Roy was due to pick up Chris late in the afternoon. The boys spent the morning helping Johnny cut the lawns. They were supposed to be raking up the grass but spent most of the time chasing Feather around the yard, keeping him away from the grass cutter.

When the paramedic was hosing down his tools, Feather decided he needed to cool off. He jumped through the spray of the water, from the hose. The boys joined in, all three ended up soaked. Johnny figured since they were wet they might as well help him with washing the truck. All four were wet by the end. They lined up for showers, dressed in dry clothes and had a late lunch out on the deck.

Roy walked around the side of the house. He had knocked several times and not received an answer. "Ah this is the life, sitting around doing nothing."

"Dad!" Chris jumped up and hurried down the stairs and hugged his father. Roy smiled, it was good to get away but he had missed his kids. "Come and meet Feather."

Chris dragged his father up onto the deck to show him Feather. Roy patted the dog. "Hello Mr DeSoto."

"Hi Wayna, is he your dog?"

"Yes. We brought him with us to my new home." Johnny regarded his cousin. It was the first time he had heard him refer to here as home, instead of back on the reservation. He felt his heart fill with happiness. Wayna was starting to feel like he belonged.

"You ok Johnny?" Roy looked on at his partner with concern. "Having two boys under foot too much for you?"

"No it wasn't that." Johnny knitted his eyebrows together.

Chris started pulling at his father's arm. "We better go dad." He didn't want his Uncle to mention anything about their conversation on hunting. He knew his father would get angry with him for asking his Uncle about it.

"Ok Chris." Roy shook his head. "See you Johnny…Wayna."

"His stuff is just in the doorway." Johnny pointed to the sliding doors but was still thinking about what Wayna had just said.

Roy grabbed his son's backpack. "You sure you're ok?"

"Come on dad." Chris pulled his father's arm. Roy chuckled, and thought that Chris was so bored that he couldn't wait to get home.

"Bye." Roy and Chris left via the side gate.

Johnny watched his cousin pat Feather. His young cousin looked up, sensing Johnny watching him. Their eyes met. They held each other's gaze.

Johnny looked deep into Wayna's eyes and realised that there was no longer that deep sadness that was present when he first picked him up. It had been replaced with serenity and joy. Simply put, his cousin was happy. Wayna broke the spell by speaking.

"I'm glad you came for me. I love you Johnny."

"Oh Wayna." Johnny embraced his cousin. "I love you too Wayna. I'm so relieved, all I ever wanted was for you to be happy but this is so much more." The two cousins stood on the deck hugging each other. Not to be left out; Feather stood on his hind legs and put a front leg on each of the cousin's legs. It was a moment the paramedic would never forget.

The next day Johnny had decided to talk to Roy about Chris on their way back from their first run. They would have the privacy that was needed.

"Hi Johnny. How were your days off?" Dixie asked as she put away charts.

"They were….enlightening….Dix." Johnny smiled crookedly at Dixie.

"Alright…I'll bite….out with it."

"Dix, Wayna for the first time called my place home and that's not all. He said he was glad I came for him and that he loves me." Johnny's eyes started to burn. He blinked rapidly trying to hold back the tears. He could see that Dixie was having the same problem. They weren't sad tears but tears of joy.

"I'm so happy for you both." She placed her hand on Johnny's. "It was meant to be, the both of you, together."

"You think so Dix?"

"Yes." She patted his hand. Dr Brackett walked up and saw the exchange between the two friends.

"Johnny….How are things?" Dr Brackett eyed both the paramedic and the nurse.

"At home, couldn't be better Doc. At work, I still have a problem to solve."

"Oh, what's that?" Dr Brackett frowned in concern.

"I can't keep working shifts. I can't keep expecting my friends to look after Wayna while I'm on shift." Johnny shrugged his shoulders in defeat.

"So you need a day job?" Dr Brackett smiled at his humour but in all seriousness was right.

"Yes that's about the gist of it, but unfortunately the only paramedic's jobs available, that don't work 24 hour shifts, are at station 86 and those paramedics are not intending to leave anytime soon."

"I see. That is a problem. I may have a solution." Dr Brackett looked around. "Why don't we take this to my office and I'll fill you in." Johnny smiled at Dixie and followed the doctor down the hall to his office.

