CHAPTER 3
The next morning, Johnny was still asleep when he heard someone knocking on the door. He thought about just ignoring it, but whoever was there was pretty insistent. He just hoped it wasn't some salesman. He crawled out from under the covers, and pulled on a t-shirt and jeans. The knocking continued as he walked to the door. "I'm coming, hang on," he said to the knocker.
He unlocked the door and opened it, to find Chet Kelly standing in the doorway.
"Chet?"
"Hi, Johnny," Kelly said, sheepishly. "I'm sorry, man, I didn't mean to wake you up. Look, I'll come back later. You go back to sleep."
"Chet, you're already here. Come on in. I'll fix some breakfast."
Kelly hesitated, but Gage grabbed his arm and pulled him inside. Johnny went into the kitchen to make some coffee and pour a couple glasses of orange juice. Kelly sat down at the kitchen table and sipped at the juice as Johnny pulled out some bread and eggs from the refrigerator. He began making breakfast and waited for Kelly to say something. But Chet remained silent, staring at the condensation form on the glass he held. Johnny placed a plate of eggs and toast in front of Kelly and sat down with his own breakfast. They ate in silence, but Johnny was glad to see that at least Chet was eating.
Johnny cleared the plates and poured them both another cup of coffee. He sat again, and waited for Chet to start talking. He wasn't going to push him. Chet had made the effort to come to him, and Johnny didn't want to push him away when he so obviously needed a friend to talk to.
"So, ah, Johnny, how's the arm?"
"It's a little stiff, actually, but it should be fine by next shift. What's the matter, Chet, afraid you won't have me to pick on next shift?" Gage asked, with a smile.
Kelly just smiled and looked out the window. When he turned back to face Gage, he had lost the smile. "Do you think that arsonist is the same guy that killed Jake?" Kelly said, quickly, like he was afraid he wouldn't get all the words out if he spoke too slowly.
"Marten seems to think so. I don't know, Chet. Maybe."
"Ya know, I keep thinking about what Cap said, but I just don't think it's the same guy. It can't be Johnny, that guy died. They found his body."
"This guy's using the same tactics, Chet."
"It's got to be what the cops call a 'copycat', Johnny. I just can't believe the guy is still alive."
"Why, Chet? Because he can't still be alive, when Jacobs is dead?" Gage wasn't sure how Kelly would take that comment, but he felt he had to say it.
Kelly got up so fast from the table, his chair crashed to the floor. Damn it! How could Gage say that! Who the hell did he think he was?! He had never even met Jake! He didn't know what had happened that night! How dare he…
Gage was still sitting at the table, sipping his coffee, watching Kelly.
"Ya, know, Chet, most of the guys at the station have been through this. We've all lost someone we cared about in a fire. You're not alone."
"Yeah, Gage, I know," Chet replied sarcastically, "all-for-one, and all that rot. Did you ever go through it? Did you ever have a friend trapped in a fire? Did you run in and try to save him, only to get chased back out by the fire?! That's what happened with Jake! I couldn't get back in, Gage! I tried, I tried. But the smoke….I just couldn't get back, I couldn't... I… couldn't…" Kelly said, quietly now, sinking down on the sofa. He leaned back and starred at the ceiling. "I should have stayed with him, should of kept trying, Johnny. But I didn't. I let Jake die."
So that's it, Johnny thought. He was feeling guilty, because he made it out of the fire and Jacobs didn't. Gage got up from the table and walked into the living room. He sat down on the chair opposite Chet. He looked at his friend, not quite sure what to say. He and Kelly had their moments, usually always giving each other a hard time. But Chet was a good friend, one that Gage could count on in an emergency. And he was a good firefighter. He hated to see Chet kicking himself for something that happened so long ago, something that he had no control over.
"Is this why you've been so quiet, Chet?" asked Gage. "Blaming yourself for what happened to Jake? That fire wasn't your fault, you know. You tried to go back into the building and you couldn't. The fire was just too intense, Chet."
"You just don't understand, Gage. I was right there. I could see Jake through the flames. I saw the ceiling come down on top of him. I knew he was hurt and I should have gone back in to get him! He would have gotten me out! But I couldn't get to him. I couldn't get through the fire."
