Chapter 15

Captain Stanley and Chet Kelly made short work of unloading all of the luggage and medical supplies. The big oxygen tank was to stay and Jack had to retrieve his overnight bags from the gurney but that was fine with him. After asking if the sheets needed to be pulled from the beds and being told, "no", Chet climbed down from the sleeper and shut the door behind him.

Standing at the side of the trailer Jack had worked his hand through one of the vent holes and was touching the sides of several of the pigs in his cargo.

"Okay, now can one of you men tell me the best way to get back on the highway from here and do either of you know where I might find a place where I can find a water supply to cool off the rest of my passengers?" Jack inquired as he pulled his driving gloves back on.

Hank was quick with the directions to the highway but then turned and looked at Chet.

"All he really needs to cool the pigs down is a good spraying with a fire hose," Chet informed his captain. His thoughts were to direct the man to station 51 and then call ahead and tell them they needed to prepare for a hose drill.

"I just so happen to know that they traded the hose out in the parking terrace and the old ones haven't been picked up yet." Hank eyed his lineman down. "You up to an off duty hose drill there, Kelly?"

While Chet helped load the ladder and lock it into place Hank ran for the closest stack of old hose and while he was there he grabbed a wrench to open the hydrant. Working together the two men gave the pigs a good washing down in by borrowing two of the newly replaced fire hoses from the parking structure and Cap and Chet had their own hose drill in the far corner of Rampart's parking lot.

"I have to admit that guy looks familiar, but I can't for the life of me think of where I might have seen him before," Hank said as they watched the truck drive out of sight, water still dripping from the trailer as he drove.

Hank and Chet then drained and rolled up the hoses before carrying them back to where they borrowed them from before making their way into the emergency department. Both men were slightly wet but they took the time to wipe off their shoes before walking into the waiting area where the gurney with their luggage had been rolled by a couple of police officers.

They met up with JoAnne and Johnny to be told that Roy had been taken for a CAT scan and Dr. Frick had been moved to ICU after confirming that a piece of the blood clot in his leg had gone to his lung.

The pregnant lady and her husband were still talking with the high risk obstetrician that Dr. Brackett saw was on hand, while JoAnne helped a tired looking grandmother wrestle with three, anything but tired, children.

While they waited, Chet and Johnny filled Cap and JoAnne in on all the details of their accident and the aftermath of.

After a few minutes a nurse came to the men and asked which of the bags belonged to the burn patient. Chet was quick to pick up Julie's overnight bag and hand it over. It wasn't long after that when Julie was seen walking towards them. She was no longer wearing her coveralls she was wearing a pair of slacks and a loose, but not sloppy loose, t-shirt as she carried her overnight bag in one hand and had her coveralls draped over her other arm. They were stopped by Dr. Brackett who shared a few words with them and then both doctors went their way and Julie continued on to the waiting room.

"Cap, JoAnne," Johnny stepped forward to introduce Julie to Roy's wife and his Captain. "This is the young lady I was talking about, Julie Clark. Julie, this is our captain, Hank Stanley, and Roy's wife JoAnne."

Julie gave Captain Stanley a smile that surprised everyone, "Henry, it's been a long time," she spoke as she extended her hand with the bandaged fingers forward.

A look of surprise and recognition came over Cap's face along with a good schoolboy blush. "Julie, it has been a long time, why you've, you've really, well what has it been, almost sixteen years now hasn't it?"

Julie thought for a moment and then nods her head, "Yeah, that's about right. I see you have a left hand now. Is it the same girl you were hooked to that summer you worked at the ranch?"

Hank looked down at his wedding ring and gave a nod himself, "Yeah, same girl, we're happily married now with four kids."

"Well, if you're a Fire Captain she must have agreed to let you keep firefighting," Julie spoke again and the two firemen standing at his side were getting very curious about the story behind their chit chat. That also went for one firefighter's wife and a close friend to the wife of the blushing fire captain.

"When it came right down to it she liked the idea of being married to a fireman better than being married to a sheep herder," Hank offered an awkward sounding laugh to his statement.

