Chapter Four
Despite having only a few hours of sleep, Roy rose early and quickly got dressed. He tried Hank's home number again but there was still no answer.
"Roy, come eat your breakfast," Joanne called from the kitchen when she heard him coming down the stairs.
"I don't have time, Jo. I need to go see if I can find Emily Stanley."
Joanne came into the living room and put her hands on her hips, a move that made Roy cringe. "Roy DeSoto, you need to get some fuel in you to deal with this day, now get in that kitchen and eat."
"Yes ma'am," Roy said, contritely.
Chris was sitting on the living room floor watching cartoons. He glanced up at his father and smirked. Roy mussed his son's hair as he passed. Coming into the kitchen, he found Jenny sleepily eating a bowl of cereal. "Hello, Sweetie. How are you today?"
Jenny yawned. "Okay, Daddy. You came home late last night."
"Oh, I'm sorry if I woke you."
"I heard you and Mommy talking. Did Uncle Johnny get hurt again?"
Roy almost choked on his coffee and shot a glance over to his wife. "No honey, Uncle Johnny is fine." Roy pulled out a chair and sat down near his daughter. "But Captain Stanley did get hurt."
"Oh Daddy, is he okay? Did he get burned?"
"No, Honey, he didn't get burned. He got a bad bump on his head. I'm going to see him later this morning."
Jenny jumped down from her chair. "I'll be right back, Daddy. Don't go anywhere."
"Okay, Sweetie," Roy replied as he bit into his toast.
After finished his meal, Roy brought his dishes to the sink and kissed Joanne. "I'll call you later if I am going to be late."
"Okay. Give Hank my love."
"I will." Roy headed into the living room and heard Jenny bounding down the stairs. "Walk, young lady."
"I wanted to make sure you didn't leave," Jenny responded breathlessly.
Roy stooped down to her level. "I told you I would wait for you, Princess."
"I want you to give this to Captain Stanley." Jenny held out a piece of white construction paper on which she had drawn a tree and a sun.
Roy took the drawing, his stomach fluttering in sadness knowing that Cap may not get to see it. "Why, thank you," Roy said, standing up. "This is beautiful. He will love it." Jenny's smile beamed. Roy bent down and kissed her on the head. "I'll see you later. Be good for Mommy."
"I will," Jenny said as she followed Roy to the door.
"Bye, Chris. Don't forget your chores."
"I won't Dad."
Roy hurried to his sports car and backed out of the drive, heading in the direction of Hank's house. Once there, his hopes fell as he saw there were no cars in the driveway. He decided to knock on the door anyway, hoping that Emily was out and one or both of Hank's twin daughters was home. He knocked a few times then looked into the front window. The house seemed empty.
"May I help you?"
Roy spun around, startled. "Oh hello." Roy stepped down off the porch and extended a hand to the man who had spoken. "I'm Roy DeSoto, one of Captain Stanley's crew."
The older man shook Roy's hand. "Oh yes, I recognize you now. I'm sorry but I was just keeping an eye out for the Stanley's house. I'm Ernie Ryan."
"I appreciate that, Mr. Ryan. And I'm glad you came by. I'm trying to locate Emily. She hasn't answered the phone."
Ryan looked up at the house. "Now that you mention it, I haven't seen Emily for almost a week. The girls have not been buzzing about either. Oh no, has something happened to Hank?" Ryan looked worried.
"I'm afraid it has."
"Oh no. It has to be bad if he hasn't called her himself."
"I don't think I can talk about it with you, Mr. Ryan, I'm sorry."
"Oh I understand. Please, call me Ernie."
"If they come back, could you please tell them to contact one of his crew or Dr. Early at Rampart General?"
"Yes, of course. I'm retired so I'm home most of the time. I'll keep an eagle eye out and I'll ask around to see if anyone in the neighborhood knows where Emily and the girls have gone."
"I appreciate it, I really do."
