Author Note: Thank you to everybody who has reviewed this fic. And my especial loe and smooshes to Mabo who has been an enthusiastic reader and reviewer since the beginning. I love to read your insights into this fic.

This is a much lighter chapter, but it was begging to be written. Just ask yourself - what do you get if you put 16 firefighters in one ward and then add the nurse from The Nuisance" into the mix?

Oh - and there's no coffee.

Hank Stanley wanted to sleep. Badly wanted to. He was sore, and stiff and wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed, preferably with his wife, and doze the day away. Apparently that was not to be the case.

He was confused – the size of the bed suggested his bed at the Station and he frowned because something was wrong. Although… he knew those voices. Balefully he opened one eye. "Do you twits mind?" he said, his voice surprisingly hoarse. "Some of us would like to sleep until the morning tones." He closed his eye, hoping that it would work.

"Sorry, guys. Cap isn't much of a morning person until he's had his first coffee."

"And they won't let us go and find any," said a voice that he didn't know. A decidedly grumpy unknown voice. Actually, the unknown voice mirrored how he felt.

"Cheer up, Clarke. Maybe you'll get lucky and a pretty nurse will come and give you breakfast."

Nurse? What the…. Reluctantly Hank opened both eyes and tried to sit up – before his side brought vividly back why he would be….here?

Here… lying in a bed looking up at a ceiling painted blue with white clouds and… balloons? He let his gaze fall and then hastily closed his eyes again. The curtains had animals on them. Hospital curtains didn't have animals on them. At least not the ones he was accustomed to seeing. The only time he'd seen curtains like this was when his youngest girl had stayed in the Children's Ward after having her tonsils out.

Well, at times he felt like chief nut at the nuthouse, and this seemed to confirm it. His curtains were pushed back (thankfully) and he was treated to the sight of John Gage on a pair of crutches (how in hell did he manage to get those?) wearing a hospital gown. Beyond him was a long open ward, filled with men wandering around in hospital gowns.

The walls were white, but had large figures on them, fairy tales. Nursery rhymes. Directly opposite him Miss Muffet, her tuffet and a spider gazed back. Below Miss Muffett lay Marco Lopez and in the bed next to him, Chet Kelly, who had some sort of rabbit over him.

"Good mornin' Cap!," Gage said cheerfully, leaning heavily on the crutches. "Welcome to the LACoFD Ward at Rampart!" With that he swung in and perched a bright red childs fire helmet on Hank's head.

"That's it. I've finally flipped. I am now officially insane," Hank said. He sank further down in bed and pulled the covers up, until all that could be seen was the fire helmet.

Ward Sister Franklin was NOT a Happy Woman. Like many of the other Nurses at Rampart, she looked up to their Head Nurse Dixie McCall (even though she was as different to previous Head Nurses as night was from day) but when it interfered with the running of her Ward, all bets were off.

She could understand the decision – and she would probably have done the same thing – but it doesn't mean she had to like it. And so on this morning when she reported at 7am for her shift, instead of her current compliment of 8 ill little cherubic children, she was told that there were 16 firefighters in there. It was very good of Miss McCall to explain to her personally – delaying her own leaving time – but it was still a shock.

She did not like nursing members of the LACoFD – nursing them was like trying to herd cats and you not only had to deal with their families (which was easy) but it was when their crewmates visited that chaos ensued. And there were a particular group that she always dreaded – they seemed worse than normal, disregarding all her rules and throwing out her timetables. Miss McCall had given her the standard ward list, but had added in what Station each man belonged to and a couple of other notes, other than injuries.

They were insubordinate and unruly and, frequently, loud. And that was the ones confined to bed. The ones who were able to sit out of bed tended to just vanish from their rooms and wander around the hospital like they owned it, frequently turning up in Places They Should Not Be.

Now, as she perused the list of her charges in what had been until very early this morning a brand new children's' ward, she saw a name that made her stomach drop. GAGE, JR Station 51 and a precis of his injuries. She noted that "suspected broken nose" had been crossed out. One of her great joys in moving into the role of head of this new Ward had been the thought that she would not have to deal with GAGE J R as a patient again. Honestly, he was worse than ten children!

Her mood though moved towards horror as she read through the list. She knew, at the back of her mind, that it had been bad to have that many firefighters injured in one incident, but she saw that six of them had the same station designation. Six. At one fire. From one station. What the hell could have taken out a whole Station? The most seriously injured seemed to be their Captain – who was also the only Senior Officer admitted to the Ward. Great. Her ire started to rise again when she realised that on that list were the other names that she had not wanted to see.

