It's Not My Job
These fellows don't belong to me but I promise when I'm done to pick um up, dust um off and return them safely home.
"Ideologies separate us. Dreams and anguish bring us together." Eugene Ionesco.
Again, thanks to everyone for the reviews they helped more than you can imagine, to encourage, to make me laugh along with you and to teach me. Hope to see you again soon with my next story.
Final Chapter
Five weary firemen sat around the quiet, empty waiting room. They waited to hear about their friend, their brother in arms and an essential member of their family. In command was Hank Stanley. A man who had already come to admire this group of hose jockeys in such a short time. He felt that these 24 hours had been a test for them in many ways and as he looked around at their faces he needed to know, did they all pass tonight? What had transpired this shift went beyond comprehension, beyond family and beyond devotion. These men had an unfaltering dedication to each other that Hank had never experienced before. Knowing what was going through there heads was crucial to him so that he could be the best leader possible for them. Looking over at Johnny he knew that the young man was distressed over the last few hours and Hank felt no need to push him over the edge. He sat back in his chair and cleared his throat.
"I think it's fair to say that something happened to all of us tonight." He looked at each man and saw the uneasiness flash across their faces. They looked tired and beaten down but Hank knew they had to talk about it. "No one has to talk about it if they don't want to but I want to." With him starting first it seemed to put them at ease a little.
"I've worked in fire houses for nearly 15 years now. As you know this is my first command position. I came to station 51 with grand plans to make it better. To, make my mark here. But this shift has taught me something that I didn't prepare for…." He paused.
They looked at him with concern, not knowing what was coming next. But before he could finish Johnny's inner turmoil rushed out of his mouth, "Cap, it's all my fault. I've made your start at 51 terrible. I thought I could do it without your help or your guidance. I was so busy trying to prove something that I almost lost my partner and best friend." He hesitated as he debated about telling them. "But something happened to me tonight too. A dream, well, more like a nightmare where I was the captain and everything was wrong." He was pacing by now trying to sort it all out in his fatigued brain. Johnny looked up to find everyone staring at him with looks of astonishment. "What?" he asked them.
Chet spoke first, "You had a dream where you were Captain?"
"Yea," Johnny shook his head. "It was terrible, everyone was doing the wrong thing, we made a terrible team, no one was really happy. No matter what I did we didn't mesh."
Marco whispered, looking at Johnny, "I dreamt I was a paramedic." Then he looked at Mike.
Mike looked like he was afraid to move. If it was ever possible for Mike to be speechless then it was now. All he could do was shake his head yes to Marco. Hank sat back in his chair and watched the discussion before him in astonishment.
"Wait, wait." Johnny said, waving his arms around. "In my dream Mike and Marco were the paramedics and Chet was engineer." He was sure they were getting their dreams mixed up with his because they were all so tired.
Chet wavered in his seat, turning pale, "How is that possible? How can we have all had the same dream?"
Johnny sat down again, "Mine was more than a dream." He couldn't look at his friends, "It was a nightmare."
It was silent and looking up he could see fear in his friend's eyes. Was it possible that they had the same experience he did? He looked at Mike. Mike sat up straight and spoke softly, "Roy died."
No one knew what to say. It was true. They had shared the same nightmare, the same death. It was obvious that each one had suffered the loss.
Hank was right. Something had happened to all of them tonight. He leaned forward again. "Johnny you said that in the dream nothing was right and everyone was unhappy. Were you were unhappy with your position as Captain?"
He shook his head, "Yea Cap. Mike and Marco were the paramedic's and I wanted to be one too but it didn't seem right. Now I realize it was because I wouldn't have had the right partner."
Hank turned to Mike and Marco, "Were you two happy?"
They shook their heads. "I felt lost not being engineer," Mike said.
Marco agreed, "Being a paramedic wasn't natural for me, like it is for Johnny and Roy."
"Chet?" Hank asked but Chet remained quiet.
Johnny looked concerned, "You ok Chet?"
Chet blinked and looked around at his family, "I finally had the job I always wanted but I remember how it felt when I realized that I wasn't ready for it. Don't you get it guys? Something happened to us last night. People just don't all have the same dream."
