.
"Yeah," said Chet, elbowing Marco for support. "She knows you’re a fireman right?"
"So?"
"So, maybe she likes the rugged type," offered Marco, taking the hint from Chet.
"What?"
"Yeah! Maybe she agreed to go out with you because you’re," Chet paused for drama, "dan-ger-ous."
"I’m not dangerous," said Mike.
"No, but your job is," said Marco, encouragingly. "Some women get turned on by that."
"Just think, she could have had her choice of any guy in L.A. and she going out with you. Doesn’t that tell you something?" asked Chet, wincing as Marco kicked him under the table.
But Mike didn’t take offense. "You really think she won’t care?"
"Care? Care?" exclaimed Chet, waving his arms so emphatically that Marco had to duck. "She’ll love you all the more for it!"
Marco kicked him again, a silent signal to tone it down. Chet shot Marco a sideways glance but kept grinning.
"Do you really think so?" Mike asked Marco.
"Well, ah," said Marco, on the spot. "You do kinda look like one those action heroes at the end of the movie."
This time Chet kicked Marco.
Mike thought about this for a minute, then said, "Did the Cap say there was leftover clam chowder?" When he turned his back to open the refrigerator door, Chet gave Marco a thumbs up, grinning.
***
"How’d the run go?" asked Stanley, when Roy and Johnny returned.
"Not too good," said Roy, who proceeded to give the Captain a rundown on the call. "...had to bag him on the way to Rampart. They have him on a respirator now."
"Gee Whiz, guess I got away lucky with just a black eye," said Stoker. He had been eavesdropping on the story while checking out his gear.
Stanley, Roy and Johnny all looked at one another, surprised.
***
"What did you guys say to Mike?" asked Stanley, walking into the breakroom and seeing Chet and Marco sitting at the table reading the paper. "He's out there joking around with Gage."
"We told him she would love the way he looks," said Chet, basking in the glory of his accomplishment.
"You WHAT?" said Stanley. "You ever think how he’s going to feel if she doesn’t?"
"So," said Chet defensively, "at least he’ll be happy for a couple of days."
Stanley shook his head and walked back out of the room.
"Are you sure we did the right thing, Chet?" asked Marco, worriedly. "What if Cap’s right?"
"Look, Marco, a little encouragement never hurt anyone. He’ll be no worse off day-after-tomorrow than he would have been if we hadn’t cheered him up today right?"
"Ah…I guess not," said Marco, uncertainly.
"Well then, what are you worried about?" asked Chet, who returned to reading his paper.
***
"Hey, Roy," said Chet, sticking his head into the locker room where Johnny and Roy were dressing, "telephone, sounds like Brackett."
Roy was still buttoning his uniform shirt. "Okay."
"Hey, Chet?" called Johnny, as Chet ducked out the door.
"Yeah?" he asked, reappearing.
"Anybody seen Mike yet?"
"Nope, not yet," replied Chet, before he ducked out the door again. He wanted to know how the date went just as much as everyone else.
"You think that’s a good sign or a bad sign?" Johnny asked Roy.
"I don’t think it’s a sign at all," said Roy, finishing the last button on his shirt and walking out the door. Johnny hurriedly finished buckling his belt and followed him.
"What I mean is, wouldn’t you think if things went well, he would have been in early today," persisted Johnny.
"No," replied Roy, picking up the phone. "DeSoto here…"
"So you think it’s a sign too," said Chet, walking up to Gage.
"Yeah, I mean…"
Roy interrupted him, hanging up the phone. "That vet’s off the respirator, looks like he’s going to be okay," said Roy smiling.
"That’s nice," replied Johnny, quickly dismissing Roy’s comment to continue his conversation with Chet. "What I mean is that if things had gone well…"
"Hi, guys," interrupted Mike, walking in through the breakroom door and heading toward the stove for a cup of coffee.
"Ah….Hi, Mike," said Johnny, temporarily derailed by Mike’s sudden appearance.
The rest of the crew came into the kitchen. When Mike turned around, he saw them all looking at him. "What?"
"What do you mean ‘what’?" asked Chet. "You know we’re all dying to know how your big date went!"
"Oh that," said Mike.
"Oh that, he says," said Chet, rolling his eyes. "Yes that! Don’t keep us in suspense!"
"Well," Mike began uncomfortably, "there's not all that much to talk about."
"Come off it, Stoker! A date with a real big time model. We want details! Right, guys?" Chet exploded.
