Looking for the Light
By GentleSpirit
The conclusion
In the lounge…
Agent Lewis and Clark reviewed their evidence and they have concluded that with this information, the list of names Johnny retrieved will end the drug lord ring.
Agent Clark placed the gun Johnny used, in an envelope, to send to ballistic. If indeed this is the gun used to kill Red Feather, Johnny will be in the clear of all charges. Claiming self defense and protecting the officers who were trapped with Gary handcuffed to them.
Agent Lewis finished his report and spoke.
"Let's find Lisa and reunite her with her cousin. How's Johnny doing?"
"Last I saw, he was in the exam room. Doctor Early reported that his shoulder was grazed and not penetrated. The second shot never broke skin and retrieved the bullet from the elbow of Johnny's jacket."
"Damn Clark, he has good instinct. He would have made one hell of a cop."
"Don't forget his uncle is a tribal police. It must run in the family."
Both men stood up preparing to leave, "Clark you've got the bullets used on Johnny?"
He patted his shirt pocket, "Yeah, right here."
"Good. The LA police department will need those for their officer's gun."
"Well, those cops have nothing to worry about. When Internal Affairs get through reading our reports, Pete and Vince will end up with commodations."
"Well Clark, they should be damn grateful that Johnny is a master marksman. If it was anyone else, the outcome could have been a lot worse for those cops."
"I agree Lewis. Let's go get Lisa and give her the news about Gary. Then we'll take her to Johnny."
The two men exited the lounge in search for Lisa.
In the morgue…
After Dixie read the inscription, she handed the photo back to Lisa.
"Johnny is here. He was notified that you were brought to this hospital. But no one on my staff has any report of you being treated. Did you come in as an alias?"
Lisa was stunned to hear this news.
"No. What I know is Johnny was kept under protective custody on his ranch. I was with Gary few miles up in the mountain in the cabin. His girlfriend, Blue Skye, noticed cop cars coming up the dirt road. She told Gary and he decided to beat the cops at their game. He grabbed me a dragged me into the pick up. He told Blue Skye to grab the guns and follow suit. I struggled with Gary to let me go but to no avail. Blue Skye got jealous and she pushed me down into the ravine. That's when agent Hampton found me and brought me to this hospital."
Dixie is beginning to get a clearer picture of what erupted in the emergency room.
"How did you get in without us knowing?"
"Agent Clark notified Doctor Bracket and said to meet me at the garage entrance of the hospital. Which Doctor Bracket did and brought me to the lab. He treated my wounds, which were minor scratches from the fall."
"Were you down here the whole time alone?"
Lisa stared at the photo once more before tucking it into her pocket.
"No. Agent Hampton stayed with me until we heard gunshots above us. He was concerned and hid me in this room. I found some scrubs to hide my identity. A short time later I heard a gurney being wheeled towards this room. So I took cover until they left."
Dixie wondered if Lisa was aware of who is lying on the cot a few feet behind her.
"When you came in, it was too late for me to hide. So I concealed my face and grabbed the chart off the counter, hoping you would not care why I'm in this room."
Dixie considered the trauma this woman went through earlier; it's amazing she can still think on her feet.
"And it didn't work. But be grateful it was me who found you and not him."
Lisa followed Dixie to the cot. She stared at the face, which for years traumatized the Firewalker's family.
Dixie watched Lisa as she stepped closer to the cot. She stared at Gary for a moment then asked Dixie, "How did this happen?"
"Remember the gunshots you've heard? That's when Gary was shot."
Lisa spoke to Gary in her native tongue. Dixie had no idea what was said except at the end she heard list of names. The names must be special as Dixie watched the tears streamed down Lisa's cheeks. When she finished, she spat onto Gary's face. She dried her tears when she realized something.
"Dixie where's Johnny. Was he involved with the shooting? I need to see him."
She'd tried to push through Dixie. But Dixie stopped Lisa from leaving.
"Lisa, wait! I've just went through this with Johnny not too long ago. He's fine. He's being treated for minor gunshot wounds. He was running a fever and we took blood sample to check for infections. That's why I'm here. You are truly Johnny's cousin."
