Chapter 5 & Conclusion

Emily Bishop navigated the long drive up to the house. It had been a few weeks since the bus accident and it was the first weekend she had free.

Since that moment in the hospital, Emily and Johnny have tried to meet each other often, whether it was for lunch or just a cup of coffee, anything that would help them get to know each other. Now it was time for Johnny and family to take her on the long awaited tour of Los Angeles.

Pulling up to the house, Emily could see Jennifer DeSoto sitting on the porch reading a book. Jenny glanced up and saw the car before closing her book and setting it off to the side. "Hi, Dr. Bishop."

Emily smiled. "Hi, Jenny. How's the arm today?"

"Good. Doesn't hurt like it did last week." Jenny tilted her head toward the house. "Would you like to come in for a drink? Uncle Johnny and Chris are finishing up chores and then have to clean up before we leave, so we may have to wait awhile."

"Sure." Emily followed the young girl inside the house. After letting Jenny know what she would like to have, she wondered over to where there were pictures on the mantle. She saw several different pictures of the three of them and two others she did not recognize. One picture caught her attention. It was a picture of a younger Jenny dancing with blond headed man.

Jenny handed Emily her tea and then looked at the picture that had captured the doctor's attention. "That's my favorite, and I think it was Daddy's, too."

"Is that your father?"

Jenny nodded. "Uncle Johnny loves to tell me the story of how he took that picture. Apparently both he and Daddy had a bunch of bad runs the night before. I was playing dress up, pretending to be Cinderella or something like that. I wanted to practice my dancing before the ball." A smile formed on her face. "Uncle Johnny says that Daddy was tired and didn't really want to, but somehow Uncle Johnny convinced him that it wouldn't do to disappoint a princess who wanted to dance with her father. I guess that did it because there is the picture. Uncle Johnny took it without us knowing at the time." Her face turned wistful. "I miss them."

Emily didn't have to ask who "them" was. She wrapped an arm around the young girl's shoulders, hugging her to her side. "I know, sweetie, I would be very surprised if you didn't."

At that moment, the boys came in from the barn. Not too much longer after that the group headed out for a day in Los Angeles.

October 1981

Johnny pulled his Land Rover into the yard in front of the house. It was later than he had wanted to come home, but it couldn't be helped. In the months since he had taken on the responsibilities of a paramedic supervisor, he had been able to work a more normal schedule than he did previously as a fire station captain. But some nights, it was required for him to spend some time in the field with new trainees to ensure they were coming up to speed and could handle the job. Tonight was one of those nights, just like last night.

After checking on the stables, Johnny walked back to the house and headed up the stairs. He checked first on Jenny, finding her already in bed asleep with "A Wrinkle in Time" still clutched in her hands. Johnny gently removed the book, marked it, and placed it by her bed before kissing her temple and turning off the lamp.

His next stop was Christopher's room. The fourteen year old had just started high school and seemed to always have a lot of homework to do. "Chris, be sure to turn in by 11," he reminded the youth.

"I will, Uncle Johnny." Chris looked up briefly thenreturned to his algebra.

"Hey," the blond head came back up, "nice job on the stables." Chris grinned at the compliment and returned diligently to his work.

Stopping by the kitchen, grabbing a drink for himself, Johnny headed out to the patio. It had been a hell of a day. Sinking down to the steps, he gazed up at the stars and began to tell Roy and Joanne about his day and how the kids were doing.

"Jenny is doing better. She's got great friend, her name is Margie. I think you would like her. Between her and Jenny, I'm reminded of how we were when we were first teamed up as partners. Act like it, too. Cast should come off in a few weeks. She'd called me earlier today. They're doing signups for a program called 4H. She wants to join. I'm checking it out, but what some others at work have told me it sounds like it'll be a good program for her to get involved in. She wants to learn how to help run the ranch better. Guess this could work. I'll let you know how that turns out.

"Chris is doing ok, too. Studies a lot. Told me the other day he's thinking of becoming a doctor so he wants to make sure he has good grades. He knows it'll cost to go college, but I won't let that deter him. I'll take out loans if I have to, but that boy and his sister will both go to college, just like you and Jo had planned."

Johnny paused and looked down at his hands, thinking of what had happened the night before. "Well, partner, I managed to sabotage another relationship. I don't think Emily is ever going to speak to me again. We were supposed to meet for dinner last night, but I got caught up with a crisis at work. By the time I remembered to call her, it was too late. I've tried calling her several times today, but she just doesn't answer the phone. I know, you're thinking she may have been called in to work. Well, I checked. She wasn't in. Guess I'm doomed to never have what you and Jo had, Roy."

A creak on the deck alerted him that he wasn't alone on the deck. Her perfume wafted over him in the breeze. He didn't have to turn around to see who was there. "How much did you hear?"

"Enough." She crossed the deck and kneeled behind, folded her arms around his shoulders and pulled him toward her. "Johnny, I wasn't home today because I had errands to run. I tried calling you, too. I knew about work – your secretary called me. Told me you didn't have time to call me before you had to head out." She squeezed her arms tighter. "You ought to buy her flowers as a thank you. She is a saint."

A chuckle bubbled up. "Yeah, especially since she has to deal with me." He reached back with his left hand and cupped the back of her head, pulling her down for a kiss. It wasn't a passionate kiss, but one that spoke of companionship and relief. He rested his forehead against hers for a moment. "I'm so glad you are here."

"I'll be here for you for as long you need me. I won't guarantee that we won't have ups and downs. I won't promise there won't be nights that we won't fight. But, I see you are a good man, John Gage, and I don't intend to let you out of my sights any time soon." She stood and pulled him up with her.

Johnny started to follow her and paused for a moment, looking back at the stars. He stood there soaking in their beauty then continued to follow Emily into the house. He had a feeling that this just may be the one.

In the sky, two stars twinkled as if to give their approval.

The End

AN: This story is a creation from my own imagination. While the characters of Emergency! belong to Universal, this story belongs to me. Any errors regarding the characters, medical terminology, or the fire department, are of course mine since I am not an expert in either field. SBF.