A black cloud seemed to hover over Roy DeSoto's head as he walked into the station. He walked up to his locker and pulled the door open without a word to anyone.
Johnny Gage stood at the next locker. He shot a curious glance at Chet Kelly, who was across the locker room. "What's wrong, Roy?" he hardly dared ask.
"What's wrong?! I'll tell you what's wrong," Roy sputtered. He pointed to the calendar that was hanging inside his locker door.
Johnny was confused. "Something special about today?" It wasn't Roy's birthday or anyone else's Johnny could think of.
"This!" Roy pointed specifically to the round moon in the upper right hand corner of the box that represented today's date. "Full moon. This is going to be one hell of a shift. I was tempted to call in sick and climb back into bed, but with my luck the roof would cave in or something, so for the safety of my family I came to work."
"So the roof could cave in here, Pal? Gee, thanks a lot," Chet taunted.
Johnny just laughed. "I don't believe you, Roy. That stuff is all a lot of superstitious hooey. I tell ya, man, you're getting to sound like an old lady. There is nothing to this full moon nonsense."
"Oh no? It's started already. This morning at 5:30 AM, I step outside my front door to get the newspaper -- just like I've done a thousand times before -- only this time my idiot dog decided to make a break for it. He ran between me and the door and made a getaway. I know just where he's heading too. Mrs. Peabody's. The one person on the whole street that no one gets along with. The kids call her a witch and they might just have something there."
"Why would your dog go and visit a witch, Roy? Was he under some kind of spell?" Chet asked as he and Johnny tried to keep from getting hysterical.
"I'll say he was. Mrs Peabody's poodle Fifi is in heat. So he's running toward her house and I'm chasing him as fast as I can in my bare feet. Here I am, it's 5:30 in the morning. I'm in my underwear and I'm running down the street screaming ‘You get back here, Fonzie'. Lights are coming on in every house I passed. It's a wonder no one called the cops," Roy muttered angrily.
"So did you catch him?" Johnny almost couldn't ask he was trying so hard not to laugh.
"I caught him all right amid the cheers and whistles of the whole damn street. Fonzie is going to the vet's to be neutered and either of you that gives me any grief today is liable to meet the same fate. You got that?!" He had finished dressing so he slammed his locker door and left.
When he was gone Chet and Johnny almost fell over each other laughing.
Later, when they were doing an equipment check and inventory on the squad Johnny finally could stand the silence no longer. "Roy, this is just plain silly."
"You think so? You just mark my words, Johnny. This is going to be one weird day."
"You're really serious about this, aren't you?" Johnny was surprised.
"Very. I --" He never got a chance to finish his sentence.
At that moment Chet came out of the ready room and into the apparatus bay. As he always did, he shoved the door open with all his might. Unfortunately, Marco was about to go through the door from the other side. The edge of the door took him square in the nose and sent him sprawling backwards. Only Mike's quick thinking prevented him from crashing to the concrete floor. Mike jumped behind him and caught him.
Marco's hand was pressed to his injured nose and blood spilled out between all his fingers.
"We need a paramedic here!" Mike called out nervously as he lowered Marco to the floor.
Roy and Johnny came running. The cap had heard Mike from his office and came out to investigate.
"What in the hell --" Cap exclaimed.
Now that Mike had Marco down flat he was starting to choke on the blood that was also going down his throat.
"Let him sit up," Roy said
"Put your head back," Chet coached nervously.
"No, don't, Marco. Suppose you let us handle this, Chet. It does fall under our job description," Roy told him.
"Well, it's just a nosebleed. And I happen to know a little bit about them. I used to get nosebleeds all the time as a kid."
"That's no reason to give one to me," Marco choked.
"Chet did this!!!!" the Cap demanded "How ---"
"It was accident, Cap. I hit him with the door. I didn't see him."
"Jeez, Chet," Johnny muttered. "Why don't you make yourself useful and get some ice?"
"Ice, sure thing." Chet ran off to do it.
Roy and Johnny got the bleeding under control with ease. Marco seemed to have no permanent impairment.
"You feel all right, Marco? You gonna make the shift?" Cap asked.
"I'm okay, Cap, except for a ruined shirt and an insatiable desire to kill Chet."
"Yeah, well welcome to the club on that last part," Johnny laughed.
"Ha ha, Gage. Look. I'm sorry, Marco. I didn't see you," Chet offered him a hand up.
"There's a window in that door. Use it from now on! What in the hell were you in such an all fired rush about, Chet?" Cap demanded.
"Oh yeah. Roy, your wife is on the phone."
"Thanks." Roy rolled his eyes and went to answer the phone.
Johnny gathered up the equipment they had used. "Chet ought to at least pay your laundry bill, Marco," he called into the locker room.
"Shut up, Gage," Chet warned.
"I think it's a real good idea, Kelly," the cap said emphatically. "That and helping Marco out with his chores today. He should probably take it easy."
"You're right, Cap," Johnny agreed enthusiastically. "I mean, the man did lose some blood. He's liable to be a tad bit weak."
Chet glared at Johnny as the paramedic went back to the squad to continue his inventory.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Roy's glum mood seemed to permeate the station until the cap strongly suggested to Johnny that they go to Rampart and get supplies whether they needed them or not. Johnny started to argue but then thought better of it. He walked into the ready room and found his partner morosely looking at the newspaper obits.
"What the hell are you doing? Looking for your name? Come on, Susy Sunshine, we need to go to Rampart for supplies."
"We do not."
"Yes we do. Cap says so," Johnny said emphatically.
"Then it'll be on his conscience if we get into a wreck," Roy sighed.
"If you're that nervous, let me drive," Johnny was becoming exasperated.
"Oh sure and put the final nail in my coffin!" Roy couldn't believe that suggestion.
Johnny was pretty sure he'd been insulted but he just shrugged and followed Roy out to the squad. Roy even put on his seat belt, something he never did.
"This thing really has you spooked," Johnny gasped.
"I'm telling you, Johnny. Full moons are bad business. People are loony. That is where the word lunatic comes from, you know."
"You oughta know," Johnny said under his breath. He hoped that Dixie would be able to talk some sense into Roy. Roy was supposed to be the sensible one. Johnny had the fleeting thought that maybe Roy was being affected by the full moon.
Johnny was delighted when they walked into the ER. Dixie was sitting at the nurse's station but there was no one in the waiting room.
"Hiya, Dix," Johnny greeted. "Kinda dead in here, isn't it?"
"It's just the calm before the storm, don't you worry," Dixie stated flatly.
"What storm?" Johnny laughed.
"Full moon, or hadn't you noticed?"
"Oh no, not another one. You sound as crazy as ol' Roy here."
"Johnny doesn't think there's anything different about a full moon," Roy told her.
"Come on, you guys. To hear Roy tell it this is like 100 Friday the 13ths all rolled into one," Johnny scoffed.
"Yeah, that about describes it," Dixie said reluctantly.
"Oh no. I know what you're doing and it just plain isn't going to work. I know a set-up when I see one. You guys are even less subtle than Chet. Well, you can forget it I'm not going to bite. Now, we came here for some supplies not a bunch of silly superstition ----"
He was interrupted by the crackle of the base station.
"Rampart base, this is Squad 18, how do you read?" a male voice asked.
The three at the base station exchanged confused glances as Dixie went over to answer.
"Squad calling in please repeat," Dixie requested.
