Chapter Four
Before they knew it, Chet was parking the squad in it's normal spot at Rampart. He got out of the driver's seat and draped his coat on the side mirror. For the moment, he seemed content to wait outside, airing himself out almost. Sharon ventured in, curious to see who was working night shift.
Inside, she saw Roy leaning against the nurse's counter. The drug box was open and getting refilled. "Ms. Gail." She greeted the charge nurse with a smile. The nurse looked up from handing supplies over and smiled.
"I see Ms. McCall has you riding with the boys." she said, tilting her head at Roy. Sharon nodded, her gaze searching for Gage.
"He's still in the treatment room." Gail offered. Sharon nodded again, wondering why Roy hadn't answered. He coughed just then and cleared his throat. Gail and Sharon's eyes whipped to him. His figure was slightly hunched, a hand on his belt, another on the counter.
"You should probably see a doctor." Sharon said, hoping not to insult the experienced man. Roy nodded, not responding otherwise. Sharon shared a look with Gail, hoping she could steal Johnny and Roy's technique at silent communication. When Roy remained silent, Gail shrugged, not getting Sharon's wordless message.
Leaning against the counter next to Roy, she counted his respirations out of habit and concern. Before she could finish, she spotted Dr. Brackett and John stepping out of a room. She sighed, recognizing the defeated look of Dr. Brackett. Roy slumped, recognizing his partner's posture. Johnny's face seemed taught, almost as if in pain, his respirations shallow. Sharon glanced at Roy, not sure if that was normal. Roy's lips thinned, she presumed it wasn't. Before either of them could say anything, Johnny coughed. He stopped walking, his hands on his knees as the coughs racked his body. Brackett immediately stopped walking, grumbled under his breath, and grabbed Johnny by the arm, half dragging him into an empty treatment room. Before disappearing behind the door, he looked at Roy pointedly. "You too." he mouthed and pointed with his free hand. Roy left the drugbox on the counter and followed.
"He's been holding that in for a while." Gail commented. When Sharon looked confused she added, "I gave them room assignments when they came in and helped Dr. Brackett for a bit." She sat on the stool. "That's the first time he's coughed." Sharon's eyebrows rose, remembering him on scene, coughing and constantly clearing his throat.
"You know, both of them didn't have their masks on when they came out, they were over the patient's faces."
"Idiots." Gail faintly murmured, a fond look in her eye.
"Smart idiots" Sharon amended. Gail nodded. The ride along had changed Sharon's opinion on the fire department in general. She always knew that what they did was tough, but she thought it was nothing compared to the number of patients the hospital saw during a day, a single hour even. Little did she know she had it backwards. A small tendril of envy breached her thoughts, surprising her. It soon disappeared as she thought of their added training and responsibilities, "I could never do what they do." Sharon admitted, sharing her thoughts with Gail.
Gail nodded, "Give me an angry Ms. McCall or Dr. Brackett any day." she said with a smile. "Speaking of, want to give Dr. Brackett a hand?" she asked, looking at another chart. "You know he argues with the nebulizers." Sharon smirked, thinking of the Chief of Emergency Medicine getting bested by a piece of plastic, and headed towards the treatment room.
Johnny and Roy were missing their blue button ups, the uniform shirts draped over their knees. Both were sitting up on the exam table and had oxygen masks on their faces. "Ah, Nurse Walters." Brackett said, trying his best to not look relieved. Johnny and Roy smirked from behind the oxygen, keenly aware of the Doctor's struggle. The fact they hadn't offered to help betrayed their amusement. Sharon wordlessly walked over to Brackett and took the two nebulizer kits out of his hands. Unperturbed, he walked back over to the two medics and listened to their lungs. "Already sounds better." he said with a rare genuine smile. "After a treatment," he looked at John specifically, "Or two." he directed his gaze at both of them again, "You should be good to go back to work." Sharon assembled the two kits and handed them to the oxygen clad medics. She let them put it on, figuring it would save some embarrassment, if they had any. "Nurse Walters, can you get me two empty charts?" Brackett asked. Sharon nodded, and quickly went to retrieve them. At the nurse's desk, she spotted a nervous looking man in a blue uniform. Chet spied her walking out of a treatment room and sped over to her, following her as she grabbed two charts.
"Are Johnny and Roy okay?" he asked. He eyed her up and down, hoping to discern an answer by looking. He had grown worried as time had passed and they hadn't come out.
"They're getting a breathing treatment. Doctor Brackett's with them right now." she added when he didn't look any less concerned.