"Johnny killed Gary?"
"Yes. He believed that Gary had killed you in a car chase."
"No. That was Blue Skye in the car. I have to go find Johnny now."
"Come on. I'll take you to him. He was pretty adamant about finding you before we could treat him. Doctor Early gave him a sedative to let him rest. This way it gave us time to figure out who you are and where you were, to give the answer that Johnny needed."
"Thank you Dixie. You must be some special lady to put up with a couple of stubborn 'Firewalkers'."
"So I have been told by a special guy."
Dixie and Lisa spoke no further as they ventured up to the emergency room.
Main hall of the emergency room…
Doctors Bracket and Early was in the hall, filling Chief McConnickey on Gage's condition. The Chief was relieved to hear the good news. So now he can fill in the A-shift crew upon their arrival.
Agents Lewis and Clark caught up with the group and also inquired about Gage.
"Well gentlemen, just as I said to Bracket and Chief, he's fighting the sedative. I don't think it will take effect until this mystery girl is found."
"We can help you with that, Doctor. Clark and I are on our way to get her."
Doctor Early couldn't believe it had taken the agents this long to produce her. This could have helped Johnny tremendously. Before he could voice his opinion, there was a ruckus inside the exam room.
Exam room….
Johnny lay on the cot in a twilight sleep. Visions of his past crept up like a vengeance. The noise, the explosion, the gunshots caused Johnny to jerk upright.
Nurse Anne was at his side instantly.
"Gage, you must lie down. You're at Rampart hospital. Do you know where you're at?"
Johnny remembered everything. And he thought the last question the nurse asked was stupid. 'Of course I know where I'm at. You've just told me.'
"Yes. Where's my shirt?" As he tried to get down to find his belongings, he stumbled slightly from the effect of the sedative.
"Mr. Gage, lie back down before you hurt yourself."
Johnny spotted his jacket and retrieved it from the counter.
"Not until I find Lisa."
He proceeded to put his jacket on as he walked towards the door. Nurse Anne blocked his way.
"Mr. Gage we have the staff looking for her now. As soon as we find her, we'll bring her to you. Please lie back down."
Johnny moved her out of his way and exited the exam room. He ran into a group of men standing outside the door.
Doctor Early grabbed Johnny, while Nurse Anne stood behind him.
"Johnny, you're not steady on your feet. Let the nurse help you back inside."
Johnny shrugged his arm loose from the doctor's grip.
"Did you find her?"
The Chief stepped forward, "Yes Johnny, the agents here is going to get her. She's alive."
The drugs are finally taking effect and the room seems to be spinning. He was not sure if he heard right.
"Alive?"
"Yes Johnny. Why don't you have the doctor take another look at you and we'll bring Lisa up. Okay?"
When Johnny was ready to comply, Agent Hampton joined the group.
"Agent Lewis, is everything alright?"
"Yes. Is Lisa still at the location?"
"No. When the shooting started, I've moved her to the morgue."
Johnny in a stupor understood a few words in the conversation.
"Lisa, Morgue, she's dead."
The group heard Johnny and tried to reason with him. Johnny went into Firewalker warrior mode and fled the group towards the morgue.
Agent Lewis screamed to Hampton.
"You idiot, he thinks she's dead."
The three agents gave chase.
Admittance desk…
Captain Stanley and the other crew entered the hospital shortly after Johnny's outburst. Captain Stanley approached Nurse Sally at the desk and acquired about Johnny.
"I'm sorry there is no one by that name admitted to this hospital."
"What? Check again. We were told that he's in this hospital an hour ago."
Nurse Sally is having a dejavu moment and feels another headache about to surface.
"I've checked twice. Perhaps you have the hospital confused with another?"
Chet stepped in, "Come on lady, don't you know how to read? Do I need to spell his name for you?"
While all this is going on, the gentlemen in the hallway were chuckling at their antics. They knew everything was going to end on a happy note. Nurse McCall came up behind the gentlemen and acquired about their chuckling.
"Chief, Kel, Early, what's so funny."