"Take care, Roy. Give my best to Hank if you can."
"I'll do that. I'm going there now. Goodbye."
Roy got back into his Porsche. He wondered how Hank was doing as he headed to Rampart. Once there, he made his way down to the waiting area where he had last seen Mike but he was not there. Roy hoped the man had come to his senses and gone home but he doubted it. Not seeing Dixie or any of the staff he knew in the emergency room, Roy got into the elevator to go up to ICU. He stepped off and immediately spotted Mike dozing in a chair, his feet propped up on another chair in front of him. Roy went over and sat down next to him.
"Mike. Mike, wake up."
"Huh?" Mike pulled his feet off the chair and pushed himself upright. "Roy?"
"Good morning. Any word?"
Mike shook his head then rubbed his sore neck. "Ugh, that hurts. No, no word yet. I haven't even seen Dr. Early although he may have walked right by me. Man, I could use some of that Tylenol Marco had."
"No complaining, Stoker. You could have slept in your own bed. Or like in my case, laid in your bed and stared at the ceiling." Roy gave an apologetic smile to his friend.
"Ha, I hear you. Any sign of the other guys?"
"No, not yet. Come to think of it, I expected Johnny to call me but he didn't – I left early though. I stopped by Cap's house. No sign of Emily and the girls. They must be away. The neighbor said he hadn't seen them in quite a few days."
"Oh boy, that's not good. Now that Cap's awake, though, we can find out from him. Too bad he wasn't able to tell us last night. But in the state he was in, he wouldn't have been able to tell us much. I'm glad they gave him something to put him out."
Roy looked over his shoulder at the double doors leading to the ICU. "Yeah, but he still has to come to terms with it when he wakes up."
Mike rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands then leaned back in the chair with a loud sigh. "I know. I wish I could be there for him."
"Me too," Roy said then turned toward the elevator. Johnny stepped off and saw his friends and joined them.
"Any word?"
"No," both Roy and Mike replied.
"I just got here myself. Still no idea where Emily is."
"Oh man, that's too bad," Johnny said, sitting down across from Mike and Roy. "Hey, I saw Dixie downstairs. She said she would contact Early and have him come up to speak to us."
"Good," Roy said. "Have you spoken to Chet and Marco?"
"I called Chet this morning right before I tried to get you at home. Jo said you had already left. Anyway, I couldn't reach him so I called Marco. Chet stayed with Marco at his place last night."
"That was nice of him," Mike said with a yawn.
"Marco is still out cold. The medications knocked him out. Chet wanted to wait until he woke up then he'll bring Marco with him if he is up to it. I've had a similar injury so Marco might be better off staying in bed."
"But with Cap here…" Mike's thought wandered off.
"Yeah, I know," Johnny replied sadly. "I might drag myself in too if I were Marco."
"Yeah but Marco has more sense than you do, Junior." Roy tried to smile.
"Now, look, Roy…" Johnny was cut off by the sound of the ICU doors opening. Dr. Early saw them and came over to them.
"I thought I'd find at least a few of you here," Early said. "Mike, don't tell me you really did stay all night."
"I did."
Early shook his head disapprovingly but smiled. "As you know, I sedated Hank last night. He had a good night and slept straight through. I've had them ease up on the sedative and I expect him to start coming around soon."
"Doc, I don't want him to react like he did last night," Mike said, his hands wringing with worry.
"He shouldn't Mike. I haven't completely discontinued the sedative so he will be much calmer. I've also given orders that he should never be left alone until he is completely awake and aware."
"Thanks for letting us know, Doc. Any idea when we could see him?" Roy asked.
"Yeah, Doc, do you think he might be better off having one of us there with him? It helps to have a friend close by."
Early considered it but then shook his head. "I'm sorry, Mike. Seeing that he is in the ICU and watched carefully, I don't think having an extra body there during this will help the staff."
"I understand," Mike muttered.
