Over The Edge

The Delirium Threemen

December 2011

Don't own the copyright to any of the characters depicted in Emergency they are the property of Universal Studios/Mark VII Productions. Content from the show is the property of the original creators. No copyright infringement intended.

All original characters and story content is the sole property of The Delirium Threemen and may not be used without permission.

Parts of this story are based loosely on an actual incident.


I've looked at life from both sides now

From win and lose and still somehow

It's life's illusions I recall

I really don't know life at all

-Joni Mitchell, Both Sides Now, 1967

Chapter 3

Joanne turned on her left blinker as she saw the sign for Laguna Woods. Checking over her shoulder she switched over to the south lane to prepare for the 405 to merge with Interstate 5. Roy's probably on his way home from dropping the kids off at camp, she mused. I remember how upset he was when he found out his parents were paying for summer camp for the kids.

She recalled how Jim and Harriett had stopped by the house after returning from a camping trip in Malibu State Park a couple weeks ago. They had heard about Camp Cottontail from the couple next door to them at the campground they were staying at. Roy was at work when they stopped by with some brochures and a couple of applications for the kids. I really didn't want to hurt their feelings, but it was too pricey for us to afford.

"Don't you fret over the cost; we decided to make this an anniversary gift for the both of you. What better gift could we give you than some time alone," Jim winked at Joanne.

I tried to protest but Jim interrupted me. "We've always respected your wishes on not spoiling the children."

Harriett elbowed Jim gently for blowing their pretense. "When was the last time you and Roy had a couple of weeks without the kids?"

They both knew the answer to that question, I suspect. Sure, we've have had a few weekends alone here and there throughout the years. I knew they were doing this more for the kids. Summer camp is usually a memorable experience for any child. It wasn't like they overindulged or spoiled the kids; they were good about not doing that. I hummed and hawed about it for a few moments. I already knew Roy's stance on the matter. If we couldn't afford it ourselves, then we shouldn't be sending our kids to camp. We could afford some of the local day camps in the area, but Camp Cottonwood was an overnight camp and one of the pricey ones too.

"You know, the two of you could borrow our Streamline. There are plenty of campgrounds in Malibu State that are a few minutes away from the camp," Jim piped up, trying to sweeten the deal.

"I'll be at my mother's the first week helping her out," I fessed up to them. I knew sending the kids to camp would save me a lot of time and hassle lining up babysitters or having them spend the week with Jim and Harriett. I think if I had asked them to watch the kids for the week, I didn't exactly have much of an argument for refusing their offer. Heck, I knew this was more about them wanting to do something special for their grandchildren than an 'anniversary' present for us.

I agreed and BOY was Roy fit to be tied when I told him that his parents' anniversary present for us was sending the kids to camp. He saw through that ruse immediately and took the whole thing as an affront to his ability to financially provide for his family. We had a bit of a heated discussion on the matter. I think it all boiled down to who would take care of the kids while I was taking care of my mother. It wasn't fair to them or Mother to drag them along with me while she recovered from surgery. Even though it's minor surgery, how can I really help her out and look after two rambunctious kids at the same time? He saw the rationale in that argument, finally relented on the matter and agreed to let his parents 'indulge' the children.

Joanne remembered what Roy had told her about filling up for gas in San Clemente because the prices tended to be cheaper outside the big cities like San Diego. She took the off ramp to South El Camino Real and pulled into a gas station there. She told the teenage attendant who showed up beside the car to fill up the tank before she got out and headed towards the vending machine near the station's entrance. She stared at it for a moment before slipping two quarters into the slot and making her selection. The machine rumbled as it dispensed the bottle. Joanne heard a pssssst sound as she removed the cap using the cap remover from the machine. The cap made a plinking noise as it fell into the repository below.

"Need the oil checked, ma'am," the young man called out to her as he looked up from washing the windshield.

"Oil's fine, it was just checked," she answered as she walked back towards the station wagon. Darn tooting you better wash the windows at 66 cents a gallon. Oh pardon me, it's 65.9 cents. That zero point one cent makes me feel sooooo much better that I'm not actually paying a full 66 cents.

