The Boot

Chapter Twenty Two

By GCS

DISCLAIMER: "Emergency!" and its characters © Mark VII Productions, Inc. and Universal Studios. All rights reserved. No infringement of any copyrights or trademarks is intended or should be inferred. This is a work of fiction. This story is only written for entertainment. No financial gain is being realized from it. The story, itself, is the property of the author.

Both Johnny and Cody had finished their breathing treatments and were now resting comfortably. Johnny felt a lot better since the oxygen mask had been replaced with one of those green tubes that supplied oxygen to his nose. It itched some, but at least he didn't feel like he was smothering. He had fallen asleep soon after the respiratory therapist had left the room. He was still wheezing some, but his chest didn't feel as tight.

Cody felt much better too. He also had a green tube snaking around his head and sending pure oxygen into his nose. He slept soundly while Jim sat in the hard chair by his bed watching the TV; providing the show of support his brother needed. He would stay all night if Cody asked him to, even though he would have to leave in the early morning to go back on shift at the station.

Dixie had checked on the men again after the respiratory therapist had finished with them and promised Jim that she would bring them something to eat when they woke up, since dinner had been served while they were getting their treatments.

The room was quiet except for the low voices coming from the television. Jim had almost dozed off himself when he was startled by a knock at the door. He looked up just as a tall black man dressed in black peeked into the room. 'A police officer?' He sat up straighter in the chair.

"Excuse me. I was looking for John Gage." Officer Howard looked from one bed to the other.

"That's him over there." Jim said softly. 'Did he call you to report my brother? We don't even know if he did it. I won't let you do anything to him. He's already sick. I can't let you hurt him. I won't. Gage, what have you gone and done?' Jim glared at the sleeping man in the next bed.

Vince saw the uneasy look the man in the chair had when he asked which one of the men was John Gage. He didn't know why the guy looked so nervous. He wasn't here to arrest anyone. Just to get some information about a nail in the man's tire. Vince walked over to the side of the bed.

Johnny felt the presence of someone by his bed. He squinted up at the man and blinked a few times trying to clear his vision.

"Sorry to wake you Mr. Gage." Vince pulled a pen and pad from his chest pocket causing his badge to catch the light and flash in Johnny's eyes. Johnny's mouth opened; his eyes widened. He was already in a semi sitting position but he sat up straighter in the bed. He felt feelings of panic stirring like in the treatment room earlier when he had thought he was going to be arrested for something he hadn't done.

The fearful look on Johnny's face caused Vince to want to put him at ease. "I need to ask you some questions about an incident with your motorcycle."

Vince watched as Johnny's eyes shot over to the patient in the other bed and then to the man in the chair. "I don't know who did it." He avoided looking at the officer. He thought he knew who did it, but he wouldn't tell that to the police.

"I understand Mr. Gage, but still…"

Johnny interrupted the officer before he could finish, "I don't want to press charges. It's done. It's over now. The tire is fixed. It's not a problem anymore." Johnny's wheezing seemed to be getting worse.

Vince held up his hand in an attempt at calming the agitated man. "Hey relax. I just need to know when you realized the nail was there. Was the station unattended at all that day?" He pulled his hand away and scribbled something else on the notepad.

Johnny rubbed his hand on his chest. The tightness had returned. "I…I don't…" Policemen made him nervous. Well most of them did. Jimbo was the exception, but then he was retired. His breaths started coming in pants, and it seemed like he couldn't catch his breath.

Jim stood up and came across the room. "Um excuse me officer. My name is Jim Graves; this is my brother Cody. Maybe I can help. I'm a lineman on Johnny's shift. I can tell you, we were out most of the day and some of the night. It was a busy shift." He rested his hand on Johnny's shoulder, and took over his end of the conversation.

"I see." Vince made some more notes.

Cody had been listening from across the room. 'He didn't accuse me. Everybody else thinks I did it. He probably does too, but he didn't rat me out to the police.'

"Mr. Gage there has been some gang activity in the area. Your bike was not the only one hit that day."

Johnny tried to slow his breathing. He looked up at the officer. "It wasn't?" Thoughts of the morning he found the nail in his tire raced through his head. He remembered walking out the back door of the station and seeing the flat tire on his bike. He remembered the shock he felt and the immediate idea that he thought he knew who had put it there. In his mind he could see himself walking deliberately across the lot, scanning the tire as he approached. The nail that was buried deep in the top of his tire glistened with rain drops in stark contrast to the black tire. He remembered running his finger over the thin offending rod that had punctured the tire allowing the air to escape, much like he felt the air escaping from his lungs in an exasperated whoosh. Then reality slammed back into him as he realized he may have wrongly accused Cody. He remembered thinking that he had not picked up a nail on the way to work the day before; that he knew the nail was put there deliberately, but he had thought the worst of an innocent man. Johnny suddenly felt dizzy. In the seconds it took for him to remember that day Johnny almost missed the rest of Vince's explanation.

"No. In fact several of the motorcycles belonging to the police department were vandalized too. I've already talked to your Captain. He's aware of the situation. We will increase patrols in the area, but in the mean time you need to park your bike inside if at all possible. Your Captain seems to think that can be arranged." Vince finished writing in his notepad and returned it to his pocket. "Thank you for your statement, Mr. Gage. I hope you get better soon."

