The Boot

Chapter Eleven

By GCS

DISCLAIMER: "Emergency!" and its characters © Mark VII Productions, Inc. and Universal Studios. All rights reserved. No infringement of any copyrights or trademarks is intended or should be inferred. This is a work of fiction. This story is only written for entertainment. No financial gain is being realized from it. The story, itself, is the property of the author.

"What's his problem?" Johnny grimaced when Dixie put some gauze on his arm after extracting the needle.

"Who, Dr. Brackett?" She held pressure on his arm for a minute. "Here hold this while I tape it."

Johnny put his fingers where hers were. Then he lifted the gauze to see the hole left by the needle. He wrinkled his nose. "Man that was a big needle." He coughed out.

Dixie pushed his hand back down, "I said hold it." She smiled as she taped the gauze in place. "Now I need to give you this." She held up a syringe filled with whatever antibiotic Dr. Brackett had prescribed for him.

Johnny looked at her wide eyed and mouth agape. "Um…do you have to?"

"Now I know we don't know each other very well yet, but do you actually think I would kid you about a thing like this?" She waved the syringe in the air. "So drop 'em." She pointed to his pants.

"You don't mean…" He blushed a deep crimson and coughed harshly. "Um…I…I don't think so." He slid off the table and backed away from her.

"John Gage." She put her hand on her hip. "You are on the verge of pneumonia. You yourself said you couldn't afford to miss work. If you meant that, then you turn right around and lean over that table with your cheek showing or I'll call in some orderlies assist you."

He dropped his head and his shoulders sagged as he moved back toward the treatment table. He laid his shirt on the table, turned his back and fumbled with his belt while repeatedly glancing over his shoulder at Dixie. She stood her ground and waited on him to get ready. When he had his pants open enough to lower the waistband revealing just enough of his behind for her to give him the dreaded stick, he leaned over, coughed a couple of times and once again tensed like he were about to have a life threatening medical procedure.

"This is a pretty strong dose. Hopefully it won't make you sick to your stomach. You will have to stay here while we wait on the results of your blood work, so you may as well get comfortable. I'll check on you in a little bit." She patted his hip indicating that she was finished.

Johnny looked over his shoulder, turning slightly, trying to see his hip. Dixie couldn't help the giggle that escaped. He positively looked like a puppy chasing his tail. He stopped and looked at her with a sheepish grin. "I didn't even feel it."

"That's because I am the best at what I do and don't you ever forget it." She beamed. "Now you can put your shirt back on." She motioned to his shirt as she gathered the blood samples and headed toward the door.

As she approached the door, it swished open, and Dr. Early poked his head in the room. "I understand you have an old friend of ours here Dixie."

Johnny looked over to the door and smiled sheepishly. "Hi Doctor Early."

"Hi yourself, Johnny Gage, I just wanted to check on you. I understand your cold has gotten worse." He walked over beside the table and reached for Johnny's chart which Dixie handed him. He flipped it open and scanned Dr. Brackett's notes. "Mind if I get a listen too?" He pulled out his stethoscope and rubbed it between his hands to warm it. "This won't hurt a bit."

Johnny smiled genuinely. He slid back onto the table.

Joe asked him to cough several times, as the not so friendly dark haired doctor had, but his tone was gentler and kinder. Johnny felt more relaxed than he had since he got out of the taxi.

"Okay Johnny, you can put your shirt back on now. It can be a little chilly in these rooms." He walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a thin blanket. "Dixie, I think our friend here needs some fluids. Start an IV D5W, give him something for the fever, Tylenol should do it." Johnny slipped his shirt back on and lay back down on the table. Joe spread the blanket over his legs, patted him on the knee and turned to leave. "Let me know when you get the lab results back." Then he was gone.

"Well it looks like you will get another needle stick, Johnny, but I'll be gentle." She smiled down at him as she took his arm.

He closed his eyes again. This time he didn't tense up as much. He knew she wouldn't hurt him.

Johnny fell asleep waiting in the treatment room for the results from his blood test.

The doorbell rang followed by a knock.

Captain Jones got up from his recliner, laid the newspaper he had been reading on the coffee table and walked over to the door. When he opened it, he was surprised to see his friend and trusted engineer, Dale Scott standing on the stoop. "Dale?"

"Morning Cap." He shifted from one foot to the other. "Um…sorry to bother you, but I…"

"Come on in." Captain Jones interrupted him and stepped aside. "I was wondering how long it would take you to come over here." He chuckled.

Dale nodded and slipped past him into the house.

"Coffee?"

"That would be great."

"Have a seat, I'll be right back." He disappeared into the kitchen and a few minutes later returned with two coffee cups and a plate of cinnamon rolls. "I know how you are when you have something on your mind, Scotty. My guess is you haven't had breakfast."