She sat down in the driver's seat and took a long, unladylike guzzle of the cold, rich-brown colored liquid. The bubbly liquid caused her to emit a bullfrog-like noise rumble in her throat as she tried to stifle the rising gas. She set the bottle between her legs as she paid the attendant. She gave the attendant an embarrassed look as she thanked him.

"Thanks ma'am, have a nice day," he said as Joanne started the car.

Ma'am…MA'AM! I can't believe that kid called me ma'am! Joanne turned onto the road. When did I become a ma'am? She hastily glanced at the reflection of her face in the rearview mirror. Granted, I don't pass as a college-aged girl, but I certainly don't look old enough to be called ma'am. I KNOW I don't look thirty! I take good care of myself and my clothes aren't frumpy. Joanne took another swig from the bottle while waiting at a red light.

She turned onto the on ramp for Interstate 5 and continued on her way towards San Diego. She couldn't remember the last time she had driven a long distance by herself. Pretty much most long distance traveling was done as a family and Roy normally drove. Unless Roy had was feeling run down or recovering from an injury from work, he tended to do most of the driving when they had to go somewhere together.

Joanne continued towards San Diego as she tossed her empty pop bottle onto the floor on the passenger side. She was sure she'd have another two, maybe three, bottles to give to Chris for returns. Chris and his friend Mickey often scoured the neighborhood park looking for empty pop bottles to collect in order to come up with some extra money. Last weekend, Joanne had taken them around to some of the parking lots behind a few of the local factories to scrounge around for empty pop bottles discarded by the workers during lunch or breaks. She calculated how much they would get back on the deposit of the empties and pay them while she would return them to the store herself.

Funny how some of the stuff Chris and Jen do are no different than the things I did with Roy when they were children. She fondly remembered her own pop bottle hunts with Roy and his best friend Cuddy. The three of them were saving up money to buy yo-yos. They would scour the neighborhood parking lots and nearby alleyways looking for empties. They would put the money towards yoyo wax and strings for their Duncan Satellites. They knew all the tricks like walking the dog, skin the cat, and rock the baby. Now, her son and his friend were out there collecting empties, pulling along a red Radio Flyer wagon to store them in.

Some days you wish your biggest worries in life were about yo-yo strings. Joanne started to brood as she began seeing the signs for the upcoming turnoff ramps to Oceanside. She recalled an encounter with Molly Eggart at the supermarket that occurred earlier this week. She was a fireman's widow whose husband Dick was killed during a warehouse explosion a little over two years ago.

Has it been that long since Dick died? She was so lost and could barely cope with things, or life in general, by herself that first year. Roy, Johnny, or the rest of the guys who knew and respected Dick didn't mind helping her out, but it became such a habit for Molly to call the station the moment anything went wrong. Well, it was getting to Johnny a bit because he thought maybe something should be done or at least said to Molly about it. Roy just chalked it up to 'that's Molly' making the mistake of confusing compassion for enabling.

Part of Molly's problem was Dick used to do everything for her. She was completely reliant on on him. Without him, she transferred her dependency from Dick to his coworkers at the station. A few times each week the station would get a frantic Molly would call the station. The guys were too afraid of hurting Molly's feelings or taking the risk of making her feel like they didn't want to be there for her.

Molly was living my biggest fear as a fireman's wife and I suppose with me and the other wives it hit too close to home for us to say anything. It was more up close and personal with us wives. Each morning our husbands go to work could be the last time we see them. Anyone of us could have found ourselves in Molly's shoes.

It took a real emergency with Jeanine along with a straight-forward, honest talk with Dixie after Jeanine came out of a coma to get her to start taking steps to becoming independent. One thing about Dixie, she knows how to give someone the kick in the ass they need without them ever realizing it half the time. The other half of the time she wants you to be aware of it.

Over the course of the next year Molly kept repeating to herself "All you have to do is read the instructions." When there were no instructions, the guys at the station and we wives were more than willing to help her along. I remember several times going over to help her with things, organizing the bills, and teaching her how to shop for groceries the smart way. I'm sure she noticed my jaw hit the floor when she told me Dick did the grocery shopping. That was the kind of help that Molly really needed and none of us minded giving it to her. Now, she's holding down a full time job and managing very well for herself. I don't think Dick realized by doing everything Molly, how unprepared and vulnerable he left Molly.