Hank held his hand up. "I think we are all missing something even bigger here fellows. In our dreams we were disjointed and out of place. I was a fireman again which wasn't a bad thing." He looked at Johnny, "But I didn't know anyone especially Roy. So none of us worked as a team, a family and because of that we lost someone close to us." He could see that they all had the same Roy experience. "But what happened when you woke up Johnny? I found you in the locker room talking to Roy when the tones went off."
Johnny looked up with realization, "My dream told me he died but as soon as I woke up something told me he wasn't really gone. But when I found him I knew something was wrong. Something he'd been hiding from me all day. I knew in my gut."
Hank shook his head, "And that gut knowledge is what got him to this hospital alive this time." It was obvious that the nightmare had shaken all the men in many ways. "And what I was trying to say before was that working with you today has taught me that I would be a fool to try and change anything here. I've never seen a tighter crew than this one and I feel honored to be a part of it."
Johnny smiled, "Cap, I can never tell you how glad I am that you have the job and not me. I'm not ready to take the lead in all matters. I think you've already proven to us that you belong at 51." He reached out to shake the Captain's hand. One by one the men stood up and shook Hank's hand, welcoming him to the family of station 51 A-shift.
Mike and Marco came over to Johnny, "We just wanted to tell you that we're grateful that you're the paramedic because we seem to have trouble with band aides." The three men laughed. Marco added, "And never let Mike drive with squad please." Mike eagerly confirmed that with a nod.
Chet came into the little group, "Uh, Johnny. Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure Chet, what's up?" Johnny was a tad nervous but willing to listen.
"I just wanted to apologize for saying you'd never make captain. Cause I do believe that when you are ready you will make a great Captain." Chet looked at his shifting feet.
Johnny knew it took a lot from Chet to say that and he wasn't gonna give him a hard time over it. "Thanks Chet and the same goes with you. When you're ready, you will make a great engineer."
Chet looked up and smiled.
"But Chet?"
"Yea John?"
"One request for you"
Chet looked suspicious, "Okay."
"No matter what, please don't make Mike stop polishing the engine, ok?" Johnny shot him a crooked smile and a wink.
"I heard that!" Mike balked from across the room.
Everyone relaxed and pulled their chairs closer and talked and talked. Again Hank watched the little band of brothers and knew that he was in the right place, with the right men.
Even though Johnny was deep in a discussion with Chet over why pranks didn't work on Hank he heard the elevator ding. Turning while still talking he looked over to see Kelly and Joe coming off the elevator. They were pulling off their surgical hats, the masks lying on their chest still tied around their necks. Johnny's vision became tunnel; it seemed they were walking into his dream. The doctors were talking and didn't realize that five sets of eyes were following every step that they took.
Johnny stood up and walked towards them but found he couldn't talk. The memory of the 'last time' in the waiting room weighed heavy on each mans heart but no more than it did on Johnny's. Hank could see the young paramedic faltering and spoke up himself, "Doc?"
Kelly looked up showing the exhaustion in his face. "It was rough on him, and he lost a lot of blood before we could get him closed up. He bruised and lacerated his liver, has 2 broken ribs and he was pretty beaten up over it all. But he's going to be ok."
The wave of elation that swept through the waiting room was almost overwhelming. Those two doctors had no idea what the men had gone through. Johnny felt like he was going to pass out but felt Hank move up beside him and take his arm for support.
Hank asked, "When can we see him?"
Joe Early rubbed his eyes, "They'll move him to the ICU in the next hour and then you can see him for a few minutes. He won't be awake and he's still on the ventilator. Keep it just a few minutes then you can come back later today when he's awake. He was at the point of exhaustion and needs to rest."
"Sure doc, no problem. We just need to know he's ok." Hank said.
Chet realized that Johnny was still quiet. Placing his hand on the paramedic's shoulder, "He's gonna be ok Johnny. You can relax now."
Johnny just shook his head and Chet saw the tears well up in his eyes.
