Chapter 24
"John Gage, settle down!" Dixie McCall chided in exasperation, as the subject in question once again tried to sit up on the exam table. She pushed him down with a palm and tousled his wet hair with a towel. Roy, leaning against the wall by the door, smirked, and the nurse immediately directed her attention towards him.
"And you, Mr.," she said, whipping the damp towel towards him with deadly accuracy. "Quit dripping on my clean floor!"
He caught the towel and did as she ordered; he looked down as he did so at the puddle by his feet and realized she had a valid point. "Oh, sorry, Miss McCall, I'll get it cleaned up."
Dixie made an "mmff" noise. "Just sop it up with the towel when you're through, Roy, and please, for about the hundredth time, just call me Dixie."
Johnny piped up with a sentence, only it came out garbled due to the ice he was holding on his jaw. When he attempted to shift it, the firm hand of the nurse held it in place. "Leave it there until the doctor has a chance to look at it, John. I can guarantee that x-rays are in your future for both that and your arm."
"Who da doc?" He managed to get out in an understandable question before Dixie shushed him again.
"I'm not sure, there are three on duty, including our new intern….ah, Dr. Morton, this is one of my favorite paramedic teams, John Gage and Roy DeSoto."
"Gentlemen," Morton said briskly, nodding at DeSoto and stopping at the exam table to peer down at Johnny. "Let's see the damage, Nurse McCall."
She removed her hand and the ice, and then shot an icy look at him as he ran his fingers roughly down the right side of Gage's face, which elicited both a strangled gasp from the paramedic and a hasty trot to the other side of the exam table by Roy.
"Hey Doc," he began but cut off his complaint at McCall's warning glance. The doctor ignored them both and continued, jotting down notes as he went and ending his exam at the left side of Johnny's face. Under the harsh exam lights, his previous bruises showed up as a sickly green and yellow hue.
Morton made a "tsking" sound and lifted both the sheet and blanket Johnny was covered with to peer underneath. Johnny's left hand shot out and grabbed the coverings to yank them back up. "There's no damage there, doctor, all that stuff is from days ago and Brackett already checked it out!"
"Uh huh, I see," he replied in a noncommittal tone, scribbling something more down in his folder. "X-rays, nurse, of both damaged areas, as well as start the paperwork for an overnight stay…..and let's get a painkiller on board also, start with an IV of..."
He was cut off by an irate sputtering noise from the no longer prone patient; Johnny had shot up to a sitting position and would have leapt off the table if not for restraining hands by both Dixie and Roy.
"I'm not staying overnight for a bruise, and I don't need any painkillers or an IV, it's just sore now!" He hissed through clenched teeth.
"You have the right to refuse painkillers, of course, but somehow I think losing consciousness and sinking underwater might argue for the fact that you're in a tremendous amount of pain right now and could possibly have a broken jaw," Morton stated, peering at Gage with raised eyebrows. "You're also very lucky that your lungs are clear, aspiration is a serious thing."
Dixie returned from the wall phone. "X-ray department is on the way, Doctor; why don't we wait for the results before you proceed with further orders. John, would you like some Tylenol to diminish the soreness?"
"Yeah sure, whatever," he grumbled, settling back on the table without further protest but clearly not happy. Roy noticed that he had a firm hold with both hands on the sheet and blanket.
The door bumped open and the x-ray machine appeared, followed closely by the technician. Morton issued his orders and left the room without further words; Dixie patted John on the shoulder and shooed DeSoto out of the room.
Roy nodded in Morton's direction. "He's a pretty serious guy, isn't he?"
"Oh he is, and obviously needs a lot of work with his bedside manner, but he is a good doctor. He just needs some of his rough edges smoothed down," she answered with a smile, heading to the nurse's station. Roy trailed behind her, conscious of the wet trail he was leaving.
"And you're just the person to do it, Miss…er, Dixie?"
She batted her long eyelashes at him, turned and poured a cup of coffee, turned back around and handed it to him before answering. "Of course I am, well most of the edges anyway. Do you have a ride back to the station, Roy? You look miserable."
