The Boot

Chapter Twenty Three

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.

The morning sun peaked through the thin slats of the window blinds sending a soft glow across the darkened room, Jim sat up carefully. He felt stiff from sleeping upright in the hard plastic chair beside his brother's bed. Cody had slept fitfully until his fever broke in the early morning hours. He had called out for Jim several times in the night like he had when he was sick with fever when they were younger. Even before their father died the boys had relied on each other, especially when their father was on shift at the fire station. Jim stood up, stretched his arms one at a time around his sides, reaching back and then rolled his shoulders. He smiled as he watched Cody sleeping peacefully. 'Maybe you will get out of here today, but you're still gonna call mom.'

A cough and soft groan from the other bed caused Jim to look over at Johnny. He had not been as lucky as Cody. His fever had remained high. The doctor had even ordered an additional breathing treatment during the night, and changed his medications. Jim walked over and picked up the cup of water from the bedside table. "Here Johnny, maybe some water will help."

Johnny looked up at Jim with glassy eyes and nodded his head. Then his eyes slid closed.

"Come on, you need to try drinking some." Jim tried again.

"Sick." Johnny uttered one word in a soft gravelly voice.

"Do you want me to call the nurse?" Jim reached for the call button.

"No…'m okay." Johnny looked up at Jim with pleading eyes. He didn't want any more nurses poking and prodding on him.

"I've got to leave in a few minutes. I don't want to be late for roll call. Can I get you anything before I go? Call anyone?"

Johnny nodded his head. "Tell the guys…be back."

"They already know." Johnny looked at Jim with questioning eyes. "They were all here. They already know you're in the hospital. Cody too."

"Here?" Johnny didn't remember anyone besides Captain Jones and Scotty being at Rampart, except for Jimbo. He did remember his friend being there. "Don't remember."

"That's the way it is when you're part of a crew." Jim shrugged. "You're part of a big family now Johnny. You're a brother in the department. We look out for each other. When one of us gets hurt we're all there for them." Jim chuckled. "Drives the doctors and nurses crazy when we fill up the waiting rooms and crowd into one of the rooms to stop by after we finish the run, but that's the way it is. All the guys were here yesterday when you were admitted. You were probably too sick to notice, but just about every guy on our shift came down here to make sure you were going to be okay. I know. They told me when I met them at McGill's."

For the first time in a very long time, Johnny felt like he belonged. His new friends had been concerned enough about his well being to come check on him. Scotty and Captain Jones had helped him with his tire. He had gotten to know Cody and Jim better and understood why Cody had treated him like he had. A lot had happened in the past few days. Some good, some bad, but Johnny felt pretty good about being a Boot with the fire department.

"Listen I know you wouldn't be sick if you hadn't gone in after my brother." Jim shifted nervously. "I'm really sorry you got sick. Thanks again…for saving him. He's my kid brother. Ya know?"

The corners of Johnny's mouth curled upward. "S'what we do for our brothers."

A smile slowly spread across Jim's face. "Yeah….yeah, that's what we do."

"Would you guys keep it down? I'm trying to sleep over here." Cody looked over at his brother and their new friend. He too was smiling broadly. Things were looking up for the men.

Captain Jones was first to arrive for his shift which wasn't at all unusual, but this morning he had some things on his mind that he wanted a little time to think through before meeting with his crew. There had been a lot of misunderstandings between his crew over the last few days, things he intended to clear up at roll call. He needed to bring cohesion back to the group of men in order to prevent problems on the job. A crew that gets along is better equipped to handle the situations they face on a daily basis. A crew at odds leads to unnecessary risk and injury. He wouldn't stand for that. Before he would allow things to get to that point he would transfer someone out.

He stopped by the coffee pot and poured himself a cup. He knew the station was out on an early morning call that must have been big since all of the equipment was gone from the bay and silence echoed through the station. He sipped the strong brew, though still warm it had apparently been on the now cooled burner for a while. He poured the remaining old coffee down the sink drain, rinsed the carafe and prepared to make a fresh pot. 'Too bad Scotty isn't here yet. His coffee would be perfect for milling over things this morning.'

'Hopefully after my "talk" with the men this morning no one will be moving to another station. I'd hate to have to do that.' Although three of his men were boots temporarily assigned to him, he already saw promise in them and wouldn't mind keeping one or all of them on his crew, especially Johnny. That kid had already made his mark among the crew. 'He's friendly, seems kind of shy and quiet…unsure at times, but not in his skills on the job… he clearly knows how to handle himself at a fire or rescue. No, if I can, I plan to keep that boy.' He tilted his head in thought…coffee can in one hand and a tablespoon in the other. 'Maybe someday the kid will consider training for Rescue.'

