Chapter 8 Boundaries

Rachel's belongs had arrived weeks ago and she had settled in. The Gages had welcomed her warmly and she felt as if she'd known them for years. After JJ had read her writing, she had given Rachel several ideas of where to begin revising her work. Some of the writing had to be completely scrapped. Rachel knew she was lucky to have the opportunity to have the mentorship of a published author and truly appreciated the opportunity. She was missing her own family however. California was a long ways from Illinois. She shook off her black thoughts and hurried down the stairs to the side of the garage that led from her room/apartment to the back yard. For the next 24 hours, she was staying in the house with Nova while JJ completed the research for her own novel. "Rachel, I guess we have gone over all the information you'll need," JJ stated. "John and I will head out then." After kissing their daughter good bye, the couple walked out to the Rover and drove away. Johnny dropped JJ off at Roy's station on his way to his station.

He pulled her close and kissed her soundly. "Janes, be careful and have fun. I'll see you tomorrow. I love you."

JJ smiled at her husband and caressed his face. "I love you John. Have a safe shift." JJ jumped out of the Rover and grabbed her bag from the back of the vehicle. She walked around the back and patted the side as she passed by. She resisted the urge to turn and wave as John pulled away.

JJ reported to A shift at station 46 to ride along wearing her nurse's uniform pant suit in March. JJ brought her turn out coat, pants and hat she'd used for the stunt. Captain Roy Desoto met her at the door. "JJ, come on in. Coffee's already on," he said as he made way for her to come into the station. The crew will report in 10 minutes. I'd like you to be there as well," he said efficiently.

"Sounds great, where shall I stow my turnouts?" JJ inquired. Roy took her to the squad and she put them in a compartment. Then she went into the kitchen and poured a cup of coffee.

Introductions were made before duties were handed out and then men were dismissed. Brad, a man on the engine, had broken his leg during a building collapse and Chet Kelly was filling in for him this shift. JJ was assigned to help Chet with latrines. She was glad since she already knew Chet and felt comfortable with him. In fact she'd requested working with Chet when she knew he was working the shift knowing it might end up with latrine duty before the shift began. Sometimes being an introvert was a drag but at least she could start the shift with a person she already knew. Of course she knew Roy, but she needed to spend time with the linemen. Chet entertained her with his latest dating story, a disastrous tale of taking his latest love interest bowling. She had dropped a ball on his foot bruising it enough to give him a limp and broke her finger later in the date when she got it stuck in a bowling ball hole. Not a good start to the budding romance. Chet took in stride however. His dating style wasn't that different from Johnny's before he had sought out JJ's advice.

One of the other men on Roy's crew was new to L.A. Roy had lost a crew member after he'd passed his engineer's test and moved to another station. They had gained a new hire, Shane Fowler. He had worked as a firefighter in New Mexico and recently moved to the L.A. area. Shane had only been with the crew for three shifts. His white blond hair was easy to spot on a scene. Shane had been exceptionally friendly to JJ and welcoming. He was gregarious and quite a talker. JJ appreciated his efforts and felt guilty she was uncomfortable around him She had ridden with Roy's crew twice before just for the day before the crew change. This shift she was set up to stay for the entire 24 hours. Her bunk was set up closest to the head door, since the layout of the older station was not easily modified for a female. She planned to sleep in a dark blue t-shirt and shorts. A sign had been made to post at the door to the bay and the other door to the dorm to signal for the others to stay out if she was in the head. JJ figured she could wait to shower until going home. She could change, if needed in the bathroom or in the back of the locker area.

JJ spent much of her time on scene with Trey, the engineer. He was about Johnny's age and married but had no kids. He was a reader and liked to talk novels with JJ. If there were injuries, she helped William and Carl, the paramedics.

After chores were completed, she helped hang hose. She had done so before on day only ride alongs. Shane had not yet been with the station, so he was surprised. JJ had just shrugged. "I wanna pull my weight where I can. I trained and took the CPAT unofficially. I couldn't do the tasks within the time allotment, but I could do them all. I can't go into a burning building, but I can help with this sort of job." Her arms burned with effort, but she pushed through anyway. As she worked, Shawn stayed close and she often noted him looking at her longer than was comfortable. A woman at a fire department was still unusual so she figured he was just unsettled or curious. Sometimes he got too close and twice he brushed up against her. She figured it was accidental, but still found it troubled her. It's just because I'm hypersensitive after the assault she thought and brushed off her discomfort.