She waggled her trimmed but well-manicured fingernails at him and he shifted uneasily in his wet, squeaking shoes and glanced down the hallway as if he could see around the corner to the entrance doors. "Yeah, Chet should be here momentarily with the squad. A warm shower and dry clothes will fix all my minor problems; I'm just concerned about Johnny and the outcome of those films."
"Well, I wouldn't worry too much. Despite what our good intern thinks, I'm pretty sure nothing is broken. Johnny will just have matching bruises on his face for a bit."
"Sure hope so," he replied doubtfully, his blue eyes shifting to the exam room door and then back to the hallway. He startled when Dixie's hand closed around his on the warm mug.
"He'll be fine, and none of this was your fault," she said softly, holding his gaze for a long moment. "Now drink up, it'll warm your insides and hold you until you get to that shower."
A nod and Roy took a long drink of the coffee, wondering how the head nurse knew what he was thinking. And how had she heard about the rescue that had gone awry? He wasn't even sure of all the particulars himself, just that both he and his partner had made a mess of it. Especially his own actions, he thought with a frown, as he reworked the scenario in his mind and came up with the same result.
"Roy!" He startled guiltily as Dixie clamped a hand down on his forearm and felt a flush of heat climb up his neck and head for his face. "I swear all of the men I know have the same problem; they feel responsible for anything that goes wrong. And from the look on your face a second ago, that's exactly what you were thinking, wasn't it?"
Roy cleared his throat and wrapped both hands around his ceramic mug to keep his hands steady. "Yes, I was, and yes it is my fault that…"
"No!" She slapped her hand down on the counter for emphasis and Roy leaned back, astounded by the depth of emotion in her eyes. He had a funny feeling that there was more to this then just the water rescue hours ago; someone Dixie was close to had hurt her in some way.
She took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment, and when she reopened them they were brimming with sorrow. "I'm sorry, Roy, that was unprofessional and absolutely none of my business."
It was his turn to reach out a hand and gently touch hers. "No, you're right you know. My wife says I do that all the time, play the guilt game. I'm sorry I upset you by being such a dolt."
She brushed the back of her hand against her eyes and smiled. "Believe me; you don't have the market cornered in that regard. There are enough of us around to share the title. I see that they're done with the films, so now go keep your partner company while we wait for the results. I'll send Mr. Kelly in when I see him."
"You got it," he answered, striding back to the exam room and hoping she didn't notice his awkward gait; his clothing was sticking to his body in some very uncomfortable places.
He slid into the room and noted that Johnny was sitting up and had wrapped the blanket around his shoulders and head, probably just as much to cover the gown in the back as to keep warm.
"Didn't we just do this a couple of days ago?" The younger man asked petulantly, his words slurring together because he was keeping the movement of his jaw to a minimum.
Roy nodded and rubbed his arms as the chill of the room enveloped him. It all did have a weird déjà vu feeling to it; especially with his partner slumped in misery with that darn blanket encircling his bruised face.
"So you don't think it's broken, eh?"
"Nope," he retorted through his closed mouth. "Sore, just sore is all, okay?"
"Okay, I gotcha, Morton will confirm it and we can get out of here. Of course you realize they're going to pull you off the rest of the shift?"
Gage shot him a nasty look and didn't bother to answer. Roy leaned against the end of the table, decided that he had used his stupidity quota for the day, and kept his own mouth closed. Thirty seconds later the door swung inward and they both looked towards the sound, expecting the doctor with the results. It was Chet Kelly, however, clearly pleased with himself about something.
"Hey guys, are you about ready to go back?" He asked, circling around the table to the side opposite DeSoto.
"Not yet, we're waiting for the final results of the film."
Chet shook his head, his eyes alight with excitement. "I can't believe Captain Hammer jumped into the water like that, man, it was so cool."
John stared at him, puzzled, before shifting his focus to Roy. "Is that what happened?"
"Of course it is!" Kelly exclaimed. "Mike and I went over to the other side of the pier when you guys released your ropes and had just started wading in when it all went down."
"Yeah, he's right," Roy agreed softly. "I went after you and Cap went after that guy."
