Disclaimer: I do not own anything, and I am not a medical professional.

Any similarities to actual people or events is purely coincidental.

TW: Suicide, Attempted Murder, Poisoning, Allergic Reaction


"Man, Roy. I'm tired, I'm sweaty, AND I'm hungry! This day's been so busy! Not to mention three of the calls were to the same residence where everyone apparently had food poisoning from some canned chicken that went unrefrigerated!" Johnny said as Roy huffed with a slight smile.

Roy responded " Well Junior, at least it's cooler right now because the sun'll be down for another few hours. We can stop for a bite at the diner closest to the station. We could eat when we get back to the station, but I'm not really in the mood for Chet's leftover stew for breakfast right now before our shift ends."

Johnny huffed and nodded while saying "Agreed."

They luckily made it to the diner without being called out on another rescue. The two tired paramedics entered and sat at the counter. They only went there every once in a while, especially if it was later in the night after finishing a call. The two glanced at their menus, but both were familiar enough with the 24-hour diner to know what they liked.


Judy Grady sighed as she poured another cup of coffee for one of the few patrons that the diner got during the later hours of the night and morning. She hated working the late shift, but she had to take it when one of her coworkers got sick and she owed them a favor after they had covered one of her shifts when she'd had an appointment to see her cardiologist.

She returned to behind the counter and glanced towards the door as she heard the little bell ding. She paid little attention to the two who entered after seeing the uniforms. It wasn't uncommon to see firemen or paramedics this late at night, especially since the diner was close to L.A. County Station 51.

Only, while she was cleaning part of the counter, she happened to look up, and her eyes widened as she saw that the ones who had entered were Roy DeSoto and his wretched partner John Gage. She watched with a slight grimace on her face as her coworker Jill took the order of the two paramedics.

She really hated John Gage. Judy thought back to her job before she got stuck as a waitress. She used to be a nurse at Rampart General Hospital, only John Gage had ruined it by getting her fired for something so stupid! Her license had been suspended until the investigation could be completed, but she needed money now, so she was stuck as a waitress! All she did was take some of the nitroglycerin tablets from storage because she'd forgotten to fill her prescription the day before!

The man had told Dr. Brackett what he had seen, and he called security on her! So, she should have just asked before taking the drugs, or something! She needed the nitroglycerin! Security had searched her and found an entire bottle of the medicine, and she'd been terminated! She hated John Gage for getting her fired! Why was he even near the drug supply cabinet when she was in the first place?!

The idiot had probably planned on flirting with her! Like she'd ever consider dating him anyway!

Judy watched as Jill served the two paramedics. She also watched as a cup of coffee was sat down in front of DeSoto and a glass of milk was sat in front of Gage. How typical of the immature John Gage to choose a glass of milk. Judy couldn't keep her eyes away from the two paramedics as they ate, and Jill noticed.

Jill smiled and said "You know, Judy, I've seen you staring at those paramedics for the past five minutes. I know for a fact that the dark haired one, John, is single. I dated him a while back before I married Jake, and I've got to say that if you're interested, he's a nice guy. He's pretty classy. He's not a partier or anything. I think that you'd be good with him. How about you fill his glass up in a little bit? You can introduce yourself then."

Judy frowned, but then smiled slyly as an idea came to her. She had a way that she could get back at John Gage.

She replied "You know what, Jill? That's a good idea. I'll just go ahead and fill a new glass."

Jill smiled and nodded as she picked up the coffee pot and left from behind the counter.

Judy smiled as she bent down to get a glass out from under the counter where they were stored, only when she did that, she also went for her purse and grabbed her bottle of nitroglycerin tablets. She stayed bent down while she opened the bottle and dumped many of them into her hand. She smiled as she dropped them into the glass. They'd dissolve fairly easily if she stirred the milk a little bit.

Jill soon came back behind the counter and Judy quickly slipped the bottle of tablets back into her purse.

Jill questioned "You okay, Judy? You've been down there for a little bit."

Judy shrugged and said "I'm fine, Jill. I just had to take my medicine and I didn't want anyone to see me taking them while I was working.

Jill frowned in confusion, but didn't question her. If only she had looked at the glass in Judy's hand, then she would have known that Judy was up to something sinister.

