Give All My Secrets Away
Black-Angel-001: I had to split this chapter into two separate ones, cause originally it was too long. No, I m not gonna post the other one right away; you ll have to wait the alloted time (in case you haven t noticed, it s about every two weeks I update)
Give All My Secrets Away
"Tell me what you want you want to hear, something that'll like those ears." -One Republic, 'Secrets'
According to the schedule the boys had written out, they were supposed to be at the ranger station at the bottom of the trail around six, maybe a few minutes late. However, the kids ended up coming down early, at three. The ranger had called each parent, telling them to meet their children at the hospital instead of the station.
Roy had always dreaded a call like that, and his heart nearly stopped before the rest of the ranger's words sank in. One of the five kids, Matthew, had suffered from heat exhaustion on the trail, but the others were fine, just concerned about their friend.
"Actually, I was pretty impressed with your son," the ranger admitted. "He sent two of them back to the station, kept the other boy with him calm, and administered the proper first aide to Matthew until the paramedics got there. He kept his cool and prevented the situation from getting any worse. Not many kids that age can do that, or would know what to do. You should be very proud of him."
The ranger could hear the pride in Roy's voice when he replied, "I really am."
Jenny stayed home to watch the twins while he went to the hospital to pick up Chris and see how Matt was doing. Karen was on shift at the lab that night, and he called to let her know what was going on before he left. She told him she'd see him in the waiting room when he got there. Finally, Roy was walking into the ER waiting room.
He spotted the other kids quick enough, all huddled together and looking kinda scared. Chris was the next one he saw, talking to Dixie and Matt's parents. Matt's dad was shaking his hand vigorously, and his mother hugged him while Dixie looked on with a proud expression. Karen was coming down the hallway when he came up to his son.
"Chris, are you okay," he asked because he had to be sure.
"Yeah, Dad, I'm fine." Chris smiled at him. Roy put a hand on his shoulder and looked at Matt's parents.
"How is he?"
"He's going to be fine, just fine. He'll have to stay overnight," replied Mrs. Daniels as she smiled despite the tears in her eyes.
"Nurse McCall was just telling us that if Chris here hadn't done what he did then Matt could've...well, you know." Mr. Daniels looked uncomfortable just thinking about it. Roy couldn't blame him.
Roy squeezed Chris's shoulder and smiled at him. "I'm glad Chris was able to help, and that Matt will be alright." He turned back to the Daniels. "Do you need anything?"
"No, thank you. You've done more than enough." Mrs. Daniels hugged Chris again, thanking him quietly. Then they turned and walked to the treatment room where Matt was and disappeared behind the door.
"Well, looks like we've got the makings of a very good paramedic Roy," Dixie said with a smile.
"He'd be one of the best," Karen said proudly.
Roy's smile got wider and his chest puffed out a little. He knew how good Chris could be; his son had easily absorbed every bit of information Roy had given him and then some. If Chris went through the paramedic program, he could be one of the best, like Karen said.
"Actually," Chris said, head down and feet shuffling a little. He seemed embaressed and unsure. "Actually, I want to be a ranger. You know, at a park."
Dixie tipped her head to him. "You'd be good at that too. I heard from the paramedics that the ranger said you handle yourself very well outdoors." Her name was paged. "I'll talk to you later," she said and with a wave amid all their goodbyes she walked into another treatment room.
Hesitantly, Chris looked at his dad through his bangs. "Is that alright? Me being a park ranger?"
Roy blinked in surprise and shared a look with Karen. Why in the world was Chris asking that?
"Chris, of course it is. Dix is right, you'd be great at that. I've seen you when we're camping or on the trails; you love it out there. Why would you think that..?"
Chris shrugged. "I dunno, it just seemed like you always wanted me to be a firefighter is all, like you and Uncle Johnny."