"Can I see them?" he asked, his level of worry not dissipating.
"Probably not, Doctor Brackett's still with them." Chet leaned against the wall outside the treatment room door, signaling he wasn't going anywhere. "I'll ask." she said, walking back inside the room.
When Dr. Brackett took the forms from her hand, she said, "You have a very worried firefighter outside Doctor."
"Oh, let Chet in." he said with confidence, not looking up from the paperwork. Sharon was impressed he knew who it was. Sensing her awe Kel said, "Only one person can worry about these two, as much as these two." with a twinkle in his eye. Sharon blinked, surprised he knew their coworkers so well. It was a testament to how many times Brackett had treated one of them.
"Cap probably could." Johnny said from behind the mask. He and Roy looked at each other, sharing the same thought she wasn't privy to. Sharon stuck her head out the door and smiled at Chet, motioning with her head. Chet walked in, hands in his pockets.
"You guys look ridiculous." were his first words. Sharon rolled her eyes, his worry was painfully palpable, but he didn't mention it.
"No we don't" Johnny argued, pulling his mask off to talk.
"Mask on." Brackett admonished. "Or Chet leaves." If Johnny was going to argue, he stopped.
"The engine's coming by to get me." Chet said conversationally. They both looked confused for a moment, before their gaze landed on Sharon. She blushed slightly and turned back to the counter, pulling another neb kit out, just in case. "It's a bit tight for four." he finished, wiggling his eyebrows at the two medics, ensuring Sharon's back was turned. They both rolled their eyes, but remained silent. Brackett just smirked in the corner, knowing that Chet being there was doing as much healing as the oxygen.
"Johnny," Brackett said, interrupting the one-sided conversation. "You'll probably need another treatment, but everything else looks good." Johnny nodded, not surprised at the news. Sharon frowned and started setting up the second neb kit she pulled out. Brackett got up and listened to Roy's lungs again. "Just a bit more on the oxygen and I'm confident to let you go Roy." Kel said, writing something down on the form.
"I'll go talk to Cap." Chet said. He held up the radio saying, "They're done with overhaul and probably here already. Mike wasn't wasting any time." He looked at Roy for permission, then walked out the door after Roy gave it.
"Nurse Walters?" Brackett said, "You can give these to Gail, they're finished." Sharon nodded, taking the already completed forms. She was again impressed he knew their information off the top of his head. Tucking the forms under her arm, she walked down the hallway. She noticed the engine crew sitting in the waiting room. They didn't appear wrenched with worry, but it was obviously at the forefront of their thoughts.
"They're fine." she said to them. "Roy's about to be released."
"Not really Roy we're worried about." Mike muttered, Chet nodded. Again, Sharon was impressed at how much they truly cared for one another. Especially Chet, who seemed out to get Gage earlier that morning.
Making sure there wasn't a long gap in conversation, she told them, "He'll probably need another treatment, but Dr. Brackett said he'll be good to go." She left them to their worry and gave the forms to Gail. She waited at the counter, not sure where to go, she wasn't working and she didn't want to disturb the close knit group of firefighters. Intrigued, she watched them from her spot next to Gail. Moments later, Roy joined the group. He had a grim smile on his face and presumably told them everything. She watched as they mourned the death of Johnny's patient, rejoiced that the other one lived, and finally let go of their worry, hearing from Roy's own lips that their youngest crew member was okay.
"They're a pretty close crew." Gail said, following her gaze.
"The best crew out there." she said. After a moment she added, "I know why Ms. McCall wants us all to ride along."
Gail nodded knowingly, having ridden with medics before multiple times. She wasn't given the role of Charge Nurse lightly. "They're impressive," Gail said. "It takes a special person." Sharon nodded. As much as she enjoyed the ride along, she knew she belonged in a hospital and told Gail as much. "Good thing." Gail said, "Your shift starts in eleven hours." Sharon sighed, glancing at her watch.
"I hope Johnny's almost done, I've gotta go home and sleep." She leaned against the counter, putting the drug box back together, remembering how they liked it. Out of the corner of her eye, the waiting crew all stood, grins on their faces. Johnny was walking towards them, Doctor Brackett following closely behind. From a distance, she watched them pleasantly talk with each other. Sharon smiled as she saw the familiarity between the crew and the Doctor. She knew why these six men were Ms. McCall's favorites, and she knew why everyone should go on a ride along. "Gives you a whole new perspective." she thought, smiling even broader when they all turned to leave. "See you tomorrow, bright and early." she said in parting to Gail. She couldn't wait.