"Rampart, this is Squad 18." They could clearly hear the sounds of a struggle in the background and then Cassie Kelly's agitated voice "Brice, damn it!! Forget regulations. Give me a hand with this guy!"
"Rampart," Brice continued. The annoyance in his voice was clear. "We have a male patient, 35 years of age, approximately 300 pounds. Victim is apparently suffering a psychotic episode. He is extremely combative making it impossible to acquire other vitals but the victim's family advises that the patient has a PRN prescription for Valium from the VA hospital. Requesting permission to administer in order to calm the victim enough for further examination."
"He's letting the girl struggle with the guy while he calls it in?!!" Johnny was astounded.
"That's his call as senior partner," Roy put in. Both Johnny and Dixie glared at him.
Dixie paged Brackett to the base station. The three listened mesmerized to the drama unfold on 18's call.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Cassie was very strong but this guy had almost 200 pounds on her and he was probably even stronger because of his present state of agitation. Restraining him was more than she could do alone. Why in blazes did they send Brice to cover Pidge for a half a shift? Pidge could sometimes get these guys to respond in her best Lt Pigeon voice. And Brice -- he knew more rules than even the cap did!!! Now he's saying that regs state that a patient in this condition should be sedated first to insure the safety of Fire Department personnel! The Fire Dept personnel that was endangered here was not him by a long shot!!!!!
She had the patient face down. She had one knee on one of his arms and one on one of his legs and she leaned on his other arm with both of her hands. That still left one flailing foot to try and avoid. Her hold was tenuous at best and she wasn't sure that he wouldn't be able to buck her off. "Whatever the hell you are doing, Brice? Hurry it up, will you?"
"I am awaiting a doctor's approval to administer Valium to the patient -- you do, occasionally get approval to treat a patient, don't you, Kelly?" Brice said stiffly. He had never had the misfortune of working with anyone with so little disregard for the rule book as this girl had.
Brackett gave him the okay for 20mgs of Valium and he prepared the IV.
"You really think you're going to find a vein on this guy the way he's thrashing? Why don't you go for IM?"' she panted.
"Now you are questioning the doctor?" Brice was astounded.
"He's not here. You're supposed to be his eyes and ears on the scene...."
"As you well know, the medication will enter the blood stream much faster if it is administered intravenously," Brice told her.
"Brice, I don't think I can hold him that long. Jab him now. I don't think you'll get another chance." Cassie was losing her grip on the big man.
Brice did not hurry. He was as extremely cautious as he always was. He was well aware of the potency of the drug he was about to administer.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Dixie, call LA and find out where they are. She needs help and she sure isn't getting it from the senior partner," Johnny said.
"You're rolling on someone else's call?" Roy asked in disbelief.
"Damn right I am, Brice," Johnny couldn't believe that Roy's silly superstition was going to keep him from helping out.
"Already did. I have police back-up on the way," Dixie informed the would-be hero.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Brice, hurry the hell up!!" Cassie was having more and more trouble with this guy. She thought they should both work on physically restraining him and then worry about the meds.
Brice did not hurry but when he was ready he approached with the injection. Just as he got within range, the arm that Cassie held down with her leg broke free and connected with Brice hitting him on the side of the head. It knocked his glasses askew and momentarily stunned him.
"Brice, I don't have him!" The warning came too late. She threw herself onto the free arm and wrapped her leg around the patient more tightly. He was trying to break loose. "Damn it, Brice! Do something!!!!"
Brice shook his head to clear it. The rim of his glasses had torn a gash over his eye and it bled freely. He had, however, never lost control of the syringe. With the other hand he slid his glasses back into place. His vision did not improve much since he was bleeding into one eye. He felt a buzz in his head which he tried to ignore. He decided that pushing this drug IM was the best chance he was going to have. The situation seemed to be deteriorating rapidly. "Hold him still, Kelly."
"What the hell do you think I'm trying to do, ya prick?"
The name calling startled him for a moment. Not the sort of language he would have expected from a women. "I see the Kelly charm extends beyond your brother," he said smugly as he lined the injection up with the only clear shot he had -- the man's thigh.
Suddenly the man thrashed again nearly breaking Cassie's hold on him. She wrapped her leg tighter around the man's thigh and in doing so put her thigh between him and the shot just as Brice leaned in to give it.
"Brice, you flaming asshole!!" she screamed as the injection was pushed into her leg. "You stupid, dickless wonder!!"
"My god!" Brice gasped in shock.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"18, what is going on?!!" Brackett demanded, not for the first time.
"Rampart," Brice panted nervously. "I've inadvertently injected the Valium into my partner!"
"Where are they, Dix?" Johnny demanded snatching the squad keys out of Roy's hand.
Dixie ripped the page with the address written on it off her note pad and handed it to him.
"I'm coming with you, Johnny," Brackett said as he and the two paramedics ran for the squad.
"18, Dr Brackett is on the way," Dixie said in a businesslike voice. She could not allow Brice to panic. Cassie's life could well depend on his ability to do the right thing.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Cassie couldn't believe how fast this stuff was taking effect. That damn Brice must have managed to hit a vein. She fought the numbness that was taking over her body. She heard a siren, maybe help was on the way. Her vision was getting blurry but she saw two black and whites pull up. Soon four strapping police officers took over the job of restraining the victim. She rolled off of him and tried to crawl away but she could no longer feel her extremities and all she could do was flounder like a mud puppy till she was out of reach of the struggle.
Suddenly Brice was kneeling beside her. He was talking to her but she couldn't understand what he was saying. She just wanted to sleep but she knew she was mad at him for some reason. She tried to cuss at him some more to keep focused but her tongue was numb and her words slurred together. She needed to sleep. She started to lay down face down on the lawn but he rolled her over onto her back. It revived her a little. Something was wrong but she couldn't quite place it. "Where...where's the victim......"
"To hell with him. Just relax, Kelly, but try and stay awake, okay? Dr Brackett is on his way," he tried to assure her as he gathered some vitals.
"Why?......"
"Why what?" he asked as he slid his stethoscope into his ears to take her blood pressure.
"Why is ......Dr Gor........................................"
"Kelly?" Brice wiped the blood out of his eye. She passed out already. Her vitals were consistent with a drug overdose of this type. He pushed the idea that this was his fault out of his head. Right now he had to concentrate on keeping her alive till Brackett arrived.
Her blood pressure and respirations were dropping. He looked around desperately. The four policemen were still struggling to subdue the man. He still had permission to sedate him but he put the man completely out of his mind. He was not in a life threatening situation as Kelly well could be. He had never in his life left a patent in his care unless said patient was turned over to the proper medical authorities. To do so broke every rule in the book. He tried to rationalize his behavior but he could not. He was pretty sure that his career was over but he couldn't worry about that either as Kelly's pulse was slowing to nearly nothing. He began CPR and continued to administer it until Squad 51 pulled up. Gage and Brackett took over and DeSoto pulled him aside. He was gasping for breath from the exertion of performing chest compressions for so long.
"Let's take a look at that cut, huh?" Roy said pleasantly, in his best paramedic voice. He took him aside and treated and bandaged the cut that was over his eye. Brice seemed a million miles away as he sat silently with his glasses in his hand.
"I killed her, DeSoto," he whispered in a small voice.
Roy looked over to the place where Johnny and Brackett worked on Cassie. They were not going for the defribulator. Brice had not been able to set up the EKG machine as Johnny had so maybe things were not as dire as Brice had thought.