Jill said "Just get that new glass to Mr. Gage. I just filled up Mr. DeSoto's cup, and John's glass is close to empty."

Judy stood and snappily said "I know how to do my job, Jill. I'm going right now."

Jill rolled her eyes as Judy held the glass and grabbed the milk. She then grabbed a spoon and stirred it a little to facilitate the dissolving of the tablets. She sat the spoon on the counter before turning around.

She started humming as she smiled and delivered the glass of milk to John.

She smiled brightly as John looked up at her and she winked as she turned away from them.


Judy smiled as she stepped back over to the coffee machine. She then glanced at Jill and put a hand up to her head while fake groaning.

Jill came up to her with concern and said "You okay, Judy? Do you need to see if one of the paramedics can help you?"

Judy sucked in a large breath and said "No, I'm fine. I'm just tired. I think that I'm going to clock out now. Sorry to leave you short handed."

Jill frowned and said "Okay, Judy. I can handle it by myself right now. We're not too busy. Drive safe."

Judy nodded and said "Thanks, Jill. I'll see you later."

Judy then took her apron off and grabbed her purse. She left through the front door and smiled. John Gage would soon know that something was not right with his milk.

Not to mention it was great when neither paramedic recognized her. It was probably because she had dyed her hair black instead of blonde when she'd started working as a waitress.


Johnny glanced up and wondered why the waitress had seemed so familiar to him. She'd winked at him, but he didn't remember ever dating her or anything. Maybe she'd been flirting.

She had seemed so familiar to him.

He frowned and questioned "Hey, Roy? Do you recognize the other waitress working alongside Jill?"

Roy furrowed his brow and said "Not really. I think that she's new. I saw her wink at you though."

Johnny nodded as he took the new glass of milk and took a large swig of it. He recoiled at the taste.

"Roy, something's wrong with this milk. It doesn't taste right at all." Johnny said as he made a disgusted face and pushed the glass away from him.

Roy furrowed his brow and said "Maybe it's old. I've got coffee. You can ask Jill to check the date. The other waitress just left."

Johnny nodded, but before he could get up to say anything, he started feeling really bad.

Johnny groaned as he said "Roy, something's wrong. I'm not feeling very good. I - I- Ugggghhh."

Roy's eyes widened as his partner then fell backwards off of his stool.

Roy quickly got off of his stool and called out "Call the fire department and get another Squad to respond!"

He then bent down to check Johnny's vitals.

"Johnny?" he questioned, but there was no response.

Roy became worried as he left his fingers on Johnny's wrist to check the pulse and it became slower and slower. He would go get his equipment, but he didn't want to leave his partner who had just become a victim. He cursed quietly as Johnny stopped breathing.

He quickly started taking life saving measures and performed CPR. He was worried that it'd take quite a while for another squad to respond since they would be in another jurisdiction.

He couldn't seem to get Johnny stable. He wouldn't start breathing again. Roy knew that he couldn't panic if he wanted his best friend and partner to live. Something had to have been in that milk.

He soon heard police sirens coming closer to the diner. He wondered who had called them until he heard the engine pull up outside.

He heard his Captain enter and yelled out "Cap, get Chet and Marco to bring me the bio-phone and the drug box as well as the O2. Johnny's not breathing!"

He barely listened as Captain Stanley relayed orders to rest of the crew of Station 51. He was greatly relieved when the bio-phone was brought to him. He listened as Captain Stanley used it to call Rampart. He quickly followed every order that Rampart had relayed to Captain Stanley and him. Roy had barely heard Vince when he'd entered the diner. He was slightly surprised that it had been Vince covering one of the late patrols.

Vince questioned "What happened?"

Johnny was barely stabilized as Roy said "Johnny said that his milk didn't taste right, and not very long after, he collapsed. He became cyanotic, his heart stopped, and I had to do CPR. We barely have him stabilized right now."

Vince grimaced as he said "So you think that the milk might have something to do with it. Who served him the milk?"

Roy grimaced and said "I don't know what her name is, but she left right after she served him the glass of milk. We need to get him and the possibly tainted milk to Rampart."