"Before we start, I got Wayna's medical file yesterday. His mother made sure he was properly immunised. He's had a few chest infections; hopefully the Californian sun will fix that. What I would like to do is run the same check-ups on your cousin that I run on you every six months."

"Ok. My next check-up is in two months. Should we wait til then and do it together?"

"That should be fine. Now…your work problem. This is all confidential what I'm about to tell you, so, I would rather you not tell anyone including Roy."

"Sure Doc, whatever you want." Johnny sat in anticipation. He hoped that Dr Brackett was going to come up with a solution to his problem.

"The hospital is going to undergo some changes. Firstly, they are going to build a Children's Hospital next door on the land recently purchased. In that hospital will be an emergency department for children. When we had that little boy die on us after sitting in the waiting area for over an hour….."

"You mean the boy who got hit with the baseball?" Johnny remembered that day. It had brought a lot of bad publicity for the hospital.

"Yes. The hospital realised they needed a more specialised area for children. The board got funding for a children's hospital with a whole range of specialists to go with it. Mike is going to head the Emergency Department of the Children's Hospital. He's always had an interest in paediatrics so he was the best choice. That created a new problem. He currently takes a lot of the pressure off me, by handling a lot of the day to day paramedic responsibilities. I'm in the process of looking for a co-ordinator to look after the Paramedic Program. This will include the college graduates as well as the fire department trainees. It will be a big job…because….there has been some proposed changes. They'll need someone who's had a lot of experience and…to be quite honest no-one apart from you and Roy has that experience. It will virtually be a 9 to 5 job." Dr Brackett waited for Johnny to absorb everything. "With your current circumstances in mind…and…selfishly, I don't want to lose one of the best paramedics to come out of the program. I'd like to offer you the job."

"Wow….What about Roy? Wouldn't he be more suitable for the job?"

"No more than you…I know that he has his army medical experience but apart from that you are both equally qualified. I was going to offer the job to both of you but since you have a need for a 9 to 5 job, I'm offering it to you."

"To be honest Doc I wouldn't feel right if you didn't offer it to Roy as well." Johnny remembered back to when he signed up to train to be a paramedic. Roy put a lot of time and effort into getting the program up and running. It wouldn't be right to just take the job and not give Roy the option of going for the job.

"Alright, I'll make the same proposal to Roy and if he wants to be considered then you'll both be interviewed by the board. If he declines, then the job's yours."

"Thanks Doc. We could really make a real difference out there with more paramedics. Having two emergency departments…that's making a change for the better. Having children specialists….this is really big!" Dr Brackett could almost see the ideas turning over in his paramedic's mind. The doctor had honestly thought that despite Roy's experience that Johnny would be the best choice for the job. He was more adaptable to changes and wanting to improve the program. He was the type of person who would make the ideas the Doc had in mind work.

"I'll see Roy and talk to him about it tomorrow after shift." The two of them left his office. Roy was waiting for his partner at the nurse's desk.

"Ready to go Johnny?"

"Yeah Roy. See you Dix…Doc…and thanks." Johnny shook Dr Brackett's hand.

"Roy, I need to talk to you about something to do with the paramedic program. Could you call in on your way home tomorrow?"

"Sure Doc. Bye."

The two paramedics walked through the ER doors. "Did Johnny turn it down?"

"No. He insisted I offer it to Roy also. To be honest Dix, I always intended to offer it to the both of them but I always thought that Johnny would be the best person for the job." Dixie smiled.

"Roy did put a lot of effort into getting the program up and running…but I think Johnny is more suited to this job….he'll bring to it…." Dixie searched her mind for the right word.

"Ingenuity….Johnny doesn't sit back and let things take care of themselves. He jumps in and uses his knowledge and skills to solve problems and make things work. I'm not saying Roy doesn't but Johnny seems to push harder for change."

"I think Roy will stay in the Fire Department. I honestly don't think he would want to leave. Johnny has different priorities now. This job is perfect for him." Dixie thought about what Johnny had told her that morning. A small boy had stolen the paramedic's heart and he would move heaven and earth for his cousin's welfare.