Mike pulled into the parking lot and realized all the guys from B shift were already at the station. Before he'd left Joanne and Ainsley yesterday, he'd asked if he could be the one to tell Johnny and Roy that he'd told them about the pipe bomb. They'd agreed, so the only other obstacle had been to tell Caroline that he needed to change their breakfast date to dinner after she got off work. She'd been disappointed, he remembered her comment about liking starting her day out with him. It had been flattering. She'd ended the conversation saying she'd have to settle for having him for dessert. It had been sweet, and non-judgmental, but at the same time it had made him feel guilty for cancelling on her yet again. He knew Caroline hadn't meant it that way, her words had been nothing but sweet and flattering, but he still felt bad. Mike sighed and got out of the car.
"Captain Stanley, Johnny and Roy around?" Mike asked, as he entered the kitchen.
"Squad's on a call, they should be back in a few minutes. You doing better today, Mike?" Captain Stanley asked, looking closely at his young engineer.
Mike shrugged. "Maybe some. Until Johnny and Roy kill me anyway."
"Why are they gonna kill you?" Captain Stanley narrowed his eyes, not liking where this conversation was going.
"I told Joanne and Ainsley about the pipe bomb."
Captain Stanley closed his eyes, imagining how he would feel had Mike just said he'd told his wife Beth about the pipe bomb. Hank hadn't told her either and even though he hadn't talked to Johnny or Roy about it, he had been sure they hadn't told their wives either. After what the wives had gone through with Tim, he knew they all wanted to protect their wives from worrying about another person targeting the station when there was nothing they could do. "Mike, I told you to take the day off to stop being a twit, not to see how big of a twit you could be," Captain Stanley said, his voice angry.
Mike swallowed, if Cap was that mad, Johnny and Roy really were gonna kill him.
"It's a long story, but I didn't have a choice."
"There's always a choice," Captain Stanley said. "Our wives live every shift worrying that something's gonna happen to us. Accepting the fact that they will be on their own to take care of our children. We intentionally don't tell them about rough calls, we don't tell them when things come closer to going wrong than even we want to admit to ourselves. We don't tell them, because we don't want to make those 24 hours that we are gone any harder than we already know they are on them. You had no right to take the decision away from Johnny and Roy."
Mike looked down at the floor. He was never one to be on this side of a reprimand. Mike lived his life by the book, keeping the men of the station safe, making sure they had all the necessary resources to do their jobs. He helped make sure they got home to their wives every night.
Mike looked up as he heard the bay doors open; the squad was back.
"I recommend you don't take them to a restaurant," Captain Stanley said. "They're gonna be pissed, and being in public is not gonna keep them from making a scene. Especially Gage."
Mike nodded.
"Hey, Mike. What are you doin' here?" Johnny asked, walking into the kitchen. "Tom, you're gonna need to make a stop at Rampart for supplies. We didn't have to take this last one to the hospital, but we're running a little low on D5W." Johnny called out to Paramedic Tom Dwyer, who'd been sitting in the dayroom, on the couch, reading the paper.
"I'm gonna go change," Roy said, heading to the locker room.
"Right behind you," Johnny said, not waiting for Mike to answer his question on what he was doing at the station.
Mike let them go. He walked over to the phone and called a nearby diner to order breakfast to go. There was a park with picnic tables across the street from it and Mike figured that would be the best place to go.
"See you next shift, Mike," Johnny said, as he and Roy came back into the kitchen, headed toward the parking lot.
"Actually, guys, can I buy you breakfast?"
"Breakfast?" Johnny stopped and looked at him.
"You said the magic word, Mike," Roy said, looking at Johnny's face. "His mouth is already watering."
"Man, it is not. I got a wife at home cooking for me now," Johnny said.
"I already spoke with Ainsley and Joanne; they were cool with you guys going to breakfast with me."
Johnny and Roy exchanged looks. They figured Mike was going to talk to them about his history with the arsonist. "Sure, man, where you wanna go?" Roy asked, slapping Mike on the back.
"Rodgers park. I'll grab breakfast from Sonny's across the street."
"Okay, we'll meet you there," Johnny said.
E
Johnny and Roy stood up as Mike pulled into the parking lot for the park. They walked over and helped him get the to-go containers and cups of coffee out of the truck and carried everything over to the picnic table.
"How was the shift?" Mike asked, as they opened their containers, poured salt and pepper on eggs and hash browns, syrup over pancakes and took the lids off their coffee cups.
"Busy, but no prank calls, no dumpster fires," Roy said.