Vince nodded and said "Yeah. When they get here, I'll stay behind and ask questions. I'll go secure the possible evidence."

Roy nodded, and not very long after, an ambulance finally showed up alongside another squad. The ambulance attendants along with Brice and Bellingham entered. They'd both been subbing at a neighboring station. They quickly got to work and helped Roy.

Brice got in the back of the ambulance and said "DeSoto, I suggest that you drive your Squad to Rampart."

Roy reluctantly nodded and let Brice and Bellingham take over Johnny's care. He really hoped that Johnny would be alright.

Vince then came up to Roy with the glass of milk secured and said "Here's the milk that he'd been drinking. This has both it and the carton that the milk was poured from."

Roy nodded and passed it off to Brice. Brice would be able to get it to Rampart for analysis quicker.

Roy watched as the ambulance soon left with his friend in the back as the victim. Captain Stanley gripped his shoulder in a show of support.

Captain Stanley spoke "Roy, I have stood us down for now. You drive the squad to Rampart. The rest of us will meet you there."

Roy nodded and left the diner. He hoped that Johnny would survive whatever had happened.


Vince stayed behind at the diner after calling backup. He had to get Detective Crockett in there, as it may be a possible case of attempted murder.


Crockett arrived at the scene not too long after he was called. He was able to get all information possible from Jill Hall. Judy Grady would be in big trouble if the lab results on the milk showed anything out of the ordinary.


Roy stood to the side in Johnny's hospital room after things had calmed down a little bit. He knew that Station 51 was still stood down, and he was glad for it. Johnny was in a coma. He had stopped breathing again while in transport, and his heart had stopped. Brice had successfully revived him, but the problems continued when they got to Rampart.

Johnny had to be intubated. Roy still worried even though he knew that Dr. Brackett and Dr. Early were going to do their best to keep Johnny stable.

He wasn't very startled when Dr. Early came back into the room with Dixie. Dixie took another round of vitals while Dr. Early explained the lab results.

"Roy, he ingested a large and potentially lethal dose of nitroglycerin. Normally, a nitroglycerin overdose is not lethal, but the amount in his system is abnormally high and it appears that Johnny's system is having a bad reaction to the nitroglycerin and he may be slightly allergic to nitroglycerin which could be causing part of this more extreme reaction. The nitroglycerin was found in the milk that he had drank, but not in the carton. Kel's calling it in to Detective Crockett and his team right now. Kel and I are starting Johnny on the drugs that should help reverse and null the effects of the overdose and attempt to stop and calm the allergic reaction. Now that we know for sure what he was poisoned with, we have a much better outlook." Dr. Early said as Roy rubbed his head and nodded.

Roy then said "I'll go tell the guys. Thanks, Doc."

Dr. Early nodded as Roy left the room.


Detective Crockett sighed as an arrest warrant was issued for Judy Grady once most of the details had been issued. He still had to wonder why a waitress would want to poison John Gage specifically.


Captain Stanley exhaled heavily as Roy and Dr. Brackett spoke to him and the rest of the crew of Station 51. Johnny was stable, but in a coma, and they had been able to isolate what had caused the problem. All they could do was hope that Johnny would wake up soon.


Judy hummed to herself with happiness as she stood in her small apartment. She couldn't help but smile at the thoughts of John Gage's death. She had put plenty of nitroglycerin in the milk for that reason, and she knew that she'd been successful when she'd passed by an emergency vehicle and a police vehicle on her way home. It was nice to know that she'd had her revenge. She lost her job, and he lost his life. It seemed like a fair trade to her.

She was startled from her joyous thoughts as an angered knock came at her door. Judy grimaced. She wasn't expecting anybody. She quietly walked to her door and looked through the peep hole. She grimaced. The cops were onto her. She thought that she'd done well enough keep herself out of their suspect list. She didn't have any alternate ways to leave her apartment, so she sighed, calmed herself, and opened the door.

The cop spoke first "Miss Grady, you are under arrest for suspected attempted murder."

He then cuffed her and read the rights to her.

Judy grimaced as she was handcuffed and escorted to the police car. She wasn't going to argue.


The scene at the diner was finally cleared, and Detective Crockett had received word that Judy Grady had been taken into custody. He soon made his way over to the station. He had requested to be part of the interrogation, and his inquiry was accepted.