An ambulance arrived and Johnny and Brackett took her in. Roy asked one of the cops to drive Squad 18 to Rampart and he had Brice ride with him. Brice was completely rattled.
On the way in he said. "I - I made a mistake."
"We all make mistakes, Brice," Roy told him.
"I don't. I don't tolerate mistakes," Brice stated flatly.
Roy remembered all too well the times he'd had to work with Mr. Perfect. He had heard the drama unfold over the radio. Despite Brice's instance on following every rule to the letter he had really screwed up.
"I- I don't know what happened," Brice admitted. "The rules clearly state ---"
"Brice! Sometimes the situation dictates that you play it by ear a little."
"DeSoto the rules are there for our protection. If we follow them----"
Roy had had all of Brice's opinion that he could take. "Brice, the bottom line is, you didn't respond properly to the situation you were in and your partner was injured. You can't rationalize that away. You have to accept responsibility for it and try to learn from it."
Brice blinked in surprise. "I responded the way the book says----"
"Your partner asked for your help and you didn't give it. You're the senior partner. The safety of the team is in your hands. You screwed up, Brice. That's all there is to it," Roy said shortly as he backed in beside the ambulance. He regretted it immediately. Brice had his glasses in one hand and the other hand over his eyes. Roy thought he might actually be crying.
"Look, I'm sorry, Brice. I didn't mean for it to come out that way."
"You're sorry? I'm the flaming asshole that killed Kelly's sister!"
Roy couldn't help but smile. That girl did know how to turn a phrase. He hadn't heard language like that since he was in the service. He gave Brice a minute to recover then he said, "Let's go see how she is."
Dixie was at the nurse's station and if looks could kill Brice would have been stretched out on the floor having a tag tied around his toe.
"How is she?" Roy asked.
"It looks like she 'll recover. Brice, Dr. Brackett would like to talk to you. Go wait in his office."
Brice turned and went down to Brackett's office without a word.
"She's going to be okay?" Roy wanted to be sure.
"She's going to have a nice long nap on fire department time, but yeah she will recover. She got medical help in time. Brice, on the other hand, may not see the sun rise in the morning."
"He feels pretty bad about this," Roy told her.
"Not as bad as he's going to -- when Kel and Captain Tacy get finished with him. To say nothing of Chet, I would say," Dixie said smugly.
"Oh jeez, Chet!" Johnny said as he joined them at the nurses' station. "Have you called him?"
"I thought it might be better if you guys explained it all to him," she told them.
"Yeah," Johnny agreed nervously, running his hand through his hair. "Man, I'm not looking forward to this. I mean it was such a freak accident."
"Typical full moon stuff, Junior. Just wait, the day is young yet."
"I don't believe you, Roy. I mean just because the moon is full-----"
"Believe it, Pal. Craig Brice making a mistake!! How often does that happen?"
They continued to argue all the way back to the station.
When they got back to the station the cap called them into his office. "What the heck happened? I heard you guys radio in that you were responding to 18's incident and then call an ambulance for a code-I."
"Brice, that's what happened. He'll be lucky if they don't yank his licence," Johnny spat angrily.
"Brice -- at Station 18?" The cap was confused.
"He was filling in for half a day and the jerk managed to stick an IV with 20 mgs of Valium into his partner instead of the victim," Johnny still fumed.
"WHAT?!!" The cap couldn't believe it.
"It was an accident," Roy explained. "The victim was thrashing around."
"Don't take his side. I gotta tell you, Roy, you ever did that to me I'd write your ass up for it."
They both blinked at Johnny in surprise. They had rarely ever seen him this angry and upset.
"I would," he insisted. "I ever ask for your help and you pull rank and go by the book like he did and I'd see every charge in the book was leveled at you. And I sure hope Brice gets everything he has coming to him."
"Is the other paramedic all right?" Cap asked. He knew he wasn't as knowledgeable as they were about the effects or dosage for Valium but he could tell by their reactions that it was serious.
"I guess that she will be but she could have been killed due to his carelessness. Cap, ah -- Chet didn't hear the call did he?" Johnny asked nervously.
So that was why Johnny was so mad. "It was Chet's sister?" he asked.
"Yeah. They thought it would be better if we told him in person rather than have him hear it on the phone," Roy said quietly.
"She's going to be okay?" The cap wanted to be sure.
"It never should have happened," Johnny sputtered.
"John, you calm down right now. If you are all worked up we are never going to convince Chet that there is nothing to worry about. Chet's working on the hose tower. You wanna go get him, Roy?"
Johnny knew that the Cap was right. Maybe he was a sexist, but it went against his grain to let a woman struggle and not help her. Maybe it wasn't even the fact that it was a woman maybe it was the fact that one partner had asked for help and the other had been unwilling to give it.
When Roy and Chet came into the office Johnny jumped up giving Chet the chair. Chet looked from one to the other of them. "All right, what's up?" he tried to ask cavalierly but the nervousness in his voice was unmistakable.
"Chet - um - Brice is working with Cassie today," Johnny began. He was groping for words, unsure where to begin.
"What?!" Chet laughed "The walking rule book and the girl who believes that rules are there as a personal challenge for her to find a way around?!" He stopped laughing and became more serious when they did not join in.
"Chet, everything is all right but there has been a little accident," Roy took up the story.
Chet visible paled. "My God! How badly did she hurt him? What kind of law suit might we be looking at?"
The other three briefly smiled and Roy continued, "It was nothing like that. They were struggling with an agitated patient that they had been authorized to administer a sedative to and well, in the course of the struggle, Cassie was accidentally given the shot instead."
"WHAT??!!!!"
"She's all right, Chet," Johnny assured him. "She's just going to take a little nap on Fire Department time. If it makes you feel any better she called Brice a dickless wonder right before she - ah --nodded off."
Chet smiled but they knew it was forced.
"Look, Pal, if you wanna call the hospital and check on her go ahead and use the phone in here," Cap offered.
"Yeah, I think I will," Chet tried to sound blasé. Roy gave him the number of the second line at the nurses' station and they stepped outside the office. Roy and the Cap headed for the coffee pot. Johnny wandered over to the back door and took a breath of fresh air. He was startled when he turned around to see both Mike and Marco standing right behind him.
"What's going on?" Marco demanded, looking shocked. "Is Chet in some kind of trouble?"
"No, Chet's not," Johnny said. "But Brice sure as hell is."
"Brice?!" Mike's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"Yeah, the jerk damn near killed Cassie Kelly -- don't tell Chet. She's going to be okay so there's no point in upsetting him."
"What happened?" Marco gasped.
"He let her tussle with a psycho while he called Rampart then he managed to inject the drug into her instead of the victim. I hope they throw the book at that jerk," Johnny muttered angrily and walked outside to his car. It was a sure sign he wanted to be left alone.
Mike and Marco exchanged glances. Brice in trouble? Must be the full moon.
Working at Station 51 was like walking on eggshells for a while. Between Roy's funk, Johnny's anger and Chet being quiet and distant, the other guys were going up the walls. They were delighted when the alarm sounded sending them to the construction site of an on ramp for a ‘man trapped' call.
Roy pulled the squad up as close as he could to the cluster of men that pinpointed where the victim had to be. The engine had to park farther away. Roy and Johnny pushed through the crowd carrying their primary response equipment.
"What seems to be the problem here?" Roy asked in a businesslike voice.
