Thank you all for bearing with the rough upload of chapter 6. Any reviews and critiques are appreciated.
It wasn't until 10:00 PM before the paramedics returned from multiple calls. Jerry was relatively quiet but cordial to Roy on shift, but Roy felt that he had walked into some sort of bad situation. Jerry quickly took off his clothes, leaving nothing more than his boxers before turning in for the night. When Roy went to the bunk room, he found most were sleeping in their bunks, but there was one bunk that was still empty. First he crept to the living area, thinking that he would find John Gage watching an old movie. But he wasn't there. He walked out to the Bay Area to see light flooding from doorway.
Roy stood outside for a moment staring at Johnny with his nose in a book. He stood watching, trying to think about where the time went from when Johnny was debating on joining the paramedic program to watching him study the manual for the chief's test. Roy cleared his throat as he tried to minimize startling Johnny. It wasn't loud enough to get his attention. Roy leaned on the frame and crossed his arms, taking in one more brief moment of stillness. He had a feeling he might open the flood gates that typically happens when Johnny is angry.
"Johnny…" Roy paused. "You going to explain to me what illness Randy happened to have?"
A snort escaped Johnny as he closed the book. Roy noticed that it was not the Chief testing study guide, but was the protocol book.
"You know, I believe the medical term for it is hatred-for-a-captainitis. Or something like that," joked Johnny. Johnny's swivel chair creaked as he turned towards Roy. Roy entered the office and pulled up a chair.
"Must've been a bad case," he decided to play along.
"You could say that." Johnny's head slumped forward as his forearms leaned on his thighs. "Bad enough to transfer out, gave me a headache and a ton of paperwork to do. Ever thought about quitting being a captain and work as a paramedic on the best shift—B shift."
"For the record, A shift has the best shift. And I don't know how Joanne would take the pay cut. I have a question though, a transfer is just a sign off after he puts down a reason for a transfer. How much paperwork is there?"
"Not a lot, if it's just a transfer. But I'm putting in an official complaint on him."
Things were beginning to click. He had remembered Jennifer stating that she would be assigned at 51s this week, but couldn't remember if it was going to be B or C shift. But the DeSoto's comment that Randy made confirmed it. Whatever it was, it had to be bad. Usually any discipline was kept in house and handled by the captain. It was a brotherhood and the captain usually tried not to put a black mark on a person's record unless absolutely necessary. "It wouldn't have anything to do with a certain young lady would it." A nod confirmed it. "What happened?"
"Roy, I'm handling it." It was a code that, although difficult to abide by in the moment, it was one that he wasn't going to cross. What occurred during a shift, was handled by the captain and brass. It didn't need to be spread to others, even if that other person was someone's father. "All you need to know, is that I'm going to try my best to keep Jenny safe from everything I can."
"I know you will, Junior. But you're not going to tell me what went down are you?"
Johnny shook his head and gave him a crooked smile. "That's up to Jennifer to tell you."
"Did she file a complaint?" Johnny did not give an answer and that was all Roy needed to surmise the answer.
"Thanks," was all Roy could say as he struggled with the words. "You better get to bed, Junior. You never know when we're…" he wasn't able to finish his thought before the klaxon sounded.
"You just had to jinx us," Johnny accused with a smirk on his face. Johnny pushed himself out of the chair with a groan. When did he start feeling so old, he thought.