Chapter 22

Chet Kelly stomped noisily into the kitchen, running a hand through wet curls. Whistling through his teeth, he peered over his sister's shoulder. "Is Jack gone already?"

At her nod, he leaned closer and looked at the contents of the skillet, then shot a quick, searching glance over the counter. He scrunched up his face at what he saw.

"Eggs and toast, is that all? How's a fireman supposed to subside on those meager pickings?" He whined, lifting his hands as Mary whirled and threatened him with the metal spatula.

Shaking it at him, she forced him backwards with an evil grin, bits of scrambled egg mixture flying off the utensil and sticking to his shirt. Chet dropped awkwardly into a kitchen chair. "Okay, okay, sorry! I was just teasing you know!"

"You complain about a hot meal, Chester B. Kelly, and yet you try and dish up cold cereal when it's your turn to cook?" She snorted and turned back to the stove, deftly emptying the pan of its contents onto two plates. She snatched the bread from the toaster and flipped it next to the eggs.

Chet took the plate she handed him with an apologetic grin; his sister made a rude noise but sat down next to him, pushing butter and homemade jam towards him. There was silence for several minutes as coffee was poured and toast was doctored to individual tastes.

"So, is Tara going to that picnic tomorrow with you or not?" She jabbed her folk at him and Chet instinctively ducked, which caused her to giggle and toss back her long mane of red, wavy locks.

"Come on Kat, what's the big deal anyway? It's just a casual get together of the guys from our shift at someone's house." He shoved a piece of toast in his mouth as he glanced over to the clock on the stove, checking the time and calculating how much time he had left. Enough for maybe a second cup of the black poison if he was lucky or she didn't nag him to death.

She drummed her fingers on the table. "Don't let Ma catch you calling me that, you know how she hates the nicknames. And it's no big deal, I just don't have plans for the day and you know how I hate to lie."

"To Larry the pest you mean, Mary Katherine," her brother snickered around a tasty mouthful of eggs, cheese, peppers, and mushrooms. "Yeah, you can come along since Tara has to work."

"Thanks, now I can honestly get Larry off my back by telling him I have plans. I like my job, Chester, but having to spend so much time dodging the boss's son is really getting old." She gave her hair another habitual flip as she regarded him over her cup, for once her bright green eyes serious and troubled.

Feeling a surge of anger welling up, Chet hastily swallowed his food and lightly touched her clenched hand. He wondered how much she hadn't been telling him. "You won't let it go too far, will ya Sis, with this Larry character? Nobody's going to mess with one of the Kelly clan."

"Aye, I know, but so far it hasn't been anything that I can't handle. I'll probably start looking for a new job, something a bit more challenging and that pays more. Now, you'd best be getting along or you'll be late. As will I, if I don't get a move on!" She stood up and picked up the plates, flapping her free hand at him.

Chet drained his cup, lurched to his feet, and headed for the door. He snatched up his bag and his clean uniforms, still encased in the dry cleaner's plastic, and opened the door.

"It's raining again, Kat!" He yelled, grabbing a baseball hat off the table and jamming it on.

"A little rain won't hurt you," she teased, grabbing the door before he slammed it shut. "And your hair's still wet anyways!"

Chet grinned and tossed a farewell over his shoulder as he shot for his van, parked at the curb. She smiled and used her hip to push the door closed. Pulling off the full length apron she had donned to protect her dress she carelessly tossed the flowered garment over the back of the couch and contemplated the few jackets that hung on the accordion style coat rack above the entrance table. She grabbed a dark green, plaid lined coat, pulled on the fashionable and waterproof knee length boots she wore on the few days of wet weather they had, and snatched up purse and keys. The hood went up to protect her carefully tamed hair and she exited the house at a much slower pace than her brother. Thankfully her Volkswagen Bug was parked just steps away in the carport, since she had been home first last night and had laid claim to the prime parking spot. Pausing for a moment, she glanced down the wet driveway and hoped the weather forecast was accurate; the week's worth of rain was supposed to move on this afternoon. Otherwise, it was going to be an interesting barbecue, if Chet's co-worker didn't cancel it.

~eeeEEEeee~

Marco Lopez dashed through the side door of the station, trailing water and noises of annoyance as he went. He slammed the door behind him with unnecessary force and shook, his dog like antics drawing chuckles from the men already gathered in the kitchen. He scowled and glared at the nearest offender.