"I promise I will come out and see you as soon as I have more information."
The three firefighters said thank you to Dr. Early and settled back in to wait. Johnny immediately started to fidget.
"I'm going to find a phone and let Chet know what's going on."
"Good idea, Johnny. I think I'll grab some more coffee. I need the caffeine. Who else needs some?" Roy asked. Both Mike and Johnny asked for coffee too.
A few minutes later, Roy came back with the coffee and found Mike pacing the floor. Johnny joined them and updated them on Chet and Marco. "Chet is on his way in. Marco was in a lot of pain so he took more muscle relaxants and went right out again."
Mike stopped pacing. "Poor Marco. I hope he ate something first."
"I think with Chet there, you can sure of that. He really is a mother hen." Johnny said with a smile.
"Of all of us, I think he is the worrier. You should have seen him when you got hit by that car, Johnny. He tried to cheer me up but I ended up trying to make him feel better. He was a wreck." Roy sat down and blew on his coffee then took a sip.
Mike smelled the coffee and stopped pacing long enough to sit down and take a sip of the steamy brew. It wasn't the best but it was just what he needed. He leaned back and tried to relax. "You know, Johnny, Chet was the right man for Cap to put up on the back of the engine when you got bit by the rattler."
Johnny nodded then looked up at his two friends. "Doesn't anyone have any stories of Chet being worried about them when they got hurt?"
"No," Roy and Mike said simultaneously. Johnny pulled a face and leaned back dejectedly.
"Hey, we're just kidding. Chet does worry about all of us," Roy said with a grin. "I think 'mother hen' is the perfect name for him."
"Better than 'phantom?'" Mike smirked.
"Heh, that's his alter ego," Johnny joked. He watched as Mike got up and started pacing again, this time with a little more gusto after having downed half a cup of coffee. "Geez, Mike, they are going to have to re-do that wax on the floor if you don't slow down."
"I can't help it," Mike said. "I wish I was in there with Cap." He gestured toward the closed double doors. Just as he did, they opened and Dr. Early came out.
"Doc, what's going on?" Mike said rushing toward him.
Early put his hands up as if to slow the frantic engineer. "He's awake. He still has not regained his sight." Early tried to phrase it to make it sound more like it was a temporary problem.
"How is he handling it?" Mike asked before Roy or Johnny could get a word out.
"He is understandably worried and upset. But the sedative is helping him stay calm." Early explained.
Roy stepped forward. "Doc, has he been able to tell anyone where his wife and daughters are?"
Joe looked up, confused. "You still haven't located them? Odd, but he didn't even ask about Mrs. Stanley."
Mike swallowed hard. "Can I see him, Dr. Early?"
"Yes, no more than one or two at a time again."
Roy put his hand on Mike's shoulder. "Mike, you go ahead in. We'll wait here for Chet."
Mike looked at Roy then Johnny, his expression showed his thankfulness. "Thanks guys. I appreciate it."
"Take your time, Mikey," Johnny said.
"Come with me, Mike. I'll show you his room." Early turned and led the way back into the unit.
Mike followed Early into the bright white, sterile-looking ICU. Mike glanced around and took in all the strange equipment placed near and outside the small windowed rooms. Early stopped at the second door they came to.
"I had him placed here so the nurses' station is right outside his door. If you need anything, just hit the call button. Better yet, just wave because they are always watching out for him.
Mike let out a breath and nodded, "Thanks, Doc. I really appreciate everything you've done for him."
"Don't mention it," Early said with his customary warm smile. He turned and walked away.
Once he was alone, Mike finally turned to see Hank. His head was still bandaged. He was very still, his eyes closed. Mike walked quietly to his side and stood there. He couldn't be sure if Hank was asleep or not.
"That you, Mike?" Hank said, turning his head toward Mike and opening his eyes. His unfocused gaze made Mike's stomach lurch.
"Yeah, Hank. It's me. How'd you know?"