"And no bombs," Johnny added, a sausage link already crammed into his mouth.
"Because I wasn't there," Mike said quietly.
"Mike, you don't know that this Kevin guy even knew you weren't on shift," Roy rationalized.
"Yeah, I do. I saw him yesterday morning."
"You saw him," Johnny and Roy said simultaneously.
"At the grocery store. I'd put out the word that I was looking for him and he found me," Mike said, putting his fork down. He suddenly lost what little appetite he'd had.
"Why would you do that?" Roy asked.
"To tell him to stop playing these games," Mike said.
"And did he admit to setting the bomb?" Johnny asked.
"Yeah, right after he admitted to stealing the Lindbergh baby," Mike said, sarcastically.
"Alright, alright," Johnny said.
"He asked me if I was having trouble at work. He's behind this, I'm sure of it."
"Have you told Kate?"
"I talked to her last night. I had to tell her…," Mike hesitated.
"Had to tell her what?" Roy asked.
Mike looked over at Johnny. "That Kevin saw Ainsley with me and assumed she was my wife."
"What?" Johnny said, food falling out of his mouth.
"She was coming out of the grocery store. She saw my confrontation with Costas and came over. He assumed she was my wife."
"You set him straight, right?" Johnny said.
"No."
"What? How could you let that guy think that Ainsley's your wife. You're putting a target on her back," Johnny stood up. "I've gotta get home."
"Johnny wait!" Mike grabbed his arm.
Johnny pulled free. "I've got to go home and protect my family," Johnny said, his eyes bright with anger.
"There's a patrol car watching the house, Johnny. Besides, I haven't told you the worst part yet," Mike said.
"There's more?"
"Yeah," Mike said, looking at the ground.
Johnny looked back over at his Rover and then back at the picnic table. Torn between needing to hear what else Mike had to say and desperately needing to get back home to his family.
"Gage, it's important."
Johnny moved back down to sit with Roy.
"I drove Ainsley home, to make sure Kevin didn't follow her. She wanted to know what was going on with Kevin; she'd seen me grab his shirt," Mike said, looking down at the picnic table. "I asked her what she knew about what had been going on. She said she knew about the prank calls and the damage to my truck. That's about the time that Joanne got there. I had Chris and Jennifer take Hunter out back so they didn't hear anything," Mike looked back up at Roy and Johnny.
"Okay, what's the worst part?" Roy asked, already having a sinking feeling he knew what was coming.
"I told them about my last shift," Mike said quietly.
Johnny kept looking at Mike, the comment not sinking in right away.
"You what?!" It was Roy's turn to stand up.
"What?" Johnny asked, and then his eyes widened as what Mike just said hit him. "You didn't!" Johnny stood up. "Tell me you didn't tell our wives that someone set a bomb for us?!"
Roy and Johnny stood staring at Mike.
Mike stood up slowly to face them. "I wasn't trying to cause you guys any problems."
"Really, you coulda fooled me," Roy said, running a hand through his hair. "If we wanted our wives to know, we would've told them!" Roy pointed at his own chest. "Us, not you."
"The last thing Ainsley needs is more stress on her; she's having a terrible time with this pregnancy. How could you do that?" Johnny was furious.
"Guys, look…," Mike started to speak until Johnny cut him off.
"No, you look," Johnny said, pointing his finger at Mike. "Stay away from Ainsley, stay away from my home. I've got to get home. I can only imagine what a mess I'm walking into." Johnny stalked off toward his Rover.
Roy just stood looking at Mike for a few seconds and then followed Johnny toward the parking lot and his own car.
Mike dropped down to sit on the picnic table for a few seconds. He dropped his head into his hands and rubbed at his temples.
"Headache?"
Mike looked up and saw Meg standing in front of him.
"Not yet, but I have a feeling I'll have one soon," Mike said, sounding miserable.
"Anything I can do to help?" Meg sat down next to him.
Mike turned to look at her, and gave her a small smile. "Only if you have a time machine and can go back and make yesterday not happen."
Meg smiled. "Sorry, my time machine is in the shop. I bet things aren't as bad as you think though."
"Oh really?" Mike proceeded to tell her everything going on at the station, and what had happened yesterday with Ainsley and Joanne. "Johnny and Roy are really mad at me," Mike finished his story.
Meg had sat through the whole story not saying a word. Mike realized at some point she had reached over and put her hand over his. The gentle touch bringing at least some comfort.