"I don't believe it!" Johnny gasped.
Roy followed his partner's line of vision. The construction workers were crowded around one man who was up to his ankles in a dried cement, stuck fast.
"What's going on here?" the Cap demanded as he and the others arrived on the scene.
"Seems ol' Hanson here, really did it this time," the foreman said with disgust. "The old rumdum is always sneaking off and falling asleep on the job. If he wasn't the boss' brother-in-law, his ass would have been canned years ago. The jerk managed to fall asleep near this quick drying concrete. Stuck his stupid feet right into it and now look at him. The state is really gonna love tearing up six feet of finished highway to get him out. We are already way behind schedule and over budget."
"Jake, I still say we just cut out a square foot or so and then dump him in the river like they did in the gangster movies," one of the construction workers joked.
"Don't tempt me. You fellas think you can get him out? My guys'll help you in any way they can."
Eventually Hanson was cut loose and Roy rode into Rampart with him since they had started an IV on him to keep him stable while he was being cut loose.
The construction site was not an easy place to back out of, so the rock-laden dump truck that was parked in front of the squad had to be moved. Unfortunately that was Hanson's truck and he parked it as haphazardly as he did everything else. The truck was in a deep rut and it had to be rocked to get it free. The quick, jerky backwards and forwards motion destabilized the load and a dozen football size rocks rained down onto the squad's hood. A softball sized one careened across the hood and hit the windshield spiderwebbing it.
Johnny and the Cap surveyed the damage.
"Needs a new windshield, Pal. You'll have to take it down to the garage," the Cap told him.
"Oh man, Charlie is going to pitch a fit about this," Johnny said mournfully.
"Don't feel so bad, Gage, I hear Charlie's got himself a new assistant -- a female assistant," Chet told him.
"Oh yeah? A woman mechanic?" Johnny brightened.
"Hey, get with it, John. It's the 70s. Women can do anything now," Marco said.
"I know that. Did I ever say they couldn't. So, what does this new assistant look like, Chet?" Johnny asked.
"I don't know but I hear she's really something else. Her name is Melody," Chet made the name sound as musical as possible.
"Melody," Johnny repeated dreamily as he got into the squad and drove off.
"He's in love already," Marco said shaking his head.
"Glad something normal is happening today," the Cap said as he notified LA of the situation with the squad. Then the engine headed back to quarters.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Johnny glanced in the rearview mirror and smoothed down his hair before stepping out of the squad at the garage. He looked around and saw what he assumed to be Charlie bent over the engine of a chief's car. Good, he thought, fixing the chief's car will be a high priority requiring the head guy's attention. That leaves Melody to me.
He continued to glance around. He was about to call out for some attention when suddenly a shrill voice called out behind him.
"What in the world have you done to that poor squad?!"
He turned around to face the angry, accusatory voice. There was a woman in those mechanic's coveralls but any hopes Johnny may have had about spending a pleasant afternoon making a new friend seemed to be dashed by the sheer animosity he felt from her. She was so angry that he swore he could see steam coming out of her ears. "I- I didn't do anything....." he stumbled on his words and took a step a backward as she approached. She paid no attention at all to him, in fact she brushed past him so forcefully that she nearly knocked him off his feet.
"Oh, look at this-- look at this!!" She was distraught to see the condition of the squad.
"There was this dump truck, see," Johnny spoke quickly, "And it started dropping these huge rocks, boulders actually..."
"Oh, you poor baby."
Johnny grinned to himself. He figured he had her sympathy now and that was a first step.
"The fact of the matter is, I barely escaped with my life," he continued as she closely examined the damage done by the rocks. He was unprepared for her to straighten back up and hit him with a glare so full of hate that it seemed to bore right through him.
"This is your fault!" she declared. "How could you let such a thing happen?!"
"What did you want me to do jump in there and throw my body across the hood to protect it?!! It's just a truck, you know!"
"Just a truck??!!! Just a truck," she shrilled. He heard her say it twice. If she said it another time it was in an octave only dogs could hear. She shook with fury by this time. "Do you have any idea how important these squads are? And there are only a few of them. Now this one will be out of service for repairs!" She picked up a clipboard and began making a check list of all the repairs the squad would need.
"Oh, you would have preferred that the paramedic be out of service for repairs?!!" He could not believe this girl's attitude. She was worse that Charlie ever thought of being.
"Well, there's lots of paramedics," she said off-handedly, not paying much attention to him.
Johnny stood there sputtering. He could not even form any intelligible words. He didn't see Squad 18 pull into the garage or Roy get out of it.
Roy walked up to Johnny but he just stood there muttering under his breath in something that Roy did not recognize as English. His attention was then caught by the squad.
"Holy Cow," he said as he saw the cracked windshield and the deep dents in the hood where the rocks had hit it. The paint was even gone in places. "You think you'll be able to fix all that, Miss..."
"Melody," the girl suddenly smiled sweetly as she stared into Roy's clear blue eyes.
Johnny blinked in disbelief. What the hell was going on? This had been the reaction he had wanted from the new mechanic's assistant and where the heck was the shrew who had thought the squad more important than he was?
Roy smiled back. "Nice to meet you, Melody. I'm Roy DeSoto."
"Hello, Roy."
Johnny nearly tore something in his throat he cleared it so loud to get Roy's attention. Finally Roy got the message. "Oh and this is -----"
"The idiot responsible for this devastation," Melody spat.
"Hey, now wait a darn minute here ---" Johnny was hot but he was interrupted by the HT Roy was carrying.
"Engine 51 Squad 18 TA, 1400 block of Patterson. Truck overturned at the 405 off-ramp."
"That's us, Junior. Squad 18 won't have any paramedics till 8 PM, hopefully we'll have our own Squad back by then," he said glancing at Melody hopefully.
"You can count on it, Roy," she gushed.
"Thanks - ah - well we gotta run. See ya later."
"Sure thing, Roy. Oh and, Roy, don't let him drive. We can't afford to have another squad out of service."
"Oh, now wait a minute here ----"
Roy grabbed Johnny and tugged him toward Squad 18.
Once they were inside, Johnny exploded, "If we hadn't a got a run I would have given her a piece of my mind."
"I know you would," Roy said agreeably.
"I mean, where --"
At the gate they had to slow down to negotiate around Engine 36 which was limping through the gate at the same time. The engineer looked down into the cab of the squad and said in a loud voice, "Man, they sure got some ugly broads over there at 18s these days!"
Roy just hit the lights and sirens and pulled away before Johnny could get into an argument with the Engineer, whom Roy happened to know was a former linebacker. The siren drowned Johnny out completely, much to Roy's delight.
Once they got to the traffic back-up, Roy reluctantly killed the siren but kept the emergency lights on as he threaded his way through the gridlocked cars as best he could.
"Hey, Roy," Johnny suddenly said with near panic in his voice. "This doesn't mean we have to work out of 18's till tonight does it?"
"No. This squad is reassigned to 51 till then. I just dropped Brice off there to pick up his gear and I would not want to be within arm's length of Captain Tacy right now myself. I wasn't 100% sure it was safe to leave Brice there, to tell you the truth."
"What's going to happen to Brice anyway?"
"Rumors are flying. He's been relieved pending further investigation but the tapes are pretty damaging evidence. I think they are waiting for Cassie to wake up to get her statement but he's probably looking at suspension at the very least," Roy explained.