"Listen to me, Chris. Look at me." Chris looked him in the eye. "Yes I'd be happy as a clam if you went into firefighting, and I'd be happy if you became a paramedic. I'd also be happy as a clam if you decided to sell cars or manage a bank. Whatever it is you want to do, legally, I'd be incredibly happy and proud of you. So if you want to be a park ranger, and that's what you're sure of, you can bet I'm gonna brag about it to everyone." He grinned.
"That's right," Karen said in complete agreement. "We love you and want what's best for you. When you're ready to presue this, you just let us know and we'll do everything we can to help."
Chris grinned at both of them, eyes lighting up with the emotion. "You know, you guys are getting sappy in your old age."
While Karen raised an eyebrow Roy chuckled, put an arm around Chris's shoulder, and pulled his son close. In a stage whispher he said, "Piece of friendly man to man advice Chris: never tell a woman she's old."
The family was laughing when they walked to the door.
Roy and Chris were still joking and enjoying each other's company on the car ride back from the hospital. Chris had told Roy the entire story, how he'd noticed the symptoms his dad had taught him, and done exactly what needed to be done. He admitted that he'd been a little freaked out and scared at being in charge of the situation, and doubted his ability for a minute. But then he'd just done what he had to and that was all there was to it. Roy in turn told him about the first time he'd treated someone, both in combat and then in the fire department.
"There's always a minute where you think, 'What if I screw up? What if I get it wrong?' or where you wait to see if someone will magicaly appear who can handle it," he said while Chris listened intently. "But when you realize that you're it, that until someone else really does come, you're all that person has, you stop thinking like that and move without really knowing it. That applies to more than just medical emergencies, Chris. It applies to real life too, when you're dealing with people who aren't hurt and problems you're having. Eventually you stop thinking someone else is going to solve the issues and you just do it."
Chris thought about that, turned it over in his head. "So, what you're saying is, we all end up going at it alone?"
Roy shook his head, stopped at a stop sign, and after looking both ways continued forward. "No. I'm saying that we as individuals have to decide that we ourselves are going to solve the problems we have and we take help, wether it's a shoulder to cry on or an ear to listen. If we can't do that, we're in denial and it can ruin more than the original problem could have."
"Like when you and Uncle Johnny went to rehab?"
Roy hesitated and then nodded. "Yeah, exactly like that. If we, or any other recovering addict, hadn't decided to get help ourselves we'd probably be dead by now." He glanced over at Chris for a second then focused on the road. "Like how you need to decide for yourself how to handle the issue of your paternity and Pete Jennings."
Chris turned his head sharply to look at his father. Roy kept staring straight ahead, knowing Chris was studying him but he kept his mouth shut. After a minute, Chris faced forward again, a thoughtful look on his face. Roy could only hope his words helped somehow.
There was a strange car in the driveway when they pulled up, and an equally strange man sitting on the porch. With a frown, Roy put the car in park and undid his seatbelt, all instincts on alert. He and Chris both got out of the car, but Roy made sure he was between his son and the man at all times. Their uninvited and impromptu guest stood with a smile when they got closer. Even though the sun was starting to go down, Roy could still make out his face and features. He had an angular face and a sharp, straight nose. His hair was dark brown with enough curl to rival Chet Kelly, and light brown eyes. He was a few inches shorter than Roy, looked fairly small actually. His suit was crisp and pressed, with only a slight wrinkle to it. He held out his hand to Roy and Roy noticed how smooth that hand was.
He didn't like him right off the bat.
"Hello, you must be Roy DeSoto?" Roy hesitantly shook the man's hand. "I hope you'll forgive me for showing up out of the blue like this, but I couldn't think of any other way to get in touch with you."
The man's voice was pleasent and his words were quick, like he was used to haggling with people. Roy's dislike went up another notch.
"I'm sorry, you are?" He let the question hang while Chris shuffled around behind him. He couldn't get into the house because the man was blocking the door.
"I'm so sorry, where are my manners?" The smile grew a little. "I'm Pete Jennings."
Just like that, Roy's dislike skyrocketed into hate.
Black-Angel-001: see you in two weeks ya'll! in the meantime, since i'm all caught up, time for some mardi gras parades! let the good times roll!