When John Gage re-entered the day room he noticed two things; Captain Stanley was back in his office and Kelly was sitting on the couch clearly hiding his face behind a book. He knew this because the Irishman never read books at the station. Roy called him from the locker area.

"Let's go to the dorm. I want to talk to you." Roy said in his no nonsense voice.

"What happened when I left?" John asked worriedly.

"I mentioned about the ambulance to the Cap and he said we shouldn't expect him to be so hands on and know the whereabouts of an ambulance at the same time...I can see his point so let's just leave it for now and see what happens...He also said…." Roy cleared his throat. "Friends should not be making it a habit to turn up at the station and expect to be able to talk to whoever when they like."

"What! That's the first time chief has ever been here. Who does he think he is?" John was trying to calm down his breathing. This is not good he thought to himself. "And what was that with Kelly. I was asking a legitimate question and he allowed Kelly to just butt in and...And...Insult me, yeah...that was insulting what he said and the Captain said nothing. It's like he has free reign here to say what he likes…." John was ranting.

"Seems to me he knows who's the intelligent one here Gage. Let's face it, you're lucky if you get a single sentence out without either stuttering or making any sense at all." Kelly interrupted rudely.

"Get out Chet! This is a private conversation." Roy yelled. This is just all he needed, Kelly bugging John again. The lineman never knew when enough was enough.

"Ok, ok." Kelly said as he raised his hands in defeat. "You know you're losing what sense of humour you had Roy….Must be from hanging around Gage, since he has no sense of humour at all." And with that he left.

Roy grabbed Johnny's arm and lead him to his bunk and sat him down. "Forget Kelly." He simply stated. "Johnny the Captain never got a chance to say anything to Kelly cause Jay turned up as he was about to open his mouth. As to the friends turning up at the station, I think it was just something he wanted to make sure we were clear about. It wasn't aimed at you, the opportunity to say something about visiting friends just presented itself and he wanted us to be clear on what he expected. Don't take it as a personal assault. Ok?" He looked at John expectantly. His partner was chewing his bottom lip and didn't answer. "OK?"

"Alright." John said defeated. "It's just Kelly has been even more obnoxious than normal today and it's really getting to me….Chief calmed me down… but now I'm even more tense."

"How about this? We still have those new manuals to go through. I'll grab them and a cup of coffee for each of us and we'll sit here and go through them together?" Roy said hoping to put his friend at ease. He patted John's shoulder, which flinched as usual. Roy noticed how rigid John's body was. The younger paramedic finally nodded and sighed.

Roy grabbed the manuals and was about to enter the kitchen when he heard Kelly. "What about that Lieutenant…what was that look he gave me? Gage has been whingeing to one of his Indian friends."

"He was probably checking out your hair and thinking what a great scalp you'd be," deadpanned Lopez.

"Yeah curly hair is probably a bonus," added Stoker.

Roy chuckled to himself. He'd have to tell Johnny about this. He entered the room and grabbed two mugs to pour the coffee.

Kelly couldn't help himself and seized the opportunity to make Johnny look bad, again. "What's up Roy? Gage sulking in the dorm."

"As a matter of fact we have work to do Kelly and we need to concentrate, but oh yeah, you wouldn't know what that means so I'll give it to you straight….it means, reading uninterrupted and discussing what we're reading and making necessary notes. Things we will be discussing on our day off in a Paramedic's committee meeting, while you're just lounging around doing nothing as usual." Roy turned around and walked out of the room. Stoker and Lopez were snickering.

Captain Stanley was standing outside the room and asked Roy about the meeting. "How often do you have these committee meetings?"

"We have them once a month. It's no big deal….me and Johnny enjoy them. We make sure the doctors hear our concerns and make the changes necessary to make the program work."

"I'd like to sit in on one of these meetings if possible?" He asked.

"Yeah, sure I'll check with Dr Brackett. You know the Chief is there don't you?" Roy asked his Cap.

"No I didn't. I'll give him a call and let him arrange it." Cap told Roy.

"Ok let us know if you're coming. We usually car pool and go out for lunch afterwards." Roy casually told Cap. He walked to the dorm wondering if it would be a good or bad thing, his Captain attending one of their meetings.

The rest of the day and evening went smoothly. Captain Stanley got used to his crew and considered making only a couple of changes to the way they do certain tasks. Stanley had told Kelly to leave the paramedics alone so they could complete their work. It's the least he could do considering they give up their own time for meetings. The Chief confirmed he could sit in on the next meeting and considered it may be a good idea for other Captains to be given the chance to attend future meetings.

"Lights out gentlemen." Captain Stanley called from his office.

Soon all the crew were tucked away in their bunks sleeping. John woke with a start. He had been so tense all day that old nightmares had come back to taunt him in his sleep. He got up to get a glass of milk. He sat and did some calming exercises that his mentor had taught him. Captain Stanley watched from the doorway. His youngest crew member was constantly on his mind. He had noticed a sadness and vulnerability in his brown eyes. It was now or never, he wanted to talk to him and clear up a few things that had happened throughout the day.