"Chet, if you had gone back in that fire, you'd be dead now too. And I wouldn't have had the chance to work with you. Now you wouldn't want to deprive me of that, would you?" Gage asked, a small smile starting on his face.
"Dammit Gage!" Kelly jumped up from the sofa and reached for the door handle and starting to pull it open. Gage followed, placing his hand on the door and slamming it shut. Kelly backed off from the door. "Just shut up, Gage, don't say another word. You just don't understand."
"Oh, don't I!" yelled Johnny. "Kelly, do you think you're the only fireman who's ever gone through that?! Well, I'm here to tell you, that you're not! Roy had a friend of his die when he first got on the department. And Marco told you about his old high school buddy. We've all worked for the department a long time. We've all know firefighters who've died…" Johnny stopped abruptly, and looked away. He turned and walked back to the chair he'd been sitting in. Kelly watched him, curious about what made him so quiet all the sudden, his anger at Gage gone.
"Johnny?" Kelly asked as he sat back down on the sofa. Gage looked up as Kelly sat. Chet understood, by the look on Gage's face. "Who was he, Johnny?"
Johnny smile, a sad smile. "Steve Conrad. He was my partner on the first rescue squad I worked on. He didn't die in a fire, though. It was a rescue at a traffic accident. We had two of the victims out and Steve ran back to get the Jaws so we could get the last victim out. Just as he got to the truck, this car came barreling around the corner and slammed into the rescue truck. Steve went flying." Johnny was staring off into space, like he was watching the scene all over again, his voice so quiet, Chet had to lean forward to hear him.
"He must of have 100 feet. It was like slow motion, I saw the car coming, but couldn't seem to get the words out to warn Steve. When I got to him, he was bleeding from a huge cut on his forehead. It was so deep I could see the bone. I could tell he had a skull fracture. And his leg and arm were broken. He was unconscious and bleeding from several different cuts. But there wasn't anything I could do. Back then, we didn't have paramedics. We just loaded people into an ambulance and hoped they got to the hospital in time. Steve didn't. His death was one of the reasons I decided to get into the paramedic program. I didn't want to be in that kind of situation again, and not be able to do anything to help."
"I'm sorry, Johnny. I didn't know."
"It's not something I like to talk about," he said, again looking at Kelly. "But that's not the point, Chet. I told you about Steve because I just wanted you to know that you're not alone. A lot of us have gone through this, in some manner or another. It's never easy. But you have a lot of friends at the station. You don't have to handle it alone."
"It's just that, I thought I had handled it already. I thought it was over," Chet responded. "Geez, it happened so many years ago. I think about him once in a while, ya know. When we drive by that building, or when somebody mentions an arson fire. But this….it might be the same guy. Damn it, I thought it was over and done with, Gage. What if he kills somebody else? What if another fireman dies because of him? It could be you, or Roy, or Marco. I don't think I could handle that."
"Or it could be you, Chet. And I don't think I could handle that." Johnny smiled. "Face it Kelly, none of us knows what's gonna happen. We just do our best. We rely on each other. How many times have you pulled me out of a burning building? Or Roy? I don't even want to think about the number of times we might have died if you and Lopez and Mike and Cap hadn't been there. It's what we do. Hell, you and Marco pulled me out of that house just yesterday. Come to think of it, I never did thank you for that. Thanks, Chet."
"You're welcome." Kelly looked at his friend, seeing a new side to John Gage. Oh, he'd always known Gage was a good firefighter, and one of the best paramedics in the department. He'd just never seen this quiet, introspective side of him before.
"Look, Johnny, thanks for listening, huh. I've taken up enough of your time. I'll let you get back to sleep." Chet got up again, and headed for the door. As he turned the knob, he turned back to Gage, a smile on his face. "So, Gage, did you mean what you said earlier. Would you really fall apart if I died? Would you miss me?" he joked, blowing a kiss.
"CHET! Get out of here!" Gage yelled, throwing a cushion as Kelly as darted out the door, pulling it shut behind him. Johnny laughed, glad Chet was feeling better. As Gage headed over to pick the cushion up from the floor where it landed, Chet poked his head back in the door.
"Oh, Johnny…." Chet said, "See ya Tuesday, pal. You are gonna be back at work aren't you?"