"Just tell me what happened, would ya Kelly?" Johnny asked, hand going up to touch his jaw and then falling back to his lap just as quick when his astute partner leaned forward.
"Oh yeah, you betcha, of course you gotta remember that I saw it all as I was swimming towards you, okay?"
"So a different view from mine," Roy added with a tight little smile that didn't come close to reaching his eyes.
Chet shrugged, unable to tell if Roy was being straight or sarcastic with his comment. "It's just like I said; Gage went under the water and Hammer swan dived off the pier and hit the water with barely a ripple. Of course I didn't see that part, but Marco told me about the dive. Hammer shoots out of the water like a rocket, grabs your druggie attacker with a choke hold from behind, and drags the guy right back under the pier. He swam him right over to us and Stokes and I manhandled him back to shore."
Johnny smiled as he imagined their quiet but authoritative leader handling the combative druggie with apparent ease. He had seen very little of it of course, but he had heard most of it. He had only been underwater for a few seconds before Roy had yanked him up and into a foggy consciousness, shoving the rescue buoy that had almost been his demise under him. Clinging to it, it had taken him a minute to push the pain down and focus on his surroundings but he had been able to clearly hear the shrieking protests of Matt as he was dragged towards the shore. By the time he had turned around, the captain had already handed off the thrashing victim to his crew and started back towards them.
"It was pretty good what Captain Hammer did," Roy agreed, shifting sideways on his feet and refusing to keep his eyes on the patient.
Chet raised an eyebrow. "That's pretty understated, don't ya think Mr. DeSoto? He was brilliant! But hey, so were you!"
The feet shuffling paused a second and then resumed. Ah, Johnny thought, now we get to the root of the current problem with my new partner.
"You sure saved my bacon," Johnny added with an even bigger smile, though it hurt to do so. He wished Morton would hurry up and release him so he could get the promised Tylenol on board and dull the ache, an ache that was growing by the minute as he watched Roy struggle with what looked suspiciously like a guilt attack. Another fun fact to add to his growing list of Roy –isms he was compiling. "You know, I've decided I don't really like water rescues anymore."
"Uh huh," DeSoto grumbled, apparently not on the same page yet. "So I'll take the lead on water and you take the lead on high rescues?"
"Hey yeah, that's a great idea!" Johnny agreed with enthusiasm, finally locking eyes with his fellow paramedic. He waggled his eyebrows and Roy snorted but couldn't hide the smile that slipped out.
"Okay, I concur, but only if you explain our solution to Captain Hammer," the older man said slyly.
"Oh man, that might be a deal breaker," Gage replied with a grimace. He looked at Chet in puzzlement; the curly haired lineman's head was following the playful volley of words like a ping pong ball.
"You know….," Kelly quickly inserted himself back into the conversation with the two words. When both medics stopped talking and focused their attention on him, he smirked and put both hands out palms up.
"Gage, do you know what those two goofballs were doing out there by the pier? Or what it was that you cut off the dude's ankle?"
Johnny shook his head. "Nope, water was too murky, felt like some kind of elastic stuff though."
Kelly giggled and leaned forward to whisper. "They were having a "drown the bras party!"
"What?" Roy asked in disbelief. "They were drowning them instead of burning them?"
"Yup, that's what the chick said." He chortled gleefully. "I think somehow they got their wires crossed about the whole deal…"
"Obviously, since it's all about the women's movement and so why was he helping her; and then there's the question of did they really burn their…" Roy stopped as his crewmates stared at him open mouthed.
He shrugged. "My wife is a very modern woman, took part in some of the protests in the 60's, you know, that kind of stuff."
Whatever retort Chet was about to make was silenced when the door opened and Dr. Morton strolled in, report in hand. He glanced at the firemen flanking his patient and made a dismissive motion towards the door.
"You gentlemen need to clear out so I can speak to Mr. Gage."
"Hey that's okay, I don't mind them hanging around…"Johnny began. Morton glared at him and he shrank back into his cocoon of blankets, scowling.
"But I do, Mister Fireman, so move it you two!"