The first run was an automobile accident. Arriving on scene she could see it involved three vehicles: a sedan, a station wagon and a pick up. The sedan was completely mangled and she doubted anyone was alive in that vehicle. The wagon had flipped over crushing in the roof. The truck was smoking ominously. Roy barked out orders. JJ pulled on her turn out coat over her white nurse uniform. William and Carl ran to assess the victims and JJ went along to help. The man in the sedan still had a carotid when William checked, but had an open skull fracture and was crushed between the steering column and front seat. Smells of blood, tissue and spilled bowel wafted up through the busted driver's window. The men moved on and she stayed to comfort the man. He wasn't conscious, but he might still be able to hear her. "Sir, help is here. Hang in there. They'll get you out as soon as they can." She stroked his shoulder since it was the only place she could reach that wasn't severely injured. It was only three minutes until he stopped breathing. She noted the time and got a cover to hide him from prying eyes knowing that with the injuries he had sustained nothing more could be done. The paramedics had pulled a woman and young boy from the wagon and a man who had been in the truck. The man had only superficial wounds and she dressed those while the paramedics worked on the woman and boy. The truck ended up bursting into flames. The acrid smell was sickening. She was grateful the men had air tanks and masks to wear. Over the hiss of water and the crackle of fire, instructions were given over the bio-phone. She rode into Rampart with Carl and his mother. William followed in the squad. The seven year old boy, Brian, was awake and quite worried about his mother even though he had a mild concussion and a broken arm and lacerated leg. She had sustained a serious head injury and was still comatose. JJ concentrated on calming the boy so Carl could concentrate on his mother. He was efficient and compassionate as he tended the mother. They arrived at Rampart with the mother, Rhonda, still unresponsive. Leaving them in the care of the hospital, the three picked up supplies and returned to the station.

The next two runs were structure fires that required no rescues. JJ stayed near Trey watching what he did as the engineer and noting Roy's role. She had helped with minor smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion at the second fire so the paramedics could continue to fight the fire. By now JJ had some sense of the rhythm of fighting a fire and could sometimes anticipate what Roy might require of his crew. When he surprised her with an order he gave, she made a mental note to ask about it later.

JJ had volunteered to cook lunch and was finishing up the tuna tetrazzini by adding crushed potato chips to the top and returned the pan to the oven for a few minutes. She had turned on the radio occasionally bobbing her head or swaying her shoulders to a song. "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" was playing when Chet came into to check on lunch's progress. "Does that help the food taste better JJ?" he joked.

"Yep, it makes all the difference Chet," JJ answered flippantly as she closed the oven, pulled the salad from the refrigerator placing it on the table. "If you want to help move lunch along, you could set the table." Chet obliged and they both bobbed heads to the beat stopping to sing the chorus as they worked. Roy walked in and ignored the display. Roy knew JJ did this all the time at home so it was 'normal'. Chet had seen JJ at the BBQ hamming it up last month so he wasn't taken off guard either. Roy was glad to see JJ was relaxed enough to be herself. When Shane came into the scene "On the Radio" by Donna Summer was playing. While she and Chet put out salad dressings, JJ was lip syncing the words using the serving spoon as a microphone serenading Chet who played along. Chet and JJ were just goofing around, but to Shane it looked like flirting. Roy looked up, smirked and remarked good naturedly, "Is this a disco or a fire station?

Chet smiled and replied, "Can't it be both Cap?" Roy rolled his eyes, shook his head in mock dismay and went back to the paper. When Trey entered the kitchen, JJ asked him to call the others and switched off the radio. Lunch was capped off with cookies JJ had made and brought to the station that morning. She'd hid them in Roy's office so they'd survive to lunch time.

Back out the in bay, JJ was familiarizing herself with what equipment went where on the vehicles and in the closet to help with her writing when Shane came up. "What are you up to?" he asked.

