Chapter 6

Just borrowing the characters, they belong to Universal and Mark VII. I've always wished the writers would have, could have, continued some of the story lines throughout the series, instead of each episode being a stand - alone. The obvious dislike between John Gage and Kel Brackett in the pilot movie just disappeared….so wanted to play with that a little!

John Gage climbed slowly into Kelly's seat on the engine, trying but failing to keep his teeth from chattering. He slumped miserably in the seat, flashing Marco, already seated, a brief smile before wearily closing his eyes. The advantages and disadvantages of being a paramedic, he mused, as he checked his pulse to see if it was still racing. Taking his own vitals and knowing what the results meant could be a good or bad thing. Thankfully, his pulse was slower now, that bit of smoke he had breathed in was hopefully working its way out of his system. He definitely could feel himself crashing. He slit his eyes open a crack and turned his head sideways again to look at Marco, who was looking right back at him.

"You ok? That girl got a pretty good hold on you." The concern was evident in his voice and the way he leaned in his seat towards Gage, as if to lay a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Johnny grimaced, partly in discomfort but mostly in remembered embarrassment. "Yeah, thank God for the heavy pants. I think she startled me more than anything."

He made another face and rubbed the back of his head, wincing at the small bump his fingers encountered. Nothing like falling backwards on his own tail, twice, in front of the victim and his partner. Not to mention laying there like an idiot, sucking up smoke, while that doped up chick put the moves on him. Although, come to think of it, she was a pretty good looking chick, with that long blond hair, legs that….sheesh, get a grip Gage!

His hands dropped to his knees, nervously tapping. He splayed his fingers flat, noticing with relief that his hands now seemed steady. He wondered if Roy had noticed his shaking hands when he had wrapped his ankle…..what if Squad 36 hadn't been there to back them up? John seriously doubted that he could have started an IV or even managed a simple splint if those people had been injured. His thoughts drifted back towards the single vehicle accident that he and Roy had responded to, after picking up Dixie at the hospital, on one of their first runs together; he vividly recalled standing there holding the drug box like a, well, like a girl selling cigarettes at a 50's nightclub. Crap, all he needed was that strap to wrap around his neck and hook to the box, so he would have had his hands free. Then the cop on the scene had asked them to help direct traffic, for Pete's sake! That had really ticked him off. (1)

Self-doubt, about his actions on the rescue and especially his newly won medic skills, began to creep slowly through him on soft padded feet. The "what ifs?" were piling up and slamming against his skull and adding to the torment already swirling around in his pounding head. He slumped down even further into the seat, huddling into his thoroughly soaked turnout coat. Coughing slightly, he tipped his head back, letting the rain pelt his face.

The Hispanic lineman, watching Gage's nervous movements, shook his head and pulled the collar of his own coat up tighter around his neck. He wondered briefly about why the paramedic seemed to be self-inflicting pain on himself, by letting the sharp, pierces of water pummel him in the face. Just the sound of it smacking his helmet was giving him a headache. "You both did a good job of pulling that couple out of the van. Another few minutes, you would have been going on your own slip and slide ride down that hill."

Johnny raised his hand slightly to acknowledge the other man's words, but kept his head back and eyes closed. Encouraging words, to be sure, from someone he didn't really know that well. Even though the A shift crew had been together only a month or so, they seemed to work well together. The three single men on the shift had even gone out once or twice on their days off for some beers and a few games of friendly, well mostly friendly, pool. He didn't quite feel at ease yet with Chet Kelly; the man seemed to be always sizing him up for something or staring at him with a smirk on his face, like he was planning something. From what he had observed of Kelly at work, though, he was a good fireman and definitely a team player.

But Marco, on the other hand, seemed to be ok both at work and away from it. He was easy going, had a large family of siblings and cousins that he seemed to be at ease with, and was always quick with a word of praise, a joke, or a carefully worded suggestion of how to do something better. And Roy was right, the man could definitely put the chow together for a great meal.

Wiping futilely at the water dripping from his hair, the young man dropped his head and sighed, and glanced sideways again. Marco was still watching him, his face occasionally illuminated when the clouds slid away from the light of the almost full moon. Tiredness was clearly evident on the other man's face but he was clearly ignoring it. He seemed to be trying to figure something out, and Johnny had no qualms that it had something to do with him or his actions. Great, now there was someone else having doubts about him and the way he had performed his job. The sincere offer of encouragement and praise from Marco was quickly forgotten as paranoia enveloped him in its dark tentacles. It would have been clear to anyone else that the marijuana was wreaking havoc on the sable haired paramedic, but for Johnny it was just another added brick on the impenetrable wall slowly building around him.

Slapping his knee in frustration and anger, Johnny deliberately turned his body away from Marco, effectively telling the other man that their conversation was ended. He again offered his face up to the punishing onslaught of water pouring from the heavens, hoping the discomfort would distract him from his dark, boiling thoughts.