It did not take him very long to get there, and he already knew his way to the room where Judy Grady awaited her fate.

He entered and sat alongside another detective who was already there while another cop stood in the room. Judy Grady was not looking nervous at all.

Detective Crockett began while the other took notes.

"Miss Grady, we're about to begin the questioning process. Would you like a glass of water?" Crockett questioned.

Crockett was surprised when Judy Grady began to speak before he could ask her any other questions.

She confessed "I killed John Gage. I also don't want a lawyer. He got me fired from the best job that I ever had, and I felt the need to get my revenge. That job was my life, so he could pay for what he did with his own life. You can find my bottle of nitroglycerin tablets in my purse. More than half of the tablets are gone. I thought that I'd get away with it and not be caught, but now that I am here, I want to be known as the one who killed John Gage. I was never going to get my old life back anyway, but it is a consolation that John won't get his life back either."

Detective Crockett was appalled at the outright statement that she had intentionally tried to kill John Gage. She had fully confessed to attempted murder. He wasn't quite sure to say after her confession. He'd never dealt with someone sounding so proud of what they'd done before. The interrogation was practically over before it could really begin. She hadn't even wanted a lawyer.

Crockett and the other detective shared a look of surprise and got up to leave. The cop remained in the room. There were three witnesses to her confession. Judy Grady would be prosecuted for attempted murder.


News personnel finished their extremely brief interview with Police Officer Vince. They had somehow caught wind of the situation. Vince had not released any information to them, but other media personnel had followed the ambulance to the hospital, and one had even found out from a nurse that Johnny had survived, but was in a coma. It was a rather surprising story and the media was going to eat it up.


Judy Grady was put into an unimpressive cell. She huffed and sighed as she sat by herself. She had her vengeance, but she still wasn't happy. She'd never get her favorite job back. She knew that the investigation into her actions at the hospital would find that she'd been in the wrong. Not to mention, now that she'd confessed, she'd never be allowed back into the hospital after what she'd done to John Gage.

She knew that she was just in this holding cell until someone else could come pick her up. She sighed again as she heard a breaking news story come onto the television out of her view within the police station. She listened carefully as the story went on. She smiled as she realized that the report was on the incident at the diner. She hadn't really intended to get the media involved, but it was nice to know that news of John's death would be broadcasted.

She listened as it was reported that John Gage was in the hospital with a coma.

Her eyes widened as she thought 'Wait! He's not dead!?'

She yelled out "Hey! Tell me! Is John Gage still alive?!"

No one would answer her, so she huffed and began to pace in her cell as she tried to pay attention to what was being said on the news. She was angry as she finally realized that the doctors and other paramedics had gotten to Gage in time to save his life. She hadn't even succeeded in killing him! She had failed, and her vengeance was NOT complete. She growled in anger.

She gripped the bars of the cell and said "Let me out of here! I want a lawyer!"

One of the cops heard and shook his head. She'd get a lawyer, but after her full confession, it wouldn't help. She'd do prison time.

Judy Grady became hysterical and started pulling at her hair as she collapsed to the floor in tears. She had finally realized that she had ruined her own life. She had confessed before knowing that John was actually dead. She'd go to prison, and John would live! She knew she'd never get another chance at vengeance other than at that diner, and she'd blown it!

No one attempted to calm her as she broke down within that small cell until someone else came to transport her to another location.


Roy grimaced as he watched the newest breaking news report the evening after the incident while sitting beside Johnny's bed. He grimaced as he watched footage of Judy Grady being escorted out of the police station to be transported elsewhere. Roy had no clue how they even figured out who she was.

Roy was dismayed to figure out that the woman had previously been a nurse at Rampart. He had no clue how the media kept getting information about what happened to Johnny and what his condition was. The hospital or the police station must be housing some sort of media informant, but that was a problem for later, as right now, Roy was worried about when his friend would wake up.

Physically, Johnny appeared fine other than the endotracheal tube, but he still wouldn't wake up. His vital signs were within normal range and everything, but there was no change in his level of consciousness. The others had gone back to the station hours ago to let the new shift start, but he knew that they wouldn't be coming back on their days off since he had agreed to give them updates and Marco had to take care of his mother who'd developed a bad cold.

