At three in the morning Johnny tossed and turned in the hospital bed. There was something nagging at him that he just had to resolve. He swung his feet over the edge of the bed, slowly and gently, then stood up. His bandaged right ankle protested, but not enough to stop him. Can't roam around in this stupid gown, my work pants should be here somewhere. Johnny slipped into his cut and dirty pants, careful of his sprained ankle, slightly hindered by his bruised shoulder.
Johnny slowly opened his door and cautiously peered up and down the hall. All clear. He limped to the elevator, slipped in, and selected Pediatrics, one floor up. The elevator deposited him on a similar looking hallway. He limped to the duty desk. Have to ask for directions, hope they let me see her.
"May I help you?" a soft voice came from behind him.
"Um, yes," Johnny said, spinning around. He caught himself on the desk to keep from falling. That wasn't a smart move!
"Are you all right? Hey, aren't you a firefighter from the news?" Amy Miller asked, putting an arm out to help steady him. Amy, recently out of nursing school, had not yet been introduced to the 'Gage Charm'.
Johnny lit up his best grin. "Well, yeah. "I'm John. Johnny Gage," he extended his right hand.
"Nice to meet you, Johnny Gage. I'm Amy Miller." She took his proffered hand briefly.
"I wanted to see the baby girl. The last time I saw her, she wasn't breathing." He lost his grin as he remembered their shared peril. "I had to drop her out of a window. I really need to know how she is doing."
The compassion on the young nurse's face gave Johnny a glint of hope.
"It's way past visiting hours. Plus, you aren't family." She looked up and down the hallway, not unlike Johnny did downstairs. "But I think exceptions can be made for heroes. It's time for me to take another set of vitals on her anyway."
Amy looked up and down the hallway again. It was contagious; Johnny found himself peering for unseen dangers too.
"Nurse Blevins should still be on rounds now," Amy cautioned.
Johnny gave her a quizzical look. "Who's Nurse Blevins?"
Amy took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "She's my supervisor and a walking rule book."
Johnny frowned and shivered involuntarily. Walking rulebook! "I don't want to get you into trouble."
Amy's face lightened. "Oh, I don't intend to." She looked at Johnny's cut and dirty work pants, and made a face. "Let's get you a pair of scrub pants first, though. You can change in the men's room down here." She went and got the pants for him.
"Thanks," he limped to the men's room.
"Can you get that okay?" she asked with genuine concern.
"Yeah. It's not as bad as it looks. Just stiff and sore," Johnny grinned a bit shyly.
"Much better," she said as he made his way back to the desk. She got a plastic bag for his old pants and set them on a shelf behind the desk. "Wait here a minute."
Amy turned the corner and saw Nurse Blevins leave one room and enter the third to the last room. Not much time. She grabbed a wheelchair returned to the duty desk.
"What's that for," Johnny asked, eyeing the wheelchair.
"You. We're a little short on time." Amy helped Johnny into the wheelchair, and then set off down the hall at a trot.
"Hey!" Johnny yelped as they sped toward a closed ward door. He extended his right arm to catch the blow of the door, closing his eyes at the same time. At the last possible second, Amy deftly swung the wheelchair around and backed into the dark wardroom. Johnny clutched at the right armrest of the wheelchair to keep from sliding out onto the floor at the sudden change of direction.
Amy tucked the wheelchair and passenger behind the curtain around an empty crib. "Over by the window," she nodded to the only occupied crib in the room. She held her hand out to help Johnny out of the wheelchair.
Cautiously, Johnny accepted her assistance. Once standing on his own two feet, Johnny shot an irritable glare at Amy. "Where did you get your license for that thing?"
Amy shrugged and walked over to the crib with Johnny. "Kmart, of course," she muttered. She felt Johnny's glare, but didn't look up in order to hide the grin on her face.
Johnny's eyes were glued on the beautiful little girl sleeping in the hospital crib. He quietly leaned on the crib rail, watching her little chest rise and fall in rhythmic sleep breathing. It was one of the most beautiful sights he had seen in a long time. "What's her name?" Johnny asked Amy in a whisper.
"Laura."
"Well, little Laura, you sure are a sight for sore eyes." Johnny took in every little blond curl and her rosy cheeks – gone was the pallor of earlier. Laura's eyelids flitted in dream slumber, completely at rest; the ends of her little mouth twitched in a dream grin – completely melting Johnny's heart. He placed one of his fingers against her soft hand. His eyes glistened as her little fingers grasped and held onto his finger.
Amy watched Johnny closely. She wiped at some moisture in her own eyes. "Would you like to hold her while I get her vitals?"
Johnny released the angelic grip from his finger. "Yeah. I'd like that," he whispered.
Amy pulled a chair up for him, helped him ease into it. He made himself as comfortable as possible while Amy carefully lifted Laura from her crib. She eased the baby girl into Johnny's cradling arms.
Johnny grinned. "She didn't even wake up." His smile faded. "She's okay, isn't she?"
"She's fine, Johnny. She's a baby that had a very intense day. It's normal for her to sleep a lot after something like that. It's good for her."
That brought back Johnny's grin.
When Amy finished with the vitals, Johnny settled back in the chair, cradling little Laura. I knew I was in trouble the moment I saw you, little girl. 'No emotional involvement' be damned!