Julie then politely turned to JoAnne and offered her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. DeSoto. Have they come to any conclusion on the severity of your husband's head injury yet?"

"They're still doing some tests but the doctor doesn't think it's anything really serious. He also agrees with your diagnosis of an ear infection. They're testing the samples you collected now."

Julie simply nodded her head in acknowledgement of what JoAnne had said before turning back to Hank with a courteous smile.

"So how are your folks doing?" Hank spoke quickly as if he were trying to stop Julie from saying any more that he would have to explain later.

"Dad's about the same. Enjoying the grandkids now, still working the wild fires but only when they threaten the good of the ranch now. Kind of hard on him now that Mom's gone. We lost her to cancer just a little over a year ago."

Hank's face turned mournful as he registered the news he was just given. Johnny had quickly done some math and figured Julie was far too young to have been romantically involved with his captain sixteen years ago so he secretly wondered if it was her mother who was involved with the then reportedly engaged firefighter.

"I'm sorry to hear that, as I remember you and your mother were quite close." Hank spoke again as if he was unfazed by the presence of members of his crew.

"Yeah, we were close, especially that summer." Julie grinned and blushed more than Hank had. "There was someone I really wanted to impress and I'd always heard the best way to a man's heart was through his stomach. Everyone in the valley always said my mom was the best cook around."

Hank blushed a little deeper and gave a faint chuckle, "Yeah, she was a very good cook; I remember a lot of really good meals that summer."

There was a moment of awkward silence before Julie looked around the waiting room, "Did Jack get on his way?"

"Yeah," Chet spoke up. "We helped cool off his other passengers and pointed him toward the highway," Chet was smiling at the thought of his other passengers when his face turned suddenly serious. "Wait a minute, do you have a place to stay?"

"Well this is one of those moments were I play everything by ear. I guess I better go call my dad, he'll call Jack's wife and then we'll figure out where I need to catch a bus to so that I can catch up with him again for a ride home. If you'll excuse me," Julie then waved toward the bank of pay phones before moving in that direction, stopping along the way to pick her Jump kits off the gurney and move them over next to the phone.

The four firefighting friends stood looking back and forth from Julie and amongst themselves.

"I guess I could let her stay at our place for a day or two," JoAnne offered politely but unsure.

"No, I'll take her to my place," Hank spoke with certainty. "It's the least I can do after all her father did for me. If you all will excuse me, I'll go give my wife a call and let her know we're going to have company."

Both Hank and Julie hung up at about the same time, Julie with the news that her father and Frank were out checking on a wild fire and wouldn't be back for a while.

Hank hung up with his wife with an agreement to bring Julie home with him after he dropped Chet and Johnny off at the station where Chet would take Johnny home and then pick him up again for his next shift in two days.

Each one of the men took a one of Julie's bags on their way to Hank's truck but only after word had come down that Roy didn't have a skull fracture but he did have a fractured ear drum and a whopper of an ear infection, probably in part due to a sewer rescue he was involved in the week before they left on their fishing trip. He would miss two shifts for his concussion and should respond to the antibiotic for his ear infection in time to return to work then. The plan was to keep him in the hospital overnight to start his antibiotics off and further evaluate his concussion then if all was well they would send him home with his wife in the morning.

Dr. Frick was resting comfortably and stable they had plans to perform more testing in the morning.

Susan Martin was advised to go to her mother's place and stay in bed for the night and then return the next day for a series of tests and she was promised that he doctor would talk things over with Dr. Frick before then.

-0-

After everyone else was taken care of, Hank pulled Julie's two jump kits out of the back of his truck and carried them as he lead Julie into his home. Emily Stanley and the four Stanley children were waiting as Hank set the boxes down and proceeded to introduce their guest. He then turned to Julie. "I think it might be long enough now that you can get a hold of your dad, the phone is right here."

Julie, who was still carrying her overnight bag and her overalls, stepped up to the phone and dialed her home number.

