Chapter One
Sharon sighed, pausing in her tedious task of restocking treatment room two. She looked back at her cart, quickly counting the items. She picked up an IV kit and inspected it, naming everything her eyes glanced over. "Tape, IV catheter, tourniquet, gauze, iodine." She murmured, checking items off, not because they would be missing, but because she was bored. "I get I'm new, but why doesn't Ms. McCall trust me?" she asked the IV start kit, as if it would answer her question. She had noticed, since she graduated, Ms. McCall never assigned her to the paramedic's patients, despite having helped in the past as a student. "Why not now?" she said, holding up the IV kit and looking at it. She looked up suddenly, only now realizing she was discussing her troubles with medical supplies. "Let me just check myself into psych." she muttered, finally putting the kit away. When the cabinet was full and her cart empty, she put on her blank 'here to help' face and walked out the door, pushing the cart in front of her. She nodded to people as she passed them, wishing her cart wasn't so loud. It rattled through the hallway causing everyone to look at her as she passed.
"Sharon," an authoritative voice said, interrupting her thoughts. "Come back to the counter when you're done." Ms. McCall ordered. Sharon nodded her head numbly.
"Did she hear me?" she thought, worried she was in trouble. She put the cart away and nervously went to adjust her blue vest, only to remember it wasn't there anymore. She had graduated nursing school, removing the title 'Student Nurse' from her nametag and uniform. She smoothed out the new white skirt, straightened her shiny nametag, and walked back to Ms. McCall with false confidence.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Dixie smiled knowingly when Sharon walked out of the restock room with a pep in her step. Dixie continued working, only stopping when Sharon made it to the counter.
"You wanted me Ms. McCall?" she asked, her voice steady.
"I did." Dix said, looking up from her clipboard. "You want to work with the paramedic's patients." she said, stating a fact more than asking a question. Sharon nodded. "To do that, you have to go on a ride along."
Dix had decided, after dealing with attitude from some nurses regarding paramedics, that everyone should do a ride along. Kel had loved the idea, even stealing it from her, making all of his resident's do the same.
"Are you free tomorrow?" Dixie asked. The young nurse nodded her head apprehensively. "Good, report to Station 51 tomorrow at 8." A small smile crossed Dixie's face, "You're working with Johnny Gage and Roy DeSoto."
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Sharon rang the doorbell of the foreign fire station at seven thirty in the morning. She waited patiently, adjusting her grip on her bag. She was told to wear her uniform, so she chose the white scrub pants, figuring they would be the better option. A man answered the door, she recognized him as the Captain. "Captain." she greeted.
Stanley smiled, "Good morning yourself Ms. Walters." he stepped aside, letting her in. "We weren't expecting you so early." he said pleasantly, making sure the door closed behind all the way.
"I like to be early, and Sharon please." Out the door of the small office, she noticed the squad and engine parked side by side in the engine bay.
"We have some paperwork you need to sign, then you're set." Captain Stanley said, pulling her attention back. He sat in the desk chair and reached into a drawer, pulling out a long carbon copy form. "All right, you need to fill out this form and sign here." He placed it on a second smaller desk and offered her a pen. "I'll be right back." Sharon nodded and started to fill it out.
Barely a minute had passed when she heard, "CHET!" coming from the bay. Sharon leaned back in her chair, trying to see the commotion. "Quit DOING that will ya?" an exasperated voice said. She recognized the voice of Johnny Gage. Sharon swallowed her smile and turned back to her paperwork. It wasn't her fault she couldn't help but eavesdrop.
"Kelly, you know better than to mess with gear. Go and clean it." Captain Stanley ordered sternly. "You're lucky John has an extra set." Stanley said, finishing his speech in a disapproving voice.
"I only did it cause Gage had extra gear." the unknown Kelly whined, literally whined.
Sharon knew that Gage and DeSoto were one of the first and finest paramedics out there, but she knew nothing about the engine crew. She had assumed they were just as good. "Clearly not." she thought, signing the last line. Standing, she left the pen at the desk and cautiously stepped out of the office. She spotted a flour covered medic hustling around the engine and out of sight. The first 'normal' looking person she saw in the bay was DeSoto. Clearing her throat she said, "Excuse me, Roy?" She said his name with a question, making sure it actually was Roy.
He turned to face her, "Nurse Walters," he said with a smile. "Cap just told me you were here." He took the papers from her, quickly looking them over. "Everything seems to be in order, I'll just go put these in Cap's office real quick." he left her standing at the squad's hood. She looked at it, knowing the small vehicle held a mini emergency room, but she just couldn't imagine how. Roy quickly returned, "Johnny'll be with us in a minute." Roy said, not explaining why.
"No worries, and Sharon please." she replied, pretending as if she didn't hear the entire conversation earlier. Suddenly, the station alarms went off. Roy closed the compartment doors and looked up at the speaker, waiting. Firefighters appeared from seemingly everywhere, including a still flour covered Gage. When the dispatcher announced the call was just for the engine, Johnny slunk out of sight again. She watched with fascination how quick and smooth the firefighter's response was. They were out of the door in less than a minute after copying the call. She looked up at Roy, trying to gauge his reaction. He continued as if nothing had happened.
