Captain Stanley walked through the emergency doors and looked around; his paramedics were nowhere to be seen. He went into the doctor's lounge and found Johnny sitting with a blanket over his shoulders, sipping a hot chocolate with Dixie talking quietly to him. She looked up and smiled.
"Too late hah? I was hoping to get here before it hit him" stated Cap as he made his way to the couch.
"It only hit him a few minutes ago...It was when Roy told Kel what happened...I brought Johnny here as soon as I saw him start to shake" Dixie rubbed her hand over Johnny's back and smiled "But...you're alright now aren't you Johnny?"
Johnny nodded and smiled at Dixie "I'm always alright after spending time with you." "Hey Cap...I haven't heard about Roy yet." Johnny frowned remembering and seeing the rope slip down the cliff. He looked up at his Captain "We almost lost Roy" he whispered forlornly.
Cap knelt in front of Johnny "But we didn't pal...because of your quick reflexes and training" he pointed out. He knew he would have to sit down and go through the whole rescue with his youngest paramedic and get things clear in his head. Since taking over from Johnny's mentor Jay Blackcrow Cap had made sure that he was always there for Johnny. Talking through bad rescues was Roy's job but this was different. He needed to make sure that Johnny knew he had done everything right and if in the same situation that he's reaction would be the same. That accidents, like breaking ropes, happens occasionally and is all part of the job.
"I'll leave you two to it...I'll check on Roy" said Dixie as she rose to make her way back to the treatment room.
"Dix...thanks" Johnny called after her. He would send her a basket of her favourite flowers, and knew how much Dixie loved receiving them. Johnny had heard young nurses speculating who Dixie's admirer was.
"You ok to finish shift?" asked Cap.
"Yeah...I feel better now...it just hit me all of a sudden you know...how close we came to losing Roy" Johnny stared ahead and swallowed hard.
"But like I said we didn't...and there's no point dwelling on what ifs" Cap told Johnny as he sat beside him and put his hand on his shoulder.
"You're right Cap" Johnny smiled reassuring his Cap that he was much better physically and mentally.
Johnny had come to admire this man for his ability to keep him focused and to not dwell on the what ifs, that he tended to do sometimes. He had been accepted into the Stanley family with open arms and had a respect for his Cap much like he had for his partner Roy. Both men had guided him on many subjects since Johnny had no one else to turn to for that guidance.
"I've got to go...engines waiting for me...I've called for a replacement, as soon as you've heard about Roy come back to the station" Cap told him with his 'we'll talk about this properly then' look.
"Sure Cap" Johnny smiled his eyes reflecting the trust he now held for his Captain.
Johnny looked in on Roy, who was being kept in overnight. Dr Brackett wanted to keep a watch on his eye for infection. Johnny promised to pick him up but Roy told him Joanne would pick him up.
"I'll drop your car at your place and have Chet follow me and take me back to my car" Johnny told Roy. "Take it easy, I'll call in if I'm on a run" he smiled as he left the room.
"Be safe Junior" Roy said quietly, still feeling the effects of nearly falling to his death.
Johnny drove back to the station thinking about who his partner will be. Some of the newer paramedics were good but some were real gung ho as far as Johnny was concerned. The word hotshots came to mind, they were more in love with being called a paramedic than being a paramedic. To Johnny he still felt like a rescue man that could now go one step further and make sure his rescued victim had a better chance of living.
Captain Stanley called Johnny into his office and talked with Johnny for a while and then got on with department business. The guys had scanned the slope and found some metal that could have quite easily cut Roy's rope. He talked to Johnny about how in the future could they keep the rope from rubbing on the ground when tied so far back. Johnny came up with some innovative ideas and Cap came up with a couple of his own. He would put forward these suggestions so that the department could devise some new equipment. He told Johnny to run his ideas past Mike to see if there was something around the station to use in the meantime.
While Johnny was talking to Mike, the replacement paramedic arrived. He knocked on Captain Stanley's door and stood at attention.
