An Act of Friendship

Chapter 12

Kel entered his office to find Nurse Smelling and her supervisor, Nurse Daniels, waiting. "Thank you for coming. I don't know if Nurse Smelling has filled you in on why I've asked you here," he questioned.

"She said that she was behind schedule and may have gotten a little out of line with a visitor to one of the patients," Sally Daniels replied. She glanced over at Mary Smelling, she'd had several problems with her recently and this was not the first time she'd been called on her attitude. Sally expected her to look contrite or at least somewhat apologetic. What she saw was someone who looked more irritated than anything. She frowned, not liking what she was seeing.

Kel gave an incredulous look. His anger returning as he retorted, "A little out of line? I overheard almost the whole conversation and I can guarantee it was more than a little out of line."

If there was one thing Sally Daniels couldn't abide, it was for one of her nurses to lie. She scrutinized Mary Smelling as she commanded, "Just what exactly did you say?"

Mary Smelling could not believe what a big deal everyone seemed to be making over some dumb firemen. At Nurse Daniels question, she became instantly defensive. "I just told them the truth, that Mr. Gage was too critical to have visitors…"

"On whose authority," barked Kel. "I happen to know for a fact that there is a note at the nurses' station stating that the crew from Station 51 was to be granted access. And I know that, because I put it there," he stated incensed.

"Well, yeah I saw the note, but I didn't know that they were the ones I was supposed to let in," she tried to cover herself.

"Did you give them a chance to tell you who they were?" He questioned already knowing the answer.

"Well…no, but I was trying to get that report…"

Kel interrupted, "I don't care what you were doing. Your first priority should have been to the person standing in front of you seeking help." The more she argued with him, the angrier Kel became.

Sally sat, her head turning from side to side like she was at a tennis match. She was half appalled and half gleeful at what she was witnessing. In the last month, she'd disciplined Mary three times for her attitude; once toward a coworker and twice towards family members. After each time she had been reprimanded, Mary's attitude had progressively become worse. Sally knew that she would now be able to fire the troublesome young woman. But before that happened, she was certainly going to enjoy the show. By the time Dr. Brackett was done, Sally was sure that Mary would not be able to find a job as a nurse from here to San Francisco.

Mary replied, "But there were so many of them…and all day long they kept coming up and asking stupid questions…"

"I don't care if there was 1 or 1,000 of them." He pointed his finger at her. "You should have made them your priority each and every time."

"But it wasn't like they were family or anything," she tried to rebut.

"It doesn't matter if they're family or not. If they were looking to you for assistance, your job is to give it. And by the way, one of those gentlemen does indeed hold medical power of attorney, which is the same as being family. Yet you summarily dismissed him."

Mary knew she was losing the battle, but she was in such a foul mood that she wasn't going to give in. Trying to discredit Brackett to her supervisor, she said, "If they weren't your friends, we wouldn't even be here."

That was enough to throw Kel over the top. "Now you listen here. My being friends with them is irrelevant. Let's set some things straight. First, your job is not only to the patient, but also to their family members or friends. They deserve your respect and understanding, no matter what they say or do. I would have thought that you would have realized that in an ICU, where there are critically ill patients. Friends or family are under a great deal of stress and, therefore, may not act as you might think. Yes, there were a lot of men up in that waiting room and yes, they at times, might have been making more noise than usual. But that may be the only way they have to relieve some of the stress and pressure they're feeling about their critically ill friend," he stated firmly.

"Second, one of those gentlemen specifically requested my presence. But you refused to comply. That was not your decision to make, it's mine. I take offense to the fact that you would presume to know my wishes. You should have called or had me paged and let me decide whether to come or not." Kel crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"And last but not least, when I approached you and asked you to meet me here with your supervisor, you started to argue with me. I don't know who you think you are, but the last time I checked I was Head of the ER and as such, one of your supervisors. When I gave you a directive, you should have instantly complied." Kel took a deep breath. "Before we're done here, I want you to know one thing. If you were ever unfortunate enough to be in a fire or an accident, those gentlemen up there, who you treated so rudely and callously would, to a man do whatever it takes to try to save your life. Now, if you'll please step out of the room," Kel stated firmly, indicating the door with his hand.

Mary Smelling was shaken. She had finally realized, the magnitude of what she'd done and who she'd done it to. As she sat with people waiting to be seen in the ER, she contemplated what line of work she might like to try. She knew her career as a nurse was effectively over and she had no one to blame, but herself.

XXXXXXX

When they entered the room, Roy immediately went to Johnny's side and picked up his hand. "Hey Junior," he said softly as he gave a squeeze; at least it was warmer than last night but now it was almost too warm. He gazed intently at his friend. While Johnny still looked extremely pale, his coloring was no longer the ghastly hue it had been last night. His cheeks were lightly blushed with fever. The bruise on his temple stood out starkly. He could only imagine the kaleidoscope of colors it would turn in the days to come. Roy felt his throat tighten when Cap leaned down on Johnny's other side and whispered, "We're here for you, son."