The Chief pointed towards the admittance desk, where his men were arguing with the poor nurse.
"Kel, didn't she get the memo?"
"Well Dixie, in light of everything that happened, she may not get it till tomorrow."
"And you gentlemen find this amusing at my nurse's expense?"
"I'm sorry Miss McCall; do you want me to settle my men down?"
"No Chief. This is my hospital and they're going to learn the hard way. If they don't follow the rules nor respect my nurses, I'll personally throw their butts out of my hospital."
Doctor Bracket in shock, "Your hospital? Since when this became "your" hospital?"
"Since you've hired me, it was us nurses running this hospital to make you doctors look good. And if either of you want to snicker at this comment, I'll have your butt kicked, too. Especially you Kel," she winked, "tonight."
Dixie walked towards the admittance desk.
Doctor Bracket started to snicker and Doctor Early was curious.
"Kel, what's up? If she heard you, she'll kick your…"
"I know, we have a date tonight."
All three men chuckled when Doctor Morton approached the group.
"Hey guys, what's going on?"
Doctor Bracket sees Morton in scrubs, "Where have you been?"
"Gage splattered his coffee all over me. When all was clear from the earlier incident, I took the opportunity to shower and change."
The Chief took this moment to excuse himself from the group, to join his men with Nurse McCall.
Doctor Early slapped Morton on the back and offered, "How about I treat you to coffee?"
"No thanks. Thanks to Gage I'd had my fill." And he retreated to the chart rack.
Admittance desk…
As Dixie approached the desk, the group of men surrounded Nurse Sally.
"Whoa, whoa, gentlemen please. I don't care who you are, if you keep disrupting this hospital, I will physically throw each and every one of you out! Then you'll never get the answers you are seeking. Got it!?"
The men look like they were caught in the cookie jar. How pathetic. Then Roy stepped up front and spoke to the nurse.
"Dixie, we were told that there was a shooting here and somehow Johnny's involved. Is Doctor Bracket's here?"
"Hold on Roy, let me speak to my nurse first."
Chet intervened. He grabbed the chart from Nurse Sally and thrust it into Dixie's hands.
Dixie was furious. This is the second time the chart was forced upon her today.
"Oh you boys spend way too much time with Johnny. And as for you Mr. Kelly, one; I do not appreciate this. Two; Nurse Sally would not be here if she was not competent and three; your tirade is disrupting this hospital. And if this continues, I have no choice but to throw you out of this hospital. Understood?"
Chet nodded and apologized to Nurse Sally and took occupancy in the nearby chair.
"And for the rest of you boys, Nurse Sally would have sent you to me."
Dixie handed the chart back to Sally.
"I do apologize to you, Sally. A memo was supposed to be sent to you regarding this group. Apparently, it had not."
"Nurse McCall, with all do respect, I quit. I was not trained to sit behind this desk and take all this abuse."
"I know Sally I do agree with you. You have the skills of a nurse but not the experience of hospital socialism. In time you could develop it. You've got a good start here."
Doctor Bracket approached Sally.
"I agree. Perhaps you'd be happier in another department?"
Dixie added, "Or perhaps you can get acquainted with our Finest Fire Department, Station 51, whom works for our fine city. This here is Roy Desoto, Firefighter and paramedic. And this person here is Mike Dwyer, firefighter and paramedic on another shift. And the rest of the crew, needing our expertise from time to time, will be visiting us after battling a fire."
Sally understood where Dixie was going with this. Payback is a 'b' named Sally. And she'll stay at this desk long enough for these men earn her respect. Or she'll have to call the big guns named Dixie.
"You know, Doctor Bracket, this job is not so bad after all. I like to give this another chance."
"That's fine. If you ever change your mind, let me know. After today, you deserve the congressional medal of honor."
Sally blushed. She didn't realize until now; she is not only protecting the doctors and nurses, but also the patients and the hospital itself. It's a tall order and she hope to do Doctor Bracket proud.
Chief took this moment to gather his men in a small area and briefed them that the conversation will take place in a private setting.
"Doctor Bracket, is there somewhere we can go to do a debriefing?"
