~Adam-12~~
~~Adam-12~
"Hey," Dixie called from near the admitting desk as Roy and Johnny approached.
"Hey, Dix," Johnny smiled, "Sally got us squared away but we need you to sign off on the supplies."
She returned the smile. "I'd like you to meet some friends of mine." She quickly signed the carbon form Johnny handed her and returned the fire department copy to him while pocketing the hospital copy, then moved toward the waiting area where a group of five men rose to greet them.
For a moment they appeared to be two sets of twins and a fifth man. As they drew closer the paramedics could see that the look-alikes were not twins, but they still appeared to be two sets of brothers; brothers who looked very familiar.
Two of the men were stocky blondes; two were tall, slender brunettes. The fifth was tall, stocky, black-haired and looked as if he'd never cracked a smile.
"Roy, Johnny," Dixie turned first to the blonde men, "I'd like you to meet Pete and Martin - Marty," she waited for the exchange of handshakes, then turned to the dark-haired pair. "This is Jim and Kent," again there were handshakes and how-do-you-do's all around. Finally she turned to the sour looking fifth wheel. "And this is Jack." The ritual was repeated one last time.
There was an awkward moment of silence, finally broken by Roy. "I'm sorry," he said, "but you guys look very familiar. Have we met before?"
"We do come into the hospital now and then," said Pete, "you've probably seen us around." He was smirking. Dixie giggled.
"What's going on," asked Johnny suspiciously.
"Why don't we all sit down," said Jack.
"Let's take it into the lounge," Dixie suggested. "We'll have some more privacy there."
The eight of them retreated to the staff lounge. Roy, Johnny, Dixie and Jack at the table, the former two guided there by the lovely Miss McCall. The "brothers" hovered behind, the table too small to accommodate all eight of them comfortably.
"What's going on," asked Roy.
Jack turned to Dixie. "Care to do the honors?"
She beamed. "I'd love to!" She turned to Johnny and Roy. "Jack is a television producer. He specializes in police dramas. You probably have seen Pete and Jim here at the hospital on occasion, but it's more likely you recognized Marty and Kent. They're actors in one of Jack's programs, I'm sure you've seen it. All Jack's shows are based on true stories, real people. Pete and Jim are police officers out of Rampart division."
Roy glanced over at the other men, then returned his attention to Dixie. Johnny, on the other hand, stared at the foursome. A smile of understanding lit his face. "No," he gasped. "Are you kidding me!?"
Dixie and Jack nodded. "Dixie got to telling me and Bob about your paramedic program," Jack told them. "Bob is one of the producers with my company. He's pretty excited about the whole emergency medicine concept. He thinks rescues and field treatment and emergency hospital care would make good television. To tell you the truth, I'm not convinced, but Bob's pretty enthusiastic. I was thinking about bringing some firefighters into the cast of Kent and Marty's show, then, if they do well, maybe even a spin-off. Bob seems to think this could carry its own show right now. We'd like to discuss the possibilities with you. Arrange a meeting with you and Bob on your next day off?"
"Yes!" Johnny was positively giddy.
Roy hesitated. "I don't know. I have to discuss it with my wife first."
"Roy," Johnny implored, "it's just a meeting. There's nothing to tell JoAnne yet." Roy opened his mouth to object but Johnny cut him off. "I'm not suggesting you hide anything from her, just make sure you have something to tell her. If nothing comes of this meeting there's nothing to tell, right? What have you got to lose?"
Roy sighed and smiled. "OK, but I still have to tell her I have a meeting once this thing is scheduled."
"Of course, of course. You won't be sorry, Pally, I promise. Man, this is gonna be GREAT!" Roy rolled his eyes even as his smile broadened.
"John," said Jack seriously (though Johnny was beginning to think seriously was the only way he ever said anything) "I'm not making any promises here. This is just a preliminary meeting."
"It's OK, that's OK, it's OK. We're off tomorrow, on the day after, then off the next two days. When can we meet?"
A little more discussion, the date and time were set and Roy and Johnny left with directions to Jack's office.
They boarded the squad. He started before Roy could turn the key. "You do realize who those guys were, right?" Johnny could hardly contain himself.
"Sure," said Roy. "A television producer, a couple of actors and a couple of cops." Roy smirked. He knew full well who those men had been, but he would give Johnny this one. The kid was so excited; at this moment he was a kid, on Christmas morning, and his mood was infectious.
"Not just any actors, Roy, not just any cops. It says right on the show that the stories are pulled from real logs. I figured Reed and Malloy were based on real cops but I never imagined they used their real names. Can you imagine if they make a show about us? I wonder who they'd get to play us."
"A couple of young unknowns, probably," Roy offered. "I don't remember seeing that Kent in anything before, maybe Martin, but I can't think of anything."
"Still, they'd have our names. On television. How cool would that be?"
"Maybe not," Roy goaded, working to hide his smile. "The program is still so new, and not everyone in the department is behind it. Even if they allow a TV show they may not want department personnel to use their real names."
"So we'll make them up. How about Ron DePippo and his dashing young partner …" he thought a moment, "Jim Page! Yeah, I like that! Jim Page." Roy couldn't contain his smile anymore as he allowed himself to get caught up in Johnny's enthusiasm. "Maybe we could even get small parts, they can have real firefighters playing firefighters in the background. Oh, oh, if they get a real engine they'll need a real engineer to show 'em how to run everything. What do you think, you think Stoker would want to be on TV?"
Roy smiled all the way back to the station.
~ The End ~