I suppose Molly is the one of the reasons I've been thinking about getting a job myself. I hope I never know what it feels like to lose my husband and face raising our kids alone. Jennifer will be in school full-time when it starts up again at the end of the summer. Oh sure, the upkeep of running a household is hard work, but even a part-time job would be enough to suffice. It certainly would provide me with a form of financial independence and a separate identity other than just being Roy's wife. It also wouldn't be a bad idea for me to start building up my own credit rating. That's one problem Molly still faces because Dick handled all the finances and even the bank accounts and credit were all in his name. Ummm, I'm sure Roy will really hate the idea of me getting a credit card. Whenever we pay for something Roy insists on cash or check, but it would make sense to have one just for emergency reasons alone. I have to think of something to convince him of that.

Joanne had just passed the turnoff to Oceanside and knew it was another forty-five minutes before she would be pulling into her mother's driveway in San Diego. She still felt that strangeness in the house whenever she visited. It had been two years since her father had passed away from a massive heart attack. Sometimes she expected to find him sitting in his chair in the living room reading the paper whenever she walked into the house. There were times after supper where she could almost smell the acrid smoke of pipe wafting in from the screen door of the patio as she did the dishes. Her father was never allowed to smoke his pipe in the house and stepped out onto the patio shortly after supper and watched the birds jumping in and out of the birdbath while he smoked.


Roy turned off Mulholland Highway and onto Stunt Road after deciding to take the more scenic route back to Los Angeles as well. He opened the driver's wing vent window to let a little fresh air into the cab without creating the cyclonic effect inside the truck that rolling down the regular window tended to create. It seemed to him over the last few years that he was spending more and more time in the mornings trying to style his hair in a vain attempt at hiding the thinning hair on the crown of his head. He gave up parting it on the side a few years ago when he noticed the part was getting closer and closer to the middle of his head. Joanne had caught him a couple of times already using a little of her hairspray to keep it in place.

She hasn't said much, but I wonder if it bugs her that I got that tonsure thing going on with my hair, Roy scoffed at himself. I already gained back the 10 pounds I lost during brush fire season, plus a few more. I'm sure Jo finds the whole 'Friar Tuck' look I have going on real appealing.

He had bought the truck new a few years ago and since then he was milking the mileage on the truck to get the full 5 year warranty. It had an automatic transmission for the occasions when Joanne might need to drive it. She hated driving anything with a standard transmission which included his sports car. He still used the Porsche most days to and from work and only used the truck if he required room for hauling stuff before or after work. The Porsche was economical on gas, which was a boon during the recent gas crisis over a year ago. He liked having the truck as a backup vehicle when he needed it, like today for example, Joanne needed the wagon to drive to San Diego and he needed something that could at least hold three passengers and luggage room in order to drop the kids off at camp today.

He started going through his mental check list of things he needed to do this week. Take the dog to the vet after picking him up from his parents on Tuesday. Pick out an anniversary card for Jo to go with her present.

He had bought Jo a family ring he made especially for her and he had picked it up from the jewelers two days ago. He already had it wrapped and hidden away in his pants drawer of the dresser in the bedroom. He had thought up the design for the ring himself. It was something plain design with a hint of romance to it. He had drawn out a simple design alternating an X's with the necessary birthstones to represent O's; a green peridot for her, topaz would be him, amethyst for Christopher, and a blue sapphire for Jennifer. He thought it was kind of neat idea that the design would represent hugs and kisses.

"Oh sure Roy, I just hope Joanne remembers the significance of tic-tac-toe. Is that way you figure you two will be doing in your golden years," Johnny's voice echoed inside his head. A part of him wondered if his partner was just being a smartass or just trying to drive him to the madhouse. When isn't he trying to drive me insane?

He remembered Dixie walking in on them discussing Joanne's present in the staff lounge at Rampart. She actually thought it was a sweet idea. It was simple and sweet was what she said about the design. I suppose she could have been diplomatically polite in order not to hurt my feelings.