"Morning Cap."

Captain Jones jumped dropping the spoon making it clatter on the counter top and fall to the tile floor. He spun quickly around wide eyed and nearly bumped into Scotty.

"Oh sorry, didn't mean to startle you. I thought you heard me come in." Scotty reached a steadying hand to his Captain; then bent down to retrieve the errant spoon. "Want me to make that?"

Captain Jones smiled and handed to coffee container to Scotty. "That would be great. I uh…you startled me."

Scotty chuckled, "Yeah…I noticed." He grabbed a clean tablespoon and measured coffee into the filter.

"So, what brings you in so early?" Cap asked his friend.

Scotty shrugged and continued dipping the spoon into the aromatic grounds.

"Come on Scotty, we've been friends for a very long time. I can see that something is bothering you."

Scotty finished the coffee preparations and turned to sit at the table. He slowly pulled out a chair and hesitated before dropping into it. "There's been a lot going on around here that I think needs to be addressed." He looked into his superior's eyes to see if his statement had upset him. When he saw nothing but concern he crossed his arms on the table and continued. "Gage is in the hospital, Cody too, and I can't help but wonder if all the pranks and uneasiness around here didn't contribute to that. If Gage didn't have that nail in his tire he wouldn't have been walking in the rain. I mean yeah he would have been riding that bike in it, but it would have gotten him home and out of the weather faster." He paused and looked down at his hands.

"Cody didn't do it." Captain Jones got up and made his way over to the coffee pot and poured two cups. When he turned around he was met with a glare.

"Are you kidding me? You can't possibly think Cody is innocent Cap!"

"He is Scotty. I've already talked to the police. There has been some gang hits on other stations and police units. They think it is some sort of initiation thing." He paused and handed one of the coffees to Scotty. "He didn't do it."

Scotty took the proffered cup and sat it on the table. He ran his hand through his hair. "Man…if Jim wasn't already upset about all of this I know he is now. How are we going to fix this Cap?"

"Well for one thing I think you better fill me in on what happened at McGill's yesterday." Captain Jones returned to his chair and waited.

Scotty and Captain Jones sat at the table discussing the confrontation between Jim and Scotty at McGill's.

"I blamed his brother Cap. He's never gonna get over that."

"I think there were a lot of people laying blame, Scotty. Jim and you have been friends for a long time. I think you may be surprised at his reaction. If you stop to think about it Jim had his doubts about Cody too."

Scotty looked up smiling. "Yeah…yeah he did. Didn't he?"

"He did." Captain Jones slid his chair back from the table. "I'm going to have a conversation at roll call with everyone about this situation. In order to perform at our best we need to have trust in each other. Given the circumstances I think that trust has been damaged." He refilled his cup and held the pot up in question to Scotty who slid his chair back and stood with his cup outstretched. "I guess I had better get my pre-shift paperwork done before I'm late to roll call." The two men shared a laugh.

Back at Rampart Cody had been released which left Johnny alone in the semi-private room. Dr. Early had once again changed the antibiotic he had Johnny on in hopes of finding the right mix to fight the infection in his lungs. Cody had responded well to the penicillin treatment he'd been on, but his being allergic to it made treating Johnny more difficult. He had finally drifted off to sleep again when he was awakened by a knock on the door.

Jimbo stuck his head in and called out to Johnny, "Hey kid are you up for a visitor?"

Johnny smiled weakly to his friend and tried to sit up higher in the bed. "Yeah," he hoarsely answered.

"Man you don't sound any better." Jimbo plopped a bag on the rolling tray table and moved it across the bed. "I brought something that might make you feel better." Johnny smiled at him and leaned forward to see what he had. Jimbo opened the bag and pulled out two thermoses. "Let's see. I have some of that homemade cream of chicken soup you liked the last time you were sick." He twisted the top off and poured some into the cup that he had unscrewed from the top. "And in this one we have a vanilla shake."

Johnny reached for the cup of vanilla shake and shakily lifted it to his lips. Drinking slowly, he savored the cool liquid as it coated his throat. He closed his eyes and sipped again. "Mmm."

"Okay kid. I know you like the shake the best, but I think you need to try some of this soup I slaved over just for you." Jimbo pushed the soup filled cup closer.