Lopez watched his crewman; it was like looking through the lenses of one of those Viewmaster toys, every emotion and thought vividly flashing across Gage's face one at a time. He winced as the other man pointedly turned his back on him, and then lifted his now carefully blank face to the rain. Having had his own handful of experiences with drugs, Marco could really understand and empathize with whatever was going on in Gage's head. It just seemed that it was hitting him awfully hard, maybe because of his weakened state? Marco wasn't quite sure, but he would keep an eye on him. Gage really seemed like good guy, maybe a little naïve and gullible at times, but definitely someone to count on as a friend; more importantly, he knew he could count on him to back him up on a hose or would trust his judgment implicitly when it came down to split second decisions during a rescue.

Marco debated on whether or not he should voice his thoughts. Probably not, considering the unreceptive and clearly annoyed mood Johnny seemed to be wallowing in. He probably wouldn't remember any of this anyway, at least he hoped so. The engine roaring to life put a stop to any further thoughts of attempting conversation between the two firemen; Marco settled in for the long, wet ride back to the station.

~eeeEEEeee~

Roy DeSoto jolted awake as the squad came to a jerking halt in front of the emergency doors of Rampart hospital. He shot Chet a glare, rubbing the back of his stiff neck and trying to stretch the kinks out of his back.

"What?" Kelly asked innocently, lifting an open hand in a placating gesture towards Roy. "I'm really not used to driving this matchbox truck of yours."

Roy just shook his head and swung himself carefully out, gingerly putting weight on his injured ankle. Not too bad, he thought, splashing his way through the puddles on the pavement. Chet caught up to him as he paused to let the doors swing open, and grasped him by the elbow. "Hey, shouldn't I get you a wheelchair or something?"

"Nope, just see if you can find someone. Doesn't look too bad for a rainy Saturday night," Desoto answered, heading for the nurses' desk, where he could see the two paramedics from Station 36 leaning quite contently.

"Hey Desoto, nice rescue! Bang yourself up a little?" The shorter of the two paramedics queried, straightening up and watching Roy's limping progress.

"Twisted my ankle a bit coming back up the hill. How's the uh….couple doing that you brought in?"

Jack Collins snorted and bumped elbows with his partner. "Feeling no pain, that's for sure! Hey, what did Gage do to that girl down there, anyway? Once she got in the ambulance, she couldn't stop talking about the "dreamy fireman" who saved her. Sure brought her boyfriend down to the earth, thought he was going to throttle her! Johnny had better watch out!"

Not about to rat his partner out about his slightly high condition, Roy shrugged. "Just that ole Gage charm we keep seeing with anything that is female, no matter what the age…"

"Where is your charming partner, anyways? Isn't that Kelly heading in our direction?" Collins pointed down the hallway at Chet sloshing in their direction, the head of the emergency department striding alongside of him.

"Yeah, that's Kelly. Gage went back to the station to try and get some sleep; he worked a 24 over at 10s before coming on this morning." Roy stepped away from the desk as Dr. Kelly Brackett stopped and looked him over.

"Roy…..Kelly here tells me you twisted your ankle. Let's go into treatment room 2 and take a look."

"Sure doc, thanks." The paramedic waved a hand in departure at the other firemen and followed the dark haired doctor into the room. After removing his turnout coat and dropping it into the corner, he hoisted himself up on the exam table and stoically endured the unwrapping of his ankle and the gentle prodding that followed.

Looking up at the nurse who had followed them into the room, Brackett straightened up and carefully let go of Roy's foot. "Jean, get a set of vitals on Roy here. I don't think it is broken, Roy, but we'll get an x-ray to make sure."

"That's what Johnny thought too. That's a huge relief, Doctor Brackett. Think I can finish my shift?"

The doctor crossed his arms and his mouth twitched slightly at the corner as he pondered. "Let's see what the x-rays say, and go from there. Definitely no climbing or strenuous activity. Is your shift about over, or are you on a 48?"

DeSoto glanced at his watch, almost one in the morning. "About seven more hours to go…"

Once the nurse had finished taking the vitals and left the room to check on the portable x-ray machine, Brackett looked at his now relaxed patient. "Well Roy, is the paramedic program what you thought it would be?"

"Yeah, yeah it is, doc. I mean, it's still all pretty unfamiliar to us, but it feels like it's starting to come together and we're getting more comfortable with everything," Roy slowly smiled up at the doctor. "Does that make sense?"

Brackett smiled back. "Yes it does. I have to admit, I still have some doubts, but everything I have seen and heard so far admittedly points to a long and successful program. Obviously, there are going to be some bumps in the road, but I think if we address those concerns as they occur this whole "almost doctor at the scene" scenario is going to work just fine." Kelly paused and ran a thoughtful hand across his chin. "And your new partner, how's that working out?"