"What's so funny?" He snarled, and Mike lifted an inquiring eyebrow at what he thought was uncharacteristic behavior for the usually unflappable lineman. He really didn't know him that well yet but a week's worth of observation had shown him an easygoing, friendly, and hardworking man.

A stream of rapid fire Spanish broke from Lopez's lips; Mike understood enough of the verbal onslaught to catch what had happened. He turned his head slightly to hide his amusement, one hundred percent sure that the still wildly gesticulating man wouldn't appreciate his smile.

"So where is your car, and how did you get here?" He asked amiably once his face was set into an appropriately somber demeanor.

His tirade paused for a moment Marco poured a mug of coffee and sloshed towards the table. He sat down and grimaced as wet skin and material made contact against the wood. "One of my brother-in-laws owns a tow truck company. Luckily, I broke down over on Amherst and was able to glide into that big Kmart plaza. Had to hike across the whole lot to find a payphone, and then of course walk back and wait for the tow. The driver dropped me off across the street where I stepped into a huge puddle and then proceeded to get thoroughly drowned by a passing semi."

He took a deep breath and stopped, smiling a little as noises of sympathy and understanding came from the men in the room - Mike, Roy, and one of C shift's paramedics. Gulping the hot coffee, he stood back up. "I'd better go and change before I drown you guys."

He left and they heard him engage in a short conversation in the apparatus bay. A moment later Gage entered, swishing the mop in front of him and erasing the trail of water Marco had left. Roy, who was leaning a shoulder against the top oven, broke out of his trance, grabbed a dish towel, and dried off the wet seat. He moved the chair and Johnny swabbed the area and continued his mopping all the way to the door.

Finishing, the younger paramedic turned around and leaned on the mop. "I have a feeling it's going to be one of those days."

"Why do you say that? The rain is supposed to quit soon, everybody here at the station seems to have escaped the flu bug you were carrying, and for me, my mother-in-law cancelled her trip to our house!" Roy said the last words with a raised, triumphant voice and slapped the table emphatically.

"Yeah, well, good for you, but mark my words, something's going to happen," Johnny predicted sourly and shook his head. He hoisted the handle over his shoulder and marched out of the room.

Roy just smiled, noting with satisfaction that the bruises on his partner's face had faded to a yellowish hue, barely visible. He had regained his easy, rapid stride, and had upped his intake of food to a level that had made even Chet silent with astonishment. Already this morning Gage had polished off four of the dozen doughnuts he had brought in – if Chet didn't make it in soon Roy was pretty sure all would be left was the empty box.

The phone rang once, and then went silent as Captain Hammer immediately picked it up. A moment later, Dick appeared in the doorway.

"DeSoto, it's your wife on the line. Gentlemen, roll call in five." Noises of acknowledgement met his announcement; Roy strolled leisurely to the wall mounted phone and leaned casually into the door frame as his now off shift counterpart left for his days off. Mike brushed by him, headed to the locker room to alert the rest of their shift.

"Hello JoAnne…."

'What? But…"

"I…ok…right…."

"Yes…bye…" He hung up the phone, a dazed look on his face, and stared into the bay with unseeing eyes. He didn't notice Marco's hesitant pause as he trotted around the noses of both vehicles but he did shake himself out of his trance when Johnny slid to a halt several feet away clutching his hat.

Pointing an accusing finger, he advanced on his oblivious partner, who backed up a step and ran into the map with a shoulder.

"What, what?" Gage squawked in confusion, glancing in dismay as several of the pins left the map and pinked onto the floor.

"You jinxed me, is what!" Roy snarled back, stabbing the finger towards him again but pulling it back before it made contact. "Not only has JoAnne's mother showed up at the house contrary to what she told us last night, she has also brought enough gear to stay for two months, minimum!"

"Uh, okay, but you're the one that was kinda bragging on the fact that she wasn't…" he trailed off at the look in his counterpart's eyes and hunched his shoulders up sheepishly.

Marco's voice floated towards them from where he was still lingering, behind Roy. "Say, isn't she the one you threw up all over, Roy, and who gave John the fat lip at that wedding call?"

"Yeah, that's Ruth all right," DeSoto agreed slowly, dropping his hand and moving away with an apologetic flick of his fingers. John snickered and then hastily scrambled for the pins as Captain Hammer poked his head out of his office. He glanced at them, withdrew, and reappeared a moment later carrying his metal clipboard.