Johnny sat down the half empty cup in his hand and reached for the other and took a tentative sip. After he decided it wouldn't burn his mouth he took a bigger drink. He took several sips before setting it back down and reaching for the cold liquid instead. Jimbo couldn't help but smile at the young man. He knew how much Johnny loved vanilla shakes. He tried pushing the soup cup over again, but Johnny nodded negatively.

"Come on Johnny, at least finish that cup."

"Don't want to get sick. Antibiotic's making me sick." He whispered.

"Okay kid, maybe a little more before I leave." Jimbo took the cups into the bathroom and washed them out. Once back in the room he quickly put the thermoses back into the bag. "Don't want the nurses to know I snuck food in to you." He smiled.

Johnny got a mischievous grin on his face and glanced at the door. "No…we don't want that." He snuggled back into his pillow, his eyes blinking slowly.

"You just take it easy Johnny. Sleep is the best way to heal." Jimbo patted him on the knee. "I think I'll sneak downstairs and visit with Dixie."

"You know Dixie?"

"Know her? Well I'll have you know we dated for a while. I tried to get her to marry me, but she said no." Jimbo looked wistfully at the door. "I really love her, but we were both married to our jobs. Just wasn't the right time, but at least we're still good friends." Jimbo didn't know how much Johnny had heard. When his eyes finally left the door that would lead him to Dixie and drifted back over to Johnny, he'd fallen asleep with a contented look on his face. Jimbo chuckled. "Am I that boring?" He got up quietly and left to go find Dixie.

The elevator doors opened to an almost empty ER hallway, which was highly unusual at any time. Jimbo spied Dixie giving instructions to a couple of student nurses at the other end of the long hall. He walked slowly in her direction. She saw him coming and smiled. "Okay ladies, let's get those treatment rooms set up before the patients start arriving. Hello James."

"Hi there pretty lady." He placed on hand on her arm; bent over and kissed her cheek.

"How's our boy?" She asked. "Did he eat the soup?"

Jimbo sighed. "Some, but not even a whole cup."

Now it was Dixie's turn to sigh. "I thought for sure he would eat something from outside the hospital cafeteria. He's barely eaten anything in two days."

"Well he did drink a whole cup of vanilla shake." Jimbo smiled.

"I guess that's something, but a man can't live on vanilla shakes." She walked over to her desk and slid up onto her favorite stool. "He's so skinny already. I noticed it the first time he came in here. He can't afford to lose any weight. If anything I think he's barely within range for the fire department. That's why I called you. When we talked the other day you said you had helped him before."

"Relax Dixie, I put protein in the shake." Jimbo patted her hand and smiled conspiratorially.

"You did?" She smiled back at her long time friend. "That's great!" Just as Jimbo was about to ask Dixie if she wanted to take a break and let him buy her some pie and coffee a crowd of people came bustling into the ER doors. Several men in turnout coats helping other men in white uniforms push gurneys into the hallway. "Sorry Jimbo, duty calls." She slid off her stool and started giving orders to the different ambulance attendants and rescue men.

Jimbo smiled at the woman he'd loved for such a long time. He shoved his hands into his pockets and decided it was time to get back to his restaurant. He planned to come back later in the day and urge Johnny to eat some more.

When Johnny woke next he had a room full of brown turnouts with the smell of smoke drifting in the air.

"Man Dwyer I thought that fire had you this time. It's just lucky for you that whole wall didn't come down on you." One of the firemen said to the man in the next bed.

"What are you talking about Stoney? I got that kid out didn't I?" The prone man shot back at the black man with "Stone" on the back of his turnout coat.

"Yeah Tom I guess you did." The black man agreed. "I called your brother to let them know we had to bring you in."

"Aw Partner…tell me you called Burt and not Charlie…he'll freak out if he thinks I'm hurt."

The black man held up his hands and took a few steps backward. "Hey now don't get mad at me if your twin answered the phone?"

The bedridden man slapped his fist on the bed in frustration. "Great…just great. Why couldn't Burt have answered the phone. Charlie is such a worry-wart. He'll call mom and dad. The next thing you know they'll be on a flight here thinking I'm half dead."

"Okay men, we need to get back in service." The man at the end of the bed seemed to take control of the others. Johnny noticed that his coat said "McConnike". "Tom, you did real good out there today. You take it easy. We'll see you back behind the wheel of the rescue squad in about six weeks when that broken leg heals."

"Okay Cap. You guys be safe."

The group of firemen moved toward the door. Johnny noticed one of the men was taller than the rest. He had dark hair and looked a little bit like President Lincoln did in the history books from the reservation school Johnny had attended as a boy.