"Johnny? He's just great. He's reacts instinctively and quickly to every situation. It feels right, us being partners. We seem to balance each other out."

"Meaning what, exactly? That your level and cool responses balance out his stubborn and hot headed reactions? Or that you have to keep a tight rope on him to keep him from jumping, "quickly", with both feet into a dangerous situation?"

Roy's mouth dropped open slightly and he blinked rapidly in both surprise and shock at the doctor's words and the sarcastic tone used. He remembered Johnny's own sarcastic tone concerning the "big man himself" when he had asked him about a possible concussion.

The irate paramedic straightened up fully on the table and leaned forward, balancing a palm on each side of his taut body. "What's going on here, doc? You just took my positive comments regarding Gage, twisted them, and threw them back at me. You have some kind of complaint or problem with my "new" partner, you'd better spit it out now!"

Brackett quickly took a step back at the other man's angry tone and defensive posture. "Ok, ok, I admit that just came out wrong. Roy, all of you paramedics are my responsibility, whether you or I like it or not. Every time I have dealings with Gage he challenges or argues with every word out of my mouth. He's a damn fireman, not a doctor with over twelve years of training under his belt!"

The doctor took another step backward and sank down on the rolling stool, as realization sank in at the words he had just spat out. Roy just stared at him, waiting…..Brackett sighed, and looked sheepishly up and over at the completely still younger man.

"Looks like I just put my foot in my mouth, again. I'm sorry, DeSoto, I guess I could blame this outburst on sheer exhaustion, but we would both know better. I seem to have focused in on your young partner as a scapegoat for everything that has transgressed in the last month or so, including my very slow and reluctant approval of the paramedic program. Nurse McCall would be the first one to tell you that I am as stubborn and hard headed as they come."

"Yeah, well, maybe you and Johnny have more in common than you would like to admit, Doc. I'm seeing that same stubbornness coming out of him, especially when he knows he's right. He's definitely not going to back down on something, as you very well know, and he's MOST DEFINATELY not going to be afraid of confrontation, especially with you."

"I know that, I've seen it several times over the last few months. I guess I'm not used to being bearded in my own den, so to speak. I think I owe your partner an apology, especially after this morning…"

"What happened this morning? John checked out ok, didn't he?" Roy queried quietly, concern leaking into his voice.

Brackett, after taking a long look at the obviously worried paramedic, rose from his seated position and paced restlessly around the exam room, hands on his hips. He stopped and stared thoughtfully at DeSoto, wondering just how close the two men were becoming. In his opinion, the partners were like night and day, polar opposites of each other. Gage came across as opinionated, impetuous, quick with smart ass comments, and with a temper easily ignited. Roy, on the other hand, seemed cool headed, practical – you would have to push him pretty hard to see any outburst of emotion. In fact, Brackett had never heard him raise his voice in anger until two minutes ago.

The doctor circled around the table, resuming his pacing before replying to Roy's questions. "He checked out just fine. You know I can't give you any more details than that. He did give a pretty impressive display of jaw and fist clenching and aside from some grunts I didn't get more than three words out of him. One of those words was a definite "NO" to the suggestion of a pain killer or muscle relaxer. Roy, I was brusque and downright rude to Gage, especially after he wouldn't explain the reason for his injuries. He was certainly pushing all the right buttons with me, starting with his obvious reluctance to even let me examine him. Appeared to me that he didn't trust me as a doctor, and from that point on I'm afraid I let my temper and impartiality escalate out of control." Kel finally stopped his pacing, crossed his arms, and leaned against the side of the exam table, taking a deep, steadying breath.

"John knows you're a good doctor; he's never had any doubts there. And he wouldn't have been able to return to work with any kind of meds in him….And he got those bruises from subduing an out of control hose, that someone else let loose." Roy thought a moment, trying to remember how his partner had acted when Dr. Joe Early had checked them both out a shift or two earlier; they had both taken in excessive smoke at a structure fire and as a precaution had been checked out. Johnny had been silent but slightly skittish, flinching and subtlety leaning away when Early had "invaded his space". Roy had noticed it though, and simply chalked it up to Gage still running high on adrenaline. "I think Gage doesn't like to be on the receiving end of medical care. I know he doesn't like needles when they're aimed at him."

"All right, I'll try not to take that personally. I still don't understand why he wouldn't explain his injuries; it actually caused me to think that he had been careless on the job and didn't want to admit it. But I can say this, DeSoto; your partner seems to have an awfully high tolerance for pain. You'd better keep an eye on that."

"Yeah, I'm beginning to realize the same thing myself, along with a few other weird things," Roy whispered to himself in reply, as the doors swung open revealing the rolling x-ray machine and the technician. Roy obediently laid back on the table, thoughts swirling, something nagging at him. What HAD Johnny been about to tell him before the captain interrupted them?

~TBC~

From the Emergency episode World Premier, written by Cinader and Bloom.