Cap looked around at the three white faces staring back at him around the table after breaking the news that Johnny had critically injured in a building collapse while searching for victims in an apartment fire that Station 8 had responded to earlier in the morning, waiting for one of them to speak.
"Do… do they know just how seriously Johnny's hurt?" Chet asked as the shock of hearing about Johnny, began to wear off.
"Not yet, all that Roberts could tell me was that Johnny's critical. Melendez somehow managed to stabilize him enough to get him to Rampart." Cap answered quietly. "Roberts said Brackett and Early rushed John straight into surgery."
"Does Roy know yet?" Marco asked, glancing around for the senior paramedic.
"He knows." Cap nodded, "He's already gone to Rampart. I'm sure that he will give us an update as soon as he knows anything."
"Do you think that was such a good idea, Cap?" Chet frowned questioningly, shrugging as his captain looked across the table at him, as he added the unspoken truth that they all knew but had not spoken about. Looking around at Marco and Mike before returning his attention back to Cap, he continued. "Come on, we all know that Roy's the real reason why Johnny transferred across to Station 8."
Marco nodded his agreement before adding quietly, "I don't know what's going on with Roy, Cap, but by the way I've seen him treating Allen, I wouldn't be surprised if Allen decides to transfer out as well."
"I know," Cap sighed. He had seen the same defeated look on Allen's face that he had seen on Johnny's face during the last couple of weeks before John had demanded the transfer out. Although he had tried to win Allen's trust and tried to encourage him to tell him what was troubling him, just like John, Allen just clammed up, telling him that everything was fine. It was a lie that he did not believe, and he found himself wondering for the hundredth time during the last few, long weeks just what was going on between Roy and his partners. Just as Johnny had done, during the last few weeks he had been at 51, Allen was becoming unusually quiet and had begun to avoid Roy when they were in the station. In fact, the excited and eager paramedic who had transferred to 51 just weeks before, now begun to avoid any interaction with any of them while in the station, preferring his own company.
"Does anyone know what the fight between John and Roy was about?" Cap asked looking at each of his men sitting around the table. When Marco, Chet and Mike shook their heads, he rubbed his hand over his face, he knew what something serious was going on with his senior paramedic and he wasn't sure just what he was going to do about it. They had lost John and he knew it was only a matter of time before Allen asked to transfer out as well.
"Did you know that Johnny was going to quit the paramedic program?" Mike announced softly.
Chet, Marco, and Cap turned to stared at normally quiet engineer in surprise.
"What?"
"Why?"
"No, who told you that?"
Mike blushed in embarrassment as he softly admitted, "I accidentally overheard Dwyer and Charlie talking about Johnny in the locker room at change of shift a couple of days ago. I was getting changed to leave and I don't think that they realized that I was even there when I heard Charlie tell Dwyer that he had worked with Johnny at over at Station 8 when he was doing some overtime, and one of the guys there had told him that Johnny had asked the Chief if he could go back to being just a hose jockey, that he didn't even want to be a rescue man anymore."
"Oh man!" Chet muttered angrily.
Marco nodded his silent agreement.
"Dwyer said that he had heard on the grapevine that Nurse McCall and Dr Brackett somehow managed to talk him into remaining in the paramedic program for six months while partnered with Melendez before he makes his decision whether to drop out. So, after I got changed, I went straight over to Johnny's place to talk to him and try and find out what if it was true and if it was the reason Johnny wanted to drop from the paramedic program."
"And?" Cap asked softly, almost dreading the answer.
Mike shrugged, "He wasn't home, or if he was, he wasn't answering the door."
"He hasn't been home every time I have gone around to try and talk to him and make sure he's alright nor is he answering his phone." Chet admitted softly, shrugging when the others turned and stared at his admission that he really cared about Johnny, before adding defensively, "Hey, he's the Phantom's best pigeon. The phantom doesn't want to break in a new one, especially if he knows that he can talk Gage into coming back!"
"I'm not sure even the Phantom can convince Johnny to come back, Chet." Hank sighed, "At least, not until we can find out what happened between Roy and him."
"What about asking Joanne?" Mike asked softly as he reached for the coffee pot and refilled his coffee mug before grabbing the empty mug that sat on the table and filled it for his captain, " She might be able to tell us what happened between them."