"Just trying to commit this all to memory," she offhandedly replied. "It helps with making the story more realistic when you get these details correct," she finished. She'd noted he'd moved closer and was brushing up against her side, and it made her twitchy. When he'd placed a hand on her shoulder it somehow seemed wrong, and she felt she needed to leave. "Excuse me," she said moving away sooner than she'd planned. She closed the door to the compartment. It was just a pretext. She'd come back later. As she walked through the bay back towards the day room, Chet called out to her.

"So JJ are we going to take our show on the road?" he quipped.

"Chet my man, I don't think the world is ready for our talents," she answered with a grin and a pat on his back as he jogged over beside her. Chet had noticed JJ's discomfort. Plus this was twice he'd seen Shawn behaving oddly around her. He frowned in thought and decided to keep an eye on things. No reason to say anything to the captain yet. It was mostly likely nothing Chet reasoned.

That afternoon, they had four runs back to back: rescuing a fallen hiker, two vehicle accidents and construction trench cave in. She had helped treat victims at the two accidents and crawled into wrecks at times while victims waited to be extracted. JJ had checked with Dixie on the status of Brian and his mother when she was at Rampart.

"You mean the Harrisons? The mother hasn't improved. We discovered that she is his only family. His father died two years ago and there are no aunts, uncles or grandparents. We are keeping him here for now, but we'll have to call social services to find a placement for him while his mother recovers," Dixie told her sadly.

JJ frowned. "Keep me updated, huh? Poor kid. Could I see him?"

Dixie nodded giving her the room number and then was called to an exam room. She checked to see if there was time to visit Brian. William said he'd get the supplies so Carl went with JJ. Brian was groggy from the concussion so they only stayed briefly and returned to the emergency desk. Carl and William picked up the replacement supplies and the three of them walked back to the squad.

Upon arriving back at the station, JJ collapsed on the sofa emotionally exhausted. The men were rotating through the shower. Roy offered her coffee but she declined. "I'm too tired to lift the cup," she joked leaning back and closing her eyes. He wandered off to his office most likely to complete more never ending paperwork she guessed. She felt the couch move signaling someone had sat down and peeked over to see who it was. Shane had just sat down with a cup of coffee. His hair was still damp.

"Quite a group of runs," he began.

"Yeah, I'm tired from the emotional side of it all. I can't imagine what you all feel like after lugging all the equipment, dealing with heat and rappelling," she replied. JJ felt weary but was trying to keep it in perspective.

"Yeah, it's a physical job for sure," Shane commented. JJ nodded and said nothing. "You think you'll have trouble sleeping here tonight?" he asked her.

"Huh?" she asked unsure of what he meant and too tired to form a more grammatically correct query.

"You're staying the full shift and will be sleeping here tonight, right?"

"Yeah, so? I think I will be more than tired enough to crash." JJ answered.

You think you'll have trouble sleeping here…all alone?" he asked with a smirk. JJ's stomach lurched and he heart raced anxiously. "I'm just a few bunks down you know," he finished with a leer as he rubbed her arm. As he said it, Chet and Trey were just reaching the day room door and overheard his comments.

JJ abruptly stood up and pulled away. With an annoyed huff she replied angrily, "That's completely uncalled for Shane!"

"What? You didn't say anything when I brushed up against you hanging hose or at the engine and I saw you flirting openly with Chet at lunch," he replied with a creepy grin. "You have no right to act all prissy now."

"I, I thought those were accidents. Had I thought otherwise I'd have, I'd have…" JJ retorted completely taken by surprise. Chet interrupted her.

"Shane that is more than enough. She and I are just friends, man. She isn't like that at all. JJ is married, happily to a fire captain at 110, and you are outta line buddy boy. That sort of attitude has NO place in a fire station," he told him pointing his finger angrily at the other man. "What the hell are you thinking?" Chet took a couple steps towards Shane.

Trey moved between Shawn and Chet. "Chet it isn't worth it buddy. Shane you are outta line. You need to leave this room. Go!" Trey ordered. Shane acted like he was a victim and trudged off. Chet and Trey moved to check on JJ.