"I'll be there Chet," Johnny assured him. "Somebody has to keep you in line."
Kelly left again, feeling better than when he came. He hadn't been sure it was the thing to do when he first came over, but now he was glad he'd come. He looked forward to getting back to work.
/
Gage did return to duty on Tuesday, still a little sore and bruised, but ready to go back to work. He never mentioned Chet's visit to anybody. He figured that was up to Kelly. Chet was in a much better mood, back to his old, obnoxious self. As much as that annoyed almost everybody, it was better than the way he had been. The others didn't know what had brought him out of his funk, and they didn't care. They were just glad he was back.
They all did notice, however, that he wasn't teasing Gage as much as he usually did, but figured that was just a temporary lull. They all knew that the two of them would be back on each other's nerves, probably before the end of the day.
The morning had been rather uneventful, just a dumpster fire and a small grass fire. Johnny and Roy were returning from only their third call of the day, when they passed a large abandoned building about a mile from the station. They were talking about plans for the next long weekend when Johnny called to Roy to stop the squad.
"What is it, Johnny?" Gage was staring at the old warehouse.
"Pull in here, Roy, I think I saw some smoke coming from behind the building."
DeSoto turned into the parking lot, and heading around to the end of the building. There was smoke, quite a bit of it, coming from the rear of the building. As Roy stopped the squad and jumped out, Gage was on the radio to dispatch, giving their location and situation, and requesting the engine to respond. Johnny then joined Roy in pulling on turnout gear and air tank.
As they entered the building to search for occupants, the noticed the greatest amount of smoke was coming from the west end of the building, with a less dense cloud on the east end. That indicated that there were possibly two separate fires inside the building. Knowing that the arsonist had not been caught yet, they exchanged glances, then began their search. They decided to stay together for the search, since the building was so big, and backup hadn't arrived yet. That way, if they got into trouble, they would be able to help each other out.
As they neared the area where the smoke seemed thickest, DeSoto spotted a figure running toward them. He had opened his mouth to yell a warning at Gage when the man slammed into him and knocked him to the ground. Johnny turned to see what the commotion was about and saw Roy trying to hang on to the man, who had hold of Roy's mask and was trying to rip it from his face.
As Johnny ran over to help his partner, the man picked up a pipe that was laying on the ground and swung it at Roy, hitting him on the side of the head. It stunned him, his helmet taking the force of the blow. But it gave the man enough time to get away from the pair and run out the door. Gage heard the sirens of the engine as he hurried over to Roy. DeSoto waved him off though, "I'm okay, Johnny, get him!" Gage hesitated just a moment to be sure DeSoto was on his feet, then raced after the suspect.
As Johnny got outside he could see the man heading down the street, too far ahead for Gage to be able to catch him. The Engine was just pulling into the lot, and Johnny ran over to tell Captain Stanley what had happened, then he went back inside to check on his partner. Stanley yelled at Marco and Chet to pull hose, while he got on the radio to L.A. to request the arson investigator. If they could get this fire out quickly, they might be able to preserve enough evidence for the investigator to make his case.
As Marco and Kelly headed into the building, Johnny helped Roy out to the squad. Stanley walked over to them to check on DeSoto, who was looking at the new dent on his fire helmet.
"Roy?" Cap asked, concerned.
"I'm fine, Cap," DeSoto assured. "More damage to my helmet than my head. I saw stars there for a couple seconds, but I'll be okay."
"Fine, but get to Rampart and get checked anyway. I don't want to take any chances."
"Alright, Cap, but I think it's a waste of time."
"So humor me, Desoto," Stanley told him. "Didn't you tell me earlier you had to pick up some supplies anyway? While you're there, have them examine you."
"Yeah, Roy," joked Gage, "I've always said you need your head examined."
"Uh huh, but that's only cause I work with you," Roy smirked.
"Roy, will you be okay for minute?" asked Stanley. "I need Johnny to help inside until the other engine gets here. I want to knock the fire down fast."
"Yeah, yeah, go on, I'm fine."
Stanley and Gage ran over to the engine and pulled another inch and half hose off the back and headed into the building to lend a hand to Chet and Lopez.
/
