The very first call that the new trainee was along for was a fake. Halfway to the destination, the dispatcher called Squad 51 off the trail, sending them back to quarters. Helmets were flipped off, and Johnny decided that it was a good a time as any to lean a bit more about the young woman sitting beside him.
"I-uh-noticed that you have a bit of an accent. Where are you from?"
Dakota turned her big dark eyes on him, turning his insides to mush. "Georgia." She said softly, pronouncing it more like 'jaw-juh'. "About three hours north'a Atlanta."
"What made you come out here to live in the smoke and smog of LA?" Roy butted into the conversation, receiving a peeved look from Johnny.
Dakota seemed to stiffen a bit and swallowed nervously. "Jus' because." She ducked her head and clasped her hands in her lap.
Her shyness endeared Johnny even more. In his mind, a shy girl was just a puzzle that needed to be solved, and he wasn't going to quit on this one until he saw the whole thing complete. "How long have you been a nurse?" He asked to switch the subject.
"I ain't never been a nurse! I've never been to college."
Johnny was now confused. "So you're a firefighter?" He hadn't heard of any female firefighters within the department.
"Only for a couple of weeks before I joined the paramedic program. Would've started sooner but they wouldn't let me; said I was too young."
"Too young?" Johnny let his arm flop out the open window. "Well, I've never heard of them turning down any firefighters because they were too 'young' for the program. I didn't know it had an age limit!"
"No, you misunderstood." She shook her head. "They wouldn't let me be join the LAFD until I turned eighteen and then I had to wait a while before another training opportunity came up."
Johnny's mouth dropped open. "You're only eighteen?"
A pink blush crept onto Dakota's smooth cheeks, and she dropped her head again. But then her head snapped back up again, a defiant fire in her eyes. "You don't look a day over nineteen!"
Roy chuckled, enjoying the new twist to the conversation.
Johnny raised his eyebrows. "Well," he said.
"He just barely reached drinking age." Roy said.
"Hey!" Johnny exclaimed.
"You ain't much older than I am!" Dakota grinned before growing serious. "Don't go easy on me because I'm a woman, and because I'm young. That's not the way I want to become a good paramedic. Treat me as you would treat any other male trainee, please."
Nobody could treat her like a man even if they wanted to! Johnny thought to himself. I can't believe she's eighteen! She's pretty much still a teenager. "Hey Roy, what about swinging by Rampart and introducing our new trainee to Dixie?"
Roy simply nodded and maneuvered the vehicle into the correct lane that would take them to the hospital instead of the station. Upon pulling up to the hospital, Johnny jumped out and held the door open for Dakota, shutting it behind her when she clambered out, not meeting his eyes.
Roy handed Dakota the HT, saying, "You do the honors if we get a call."
She gave Roy a look of appreciation, and Johnny felt a flash of jealousy so he speed walked ahead to break the news to Dixie before Roy got the chance.
"Hey, Dix." He leaned both elbows on the base station counter. "Guess what."
Dixie put away the report that she was filling out. "You're getting married."
"No! Well, not yet anyway." Johnny grinned at Dixie's teasing. "We got a new trainee."
"Oh, and what's so exciting about this particular one?" She copied Johnny's pose.
"Here they come." Johnny pulled his one arm off the table and swung it around to welcome Roy and Dakota.
"Dixie," Johnny laid a hand on Dakota's shoulder to see if she would tolerate his touch. "This is our new trainee, Dakota Duke." Under his hand, he felt Dakota's shoulder muscles tense for a moment before relaxing.
"Hello, Miss Dixie." Dakota was watching the floor again, clasping the HT in front of her like a shield. Johnny realized that the shyness would have to go if she was ever going to succeed in her new job.
"Glad to meet you, Dakota. Dixie will do just fine." Dixie shook the girl's hand.
"C'mon, I'll show you around here." Johnny offered and was elated when she followed him.
Dixie and Roy watched the two go.
"He's smitten already." Roy told Dix, although he was sure that the head nurse already could see that.
"She's so young, Roy! I heard that there was a woman training over at St. Francis, but I didn't think that it would be somebody so young. I heard that she was at the top of her class."
"That's good to know, Dix." Roy sighed. "She's so shy, and it just makes Johnny even more girl-crazy when they're like that."