The Boot

Chapter Twenty Seven

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.

Time seemed to take on little significance as Johnny sat on the yellow blanket watching Tony with the boy. Rescue men actually did very little in the way of administering care to the victims once they had pulled them out of the bad situations they had gotten in to. Oxygen, simple burn care like the sterile sheets and liquid poured over the burned area, taking vitals and applying bandages, but it was those simple things that helped get those same victims ready to go to the hospital. It was those simple things that sometimes kept the victims alive. The small boy was now awake and coughing harshly. His father had already been moved into the ambulance and whisked away to Rampart with a rescue man from another station.

Thoughts of another time floated around in Johnny's mind that he had somehow never remembered before, things that he had subconsciously blocked. A small boy clinging to the lifeless body of his mother while firemen cut away the steering column of the car so they could get his father out seemed to take what little breath he had away and made his stomach cramp. In his mind's eye he could see the firemen moving around the car working feverishly to get the man out…his father out. Things in Johnny's mind seemed to get all mixed up…current memories of runs to MVA's they had been to since he had joined the department merged with those he'd blocked for so long after he had been pulled from the back seat of his parent's car.

Tony glanced over at Johnny and said something to him, but the buzzing in his ears kept him from understanding what Tony had said. Tony knew Johnny had been exposed to too much heat and might possibly be suffering from heat exhaustion. Many firemen suffered from the intense heat and became dehydrated. He called over to Scotty who having assisted Tony before knew exactly what he needed. He checked the gauges on the engine before coming over to help.

Johnny continued drifting from current to past seeing the men in turnouts lift his father's battered frame onto a gurney and running beside it to the ambulance. He could see his mother's sweet face as they draped a yellow blanket across her and over her head. Then he saw the staring eyes of the woman from the pileup a few months ago. Her eyes held his mind's eye for a time before the memory of screeching sirens broke the contact and the wailing mixed with the cries of a child who'd lost so much so quickly. He felt hands on his shoulders causing him to jerk away.

"Hey take it easy Boot. I'm just helping you with your SCBA." Scotty calmly spoke.

Somewhere in the distance Johnny could hear a familiar voice. He felt the weight of his air tank lifted from his shoulders. He felt so hot. Maybe if he could get the heavy coat off he could feel the breeze. He fumbled with the front of the coat.

Scotty batted his hands away. "Let me help you with that."

Johnny felt the strong arms circle around him as he shook with cries. He was scared, really scared. He wanted his mother. Then he felt a cool breeze against his overheated skin and it called him back to the present. He felt the cup that had been placed in his hand. He was starved for water. He lifted the cup and drank.

Scotty placed a hand on Johnny's wrist. "Ah ah ah…not too fast, it will make you sick if you drink it too fast."

Johnny nodded and sipped more slowly. He felt so tired and kind of funny, like he couldn't think straight. The hoses snaking across the pavement in a crisscrossing maze seemed confusing. The constant noise of the engines pumping water to the men hauling the hoses and the shouts and radios chattering orders to the men all seemed too much for him to decipher. He sipped some more water until the cup was empty and then it disappeared too.

In a few minutes Scotty was back with more water. "Here ya go Johnny."

Johnny lifted his eyes to see who had brought him the water. Scotty always called him Boot…never Johnny. Why would he be calling him Johnny now? He must know that he had really screwed up this time. He knew that Captain Jones was going to wash him out for sure. He sighed deeply.

"Come on kid, drink the water. It'll help you feel better." Scotty turned to Tony. "I think he's coming back now. A little more water and he should be okay." They had seen many a fireman suffer from the effects of heat from fighting fires. They were practiced in what to do. Then if things didn't get better from the water and oxygen, they knew to take the downed man to the hospital. Johnny hadn't collapsed or passed out, so it looked like they would avoid that today, but it had been close, too close. "I better get back to the gauges. Let me know if he needs anymore."