"Yeah," Marco agreed. "Was she as pretty as she looks in pictures?"
"Or was she just some stuck-up, overblown ego. I've sure seen that happen," Johnny put in.
"Yes she was pretty and she seemed very nice. Under other circumstances I might have liked her."
"Other circumstances?! She dumped you just because you look like Frankenstein?!" Chet was shocked.
"Nobody dumped anybody! And who says I look like Frankenstein?"
"Well, you know, the stitches and all."
"You're the one who said she wouldn't care!"
"Yeah, Pal, but I was lying to cheer you up," Chet admitted.
"See! That's the trouble with those models -- too hung up on perfection. You'd be better off with a real girl, Mike. Who needs her?" Johnny tried to be comforting. He knew how devastated he'd feel if he'd been rejected by such a fox over a few stitches.
"I don't think my stitches bothered her at all. I told you she was a very nice, caring girl. In fact, if you really must know we spent our whole date at Rampart."
"She was worried about your stitches?" Marco was confused.
"No. It was an old friend of hers that she'd heard was a patient. A certain veterinarian who'd had a run in with a bull."
"You mean George?" Roy asked.
"The same. I guess having her by his bedside was good for him. He perked right up," Mike told them.
"With Rita Roland by your bedside, who wouldn't?" Chet asked miserably.
"I guess he's going to be okay," Mike shrugged.
"Yeah he is but how about you? Some date!" Chet laughed.
"Oh, I had a good time," Mike said quietly.
"Well you're sure easy. You had a good time watching your date moon over some other guy?" Chet couldn't believe it.
"I'd have a good time watching Rita Roland doing anything," Marco said dreamily.
"Hey, he was an old friend. He needed her. Simple as that," Mike said calmly.
"Well, I'd have been miffed," Johnny stated.
"No, really, it worked out great. While I was waiting in ICU, I met this really cute nurse. We hit it off. We've gone out a few times and things are really going great! Nurses aren't put off by a few stitches so I really have to thank you Johnny. If you hadn't slid into me I would have never met Aline. And you're right. Real girls are so much better than rich, famous ones."
No one could ever remember Mike being so enthusiastic about anything. It was so out of character for him that no one noticed Johnny storm out of the room. No one but Roy, that is. He soon left the happy little group and went in search of his partner.
He found him in the garage polishing the squad. "Careful, you're going to rub the finish off completely. What's wrong?"
"Wrong?! Why should anything be wrong?!"
"Well there's no reason that I can see. Let me see, Mike's big date with the fashion model didn't pan out so you're not jealous about that. Mike is not mad at you any more, in fact he's grateful to you ---"
"Grateful. He damn well ought to be grateful -- since horned in on my girl!"
"Your girl?"
"Aline, the ICU nurse. I've been working on her for weeks -- I..."
"Then why haven't we heard anything about this? I didn't know. I'm sure Mike didn't know. He didn't horn in on you. Have you actually dated this girl?"
"Well no. Not yet. I was working up to it."
"Well why didn't you say anything?"
"I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING," Johnny shouted then thought better of it and lowered his voice. "I didn't say anything because everytime I'm interested in a girl and I tell you guys, something happens and it doesn't work out --"
"And that's our fault?"
"Well, in a way. See I figured that's where I was going wrong. That I was jinxing it. So this time I didn't say a word. Things were going just great too till... till Stoker came along with his damn famous model date," Johnny sputtered.
"Oh, I see well maybe you should blame the vet too. I mean if he hadn't been in Rampart Mike would have never met Arleen."
"It's Aline and yeah that's right. This is partially his fault, as well."
"Well don't forget the bull, Johnny. I mean the bull is really to blame."
Johnny just glared at him. Although he was pretending to be serious Johnny realized Roy was teasing him all along. "Speaking of bull," he snarled, "I know it when I hear it."
"So do we, Johnny, but when we don't hear it, we don't know."
"Huh?"
"You never threw any bull about this girl. Mike had no way of knowing about your feelings for her."
"I don't throw bull!!"
"Yes you do, Pally, and I guess you'd better go back to that method. After all, a little bull never hurt anyone. A 2000 pound bull on the other hand ---"
The next thing Roy knew there was a polishing rag stuffed in his mouth.
*** END ***
I just want to tell everyone how much fun it was to work on this story with Jane! I CHALLENGE everyone to write a story with a partner ;-)