"This place is so damned quiet, you can't miss a conversation right outside the door."
Mike nodded then mentally scolded himself for doing it since Hank couldn't see him. "I bet," was all he could think to say. There was a moment of tense quiet. "How are you feeling? How's the head?"
"Hurts like a mother...well, you can imagine."
Mike nodded again then bit his lip in frustration. "I can. I'm sorry, Hank."
"What are you sorry about?"
"I don't know. I just wish this didn't happen."
"Accidents happen, Pal." Although Hank's words sounded light, Mike could hear unease in the tone.
"Hank, we all tried to reach Emily for you. I guess she's out of town, huh?"
Hank's head turned slightly away from Mike and he shut his eyes. "Yeah, she's away."
"If you can tell me where she is, I'll make sure we get a hold of her for you."
"Don't worry about it, Mike."
"What do you mean? She needs to know you are here." Mike wasn't sure why Hank didn't want his wife and children by his side. "What about the girls?"
"They are with their mother. They are fine."
"No, Hank. I mean they will want to see you and be here with you."
"Mike, I'd appreciate it if you'd drop it."
Mike was taken aback. He looked around the room as if it would give him the answer to his questions. He saw a chair in the corner and wheeled it toward Hank's bed. The noise made Hank startle so Mike came to back to his side and placed a gentle hand on his captain's arm.
"Sorry, Cap. I was just moving a chair over to sit down." He was surprised to see a small smile on Hank's lips. "Something funny?"
"Yeah you. You call me Hank until you feel you need to apologize, then it's back to 'Cap.'" Hank chuckled softly.
"Oh, didn't even realize I did it," Mike said, relieved to see the smile.
"You do it all the time, you know that?"
"Do I?"
"I shouldn't have said anything because I find it pretty amusing. Remember our last fishing trip?"
"Yes, that was a great time," Mike said, remembering.
"Remember we were peeing our pants laughing out on that boat and scaring all the fish?" Hank asked and Mike nodded again but reminded himself to stop.
"Yes, I remember."
"And when you hooked my ear with the fish hook."
Mike sat down with a chuckle. "I sure do remember that. I was afraid you would bust me down to lineman."
Hank grinned. "You not only went from 'Hank' to 'Cap' you called me 'sir' at least twice."
"Did I really?"
Hank nodded then winced. Mike stood up. "Don't worry about me, Mike. Just gotta remember not to move my head that much."
"Okay, but maybe we should stay away from funny stories. I'll warn Chet before he comes in."
"Chet's here?"
"He's on his way. Roy and Johnny are just out in the waiting room." Mike watched as Hank remembered the previous day.
"Marco. Where's Marco?" Hank reached a hand out and Mike grabbed onto it.
"He's okay, Cap. He's home sleeping. Just a bad shoulder bruise. The medicine has him knocked out."
"Are you sure, Mike? You aren't just telling me that?"
"No, I promise. In fact, he was in your room last night before someone took him home." Mike saw Hank relax so he sat back down. He thought about the previous night and how frightened Hank was when he realized he couldn't see. Mike's mood plummeted. "Cap, I…"
"Don't say it, Michael."
Mike let out a breath. As always, he was amazed at how well Hank knew him. He stood back up. "I'm going to let the other guys come in for a while, Hank. But I promise I'll be back as much as they'll let me."
"Thanks, Pal. I appreciate it. Really."
Mike took in a breath. "Hank, are you sure you don't want to talk about Emily?" Mike didn't want to upset his sick friend but he just didn't understand why Hank wasn't having him call his family.
"No, Mike."
Mike stood still while his mind churned. Should he insist that Hank tell him what was going on? Would it hurt his recovery to push him? Sensing Mike's turmoil, Hank relented.
"Look, Emily and I have been having some problems. I didn't want to tell you about it…"
"Problems? Is that what has been eating at you these past few weeks?"
