Chapter 3:
"This coffee's good."
Vallery smiled. All the guys were now enjoying a cup of coffee, except Gage. He sat to the side, brooding. Val poured another cup and took it to him.
"Would you like some coffee, Gage?"
Gage forced a laugh and took the cup. "Thanks, and call me Johnny."
Val nodded. Gage−Johnny−didn't seem so bad when he wasn't trying to charm somebody.
"Don't tell me we're going to have to stomach your cooking tonight."
Val turned. Kelly was watching DeSoto as he pulled a few things from the refrigerator.
"Is there something wrong with DeSoto's cooking?"
Kelly nodded. "Yeah, he can't."
Johnny stood. "Sure he can. You just haven't tasted his good meals."
"Because he doesn't have any."
Vallery rolled her eyes and left the dayroom. She decided to take a look at the dormitory. Inside, all the beds had been nicely made. That's one thing I'll give them, she thought, smoothing a tiny crease in one pillow. She returned to the dayroom, ready to start getting to know the men she'd be spending most of her work hours with.
"Hey, Gage, don't forget you're doing the dishes," Cap said.
"Again?! But, Cap, I've done them every day for the last two weeks."
Cap shrugged. "That was the agreement."
Johnny sighed. "Alright, alright, but I'm clear next shift."
Val left the doorway and sat gingerly on the couch. "Does anybody object to me cooking next shift?"
"Not if your food's as good as your coffee," Stoker replied.
Roy opened a cupboard. "Has anybody seen…" He was interrupted by Station 51's dispatch alarm.
"Squad 51, possible heart attack victim."
Roy replaced the perishables in the fridge and joined the other paramedics in the squad.
"Squad 51, 10/4, KMG-365."
Roy started the engine and pulled out of the station. Vallery scanned the map book and glanced up.
"Turn right here. Third building on the left."
They were in a business district. Tall buildings rose from each side of the street. The third one on the left, though, was a relatively new single story drug store. Painted in soft pastels, it resembled a puppy among wolves.
Roy swung the squad around and parked. Vallery and Johnny jumped out and grabbed the gear, leaving Roy to take what was left. They entered the building and were guided to the victim by a young man with short-cropped blond hair. The victim, an old man, sat propped against the wall.
"Let's lay him out flat," Roy instructed as he knelt beside the patient. Johnny complied, holding the man's head and shifting one shoulder. As they set him down the man's sizable gut jiggled.
"Is Uncle Foster going to be alright?" the young man asked.
"I'm afraid we can't know yet," Vallery replied softly. "His name is Foster?"
"Foster Wallins."
Vallery checked Mr. Wallins' pulse. "Johnny, pulse is ninety eight." She looked at the victim's nephew. "How old is your Uncle?"
"Fifty seven."
"No." Mr. Wallins opened his eyes. "I'm fifty eight." He groaned slightly, causing his already rapid breathing to accelerate even more.
"Where does it hurt?" Johnny asked.
"In my chest, u-up into my jaw." He tried to sit up slightly and Johnny gently pushed him back down.
"Alright, now, you just take it easy."
Roy had gotten Rampart on the line and began relaying the vitals. "Rampart, vitals are BP is one-fifty over ninety three, pulse is ninety eight, and respiration's twenty two and shallow. The victim is diaphoretic and is complaining of radiating pain from his chest to his jaw."
"Squad 51, can you send me an EKG?" replied Dr. Brackett.
"Affirmative, Rampart."
Vallery and Johnny began placing the sensors for the electrocardiogram and Roy gave Wallins another quick once-over. When Val and Johnny had finished Roy picked up the biophone again.
"Rampart, transmitting EKG."
By the time Dr. Brackett gave the paramedics their next instructions Mr. Wallins had fallen unconscious. "51, start an IV with D5W."
"10/4."
Johnny prepared the IV and Vallery kept an eye on Wallins' heartbeat. All three paramedics snapped into action as Vallery shouted.
"Johnny! He's throwing PVC's!"
"Administer one point five milligrams lidocaine," Brackett ordered.
The lidocaine was administered and everybody held their breath.
"Cardiac arrest," Johnny said.
Mr. Wallins' nephew stepped forward. "Is he going to die?" The paramedics ignored him, so he grabbed Roy, who was closest. "Is my uncle going to die?!"
"We don't know," Roy replied urgently.
"Don't let him." The young man glared at Johnny and Vallery. He obviously had no intention of releasing Roy.
"Vallery, CPR!" Roy instructed. Vallery hesitated, registered the fear in the nephew's eyes, and began CPR. Johnny had the defibrillator ready and he switched it on.
"One… two… three… Clear!" As the current traveled through the victim's body he convulsed once, and his heartbeat returned to normal.
When the ambulance arrived Mr. Wallins was once again breathing on his own. Johnny climbed into the ambulance with him and Roy shut the doors.
"I'm sorry if I caused any trouble," Wallins' nephew told Roy as he climbed into the front passenger seat, "but he's like a second father to me. Since mom died, it's just been me, him, and Dad."
Roy nodded, understanding, and then returned to the squad. Vallery had put the equipment away. She now sat in what was normally Johnny's seat and stared out the window. As Roy climbed into the driver's seat she looked at him and smiled. A fake smile.
