A/N: The truth is this story fell off the rails, but my son has asked me to read it to him and we are up to chapter 10. I have decided to pull it out and finish it up so that when we get to this point there is something there for him to read. Real life, for quite a while, made writing not so much of an option. Well real life has changed yet again and maybe now I can devote a little more time to older unfinished projects. This being one of them.

Oh yeah, little surprise for readers. The native language that Johnny used back in chapter 9 or 10 is explained in this chapter.

Happy New Year to everyone.

Checks and Balances

Chapter 13

The wait for Johnny to wake up was shorter than Roy had anticipated. By six thirty the young man began to stir and Roy contacted the nurse asking her to inform Dr. Brackett whom he knew had not left the hospital. Roy stood next to Johnny's bed and watched his partner closely, smiling broadly when his eyes fluttered open.

"Hey there, Junior. It's about time you woke up." he intoned softly.

Johnny's eyes were unfocused and darted around as though searching for something.

"Johnny? Hey it's okay." Roy said, feeling fear prickle his senses.

Johnny didn't respond or even seem to hear him. He raised a hand as though shielding himself from some unseen threat. Roy didn't know what to do other than to take hold of his friend's hand and squeeze it reassuringly just as Dr. Brackett stepped through the door.

"Nindedem?" John's voice was horse and weak, but what disturbed Roy was how terrified his partner sounded. He looked up to Dr. Brackett silently pleading for answers.

The doctor stepped forward and shown a pen light into Johnny's eyes checking for pupil reaction. John pushed back in the bed away from the offending light his eyes wide with fear. He ripped his hand out of Roy's grasp with surprising strength and swatted the pen light from Dr. Brackett.

"Whoa, there hose jockey, settle down now. You're okay. You're safe here." The beeping from John's heart monitor began racing wildly and his breathing became rapid and shallow. "Dixie, get me 2 mg of Ativan stat. Roy try to talk to him. If he doesn't calm down he'll pull that chest tube out!"

Dr. Brackett moved back out of the way and Roy stepped into Johnny's line of vision. "Johnny! Hey, Johnny, you need to calm down. I'm right here, pally." Roy, said as he took hold of Johnny's hand again.

Johnny's eyes tracked over to Roy, but the senior paramedic got the distinct impression that John wasn't actually seeing him. Dr. Brackett had just seen a pupil reaction so blindness wasn't the issue. John's breathing was becoming labored as he panicked and Roy knew he needed to get him to slow down now before he could damage his already compromised lungs. Roy leaned forward close to Johnny's face and spoke softly as he had done with his own children when they woke up, disturbed by night terrors.

"Shhh, slow it down now, partner. I'm right here, I'm not going to leave you. Just breath for me, Johnny. Breath with me." Roy said as he inhaled deeply and slowly.

Dixie rushed back into the room with the sedative that Dr. Brackett had ordered and he inserted it into the IV. The effect was immediate, and worked in conjunction with Roy's calming breathing instructions. Johnny began to slow down his breathing and the tension began to seep away from his body as his eyes started drooping.

Roy stood up looking at Dr. Brackett as he lowered Johnny's hand to the bed, but the young man wouldn't let go. His eyes were now closed and his breathing had slowed dramatically. The heart monitor had also begun to slow its tempo to a more manageable rate.

Once he was calmed down and sleeping Dr. Brackett moved over to Johnny's side and peeled the bandaging away from the chest tube. It was clear that the infection was reasserting itself judging by the red irritated skin around the tube's insertion site.

"Damn it. Dix get me a temp on him and lets switch up the antibiotics again."

Dixie slid a thermometer into the young man's mouth while Dr. Brackett applied new clean dressings to the tube site.

"He's back up to 101.5, Kel."

"Okay lets get some cold compresses for him and keep the cooling measures in place. The fever isn't too high, but we don't want it getting any higher."

Roy wasn't able to keep the despair from his voice, "He didn't recognize me, Doc. He went too long with out oxygen, didn't he?"

