Chapter 6

"I'll call Stephan tonight, see what's up," Itora decided. It would be better to go through the doctor than through the official

lines.

As it turned out, Itora never had to make the call. A few hours later, after one trash fire and two fire inspections, the phone rang and soon Matt was talking with a very excited partner.

"Sounds like Brackett took care of it," Johnny smiled at the captains and his partner.

"Yups, maikai," Itora grinned right back. "No try, bruddah, you know pidgin!"

'Eh, nevah mine," the junior paramedic shot back. "You so niele!" Itora started to snicker while the others looked on.

"Give me," the Hawaiian captain waggled his fingers.

"I picked some up when I was more into the surfing scene," Johnny shrugged.

"You surf?" Itora questioned. "I'm surprised Matt hasn't conned you into going hit the waves."

"Wednesday," he stated. "We're heading out in the morning. It's nearly a full moon and there's a tropical depression off of Baja so there'll be some decent waves off the cliffs."

"Given Mike's reaction the last shift I take it you know how to surf," Itora fished. The younger paramedic blushed and looked down for a moment.

"Let's just say Johnny can handle a board and leave it at that," Stanley smoothly stated. Itora recognized he wouldn't be getting a satisfactory answer. He resolved to figure out the enigma named John Gage.

Lunch was sandwiches, chips, celery and carrots. There was even some ranch dip for it.

"Man, I hate rabbit food!" Chet groused as he put a huge handful of potato chips on his plate. Marco peeked under his bread then went to get some pickles.

"It's good for you, amigo," he said as he poked through the fridge.

"Yeah, Dr. Morton would be proud of us!" Gage added with a smirk.

"Don't even go there," Roy cautioned, "unless you want some more of that spirulina extract next time Chet cooks!" Two incredulous faces looked up.

"You guys didn't…" Itora began.

"Get on a health food kick," Matt finished. Stanley once more stepped in.

"We were the guinea pigs for one of the department's get healthy programs," he explained. "Dr. Morton came in and reviewed our eating habits and suggested some changes. One of us got a little too gung ho about it," he indicated the mustached wonder with his eyes.

"A little gung ho?" Mike said nearly spitting out chips.

"His food was totally inedible. And don't get me started about that yoga he tried to foist on us!"

"I lost 5 pounds," Chet said smugly, "and I've kept it off!"

"And I lost 15," said Roy sourly, "from starving to death!" Johnny raised an eyebrow and was quickly punched on the arm by his partner.

"Don't even go there, Junior!" he warned.

Fortunately (or not, depending on your view), the tones went off sending the station on a MVA run. It over two grueling hours in the hot sun untangling three cars and a truck with three critical patients later when they returned to the station.

Sandwiches were dumped and cold sodas doled out. Johnny poked around the cupboards and frowned. Nothing.

"Pizza?" he asked Roy.

"Sausage, black olives, mushrooms," he countered.

"Bell pepper, onion, mushrooms, olives, tomatoes," Gage shot back. "Extra cheese."

"Roy's," Chet said followed by Mike and Cap.

"Johnny's, with jalepenos on one side," Marco countered.

"Uhm, pineapple, Canadian bacon and black olives?" Itora suggested.

"Roy's," Matt threw in.

"Pony up," Johnny said as he headed for the phone. Money was tossed onto the table. The visitors watched the curious ritual.

"It's like ordering Chinese back at the station," Matt said softly.

"Yups," Itora agreed. Thirty minutes later four boxes were delivered. Two large Roy's, one medium Johnny's and one large Itora's. Several askance looks.

"His sounded good, too," Johnny said in his defense as he snagged a couple slices. Soon 8 hungry men were devouring their lunch. A pitcher of iced tea appeared as well as glasses. It didn't take long to empty the boxes.

"I feel like a vacuum," Mike commented as he wiped his fingers on a napkin. Chet gave him a sly look and shifted his eyes to Johnny.

"Naw," he said. "Now Johnny, he's a shop vac. Did 'ya see how much he packed away?" Gage didn't even bother rising to the bait.

"I mean, whooosh!" he continued. "Thought he was gonna take the box, too." Still now response.

"You going to finish that?" Johnny asked Itora politely. With a shake of his head the Cap pushed the box towards the paramedic with a slice of pizza left. He picked it up and deftly curled it inward to keep the toppings intact. He slowly nibbled at the treat.

"I get the impression you don't gain weight," the Hawaiian commented. Chet was miffed.

"Yeah, he had to gain weight when the department started its get healthy plan," he groused. "Scrawny..."

"Kelly!" Hank said firmly.

"Some of us had quite a few pounds to lose," Johnny finally commented.

"Some of us still have to lose a few pounds," Roy added with a sideways glance at Chet.