"Well, he deserves it. They ought to yank his paramedic license is what they ought to do," Johnny snorted.
"That is an option that is also on the table."
"Really?!!" Johnny had been kidding when he suggested it. That was a very serious move. It had never happened in the whole history of the program.
"Guess the whole thing will go before the review board."
"Man, what did Brice have to say?"
"He never said a word the whole way to Station 18. It was almost like he was in shock about the whole thing. I don't think he's ever been in any trouble in his whole life."
"He picked a fine way to start," Johnny scoffed.
"It's the full moon, Johnny. I'm telling you. Everything is going to be weird today."
"You're nuts," Johnny muttered but thinking the day over, he wondered if Roy might not actually have something there. It was only a little after 3 PM. The shift had a long way to go yet.
As they finally pulled up to the accident Vince Howard waved them through and pointed to the best place to park the squad. They both had to look twice at the veteran cop. Tears were streaming freely down the man's cheeks. This had to be a bad one to have affected him that way. They both sobered. It took them a few minutes to unlock the bay doors and find the equipment they needed.
They approached the back of Engine 51. Mike stood leaning against the back of the engine wiping his eyes. He looked up at them through teary eyes and pointed toward the overturned truck. It had apparently careened off the off ramp and rolled several times down the grassy slope dumping its cargo as it went.
There seemed to be no other cars involved and yet every onlooker that they saw was also weeping. They went past both Chet and Marco who were making judicious use of their handkerchiefs. Whoever was in the truck had to be in really bad shape to have trained emergency responders breaking down like this. They found Captain Stanley.
"Cap, where's the victim?" Roy asked.
"What victim?" Stanley turned around to face them. Tears were streaming down his face also. "The truckdriver was the only one involved and believe me he was feeling no pain when they hauled him out of here to the drunk tank. Not a scratch on him, naturally."
"Well, then how come......" Johnny started to ask but a sudden burning in his eyes stopped him. He looked at Roy. Tears were now rolling down Roy's cheeks as well. He looked back toward the overturned truck and the hundreds of red net bags it had spilled on the hillside and then flattened by rolling over.
"Onions," Roy declared. "A truckload of onions."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Brice could feel the hatred of the other women at Station 18 as he retrieved his things from the temporary locker he had been assigned. They had given him some privacy as he changed back into his street clothes but now the entire engine company stood across the locker room and glared at him. He had just come out of Captain Tacy's office where she had chewed him out royally. She had told him that she was placing a Captain's Reprimand into his record. Not that any of that mattered very much if he was fired.
The session with Tacy was much like the one he'd endured earlier at the hospital with Dr Brackett where they replayed the tape of the incident. Brackett had been furious and there seemed little doubt that he would testify to the review board that Brice's actions had nearly caused the death of a fellow firefighter and that he would recommend dismissal from the paramedic program, maybe from the Department itself.
It was enough to make Brice's head spin. He had never been in any kind of trouble in his life. He had never so much as walked on grass that had signs against it. He always followed every rule. He always did everything right. He had never wanted to be in the position of having anyone in authority in any way displeased with him. He had plans to advance in the Department first to Captain then on to Battalion Chief and as far as he could get. Now his plans were in jeopardy. His very job was in jeopardy.
He had just been raked over the coals by two people who were very good at it. So why didn't he feel as devastated as he should? Why was he not going to drive as far away from all this as he could get when he left the Station? Why was he going back to Rampart where the people would glare at him with as much hatred as these women were doing? Why was he going to plant himself outside Kelly's room till she woke up? Because apologizing to her was the right thing to do and that was exactly what he was going to do. That's why. Beyond that he had no thoughts or plans. He'd think about a new career later.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Cassie thought she heard her name being called. She tried to move toward the sound but she felt like she was trying to walk through neck-deep water. It wasn't wet but her body seemed heavy and did not respond properly.
"Come on, Cassie. Time to wake up now."
It took a while to remember how to open her eyes but she finally did. Nothing came into focus right away. It was like looking into a kaleidoscope but the colors were not vibrant. White was the predominant color that swam before her eyes.
"Cassie, are you all right?"
Finally a shape coalesced in front of her eyes and she smelled Dixie's perfume. "Dixie?" Her mouth felt dry and her tongue felt thick and unresponsive.
"Yes, it's me," Dixie smiled. "You're here at Rampart. How are you feeling?"
"Like I fell out of my body and I haven't gotten it back on quite right."
Dixie smiled. "Do you remember what happened?"
"I - I don't know how I got here."
"Well you were asleep by then. Do you remember what happened this morning, with Brice?"
"You mean King Anal?"
Dixie forced herself to remain serious. "On the run."
She thought for a minute. "Yeah, I remember."
"If you feel up to it, Dr Brackett would like to ask you some questions about the run."
"Okay."
Dixie sat the bed up a little and gave her a drink of juice after she called down to Dr Brackett's office to tell him that Cassie was awake.
By the time Dr Brackett arrived in the room, Cassie felt a little less groggy but her body still felt as limp as a rag doll's.
"Well, don't tell me you're finally awake," Brackett smiled.
"I can't believe I slept all day."
"I wouldn't have been surprised if you had slept through until tomorrow with the amount of Valium you have in your system. That's what I wanted to talk to you about."
"You're not going to tell me I'll never get the feeling back in my arms and legs, are you, Doc?"
"No. Nothing like that. Once the drug wears off completely you'll be good as new. The grogginess and weakness you're feeling now is only temporary. I want to talk about how that drug got into your system in the first place. About how a supposedly trained paramedic administered a potentially lethal dose of a strong drug to you," Brackett's voice shook with the rage he still felt about the incident.
"It was an accident," Cassie said simply.
"What?!"
"The guy got a hand loose and clobbered Brice. I know Brice was bleeding but I had my hands full and then the victim almost broke completely free. When Brice tried to sedate him, he moved at the last minute and I got jabbed instead. You can't possibly believe that Brice was anything but careful. I was ready to shoot him he was being so damn careful," she explained.
Brackett looked like the wind had just been taken out of his sails. He had heard the tapes. He fully believed that Brice was guilty of an error in judgment by not assisting with the restraining of the patient even though the recommendation is usually to sedate such a patient as soon as possible. But if the medication was given after the paramedic had been struck and in the course of a tussle such as Cassie described, Brice was not guilty of the careless administering of a dangerous narcotic, as he had assumed.
"You're absolutely sure about this?"
"Do bears shit in the woods? Of course I'm sure. Didn't Brice tell you what happened?"
"He - ah- he hasn't had much to say in his own behalf and I was ready to go to the review board about it."
"The review board? I thought that was for a big deal thing that you could get canned over."
"Lethally overdosing your partner is a big deal thing," Brackett told her. "Not something a good paramedic would do."
"I'm not dead, am I? A good paramedic must have kept me alive. It's easy for people not in the field to sit on their fat asses and second guess somebody but you weren't there so you don't know what it was really like. You wanna go to the review board -- you ask them why they didn't roll an engine on the call too? We could have used more manpower. I'm sure Brice could tell you which rule it is exactly, but an engine is supposed to roll on our calls too but in a cost cutting measure, they don't always send an engine on medical calls. That's a battle I might fight with you. You want me to sign a statement saying Brice is a pain in the ass I'll sign it but if you are trying to say that he carelessly administered medication, I'll fight you tooth and nail about that. It was an accident, plain and simple. Shit happens, that's all."
