Allen felt the blood drain from his face, "Have - have I done something wrong, Sir? I- I mean Cap?"
Hank heart sunk when he saw the panicked, deer caught in the headlights look on the young paramedic's face as Allen froze, halfway to his feet, and stared at him, "No, no, you're not in any trouble, Pal, I just wanted to touch base with you and check how you are settling into the station," Hank rushed to reassure him with what he hoped was a friendly smile before he added softly, "And about how you are getting along with Roy…" His voice trailed off as he saw Allen's face grow white.
Sitting heavily back down on the bed, Allen swallowed hard forcing down the hot bile that rose in the back of his throat before he managed to find his voice to ask nervously. "Is…umm… is this about the talk I had with Dr Morton about swapping partners or me thinking about dropping out of the paramedic's program and going back to riding the big rig, Cap, because if it is, I-I was going to-"
Hank felt his heart sink. Allen was already asking to work with a new partner or drop out of the paramedic program. "I know you were, Pal." Hank raced to reassure the young paramedic before sighing, "I suspected that things weren't so good between you and Roy, although I wasn't sure just how bad things actually were. I just wish that you had trusted me enough to come to me first before things got this bad."
"I'm sorry, Sir…" Allen began before quickly and self-consciously correcting himself, "Cap."
"Don't worry about it," Cap told him softly.
"Do you think that I cut it as a paramedic?" Allen asked suddenly, startling Hank with the question that seemed to come straight out of left field as Allen added, "I mean, I know that I am nowhere near Roy's level but-"
"From what I have seen, you're a great paramedic, Allen," Hank answered honestly.
"Then why doesn't Roy trust me enough to do my job in the field?" Allen asked, suddenly finding himself unable to stop as the words began to tumble out in a rush, "All he allows me to do is drive the squad to Rampart and man the bio-phone. He doesn't even trust me to start an IV or administer oxygen. And as for any rescues … He won't even give me a chance to voice my opinion and forget about me ever being allowed to take the lead." Allen looked down at his hands in his laps before he looked back up at Hank, imploringly, "I'm not like Gage, Sir, I'm not a screw-up and I would never endanger the patient's or any of the other guy's lives…"
"Hold it, hold it!" Hank ordered softly, lifting his hand up in the air waiting for Allen to fall silent before he asked, "Who told you that John was a screw up?"
Allen's face blanched even more than it already was as he swallowed hard and stuttered, not game enough to lie, "Umm, Roy did. He - he, umm, he said that Gage took too crazy risks… and that he, um, he warned him that one day…" Allen's voice trailed off as the sound of angry shouting echoed through the dorm.
Quickly rising to his feet, Cap looked down at the miserable man, reassuring him as the sounds of a chair being scrapped noisily across the floor in the dayroom followed by more angry shouts, "Listen Pal, we'll talk about this some more later but for now I want you to know that I think you're a good paramedic and as for either you or John taking crazy risks or deliberately endangering anyone's lives." Cap shook his head before he turned and hurried out of the dorm, almost bowling Dr Brackett, over as Brackett suddenly appeared from behind the squad, in his hurry to get to the day room.
Stepping into the day room with Brackett only a step behind, he found Mike and Marco holding a very angry Chet back from jumping across the table and attacking Roy who was sitting on the other side of the table, glaring at the lineman. Aware that he needed to quickly de-escalate whatever the argument was about and separate the two furious men before it came to blows, he ordered, "Chet, latrines! Now, Pal!"
"Ca-" Chet began only to cut off mid-word.
"I said latrines now!" Hank ordered, his tone warning Chet that he had no other choice in the matter but to obey his angry captain.
Stepping aside as Chet shook Mike's and Marco's arms loose before he turned and stormed out of the day room, Hank turned back Roy and ordered, "Roy, my office, now!" before he spun around and stepping around the Rampart doctor standing silently behind him, walked out of the dayroom without waiting for Roy's reply. His own anger rose as he heard the loud, annoyed sigh from his senior paramedic as Roy's chair scrap back against the floor and followed him and Brackett out of the dayroom, leaving Mike and Marco angrily scowling at Roy's retreating back.
Rounding his desk, he sat down in his chair, momentarily deciding whether to ask Brackett to wait outside but deciding after the brief conversation that he had just had with Allen about Roy's behavior to allow the doctor to stay, while he waited for Roy to enter. He was shocked to see the sullen, impatient look on Roy's face as the paramedic entered the office, leaving the door open behind him. "Close the door, Roy, and then take a seat." Hank ordered softly.
Roy turned and closed the door a little harder than he needed to before he turned back and crossed his arms across his chest, ignoring Cap's soft order to take a seat.
"I said take a seat, Fireman DeSoto." Hank ordered softly again.
Roy blinked in surprise at Cap's use of his official title rather than his first name. Swallowing hard, he nodded, as the white hot-anger that had been burning inside him just seconds before suddenly drained away as fast as it had flared, leaving him feeling light-headed, dizzy, and nauseous. His head throbbed with an intensity he had not felt before as the room began to spin wildly around him and a strange, loud, roaring noise filled his ears. Forcing himself to take a couple of unsteady steps towards the chair, he suddenly turned and ran out the office, as he clamped his hand tightly over his mouth.