After the sirens got quieter with distance, "Couple of rules," Roy continued unperturbed, opening the compartments again. Sharon blinked, getting her thoughts back on track. "I'm sure you read 'em in the form, but I'm gonna tell you anyway." he stopped his movement and looked at her. "You have to listen to me, Johnny, or anyone in this uniform." He tugged at his blue shirt as he talked. "No matter what." he said, punctuating the last three words. After a moment had passed, "Do you understand?" he seriously asked.
"I understand." she said, surprised at his passion.
Roy nodded, his serious expression melting into a pleasant one. "This is obviously the squad…" Roy said, starting the grand tour of the rescue vehicle.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Eventually Johnny joined them. He was flour free and had a smile on his face. "Heya Sharon." he said, sticking his hand out to her. She took it.
"Quite a setup you guys got here." she commented, pointing to the squad. Both Roy and Johnny chuckled, nodding in agreement. "And the defib is so small." she said, looking at the opened cardiac kit on the ground.
Johnny crouched, "I guess." he said, packing it up, only after getting a confirming nod from Roy. "What haven't you guys gone over yet?" he asked, giving Roy a break.
"The drugbox, OB and the biophone." Roy answered. Johnny nodded, putting the defib back. He pulled out the black box that she knew was the drugbox.
"In here," Johnny said, seamlessly picking up after Roy, who walked away after a subtle nod from John. "We carry our drugs, syringes, IV catheters, and fluid." Sharon nodded, the medical equipment familiar. "This is our most used box, as I'm sure you know."
"The amount of times I restock it, I do." Sharon said smiling. Johnny echoed her smile and continued explaining where they kept everything, every so often rearranging something.
When Johnny finished, he set her up with a spare helmet and they walked to the dayroom. Roy was sitting at the table, a form sat in front of him. Pen in one hand and a mug of coffee in the other. Another mug was on the table next to him. When he heard them walk in, he looked up from his work. "Your coffee's here Johnny," he said, gesturing with his head. "How do you like yours Sharon?" he asked. He made to get up, but she stopped him with a wave of her hand.
"I got it," she said after spying the coffee maker on the counter., "That looks important." she added in explanation pointing at the paperwork. Roy shrugged and went back to his work.
"It kinda is, but not really." Johnny unhelpfully explained. "Have you seen the rest of the station?" John asked, sipping his coffee. When she shook her head, he said "Follow me." taking his mug with him. She followed suit.
It didn't take long for the squad to get dispatched. Sharon wore the bulky fire helmet and sat between the two paramedics. She refrained herself from squirming in excitement. "This is so cool." she thought, listening to the sirens. She had noticed the change in both medics. The casual air was replaced with a serious and professional one. She wasn't surprised, she had seen the change before, but usually in reverse. She still couldn't help but be impressed. After clear, quick, and concise directions from Gage, they arrived. They indicated she could take her helmet off and closely follow. Johnny easily grabbed the drug box and biophone while Roy carried a radio.
"Off we go." Johnny said, winking at her.
Inside, a mother crouched next to a young boy, presumably, her son. He was crying and his knee was bleeding. Sharon remained silent, letting the experienced medics take the lead. Roy introduced everyone and asked, "What happened here?" The mother went into a lengthy explanation, never really getting to the point. Roy stopped her and tried a different method of extracting information. "What happened to his knee?" he asked. As Roy spoke to the mother, Johnny examined the kid. Sharon stood to the back, wanting to watch how they worked before helping. Before Sharon walked through her own assessment, John was done, his hand reaching for the drugbox.
Sharon masked her surprise, "That was quick." she thought.
"It's just the knee Roy." Johnny said, telling him the results of the assessment. Not waiting for a response, Johnny turned back to the kid and tried to cheer the boy. He had stopped crying and was looking around with interest. With some gauze and tape, John bandaged the child's knee while talking amicably. Sharon was impressed, the knee was cleanly wrapped and the kid was smiling. Turning her attention back to Roy, she noticed that the woman was signing a piece of paper.
"Where did that come from?" she thought, her mind reeling at how quickly everything had happened. Before she knew it, Roy and Johnny were slowly making their way to the door, cheerfully waving at the boy and mother. At the squad, Johnny stowed the drugbox and opened the door for Sharon. When they were driving away, she asked the two, "What just happened?"
"We walked in, we observed the scene, talked to the mom and kid, assessed the patient, and obtained a refusal." Johnny said factually.
"But, it was so quick." she looked back and forth between the two of them.
"It has to be." Roy explained, Only looking at her when they came to a stop. "We have to determine whether they can stay at home or if they need a hospital."
"That's such a strange thought." Sharon said. "We don't have to make that determination cause they're already at the hospital, obviously I suppose." Roy smiled and remained silent, letting Sharon make her own observations. "Plus you only have one patient at a time." she added.
"Not always." Johnny quickly interjected. "Car accidents, fires, CO leaks, explosions, the list could go on." He yawned and took a slip of paper out of his pocket. "Hey Roy?" he asked with a frown on his face. Sharon watched, waiting to see what the problem was. Roy raised his eyebrows, waiting. Johnny saw the raised eyebrows and said "What time we were dispatched."
Roy frowned, "I didn't write it down did I?" he said, annoyed with himself. Johnny shook his head and huffed, staring at the paper with the hand written address. Glancing at his watch, it was obvious he was trying to calculate it.
"8:39." Sharon said. Both medics stopped and looked at her, eyebrows raised. Sharon blushed slightly, "It was my first call." she muttered. She looked at her hands as if it was the most interesting thing she had ever seen. Johnny and Roy looked at each other and smirked, but said nothing.