An Act of Friendship
Chapter 6
When Roy walked into the waiting room he was momentarily taken aback. The room was full of off-duty fireman and a few on-duty. He realized he shouldn't be, anytime one of their own was injured, the brotherhood closed ranks and provided whatever support was necessary. He was just a little baffled at how quickly word had spread. He spied Cap and Mike and made his way toward them, stopping at almost every step to receive a hand on the shoulder or pat on the back. 'Wish Johnny could see this…he'd be amazed.'
"Anything?" Cap asked as Roy sat next to him.
Roy shook his head, "No, I would think we'd hear something soon." He looked over at Mike, who was reading the paper. "How long have you been on that page Mike?" he questioned with a smirk, already knowing the answer.
Cap chuckled softly as a blushing Mike put down the paper and replied, "Not long enough, apparently, but also too long," acknowledging that he hadn't been reading it, just marking time. He gave Roy a calculated look, "I see you're ready for some coffee, I'll go get you some…Cap you want any?" he questioned.
"Sure Mike, that sounds good," Cap replied knowing his second liked to feel useful. He watched as Mike walked out soon followed by an engineer friend of his from 110s. If any of them needed to talk, there were plenty of volunteers. Cap realized that at times like this, he couldn't ask to work in a better profession. It was a strange dichotomy; the utter depravity they saw man inflict upon man on a daily basis, and the utter humanity as demonstrated in this room.
Roy had asked the same question three times and was becoming concerned. "Cap…Cap?" Roy called reaching for Cap's arm to check his pulse.
"Oh, sorry Pal just lost in thought..." he felt Roy holding his wrist. "I'm okay Roy, really," he said flushing with embarrassment at being caught daydreaming.
Roy reluctantly let go of his captain's wrist. He would have to keep an eye on him. It had been a long stressful day on all of them. Trying to put Cap at ease he questioned, "I wondered where Marco and Chet are."
"They took an HT and went to the Chapel," Cap responded. As Roy nodded, Cap questioned, "How's Joanne?"
"She's doing pretty well. She insisted I come up here while she slept," Roy replied still stunned that his wife was able to so easily manipulate him even while in a hospital bed.
Cap chuckled. He knew Joanne was a force to be reckoned with, just like his wife, Emily. He mused that it must come from being a fireman's wife and the uncertainty of the job. "Glad to hear she's resting well," he said sincerely. "Brice and Dwyer, who's filling in for you, stopped by a little while ago; they've been run ragged today. It was kind of weird, Brice acted…I dunno…almost guilty," Cap informed Roy. He wasn't sure what to make of Brice's behavior.
Roy frowned as he asked, "Guilty? What did he say?"
Cap replied, "It wasn't so much what he said; it was how he said it and the look on his face," he shook his head. "I've tried to figure it out, but you've got me pal. I'm not sure if I'll ever understand him," he said as he shrugged.
Mike walked over and handed them their coffee, took a cup from Miller of 110s and sat down. Taking a long pull he closed his eyes and smiled contentedly. He opened his eyes, saw Cap and Roy watching him and said, "What?"
Cap and Roy snickered at how relaxed Mike now seemed. "Thanks Mike," they both responded simultaneously then laughed once again.
Stoney of 8s walked in the door and said to the room in general, "Any word?" When he saw numerous heads shake, he walked over and sat next to Mike. "Hank, guys, how's everyone holding up?" he asked as he peered intently at Johnny's shiftmates.
"We're doing okay Doug. Anxious for word on our boy," Cap responded.
"Hank, I always said that was the hardest part of our job, waiting for word on one of our own," Stoney replied sympathetically. "But don't worry 'bout Johnny-boy, he's one tough nut," Stoney chuckled then turned toward Roy, "I'm sorry to hear about your wife, Roy. I hear she's doing okay."
"Thanks Stoney. Wow…word sure travels fast," Roy replied shaking his head.
Stoney looked stunned for a moment then looked at Hank. "I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but the media has already picked up on it. Chief McConnikee called to say he's fielded several calls already. It's probably just a matter of time until they all jump on the bandwagon," he said disgustedly.