Scotty smiled, "Yeah well…you know me pretty well, Cap." He took the coffee and grabbed a roll from the plate.

"So what's on your mind this morning?" Captain Jones sat down with his own cinnamon roll.

"Well I guess I'm here to talk about that nail in Gage's tire, and what you plan to do about it."

"What I plan to do about it? Exactly what do you suggest I do?" Captain Jones leaned back in his chair and sipped his coffee. He already knew what he had planned, but he was curious as to what Dale might suggest.

Dale shifted nervously on the couch. "I..uh..I mean we all know who did it. I just thought…"

Captain Jones interrupted him. "You know who did it?" He sat forward again and waited for the answer. He suspected himself, but in order to act on that suspicion he needed proof.

"We all know who did it, Cap." Dale shot a glare at his Captain, but quickly softened his look. Although they were the best of friends, Dale respected his authority and this was his home. "Hell, even Jim knows it was his brother."

"How does he know that?"

"How does he know? All the pranks, the hostile way Cody treats Gage. I talked to Jim about it last night. It started back when they were at the academy. It's only gotten worse. That guy doesn't even appreciate that Gage saved his butt that day when he nearly drowned." He waved his hand in the air.

"I need something more than speculation Dale. Does anyone have any proof, solid evidence or an eye witness?"

"Well…no, but…"

"Well then there is little I can do about it." Dale started to protest, but Captain Jones held up his hand. "I do plan on having a meeting when we are back on shift. I plan on asking Gage to take the day off..with pay of course. I know he can't afford to miss work. I suspect that cold of his is much worse than he wants me to believe anyway. That will give me a chance to talk to everyone about his heritage and the pranks that have gotten out of hand without him being embarrassed by it."

"Yeah, he was pretty sick when I dropped off his bike. By the way, he asked me to thank you for helping get the tire fixed. Kid lives in a dump. I mean, his apartment is neat and clean, but it's not in a very good place. His furniture looked like stuff someone else had thrown out. I mean, he must have cleaned it up, but it's old, worn out. I know why he's so skinny too. His fridge was practically empty. He's a good kid just trying to make it. He doesn't deserve to be treated like that." Dale looked at his friend. "I remember when I started at the station. A good friend of mine stood up for me back then, when things got a little rough. He deserves to have someone on his side too. He saved Cody's life without even thinking about his own. That's the kind of man I want beside me when I'm running into a burning building. That's the kind of man we need in the department, not some slime ball who shoves nails in someone's tires. Graves should be washed out for this."

Captain Jones was proud to hear his friend stand up for John Gage. He remembered how shy and insecure Dale had been when he started at the station. He remembered when he had gone to his Captain to stand up for him years ago after another boot had tried to blame Dale for an accident caused by a faulty hose connection that had snapped making the hose whip back and injure one of their crew mates. "He's a lucky man to have someone like you stand up for him." He smiled at Dale.

Dale shrugged.

"Listen, off the record, I don't think we will have to wait long for Cody to mess up. He's hot headed. He doesn't listen to instructions, and does what he wants to instead of what he's told to do. He proved that when he got too close to that fire and nearly got himself and Gage blown up. I talked to Jim about him myself yesterday. He's not very pleased with his younger brother. Oh he's loyal to him to a fault like any older brother would be, but he's not sure what Cody is thinking. He didn't tell me he thought his brother put that nail in Gage's tire, but he didn't deny it either. You have to trust me to handle this."

Dale's head shot up and he looked his Captain directly in the eyes. "I trust you with my life, Cap."

"Good, then let's have another roll." He picked up the plate and held it out to his friend.

Dale took one. "Okay Cap." He knew he would have to give him a chance to handle things. But if something didn't change, and soon, he would have to consider taking things into his own hands.

Just as he was about to put the plate back on the table the telephone rang. "I wonder which one of my crew that might be, wanting to know what I plan to do about that nail." He chuckled as he picked up the receiver. "Hello, Jones residence."

"Good morning Captain Jones." The soft melodic voice sifted through the ear piece.

His eyebrows arched, and he looked over at Dale. "Good morning."

Johnny's eyes slid open. He felt groggy and stiff, achy from head to toe. He couldn't remember where he was or why he felt so stiff. He blinked several times trying to clear the sleep from his eyes. The lights in the room were dim, but he could see the bottle hanging above his head with the thin tubing running from the bottom to his arm. He'd been at the clinic enough to know that he had an IV in his arm, but he didn't remember coming to the clinic.

His foggy brain began to process. How could he be at the clinic anyway? He left the reservation years ago.