I'm gonna look like a damn hypocrite, giving her that ring. I spend almost a couple week's worth of pay on her gift after bellyaching to her about how much my parents were spending on summer camp for the kids? What if Joanne doesn't like it? I mean, I'm not even sure if Johnny got the meaning of the ring I designed.

Geesh, sending one of the kids to summer camp cost more than what the jeweler was willing to charge for making the ring. Roy frowned on that last thought. Yeah, but it's our tenth anniversary next week and I should get her something special like that. In fact, she deserves something special.

He wasn't home when his parents had returned from camping at Malibu State Park and presented Joanne with two applications and some brochures about Camp Cottonwood three weeks ago. He was livid when he found out the cost for sending both kids to two weeks of summer camp and that his parents were paying for it. He felt the heat of embarrassment start creeping up from his neck into his face as he recalled the heated exchange between him and his wife.

Roy slapped the steering wheel in frustration as he recalled the argument between him and Jo. She was right; it was about me feeling inadequate because we couldn't pay for the kid's camp ourselves, my parents did. This year they'll have two weeks of fun and adventure thanks to Grandma and Grandpa. A frown crossed Roy's face. All I could manage to give them last year was a vacation full of a bunch of mishaps and misery.

Maybe that's why Joanne's been scanning through the classifieds looking for a job. Does she feel like I don't make enough money? I know we discussed this when we first got married: she wanted to stay home with the kids until they were in school full time, then she would consider going back to work. After hearing about Jack Grimes' wife going back to work and then up and leaving him a year later, I'm not so sure I'm crazy about the idea of Jo going back to work. The way Jack tells it, everything was fine between him and his wife until she started working. He came home to an empty house after work one shift and found her stuff and the kid's stuff gone.

Roy concentration shifted over to driving as felt the truck slightly shimmy as he rounded a series of curves. He pushed back down on the gas pedal as he finished navigating around the last curve. He saw a second set of curves up ahead and heard a clink and a clunk from under the hood of the truck. He felt the weight of the engine shift and heard a thud under the hood as the truck seemed to accelerate more.

He was coming to a second set of curves and noticed the truck continued to speed up, almost as if he was flooring the gas pedal which he wasn't. His left leg was fully extended as he pressed the brake pedal all the way to the floor in a futile attempt to slow down the truck. He barely kept himself on the pavement as he made it around the first curve.

Shit, shit, shit what's going on with the truck, his brain screamed a litany of shit, shit, shit. He took a gamble and turned the key to the off position, sending out a hasty prayer that he could coast his way through the second curve. Shit, shit, shit, the damned steering is gone. His left foot fumbled around trying to press down on the pedal for the emergency brake as a cloud of road dust enveloped the truck. He knew it was too late to stop in time, with the camber of the road, gravel shoulder, and no steering he was going to go off the road.

In the split second that followed, the sensation that hit him was similar to the turbulence of being on an airplane as the connection between the wheels of the truck and earth were replaced by nothingness - emptiness. Momentarily, he felt like an astronaut drifting weightlessly in space before his stomach lurched upward as the force of gravity abruptly pulled his body and the truck downward. The truck pounded into the uneven ground. Roy's world went pitch black as head bounced off the driver's side window. The truck continued to noisily rumble, bounce, and finally slide its way towards the bottom of the ravine.


Author's Note:

In 1971 over 6.7 million General Motors vehicles were recalled, one of the largest in automotive history, regarding their vehicles suddenly accelerating out of control. This was caused by the engine of the vehicle coming loose from its mounts. If the left side mount broke, the engine would rise and pull on the accelerator cable. As a vehicle gained speed that would cause the motor to move and pull on the power-brake booster hose from its mount making it harder to stop. There were no actual fatal accidents that were attributed to this defect. This recall is the basis of what I'm using as the problem with Roy's truck.

Based on the grill design of the GM pickup Roy drove on the show, it looked like a 1969-70 model ½ pickup. These vehicles were not part of the actual recall. Light trucks with V8 engines were part of the recall along with several GM car models.

The 'Hugs and Kisses' ring design is based on the family ring my husband gave to me on our 15th anniversary.