Hank pulled a face. "Did it show that much?"
"Are you serious? Hank, you've been a bear."
Hank reached up and rubbed his throbbing head. "I'm sorry."
Mike felt bad seeing how much Hank was suffering. "Okay, forget it. Don't worry about it now, okay?"
Hank could hear the concern in his engineer's voice. He again reached out a hand and was glad to feel Mike grab onto it. Hank held tight but didn't know what else to say. He hadn't wanted to air his dirty laundry to his crew but the accident had pushed him into it. Finally he let go of Mike's hand. "I guess you are going to have to tell the guys. It does look strange now that I think of it that my own family isn't here."
"I'm going to leave now but once you are stronger, we will talk about this again."
Hank gently nodded. "We will have a lot to talk about, Mike. I'm going to have to think about calling my brother in Minneapolis." Hank let out a sigh of frustration. "His wife and I never got along and now she'll have to be my keeper."
Mike moved closer to Hank's bed. "Stop right there. We aren't having that conversation."
"Mike…"
"This is temporary, Hank. Temporary. Don't waste your energy on worrying about that, got it?" Mike's voice was adamant.
"Yes, sir," Hank said with a slight grin.
"Now do you want to get some sleep or can I have the other guys come in?"
"I think I'm okay. I'd like to see…see them."
Mike's heart broke as Hank stumbled over the word. "Okay. I'll be back later. Let me know if you need anything, okay?"
"I will, Mike. Thank you."
Mike stepped out of Hank's room and leaned against the wall. He was emotionally exhausted as well as physically. Everything made more sense to him now but he felt horrible for what Hank had been going through. He wished he understood why Hank didn't feel he could share his troubles with him but that was a question for another day.
"You okay, Hon?" Mike looked up sharply, surprised to be spoken to. A nurse was looking at him with concern.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay. Thanks," Mike said, embarrassed.
"I know being here is difficult. But your friend is doing very well. Don't worry, okay?" Her voice had a slight accent as if she may have been from back east. "My name is Beth and I'm one of the nurses assigned to Mr. Stanley."
"Captain. Captain Stanley."
"Oh?" Beth said, intrigued.
Mike smiled. Women always were suckers for men in uniform. "He's a firefighter and my superior." Mike saw Beth's eyes light up and he grinned.
"A firefighter? Oh my, that is interesting. I have great respect for what you do, I want you to know that."
"Thank you ma'am."
"It's Beth and don't forget it." She smiled warmly. Mike saw that she had some lines around her eyes which made him think she was in her early 40s. Her brown hair was tucked neatly into her cap.
"Thank you, Beth."
Mike pushed himself off the wall and walked back out to the waiting room. He was glad to see Chet had arrived. All three men stood and met up with him. Johnny was the first to speak.
"How is he, Mike?"
"He's pretty good, considering."
"Does he still want company? I'd like to go in to see him," Chet said.
"He does but…why don't we all sit down for a minute." Mike went into the waiting room and stood in the center until his three friends sat down. He then sat down across from them.
"What is it, Mike? You're making me worried," Roy said.
"This isn't about Cap's health. It's about his wife."
"Emily?" Johnny asked, concerned.
"The reason Emily isn't at the house is…she left."
"Left? To where? Does he know the phone number?" Chet asked.
"No, Chet, I mean she left Hank…Cap. They are separated."
"Oh, no," Roy said, leaning back and running a hand through his hair.
"She and the girls are gone but Cap doesn't want to talk about it."
Chet stood up. "Guys, if you don't mind, I'd like to go in and see him alone."
Roy looked up at Chet, "Sure, Chet. Go on in."
"Second door on the right," Mike instructed. Chet waved his thanks and entered the ICU.
"Did he say anything else about Marco?" Mike asked.
"Just that he did have a late breakfast and that he definitely wants to come in later to see Hank," Roy explained. "By the sound of it, he was getting dressed but Chet convinced him to crash for a while more."