"I'm sorry, Mike," Meg said quietly. "If I had some magic way to fix this for you, I really would. But, I know Ainsley pretty well and she'll talk some sense into Johnny; he'll get over being mad. I don't know Joanne personally, but from what I've heard about her form Ainsley, I am sure she'll do the same with Roy. I learned enough in the short time you and I dated that you guys don't just work together, you're family. Families get mad at each other, they have fights, but at the end of the day, they've always got your back."
Mike slid his hand out from under Meg's and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer to him. He had heard the sadness in her last sentence; her dad had been the last of her family. Meg had been a twin, but her mom and sister had died in a car accident several years ago. Both her parents had been only children so she didn't have any aunts, uncles or cousins.
Meg briefly let her head rest on Mike's shoulder. They sat for a few minutes.
Meg finally sat up straight and looked at Mike. "What are your plans for the day?"
Mike just shrugged.
"There is an elderly lady in my neighborhood that really can't live on her own anymore. She's trying to get her house up for sale and it needs a lot of yard work done to give it curb appeal. I was actually on my way to Harry's Hardware store when I saw you. I'm just going to get some stuff to prune her bushes, lay down some mulch and plant some flowers. Today is my only day since school starts again tomorrow. Want to help do some manual labor?"
"That is really super sweet of you, Meg."
Meg smiled. "I wish I could take credit for the idea, but the elderly neighbor across the street from her actually approached several of us and asked us to help her out. There are going to be several other people working on the inside and outside of the house. I got assigned yard duty."
"It's still really nice of you to give up your last day off before going back to work, and I'd love to help," Mike readily agreed.
"Great," Meg smiled at him. "I'll help you clean all this up and you can go over to the hardware store with me. I'll make you load the bags of mulch," Meg smiled at Mike. She stood up and started cleaning up the food containers left by Johnny and Roy.
E
"Joanne," Roy called out, as he entered the house. He could hear the vacuum running upstairs. "Hey, Chris, how's your mom?" Roy asked his son who was sitting at the kitchen table eating a bowl of cereal.
"Cleaning like crazy and super sappy," Chris said.
"Whatdya mean by super sappy?" Roy asked.
"She keeps hugging and kissing us, it's gross dad, you gotta make her stop. If she does that stuff dropping me off at school tomorrow, I'll just die," Chris complained.
Roy ruffled his hair. "Women can get that way sometimes, son, you're gonna have to learn to live with it."
"At least she's not like Aunt Ainsley; she cried like three times yesterday," Chris said, totally exasperated with that amount of crying.
Roy frowned. "Sometimes woman who are going to have babies do that too."
"Poor Mr. Mike had no idea what to do. He just kept patting her arm and her hair. It was weird."
Roy bit back a laugh imagining the scene. At the same time, he knew Johnny was really worried about how emotional Ainsley had been lately. The last week had been particularly bad. Roy figured he'd give Dixie a call later and see if maybe she could stop by after her shift today and just check on Ainsley. For now, he needed to go see how his own wife was doing.
Roy bounded up the stairs. He peeked in on Jennifer who was playing with her Barbie's. "Hey, kiddo, what's happening?"
"Barbie and Skipper are going to a picnic with Ken," Jennifer told him
"Wow, that sounds like fun," Roy played along.
"Can we go on a picnic later dad?"
"Maybe, I've got to see what mom's got going on," Roy said, smiling at his little girl.
"She is cleaning like crazy," Jennifer told him. "Did you do something wrong?" Jennifer lowered her voice.
"Why do you ask?" Roy whispered back.
"Because mom is cleaning like she does when she yells at you," Jennifer replied, her face serious.
Roy grimaced. "I didn't do anything wrong. But, I'll go see if I can make it better."
"Flowers are a good idea," Jennifer smiled at him.
Roy just shook his head; she was too smart of her age. Roy kissed her on the forehead and went to go find his wife. Joanne was in their bedroom, on her hands and knees, using the vacuum attachment to vacuum the corners of their closet.
Roy closed the bedroom door as he entered. "Jo." When he didn't get an answer he leaned over and touched her shoulder. Joanne jerked and hit her head against the wall.
Roy reached over and turned off the vacuum. "Are you okay?" He asked, reaching down to help his wife off the floor.
Joanne was rubbing the top of her head with one hand. "You scared me."
"Sorry."
Joanne looked at him and could see the worry in his eyes. "I'm not mad at you; at least not super mad. I know why you didn't tell me about the bomb, but, Roy, you can't keep stuff like that from me. I need to know what's going on; if for no other reason than so I can be more aware of my surroundings and more cautious with the kids."