"Sure Scotty." Tony finished bundling up the small boy and sent him to Rampart with the second man from the other squad. Then he turned to Johnny. "Okay Gage, I think I had better check your pulse." He reached for Johnny's arm. Johnny didn't fight him or pull back like he had with Scotty. He knew where he was now and just wanted to get back to the station for a cool shower and his bunk, if Cap didn't send him home first.

The trip back to the Station was done in a daze. Johnny remembered climbing aboard the engine, but nothing about the ride. Then someone shaking his knee and telling him to hit the showers. "Come on Boot you need to take a cool shower." Scotty helped Johnny down from his seat and stayed near until he reached the locker room. Heat exhaustion and dehydration tended to make a man a little wobbly.

"Thanks Scotty. I must have dozed off. Sorry."

"Don't worry about it Boot. That was one hot fire." Scotty patted Johnny on the back. "I think you'll feel better after cooling down some more in the shower."

"Yeah." Johnny headed toward his locker, and Scotty turned toward the kitchen. He needed some coffee.

After his shower, Johnny was more alert; alert enough to know he could have just thrown away his career. He needed time to think…a place to be alone, but how could a guy find a place to be alone at a fire station full of men? He wandered out to the back lot and leaned against the building. Jeff started out the back bay door to shoot a few hoops, but seeing Johnny and knowing his fellow academy graduate could be in deep trouble he didn't know what to say, so he turned around and headed for the TV room instead.

Wishing he could get away into the woods or up in the mountains to think, Johnny pushed himself off the station wall and stretched. He scanned the lot looking for a more secluded spot.

A while later Captain Jones came looking for Johnny. He had finished the incident reports from the fire, allowed himself time to calm down and school his anger and now wanted to talk to him about his defiance of a direct order. He walked out into the bay and saw Scotty leaning against the side of the back bay door sipping coffee. "Nice evening." He said as he walked up beside his engineer.

"Is it?" Scotty asked somewhat sarcastically.

Captain Jones stepped aside and turned toward his friend. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Scotty pointed up on top of the hose tower at the figure seated with his legs folded and his face up toward the evening sky. "Is it a nice evening for him?"

Captain Jones followed Scotty's finger and looked at the man perched above. "He disregarded a direct order Scotty. I can't just act like that didn't happen."

"No, I guess you can't, but what happens now?" Scotty took another sip of his coffee. "He's a good kid. That little boy would've died if Johnny hadn't gone back in."

"We might have found him, after we made sure the structure was safe. It's not an easy decision for a Captain to pull your men out when there's still someone inside especially when that someone is a child, but we have to follow safety protocol otherwise we might lose good men as well. No sense in putting good men in harm's way when the loss could be two or three instead of one."

"I know Cap, but he's passionate about this, and for some reason he's even more so when it comes to kids. It's like he knows how they feel or something." Scotty couldn't quite get what he wanted to say into words. "He pushes himself when others are ready to quit."

"I can see that Scotty, but it is my job to control these situations and his to follow my directions. It doesn't matter how good it looks like he is or will be if he can't follow simple instructions." Captain Jones hated this part of his job. He could clearly see what a good fireman Johnny would become if he did what he was told, and truthfully, he thought the kid would make a fine rescue man someday. "Tell him I want to see him in my office." Captain Jones turned around and took a few steps; turned back around and spoke again. "When he comes down."

Scotty smiled. He knew Captain Jones was a fair man.

Johnny meditated for a while on top of the hose tower. He thought about the fire, the boy and his parents. He reflected on his feelings when he was twelve and lost his parents. But most of all he thought about why he had decided to become a fireman. He had originally thought it was something that he had wanted to do from a very small age chasing the red trunks with the flashing lights and sirens, but now he wondered if it had more to do with the kindness of the firemen who had been called out to the accident where his parents were killed. Those men acted fast and with precision to extricate his father, and they gave his mother some sense of dignity by covering her lifeless form on the side of the highway. Now here he was facing possible discharge from the job that seemed to already be a part of who he is…a part of who he wanted to be. Tired to the bone he uncrossed his legs and let them dangle.