They all stiffened at this news. "Great…just what we need," Cap scowled as he ran a hand through his hair thinking of the nightmare the next few days would now be. "Damn vultures," he spat.
"Don't they have better things to do?" Mike asked incensed.
Roy sat quietly, his anger rising. If they thought for one second he would let them talk to Joanne, they had another thing coming. Hell if Johnny wasn't hurt so badly, they wouldn't give two figs about the accident in the first place. He could just imagine their excuse that this was a 'human interest' story as a means of justifying their sure to be appalling behavior.
As he sat stewing, Chet and Marco walked in and sat down. Cap informed them of Stoney's news.
"Madre de Dios," Marco mumbled shaking his head.
"Geez Cap, can't they leave us alone? C'mon they should at least have the decency to respect when people are hurt," Chet announced. He stood up and started pacing.
Cap sighed heavily and stood up, saying, "I'd better call the Chief. Thanks for the heads up Stoney."
Stoney nodded an acknowledgement. As Cap walked out the door, Stoney looked over at Chet, who was pacing like a caged animal. Tension was rolling off him and, by the looks on the faces of those within close proximity, starting to affect them as well. "Chet, why don't you come sit down and I'll tell you about that fire over on Sepulveda this morning," Stoney offered trying to diffuse some of the tension.
Chet stopped in his tracks and leveled a glare at Stoney, he opened his mouth as if to argue then shook his head and his shoulders slumped like a deflated balloon as he said, "Sure Cap," walked over and sat down.
As Stoney concluded his story, Cap walked in. "Chief said he talked to Dick Friend, the reporters are going at this from the angle of why 51s wasn't at that fire this morning, not the car accident itself. He didn't think Johnny or Joanne would be bothered by any reporters," Cap stated in relief. Some of the tension in the room eased.
Roy checked on Joanne several times as the evening wore on, but each time, she let him visit briefly and then chased him back upstairs to wait with the guys. Dr. Early and Dr. Morton came to check on Joanne and told her that by morning they would ease the neuro checks to every 4 hours. At every visit, the first question out of her mouth was to ask about Johnny. It got to the point where he almost dreaded finding her awake. He could see her concern mounting and wanted her to rest, besides, his own worry was almost insurmountable. At one point he listened to her diatribe about hospital food and had to turn away as thoughts of his partner threatened to break his control.
The mood in the waiting room was like a pendulum, swinging from one extreme to the other. At times the room roared with laughter as rescues and fire scenes were recounted but at times it was so quiet and solemn one would think it was empty. The room itself was like a living, breathing being as men came and went in waves; sometimes full, past capacity and other times empty save for the crew from 51s. Someone brought in pizzas and pop, but most of it went uneaten. As the evening wore on, the conversations became quieter and less frequent but the shifting in chairs and uneasiness increased. Cap and the guys were called out once to a dumpster fire. Fortunately, it was minor and they were able to return to the hospital quickly, for which they were thankful. Roy had just returned from another visit with Joanne when emotions in the room erupted. As he sat down, Chet, who had been sitting there bouncing his leg up and down at a frantic pace, shot up out of his seat and stated, "That's it I'm going to go find out what's taking so long."
"Chet, cool it." Cap said in a warning tone.
"No Cap," Chet said harshly as he began to pace. "He's been up in surgery for over 6 hours now; surely someone in this joint knows something. I bet if we go down and talk to Early or Morton they can tell us something. They've probably been getting updates this whole time and just haven't shared it."
Marco stood up and stopped Chet by placing a hand on his chest. "Amigo, you need to calm down," he said sympathetically.
"Marco… man…I can't believe that we've all just been sitting here and no one comes to keep us informed. How's that supposed to be the 'best of care'? I mean we could be a bunch of old ladies with heart conditions and they could be giving us heart attacks with all this neglect. Ya know old people know people having surgery too! I mean, they should be better at keeping us posted."