"I was just trying not to worry you. Mike seems to be the focus of the issues and the police are working on it. It was originally just damage to his truck and the prank phone calls, which we really thought were just the teenagers he took the beer from. The dumpster fires were reminiscent of how things started with Tim, but there wasn't anything that said it still wasn't just stupid teenagers acting out. The pipe bomb obviously changed things, but up until then Jo, we just thought it was teenagers acting out."
"And why didn't you tell me about the bomb?"
Roy just looked at her.
"You can't keep secrets from me, Roy. You have to promise."
Roy shook his head. "I reserve the right to make the choices I believe are best for you and our family."
Joanne's eyes narrowed. "Without any input from me? Really?"
I'm gonna kill Mike, Roy thought.
E
Ainsley and Hunter were playing in the backyard when Johnny pulled into the driveway. They were blowing bubbles into the air and Chief was viciously attacking as many as he could. Ainsley and Hunter were both laughing hysterically.
"Good morning," Johnny called out, as he opened the gate to let himself into the yard.
"Dada, bubbles," Hunter called out.
Ainsley moved over to hug him tightly and started tearing up.
Johnny pulled her close and kissed her hair. I'm gonna kill Mike, he thought. "Please don't cry, Ainsley. Everything's gonna be okay."
"You…coulda been….killed," Ainsley sniffled, trying hard not to start sobbing.
"But, I wasn't. No one was hurt. I'm fine. The police are involved, we're all okay."
"Mama cry," Hunter came over and patted her on the leg. "No cry, mama."
Ainsley sniffed trying even harder not to cry for her son. "Play bubbles with dada," Ainsley said, moving away from Johnny and heading into the house.
Johnny looked after Ainsley and down at Hunter. He was torn on what was best to do, but decided to give Ainsley a few minutes to try to pull herself together. He walked Hunter back over to where Ainsley had left her bubbles.
He and Hunter went back to blowing bubbles for Chief to attack. He loved listening to Hunter laugh. Johnny blew another big group of bubbles into the air, expecting the Shepherd to jump in the air to bite them. Instead, Chief turned toward the fence, leading out into the front of the house. His hair puffed up, his lips pulled back baring his teeth and a low growl came from the dog. Johnny turned to see what the dog had seen, when he heard what sounded like a firework exploding nearby and the sound of glass shattering. A split second later, he heard Ainsley scream.
Johnny grabbed Hunter and ran toward the back door, as he opened the door, Chief nearly knocked him down racing into the house. Johnny followed closely behind the dog. He stopped at the threshold between the kitchen and living room. The big picture window in the living room was shattered and glass was strewn all over the living room. Ainsley was leaning against the back wall a few feet from him, blood pouring down her arm. Chief stood between her and the window, growling, his hair still standing up.
"Ainsley," Johnny went to move toward her.
"No, don't bring Hunter in here. I'll come to you," Ainsley said, looking at Johnny holding their son.
"No, don't move," Johnny took in her bare feet and all the glass on the floor. "Just stay still," Johnny moved back into the kitchen and quickly strapped Hunter into his booster seat. He walked back into the living room, the sound of crunching glass under his shoes filling the room. He glanced at Ainsley's arm, but couldn't tell how bad it was because of all the blood. Johnny scooped Ainsley up in his arms and carried her to the kitchen. She had small cuts along her legs and feet too. Johnny sat her down in a chair and reached over to grab the phone.
"I need the police and the paramedics; someone threw what appears to be some type of explosive device through my window and my wife's been injured. She's got multiple lacerations and is bleeding quite a bit," Johnny gave his address to the dispatcher. He hung up and immediately called Roy. "I need you," was all he said before he hung up the phone.
"I'm going to get the first aid kit, don't touch your arm, Ainsley," Johnny said, getting up and moving toward the bathroom. Roy was entering the back door as Johnny walked back in from the bathroom. He was breathing heavily, having ran all the way down the street.
"What happened?" Roy asked taking in the scene.
Hunter started crying in his booster, not understanding what was going on, but knowing something wasn't right.
"Someone threw something through the picture window; it looks like a rock with fireworks attached, but I haven't had time to look at it closely. Can Joanne come get Hunter? I've called for a squad and the police."
Roy picked up the phone. "I need you to come get Hunter. Joanne, drive the car down, don't walk. I'll be watching for you."
Roy hung up the phone and moved to get Hunter out of his booster seat. He held the young boy close, whispering soothing words to try and calm him down. He took him outside and watched the area as Joanne hurried out to her car and drove the few houses to the Gage home. Roy was looking around for any other cars, or people walking around.
"What happened?" Joanne asked, she could hear the sirens coming in the distance.