"Morning you must be Tom Wheeler" Cap held out his hand "I'm Captain Stanley. Welcome to station 51"
"Morning Captain" Wheeler said stiffly, still standing at attention. Cap noted he was older than Johnny but was from the third class out of Rampart which made Johnny the senior paramedic. He thought to himself that this will be an interesting partnership, since he had heard of Wheeler's thirst for publicity.
Cap walked Wheeler into the kitchen. Everyone looked up and both Johnny and Chet had the same look on their faces; a look of dread. Johnny who had once been jealous of Wheeler's publicity soon realised that he didn't need the public recognition to feel satisfied with himself.
"Gentlemen this is Tom Wheeler, Roy's replacement" Cap said smiling. Cap pointed out each crew member and introduced them to Wheeler. He introduced Johnny last. Johnny shook his hand a little reluctantly. "John can you show him a spare locker?" Cap asked.
"Sure Cap" Johnny looked down, the old insecurities were flaring. Cap knew he would have to keep an eye on that. Johnny led Wheeler out to the locker room and showed him a locker.
"Aahh, those cameras still don't follow you around do they Tom?" Johnny asked, half expecting a camera to jump out from behind a locker.
"No, you like being on TV do you Gage?" asked Wheeler with a taint of sarcasm. "Stick with me Gage and I can make you famous."
"It's Johnny...and it's no on both accounts, that's why I asked, I prefer to just get on with the job...no distractions" answered Johnny.
"Can I see the squad?" Wheeler stood up and walked into the bay area.
Johnny wasn't sure how to take the abrupt personality of Wheeler. Wheeler was looking through the drug box as Johnny joined him by the squad. "This isn't fully stocked" he said standing up waiting for an explanation. He had raised his voice slightly hoping that Captain Stanley could hear through his open door.
"Well...Roy and I were on a rescue this morning as soon as we got in and I haven't had a chance to properly check" Johnny shrugged his shoulders.
"Why didn't you restock when you were at Rampart?" he asked, not thinking how Johnny must have been feeling this morning after his partner was injured. Johnny realised that Wheeler didn't know the circumstances behind Roy's injury, otherwise he wouldn't have asked the question. "Well?" he said impatiently.
"I kind of had other things on my mind with Roy being hurt." Johnny liked this guy less and less.
"Your mind should be completely on the job" Wheeler admonished and declared "We need to do a supply run". He was hoping Captain Stanley could hear the conversation.
"No we don't, next run we'll get the supplies" Johnny said with authority. He knew he was the senior paramedic, being out of the first class of Rampart had its advantages.
"Well I beg to differ" said Wheeler standing firm.
The klaxons sounded and the squad was called out to a possible heart attack. Johnny drove but found Wheeler's directions wanting so he ignored them and made his way on his own knowledge. He smiled at Wheeler when they arrived.
They jumped out and grabbed their equipment. Wheeler walked away carrying the drug box only, leaving the oxygen, biophone and defibrillator for Johnny. Johnny frowned and reminded himself it was only temporary.
They worked on the victim, Johnny thought Wheeler was competent but tended to spend more time consoling the young wife than doing the monitoring. Johnny found himself manning the biophone as well as administering the drugs. Wheeler looked after the oxygen but kept leaving to pat the wife's hand reassuring her. Johnny had to call him back a couple of times to help.
When they were on their way back to the station Johnny told Wheeler that he needed to pay more attention to the patient than the relatives. He had paid Roy a visit and told him what had happened, Roy had advised him to let Wheeler know how he preferred to work and hopefully he'd listen to Johnny's request.
"We have an image to uphold Gage. You can't just go in there and not talk to the relatives."
"It's Johnny...and our first priority is the patient and that's how I prefer to work. I'm just letting you know" Johnny said calmly. He wondered how Kirk, Wheeler's regular partner at 110s, put up with him.
They pulled into the station, Cap was waiting.
"How'd it go" he asked.
"It was a good save Cap if I do say so myself. Gage was a lot of help" said Wheeler as he made his way into the kitchen.
Johnny stood there with his mouth open. Cap was smiling as he went back into his office thinking everything was working great between the paramedics.