Superman

by MM

disclaimer: The characters of Emergency do not belong to me. Brewing coffee is a serious business, don't try it at home. As always I'll help 'em up, dust them off, give 'em a smooch and send them back when I'm done.

rating: K+

Chapter 1: In which we learn the importance of being to work on time.

"Good morning, good morning, good morning!" a cheerful John Gage strode into the kitchen, in uniform, before role call. Mike looked up with a small grin. Looks like he won the bet this morning. Hank had been positive the paramedic would be last in. He happily thought about what type of blended treat he'd send the Cap in for at the coffee house.

"Morning, Johnny," Mike greeted him. "Running early this morning?"

"Figured if I didn't start getting in here on time I'd have latrine duty permanently," he joked as he poured a cup of well-crafted coffee into his mug. "Besides, I know who makes the first pot now! Not gonna miss the chance at a good cup of coffee."

"As opposed to a less palatable brew?" Mike teased. His crew mate smiled as he breathed in the aroma then took a sip."

"ahhhh! Perfect as always, Mike!" he declared. Mike smirked. No way would he let Hank know his coffee was one of the main reasons why Johnny was working on being early. At least until he got a couple more cups of decadent ice-blended coffees out of the captain.

"Well, Gage, made it in on time today," a disappointed Hank came into the kitchen to secure his own cup of java.

"Thought I should set a good example for Chet," he replied with an innocent smile. The two men sat down and joined the engineer in reading the paper. It was good to slip into the shift unhurried.

Roy and Marco came in together, both heading for the urn. Roy then sat down next to his partner.

"So, did ya get it?" the older paramedic asked. John folded the paper and nodded.

"Yes, I sure did! If we have time later I'll get it out of the Rover and I'll start showing you what to do," he said. This drew everyone else's attention.

"Get what?" Marco asked.

"And can you bring it into a fire house?" Hank asked skeptically. Mike just sat up a little straighter and waited.

"Of course I can bring it into a a fire house!" Johnny retorted.

"He's teaching me how to tie lanyards," Roy said. "He's gonna help me with Chris's scout troop over the weekend and one of the skills is lanyards."

"I had to practice, myself," John admitted. "It's been years since I learned how to make 'em." Mike looked interested.

"Hey, I did that in scouting," he said. "Think you could refresh my memory? Do you have any extra lacing?" Gage's grin grew.

" 'Course I do, Mike," he said. "Couple different colors as well."

"Now that the craft circle is complete," Hank drawled, "I think it's time to get this shift on the road. Roll call, gentlemen!" Stretching, Mike gathered up the papers and folded them neatly while Johnny rinsed out their mugs. Slugging back the last tasty mouthful Cap handed his to the paramedic with a 'thanks'.

With hats on and in a neat row the four firemen waited for Cap to read any morning notices. And wondered when Chet would make his appearance. They hadn't long to wait as a car screeched into the parking lot and Chester B came rushing in tucking in his work shirt. A quick stop at the cupboard yielded his dress hat.

"Why Mr. Kelly," Hank said with out a smile, "how good of you to volunteer for latrine... again." *And lost me a cup of iced coffee!* he grumbled to himself. "Lopez, you've got the dorms. Mike, Johnny, hoses. Roy, you'll do the cooking." He stopped and glanced at his clipboard.

"Headquarters sent down a memo regarding equipment being left behind," Hank paraphrased. "We haven't had any missing items, but a few other stations have. They want us to be extra observant we don't lose anything." There was general agreement; if anything these men watched out for their things; no one wanted to come up short on a vital piece of equipment during a fire or rescue!

"That's about it. Let's get chores done then Roy, you and Johnny can drive over to Rampart to resupply and stop at the market," the captain directed.

Johnny grinned as he joined Mike. "Cool, B shift already hung out the hoses! We just need to lay a couple back on the engine." The engineer smirked. It was a great assignment.

"I'll make another pot of coffee after we're done," he promised.

Roy ran a morning check on the squad before thinking about cooking. He didn't know what he wanted to make; maybe Johnny would have an idea that didn't include hotdogs or hamburgers. He rolled his eyes at the thought as Kel Brackett's voice ascertained they were transmitting clearly. When he finished he went into the kitchen and found Mike pouring out fresh coffee for himself and Johnny. He waggled the pot at Roy who promptly agreed.