"Hello, Dad. Yeah we made it all right. The fireman is going to be alright; they should let him go home with his wife in the morning. They put Doc Frick in ICU though. You should call Ozella and let her know. He was sleeping but stable when I left, I'll try and check in on him in the morning. James and Susan are all right, too, just really tired from the trip. Their kids are wired but I guess they have grandma and some uncles to wear them out again." Julie was giving her father a report on their trip before turning to give Hank a blushing smile.

"Well, actually I ran in to an old flame when we got here. He brought me to his house to spend the night until we can work out how to get me back home. . . No I'm sure his wife will be able to make us behave. No it's not one of my sister's flames. They changed flames so often before they left for college I don't think I can remember which one was attached to whom. Well here, I'll let you talk to him, I'm sure you'll remember who he is once you've heard his voice." Julie smiled again and handed the phone in Hank's direction.

Hank hesitantly took the phone and pulled it to his ear, "Hello, Chief Clark, sir,"

The whole room heard, "Henry! Henry Stanley," as Hank had to pull the phone away from his ear.

"Yes sir, that's me, I met up with your daughter at the hospital when she brought one of my men in and once we figured out who each other was I brought her home with me to meet the family. She has sure grown up into a beautiful young lady since that summer I worked on the ranch."

Hank lowered his voice to more of a conversational tone as Julie turned to Emily Stanley. "They'll talk each other's ear off for some time now. I'd really like to explain the old flame thing and if you would prefer I can get a motel tonight."

Emily didn't say a word but guided Julie to the kitchen table where they could sit and talk and she could still hear her husband on the phone. Although she had never met Chief Clark, Emily did know who he was. He was the Crew Chief Hank had worked under early in their courtship when he spent his summers working wild fires. The summer they got engaged she had begged him to do something other than work wild fires. She just wasn't sure she could deal with being married to someone in such a dangerous profession. That last summer the same Chief Clark offered him a job on his sheep ranch and he went there to work for the summer.

"I first met Henry when he came to work on the ranch, and from the moment I first saw him I thought he was the true definition of a dreamboat. I knew he was engaged at the time but I don't think I really understood what that meant back then. I was only nine years old."

Emily gave a sudden look at the girl that was talking and then gave her a warm smile in understanding as she offered some nonverbal sign to let her know to keep talking.

"I still remember how bashful I felt whenever he walked by and how it was hard to breathe sometimes. He always talked to me when he was around but I could never say a word back to him. Most of the men that worked for my father never seemed to see anyone my size except Henry." She added a sigh to her words, "I talked my mom into letting me help with all the meals and when I delivered his lunch I always made sure there were extra cookies and a little note in his lunch. At the end of the summer there was a lunch auction to raise money for something or other, I can't remember what now, and well anyway Henry bought my lunch. I spent the whole winter learning how to cook the foods I thought he liked best. I really expected him to come back the next summer, but as you know he didn't."

Julie was still smiling and just about as bright red as she could get.

Emily was smiling now, too, and not feeling an ounce of concern. "Of course you are going to stay here, for as long as you need to," Emily offered along with a warm hug.

Julie accepted the hug and then turned to look at Hank who was still talking to her father. He would be for quite a while if she knew her father.

"You know, he's a lot older than I remember but he's still one of the best looking guys I've ever seen," Julie offered with a blushing smile.

"I have to agree with you on that," Emily added her smile. "Here, you look exhausted, let me show you to your room and then I'll get you something to eat."

Dinner was just going on the table when Hank handed the phone back to Julie and let his wife know he had agreed to keep Julie as a guest for the next few days while she finalized an apartment near UCLA and then her father would come out with the rest of her stuff and her truck to help her move in.

After a light dinner Julie took a small hand full of pills which Hank learned included an antibiotic to prevent an infection in the burns that covered thirty-five percent of her body. Julie was then allowed to say good night and head off to bed.

Later, before she turned in, Emily stopped to check on her guest. Taking the time to pull the covers up and around Julie's shoulders she then backed out of the room and into her own to find her husband laying on the bed with his hands behind his head.

"Is she alright?" Hank asked as he reached out to his wife.