"Mother Hen Kelly," Johnny said with a laugh. "And what about you, Mike? Have you had anything to eat since yesterday?"
Mike looked sheepish. "Come to think of it, all I've had are some crackers from the vending machine."
"Well, you are in luck," Johnny said, reaching over to the table nearby. "Chet brought in a bag of donuts. Here."
Mike looked into the bag and selected a Boston Crème. "Thanks."
Johnny handed him a napkin then helped himself to a jelly-filled. "Roy?"
"No thanks. I had breakfast at home."
"Must be nice," Johnny said, biting into his donut. He managed to catch the jelly squirting out the opposite side with his tongue before it fell on in his lap. He put the donut down on the napkin. "Poor Cap. I wonder if he's been eating right."
Mike nodded sadly but Roy looked over at Johnny and laughed. "Now look who is the mother hen."
Mike finished his donut and went back to pacing. "Aw, Mike," Johnny complained. "Don't start that again."
"He's right, Mike," Roy said, "You need to go home and sleep. You've seen Cap and talked to him. Go home and sleep and come back later."
"I don't think so," Mike said, stopping his pacing. "I don't want to leave him here alone."
Johnny stood up. "Alone? Has he been alone at all since he got here? And we are all here. Marco will even be here later." Johnny put both hands on Mike's shoulders. "Go home, Mikey."
Mike sighed and looked over Johnny's shoulder to see Roy nodding. He sat down and put his face in his hands. "Okay, I guess I could go home for a few hours."
"Well, what are you sitting down for then? Go." Johnny tapped Mike's boot with his shoe. "At least change out of your bunkers, geez."
Mike looked down at himself. "Oh man, I should. Okay, but you call me if anything changes. Deal?"
"It's a deal, now go," Roy said, smiling.
As Mike went to push the elevator button, he spotted Chet coming from the ICU. "Chet, you're back so soon? Is he okay?"
Chet pushed the elevator's down button. "Oh yeah, he's doing okay. He dozed off so you two may want to wait a while before you see him."
"Where you going? Back to Marco's house?" Johnny asked as the doors opened and Chet stepped in followed by Mike.
"No, I'm going to call Emily."
Roy took two long strides and caught the elevator door before it closed. "Emily Stanley?"
"What are you talking about, Chet?" Mike asked.
"Cap and I had a nice talk. He told me where his spare house key is and where to find the number of Emily's mother. That's where she is staying." Chet looked at each of his friends in turn, his face completely calm. "Why?"
Mike shoved Chet off the elevator and stepped out himself. "Mike!" Chet shouted and tried to catch the doors before they closed.
"Look Kelly, I spoke to Cap not twenty minutes ago and he didn't want anyone contacting Emily."
"Well, like I said," Chet said, his words drawn out like he was speaking to a child, "I had a talk with him about that."
"And?" Johnny prodded when Chet didn't offer any more information.
Chet looked over at Johnny. "And he agrees that his daughters and even Emily would be upset if they found out he was here and they weren't told."
Mike looked from Chet to Johnny and Roy then back at Chet. "Seriously?" Chet nodded. "Just like that?" Mike asked. Chet nodded again.
"Well, I'll be," Johnny said throwing up his hands. He shook his head and smiled at Chet.
"What?" Chet asked looking at each friend in turn. Soon they were all smiling at him.
"Nuthin', Chet. Go call Emily and the girls." Johnny said, laughing.
"That is exactly what I was trying to do before you all stopped me. Geez." Chet turned back around and pushed the elevator button again. He stood with his back to them all. Mike cocked a thumb at Chet and mouthed 'mother hen.' All three burst out laughing as the elevator opened.
Chet turned around. "What's so funny?"
Mike shoved Chet into the elevator this time and got on himself. "Just hit 'one,' Chet."
Roy and Johnny chuckled as they watch the doors close around a very confused Chester B.