Dr. Brackett shook his head. "Now don't you lose hope, Roy. He is spiking another fever and that will add to his disorientation. This kind of thing isn't so uncommon after what he's been through. We won't be able to asses his neurological condition until he fully wakes up. I know how frightening that was, but it is progress, Roy. He woke on his own. If we can completely knock down the fever the next time he wakes, he will hopefully be more oriented."

Roy stayed long into the night as Johnny slept fitfully re-applying the cold compresses to his forehead. The sedation kept him under for a few hours, but once it had worn off the younger man seemed to be disturbed by bad dreams. Dr. Brackett did eventually go home to get some sleep, having been at the hospital for nearly 48 hours, but Roy didn't want to risk leaving in case Johnny woke again terrified of his surroundings.

The first rays of the morning sun peeked in through the window blinds casting a soft light over the room. One of the morning shift nurses came in to take Johnny's vital signs which roused Roy who had fallen asleep in the chair next to his friend's bed. Once she completed her task and was ready to leave, Roy asked her what his temperature was.

"He is stable at 99.8"

Roy nodded and thanked her feeling better about the situation. He sat up and stretched his back working out the knots from sleeping in a plastic chair. He wanted coffee but was a little nervous about leaving. The need for liquid caffeine won out and he rose quietly slipping out to head to the lounge in the ER. He did stop by the nursing station first to let the charge nurse know that he would be right back and was pleased to find that the crabby nurse who argued with Dr. Brackett about Roy's visitation was off duty.

Dr. Morton was sitting in the lounge when Roy stepped in. "You're here early DeSoto?"

Roy grabbed a mug from the cupboard and poured himself cup while he spoke. "I never left."

Morton raised his eyebrows, "You've been here all night? How is Gage anyway?"

Roy sat at the table and sighed. "Honestly, I don't know. He woke up last evening for a few minutes, but..."

Curiosity prompted Morton to push. "But what? What happened?"

"He spiked another fever, he was disoriented and pretty much freaked out. He didn't recognize me; he even said something, but it didn't make any sense."

"Really? What did he say?"

Roy shook his head, "I don't know, something like 'nin day dame'. Like I said it didn't make any sense."

Morton looked thoughtful for a moment. "Maybe it wasn't just nonsense, Roy. Dr. Brackett mentioned that when Johnny was really out of it that first night and spoke in some kind of native tongue. Maybe this 'nin day dame' is something in... um, say what tribe does Gage come from anyway?"

"He grew up on a ranch on the Chippewa Cree reservation up in Montana. He doesn't talk too much about his years growing up there and I never thought he knew another language until now."

Morton got up and put his cup by the pot on the counter. He turned and stepped over to Roy and clapped him on the shoulder. "Try to stay positive, Roy. In the years that I have known you guys I've never seen anyone with more luck than that partner of yours. He has more lives than a cat. I'm sure he'll pull through this."

"Yeah... yeah I'm sure you're right."

Roy didn't sound convinced even to his own ears but thinking the worst was not going to do him or Johnny any good. He set his own mug back on the counter and moved over to the phone to call Joann to check up on her, and apologize for not coming home the previous night.

As Roy left the lounge he ran into Dixie just coming on shift. "Hey, Roy, I see you didn't go home last night? How's he doing?"

"Well his temp is down to 99.8 so that's something. I want to get back up there in case he wakes up."

"Okay, Roy. I'll stop up in a little while with some breakfast for you okay?"

"Thanks, Dix. That would be great."

As he made his way to the elevator he stopped at the sound of his name being called.

"Hey, Roy."

Bob Bellingham was walking toward him with Craig Brice in tow. "How's Johnny doing?"

Roy stepped away from the elevator and off to the side to get out of the way of others who needed to use the lift.

"Hi, Bob." Roy decided to stay positive with his response, taking Cap's advice to heart. "His fever broke yesterday, but spiked up again last evening. It was down to 99.8 this morning though so that's a step in the right direction."

Bob switched the HT from one hand to the other and leaned up against the wall. "Man that was something with that hospital investigator. I heard the brass pulled out all the stops in your defense."