He coughed and swallowed feeling the dry scratchy soreness that usually accompanied the bouts of sickness that often led him to the reservation clinic as a kid. He drew in a shaky breath and coughed again. His head hurt, and he was hot. He raised a shaky hand to his forehead and pushed his damp bangs aside. Rampart, he was at the hospital.

Someone had raised the head of the bed up like they did when he had trouble breathing through his congested lungs as a boy. He squeezed his eyes shut…pneumonia. He must have gotten pneumonia again. Then slowly things came more into focus. He remembered his first day at the fire station.

In his mind's eye he saw the explosion that rocked the building and threw both he and Cody vaulting through the air, Cody slamming into the water and slipping beneath the dark surface. He could almost feel the hard asphalt that seemed to rise up to meet his falling body.

The visions in his head swam by faster. Him pulling his gear off and jumping feet first into the cold water, and diving deep into the darkness, groping for Cody in the blackness.

He rubbed his hand on his chest as he remembered returning to the surface only after the burning in his oxygen starved lungs forced him to; returning again to the depths and searching blindly through the cold dark water, diving deeper and deeper into the black, murky depths. The dirty water burned his eyes and nose. He almost gave up when his lungs started burning again, but then he had found Cody and pulled him to the surface.

Then came the vision of the second shift and the pouring rain, it seemed that he had been wet ever since he dove into that water after Cody. The rain pelted him as he drove his bike to work that morning, and then they were called out to that MVA. He remembered dropping to his knees in the puddle beside the wrecked cars. He thought about the cold water seeping in against his skin.

He took in a shaky breath as he remembered the fear that gripped his heart as he crawled inside the crushed window in search of life…life that he didn't find. He could almost hear the constant pitter-patter of the rain against the twisted metal. In his memory he tracked the shaky beam of light onto her face and into the hauntingly empty lifeless eyes.

Then his thoughts drifted to the nail in his tire and walking in the misting rain to the bus stop. The creepy man that followed him off the bus and tried to mug him; going to Jimbo's for help, sneaking out the back and running home while the rain continued to fall down on him.

Yep, he had really done it. First couple of shifts with the LA County Fire Department, and he had managed to get pneumonia. They would wash him out for sure.

He threw his arm over his eyes and sunk a little lower in the hard exam bed and groaned.

He could hear voices whispering nearby, in the corner of the dimly lit room. They must have heard him too, because the next thing he knew Dixie took his arm from across his eyes and started taking his pulse. "Hey sleepy head."

He blinked up at her and yawned. "M my t..throat hurts."

"Here you go." She put a straw against his lips. He sipped some of the cold water from the cup. "Better?"

"Um hm." He nodded.

"Hey Boot, I guess you were pretty sick yesterday when I stopped by." Dale Scott suddenly appeared beside him.

Johnny looked from Dixie to Dale and back to Dixie again. His mouth open, and his eyes wide.

"So sue me." Dixie shrugged. "I had to report your visit to your commanding officer. Can I help it if this guy was over at Captain Jones' house when I called?"

"Relax John, Ms. McCall was following regulations." Captain Jones was there too.

"Oh great." Johnny ran his hand through his hair. "I…I'm s..sorry Cap. I..uh..I didn't mean to get this sick. It's j..just t..that I have a tendency to..uh…"

Captain Jones put a reassuring hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "I know. Nurse McCall explained it to me."

Johnny tried to sit up. "Can I go?" He looked at Dixie for an answer. He suddenly felt like he had to get out of there.

She smiled at him and turned the lights up in the room causing him to squint. "Well Mr. Gage, luckily you do not have pneumonia. We think we have caught it in time before it could get any worse. You do however have a serious lung infection. Dr. Early wants to talk to you before you leave. He has a new prescription for you. That IV is almost finished, and I'll have to take it out. Then you, my friend, are free to go."

"Can I work?" Johnny was clearly worried about that.

"Let's wait until we hear from the doctor, John." Captain Jones suggested. "Then we'll worry about getting you home and when you will report back to work."

"I'm in the truck, so we can load your bike in the back again." Scotty offered.

"I didn't ride it." Johnny wouldn't look at them. They had done enough already. He was very uncomfortable with all this attention.

"How did you get here John?" Captain Jones asked.

"My friend, Jimbo made me take a taxi. I'll have to pay him back, but I didn't think I could ride my bike." He looked off in the distance avoiding eye contact. "I can take the bus back home."

"You will not. Not after what you told me yesterday. I'll take you home." Scotty said rather demandingly making Johnny tense.

"Okay." He whispered. He pulled the blanket up to his chest and held it with both hands. He felt worse than he had a few minutes ago. Actually, he was glad he wouldn't have to worry about how to get back home. "If you don't mind."

"Mind?" Scotty chuckled at the shy way Johnny reacted. "I insist."