JJ waved them both off. "I appreciate your support fellas, truly, but I need just some space. I'm fine." She walked off quickly into the parking lot with her arms wrapped around her torso. Trey and Chet immediately reported to Roy what had just happened. Their normally even keeled soft-spoken captain came unglued.

"He WHAT?" Roy shouted making his men startle; his face red with anger. Chet filled him in on what he'd seen earlier, how he'd stepped in to deflect what he suspected was happening and why he'd waited. "I understand Chet, I got it. I'd have probably waited as well. Where's JJ?" Roy inquired and then walked out to check on her. He found her in the parking lot leaned up against his car arms wrapped around her torso. "Hey JJ," he said letting her know he was approaching, "You okay?" Roy noted she was trembling slightly. She took a shaky breath.

"Yeah, just shocked I guess. I can't figure out what I did to bring that on," she confessed.

"Nothing, you did nothing. Shane had the issue JJ. I'll deal with him in a bit," Roy reassured her. His eyes flashed with fury on the last statement his mouth a thin angry line. "You still think you want to stay tonight? If you can't it is not an issue. We can plan another time," Roy added softly. He felt he'd failed her and Johnny. How could he have missed this?

JJ sighed. "I'd love to just run and hide, but I won't. I need to stay for my book and well as part of my healing. Even if he stays for the shift, I'll stay. I'm mostly offended Roy, offended he'd think that about me. And it certainly pushed my buttons from the past," she admitted. Roy had known about her past since Johnny had shared with his best friend why he wanted to see more training on how to deal with sexual assault victims on the job months ago. Roy had shared what Joanne had seen as well.

"This is a line that has to be maintained for lots of reasons," Roy asserted. "Women are becoming firefighters and in this day and age boundaries have to be respected. Plus any real man would never act that way, ever." He put his arm around her shoulders. "Honestly I'd like to kick his butt. Giving him a couple of black eyes would feel pretty damn good." Roy paused.

JJ gave a wan smile, "Yeah stand in line Roy. I hate to think what John will want to do."

"I'll call Shane into my office now. I'm not sure if he'll stay the shift or not. Depends on what he says."

"I'll be okay Roy. I'll come into the day room in a minute or two. It's his walk of shame, not mine, right?" she told him acting braver than she felt. He gave her a quick sideways squeeze and went in to rip into Shane. Chet wandered out a few minutes later. "Hey Chet," she greeted him.

"Hey," he answered standing awkwardly at the end of the car. "You okay?" JJ nodded with a small smile. "JJ, if I did anything that was over the line at lunch or anything, well I didn't…" he stuttered out.

JJ held up her hand to stop him. "Chet, you are fine, we are fine. No problems okay?" Chet smiled relieved. "Well one problem." Chet looked up worried. "Chet, our act stinks," JJ said with a smile. Chet grinned and snorted and they walked back to the day room.

Chet adding, "Actually, I think my part of the act is amazing. Maybe we need to work on your part." JJ punched his arm, Chet yelped and then grinned.

"Jerk," JJ teased him.

When confronted, Shane gave excuses and tried to shift the blame on JJ flirting with Chet and her not saying anything when he'd brushed up against her. "Shane, you are suspended for two weeks without pay. You know better than this and I know you had training on dealing with women on shift when you joined LA County. We have some female firefighters and you know the expectations. Nothing excuses your crude and unprofessional behavior. Had you just owned up to your mistake perhaps you would have just been reprimanded. Not now. Get the stuff you need from your locker and clear out. We'll talk more when you return," Roy said tersely working to control his urge to punch the idiot. "I'll be in touch so you know when and where to meet with me and the chief."

Shane stormed out of Roy's office towards the locker room, packed his stuff, and then left without saying anything to the others. The other men were relieved they didn't have to talk to him. They were disgusted by his crude actions. By then Roy had called for a replacement and called the engine down for the time being. Roy made a call to station 110 to let Johnny know what had happened. "She seems okay Johnny. I know the others will be respectful and Chet is here. He is telling some of his jokes to her now to cheer her up. I promise I'll remind her to call you later. She wants to stay the shift." Appeased for the time being Johnny agreed to abide by JJ's decision, but he was clearly upset by the events. After hanging up Roy started the paperwork to go with the mess Shane had created. Johnny called Eric into his office and closed the door. Taking Eric into his confidence he explained the events knowing until he calmed down it was important the second in command knew his state of mind.