Roy had already talked to Joanne and she had wanted to come, but she couldn't find a babysitter for the day. Roy had stayed and was giving her occasional updates throughout the day.

Roy sighed as he looked back over at Johnny. The last time that Dr. Brackett had come in to check on Johnny, he'd reported that Johnny appeared to be getting better based upon both the blood analysis and physical signs. The nitroglycerin had been out of Johnny's system for hours, but they were still testing his blood periodically just to be safe.

Roy was starting to feel tired. He hadn't gotten much sleep since Johnny had been admitted to the hospital. He soon fell asleep with his head resting on his shoulder.


Roy was gently jostled out of his sleep by nurse Dixie McCall.

She greeted him with a small smile and said "Morning, Roy. You should really go home. I'll call you if Johnny's condition changes. Plus, it's outside of visiting hours, and I can't always bend the rules for you two. Kel already doesn't like it that I let you sleep in here for a couple of hours."

Roy sighed and nodded as he looked over to his still unconscious partner. He had to get home to Joanne. He'd been away for too long, as his normal shift would have ended the morning after everything happened. He wondered if she had told the kids anything about what had happened.

He glanced at the clock and noticed that it was approaching early in the morning when he would usually wake up and share an early breakfast with Joanne before the kids woke up. Dixie had let him sleep for more than just a couple of hours. He sighed and reluctantly agreed with Dixie as he left the hospital room. Dixie reassured him that she'd call with updates.


Roy hadn't called ahead, but Joanne was an early riser, and she'd seen him pull up when she'd glanced through the kitchen window. She frowned as she watched her husband walk up to their door and unlock it. She knew that he'd either head for the bedroom or the kitchen, so she met him in the hallway before he could go upstairs. He smiled weakly at her, and she returned it while giving him a brief kiss and a tight hug.

She smiled lightly as Roy rested his head on her shoulder and hugged her back. She had missed him, but she completely understood why Roy had stayed with Johnny at the hospital. Johnny didn't really have any other family that could come see him, as his only remaining blood relative was an aunt who had been in a nursing home for years. She gently pulled away from the hug and dragged Roy into the kitchen. He'd changed out of his paramedic uniform sometime within the past twenty four hours.

She could tell that he was still exhausted. Roy sat down at their kitchen table and she sat across from him as he leaned against the table with his hands over his face.

He spoke "He hasn't woken up yet, Jo. Dr. Brackett's optimistic that Johnny will recover though. There's no telling when he'll wake up though."

Joanne frowned, she hated it when Roy was feeling down, but there wasn't much she could do to help the situation. She hugged Roy again and started making some breakfast.


Dixie sighed as she looked outside of the hospital window of Johnny's room and noticed a few news van, no doubt trying to get more of a 'scoop' on what had happened to Johnny, but security was doing their job well. It had been five days since she had sent Roy home, but there still weren't any signs of Johnny waking up. Roy had been back to visit a few times, but he had gone back to work, and was relying on Dixie, Joanne, and the doctors for updates. Joanne had started staying in Johnny's room for the afternoon until the kids had to come home from school.

It was only just after dark a few hours later, after Joanne had left, when Dixie went in to check Johnny's chart that she noticed that Johnny was moving and his vitals were reflecting that he should be waking up soon. She immediately called for Dr. Brackett and Dr. Early. She knew that they'd have to extubate soon. She smiled with relief as Johnny began to stir a little bit more. She stood close by him and calmed him as he woke, ensuring that he wouldn't choke on the tube before they could extubate.

Johnny's eyes were soon open, and Dixie stayed by his side and helped calm him until the doctors came.

Soon, the two doctors arrived and were ready to extubate. Dixie took another round of vitals as the two doctors prepared to extubate. They could see the look of dread in Johnny's face. The two doctors were saddened with the memory that this wouldn't be the first time Johnny'd have to be extubated after having something bad enough to land him in the hospital happen.

Johnny was soon coached through the extubation, and was thoroughly exhausted. He had so many questions about everything that had happened to him. He remembered a few things, but not enough to piece together the entire story of what had happened. He listened to Dr. Brackett as he explained the medical side of things.