Dixie had to force herself to stare at the wall. If she had to look at the expression on Kel Brackett's face she was sure that she would burst out laughing.
"I see," Brackett said stiffly. "All right. I guess that is all I need to finish up the paperwork on this incident. Nurse McCall, why don't you see if you can find the patient something to eat. If you'll excuse me." With that he left.
"Would you like something to eat, Cassie?"
"No thanks. This foot I seem to have in my mouth is fine," Cassie said once Brackett was well out of earshot then they both laughed. Dixie thought it did the Head of Emergency Medicine good to be taken down a peg or two from time to time. They talked for a while and Dixie filled Cassie in on what had happened on the run after she had passed out.
"Well, there are a few people hanging around out there to see you. You feel up to any visitors?"
"Why not?"
"Brice has been waiting the longest."
"Brice?! Don't tell me I didn't pass out according to procedure. Sure, send him in. As I recall, I'm not finished yelling at him anyway."
Brice sat in a small waiting area near the floor nurses' station. He was once more watching the fat man in the hospital gown walk up and down the hall pushing his IV stand and asking everyone he saw if they had a cigarette he could borrow. Brice had read the 5 month old copy of Time Magazine he held three times. He wasn't even pretending to read it now. Dr Brackett had just told him that there would be no review board hearing and he would recommend to the County that he be completely re-instated. Then Nurse McCall told him that he could go into the room now. He forced himself to get up and march into the room even though he had no idea what to expect.
He walked up to the bed. "Ah, Kelly," he stammered. "I wish to apologize for causing you to be injured. There is no excuse for it and I am truly sorry that it happened."
"It was just an accident, Brice."
"But accidents do not just happen. Someone or something causes them. In this case, I caused it."
"You didn't cause the accident to happen. If anyone caused it, it was the guy we were trying to help," she told him.
"Well, he's not to blame. He was not in a lucid state of mind at the time of the incident."
"And what state of mind were you in?" she asked staring in right in the eye.
"I beg your pardon?"
"You. You ran away and hid behind the rule book. Why is that?"
"I - ah I always follow the rules!"
"You always hide behind the rules. What are you afraid of?"
"Afraid? Who says I'm afraid of anything?"
"You do. The way you act. You're like the kid who stands at the edge of the pool while everyone else is splashing around having a good time. You're afraid to join in so you point at the 'no swimming' sign."
"I suppose it's wiser to jump head first into untried water?"
"Not head first, Brice, feet first is fine, but get in there."
"It is possible that the rest of the people in there splashing around, don't want anyone else jumping in."
"So the hell what? You know any firemen who wanted women in the dept? I sure don't, but the point is we wanted to come in so we came in. Anybody that don't like it can get the hell out of the pool."
"And you have no fear of drowning?" Brice continued the metaphor.
"Nope. I didn't drown today. You saved me. Nobody's gonna let you drown either. So stop being such a damn prick and join the human race, huh? Maybe there's some kind of 12 step program you can join. You know, ‘Hello, I'm Craig Brice and I'm Anal' --ut ut I saw that, Brice. You almost smiled. "
"Well, I am allowing for the fact that the drug is undoubtably still in your bloodstream to explain your behavior," he said trying to maintain his distant attitude.
"I know you're in there, Brice. Drop the facade and talk to me," she said. She stared at him till he visibly squirmed under her scrutiny.
Finally he seemed to relax his guard a bit. "Believe it or not, Kelly, this has been one shitty day," he sighed honestly. "Look some of your friends are waiting so I'd better be going ---"
"Tell them to come in, but I want you to come back."
"That would make three of us and you're only allowed two visitors."
"It that a rule?"
"Yes. It's clearly stated in a sign by the nurses' station."
"Good. You own me, Brice and I'm going to collect. I'm going to make you break a rule."
Pidge and KJ had been waiting to see Cassie. They were both now scheduled to report to Station 18 at 8 PM. They had both been told by Captain Tacy what happened.
Pidge did nothing to hide the animosity she felt toward Brice. "What's he doing here?" she asked icily.
"He's learning how to break the rules."
"Well, he certainly picked an excellent teacher," KJ laughed.
"What's that crack supposed to mean? If he wants to learn about getting caught in cave-ins I'll send him to you," she teased back. "Now what did you guys bring me?"
"I picked up your things from the station," Pidge told her.
"Is that all? No candy or anything. I'm starving. I need some Chinese food."
"Girl, is that the only kind of food you eat?" Pidge complained.
"I like it -- if I call, will you guys go get it?"
"I don't usually call for Chinese take out I just go get it. That way I can point to what I want on the menu," KJ said. "Sometimes there's sort of a language problem on the phone."
"Not for her. She orders in Chinese," Pidge said with mock contempt.
"Dial the phone for me, willya, Auntie Pidge. I still can't feel my fingers," she batted her eyes at her partner to annoy her.
"It's gonna be such a pleasure working with a nice normal girl like KJ tonight," Pidge stated.
Once the food was ordered Brice volunteered to go get it and to pay for it. After he left, Pidge commented on his behavior.
"A little trick about men I learned from my brothers. Guilt translates directly into slave labor."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Station 51 was just sitting down to dinner. Johnny was hoping he could trust his partner to keep his mouth shut about a little incident that had happened on the way back from the overturned truck run. He knew that Captain Tacy was a stickler about keeping up the log book and since this was a run that Squad 18 had gone on they would have to log it. He opened up the glove box to get the log. He was wondering how he was going to write the whole onion incident up without making them sound like a bunch of wimps. That was what his mind was on as he fished around for a pen once he'd removed the logbook. His hand closed around something shaped like a pen and he pulled it out into the light.
"What the heck kind of pen is this?"
"Ah, Johnny, that's a tampon," Roy had managed to say before he almost drove off the road laughing. Johnny never dropped anything so fast.
There were some "girl things" he didn't want to know anything about. He was delighted when Squad 51 was returned to Station 51 and Squad 18 was taken back where it belonged.
"Station 51 unknown type rescue at Mattress Universe 1521 Crestview Blvd. 1-5-2-1 Crestview Blvd. Time out 17:45"
"Always at dinner time," Chet griped as they all ran for the apparatus bay. "Couldn't the world just take from 5:30 - 6:30 off so we could eat -- just once?"
In a market as competitive as Southern California, some stores felt they needed an extra gimmick to lure customers in. Mattress Universe's gimmick was a large telescope set up near the roof of their three story warehouse-type store. A grand staircase led to the area of the telescope. The third floor was little more that a large balcony from which the entire selling floor, two stories below, could be seen. It was hoped that the lines that waited to see the view of the heavens would spot a bargain they could not resist among the stacks of mattresses and displays they had a bird's eye view of. From the signs posted everywhere, it was evident that Mattress Universe was in the midst of a "Full Moon Sale".
The dinner hour was a slow time in retail, for which the store manager was very thankful as he met the Fire Department at the front door. "Thank God you guys got here so quick. I didn't know who else to call."
"What seems to be the problem?" Captain Stanley asked.
"You're not going to believe it. Well, maybe you will, in your line of work and all. Boy, the full moon sure brings ‘um out of the woodwork doesn't it?" the man babbled on as he mounted the staircase. They all followed and Roy poked Johnny in the ribs. He didn't have to say anything, it was as if the words ‘I told you so' were emblazoned across Roy's forehead.
