Title: Without Reservation – Pt. 4

By: FanofRandy

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. Emergency! is owned by Universal and Mark VII Productions. I write for pure enjoyment and to stretch my imagination…I do not make any profit from these characters or stories.

Summary: A new policy had Gage worried and Brackett concerned for this young Paramedic. What happens will change their relationship, and other friendships Johnny has forged, forever.

The men had never seen John Gage angry before. Since the night about a year ago when he and his Rescue partner, Tony, had lost the fight to save a man from an electrical pole, anyone would be hard-pressed to find a time when John Gage showed his anger. Johnny was good at two things—his job and hiding his emotions.

"I'm sorry, doc." Johnny turned to see Dr. Early's face. "I shouldn't have done that. It's just that, I...I...I don't want you to call her. She doesn't know about my…my…my past…I don't want her to know. I didn't really want anyone to know." He sunk back down into the chair.

The two men looked at Johnny then at each other, and back to Johnny again. The man was visibly upset and Dr. Brackett was sorry he had been the cause, but he knew he had to press on in this discussion. Treading carefully, Brackett asked, "Johnny, is there anything we can do to make this easier on you?"

"Yeah," thought Johnny, "just leave me alone about it!" But, he knew that was not an option now. The cat had come out of the bag and he would have to face the consequences. The young man was quiet for a while and the doctors allowed the silence.

Flashback to when Johnny was 4 years old:

"One day, a scorpion looked around at the mountain where he lived and decided that he wanted a change. So he set out on a journey through the forests and hills. He climbed over rocks and under vines and kept going until he reached a river. The river was wide and swift, and the scorpion stopped to reconsider the situation. He couldn't see any way across. So he ran upriver and then checked downriver, all the while thinking that he might have to turn back." Johnny loved his mother's stories. She told them to him before bed, when he was sick or hurt, and when he just wanted to hear the sound of her voice.

"Suddenly, he saw a frog sitting in the rushes by the bank of the stream on the other side of the river. He decided to ask the frog for help getting across the stream. "Hellooo Mr. Frog!" called the scorpion across the water, "Would you be so kind as to give me a ride on your back across the river?" Johnny loved the way his mother used different voices for the characters in her story…the voice for the scorpion sounded very sly and mischievous.

"Well now, Mr. Scorpion! How do I know that if I try to help you, you won't try to kill me?" asked the frog hesitantly. The frog's voice sounding deep and "croaky".

"Because," the scorpion replied, "If I try to kill you, then I would die too, for you see I cannot swim!"

Now this seemed to make sense to the frog. But he asked. "What about when I get close to the bank? You could still try to kill me and get back to the shore!"

"This is true," agreed the scorpion, "But then I wouldn't be able to get to the other side of the river!"

"Alright then...how do I know you won't just wait till we get to the other side and THEN kill me?" said the frog.

"Ahh...," crooned the scorpion, "Because you see, once you've taken me to the other side of this river, I will be so grateful for your help, that it would hardly be fair to reward you with death, now would it?"

So the frog agreed to take the scorpion across the river. He swam over to the bank and settled himself near the mud to pick up his passenger. The scorpion crawled onto the frog's back, his sharp claws prickling into the frog's soft hide, and the frog slid into the river. The muddy water swirled around them, but the frog stayed near the surface so the scorpion would not drown. He kicked strongly through the first half of the stream, his flippers paddling wildly against the current.

Halfway across the river, the frog suddenly felt a sharp sting in his back and, out of the corner of his eye, saw the scorpion remove his stinger from the frog's back. A deadening numbness began to creep into his limbs.

"You fool!" croaked the frog, "Now we shall both die! Why on earth did you do that?"

The scorpion shrugged, and did a little jig on the drowning frog's back.

"I could not help myself. It is my nature."

Then they both sank into the muddy waters of the swiftly flowing river.

Johnny's mother explained to him that humans can decide on how they will act and react and do not have to rely on their nature to determine who they will be. She told him this story many times before she died.

Johnny decided early on that he was not going to allow his upbringing and hard life determine his "nature." His mother had raised him to be a kind, gentle and caring young man…he determined in his mind that was what he would be. His anger toward Dr. Brackett caused him to feel as though he let his mother down. "I'm sorry I got so angry. I think that there is something that would make this easier. How 'bout you request my medical files from Oklahoma. I think you will get most of your answers from them. And, after you review those files, then we can meet again, if you still have questions, that is. Now, can I go? I don't want to miss a whole shift and I am pretty late now as it is."

Brackett really didn't want to delay the meeting, but felt the new information from Johnny's previous medical records would be a good resource. He hated the delay, but allowed it for Johnny's sake. "Yes, we can reschedule. But, Johnny, this meeting IS going to have to happen." Brackett emphasized, as he got the papers ready for Johnny to sign for the release of his medical records.

Johnny signed the documents and nodded his head. They set the meeting time for several days later to give the records time to arrive and be reviewed. And, it allowed Johnny time to rest after his 24 hour shift. Johnny asked if Roy could attend their next meeting and neither doctor balked at the idea.

Johnny left Dr. Brackett's office feeling a little bit better about things—he still did not want to tell his long, sad story—but, he was glad he could do it in his own way. Johnny got into his Rover, took a deep breath and started his drive to the station. "I hope the rest of the day goes better than the first few hours did," he thought as he pulled out into traffic.

Alas, the Spirits had other things in mind.

NOTE: The story of the frog and the scorpion (also sometimes a turtle and scorpion) was a tale I heard as a child and found a version on the Internet to add for story development…

TBC