"Yes Chief. Right this way. Dixie we'll be in Lecture Room A. If anything urgent comes up, you know where to find me."
"Yes Kel, and good luck."
They both smiled and Bracket escorted the group.
Lecture room A…
Doctor Bracket sat on the desk while waiting for the men, from the fire department, takes their seats. Chief McConnickey joined Doctor Bracket.
"Gentlemen, thank you for your cooperation. I've asked the Chief to keep everything discretely until we can come together. Gentlemen, now the time is here."
Murmurs were heard throughout, and the chief hushed the crowd down.
Doctor Bracket continued.
"I've understand the Dwyer filled you in on the majority of Johnny's past. And the Chief here had filled in the empty hole. So, now I am here to tell you the rest, which took place at the hospital."
Doctor continued as he got the men's attention.
"Johnny arrived to the E.R. and faced Gary. When the Gary exited the exam room, Johnny turned on him. He pulled out a gun and began shooting at Gary. His nemesis died on the spot."
Everyone hung on every word.
Captain Stanley, being a spokesperson of the group spoke up.
"Is Gage okay?"
"Yes!"
There was a collective sigh in the room.
Chet was the first to respond.
"Where's Johnny now? Does he know about his cousin Lisa? Is she alive?"
The Chief chose this time to answer these questions.
"Chet, they are reunited as we speak. Johnny is beyond exhaustion and visitation is out of the question until we hear from Doctor Early."
Dwyer stood up and spoke.
"You can't stop me from seeing my best friend. I'll find him with or without your help."
Dwyer left as quickly as he could in search of Firewalker.
The others shared their sentiments and want to see Johnny also.
The Chief calmed the others down.
"Please, give Johnny the privacy he needs. He has gone through so much. When he's ready to receive company, I'll let you know."
Outraged, Captain Stanley stood up.
"Chief, Gage was insubordinate, struck my engineer and he disrespected you at the station. He came to this hospital, with weapons drawn and you want us to be to be all forgiving? I can not do this."
"Captain Stanley, I understand in light of everything, this can be forgiven."
"How?"
The Chief and Doctor Bracket waited till it was quiet in the room.
And then Doctor Bracket spoke.
"Gentlemen, try walking in Johnny's shoes. It's not easy. But he carried himself the best way he'd knew how. And now he is reunited with the past, and needs us to get him through the present. He needs us to help him to carry him into the future. Are you ready for the challenge gentlemen?"
Mike Stoker rubbed his cheek from an earlier incident. Before anyone can respond he stood up and hollered, 'Yes!'
The other firefighters followed suit and stood up in agreement.
The Chief knew they would back up one of their kind, but in this situation, it was anyone's call.
"Thank you gentlemen, you can wait in the doctor's lounge until further notice."
The firefighters stood up and exited the Lecture room without a word.
"Doctor Bracket, this went as smooth as I expected."
"Yes Chief, better than I thought,"
"Let's go check on Johnny's progress and send out good word."
"Yes chief, this is a good day for Johnny
Earlier in the morgue…
As Lisa and Dixie was walking up the long hallway leading to the emergency room, they heard men shouting and running footsteps heading towards them. Dixie pushed Lisa into an empty room, believing this nightmare is not over yet.
"Lisa stay here and I'll find out what's going on."
"No Dixie, it could be Gary's partners to see if he's really dead."
"Don't worry. I've worked in an Army Mash unit in Korea during the war. I've seen my share and was trained in situations like this. Don't come out unless I call you. Understood?"
Lisa looked into Dixie's eyes and briefly saw into her soul and found that she can be trusted. Is this what Randy saw? If Randy trusted her, then she must trusted also.
"Okay Dixie, be careful."
Dixie responded with a nod and entered the hallway.
Behind her was the morgue and up ahead was a shirtless man wearing a jacket running towards her. Behind the shirtless man were three suited men chasing behind this fellow. Dixie was on guard now, preparing to protect Lisa at any cost, for the sake of Johnny.
Suddenly, the shirtless man stumbled and hit the floor fast. The three suited men wasted no time to hold the shirtless man down.