Hank looked at all of his men as surrogate son's, but Johnny more so than the others. Johnny's strong willed independence and carefree spirit had sparked a chord in him that even he couldn't explain. Though Johnny would be appalled to hear anyone say it, he always had an air of vulnerability and longing to him that pulled people to him. It was hard to define but sometimes you could see it in his eyes or in his mannerisms. At times he was like a lost, lonely child looking for someplace to fit in. Part of it had to do with Johnny's past. Losing his parents to a car accident at the tender age of 7 had left an indelible mark. From that point on his life had consisted of being shuffled from one foster placement to the next; never staying in any one place for long. The 'father figures' he did come in contact with were usually either abusive or chronically drunk. Under their hands, the abuse he had suffered made him wary and unsure. Trust was a hard thing to gain from John Gage, but once earned you had it for life. Over the years, he had started turning to his captain for advice and guidance and with each step earned, their relationship had solidified.

Now, looking down at his youthful charge, Cap wanted to rail at the fates that brought them to this point. It was bad enough the number of times John was injured on the job, but this was almost unfathomable. As he looked at the broken body before him he cringed at the thought of what John was faced with, even without complications. In the past, John had proven what a strong and resilient person he was. Cap prayed he'd find the wherewithal to do it again. He looked over and saw his concern mirrored in Roy's face. As he looked at the preternaturally still body he said, "It's hard to see him so still. It's so un-Gage like."

Roy gave a rueful grin. "Yeah, it's certainly a change from his usual frenetic pace."

voices…

he thought he heard voices…

they were familiar and comforting…

comfort changed to pain…

never ending and all consuming…

Roy felt Johnny's hand twitch. He looked closely and noticed increased eye movement behind Johnny's eyelids. "Cap, go find a nurse—quick. I think the sedation's wearing off," he ordered looking at the monitors. Johnny's heart rate was climbing as Cap raced out of the room. "Hey Junior, it's okay. I've got you. You're okay," he soothingly repeated.

The heart monitor alarm rang out as a nurse came rushing in followed quickly by Cap. She quickly cleaned off the port on the central line and shot in a sedative before turning off the alarm. Roy continued to talk soothingly to Johnny as the nurse busied herself taking Johnny's vitals. Roy looked over at the heart monitor again. The rate was slowing but as he watched, the wave changed to a squiggly line then back again as the alarm once again went off. The nurse quickly shut off the alarm as she read the strip. "I'm going to go have Dr. Brackett paged. I'll be right back," she said then quickly left the room.

"Roy?" Cap questioned his voice tinged with concern.

"He's having an arrhythmia again. He had several last night, but they were able to get them under control using medication," Roy explained.

"Is it serious?" Cap's level of concern was steadily rising.

Roy gave a reassuring smile. "It can lead to something serious, but Brackett wasn't too concerned last night."

The nurse returned and informed them that Dr. Brackett was on his way. The words were barely out of her mouth when Brackett came charging in. His sole focus—Johnny. The nurse relayed her findings and everything she'd done while he started assessing. "Roy?" he asked questioningly.

Roy relayed all that had happened up until that point. After examining Johnny and looking over the chart, Kel said, "Let's hang a Lidocaine drip," to the nurse. As she scurried to comply, Kel looked over at Roy and Cap. "I'm relatively certain the arrhythmia was caused by Johnny's level of pain and awareness. To be on the safe side, we'll give him Lidocaine continuously. As usual, Johnny's fighting the sedation. Looking over his chart he wasn't due for more for another hour so we'll monitor and adjust as we need," he said reassuringly. "Nurse, what was his temp?"

"101.3 Doctor," she replied.

Kel's mouth twitched. "Start alcohol baths every hour," he replied as he wrote in the chart. Roy's tentative "Doc?" brought his head up. "I don't like how quickly his temperature's rising. I just got the labs back. They confirmed pneumonia and I've just changed his antibiotics. Now the only thing we can do is try to control his temperature until the antibiotics start working," he said solemnly.

Cap's brows rose as he looked over at Roy then down at Johnny. 'Damn…just what he needs,' he thought morosely.

Roy stuttered, "What exactly are you saying, Doc?" he felt like the floor was going to swallow him whole.

Seeing the impact of his words on Roy, he said comfortingly, "I don't mean to be fatalistic. Remember Johnny's young and strong and has a lot going for him. Not the least of which is a whole roomful of people pulling for him. This is just one of those hurdles we need to overcome."

Roy relaxed somewhat at the explanation.

Kel gave a comforting pat to Roy's shoulder. "We'll get there, Roy. It just might take some time," he said kindly. "Hank, Roy, I wanted you to know that Nurse Smelling has been dismissed." At their astonished looks, he continued, "This was not the first time she's been told about her attitude. According to her supervisor, this was the fourth time in under a month. That is unacceptable."

Hank held out his hand as he responded, "Thanks Dr. Brackett. While I'd rather not have seen anyone fired, I can't in good conscience, condone behavior that I would not accept from my own men." A nurse walked in with a basin and towels. Hank looked at Roy and asked, "Why don't we go get some coffee?" Roy nodded and leaned over, telling Johnny that they'd be back shortly. Hank looked at Kel and said, "We'll be back in a little while," he gave Johnny a final glance before following Roy.