E is also for Early
Roy was closing up the drug box after finishing their restock when he noticed his partner seemed preoccupied.
"Johnny? Come on, let's grab a cup of coffee before we hit the road."
"Huh? Oh, sure, Roy. Roy? Have you ever seen Dr. Brackett lose his temper?"
"You know I have. You have, too."
"Dr. Morton?"
"Sure. Plenty of times."
"Dixie?"
"Yep. And I wasn't too proud to turn and make a run for the door when it happened."
Johnny chuckled at that as he poured his coffee.
"How about Dr. Early?"
"Uhmmm. Huh. Nope. Never."
"Me either. How does he do that? I mean, that's not natural."
"Seems to be natural for him. Maybe he was just born with a mellow gene."
"Or maybe he rants all the time when he's away from here?"
"Nope. I've seen him off the job. Still mellow."
"It's just not natural."
"What's not natural, John?"
"Oh – hi, Dr. Early – Dix. Uhm –"
"What my partner is trying so eloquently to say is that he doesn't think it's natural that you never seem to get angry."
"Oh, that? Well, that's because it isn't natural, John."
"Huh?"
"You see, back in the late 1950s, they were doing experiments with synthetic blood. I was an early trial volunteer and they replaced all of my natural blood supply with the synthetic stuff. Turned out that one of the side effects was that I simply can't get angry. Strange, isn't it?"
Dr. Early smoothly moved past the two paramedics to get himself a cup of coffee as Johnny shot a look over to Roy, who looked as puzzled as he did and just shrugged. Before Johnny could say another word, a call came over their HT. They each gulped down what remained of their coffee, waved a hasty farewell and departed.
Once they were out of the door, Dixie and Dr. Early both burst out laughing. When she was finally able to catch her breath again, Dixie swatted him.
"Joe, how on Earth can you say the most outlandish garbage and manage to keep a straight face while doing it?"
Dr. Early just grinned and shrugged.
"Must be another of those side effects, Dix."