The pungent aroma of plastic and astringent was the first thing Johnny became aware of as he slowly awoke from his anesthesia induced slumber. His pounding headache, throbbing at the same pace of his heart, made the noxious odor that much more intense.

Looking around the room through blurry eyes he recognized the surroundings as that of a patient room in Rampart. The dividing blue curtain that provided privacy between the two beds in the room was drawn. He could see the vague outline of someone laying the bed. "Roy?" His voice was feeble from weakness.

"Johnny?" The curtain was pulled back by JoAnne. "You're awake."

"JoAnne!" He tried to sit up but the pain forced him to flinch and freeze in place. He lowered himself back down onto his bed with his uninjured but sore arm.

"Don't move. Roy's right here." She was holding Roy's limp hand tightly.

"Roy..." He closed his eyes and let out a pained breath as focused on his partner's face. The clear oxygen mask didn't hide the bruises or cuts on Roy's face and forehead. "How is he?"

"Dr. Brackett said he'll make a full recovery." She smiled warmly as a single tear of relief rolled down her face.

"Thank the Lord..."

Dixie walked into the room and smiled at her favorite two paramedics. "Dr. Brackett will be stopping by soon." She approached Johnny's bed and could see by the look on his face that he was in pain. "Did you try to get up?"

"A little." He admitted with a mild blush on his face.

"Uh-huh. Your arm was repaired but it still hasn't healed. You know better."

"Yeah, I know."

"Not to mention all the bumps and bruises that you couldn't feel before making their presence known now."

As expected Dr. Brackett walked into the room, his stethoscope draped around his neck. "Dix." He greeted the head nurse. "How're our star patients?"

"Johnny's awake. And hurting."

"Oh, I see. I can fix that." He smiled a little. "What about Roy?"

JoAnne squeezed Roy's hand. "Still unconscious."

Dr. Brackett walked over to the downed paramedic laying perfectly still in the bed. He took the small penlight from his coat pocket and checked Roy's pupils. "Pupillary response is a little sluggish, but between the concussion and anesthesia this is to be expected." Placing the stethoscope in his ears he proceeded to listen to Roy's chest and compare what he heard to the display on the cardiac monitor. "Heart rate is regular and strong." He then ran the bell across Roy's chest to listen to his lungs. "Lungs are clear. No sign of edema."

Both JoAnne and Johnny relaxed upon hearing the good news. "When do you think he'll wake up Dr. Brackett?" JoAnne gripped Roy's hand a little tighter.

"I would wager he'll wake up sometime tomorrow morning. But I'm not worried. He needs to rest." He walked over to Johnny's bed. "Now, let's take the edge off the pain."

"Doc, I really appreciate it." Johnny forced an optimistic grin. "Think I could call the guys at the station and let them know the good news?"

Dixie chimed in. "Don't you worry about it. I promised your captain I'd call as soon as there was an update, and I always keep my word."

The engine and squad pulled into the station. Small trails of ash and dust followed the two vehicles as they took their respective places in the garage.

One by one the crew members slowly exited their vehicles and made their way into the day room. Chet was rubbing at his shoulder as he plopped down the leather sofa. "Aw man, today was just one bad day!"

"Tell me about it!" Marco sat on the couch next to his friend. "First the day was quiet, then we get that weird cancelled call, and then the..." He trailed off.

"Accident." Chet finished for Marco.

"Yeah, and now we just dealt with one of the strangest fires we'll ever see!"

Joel and Clay, unfamiliar with the history of the station's more interesting calls, listened on curiously from the kitchen counter.

Mike sat down at the kitchen table and shut his eyes. "How do you suppose one kid with a book of matches managed to catch a pet store on fire?"

"I have no idea." Chet remarked bemused. "But man, the stench from the burning chew toys and bedding, I can still smell it!"

Marco laughed a little. "What about the poor little critters who got their fur singed?"

"Burnt hair is the WORST smell of all time! Nothing can top that!"

Captain Stanley had been standing in the doorway during the odd conversation. He was too wound up, too restless to sit down with the rest of his crew. He noticed Joel and Clay keeping quiet at the far end of the kitchen. "Well, it's a rare day when we respond to a fire without our paramedics going into action."

Clay brushed his sweaty, dirty blonde hair out of his eyes and looked over at Captain Stanley. "I'll take a day without an ambulance ride to the hospital any time."