As she came closer, the noise percolated into the corridor. She could also see the approach of the huge trolleys carrying breakfasts. Sister Franklin turned to her Staff Nurse and Student Nurse who would be with her during this time of need.

"Well Ladies… I hope you're well-fortified for today. If you thought young Tommy Flint was a problem, you ain't seen nothing yet! These are patients who will say and do anything to get their own way and who will blatantly lie to you about pain levels and symptoms. They are all also coffee addicts – under no circumstances allow them to go in search of coffee. You either won't see them again, or they will be brought back in person by Miss McCall, who will want to know why they were out of bed. They are Troublemakers. All of them."

Her two juniors nodded, but exchanged excited glances. Firefighters…. Good looking, strong, what else could a girl want? Both junior nurses thought that they would be able to allow a little leeway if asked by a firefighter.

Sister Franklin handed the clipboard to the Student Nurse and raised her arms, pushing open the doors, noting the sound of somebody being hit by one of them. Serve him right, whoever he was. He should have been in bed! Patiently waiting for breakfast and morning obs. Not traipsing around Her Ward, and obviously Out of Bed.

"Well, Gentlemen, what do you think you are doing out of bed?" The room quietened. "All of you – back into bed - put those toys away on your way. I don't know what you are thinking of – those are for children.

Once you are back in bed, the Nurses will come around for morning observations. These will involve taking your vital signs, not your observations of the Nurses and definitely not a time for idle chit chat. Only after those are complete will you be given breakfast. Whilst you are eating, I'll be going through some rules of this ward that you will be expected to adhere to. And allocate your washing times."

"Breakfast… Coffee?"

Sister Franklin turned to the offending speaker. He had partially emerged from his blankets and was wearing.. Oh really! This was too much! She marched over and took off the fire helmet and looked at the name scribbled on the blackboard. So this was the Captain? Who she had hoped would keep this rabble in line? More like a ringleader if his wearing of the children's helmet was anything to go by!

"No, Captain Stanley. You will not be getting coffee. Juice. Oatmeal. Fruit. Coffee is not served on this Ward."

You could have heard a pin drop as 16 horrified faces turned towards her. Five in particular looked almost panicked. They did not want to have to deal with Cap without his first cup of coffee. That fire had truly put them into Hell.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Captain Henry Stanley, a Firefighter with over 15 years' experience, a man who faced death every day, was propped in a hospital bed in what was normally a Children's Ward with a look on his (clean, freshly shaven) face of a man in shock. Next to him, his Engineer had a similar look (minus the shave, but with added fresh dressings to the scrapes that adorned his face). They weren't alone in their shock, but they were the only ones being smirked at by his two Paramedics and his Senior Lineman (although Marco was not looking as calm as he usually did either).

It wasn't until it happened that you realised just how intimate an act being bathed was. The last time being bathed by a female had occurred had been his wife and "getting clean" had definitely not been the end goal. That occasion had been pleasurable – even playful.

This, however, was a shock to his system and his senses. The first shock had been when the list of those who would be subjected to a bed bath by Sister Franklin had been read out. That was when Gage, DeSoto and Lopez had started to smirk (until Lopez heard his own name). All the men named had protested, in vain, and then shared panicked looked. All had had one thought. What if there were any inadvertent reactions to the bathing.

Within 30 seconds of commencement, that fear had been completely quashed. But… she had been thorough. Very very thorough.

Hank looked down the ward to where a pile of bedclothes hid the youngest man in the room. Probationer Wood. He wasn't sure if Wood would survive the embarrassment. None of the men had been in doubt what Sister Franklin had been talking about with her pity comment about "just because you can't shower yourself, doesn't mean that we can skimp on hygiene. Especially there. Really, what were your parents thinking!"

The arrival of Drs Brackett and Early who also looked like they were seconds away from laughing at the faces of some of the men only made matters worse.

He wondered if he could persuade Joe Early to prescribe him coffee. Or at the very least, arrange for a phone call to Georgie to smuggle some in.

Another Note: You will find out more about Georgie - the incarnation of Cap's wife in my E!-verse - in another series that is still being written. For this fic - you need to know that Georgie is a Psychologist and is Cap's second wife. They have no children, though Cap has 2 daughters from his first marriage.

She is one of Mike Stoker's oldest friends, and he introduced her to Cap. The three of them share a house (backstory from the other fic) and Georgie's Practice is also from the house.

This will become slightly important in later chapters.

Georgie shares Cap's views that the A-Shift of 51 are pretty much his "boys" - whether they be children or younger brothers. She, Joanne DeSoto and Mama Lopez tend to band together and look after their boys. All 3 of these ladies will make an appearance in this fic.