When they got to the top of the stairs, Stanley asked once more," What is going on here?"
They were walking toward the large telescope. Three steps led up to the eyepiece. A thin, bald man sat on the steps. He stared into space and didn't seem to be aware of anyone around him.
"Is he the problem?" Stanley asked with disbelief.
"Yeah," the manager admitted. "We always thought he was just a harmless kook. He comes in quite a bit, never buys anything but he's fascinated by the telescope. He'll talk you ear off about planets and asteroids and god knows what. We figured he must have been some kind of scientist at some time or other but like maybe he broke under the strain or something. But other than boring my staff to tears he never did anything real wacky -- till now. He looked through the telescope and started yelling about it being a full moon and we should all get away from him and run for our lives since he didn't know what he might do. I didn't want to call the cops on the old fool so I figured maybe you guys could take him to a hospital and get him some help."
Cap looked at Roy.
"How long has he been sitting there like that?" Roy asked.
"Ever since he had his initial outburst. Ten - fifteen minutes. I called you guys right away," the manager explained.
"Ah sir, are you feeling all right?" Roy asked approaching the man calmly.
The man paid no attention. Roy passed his hand in front of the man's face but the man did not react at all.
"Is he catatonic?" Johnny asked coming up on the other side of him.
"Cat?!!" the man roared suddenly. "I'm not a cat, you fools. I'm a werewolf!!"
"A werewolf?" Johnny repeated trying to maintain a professional decorum. "Well, how do you do? I'm John Gage and this is my partner Roy DeSoto. Would you mind if we checked you over?"
"Won't do a bit of good. Won't change anything. You got a gun in that box you're carrying?"
"Oh, no sir. We are firemen. Firemen don't carry guns," Roy assured him.
"That's too bad. You're going to need one. A silver bullet. That's the only way to stop me, you know."
Roy and Johnny exchanged glances but the man seemed co-operative enough so they started getting some vitals.
The rest of the engine company hung back so their presence did not set the man off.
"Maybe they should have called Animal Control," Marco whispered to Chet.
"He's not a real werewolf," Chet hissed back. "He's way too bald."
Suddenly the man jumped to his feet. Roy and Johnny had been squatting in front of him to work on him. He knocked them both on their cans and seemed to leap over to the alcove that Chet, Marco and Mike occupied. It was such a quick move that no one could react fast enough to stop him.
"I heard that," he snarled at Chet. "We werewolves have excellent hearing."
"Er, I didn't mean anything," Chet was sweating visibly, at the furious little man who stood in front of him. The man looked almost frail and he was at least a half a foot shorter than Chet but there was something feral in his eyes that gave the three cornered firemen the creeps. "It's just that in the movies, werewolves are, you know, hairy -- all over."
"The movies!! The movies are the bane of our existence. No one asks to be a werewolf, it just happens. All it takes is one bite or even a scratch from an infected person and you've got it. Does modern science try to help us? No, not one bit! I've been treating myself. I've spent weeks in the lab. I've managed to relieve some of the symptoms, like the uncontrolled hair growth but the rest of it -- is still there. I was so sure that I had cured it but when I looked through the telescope and saw the moon, I knew I had been fooling myself. When the moon fully rises tonight, I'll kill."
The last two words gave the firemen the chills. The man was so certain, so resigned to his fate that they almost believed him.
While this interchange was going on, Roy had called Rampart. It was all over the hospital that a psychotic patient call had put one paramedic in the hospital today so Dr Morton was taking no chances. He ordered sedation for the patient and told Roy to exercise the utmost caution when approaching the man.
Johnny signaled Chet to keep the man occupied while he and Roy came up behind him. They were still eight feet away when the small man suddenly grabbed Mike Stoker by the throat lifting him off the ground completely and spinning around to face Roy and Johnny. "Get back" he hissed in a voice that didn't sound all together human.
"Okay, okay, man, we're backing off," Johnny assured the crazed man. "Just put him down, okay?"
Roy, Johnny, Marco and Chet all backed away from the man as a show of good faith. Mike struggled to pull the man's hand away from his throat and his legs kicked wildly. He was held six inches off the floor.
An evil grin appeared on the man's face. "I'll put him down all right," he suddenly laughed. He tossed Mike away over the railing. Mike screamed as he fell backwards into thin air.
"MIKE!!!!" they all screamed as he disappeared from sight. The madman watched him fall. While his gaze was diverted Roy and Johnny charged him.
"Kelly, Lopez, help them. I'll check on Mike," the captain told them as he rushed to the stairs. He knew Mike had been tossed into an abyss two stories below them. He knew his chances were not good but, as the captain, it was his responsibility to make that gruesome discovery. I hate being the captain, he thought grimly as he descended the stairs. He was almost afraid to look over the railing as he made his way to the ground level. He saw the few salespeople who were in the store running toward a stack of mattresses that was near where he estimated Mike would have landed. He ran in that direction too. Someone had already procured a step ladder. He automatically pushed his way to the front of the small knot of people and mounted the ladder climbing it two steps at a time. He tried to steel himself to see Mike's broken body at the top of the pile of mattresses, but he was not at all prepared for what he saw. Mike was not bent and twisted as he expected him to be. In fact, he looked quite comfortable as he stretched out on the mattress and gazed lovingly at the life-size cardboard cut out of Farrah Fawcett, who was a spokeswoman for one of the mattress companies.
"Stoker, what the hell are you doing?"
"Oh hi, Cap?" The disappointment was obvious in Stoker's voice.
"Is that all you have to say? I was sure you'd been killed!"
"Me too. I found myself in bed with Farrah Fawcett and I figured it was Heaven."
"Are you hurt?" The cap fought for control.
"No. I'm okay."
"Well, kiss Farrah goodbye then get down here, ya twit!" The cap shook his head as he backed down the ladder. Mike reluctantly followed. Farrah, notwithstanding, Mike decided that on the next call he was going to stay with the engine.
By the time they got back upstairs the man was peacefully sleeping but all four firemen looked like they had been through the battle of a lifetime.
"We've got an ambulance on the way for the werewolf, Cap?" Johnny panted. "You okay, Mike? Man, I didn't know you could fly."
"I got caught by an Angel," Mike said simply.
"Yeah, one of Charlie's Angels," the cap scoffed quietly to Johnny and Roy. "Look, when the ambulance comes I want you both to ride in with this fruit cake."
"Oh I think he's safely asleep, Cap. You don't have anything to worry about from him," Roy assured him.
"I'm not worried about him. I want to give Chet a chance to follow you in the squad so he can check on his sister and quit tying up my phone. I'm sure whoever has to put up with his calls at Rampart would appreciate it."
"Gee, Cap I thought you were afraid that this guy would wake up and bite one of us and you'd have a werewolf workin' for you," Johnny laughed.
"John, if you don't get a haircut soon I will start thinking I have a werewolf working for me," Cap said as he headed back down the stairs. Damn full moon!!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When Brice returned with the food they were discussing Pidge's brother's condition. Like his sister, 19 year old James Pigeon was a runner. He was out running early one morning and he was hit by a hit and run driver. He was left with a severe spinal injury. Pidge had taken half a shift off to take him to see a specialist.
"So what did they say at Loma Linda?" Cassie asked as Brice doled out the food.
"Good news and bad news," Pidge sighed.
"What's the good news?" KJ asked.
"James' condition is such that he is a candidate for the experimental surgery."