During the down time, JJ called Rachel to check on Nova. After a mostly one-sided phone conversation with Nova, JJ felt less upset. Funny how just a few words from Nova over the phone lifted her spirits she thought. Rachel filled her in on the activities of the day. JJ decided to wait until later call Johnny. He would need time to process this mess and frankly so did she.

The rest of the shift was fairly standard. The replacement for Shane arrived about a half an hour later. Randal Jones was a seasoned firefighter. He normally worked at a station that handled a lot of brush fires. Roy brought him up to speed about the reason JJ was at the station and that she is a RN knowing the other incident would be shared by the men later. During down time that evening, he had been willing to talk to JJ about his experiences. Chet or Roy stayed in the day room with JJ until lights out. She noted their hovering and decided to ignore it. They were just being thoughtful and JJ appreciated it. Plus she suspected Johnny may have requested their close proximity and she thought it was sweet even if a bit annoying. Around 8 pm, Johnny called and JJ assured him she was fine. "I'm fine John, really. Roy and Chet are staying close. The other guys are great. I appreciate you checking, love." JJ was actually pleased with how she was dealing with the whole mess. Maybe she had finally left the assault behind. She had considered being a leader for a rape survivor group and now she wondered if it was time to step up to the challenge.

"Yeah, well I'd like to clobber that guy. What the hell was he thinking Janes? I mean really. You're sure you're doing okay?" JJ could imagine he was running his hand through his hair in agitation and his hair was probably a royal mess right now.

"John, I love you," she said affectionately. "Actually, I am dealing pretty well with it with exception to having to endure some of Chet's lame jokes." Johnny snorted. "Your shift has been okay?"

"Yeah, it's just a regular shift so far. I love you too Janes. I'll pick you up tomorrow," John replied. "I'd better go. The guys are walking by my door making calf eyes at me." JJ chuckled as he hung up. The good natured teasing changed to outrage as he explained what had happened earlier to the other men. Only Eric had been privy to the news earlier in the day. Johnny wanted time to gain control of his own emotions before sharing it. However his disheveled hair after the last phone call spoke volumes to his men who knew their captain's tells well.

At 9 pm, they had a call for the station to help with a fire at a refinery. Sirens at the plant were blaring as they pulled up. Black smoke roiled from several spots and the flames were blue tinged in places. An explosion rocked the site as the men jumped out of the vehicles. JJ pulled on her helmet and stuck close to the squad. Obviously, this was a dangerous fire. Fighting fires at night was quite eerie. The light shadows leapt and slid around the scene and the flashing lights of the trucks pulsed off the buildings. The hiss of water hitting flame mixed with the voices of the men and the crackle of fire. Smoke slithered ominously and JJ shivered despite the heat. Roy looked over after giving orders to be sure JJ was in a safe spot. She gave a short wave and pointed down to indicate she'd stay put. Ladder trucks pulled up, water cannons were used. JJ treated a few firemen for heat exhaustion and smoke inhalation. There were even a few minor burns. The station didn't return to quarters until after 1 am. The night only brought one alarm. It was for a structure fire at a residence. The fire was limited to the garage. Fortunately, it was caught early and was quickly extinguished. With car tanks full of gasoline, cans of paint and a lawn mower full of fuel, it could have been much worse.

When the crew returned to the station, they all dropped into their bunks. The smoky smell from the men might have bothered most people, but to JJ it smelled like Johnny. She fell asleep easily.

Riding with Roy's crew had been extremely helpful. A lot of details of rescues and firefighting had been filled in for JJ. Details both Roy and Johnny hadn't shared. The number of near misses the men faced, the danger of exposure to chemicals and the horrors they saw due to injuries and deaths. The intensity of the heat outside the structure, the chaotic nature of the scene with multiple crews on scene and the exhaustion all of it created. Fire was unruly, wicked. The flames licked up structures and out of windows like a weaving swam of angry hornets.