The two reluctantly trailed to the door, Roy looking over his shoulder as he went. Gage twisted around, pantomimed drinking, and Roy gave him a thumb up before leaving the decidedly chilly room.
"Gage wants a drink? You can't bring alcohol in here, can you?" Chet asked, having apparently seen the paramedic's gesture.
"Coffee, Chet, he wants coffee, not a beer." Roy answered, an exaggerated eye roll accompanying the words.
"I knew that, I was just pulling your leg," Chet huffed, following close behind as Roy saw Dixie at the nurses' station and headed in that direction. He suddenly stopped and pivoted, causing the lineman to bump into him. "Hey!"
"How are you completely dry if you waded into the water with Stoker?"
"That's easy; I went back to the station and changed then hot footed it over here to pick you guys up. That's how I heard the whole story about that loopy couple." He grinned in triumphant, Roy conceded defeat, and they resumed the short journey to the desk.
Dixie pointed a pen at DeSoto. "Your captain just called and said Johnny's replacement is at the station, so he needs you both back ASAP. When Dr. Morton releases John, I'll give him a ride."
Roy ran a finger along the edge of the counter and nodded. "Is he okay, anything broken?"
"No, he was right, nothing broken."
"Good, that's real good," he said with relief. "Could you make sure he gets some coffee? I think when he gets done with your new intern's bedside manner he's going to need it."
"Certainly, as long as it's fine with the doctor. Now you boys head back, I have to finish something before I leave and you, Roy, need to get into some dry clothes." She shooed them with her hands and after thanking her, they left for the station.
Tapping the pen still held in her fingers against the counter, Dixie bit her lip in thought as she ran through a mental list of things to be done before she ended her shift. She was already over on time but was glad she had still been here when Johnny had come in.
A clearing of a throat broke her reverie and she ended the list with a triumphant invisible check mark of done on the last item before transferring her attention to Dr. Morton. He scribbled something on the chart and slapped it down on the surface.
"Gage has been released with discharge instructions; one of your nurses is going over them now with him." He pushed his glasses up with a finger and arched inquisitive brows in Dixie's direction. "What is it?"
"Doctor, are you…" she broke off with her own raised eyebrows at the side of Kelly Brackett strolling rapidly down the hallway, leather jacket under his arm, hands covered in grease, and a scowl on his face.
"Dr. Brackett, I thought you left an hour ago?"
"I did, only I never made it farther then the driver's seat. Car won't start, Auto Club won't be here for another hour, and I obviously know nothing about the workings of an automobile engine," he complained gruffly, waving a dirty hand to emphasize his words. Dixie giggled and finally laid the pen down. If Morton wasn't standing there, she would have made a comment….."You may not know the workings of an engine, but you sure know the anatomy of a human body, and how to rev that up!"
At her chuckle, the older doctor narrowed his eyes at her and considered her for a long moment before a small smile twitched the corners of his mouth upwards. When the intern bent his head away from him to slide his stethoscope into his lab coat pocket, Kel winked at Dixie. She smiled back, knowing that he understood exactly what she was thinking.
She stood up and tugged the jacket out from under his arm. "I'll give you a ride home if you don't mind a detour first."
"Not at all, Nurse McCall," he replied formally, mouth still working. "I'll go scrub…er, wash up. Mike, how's your shift going so far?"
Morton smoothed the front of his coat down and nodded his head several times. "Good, it's going good."
Brackett started to give him a friendly pat on the shoulder and stopped just short of leaving grease on the pristine white fabric. He pulled back his hand and clasped them behind his back, transferring his encouragement to words instead. "You really can't do any better with Joe Early as your example."
"Excluding the present company, I would have to totally agree with that, Dr. Brackett. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to check on a new patient." His metal clipboard held in front of him like a shield, Morton glided away silently on the soles of his new shoes. The doctor and nurse exchanged a look, understanding once more passing between them.
"He just needs his edges polished," Brackett observed unnecessarily, echoing her earlier words. He watched her eyes narrow as she thought of how the new doctor had treated the young paramedic. "Don't worry, Dix, I'll make him toe the line."