Chet and Mike joined the crooked lineup and the five men quickly repositioned themselves into a straighter line. Dick looked down at his papers, deliberately ignoring the jamming of hats on heads and Kelly's tucking of shirttail into pants.

"Nothing too unusual today, men. C shift had a relatively quiet shift, with only a dumpster fire involving the reel line and several assists with medical calls. What with all this rain, though, I'm sure we won't have that relaxed of a shift." He stopped, looking at them and wondering at the visible tension radiating off DeSoto and Lopez. He had called each one of them yesterday, checking on their mental state after that disastrous early morning fire that had consumed a home and the family within it. * They had all sounded fine, sad but dealing with the tragedy in their own ways. So what was with these two?

Marco shifted his feet and rubbed a hand through his wet hair. "Captain, I broke down on the way to work this morning, so I may have to make some phone calls later or will have some coming in. Is that all right?"

Hammer nodded, glad that one mystery was solved. He turned his curious gaze on Roy, who lifted his hands in a gesture of resignation. "Eh, I might be receiving some calls today too, just a minor family matter."

"All right then, DeSoto, and if you need any assistance or additional supplies for tomorrow's barbecue, I'm sure I'm not alone in saying please let us know…"

Head nods and murmured agreement accompanied his last word. Roy added his own nod and a pleased smile. "No, everything is pretty much set, Captain Hammer, but thanks for asking. There are some chairs and a couple of folding tables that we'll set up when the first guys get there, and Chet has a couple of those party tents ready to go if it continues to rain."

"Yeah, already loaded in my van, just in case," Chet chimed in, rolling his eyes towards the roof, where the rain could be plainly heard slapping the surface.

Hammer finished the announcements and the men dispersed to take care of their morning duties. The paramedics flew through their checks, noted the full supply boxes, and separated to do the chores assigned to them – Johnny to the dorm and Roy to the kitchen to plan the upcoming meals.

The younger paramedic had the beds stripped and a load started in the washer when Marco sauntered in and silently helped him make up the six beds. At the last bunk, Roy's, the lineman stuffed the pillow into the case and dropped it onto the bed. He sat down on the edge and touched a finger to his wet hair and grimaced.

"Thanks for cleaning up my mess, Johnny."

"No problem, thanks for helping me finish up this up!" Gage replied with a grin, waving an arm in the direction of the neatly made beds. "Any idea what's wrong with your car?"

An emphatic head shake accompanied his answer. "Not a clue, it's definitely not my thing. My sister Juanita, on the other hand, could probably just look under the hood and without touching a thing tell me what's wrong."

"Huh, well, I suppose we all have our areas of expertise." He dropped onto his own bed and brushed a piece of lint off his pant leg before directing a covert glance at the other's face. "You okay after that last shift?"

Marco swallowed hard and let loose a deep sigh. "You know, I went home that morning, stopped at Momma's and ate a huge breakfast, totally blanking the whole thing out. My place is a few houses away from hers; I think we own half of that street, so I walked home. I drank a bottle of beer, showered again, than I fell into bed and slept uninterrupted for ten hours. It didn't really hit me until I got up and the place was quiet, too quiet."

He shrugged and absently ran his hand over the surface of the blanket, smoothing out a wrinkle. "I walked back to Momma's house and immersed myself in the noise and chaos of the family for the rest of the day, actually spent the night there camped out on the uncomfortable couch. A few bad dreams that gave me a restless night, but last night was better and hopefully tonight will top that. What about you?"

Gage straightened up and stared for a moment at the brick wall behind Marco before shifting his eyes back to his co-worker. "I'm doing all right; I just try not to dwell on the bad stuff. I went home and ate a bowl of corn flakes so I could take the blasted antibiotics and then I hit the sack for quite a while too. I couldn't go hiking or anything like that because of the weather, so I did the next best thing and went bowling."

"I've been a fireman for a long time, John, and I've seen some bad stuff, but that fire was close to the top of the list….a whole family gone like that." He stopped, thinking about it for a long, painful moment. He brushed it away like an annoying cobweb and debated asking the man across from him whether he had gone bowling by himself, or with someone. While he needed noise and distraction, it appeared that the paramedic was just the opposite and preferred solitude. He was curious if that was true, but he wasn't nosy enough to find out. And did it really matter anyway? He thought not. "So we all deal with things like that in our own way, I suppose. The Captain give you a call too?"