Roy burst out laughing as he envisioned a bunch of old ladies with white curly hair like Chet's, sitting rocking. Cap and Mike looked at Roy and Chet in shock, Cap was not sure which one to address first. Chet became defensive and said, "Roy, this is no laughing matter. Johnny could be dying in there."
Cap stood to rein Chet in, but before he could Roy instantly sobered and said, "You think I don't know that Chet?" as he shot up from his chair and took a step toward him, "Just who's wife do you think it is that's in one of these rooms," he said as he took another step. Cap grabbed Roy's arm, but he shook it off, "and whose best friend is it? You weren't the one who went into that water and saw his best friend struggling desperately to try and move and barely getting anywhere," Roy's chest heaved with the emotions that were coursing through him. "You weren't the one who pulled your wife from your best friend's arms not even sure if she was alive…were you?" he pointed a finger at Chet, "And you aren't the one who almost had to tell their kids that they'd lost their mother…but now might have to tell them that they've lost their most favorite person in the world…Are you?" Roy was almost shouting by this time.
Before Chet could reply, Mike stood and walked over to Roy, putting a hand on his shoulder, "Come on and sit down Roy," he said as Cap looked over at Marco and flicked his head toward the door. Mike squeezed Roy's shoulder, "We're all worried and it's been a long day for everyone," he said as Marco guided Chet out the door. Roy let Mike lead him to a chair and sat down. Cap gave a nod to Mike and said, "If you'll excuse me, I'll be right back," and walked out.
Roy put his head in his hands as he realized what he'd just done. "Oh God Mike…I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me. I need to apologize to Chet."
Mike rubbed Roy's back. "Don't worry about it Roy, everything will be okay. Chet knows you didn't mean it. I'm sure he'll be back in a little and if it makes you feel better, you can apologize then," he said soothingly.
Roy took a deep breath and sat back. Rubbing his hands over his face, he said, "Damn, I feel like such a fool."
"Roy, don't even…you are not a fool. What you are is concerned and worried about your wife and best friend. I don't think anyone else who was in your situation could've done any better."
Roy looked over at Mike and gave him a small smile. "Thanks Mike," he said sincerely. A thought struck him, "Boy I'm glad Dix wasn't here, she'd of chewed my ear off for that," he said as he shook his head.
As Mike laughed, Cap walked in and sat down, his brows furrowed in concern, he questioned, "You okay now, pal?"
Roy nodded as he smiled sheepishly, "Yeah, Cap…sorry…I, uh, lost it for a little, but I'm okay now."
"No problem, pal," he responded kindly then added, "Chet and Marco will be back shortly."
"Is Chet okay, Cap?" Roy questioned nervously.
"He's fine Roy. Embarrassed by his outburst, but if you tell him I told you that, I'll deny it," Cap offered trying to assuage some of the guilt he knew Roy was feeling.
Roy grinned, "Yeah, well he's not the only one. Don't worry, your secret's safe with me," he responded. They lapsed into an easy silence.
A short while later, Chet and Marco came back. Roy stood and walked over to Chet; he put a hand on Chet's shoulder and looked him in the eye, saying, "I'm sorry Chet. What I did was uncalled for."
Chet waved him silent, saying, "No Roy, I was the one that stepped out of line. I shouldn't have said that about Johnny." He looked down at his foot, which was scuffing the floor.
Roy gave Chet's shoulder a gentle shake. "He's going to be okay, Chet. We have to believe that," Roy said with conviction.
A look of relief swept across Chet's face as he looked at Roy, "You really think so?" he asked hopefully.
"Yeah, I do Chet. I have to."
"Thanks, man," Chet said gratefully.
They sat down and continued their vigil content that there were no hard feelings. Roy was just about to go and check on Joanne when a disheveled, weary looking Brackett walked in. He was still wearing his sweat stained scrubs and carried his cap in his hand. As Kel scanned the room, Roy noticed the dark circles under his eyes and the firm set to his mouth. When he saw the tell-tale twitch, Roy's heart jumped into his throat.