Cap nodded his head in thanks before he picked up the mug and took a small sip, grimacing at the strong, bitter, lukewarm coffee. Lowering the mug back down onto the table in front of him, he cradled it lightly between his hands as he looked back up at Mike and admitted, "I've already thought of that. I tried to call her a couple of times when Roy was out on runs hoping she could tell me what had happened between them, but she didn't answer the phone. And Em has tried dropping in unannounced to try and talk to Joanne for me, using the excuse that she wanted to do a girl's day out day shopping with Joanne." Cap shook his head as he looked back down at the black sludge in his mug as he added softly, "But Em says that each time she has gone around the house has been locked up tight and Joanne hasn't been home, nor has she been able to reach Joanne on the phone."
"Cap, you don't think that maybe Joanne and Roy have-" Marco asked, his eyes going wide.
"If they have separated, it would explain some of Roy's irritability-" Mike nodded.
"I don't know, Roy hasn't said anything but even if they have while it does explain Roy's irritability, it doesn't explain just what happened between John and Roy or the reason of why Johnny transferred out of 51 to get as far away from Roy as he could." Cap sighed , pushing himself up and out of his seat before heading towards the door with Mike, Marco, and Chet on his heels as the loud ringing of the claxons echoed through the station.
o.o.o.o.o.o.o
Stopping in mid-step as he followed the two doctors and his captain into Brackett's office, Benjie stared at Roy as Roy turned around, obviously waiting for the doctors' update on Johnny's condition. DeSoto was the last person he had expected to see, although Johnny had never told him the real reasons why he had transferred out of 51, he knew that it had something to do with DeSoto and although the two of them had been close friends for a while, any friendship that had been between them had died. It didn't take a genius to know that Johnny no longer wanted anything to do with 51's senior paramedic, he avoided DeSoto like the plague whenever he could, even in the field, preferring Benjie to work with the man, while he attended other patients or returned to the burning buildings to search for any other victims or to lend a hand on the hose. Johnny even went as far as making excuses to dodge DeSoto's phone calls, each time Desoto had called him at the station.
Roberts looked across at 51's senior paramedic who seemed as uncomfortable at being there with them as they were with him being there. He had hoped that Hank would keep DeSoto away when he had called the station and informed Hank about the collapse and his former paramedic's condition. Glancing at his own senior paramedic, he saw Benjie bristle at the sight of the other paramedic. Jabbing Benjie in the ribs, he hissed softly, "He was John's partner until a couple of weeks ago! And he's here because I called Station 51 and told them about John! So shut it, Melendez, understand?"
Closing his mouth, Benjie swallowed hard, his hands tightening into tight fists as he clenched his mouth shut. Nodding, he positioned himself against the wall beside the door next to his captain and as far away from DeSoto as he could possibly be.
Satisfied that Benjie would cause no problems about DeSoto being present, the Station 8 captain turned back towards Early and Brackett and asked, "How's John?"
Sensing the tension between the two paramedics, Kel traded glances with Joe and Dixie before returning his attention back to the three firefighters. "Critical." He announced succinctly as he reached up and tugged free the blue medical mask that still dangled around his neck, "But he's alive and he's still fighting." Looking across at Benjie, Brackett added, "Thanks to your quick thinking and you inserting an airway before his airway swelled closed."
"Thank God!" Benjie murmured, releasing the breath he had been holding.
"Johnny has burns to his upper airway," Kel began, "Probably a result of breathing in smoke, hot air and fumes while he was trapped."
Roberts nodded his agreement, "When we found him, his facemask had been knocked off his face."
"We've placed him on a ventilator, but with time and some respiratory therapy, the burns should heal. He has a moderate concussion, he also has fractured four ribs on his right side and also fractured his right arm. He also suffered internal injuries, including a large tear to his liver which caused the massive internal bleeding, probably the result of the beam falling on him. We have repaired the tear and are in the process of giving him blood transfusion and we will be observing him closely for pneumonia."
"What…what about his back, Doc?" Roberts asked quietly as he remembered the large, heavy beam that had fallen across John's upper back, trapping him in the rubble, which had taken three of them to lift off him.