Not able to trust his voice Johnny simply nodded to the officer.

"Thank you, Mr. Graves, for your input." Vince extended his hand to Jim who shook it. "You've both been very helpful." Vince walked toward the door. "Oh and fellas, don't be so nervous. If you haven't done anything wrong there's nothing to worry about when a police officer comes looking for you. Okay?"

"Yes sir." Jim answered for all of them.

Johnny lay back against his pillow and closed his eyes. He concentrated on breathing through his nose. He didn't want to have to put the mask back on, but if one of the nurses saw him having trouble that would be the first thing they would do. He knew that from experience. After a few minutes he opened his eyes and looked over at Jim and Cody. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Jim asked.

"For thinking that…" He hesitated and fiddled with the edge of his blanket. "…that Cody had put the nail in my tire. I'm sorry."

"You thought that and you didn't rat me out, why? Why would you do that if you thought I did it?" Cody turned to face Johnny.

"Because you are a fireman, and firemen stick together. Besides, I heard some of the things you and Jim talked about. You've had a rough time since your dad died…"

"Whoa." Cody held up his hand. His voice rose, "Stop right there, Gage. I don't want your pity. Just because my dad died doesn't mean nothing."

"I know." Johnny said softly. "I understand."

Jim looked over at Johnny. 'How can he understand? Unless.' He watched Johnny nervously pulling at the hem of the blanket. His eyes looked dark, sad. "Your dad died too. Didn't he?"

Johnny didn't say anything he just nodded.

"He did?" Cody asked again.

"And my Mom." Johnny whispered.

"Oh man." Cody knew how it had hurt to lose his dad. He couldn't imagine losing both his parents. "That's why no one came to your academy graduation."

Johnny nodded again.

Now Cody thought he understood why Johnny had tried so hard at the academy. Just as he wanted to make his father proud, Johnny had to work extra hard to please both his parents. That was quite a burden for a young man to carry.

Johnny straightened his shoulders and lifted his head. No longer did he have sadness in his eyes. He had steeled his emotions and pushed it all back down where it belonged. "It's no big deal. It was a long time ago. Just know that I understand how you feel and leave it at that. Don't go discussing it with everyone. It's my business; no one else's, okay?"

"Sure Johnny." Jim turned to Cody. "Let it go bro. You need your rest and so does Johnny. Just know that he wasn't gonna turn you in even if you were guilty. Maybe you can let up on all the pranks now. Huh?"

Cody looked from Jim to Johnny who had closed his eyes again. "Sure bro. I can do that."

Another knock at the door broke the mood in the room. The door pushed open and Dixie came in with two trays. "I hope you boys are hungry." She came in smiling, but stopped in her tracks with the two trays suspended in mid air. She could feel the tension in the room. Johnny looked like he had before the breathing treatment, strained and exhausted; his breaths coming in wheezing gasps. Jim was standing in the middle of the room between the beds looking like he'd been caught doing something wrong, and Cody was raised up on his elbow; turned on his side facing Johnny. "What's going on in here?"

Jim moved over beside Dixie and took one of the trays. "It's okay Dixie. An officer just came and told Johnny that his motorcycle was vandalized the other day at the station by some gang members. We were all just kind of surprised at that. That's all."

Dixie looked at Johnny making eye contact to see if that was really all that was going on. He smiled at her. "I think I could eat a little bit." The crooked grin that reached all the way to his eyes melted any unease from the nurse's mind.

"Okay, that's what I like to hear." She placed his tray on the rolling bed side table and lowered it into place in front of Johnny. She lifted the cover from the tray revealing a plate full of soft foods. Johnny wrinkled his nose and put his hands on the tray to push it away. "Now I know it looks bad, but with the fever and congestion you need to be careful what you eat." She tried to encourage him.

Cody looked at his brother when he lifted the lid from his tray. "Aw man, I could sure go for a cheese burger right now. That stuff smells as bad as it looks." Jim laughed at his brother who was acting like a spoiled little boy. Knowing this was all he would get; Cody picked up his fork and tried some of the mashed potatoes and gravy. "Well at least the potatoes aren't that bad." He took another bite.

Johnny having seen that Cody seemed to like the potatoes picked up his fork and took a small bite. He swallowed hesitantly with a scowl on his face. "I'm not very hungry after all." He pushed the tray away.

"You need to eat Johnny." Dixie pushed the tray back over and picked up the fork. "At least try the apple sauce." She scooped up a small bite and held it up in front of Johnny who nodded his head with his mouth clamped shut. "John Gage you open your mouth." She glared at the young man who rolled his eyes at her before slowly opening his mouth. She popped the applesauce into his mouth. It wasn't that bad. Johnny opened his mouth for more. Dixie giggled at him and handed him the fork. "That's better." She brushed the hair from his forehead. "I'll be back in a few minutes for the trays." She moved toward the door and thinking her two patients needed some encouragement turned back and gave them some hope. "If the two of you continue getting better. We may even let you go home tomorrow."

Dixie left both men eating more of the unappetizing soft diet, hoping it would help them to gain their freedom.