Scotty saw Johnny moving after sitting so still for so long. It was strange to see the young man so still. He always seemed to be moving in some way…bouncing his knee, tapping his fingers on his leg, looking around a room or pacing. Then he watched as Johnny's legs moved to hang down from the tower. 'Don't fall my friend. There isn't much space up there.' Then Johnny shifted again and reclined on the thin strip of flooring, raised one leg up in a bent position and allowed the other to dangle in air. He slid one arm beneath his head and rested his other hand on his chest. Scotty watched in amazement at the calm way Johnny balanced on the thin space seemingly unconcerned with the height or the narrowness. After watching for long enough for his remaining coffee to turn cold and thinking that if Johnny fell asleep he might fall, Scotty decided it was time his friend came down. "Hey Boot!"

Johnny rose up on his elbow, one leg still hanging and turned toward Scotty who flinched at the thought that he might fall. He didn't answer back, but only looked at Scotty.

"Cap wants to see you." Scotty watched Johnny push up from his elbow into a sitting position and then up on one foot while turning and placing the other on the narrow ledge. He then took a step toward the ladder and in a quick climb was once again on flat ground. Scotty let out the breath he'd been holding.

Johnny walked past Scotty without a word and down the side of the bay to the Captain's office. He stopped just before knocking, lowered his head and took a few deep breaths; then knocked.

"Enter."

Johnny opened the door and stepped into the office. It was a small room, but had enough space for three desks and two chairs. There were never more than two Captains at the Station at a time at shift change, so they shared the chairs. Johnny stood just inside the door in the room where he remembered first being welcomed to the station and meeting Captain Jones for the first time. It was only fitting that this would also be the room where he told him he was washed out, Johnny thought.

"Have a seat." Captain Jones had yet to turn around. Johnny stood very still with his hands by his side ready to face his punishment like a man, like a warrior, like his grandfather had taught him as a very small boy. Captain Jones turned to see the man standing at attention. "At ease." He didn't tell the man to sit again; he could if he wanted to. "I want to talk to you about your actions today." Johnny flinched, but didn't relax from attention. "John." Captain Jones waited for the young man to look at him. "John, look at me." Johnny turned. "I'm not going to wash you out." Johnny broke the stance. His shoulders drooped and his mouth opened and closed again, but only for a second; then he straightened up again. "Take a seat, son."

Johnny took a seat this time. He didn't think he could stand any longer without falling. All the worries of the day slid from him and left him drained. "I'm sorry Cap. I know it was wrong to go back in that house, but he was just a scared little kid."

"How did you know where he would hide?" Captain Jones asked softly, calmly.

"My foster parents used to yell a lot. I hid. I was small for my age, and found some very small spaces to squeeze into. They never found me. When I heard the neighbor talking about how the parents argued about him…" Johnny looked at his hands. He had decided honesty with Cap would be best, but talking about it wasn't easy. "It's hard when you're just a kid with no one to rely on; no one to call when you need them. It's just you."

Captain Jones could see the struggle Johnny was having telling his story. "It's okay John. You don't have to continue. But let me tell you this. You get one chance and you've used it. Got it."

Johnny looked to his Captain with thankful eyes. "Yes sir."

"Now get a glass of milk or two and hit your bunk. You look like hell."

Johnny stood slowly and turned to leave, "Thanks Cap. It won't happen again."

"It better not, or I won't have any choice but to cut you loose."

Scotty was standing just outside the office when Johnny came out. He placed his arm across Johnny's shoulders and gripped his shoulder. "Well?"

Johnny looked at Scotty out of the corner of his eye and grinned. "Looks like you're stuck with me."

Scotty laughed, "Good…that's good Boot, but how 'bout you not do anything like that again."

Johnny shrugged. He didn't plan to do anything like that again, but what if he needed to?