The day he returns to work from his head and shoulder injury, Captain Stanley enters the rec room to find that Johnny, the youngest of his crew, is sitting on the couch, reading a book…
As if that isn't odd enough—John Gage isn't really one for reading—the usually exuberant young man is silent.
Glancing to the kitchen table, he sees that he isn't the only one who is surprised.
"Roy. Mike," he says, greeting them. "John."
Two of the men nod with a happy, if not a little distracted 'Cap', before returning their gazes to the young man on the sofa who has yet to acknowledge his captain's presence.
Sighing, Captain Stanley walks over to the coffee pot and reaches out… then hesitates at the last moment, turning to look at the two men at the table.
"Who made the coffee today?" he pleasantly questions, hoping the feeling of dread hadn't carried into his tone.
"Johnny did," replies Roy, never looking away from his partner. "At least he said he did."
With a resigned sigh—for some reason, he knows he'll need his coffee to get through today—he pours the dubious liquid into his coffee cup and then takes a seat at the table, placing his cup in front of him.
He looks once more to Johnny who still seems to be focusing intently on what he is reading.
The captain has always wondered if Johnny has a mild case of dyslexia. Nothing severe, of course, as he likely would never have passed the medical knowledge exams what with all the gobbledy-gook that passes for medicine names, but enough so that the paramedic finds reading to be a chore. Or maybe it's some type of ADHD bringing about a short attention span and that makes reading difficult… But either way, John always seems to have to really force himself to focus when he is reading, an intense look of concentration always present.
Hank shakes his head and takes the newspaper from the table, trying to get his mind off of wondering what might so interest John that he would actually take the time to read.
As he finds himself re-reading the same paragraph of the same article for the sixth or seventh time, however, he knows it's far too late. Thus, putting the newspaper down, almost taking a sip of his coffee and then deciding against it, he turns to the man beside him.
"Mike?" he says quietly, getting his engineer's attention.
"Yes, Cap?"
Casting another glance at John, he lowers his voice to nearly a whisper.
"What's he reading?"
The engineer shrugs. "We don't know."
"You don't know?"
"He's just been sitting there reading since Roy and I arrived."
"You mean, he was early today?" questions the now alarmed captain.
Mike nods. "C-shift was still clearing out when Roy and I got here. They said he had been here a good twenty or thirty minutes, and this is how we found him. In uniform and reading."
"I'm getting' kinda concerned, Cap," Roy adds quietly, still watching his partner. Early and reading and quiet? And then there is the other matter….
"That seems… odd."
"But that's not all, Cap," Mike states, pausing as the captain turns tired yet anxious eyes to him.
"Dear God, do I need to go look for my hat?"
Chuckling, Roy answers, "I don't think he's had a lighter, Cap, so your hat should be okay."
"Good," he sighs before looking serious once more. "Then what's the other shoe? You going to drop it or not?"
The two crew members exchange glances.
"Do you want to tell him or should I?" asks the paramedic.
"The kid's your partner," replies Mike, standing and leaving the kitchen with his coffee.
Now even more worried, Captain Stanley looks to Roy. "Well?"
"Try your coffee, Cap."