"She's sound asleep," Emily reported.

"Thanks for letting her stay for a few days. I want you to know the feelings weren't mutual the summer I worked on her father's ranch."

Emily giggled a little and climbed in bed with her husband before rolling next to him and wrapping her arms around his chest. "It sounds like she really had it bad for you though."

"I didn't realize it at the time." Hank worked an arm around his wife's shoulder and pulled her close to him. "I mean I knew when the extra cookies and the love notes started showing up in my lunches that I had a secret admirer, but I really thought it was one of her sisters. She has twin sisters that are, I'm not sure, four or five years older than she is. They'd talk to me she usually hid behind her mother whenever I was around."

Hank put his other arm around his wife and pulled her even closer. "I spent the whole summer trying to figure out which girl had a crush on me and never once got it right.

"That fall things were really dry, they often are in that part of the world. A wild fire started up that was closing in on the fields closest to the ranch so the Chief and I and a few of his other hands, set out to do some back fires to stop it before it got close enough to the ranch to be a problem.

I managed to step in an area where the ground gave way under my feet and by the time I stopped tumbling down the hill I had broken my ankle."

"That's how you broke it," Emily was listening carefully.

"Yeah, Chief Clark called in to the ranch to have someone come get me and then took the rest of the crew to try and stop the fire. About twenty minutes later there was this nine year old girl leading a couple of saddled horses in my direction. They were as skittish as could be being that close to the fire but she was holding on to them with all of her might. It was all she could do to help me up and into the saddle of one of the horses and all I could do to hang on while the horse ran in the opposite direction from the fire as fast as it could. You see those old westerns and it looks kind of romantic to see the injured hero being drug along on a litter made of wooden poles tied to the sides of the saddle but I tell you I could feel every move that horse made and it hurt like hell.

"Any way, Julie got me back to the ranch and then her mother and the house keeper managed to get me off the horse and into the back of a truck. Julie stayed at my side until they got me to the clinic about fifty miles away and after they got my leg casted they took me back to the ranch and got me into a bunk. I slept for a while thanks to the pain meds they gave me but whenever I woke up Julie was right there at my side. That is until the fire was under control and then I woke up to find Chief Clark there at my side.

We talked for a while and then I told him about the letters I'd been getting all summer and showed them to him, asking his advice as to what to do about the situation. He recognized the hand writing and told me it wasn't either of his older girls, that it was Julie that had a total and complete crush on me."

Hank paused to look down at his wife and could tell that she was enjoying the story so he continued on. "It was her father that suggested I buy her lunch at the upcoming lunch auction. He even offered to give me the money to pay for it. If I remember right they were raising money to buy books for the school library. Anyway he bought the lunch made by his two oldest girls and managed to chock down bologna and peanut butter sandwiches while I dined on fried chicken and potato salad. The chicken was maybe a little overdone but not bad and Julie wasn't able to say a word to me the whole time we were together. She didn't even eat anything; she just kept staring at me with these dreamy eyes and hyperventilating."

Hank was laughing now and so was Emily. "Just what was I supposed to do, I mean she was only nine and I was engaged."

Emily buried her face in her husband's shoulder then came up for air. "I don't think there was anything you could have done that you didn't already do. But I do have to agree with her, you are one good looking dude."

Hank held his wife tight for a moment and then backed off with a serious look on his face. "Her dad told me tonight that he doesn't think she ever got over me. Are you sure it's alright with you for her to stay here?"

Emily smiled again and pulled into her husband's side a little tighter, "I'm fine, sure she's not nine any more but she assured me that she considers married men off limits and that she has other responsibilities right now. Do you know what those responsibilities are?"

"Her dad said something about her taking on custodianship of a mentally handicapped adult. She's bringing him out here to a group home to get some training that will hopefully allow him to live on his own with minimal supervision."

"She sounds like a pretty special person if you ask me," Emily evaluated. "I'm fine with allowing her to be a guest in our home for a few days, just as long as you behave yourself." Emily smiled and the two laughed once again.