"Yeah, he seems like a straight up guy. Actually you all do, that was quite the surprise having you all descend on me Sunday bearing gifts."

"Like a plague of locusts no doubt," Marco teased, standing up and stretching, a huge yawn accompanying his movements. "Better get used it, because I think that "thing" is going to continue to happen, you know, the family thing."

Johnny smiled, and relaxed into the mattress. He rubbed his stomach absently, glad that the flu had disappeared almost as quickly as it had arrived. "We're all one big, happy family, is that it?"

"Or hopefully soon to be, once we all decide we like each other and can work together. Now my family, that's a whole other story!" He snorted in laughter and headed for the door. "I need to go make a phone call to the shop and see how much overtime I need to sign up for."

John listened to his laughter following him out of the room and into the bay; he grinned wider and tapped his fingers against his knees, thinking that it wouldn't be such a bad thing if their shift melded into a close knit group. That unexpected phone call from his own family member on Sunday evening had lifted his spirits and took the focus off himself and his self-pity. Plus, Jimmy was planning a trip to Los Angeles to visit and since he was between jobs, might end up staying. It would be fantastic if his older brother got a job and settled here.

"Incredible, just incredible is what it would be…" he mused out loud, stretching his arms above his head and feeling just a touch of soreness in his abdomen, courtesy of that blasted life belt that had saved him from drowning but had did a number on his muscles. He stood up and stretched some more, the smile lingering as everything felt the way it should.

"What's so funny?" Chet demanded, stopping in the aisle between the beds and staring at the paramedic.

"Nothing funny really, I just think Roy might be right after all and it's going to turn out to be a great day."

"I'm pretty sure Roy has changed his mind about that," Chet retorted. He shrugged and dropped his suspicious look. "But I guess since he changed his mind you can change yours."

"Yep I have. Now what's on YOUR mind?"

Tipping his curly head, Kelly stroked a finger along his jaw. "I was wondering who you're bringing to the picnic tomorrow."

"A girl I met on one of our responses…why?" Now it was Johnny's turn to look at Chet with distrust.

"Well, my sister is coming with me since my girl is working, and she's kinda of….ah, um, well, loud and aggressive with guys, because maybe she's insecure about men, or relationships or something?" He ended his tentative words in a question and John smirked.

"So are you warning me or what?" He had come out from beside his bed and stood in front of Chet, looking down at the shorter man.

"I'm not really sure," he replied honestly. "She's a great gal, pretty, smart, and very outgoing like most of my family. But for some reason, she has a problem with communicating with guys she likes. She comes across as abrasive, sarcastic, or just generally weird."

"So if she's rude to me, she likes me, and if she's not, she doesn't?"

It was Chet's turn to snicker. "Something like that, but seriously Gage, I don't want to see her hurt."

Johnny scowled. "Watcha think I am here, some kind of Don Juan? I don't hurt women and I already told ya, I'm bringing someone. That would be plain ridiculous, putting on the moves with one woman while I'm with another one."

"Sorry, sorry, that's not what I meant. Actually, I'm not even sure why I opened my big mouth and said anything at all." He flung up his hands in dismay and started walking towards the locker room at the other end.

"Hey man, I get it, okay? Introduce her to me at the barbecue, and I'll be my charming self." Johnny stopped his rapid progress with a hand on his shoulder.

Chet stopped and turned his head. "All right, thanks, I guess that's all I wanted – to make sure she didn't feel out of place among all the married couples."

"No problem, Kelly, I'll be glad to help."

A nod and relieved smile and Chet resumed his trek towards his locker. For some reason when it came to Mary, his favorite sibling, he was always making matters worse by trying to protect her. He still hadn't said what he meant to say, and truth be told, he wasn't sure what he had been trying tell his co-worker. His sister was older than him, although by only about ten months, and she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. But yet she always appeared, at least to his eyes, to be emotionally vulnerable.

Gritting his teeth, he resumed his scouring of the sinks; Johnny strolled past him whistling. He gave him a thumb up as he left and Kelly listened to his footsteps echoing through the bay as he tipped more Ajax onto the porcelain. The tones dropped a moment later for the station.

A quick look at the map by Gage and Stoker and the vehicles left the station, splashing through puddles and debris as they traveled down the wet roads. Amazingly, the rain had stopped even earlier than forecast and the sun was peeking out from a fast moving mass of grey clouds.

"Might have a nice day for your get together after all," Johnny commented cheerily as they rolled cautiously through an intersection, both heads turning to check for oncoming traffic.