"Speaking of the hospital..." Captain Stanley looked at the nearby phone on the wall. "Dixie should be calling any-"

The phone started ringing.

"Minute." He finished before answering the phone. "Station 51, Captain Stanley speaking."

The rest of the crew intently listened to the one sided conversation.

"Dixie, how are they?" As Dixie explained to him the positive prognosis over the phone Captain Stanley visibly relaxed both physically and emotionally. "That's great Dixie! When can we see them?"

As soon as Captain Stanley's voice took on a more positive tone the rest of the crew also relaxed, their tension fading away.

"Great! We'll stop by after shift change tomorrow morning, thanks again Dixie!" He hung up the phone and turned to his crew with charmed grin. "Shouldn't you guys be cleaning up that filthy engine?"

"Yes sir!" Chet had never been so happy to get the word to wash the rig. "Gotta' make sure 'Big Red' is looking his best."

Morning rays basked over the hospital and brightened the recovery room with warm light.

Johnny opened his eyes as the sunlight crept across his face. Using his good hand to shield his eyes he looked over at his partner in the opposite bed. JoAnne was curled up asleep in a chair next to the bed, her hand still holding onto Roy's.

"Mornin' partner." He clumsily pushed himself into an upright position in his bed. "Another beautiful day outside, you should really take a look."

JoAnne was gently roused by Johnny's morning greeting to Roy.

"I'm sorry JoAnne, I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's alright. I wanted to call the kids before Mother sent them off to school, anyway." She sat up straight in the chair and ran her hand through her messy hair.

Dr. Early walked into the room, glad to see Johnny awake. "Johnny, how do you feel this morning?"

"Besides tired, achy and a little homesick? Pretty good."

"Is your arm bothering you?"

"No, not really." He looked down at his heavily bandaged arm. "When do I get the hard cast?"

"Soon enough. Eager to leave us already?" He teased as he checked the sutures in Johnny's arm for signs of infection.

"Nothing personal doc, I just hate being a patient."

"We all do..." A hoarse, muffled voice unexpectedly quipped.

Johnny looked over hopefully at his partner in the opposite bed. JoAnne was gently running her fingers through Roy's hair. "Roy? Can you hear me?"

As Dr. Early crossed the room to check on Roy, the red haired paramedic opened his blue eyes and focused on JoAnne's face. "Roy! I'm so glad to see you're finally awake."

"JoAnne? Dr. Early?" His confusion was evident. "What happened?" His voice regained strength and volume.

"You're in the hospital." JoAnne tearfully responded. "You've been unconscious since the accident."

"Accident?" He tensed up but Dr. Early kept him from moving too much by putting his hand reassuringly on Roy's shoulder.

"It's alright Roy. You're going to be fine and so is Johnny."

"Johnny?" He looked over at his partner in the other bed and pulled the oxygen mask from his face. "We were in an accident?"

"Yeah. After we got the cancelled call on the back roads we got 't-boned' by a drunk driver."

"Back roads..." Roy was struggling to remember. "We were responding to a... a gas leak, right?"

"Right." Johnny confirmed.

"They cancelled... we were on our way back to the station... and then it's all a blank." He put his hand to his forehead and felt the thick white bandage over his eye. "Ow..."

Dr. Early took the opportunity to check Roy's eyes. "Concussion. You're going to have one beauty of a headache for the next few days."

"How about you, partner?"

"Broken arm, but compared to your broken ribs and punctured lung..."

Roy slowly became aware of the heavy bandages wrapped around his chest and the increasing ache in his side. "Ah man, I missed everything good." He tried to joke, but on the inside he was shaking at the revelation of the previous days' events.

JoAnne wrapped her arms around him and hugged him lightly. "Not everything." She corrected.

There was a knock at the door and Captain Stanley pushed the door open slightly. "Hey, you guys okay with a few visitors before visiting hours?"

Dr. Early looked toward the door. "I think we can make an exception."

"Thanks." He stepped into the room, dressed in his civilian clothing along with the rest of the crew, including Joel and Clay. "Johnny, and Roy! About time you woke up."

"So I've been told!" Roy jested. He leaned back against his pillow as the pain from the concussion made itself known.

"You two scared us yesterday." Captain Stanley admitted. "So, as your superior officer I forbid you from ever getting hit by a car ever again!"

