Chapter Ten
The next day, Dixie was as jumpy as a jack-rabbit on a hot greasy griddle. She spent her every spare minute in the coffee room, her hands shaking violently whenever she tried to sip her drink. Unfortunately, she had been put on a shift that Dr. Morton and Dr. Early weren't working. She felt so lonely without her close friends to guard her from the inevitable fact that she'd have to face Derek. Dixie hoped and prayed that Roy and Johnny would come to check in on her before she had a nervous break down. She didn't want to have another episode like the one the previous day. She'd never broken down like that in front of anyone, not even Kelly. Dixie always tried her best to hold herself together around the young doctor. She knew that hiding her feelings from her significant other would be the first step to an unsteady relationship, but how could she let herself slip into an emotional state she couldn't get out of? Maybe marrying Kelly would be a bad idea…love had gotten her in trouble and she never wanted to be in a relationship that made her feel the same way she did when she was with Derek. Kelly is different, Dixie tried convincing herself. The doctor never made her feel like she was some helpless infatuated teenager. The last thing she wanted was to feel vulnerable around anybody. I can't be blinded, not like I was with Derek…my blindness almost killed me…was she really ready to surrender herself to another man? One part of her said that she could never trust anyone ever again, not the way she did with Derek. The other part of her shouted that being badly burned by one person didn't define the rest of the human race.
The door to the coffee room opened and Dixie was jerked from her troubled thoughts.
Johnny and Roy walked in, looking rather jovial. Today they were sporting their paramedic uniforms, evidently back on the job.
"Hi Dix!" Johnny greeted, standing next to her while Roy sat down in front of her.
"You two seem happy," Dixie muttered.
Roy smiled. "We just cleared Brackett of three of the four charges that were brought against him," he cheerfully informed her. Dixie couldn't help but grin. "That's great," she said excitedly. Finally, some results!
"We're going to go downtown to share the news with Brackett then back to the station to tell the guys," Roy said. Dixie's smile faded and she glanced down at her watch fretfully. "How long will you be gone?" she asked.
Johnny cocked an eyebrow. "Not too long. You need company?"
Dixie shook her head and put her sleeve back down, covering her watch. "No, no. I'll be fine. I guess I better be getting back to work," she sighed, getting up and heading to the door. Before she was halfway out, she froze and gasped in horror.
"Oh my God," she choked out, sounding sick to her stomach. She slammed the door shut and backed into Johnny and Roy, shaking.
"What is it?" Roy demanded, grabbing her and trying to get her to talk.
"D-Derek is out there!" she stammered.
Johnny frowned and walked over to the door, opening it slightly. He peered out and saw the bustling hallway and people in crisp white uniforms whisking past with purpose. In the midst of the din, he saw a tall, thin man wearing a lab coat and standing in the center of the hallway, talking to a young student nurse. He was nodding and the nurse pointed directly towards the coffee room. The man turned and started approaching the room.
Johnny quickly shut the door and grabbed Roy.
"He's coming here!" he hissed in a panic. Roy looked horrified, but not as much as Dixie, who looked like she was about to die. "I'm dead," she cried.
"I'll see if I can head him off at the pass," Roy said determinedly, getting up and walking to the door. Johnny held onto Dixie and turned her away from the door.
"I'm apologizing in advance for this," he said quickly, looking her in the eye.
Dixie was more than bewildered, "Apologize for wha-?" before she could finish her sentence, Johnny wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly, planting his lips on her.
Dixie was more than shocked; who did this creep think he was? She would not stand for this! Dixie tried slapping him and pushing him away, but the young paramedic only held her tighter. She stopped resisting when she heard the all-too-familiar voice of her ex-husband.
"Someone told me that I could find Dixie B-uh, McCall in here," Baker said, his voice terribly sadistic with each word he said. Roy blocked the door casually and shrugged.
"Naw," he lied, "I haven't seen her since this morning."