"Young lady," he whispered to the sleeping Laura, "you're gonna break some hearts." He placed a feather-light kiss on her forehead. "You're a shoo-in for Prom Queen."
Amy finished with Laura's chart, she had to wipe her eyes again as she listened to Firefighter Johnny Gage coo over little Laura. She also listened for any approaching footsteps since rounds would be over soon. She couldn't resist this little reunion. Healing was about people after all.
"Time's up, Johnny," Amy whispered as she gathered Laura from his arms. "You firefighters aren't so tough." Amy gently placed Laura back in her crib.
"Don't you tell anyone. It would ruin our reputation," Johnny whispered back as Amy helped him out of the chair.
She grinned up at him, remembering the news coverage. "No one would believe me anyway."
Johnny paused for one more peek at the peacefully sleeping Laura before settling into the wheelchair, knuckles clinched white on the armrest already. Johnny was surprised - the short ride to the elevator was quick, but uneventful.
"You gonna be okay now?" Amy asked as they reached the elevator.
"I'm okay now, Amy, really. I just needed to see her. She was so lifeless when I found her. I didn't want to drop her…"
"That other firefighter caught her," Amy reassured him.
Johnny looked up at Amy. "Yeah, he did." Thank you, Mike!
"You get to your room, now. You need rest too. I have to get back."
Johnny started to get out of the wheelchair, but Amy pressed him down again. "What?" he asked, turning around carefully. He saw the biggest, brutish nurse he had ever seen bearing down on them. Johnny eased back around and sunk down into the chair as far as possible.
"Be still and be quiet. I can handle her," Amy whispered down at Johnny.
No problem there. Just keep her away from me!
"Miss Miller. What do you think you are doing?" thundered Nurse Blevins.
"Ma'am, this gentleman got off on the wrong floor. I'm just getting him back on the elevator."
Nurse Blevins leaned around Amy to get a better look at the 'gentleman' and noticed Johnny's bandaged right foot and ankle. "Humph. Better see that he gets back where he belongs, Nurse. Can't have injured people lurking in the hallways at this hour."
"Yes, Ma'am." Amy punched the down button and hustled the wheelchair into the elevator as quickly as possible. Johnny reached out and pressed the button for the next floor down.
As soon as the elevator doors closed, Johnny pulled himself out of the wheelchair and hopped away from it. He leaned against the elevator wall, carefully keeping his left arm still to ease his now throbbing shoulder. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.
"Johnny, please sit back down. You shouldn't be up." Amy gestured towards the wheelchair.
"Oh, no. No way am I getting back in that thing. I'm fine." Johnny inched further away from the wheelchair and its maniacal driver.
The doors opened and Johnny limped out while Amy held the elevator doors. "Thanks, Amy. Really."
Amy pushed the wheelchair out into the hall and parked it next to the elevator. She caught up to Johnny and took his right elbow. "Nurse Blevins told me to make sure you get where you belong. She's my super so I have to do what she says. Which room?"
"Third door on the left," he motioned down the hall.
Amy helped Johnny swing his legs into the bed and pulled the blanket over him. "There. You think you can get some rest now?"
"Yeah. Amy, I know you bent a lot of rules to let me see Laura. I really appreciate it."
"Don't worry about it. I saw what you did to get her out of that burning house. She's lucky to be alive – you both are."
Johnny snorted and rubbed his bruised shoulder. "Just cut my escape a little too close this time," he muttered, mostly to himself.
###
At the nurse's station Millie and her friend Karen returned to the duty desk after a short coffee break.
"Time to start rounds again," Karen stated, reaching for the stack of charts.
Millie raced around to the front of the desk, reaching the charts first. "I'll take that one," she said with a wide grin. "I've finally decided on which restaurant I want to go to this weekend."
Karen gave her friend a wink. "Do you think he'll be up to all that?"
Millie gave Karen an exaggerated wink in reply. "Oh, I'll take good care of him." She headed off to the third door up from the elevator, on the left.
###
Amy tucked the blanket carefully around Johnny's shoulder, jumping slightly as the door swung open.
Millie took in the young nurse hovering over Johnny, and immediately jumped to the obvious, albeit unfounded, conclusions. "John Gage," she grated through clinched teeth, "you are…I can't believe…I never want to see you again!" She turned and stomped out of the room, leaving an icy breeze in her wake.
Johnny had rose to one elbow to attempt an explanation, but never got in a word. He plopped his head back on the pillow. "Great…" he whispered, closing his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Johnny," Amy said as she shut off the light above the bed.
"Don't worry about it. I guess I'll be getting plenty of rest this weekend now."
###
Karen looked up from the desk to see Millie storming towards her. Millie slammed the chart on the desk in anger and growled, "Men!" then stomped off to the ladies room.
Karen looked up again - in time to see a young nurse leave Johnny's room and disappear in the elevator. She rolled her eyes. "Gage…" she whispered with icy hostility.
###
Amy settled in back at her duty desk to do some paperwork. She turned to get another form and saw the plastic bag containing Johnny's work pants. She picked it up and set it next to her purse under the desk. She would have to make sure those got back to their rightful owner. She returned to her paperwork with a smile on her face.