"I'm sorry guys but it's just too early to tell," Joe Early broke in, "The x-rays show that there is fractures of the 5th and 6th thoracic vertebrae but there's just too much swelling to be able to see if the spinal cord, itself, is damaged. So far, Johnny has shown no reflex responses below the fractures."
"You mean that Johnny might be-" Roy breathed softly as Benjie's face paled at his young partner's possible prognosis.
"Damn!" Roberts muttered, aware that injuries, even life altering ones like this were just one of the very real risks of the job but still feeling responsible that it had happened to one of his guys. If only he had insisted that John came out with his partner and their victim instead of allowing him to continue to search for their last missing victim.
"Oh, no!" Dixie gasped, her heart sinking at Johnny's potential career ending and life altering prognosis.
"Look, I'm afraid that it's just too early to tell yet, " Joe reminded them before cautioning, "We are just going have to wait until the swelling goes down or until Johnny regains consciousness before we will be able to assess if there is any paralysis and if so, how much."
"Can - can we see him?" Roy asked.
"Not today I'm afraid, Roy." Brackett told the 51 paramedic, "Johnny needs his rest."
"But-" Roy began to protest.
"No buts, Roy!" Brackett told him sternly, "No visitors today! And that means no visitors except his next-of kin will be allowed to stay with John in his room!" Gentling his tone, he added firmly, "Johnny needs his rest! And the best thing you can do is go back to work and let us take care of John." Looking across at John's new captain and partner before returning his attention back to Roy, he added softly, "Now, if you gentlemen will excuse us, Dr Early and I have other patients to see and I would sure that Dix wants to get up to the ICU."
"Thanks Doc," Roberts said softly, "Please keep us updated on John's condition and let us know when he can have visitors."
"We will," Brackett reassured him before adding, "now if you will excuse us."
Roberts nodded and stepped aside as Brackett headed towards the door with Joe and Dix following him.
Waiting until the doctors and Dix had left the office, Benjie angrily spun around and glared across the room at Roy, his anger boiling over what had obviously happened between DeSoto and Gage, that DeSoto would even assume that he had a right to be updated on Johnny's condition. "Look DeSoto," he growled, his fists tightening as he took a threatening step forward, ignoring his captain as Robert's grabbed his arm. "Let's get this clear, once and for all, Johnny doesn't want anything to do with you! I don't know why you are here but what I do know is it's sure not the hell because you and John are friends. So, why don't you stop pretending that you even care about what happens to him! So why don't we just cut out the crap, everyone knows that you're the reason Gage transferred across from Station 51 to us and why one of the best paramedics in the county, now doesn't even want to be a rescue man, and second guesses everything he does! And from little bits and pieces I have managed to wrangle out of Gage about why he left 51, I know that when he left 51, you had made it pretty clear to him that there was no friendship left between the two of you and that you didn't want him as a partner. So why all the concern, especially now, DeSoto, when John needs his friends? John doesn't need you hanging around, especially not now! So why don't you do Johnny a favor and run back to 51 where you belong and just leave him the Hell alone."
"Melendez, that's enough!" Roberts warned his upset paramedic, as he turned the younger man forcibly away from the 51 paramedic, giving him a quick, firm shove towards the door as he ordered sternly, "There's nothing more we can do here for John, so let's get back to the station and do our job, Hotshot!" Looking over his shoulder at Roy, he ordered, "And I suggest that you get back to your station as well, DeSoto!"
Shrugging loose of his captain's tight hold, Benjie lifted his hands in a silent show of surrender before he turned and stalked away with Roberts following closely behind.
Staring at the door as it closed behind Roberts and Melendez, Roy sighed, running his fingers through his hair, wondering just how he had managed to screw everything up so badly, first his marriage with Joanne and then his friendship with Johnny! Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to walk to the door, opening it up before stepping out into the corridor. He paused a moment as he watched Roberts. Melendez and the rest of the Station 8 guys head towards the Emergency entrance doors before he turned towards the nurse's station trying to decide if he had the nerve to face Carol and apologize or if he should just find Allen and do as Roberts suggested and get back to the job. Deciding he didn't have the nerve to face the justifiably angry nurse just yet, he turned back and headed towards the waiting room where he suspected he would find Allen waiting.