"A Family Affair"
Chapter Three
Hank Stanley locked his gaze upon the new arrivals.
Well, upon one of them, anyway.
John suddenly felt a tad anxious.
Judging by the firm set to his jaw, and the stern look in his eyes, their Captain appeared to be plenty 'steamed', all right.
"Chief Dalbert and Chief Racine…from headquarters," his upset Captain icily introduced, and motioned to the two men seated on his left. "Mr. Webber and Mr. Talverson…from Mark Goodson Television Studios," he continued, and motioned to the two 'suits' seated on his right. "Gentlemen," Stanley's gaze returned to the recent arrivals, "these are our paramedics, Roy DeSoto and…John Gage," the fire officer finished, even more frigidly.
Upon hearing the coldness in the introduction their Captain had given him, John Gage's soaring spirits suddenly sagged and the huge, lopsided grin vanished from his face. 'Uh oh…'
Hank's gaze remained riveted on the 'responsible party' and his dark eyes began to narrow. "Mr. Webber and Mr. Talverson have just informed us…that we will be spending part of our next shift's break…in Hollywood…filming a television game show."
DeSoto turned to his tight-lipped friend, looking totally flabbergasted.
The entire engine crew glared up at the dark-haired paramedic, looking every bit as angry as their Captain.
John's heart suddenly sank even lower in his chest. "You guys don't wanna do it?"
Marco Lopez rolled his eyes. "Now he asks."
His crewmates snorted their complete concurrence with his snide aside.
The 'ganged up on' fireman quickly shifted from feeling hurt to feeling defensive. "Well I—"
"—Save your breath, John," Mike Stoker interrupted, giving voice to his displeasure. "Apparently, it's already a 'done deal'."
"But I—", Gage began again, only to be cut short by his Captain.
"—Yeah. It's a little late to be asking for our input, pal."
Chet Kelly stood there, sadly shaking his head. "Gage just doesn't get it, Cap. As usual, he's completely clueless…"
"This whole business was all your idea, in the first place," Gage reminded his smug chum. He gave Kelly an annoyed glare of his own and then aimed an apologetic gaze at the remainder of his A-Shift 'family'. "Believe me. I get it. You guys don't wanna do it. Fi-ine! Then let's just forget the whole…thing." The fireman's attention suddenly focused upon their four completely bewildered visitors. "You could probably convince one of the other shifts to play," the paramedic helpfully pointed out. Then he spun on his heels and immediately took his leave.
Mr. Webber leaned toward Mr. Talverson and whispered in his left ear, "Gage was right. These guys are just like a real family."
DeSoto remained more mystified than miffed.
Just writing and sending the letters had gotten Gage so excited, that, for days—er, make that for weeks, it was all he had talked about.
The blond-haired paramedic prided himself on his ability to read his buddy like an open book. So then…how on earth had his 'transparent' partner ever managed to keep this particularly exciting bit of big news a complete secret from him? Roy's right eyebrow gradually edged upwards, as an entirely new notion began to niggle its way into his boggled brain. He directed his confused gaze, and a rather good question, toward the two big honchos from headquarters. "When did Johnny find out about all of this?" He knew he'd hit on the heart of the matter, when the fire department guys and the TV studio guys each turned to the other, hoping to hear an answer.
Looks of dawning understanding, and embarrassment, immediately filled their four visitors' faces.
"We were told that the Fire Department had already informed him," Mr. Talverson announced.
Chief Dalbert exhaled an audible sigh—of remorse. "We were assured that the Studio had notified him—weeks ago."
"So," Marco began, "John couldn't discuss it with us…"
"…Because he had no knowledge of it, himself," their Captain finished for him. Stanley locked gazes with the unjustly accused's partner. "Could you go ask Gage to come back in here?"
Roy replied with a nod of his head and then left to go fetch his friend.
The remaining members of Station 51's A-Shift exchanged glum glances.
"Why didn't he just tell us that he didn't know about it?" Kelly quietly inquired.
"We were so steamed, we didn't really give him much of chance to say anything," their engineer reminded him, his words filled with regret.
"He's gone," DeSoto breathlessly decreed, upon his prompt return.
Their Captain's troubled gaze settled upon the room's drawn blinds. "You sure?" he asked, sounding every bit as disappointed as he looked.
Roy nodded. "His Rover is no longer in the lot."
'Gage must have had a new muffler installed,' Hank silently, and rather sadly, realized, because he hadn't heard him drive by the building.
Mr. Webber considered the amount of time—and money—their studio had already invested in the project's pre-production and asked, point blank, "So-o…are you guys in?…or out?"
The Captain momentarily locked gazes with each and every one of his remaining men. "You heard the man. Are we in?…or out?"
Even though there would be no personal gain in it for them, and it would mean sacrificing one or more of their days off, A-Shift's resounding reply was unanimous.
Hank Stanley couldn't help but crack a smile. 'Ahhh,' the fire officer mused. 'The things we won't do for…family.'
TBC
