Stanley cleared his throat as he entered the kitchen. John looked up and was surprised to see his Captain. "Couldn't sleep John?" Stanley simply said, as he made his way over to the fridge to pour some juice.
John decided to be honest, "Just a dream woke me up. Thought I'd have some milk. Sorry if I woke you."
"No that's alright, we all have those kind of dreams every so often." He noticed his youngest crew member move uncomfortably in his chair. "Do you want to talk about it? I'm a good listener."
"No, I'll talk to ch...um...a friend if I need to...I mean like Roy or someone..." John looked away not knowing how to say it's not something he would share with anyone but LT Blackcrow.
"How long have you and Roy known each other?"
"Um...about a year, why?"
"I was just wondering, you seem really…close…and work together so well." Stanley waited patiently for John to get his thoughts together. He would take it slow with his youngest crew member.
"Roy is like a brother to me. He and his family have welcomed me into theirs. His kids even call me Uncle." John said smiling. "We watch each other's back…I couldn't imagine working with anyone else."
"Tell me John, who exactly is Lt Blackcrow?" Stanley asked and saw the immediate reaction from his paramedic. This was obviously a touchy subject and he wondered if he was intruding but he wanted to get to know his young crew member.
John's body stiffened. "That's the first time he came to my station. He doesn't make a habit of just turning up..." John was on the defensive.
"Oh….I see….so Roy filled you in on my directive." Stanley said as he sipped his juice. He was about to explain when the lights came on and the Klaxons sounded; Station 51 structure fire 3654 Barham Blvd. Time out 1:16.
Station 51 sped to their destination to find a laundry facility burning on the first floor of one of the many apartments at the location. Stanley immediately contacted despatch and ordered a second alarm.
The fire spread quickly to the apartment above the laundry. John and Roy ran along the second floor banging on doors to quickly evacuate the floor. Thankfully there were several stairwells for the tenants to escape down. Kelly called out to John. "Someone's hurt Gage."
John entered the apartment. A woman was crouched in the corner of a bedroom hugging a pillow. The paramedic thought to himself, 'A pillow won't stop you from burning.' He crouched down in front of her "We have to get out. Can you walk? Are you hurt?" He tried to remove the pillow. The woman resisted and clutched the pillow even tighter.
She shook her head and tried to stop him from removing the pillow. "You need to get out. Leave the pillow. You don't need it. It won't protect you." John yelled through his mask.
"My baby!" The woman cried and then he saw it. Nestled behind the pillow was a baby, its legs and left side burned.
The fire from below must have directly gone to the baby's room. "Give the baby to me." John took off his mask and placed it on the baby. He rose and grabbed the woman by the arm and led her to the nearest stairwell.
"Kelly! Tell Roy I'm leaving to take care of these two." Kelly nodded.
Roy made his way to the squad soon after John got there. The baby had third degree burns to its legs and the woman had second degree burns to her hands. They immediately got to work. Within ten minutes the young paramedic was in the back of an ambulance with the woman, who turned out to be the mother, and the baby heading for Rampart.
John returned to the scene half an hour later in another ambulance. He found Roy treating a fireman. "I've got this, check in with Stanley." Roy told his partner.
Captain Stanley was speaking to a building supervisor. "Where do you want me Cap?" Johnny interrupted.
"Help 36s with ventilation on the first floor." Stanley told his paramedic.
John found the directive unusual because it was uncommon to be told to help another station. They usually stuck close to their own crew to avoid confusion. He processed thoughts calling on his training. 'You usually worked with your own crew in structure fires. Hope they don't forget about me and leave me behind.' He thought but dismissed his silly thoughts.
Since Station 51 was first on the scene, they were released first. Roy was waiting at Rampart for John to bring in the squad. His partner was busy helping 36s with clean up since no one told him 51s had been released from the scene. One hour after 51s had been released; John trudged over to his squad. He was exhausted. Station 36's Captain asked him why he was still on scene. He told him that his station had been released over an hour ago.
John sighed. "No one told me Cap, I'll go pick up my partner from Rampart." '18s all over again,' he thought. At least I have the squad to drive. It would have been a long walk.
"Where have you been?" Roy asked as John walked up to the nurses' station. His partner was covered in soot and looked tired.
"Helping 36s with clean-up. No one told me we were released." John was annoyed. "Captain Stanley should have told me. I could have been here an hour ago."
"We'll talk to him when we get back." Roy looked at Johnny shaking his head. "You need a shower."
"Clean-up is one of the dirtiest jobs we do." Johnny complained as he sipped some coffee.
"And we haven't had to do that in quite a while. Come on lets go." Picking up their equipment and supplies Roy thought about what had happened, and came to the conclusion that Cap had made a basic error. He looked over at his partner. Johnny looked exhausted and through the soot very young. He had noticed, whenever his partner's face was dirty he looked all but sixteen. This mistake was not going to help their working relationship with their new Captain.
The squad backed into the bay. Captain Stanley was waiting for them. John jumped out of the squad and headed straight for the shower. He didn't make eye contact with his Captain. Roy slowly opened his door and sighed. "Cap."
"Where have you been all this time? I know you weren't called out." Stanley had been waiting for his paramedics to return.
Roy, a little annoyed with his Captain got straight to the point. "I've been waiting for over an hour at Rampart for John to bring in the squad."
"Well my next question is. Where has Gage been all this time?" Stanley placed his hands on his hips.
"Well you should have known where he was Cap. He was doing what he been ordered to do…helping 36s with clean-up….He didn't know he had been released." Roy looked directly at his Captain challenging him to state otherwise. He was upset that the Captain had forgotten about his partner.
Stanley rubbed his hands over his face and sighed. He had asked Kelly to let Gage know he was released. For some twisted reason he hadn't let him know. He thought about his youngest crew member being left behind and how he must of felt. Kelly had told him that he had let one of 36's crew know but couldn't remember who. He had no reason to not believe him. Little did he know Kelly had told no one. He thought it would be funny for the paramedic to do some clean-up after a fire for a change instead of hanging out drinking coffee with the hospital staff. He never thought about the paramedics helping out at the hospital or doing follow ups with patients.
Captain Stanley explained to Roy about asking Chet to let John know that they had been released. Somewhere there had been a breakdown in communication. He walked with Roy back to the dorm after finishing their coffees. John was already in his bunk. Stanley looked over his youngest crew member. Things had not gone as planned. Roy had explained a few things to the Captain but he still had many questions he needed answered. Maybe I should start with the one person John trusts and with that thought in mind he drifted off to sleep.