"You had better, or I'll take care of it myself." She smiled at him to soften both her words and her tone, very well aware of how harsh she could come across sometimes. "Now go clean up, and meet me at my car. It's in the usual spot."
"Yes, ma'am!" He saluted her sharply, leaving a thin strip of black across his forehead; she bit her lip in amusement and touched her forehead with a finger but it was already too late. He had turned and ambled off down the hall greeting staff as he went. He'd see the stripe soon enough when he looked in the mirror.
Shrugging, she ran a cup of coffee into the exam room and explained the ride situation to Johnny, who was dressing. She returned to the desk, gathered her personal stuff, stopped in at the employee locker room to grab the rest of her gear, and circled back around to Johnny's room. He was ready to go, now completely dressed in his dried uniform and perched on the edge of the exam table. He was so lost in thought that when she entered he didn't look up.
"Johnny…" she said quietly, and was rewarded with his lopsided grin and the thunk of his wet boots as he dropped to the floor.
"Hey Dix, thanks for the lift!"
"An easy enough thing to do since I was ready to leave, anyway. How's the arm and jaw?" She pushed the door open and followed him through.
In an obvious hurry to leave the hospital, he reluctantly slowed his rapid pace and shot her a quick glance over his shoulder. "I'm going to be sore for a few days, that's for sure."
"Yes, I'm sure you will be," Dixie agreed, catching up to him and grabbing his arm. "For heaven's sake, slow down a bit more so I don't have to run to keep up! What's your hurry?"
He tossed her an impish smile and shortened his stride even further. He patted his jacket pocket where folded papers stuck out. "I want to get out of here before that new intern changes his mind; I don't need any second guessing going on!"
"Oh Johnny…." Was all the nurse could say as they left the building and wove through an acre of cars. John's steps faltered as he saw Dixie's Mustang and the figure standing impatiently next to it; she caught the hesitation.
"Not one word, John Gage, I want you to play nice, okay?"
"Sure, no problem, but maybe you should tell HIM that?" He inclined his head towards Brackett, who had dropped his folded arms and was scrutinizing the approaching pair.
"Good Lord, Gage, who or what did you tangle with this time?" He demanded gruffly as they stopped next to him, but Johnny noticed the hostility that Brackett normally displayed towards him was missing, replaced with….concern?
Tempering his reply to match the doctor's concern, sympathy or whatever it was, Gage replied while forcing his body to remain still and not back away as Kelly stepped closer and inspected the visible damage. "I guess I didn't duck quickly enough; the guy was out of it but moved really fast."
"That's pretty obvious, but it also looks like it could have been worse, much worse." He swung around, took his jacket from Dixie's extended hand, and put his own hand on the door handle. "So it looks like we're both hitching a ride with the kind and lovely Miss McCall."
"You both are, and climb in on the other side, Kel; you'll have more leg room behind me then John."
Brackett grunted in acknowledgement, trudging around to the other side and awkwardly crawling in behind the tilted front seat. Gage suppressed his smile as he easily dropped into the shotgun seat and swung his long legs in. Either the lady was being considerate and allowing the taller passenger the front seat, or she was exacting a little payback on Kel Brackett. Of course it could very well be both things; sometimes it was hard to tell with her.
Dixie clambered in, dropped her large handbag on Johnny's lap, and turned to glance at Brackett, still trying to get situated in the small space. She turned her attention to the paramedic for a long second, then faced forward and stared out at the parking lot while settling back comfortably in her seat.
"Boys, let me tell you a story about my new job…."
~TBC~
A/N – Thank you so very much for all the kind comments! I've been busy scanning old photographs of my dad's (my brother's pics are already done) and adding them to several genealogical sites that I use. What a trip down memory lane! And for those of you who trace their family trees, you know what a time consuming and addictive process that is! So I write here and there in between research as well as enjoying the joys of life – getting to watch my last set of twins graduate from high school (and yes they did walk!). So again, thanks for your encouragement, readers, and I have the next chapter mapped out, in my head anyway, so onwards with that!