Johnny chuckled a little. "We'll do our best, but we can't answer on behalf of all the lousy drivers in the county."

"When can I expect to see you two back at work?"

"Uh..." Johnny hadn't even given work a second thought.

Dr. Early spoke up. "It's going to be at least six weeks. But most likely eight."

"Eight weeks?!" Johnny didn't like the sound of that.

"Well, with your arm out of commission and will very likely require some physical therapy, you should consider eight weeks a blessing. Not to mention your partner's ribs and both of your concussions."

"Yeah, I guess so."

Chet saw his opportunity to mess with his favorite 'pigeon' and he took it. "Relax Johnny, I'm sure Joel and Clay here will be more than adequate replacements. Maybe even permanently!" He draped his arms around the two quiet paramedics' shoulders.

"Oh 'ha ha' Chet, is that anyway to talk to an injured man?" Johnny tried to guilt.

"Hey, I'm just passing on a message from 'The Phantom'." Marco elbowed Chet in his ribs. "What?"

"That's the only advantage to staying at Rampart, no phantoms!"

With the moment significantly lighter and full of good humor JoAnne kissed Roy's forehead. "I'm going to call the kids and tell them the good news."

"Can I talk to them?" Roy almost pleaded as he did his best to hide his intensifying headache.

"I'll bring them over after school. Then you can talk to them for as long as you like." She smiled as she left the room.

Captain Stanley could see that Johnny and Roy were both in pain but trying to hide their discomfort. "You two need to rest, and so do we. We'll see you guys later, alright?"

"Alright Cap." Johnny replied happily.

"And if you guys need anything, just call. Okay?"

"Thanks Cap." Roy answered sleepily.

"Good. See you later." The crew took the cue and followed Captain Stanley out of the room.

Dr. Early looked down at his watch. "Dr. Brackett and Dixie should be arriving soon. I'm going to update them and check on my other patients. Do you need anything before I go?"

"Aspirin?" Roy asked.

"Sure. I'll have a nurse bring it in."

"Thanks Doc."

All the visitors left the room, leaving Johnny and Roy alone together.

"Hey Johnny, you were right."

"About what?" He turned his attention to his partner.

"You said that our cancelled call wouldn't be the most interesting event of the day."

Johnny grinned a little, but it soon faded as the lingering guilt came to the surface. "Roy, I'm really sorry I couldn't help you yesterday."

"What are you talking about?" Roy shot his partner a confused look. "You were in the squad, too."

"I know. But it's just..."

"Will you please stop doing that to yourself?"

"Doing what?"

"Blaming yourself for things you can't possibly control." He closed his eyes and tried to ignore the pain in his head.

Johnny laughed a little. "That makes four."

"Four?"

"You, Cap, Dix and Doctor Early all told me the same thing."

"Take the hint partner!" He teased. "If you don't break this bad habit I could start doing it too, and then what?"

"I don't know. Get transferred and start working with Brice?"

"I already have a headache, don't even bring up that 'walking migraine'!"

-The End

Author's Note: I just wanted to take the time to thank everyone who read this story and I want to thank everyone who left a review. I really do appreciate all reviews, it helps me to learn what aspects of my story brought the readers in and what portions of the story failed to capture or hold the readers' interests.

Live & Learn, Trial & Error.

As for the completely innocent misunderstanding in the reviews, a 'Guest' reviewer mistakenly thought I had deleted their comment but it was simply unseen on their phone screen. There was no offense or really a need to apologize. It was a very noble gesture to admit your mistake and apologize and I thank you for it, but again, it was an innocent misunderstanding so the apology wasn't necessary. And yes, I notice the hypocritical notion of bringing up something I stated was unnecessary. I just wanted to help clear the air.

No worries!

For future reference I don't delete any reviews from anyone for any reason. Why? Because everyone is entitled to an opinion, regardless of how popular or unpopular said opinion may be. If I wasn't ready for negative responses I wouldn't submit anything to the internet! Just sayin'...

And for the numerous 'Guests'... It's not possible to respond to your reviews directly, which may seem as though you're being ignored. You're not. It's just not possible to reply to anyone who doesn't have an official account. No big deal.

Anyway, thanks again everyone! I really appreciate all the comments and enthusiasm! Knowing that even one person is excited to keep reading the story gives me a creative adrenaline boost!

My 'inner-Loki' thanks you too! He's the one who insists on the cliffhangers! ;)