Hank pushed open the door to the ICU room where Roy was sleeping. He was still on the ventilator and heavily sedated, surrounded by monitors and machines.
"Roy, we're all here for ya pally, ok? We waited while you were having surgery and Joanne is on the way too. One of us will stay here in case you need anything at all." Hank sniffed back a tear, "We're glad you decided to stay with us this time buddy."
He turned and moved out of the way so that each one could say goodnight to him.
Marco took his hand and whispered a prayer for him then squeezed his hand gently, "We'll be back to see ya Roy. Get better soon."
Mike leaned on the bed some and whispered in his ear so that no one could hear him, "Hurry back Roy, I hate driving the Squad."
Chet was next and was more self-conscious about everyone looking at him, "Hurry back Roy, poking the pigeon without out you around just isn't as much fun."
Last was Johnny, "Cap, I want first watch with him."
For some reason Hank wasn't at all surprised. "Sure John. Let us know if he needs anything. We will be back later today to check on him ok?"
"Ok, Cap and ….thanks." He spoke words that were heartfelt and full of gratitude.
Johnny pulled up a chair and sat beside the bed. He took Roy's hand, "The last time I did this it was to say goodbye to ya. I don't know if I will ever be able to tell you about what really happened tonight to me. But just know I don't want to ever have to do it again. I told cap I learned a lesson tonight but I really learned two Pally. First, I'm not the Captain and I know now I don't want to be. Not yet anyway. But more importantly I learned that I will never intentionally let you down again. I hope that when you are back at work you will be able to tell me whenever you need me so that this won't happen again. Damn it Roy, it's my job to protect you and I failed. Not once, but I somehow managed to do it twice tonight. You said you did this for me and I can never tell you how much that means to me. But honestly don't do it again. I mean I don't want to sound ungrateful but I just don't think I can take it." He patted Roy's arm then laid his head down on the side of the bed where exhaustion took him to the land of dreams again. But this time they were dreams of peace.
Hank had come to tell Johnny one last thing when he overheard the exchange. He might never fully comprehend the depth of their friendship but he knew he would never again doubt it.
EPILOGUE:
Johnny sat at Roy's bedside laughing at the commercial on TV while Roy ate lunch.
"You gonna eat that?" he asked just after picking up the roll from Roy's tray.
"Guess not," Roy mumbled.
Johnny garbled through a mouthful, "If you want it just say so."
"No, please, help yourself." Roy tried to be annoyed but just couldn't. After a week he finally felt human again and even Johnny's childish behavior didn't perturb him right now.
Hearing a knock at the door, "Come in," Roy called out.
He had a big grin on his face to see Mike, Marco and Hank come in. "Heya there Roy, how ya feeling today?"
"Good, feeling pretty good Cap. Thanks for coming." Roy was glad for the visit but realized that someone was missing. "Where's Chet?"
"Oh, he's coming. So when you getting out of here?" Marco asked.
"Hopefully this week."
They all turned to a rumbling, bumping, and grumbling sound coming from the door. Chet stuck his head in, "Got something for ya Roy."
In comes Chet with his arms around the neck of a stuffed animal that was as big as he was. All Johnny could do was laugh but then quickly looked at Roy afraid he would be mad at him for telling.
Chet sat the giant sized stuffed purple elephant at the end of Roy's bed, "Geeze, don't let this fall on ya, you'll be in the hospital for another 2 weeks."
Roy sat up and turned for a feigned leap at Johnny's throat making him jump up and tumble out of the chair. Tangling his foot in the bed's lowered railing he managed to knock the giant purple elephant down on top of him. Mike had jumped trying to catch him but only managed to about get knocked off his own feet with Marco having to catch him. Sitting on the floor Johnny groaned from his complaining back. Chet started laughing as he watched Johnny get more tangled as he tried to get untangled. His foot was now completely wrapped up in the sheet and he laid back, defeated in the fiasco. Hank furrowed his brow. This was his well oiled team? Then he laughed.
"Hey partner?"
"Yes Johnny?"
"Can you get this elephant off me?"
"Uh, what elephant would that be Junior?"
THE END