Johnny was still wondering who would have tried to poison him via overdose. He was also surprised that he'd been in a coma for nearly a week.

He hadn't even noticed Dixie leave the room earlier, but he immediately noticed when she came back in and smiled.

She announced "Roy's on his way. I called the station, and the guys weren't out on a run, so you'll probably be getting a visit from most of them too. They were all worried."

Johnny smiled. He was happy that they were coming. They were his family, and he knew that they had to be worried about him, as he would worry if any of them were in a similar situation.

It wasn't long before Roy arrived and came into Johnny's room with a smile of relief on his face.

Roy sat in the chair by Johnny's bed while continuing to smile as he said "It's nice to see you awake, Junior. We were all getting worried for a while there."

Johnny smiled and grabbed the notepad that Roy had just held out to him. He knew that it's be a little while before his voice went back to normal after the extubation.

Johnny quickly wrote down the question of who had tried to poison him.

Roy's face quickly changed from smiling to a grimace.

Johnny frowned as Roy began to speak "Her name is Judy Grady. She's already been found and she's been incarcerated after giving a full confession according to Vince. I hate to say this, but the case is also being followed by the media. We're not sure who informed them that someone attempted to murder a fireman, but they've got the story and now they're running it. They haven't gotten any pictures of you aside from your work photo or any that have already been in the paper from when we've been on the job."

Johnny frowned and nodded as he wrote the question 'Are they still trying to get an interview?'

Roy sighed and nodded while Johnny frowned deeper at the answer and let his head fall back on the pillows. He really hated attention like that. Ages ago, he'd tried to make a couple of television appearances, but he ended up hating it and getting nervous. He really hoped that another story would come along soon.

Dixie then said "Don't worry, Johnny. Hospital security is thwarting any attempts to get in here and do interviews, and I'm sure that once you're released, Roy won't tolerate anyone trying to hound you."

Roy shook his head in agreement. Johnny'd have to take some time off for recovery from the coma, but with luck, it wouldn't be a long and drawn out process. They had been lucky that he hadn't been in a coma for longer than one week, otherwise the recovery could have taken much longer than it was already going to take.

They continued to converse for a while until Dixie got off of her break. Later on in the night, more of the guys came and visited and showed that they were glad that Johnny was awake and recovering. Dixie once again ignored the visiting hours rule for her favorite paramedics. Soon, both Roy and Johnny had fallen asleep.

Dixie glanced at them with a smile on her face. She knew that everything would be alright so long as those two had each other.


Eventually, after more than a month, the media withdrew from covering the story about the woman who had tried to murder a fireman. Johnny had recovered well, and had been back on the job for a little while, and was glad for it. Joanne had been sure to smother him in hugs of relief the first time he'd come to she and Roy's house after he was released from the hospital, and the relief showed every time he came over. Even the kids seemed to have sensed that it was a joyful time when Johnny had come back after being absent from their life for more than a week.

The news story had died down because other major stories were being covered, and it had come to light just a few days ago that Judy Grady had committed suicide in her prison cell. It was not a relief when the first that Johnny or Roy had heard of that information was when it was broadcast on the news the evening after it had happened. Vince had called them later to apologize for that and inform them that the person who'd prematurely released that information had been terminated.

On the bright side, there were no more media personnel trying to call the station all the time or wait outside the doors of the homes of any of the men of Station 51.

Things were starting to get back to normal with their lives, and they were grateful for it.

Soon, the guys were all together eating breakfast again without worry of being interrupted by the media trying to call or take a picture. The sound of an alarm bell rang through the station just as they were cleaning up breakfast, and Squad 51 had another assignment. Roy and Johnny quickly jumped into action, and were on their way to the scene.

Things were back to normal again. Nobody could stop bad things from happening, but they would be sure to do their best to prevent the loss of life from any of those bad things, and Johnny was relieved that he had lived on to continue working to help save lives. He and Roy were back into the swing of things, and they would continue to dutifully do their ever useful jobs.


Thank you for reading.

Comments are welcome so long as they're not mean (and I don't mean constructive criticism of writing, that's fine).

Just out of curiosity, what age range do you believe that I belong to?