Brice spoke up then "Animal, the captain told us that we weren't supposed to discuss this especially not with..."

"Oh stow it, Brice." Bellingham interrupted. "The entire department is talking about it. Man, I can't believe they tried to serve you up like that."

Roy was starting to feel a little uncomfortable with the direction the conversation had gone in. He had not really thought much about that 'investigator' and preferred not to.

Brice wasn't quelled so easily, however and added, "It isn't so surprising that the administration wanted to conduct an investigation, Animal. We aren't trained to preform procedures like a thoracostomy."

Bob, the Animal, Bellingham turned directly to his partner towering over the smaller man. "What, you think Roy should have let Johnny die, just because of some rules in a book?" He turned back to Roy adding "Don't listen to him, Roy. He's just jealous that he didn't get the chance to do the thoracostomy himself."

"No of course I don't think he should have let Gage die. And I'm not jealous!" Brice added, in a petulant tone.

The Animal just raised an eyebrow at his partner who added, "Okay, I'll admit that it would have been fascinating to be a part of that particular rescue. It was a once in a life-time opportunity!"

Roy's mouth dropped open at that comment. "You have got to be kidding. Once in a life time? Once is too many times. I never ever want to have to do that again, Brice. Certainly not on my best friend and partner."

Roy saw a strange look pass over Brice's face before he turned and headed back down the hall toward the ambulance bay doors. Roy turned a questioning glance at Bellingham. "What's with him?"

Bob shrugged. "You should hear him go on about you and Johnny and station 51. You guys have something unique and Brice is able to see that, even if he has no idea how to go about finding it for himself. I don't think he has a best friend."

Roy looked past Bob at Brice as he walked down the hallway. He felt badly for the man, and it made him realize how lucky he was having a partner like Johnny and crew mates like the rest of the men of A shift.

"Well, I'd better get back up to ICU. Take it easy Bob."

"Yeah, you too, Roy. Tell Johnny we're all thinking about him will ya?"

Roy pushed the button to call the elevator. "I'll tell him. He'd like to hear that I think."

When Roy got back to Johnny's room the younger man was sleeping peacefully. Roy placed his hand on John's forehead checking his temperature. It wasn't that he didn't believe the nurse from earlier, it's just that he wanted to really know for himself that Johnny's situation had improved as he had told the men from 110. There was nothing like the hands on approach to accomplish that.

Roy was certain that Johnny would wake up soon now that his fever was almost gone but the younger man slept on. Dixie brought Roy some breakfast as she had promised which he was grateful for. At nearly 10:30 Dr. Brackett as well as Dr. Morton came into the ICU to check on Johnny's condition.

"Hey, Doc, shouldn't he be waking up by now?" Roy asked with some trepidation.

"I wouldn't get too worried yet, Roy. It's still early and he's still a little warm." Dr. Brackett said as he looked over Johnny's chart before checking the chest tube site.

Roy stepped back out of the way to give Dr. Brackett room. Dr. Morton pulled Roy further to the side and spoke quietly. "I called a friend of mine at Berkley. He is a native American who is proficient in many of the different Native tongues. Kel, gave me that tape of what John was saying that first night and I played it for him."

Roy's interest was genuinely piqued now. "Yeah, what did your friend say?"

"Johnny thought he was talking to his father. Do his parents live on the reservation in Montana?"

Roy frowned. "Johnny's folks died when he was still a boy. He moved out here to California when he was seventeen or eighteen to live with his aunt. She passed a while back. What exactly did he say?"

"Well Nindedem means father. He must have been hallucinating something terrifying because on the recording he said 'Father stay with me', 'I'm afraid', then 'Father help me'. The language he was using was Ojibwe which has several different dialects. The Chippewa Cree from the northern states use the dialect that was recorded on that tape." Dr. Morton looked over at the sleeping young man and shook his head slightly. "And you never knew he could speak a native tongue?"