Roy grunted, thankful for that but unable to get the thought of his nasty mother-in-law out of his mind. He had called JoAnne while he was making up his grocery list and learned the old bat was indeed planning on staying for an indefinite amount of time. In fact, JoAnne had whispered desperately into the receiver, her parents had fought and there was talk of separation or even worse, divorce.

Biting his lip, Roy fought down a wave of nausea at that possible scenario. Ruth could be highly melodramatic in her version of things so he could only hope that was the truth here. He concentrated on his partner's calm voice giving directions, pulling into the parking lot of the twenty story building a few minutes later and circling around to the west side. He squinted up at the almost three hundred feet of glass sparkling in the now fully visible sun.

"A long way up there," he observed as he climbed out. Gage, already fumbling in the compartment for ropes and belts, nodded his dark head in complete agreement. They had both located the tiny speck suspended about four floors from the top of the building. From the conversation going on behind them between Captain Hammer and the man awaiting them in the parking lot, they had learned that the dark spot was a teenager who had decided to practice his rappelling skills.

"What a complete idiot," the building manager complained, rubbing a pudgy hand against his sweaty face. He rubbed the wet hand down the pant leg of his brown checked suit in nervous agitation. "He's lucky that floor is rented out, otherwise he'd be hanging there for God knows how long. Nobody ever looks up…."

His tirade faded out as the paramedics trotted towards the lobby doors and the elevators nestled within, followed closely by the engine crew carrying their medical gear. Going single file through the pair of revolving gold doors that fronted the building, they hastened towards the two elevators. The manager's loud complaining echoed off the tiled floor as he and the captain caught up to them; Hammer interrupted his stream of words with a question. "The windows on this building open at all?"

"No sir, not a one."

Both elevators opened simultaneously and the group split up. The paramedics and Hammer stepped into one, followed closely by the nervous man. At the last moment, two sheriff's deputies ducked inside and nodded at the occupants. Johnny couldn't help a tiny smile as he recognized both of them as his former roommates, Drew and Scotty.

The manager jabbed the 20th floor button and turned to face the firemen. Dick raised his hand to forestall the grumbling about to erupt once again.

"There's no ladder truck available for at least thirty minutes, men, so we're going to have to lower him down or raise him up. Mr. Fremont, is the man hurt?"

Fremont knuckled a lip, pulling it down slightly to reveal nicotine stained teeth. "I'm not sure as he actually never said a word. He's just clinging to the side like a barnacle, not looking up or anything. "

Captain Hammer nodded, feeling the vibrations as Johnny, standing next to him, bounced energetically on the balls of his feet. He looked over at him, and then glanced towards DeSoto, who was regarding the ascending floor numbers with an unblinking, calm gaze. As the elevator stopped and the doors glided open, Hammer followed Fremont out into the carpeted hallway.

Fumbling with keys as they walked, the manager finally located the correct one and unlocked a metal door at the end of the hallway. He mumbled under his breath the whole time about locks, keys, and how had the kid managed to get onto the roof? He finally yanked the door open, swinging it outward to reveal a set of concrete steps that led to another white painted door. He led the way up, panting heavily by the time he bumped the top door open with his shoulder.

The first responders spilled out onto the roof with Gage and DeSoto taking the lead. Reaching the edge, they looked over the narrow lip.

"Hey, are you hurt?" Johnny shouted. After a long pause, a tiny head shake answered the query.

"Ok, we'll be there shortly to give you a hand. Can you move at all?"

Another barely imperceptible shake of the head and Gage stepped back several feet, his hands already busy fastening a harness out of rope.

"We've tied his line off and as you soon as you're ready…is he hurt?" Dick Hammer asked, working gloves on as he watched Johnny step into his harness. The paramedic moved several feet closer and flung the remainder of the rope at him.

"Nah, he's just frozen in fear against the glass," he replied tersely, his head back down as he made a final adjustment to the rope around his waist and then pulled on his own gloves. He turned back towards the edge and yelled his partner's name in disbelief even as his body instantly responded to the sight that met his eyes.

As if in slow motion, Hammer watched the scene unfold. Gage springing forward, the rope in Hammer's grip playing out behind him…..DeSoto sliding, arms flailing as his feet struggled to find purchase on the rain slicked roof….Johnny diving, arms outstretched towards the form that was catapulting into space head first….

~TBC~

*C is For Choices