As Dixie approached the group cautiously, she'd recognized the down man as Johnny. She wasn't sure who these guys were and thought they would do bodily harm to Johnny.
"Excuse me gentlemen, can I help you? Does this man need medical attention?"
Agent Hampton answered, "No miss, we've got it here."
Johnny laid on the floor, panting from exertion, feeling the effect of the sedative. He's trying to fight it. He needs to keep his adrenaline rush pumping through his body. He fought the agents on the floor to stay awake long enough, until he can get back on his feet. He need to find Lisa, before passing out.
"Who are you guys anyway?"
Agent Clark presented his badge and spoke.
"We're Federal Agents miss. I'm Clark, this here is Lewis and the idiot over there is Agent Hampton."
"Hey, I resent that."
"If you didn't tell Randy that Lisa was in the morgue, he wouldn't have bolted from the exam room, Idiot!"
Agent Lewis wasn't sure who this woman was and asked her to step aside.
"Miss could you go on your business, we've got things taken care of here."
Dixie had enough of this double standard and put these gentlemen in their place.
"Excuse me gentlemen, I am Nurse Dixie McCall, I am head nurse of the emergency room. This is my hospital you are traipsing through. I know this patient you are sitting on. So get your butt off of him before I kick yours."
Johnny recognized the voice and rasped, "Dixie?"
The men complied and Agent Lewis became the spokesperson.
"Nurse McCall, we were trying to get him the help he needs. Unfortunately, he's a lot stronger then we've anticipated. We were trying to tell him about his cousin, but he turned a deaf ear. We had to tackle him down to get him to listen to reason. I hope you understand?"
With all the misunderstanding that took place today, Dixie knew their explanation was plausible.
Johnny rolled over onto his knees. He stood up slowly, with sweat pouring down his face, dripping onto his bare chest.
Past Dixie's shoulder was a door, bearing the words, 'MORGUE'.
Johnny slowly walked towards the room. Dixie misinterpreted his movement. Thinking he was heading for the morgue, he'd stopped next to her and rested his right hand on Dixie's right shoulder. She looked to him and saw his demeanor changed. Johnny whispered near Dixie's ears, "Lisa."
Lisa sat back and heard the entire conversation. She recognized Agent Hampton voice. When she learned that it was her cousin being pursued, she bolted from her hidings and entered the hallway and stood a few feet behind Dixie. She saw Randy approached Dixie, and then stopped in his track. He whispered something to Dixie and moved past her.
"Randy?"
Lisa ran to Randy and embraced him in her arms.
The agents joined Dixie in the hall and observed this happy reunion.
"Lisa, you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"
Lisa released her embraced and held Randy's face in her hands. She laughed a nervous laugh.
"Am I okay? Look at you. You're a mess. Let's get you back to the Doctor and get you looked at."
Randy was too exhausted to respond. Later they will talk. He took her hand and slowly walked back to the emergency room.
Dixie and the others watched the two walk past them. Agent Clerk was emotional. He turned to Dixie standing beside him with teary eyes.
"Here's to 'new life, a new beginning, for a new tomorrow', Nurse McCall."
Dixie had no words to share and nodded in agreement. She'd noticed something on the floor. She bent down to pick this item up. It was the photograph she'd was shown earlier with Lisa. Dixie studied the subjects in the picture for a moment longer, and then placed it into her pocket.
The group followed the couple to the emergency room. Once they entered the main floor, everyone dispersed.
Lisa and Johnny headed towards the exam room.
The agents said their good byes to Dixie and went out to the parking lot.
Dixie joined the Doctors in the hallway, in front of Johnny's exam room. Upon approaching, she heard them chuckling.
She placed her hands in her pockets and felt the photo in her hand.
She'd thought to herself, 'In light of everything that took place, she thought back to Johnny's earlier words'………."It is a good day to die."
'Yes Johnny. You had lived your life in the dark. You were looking for that light. Your past had died here today. Now it is time to begin living in the light. You are surrounded with friends who care about you and welcome you into their circle. I suppose this is a good day to die.'
The end