"So, any suggestions for dinner?" he asked the two men.

"Haven't had meatloaf for awhile," Johnny said. "And the oven's been fixed so we can use the automatic on/off if we get caught on a run."

"Yeah, you did make a pretty good meatloaf," Mike said. "And I'll make the gravy for you if you want." Roy smiled. Of course he wanted the quiet man's expertise! He grabbed the grocery list and pencil and began adding to the list.

"What about using a can of tomato sauce this time instead of ketchup?" he suggested. "That's what Joanne uses."

"Sounds good to me," John agreed. "You could just call her and ask her what she puts into it." This was a good idea and Roy used the pay phone. Soon he had a list and simple directions. All he needed to do was get some frozen corn and green beans to go with the mashed potatoes and he'd be set!

Of course, no morning was entirely calm and the station was called out to a moving vehicle accident involving a moving van and cars on the 405. CHP was on the scene and one of the officers met the paramedics.

"The guy in the moving van is ok, just shook up," officer Davis began, "I think the guy in the red jeep that caused the crash is dead. The woman in the tan olds cutlass has a head wound at least, but she's awake and aware. The couple in the last car have multiple injuries."

"Thanks!" Roy responded. "Johnny, why don't you go check out the jeep driver first and then get over to the woman in the olds and I'll get the last car."

"I'll have Cap call out for another squad," the younger paramedic said as he nodded his agreement. Looking over at the wrecks, they saw Marco pulling battery cables as Chet was pulling out an inch and a half to wash down the fuel.

Gage jogged over to the captain, putting in his request, then moved to the jeep. Davis had been correct, the man was most definitely dead. He tossed a yellow tarp over the body. Then he moved back to the olds.

The first thing he noticed she had a sweatshirt pressed to her head; next he noticed she was talking on a phone. He briefly wondered why a person driving such a mom and pop car would have a phone in it. He thought only Jags and Rolls had them. Then he noted the door was partially opened and he yanked hard.

"Ok, Mom, thanks," she was saying. "Yeah, love you too!" then she pushed a button and tossed the handset aside, giving the paramedic a sheepish grin.

"Sorry 'bout that," she said. "Had to make sure my son was taken care of since I doubt I'll be able to pick him up this afternoon."

"What makes you think you won't be able to get him?" Johnny asked with his trademark crooked grin. "Besides the car being out of commission."

"Well, this for one," she flashed him the large gash on her forehead and into her scalp. "Gonna get a funny haircut at least."

"Ouch," he said as he helped put the sweatshirt back.

"Then the steering wheel has done a number to my gut," she gave another sheepish grin. "Is this a good time to tell you I had hernia surgery there a year back and then additional surgery to remove a fluid-filled seroma two months ago?"

"Uh, yeah, it's a good time," he took her wrist and counted. All things considered a hundred wasn't too bad. He gently palpitated her stomach.

"Sorry, I know it's hard to get a good feel with the fat in the way," she said apologetically.

"No, no, it's not a problem," Gage returned. "I'm Johnny Gage, I'm just gonna get my equipment and see about getting you out."

"Great. I'm Rose Welner," she responded. "I'll just hang out here for the time being." He chuckled. It was nice to have a patient who wasn't panicked. He figured she was probably a bit frightened, but hid it well. Patting her shoulder he headed back to the squad.

"What do you got?" Roy asked as he was pulling boxes out of the compartments.

"Head laceration, possible internal injuries," he said briefly.

"Well, 36 can take care of the other car, two broken legs, maybe cracked ribs on the driver," the older paramedic said. "I'll give you a hand."

"Grab the shock pants just in case," Johnny directed as he hefted two boxes and then latched onto the O2. Together they went back to the car.

"Hey, Rose, taking a nap?" Gage asked with some concern when he saw eyes closed. They popped open.

"Nope, just thought I'd catch up on my beauty sleep," she said with a slightly pained smile. Both men could see she was now sweating. "Hate to mention this, but I think my left leg is caught on something. I can more the right, but the other is jammed."

"No problem!" Johnny said as cheerfully as possible. "This is my partner, Roy Desoto. He's going to give us a hand." The blonde paramedic smiled.

"I'll get the jaws," Roy said. He hurried back to the squad as Gage took her blood pressure. 120 over 65. Not the best, but he'd take it. Respiration was even and slow, pulse was still up.