Baker narrowed his eyes, which glinted like chips of ice. "You're sure?" he pressed. Roy scoffed. "There's nothing in there but a couple of love birds making out," he said disgustedly. Baker grunted and craned his neck, looking over Roy's shoulder to see what looked to be two lovers in a romantic embrace. He couldn't discern any faces and just glared at Roy.
"Thank you," he growled. With that, Dr. Derek Arthur Baker turned on his heel and left. Roy let out his breath and closed the door to the coffee room. He turned around just in time to see Dixie shove Johnny away and smack his face.
"Ughllh!" was all she could say. Johnny held his face and grimaced. "I save your bacon and you slap me?" he grumbled.
"You disgust me!" Dixie snapped, straightening herself out and fixing her hat.
Roy walked up to Johnny and gave him a push. "You okay?" he murmured. Johnny nodded.
"I'll live, but Dixie might have a hemorrhage if you don't do something," he said sarcastically. Dixie whacked Johnny on the head again and messed his hair up, fuming. Johnny hid behind Roy and Dixie set her jaw.
"I can't believe you did that!" she shouted. Roy put his head in his hand and snickered. "He did save your bacon," he pointed out. Dixie whipped around to face Roy.
"You two anticipated that?" she asked outrageously.
"It's our fallback position," Johnny joked. "Oh, you two are just great," Dixie spat.
Roy put a hand on Dixie's shoulder to calm her. "You should be thankful that Derek didn't see your face," he said, "Johnny did you a favor."
Dixie waved him off. "Just go on," she ordered, "I'll be fine."
Roy shrugged and walked out. "Come on, Johnny," he said, leaving. Johnny followed him and opened the door.
Dixie uncrossed her arms and turned to look at the medic. "Ah, Johnny?" she asked, hesitating slightly. He looked at her, expecting to get something thrown at his face.
"Yes?"
"You're a great kisser," she said with a grin. Johnny acted like he wasn't a bit surprised and just laughed. "Don't tell Brackett that," he said playfully before walking out.
Johnny and Roy headed upstairs to the admin's office, now ready to confront him about Dr. Baker. It was doubtful that Mr. O'Brian didn't already know that Baker was a no-good, but if he was absolutely clueless, the medics saw it as their duty to inform the admin and get Baker fired. If they couldn't get him arrested, maybe they could make him lose his job. Anything to get him away from Dixie…Their plans to head back to the station would have to wait.
As they sat in the elevator waiting to see Mr. O'Brian, Johnny spoke up.
"Roy," he started, "What if O'Brian was really in cahoots with Baker?"
Roy shrugged. "Well," he sighed, "Then we're in a heap of trouble."
Johnny cringed. "That's just fine," he muttered sarcastically.
The elevator ride up was slow and Johnny thought he could hear both his and Roy's hearts beating. Johnny bit his lower lip and shifted uncomfortably on his feet. Roy frowned intently and stared straight ahead, his thoughts fixed on something far away. Johnny inhaled deeply and held his breath as the "Ding!" sounded at their floor. The doors receded and Johnny and Roy collectively gasped. There, right before them, stood none other than Dr. Derek Arthur Baker.
"Hello, gentlemen," Baker said with a slight smile.
Johnny's mouth twisted in a scowl of utter distaste for the man. "Son of a bitch," he spat.
Baker only grinned even more.
"My, my….A bit on edge today, aren't we? By the way, magnificent job hiding Dixie from me today, I loved the way you did it too…Frankly I'm not surprised she agreed to it…she always was such a whore," he said wryly. Johnny cringed and clenched his fists, resisting the urge to smack Baker. The only thing that held him back was the fact that the doctor looked strong enough to break the medic's arm. It was at that particular moment that Roy did something that shocked his paramedic partner. Roy rushed out of the elevator and grabbed Baker around his neck with one hand and held his right arm with the other. The red-haired paramedic slammed the older doctor against the wall and held him firmly.
"Start talking, Baker!" he ordered, "We want answers and we want them now!"
Baker choked out a laugh through Roy's death hold. "Answers? Oh dear, what did Dixie tell you about me?"