"Take Hunter to our house, stay inside, keep the doors locked, and stay away from the downstairs windows. In fact, pull everyone into the upstairs den and watch a movie," Roy said, handing her Hunter. "I'll fill you in later. I've got to get back in, Ainsley's hurt."
"Bad?"
"The injury itself isn't terrible; she'll probably need stitches, but I'm worried about other possible concerns."
Joanne nodded and took Hunter. She'd drive the few houses with him in her lap rather than take the time to get him in and out of a car seat. Roy stood watching until she got them both into their home. The squad was pulling up as he lost sight of her.
"Whatcha got, Roy?" Tom asked, exiting the squad.
"Ainsley's got multiple lacerations for the picture window shattering. I can't tell how bad her right arm is, but there's a lot of blood," Roy said, waiting for them to grab the equipment.
"Johnny with her?"
"Yeah, the police should be on their way. I just sent Hunter with Joanne to my house."
Dwyer nodded and he and his partner, Brian, followed Roy into the house. Johnny was kneeling down next to Ainsley, carefully cleaning her arm, trying to see the extent of the injury.
"We got it, Johnny," Tom said, setting down the drug box next to Johnny and clearly expecting Johnny to let them get Ainsley. Johnny was reluctant to move.
"Gage, your job is to hold her hand," Tom said, placing his hand on Johnny's shoulder. Johnny stood up and moved to sit in a chair that he pulled over next to Ainsley. She hadn't said a word or made a sound since he'd sat her in the chair. She looked pale. Johnny leaned in close to her, wrapping his arms around her waist the best that he could without getting in Tom's and Brian's way.
Tom finished cleaning Ainsley's arm, while Brian checked out the rest of her. Brian hooked up the biophone.
Tom was taking Ainsley's blood pressure. He released the valve and listened for the second number. He looked up at Johnny and started pumping up the blood pressure cup again. Johnny slowly moved his hand and placed it on Ainsley's left arm, it was cold and clammy. His eyes met Tom's as he completed a second blood pressure reading.
"Rampart, this is Squad 51, how do you read?"
"Go ahead, 51," Dixie's familiar voice came across the biophone.
"Rampart, we have a female, 24 years old, with multiple lacerations due to an exploding picture window. She has a several cuts on her legs and feet that do not appear to be too concerning, but she has a deep three-inch gash on her right arm and is losing a lot of blood. Please be advised patient is Ainsley Gage and is 37 weeks pregnant. Blood pressure is 80/50, pulse is 105 and weak, patient is cold and clammy," Brian relayed to Dixie.
"Get me Dr. Brackett," Dixie said, to the nurse standing nearby. "51, standby."
Dr. Brackett got to the communication station and read Dixie's notes. "51, start the patient on oxygen and start an IV of D5W wide open. Transport as soon as possible."
Dr. Brackett looked over at Dixie, "Dixie, set up in Treatment Room 1 and alert Ainsley's OB, Dr. Collier."
Dixie moved to the phone to page Dr. Collier and then quickly moved to set up Treatment Room 1.
Roy and Brian walked out to meet the arriving ambulance and came in with a gurney.
"I'm not riding on that," Ainsley said, the first words she'd spoken since Johnny had carried her into the kitchen.
"Yes you are," all four guys said in unison.
Ainsley couldn't help but chuckle. "I guess I'm not winning this one."
Ainsley allowed Tom to start the IV, but tried to protest the oxygen. Johnny grasped her hands, as she tried to block Brian from putting the mask on her face. "Honey, you've got to let them do this. We need to take care of you and the baby, okay." At the seriousness of Johnny's expression Ainsley dropped her hands in her lap. The guys helped her move over to the gurney; Johnny never leaving her side. When she was loaded into the ambulance Johnny and Tom climbed in with her.
"Did you notice?" Ainsley asked Johnny quietly.
"Notice what?" Johnny asked, his eyes skimming quickly over Ainsley.
"I'm not crying."
Johnny smiled at her and brushed a piece of hair back out of her eyes. "No, you're not crying." He leaned over and kissed her softly on the forehead, and then looked over at Tom with a knowing look. Tom gave a slightly imperceptible nod, and pulled a second blanket out of a drawer.
Johnny reached over and helped put the blanket over Ainsley. What he didn't say to her was that she probably wasn't crying because she was in shock. Her blood pressure was very low, her skin was cold and clammy and her pulse was rapid and weak. Johnny was doing his best not to show her his concern, but shock could be a life threatening condition for both her and the baby. The ambulance couldn't get to hospital fast enough for him.