"You nervous?" he asked, mostly to keep her awake and oriented.

"Me? Not really," she carefully pushed her hair back. "Pain I can deal with. It's being stuck and knowing you poor men are going to have to heft me out of here is bothersome." Again, that apologetic smile.

"Don't worry about that," he said. "Let me check your eyes." Both reacted, although a bit sluggishly. He took another look at her forehead and noted the slight swelling. He turned and set up the biophone.

"Rampart, this is squad 51," he began. Immediately he got a response.

"51, this is Rampart," Kel Brackett picked up the line.

"Rampart, we have a female victim, approximately 30," he glanced over at Rose who smiled.

"Thanks, 32, actually," she reported and he relayed the age again. He gave the vitals, laceration details and explained the trauma to her stomach.

"51, who was her surgeon for her procedures?" Brackett asked.

"John Ryan, he's over at the old Southside Medical Center," she said and listened as the information was relayed.

"Dix, get on the phone to Southside and see if you can get Dr. John Ryan. He's the head of trauma," the nurse nodded and moved to the counter. He ordered an IV with a little ms to take the edge off the pain. The head wound didn't sound too serious.

In the meantime, Roy returned with Chet, Marco and the jaws. The three men set up the chains and covered their patient with a tarp. Johnny stayed with her while the steering shaft was hoisted back. As the glass crunched and the metal groaned she leaned against the paramedic.

"It sounds a lot worse than it is," he said as he allowed her to take comfort.

"You sure?" she said through gritted teeth. Then she discovered she could finally move her left leg. And it wasn't happy about it.

" 'k, it's free," she ground out. "And broken, I think." He could hear the pain in her voice and put his free arm around her in support. The grinding noises stopped and Roy pulled back the tarp.

"Enough?" he asked tersely.

"Yeah, let's get Rose out of here," Johnny replied. They carefully moved her towards the door, bringing her legs up and out. Given the small noises she was making all the men knew she was hurting.

"You know, you can scream," Chet offered. "Gage, here, can sleep through sirens."

"Yeah?" she asked breathlessly. "I'm not.... much... of a.... screamer." Looking at her leg Chet figured she should be. They lay her on the asphalt on the side of the freeway and let the paramedics get into gear. Vitals were retaken, leg splinted, stomach prodded. Her eyes fell to half-mast.

"You never told me what you do for a living, Rose," Johnny kept up the chatter as he established the IV and gave her a small dose of morphine.

"Ah... Teacher... Little kids like 7 and 8 year olds," she struggled to get that out.

"What about your husband?" Roy asked as cleaned the blood off her face and put a pressure bandage on the laceration.

"Died last month, drunk driver," she eeked out as the water stung a bit. The partners looked at one another. Not a good thing to discuss.

"Don't worry about it, guys," the morphine had started its magic and she was able to string longer sentences together. "Life just happens."

"You said you had a son," Gage tried a new tack as he looked around for an ambulance. It seemed 36 had taken the first two.

"Yeah, he's 16. Good kid, although I am prejudice," she remarked with a smile. In the distance they could hear a siren approaching. She was still sweating and her pressure had dropped somewhat. She needed to get in now.

"I'll ride with her," Gage said as the attendants wheeled the gurney close. With minimum effort they loaded her up and sent the ambulance on its way.

John stayed a little longer than needed to be sure Rose was being taken care of. A strange doctor had met them at the ambulance bay and proceeded to retake vitals and order tests. It wasn't until she'd made a snide comment about having a rottweiler for a physician that he stopped and smiled at her and countered she should be glad he wasn't a pit bull.

After resupplying the paramedics stopped by the market and picked up dinner fixings. They'd decided sandwiches and fruit was good enough for lunch. Their crew mates were interested in lunch when they arrived and quickly attacked the loaf of bread and cold cuts.

The engined toned out for a trash fire at a nearby park. With a loud groan Chet dropped the bread and followed Marco out. Looking at all the sandwiches that were not quite complete Johnny approached the first one and finished fixing it the way Mike liked his. This was wrapped, marked and put in the fridge. He continued on his way putting everyone else's lunch together and marking them. He ran a damp cloth over all the surfaces that had crumbs on them before going to make his own sandwich.

"Here, Johnny," Roy held out a plate with a perfect Johnny-sandwich on it, complete with every type of cheese and meat available. He grinned his thanks and sat down next to his pal.

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