Johnny stepped up behind Roy and glared at Baker. "Oh, nothing much," he retorted, "Just that you're a lying, killing, cheating, no good piece of shit."
"Shit puts it mildly," Roy growled.
Baker gave them a huge grin, revealing rows of straight, yet, yellow teeth.
"Put aside your verbal abuses and listen to my side," he beckoned, "Dixie was overly-emotional from the day I met her. Anything she told you was a lie."
Roy squeezed tighter around Baker's neck and grit his teeth. "Bullshit," Roy snarled.
"Dixie's story?" Baker asked, "BS is quite right, my good man."
"I said talk, dammit!" Roy shouted, shaking Baker viciously, "English, asshole, do you speak it? Give me answers, not bald-faced lies! If you don't spit out the truth I'll ram this stethoscope down your throat!"
Johnny was quite surprised at his partner's behavior and language; you thought you knew a guy!
Baker remained calm for a nanosecond and then jerked free from Roy's hold. In a flurry of lightning-quick movements, he turned on Roy and roundhouse-kicked the medic in the face, sending him catapulting into the wall and then onto the floor. Johnny stood dumbfounded and then raised his hands to defend himself as Baker turned around to face the young medic. Baker swung a leg up to dispatch Johnny, but the paramedic jumped backwards, narrowly missing the blow. Baker then threw a punch which caught Johnny off-guard and knocked him clean off his feet.
Baker stood above the two defeated medics, breathing heavily. He straightened his lab coat out and stared calmly at Johnny and Roy.
"My, how the mighty have fallen. Bring forth Dixie, and I will give you answers. Answers, for sure." with that, the sandy-haired doctor walked away, no-doubt heading to O'Brian's office.
Johnny held his nose and groaned. "Damn," he hissed, "Dix didn't say he knew karate!"
Roy stiffly got to his feet and placed a hand on his bruised jaw. "I should've seen that coming," he rasped. Johnny got up and raced to Roy's aid. "You alright?" he asked. Roy nodded.
"Just sore, that's all," he assured his partner. Johnny sighed. "You know we'll have to get Dixie," he said. Roy closed his eyes in exasperation for a moment and then rolled them skywards.
"What did we get into?" he demanded in a low voice.
Dixie left the coffee room to head back to her station; she had a job and it needed to be done.
As she sat back down at her desk and tried to relax, she couldn't help thinking of Derek. How long could she hide from him? He'd find her eventually. Dixie would have to move, leave her job, her friends. Johnny and Roy didn't have a chance in church against Derek. He was a very powerful man. She realized that even more as she saw a very bruised Johnny and Roy come traipsing up to her station. She got out from behind her desk and rushed up to them.
"What happened to you two?" she asked, horrified. Johnny frowned. "You could've told us Baker knew karate," he said dryly. "Baker?" Dixie echoed, "He was up at the administrator's office?"
Roy nodded slowly. "We tried to get him to cough up some answers, but he said he wouldn't talk unless he could see you first."
Dixie stood still; no, never. She couldn't let Derek see her. Not after everything that he had done to her. That man had nerve.
Johnny saw the look of sheer horror in her eyes and he gave her a sympathetic look.
"Dix," he started, "If we can get him to talk, it could mean Brackett's freedom."
Dixie felt a lump form in her throat and her chest get tight. She dearly loved Kelly and now knew that he was the man she wanted to marry, but could she really take such a risk for him? Wait, that wasn't a question. She had to take the risk for him. Kelly was innocent and didn't deserve the long sentence that was surely awaiting him. If facing Derek meant Kelly going free, she didn't have much of a choice. Would Derek still be a raging psycho? Would he still be mad at her? Dixie knew the answers to those questions all too well and closed her eyes. She swallowed hard and nodded.
"I'll see him," she choked out.
Roy put his hand gently on her back and led her to the elevator. "We'll be with you," he comforted. Although Dixie trusted the two medics, a sense of dread started to swell within her. Facing up to a horrible mistake is what it felt like.