"That's great!" Cassie said. "That's what you wanted to hear, isn't it?"
"Yeah. That's exactly what I wanted to hear. I'd do anything to get him out of that wheelchair."
"Well, what's the bad news?" KJ asked suspecting that she already knew the answer.
"It's going to cost $135,000."
"Ye-ouch," Cassie gasped "Well, we'll just find the money somewhere -- I know everyone would pitch in some. It's for a good cause."
"Yeah, but that's a hell of a lot of money and the window of opportunity on this surgery is not that long. It has to be done before the muscles and tissue have a chance to break down much farther," Pidge's voice caught. To have the solution to this problem so near and yet so far was the most frustrating thing she'd ever gone though.
"I think Kelly is right," Brice spoke up suddenly. "But this is too large a sum of money to depend on a simple collection. You need to organize a formal fundraiser or better yet a series of them."
"I wouldn't know where to begin," Pidge admitted.
"I would. I happen to enjoy organizing very much. I have a certain amount of experience along these lines. I have contacts in the banking industry and in the media. I have every confidence that we can raise the money for your brother's operation. I would be very happy to undertake the project if you would be willing to have me do it."
They all stared at him a minute.
"You'd be willing to do that?!" Pidge was shocked.
"Yes, I would. On the condition that you could curtail your partner's - ah - anatomical references."
Pidge looked at Cassie, "That might be a bigger challenge than coming up with the money."
Cassie made a face at them.
"We'll be willing to help you in any way we can, Craig," KJ told him sincerely.
Cassie just grinned and said quietly, "Splash."
Pidge and KJ looked at her oddly but Brice looked away, blushing slightly.
"Don't pay her any attention. The day she makes sense is the day to start worrying," Pidge assured them.
They were in the midst of planning the fundraising campaign when Chet and Johnny came to the door. Chet bristled when he saw Brice but Cassie's glare was enough to keep him from saying or doing anything stupid.
"What did you guys bring me?" Cassie teased.
"Bring you? Who says we brought you anything. We're here to check up on you since you've been gold bricking all day long," Chet insisted.
"Hey, speak for yourself there, Chet. I brought something," Johnny said taking a candy bar from his pocket. "A girl candy bar," he grinned.
"Thanks, Johnny. I hope the rest of you bums that showed up empty-handed take notice," Cassie teased.
"Hey, I seem to recall that Brice bought enough food feed half of China," Pidge argued. Brice had some really good ideas and she started to get her hopes up about the operation.
"The least he could do," Johnny said snidely.
"What's that crack supposed to mean?" Cassie asked him staring right in the eye.
"Let's just say that Roy and I just had a guy that needed sedating and neither of us injected the other one."
"And since you have Chet with you here, I have to assume that the engine company rolled on the call with you and you had help with the guy. Me and Brice where on the call alone. There was no one to help us so the two situations were completely different!"
"Typical Station 18 situation," KJ said sadly.
"What are you getting at, KJ?" Johnny asked.
"There are factions at headquarters that want the whole Station 18 experiment to fail so, whenever they can, they try to set us up. The safety of the public or least of all our own safety is not the top priority. The top priority is getting rid us and saying -- hey, we tried women in the fire department they just didn't work out," Cassie spat.
"Cassie, I don't really think---"
"No, Gage, she might well be right. There has been hostile opposition against any new group trying to infiltrate the good old boy ranks of many organizations -- be they women, blacks, hispanics, people with glasses -- we all have to try that much harder to prove we are as capable as the white males already ensconced in the position," Brice interrupted.
"And Indians, Brice -- don't count me among those ‘white males'," Johnny pointed out.
Soon all eyes fell on Chet who was poking around the food containers. "Hey, don't look at me. The Irish had to fight their way in too, once."
"Yeah," Cassie agreed. "And now you can't swing a dead cat around at any firestation in the country without hitting an Irishman so the rest of us are going to make it too!"
"Kelly, why in the world would any one swing a dead cat in a firestation?" Brice asked sincerely.
"Cause there's probably a rule against it, Brice, that's why. The point is, we're up for whatever they pull no matter how nasty. If Dixie hadn't sent in the cops that guy would have beat the snot out of Brice. Maybe killed him."
"That was why I wanted to sedate him. I'm used to working with Bellingham. When he sits on a patient they are seldom able to breathe much less break free."
"Well I think Brice will probably get a Chief's Citation," Chet said picking at some fried noodles. "I mean he shut Cassie up for -- how many hours was it?"
"It was not exactly a citation that Captain Tacy discussed," he said sadly.
"Oh, the old Captain's Reprimand speech, huh? I know it almost verbatim by this time. She was going to give me one once for wearing purple socks," Cassie put in.
"Uniform Dress code states----" Brice began.
"Have any of you had a victim stop you when you were on the brink of saving their lives and ask you what color socks you were wearing? Me either. I'm here to save lives not make a fashion statement. It's a stupid rule so I ignore it. I'll wear whatever color damn socks I chose!"
Johnny thought it imprudent to mention that she had been wearing red ones today so he joined Chet in poking at the food containers.
"If you guys are hungry, grab some food," Cassie invited.
"Hungry? We're starving," Chet grabbed a plate and a plastic fork and dug in. Johnny followed suit not completely sure what he was eating.
"Is this stuff Chinese spaghetti?" he asked.
"No, spaghetti is Italian lo-mein," Cassie told him. "Marco Polo brought it to Italy."
"Hey, sis, no lectures, huh? We've just come from a very harrowing rescue. The guy we had to subdue was a werewolf," Chet said around bites of an eggroll.
"A werewolf?" Brice asked skeptically.
"He said he was and he sure was strong, tossed Stoker down about four or five stories," Chet argued.
"Is Stoker all right?" KJ asked with concern.
"Yeah," Johnny laughed, "Farrah Fawcett caught him."
The others looked at him suspiciously.
"I think you guys are being affected by the full moon," Cassie laughed.
"Oh, full moon bologna! Tell ‘um, Brice -- this is nothing but a silly superstition," Johnny implored the only possibly logical person in the room.
"Actually, Gage, studies have shown that the instances of psychosis, criminal and other abnormal behavior greatly increase with the full moon. Police stations, emergency rooms and other public service organizations always increase staff due to -----"
"You guys are nuts! All of you!" Johnny vowed seriously. "There is nothing to this full moon stuff and you're not going to convince me that there is unless the full moon hits me right smack in the face," he stated heading for the door.
The fat man was still walking up and down the halls in search of a cigarette. He was right outside Cassie's door when he thought he spotted a perfectly good cigarette butt on the floor. He had his back to the room and he bent down to get it. Two things then happened simultaneously, the back of his hospital gown came opened revealing his backside completely and Johnny had to stop so short that he very nearly stumbled into the man. He recovered quickly, spun around and came back into the room. He closed the door and leaned heavily against it.
"If that's not a full moon hitting you smack in the face, Gage, I don't know what is," Chet laughed.
Johnny looked around the room. They were all laughing, even Brice. He thought back over the day. Between freak accidents at the station, chicks with apparent automotive fetishes, overturned onion trucks and werewolves it had to go down as one of the weirdest shifts he'd worked in a while. Maybe there was something to this, after all. It was just barely 7PM. There was a lot of time left on their shift and all of it would be under the full moon.
"I surrender," he said in a defeated tone. "Come on, Chet. Let's go back to the station and help Roy hide under the bed."