"No. Never had any idea. Like I said Johnny doesn't really talk much about his childhood. I mean I know he grew up on the reservation on a ranch. I know he isn't too crazy about anthropologists, and he used to ride horses when he was a kid, but other than that we mostly talk about the girls he dates, some of his crazy money making ideas, things with the department, you know, current stuff."

"It isn't surprising that he was seeing images of his parents while he was delirious. It would be interesting to see how much of that language he remembers when he wakes up." Dr. Morton turned to leave but stopped when Roy touched his arm.

"What do you mean how much he remembers? Obviously he remembers the language because he spoke it."

Dr. Morton put his hand up to his chin. "Not necessarily. He may not consciously remember much at all, and remember he didn't say a whole lot when he was ranting. Just a few basic phrases that he may have used when he was a small child. The subconscious mind is a wealth of information that we cannot always access consciously when we want to. Like I said, it would be interesting to find out what he actually remembers when he wakes up."

"You'd better be careful about questions like that, Doc. Johnny might put you in the same category as 'the anthros'!" Roy smirked at the man as he turned to leave.

Roy was still thinking about what Dr. Morton had said when he heard Dr. Bracket say, "Welcome back."

Roy moved quickly over to the opposite side of the bed. Johnny was looking around slowly taking in his surroundings. He glanced up at Roy and said in a weak and strained voice, "It worked?"

Roy frowned at the question not having any idea what his partner was asking about. He shook his head but before he could say anything Johnny continued.

"The alarm. I pulled the alarm?"

Relief washed over Roy making his knees go weak and he sat down in the chair next to the bed. If Johnny's first question was about what he had done moments before he lost consciousness, then he had not suffered any kind of significant brain damage.

Johnny tried to sit up but couldn't manage it. "Now just hold on there. You aren't quite ready to get out of bed yet!" Dr. Brackett said, although his tone was colored with relief.

Roy reached over and adjusted the pillows behind Johnny adding another to help him sit up a little straighter. "Yeah, you scared the begeebiz out of Cap. He's never had the internal fire alarm go off before, not even when Chet set his skis on fire."

The worry and fear that had plagued Roy for the last forty eight hours welled up suddenly and Roy's eyes grew bright with suppressed tears.

Johnny looked a little scared by Roy's reaction. "Roy? What happened?"

Try as he might the tightly controlled emotions were impossible to hide completely. "You scared me, Junior. I thought... "

Roy stopped speaking because he knew that he would lose it if he finished that statement.

"How bad did it get?"

It was a simple enough question and Roy wasn't completely surprised by it, but he had no real idea how to answer. Between the guilt of missing the relevance of Johnny's symptoms, the shock of finding him in respiratory arrest on the floor of the station, preforming the thoracostomy, the investigations and allegations, and the very real fear of losing Johnny for good made that very simple question incredibly difficult to answer. Luckily he didn't have to, at least not at that moment because Dr. Brackett spoke.

"Bad enough. How do you feel, Johnny?"

"Like I fell off a building AND got run over by a truck. What happened?"

Dr. Brackett smiled at Johnny's sarcastic reply. "You had a tension pneumothorax that steadily grew over the course of the evening after you fell from that roof. When you went to sleep it caused your lung to completely collapse. Roy had to preform an emergency throacostomy. You developed an infection and things got a bit dicey from that point."

Johnny turned wide eyes to his partner. "You stuck a needle in my chest?"

"Roy saved your life, Johnny. You never would have made it to the hospital if he hadn't." Dr. Brackett said a little defensively.

"Man, what a trip that must have been." John turned to Roy. "Thanks, man."

Dr. Brackett cleared his throat to get both men's attention. "Johnny, we are going to need to run some neurological tests, just to be sure everything is all right." He looked up at Roy. "Why don't you give Joann a call and the rest of the guys. They'll want to know that it looks like John here will make a complete recovery."

Roy nodded understanding that Dr. Brackett wanted to have some time to evaluate Johnny. "Yeah, that would be a good idea. Hey, see you later, okay?" he added as he turned to leave.

TBC