"We'd better get to the hospital," Roy muttered.
…
"You… fell… out… of the ambulance."
Johnny glared at Vallery. "You don't have to spell it out."
Val shook her head. "Oh, I think I do. I mean, how many people fall out of an ambulance?"
"I only tripped! Everybody trips sometime"
"True, but couldn't you have picked a better time?"
Chet sat at the table, lapping up the entire conversation. He was loving it. Vallery wasn't just ruffling Gage's feathers, she was hunting him down.
"Roy, have you ever tripped getting out of an ambulance?" Val asked.
Roy had been doing his best to remain neutral in this argument, but he was now being sucked inescapably into it. "Well, no, but…"
"See? Sure, it happens, but only to the real klutzes."
Chet chose his moment. "Gage must be the most accident prone fireman in the service."
Johnny glared at Chet. "Look who's talking. How many times have you lost your badge, huh?"
"Not as many times as you've gotten hurt."
Vallery grinned and stood up. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to make a phone call." She left the dayroom whistling and Chet groped for an excuse to follow her.
"I've… got to go sweep the dorm," he said, shuffling after Val.
Roy and Johnny sat in silence. Roy studied his partner. The younger man had been very tense during Chet and Vallery's prickling, but now his muscles began to relax. As the tension eased Johnny leaned back.
"Hey, Johnny."
"Hmm?"
"Don't mind them. It could've happened to anybody."
Johnny sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Yep… Now what about that last run?"
"What do you mean?"
"How did she do?"
Roy hesitated. "She… She did fine."
Johnny nodded. "Alright. And when the nephew grabbed you? You had to tell her to do CPR."
"Yeah… And she hesitated."
…
Vallery had shaken Chet off her back for the moment. She now stood by the door to the dayroom. She knew what Gage and DeSoto were talking about, and she didn't want to hear any of it. She had been kicking herself since the run, too.
"Hey, what's the matter?" Chet asked, slipping from the dorm.
"Nothing."
Chet shook his head. "Vallery, I know I only met you this morning, but you're definitely not okay. Now, what's wrong?"
Val sighed. "Gage."
"Oh? What about him?"
"Well, he's just… Oh, I don't know. It's not just him, it's DeSoto too, but… They don't trust me. Especially Gage. I can tell when they look at me. And what's worse is why they don't trust me. It's a perfectly valid reason. I mean, if I were in their place I wouldn't trust me, but… Oh, I don't know! It just feels like they're not giving me a chance."
"Are they?" Chet asked. Val nodded. "Well, don't let it get to you too much. Gage isn't always the trusting type, and he sometimes convinces DeSoto he's got a good reason not to be. And besides, you've got Gage by the neck. It's pretty easy to set him off-balance, but if there's one thing you learn, it's that you can usually only push him so far. But, man, you've got him. Did you see how tense he was? I thought he was going to wet his pants or somethin'."
Vallery grinned. "So he isn't as pliable as he appears?"
"Nu-uh. And he learns, too. You can't get him with the same gag more than two or three times. Not until now, at least. You must have had him squirming in there for at least two hours!"
As Marco walked by he leaned towards Chet. "Keep it cool."
Chet glared at Marco as he disappeared into the dayroom. "Hey, Val, would you get him for me?"
"Sorry, Chet. My talents seem to be Gage-specific."
"It wouldn't hurt to try."
"Oh, I think it would. Come on, let's go see how long the food'll take and you can have a go at Lopez."
…
Dinner had been good, despite the gagging produced by most of A Shift. Vallery was now the only one still awake. She lay listening to the gentle snores that filled the dark room.
Vallery had spent most of the evening trying to forget about the earlier run, but it now crept back to her in haunting vividness. It wasn't the entire thing, though, just the one single part.
Cardiac arrest… Is my uncle going to die… Vallery, CPR!
Val shot up, painting. Unwilling to return to the troubled sleep that had taken her she slipped from the bed and headed for the locker room. As she passed she glanced at Johnny. He was sound asleep, his arm tucked over his head. Val couldn't help smiling.
In the locker room she turned on the cold water at one sink and splashed some on her face. Her mind wandered to the A Shift big-shot at Station 19, their engineer. He had a habit of getting up in the middle of the night to splash water on his face−warm water, not cold. It was a sure sign that something was going on if he didn't. A jerk by day, the man was a saint at night. Perhaps Johnny was the same way?
Val started when Johnny stumbled in, obviously not as asleep as she had thought. He fixed her with his sleepy eyes and yawned.
"Morning, Vallery. Hungry?"
Val rolled her eyes. "Sorry, Gage, it's three in the morning."
"So?"
"So no normal human being will be thinking about food at this time."
Johnny leaned against the wall. "Maybe we're not all normal human beings. After all…"
Vallery rolled her eyes again and shoved past Gage. He was worse at night. Val began to miss Station 19, but she'd transferred for a reason and she stood by that reason. She shook her head. She wouldn't dwindle over every decision she'd made in the last two months.
Val yawned and pulled the covers over her head. She barely registered Gage's shuffling footsteps as she fell asleep.