"At least I'm not so skinny I have to be careful not to fall into the storm drain," Kelly shot back, but at Gage, not DeSoto. He was getting hot under the collar. The junior paramedic wouldn't react!

"At least he doesn't have to worry about breaking ladder rungs!" Roy launched. The rest of the crew looked from one reddening face to the other. Normally easy-tempered the senior paramedic was getting angry.

"Well, there's someone else here that'd break more than a ladder rung!" Chet shot back.

"I bet the engine's gonna need new springs on one side," Roy gave it back. Unable to control himself Johnny started to laugh. Loud. The pizza was dropped back into the box as he tried not to launch food over the table. Once he broke down Marco joined in followed by Matt and Mike. The two captains glanced at one another then Hank stood up and went behind his paramedic.

"Ok, Gage, swallow or spit it out!" Cap ordered. "Don't make me use the Heimlich!" He placed his hands on the younger man's shoulders and waited until breathing was restored and laughter dwindled to giggles.

"And you two... twits!" Stanley glared at the bickering men. "Knock it off! We get enough stress on the job without you adding to it!" Roy fully blushed as he realized what he'd done. Chet didn't look very remorseful, but he didn't add any more comments.

"Come on, amigo, I'll help you with the clean up," Marco said as he began to buss the table. Johnny rescued his slice of pizza and sauntered outside. It was hot, but he enjoyed the feel of the sun on his skin.

"Dumb idiot's gonna get heat stroke," Chet grumbled anew. Marco whopped him hard on the shoulder.

"What?" he whined.

"Man, just drop it!" Marco hissed. "Why are you so grumpy?"

"It's hot, I'm tired," Chet replied. "And Roy wasn't nice at all! Who does he think he is? Telling me I'm too heavy!"

"Ok, hold it right there," Marco said. "You're hot and tired. And we've already gone 24 hour, so I know you didn't get enough sleep."

"And I didn't get one of Gage's omelettes, Ok?" he tossed the towel on the counter. "You know how good those are."

"Ah, you didn't get breakfast, or at least the breakfast you wanted," Marco rolled his eyes. "And Johnny got the last word in on that if I recall."

"Yeah," muttered Chet. He hated it when the pigeon got one over the phantom.

"So, Gage is cooking dinner," Marco reminded him. "That chicken rice curry stuff you like."

"Really?" Chet's eyes brightened.

"Really. Two deboned cooked chickens in the fridge," Marco said. "Rice-A-Roni in the cupboard. Coconut flakes, peanuts, and raisins as well."

"Great!" Chet enthused. "Little clean-up and it tastes great!" His humor restored, the Irish fireman continued washing the dishes.

"I take it that DeSoto doesn't normally get upset," Itora commented to Stanley as they walked into the office.

"No, he's as calm and level as Stoker!" he responded. "Guess anyone can get grumpy when they've had broken sleep." As they sat down the phone rang.

"Station 51, Captain Stanley speaking," he answered smoothly.

"Hi, Dad!" Jake's voice came over the phone.

"Well, hi Jake," Stanley said, surprised.

"Can I speak with Johnny?" he asked. Hank agreed and put the phone on hold. He headed out the back door and called for the paramedic. The lounging man stood up with a long stretch and went into the dorm to take his phone call.

"Johnny Gage," he said into the phone.

"Hi, Johnny!" the high school boy greeted him enthusiastically.

"Jake! What's up?" he asked.

"I, uh, need to ask you a favor," the teenager stalled.

"Sure, what can I do for you?" Johnny asked easily.

"Well, uh, are you busy tomorrow?" Jake asked. 


"No really," he replied, "just some housework than can be put off 'til Wednesday."

"Ok, see, we're going to Disneyland tomorrow and Mrs. Itora is kind of worried about letting her daughters go around by themselves," Jake explained. "Me and Ruth don't want to be stuck with mom or dad, you know?"

"That would be a bummer," Johnny allowed.

"So, we figured if you went around with us it'd be great," now Jake started to speak faster. "Mrs. Itora thinks you're an adult and me and Ruth like to hang out with you and Mrs. Itora said they'd pay for your admission and we'd only have to meet up with them a couple times during the day..."

"Hey, Jake! Take a breath!" the paramedic teased. "You know I like to hang out with you two." Although he wasn't sure of being "thought as" an adult. Seems Jake felt he wasn't. He'd have to work that out later.

"Great!" Jake enthused. He could hear Ruth's excited shout in the background. "Here's mom."

"Hi John," Mrs. Stanley's voice came next. "Hear you volunteered to chaperone."

"Seems like it," Gage allowed, "but according to Jake I don't think I'm an adult." She laughed.

"Well, you're so much cooler than me or Hank," Emily said. "Thank you for doing this. Carol is very nervous about letting her girls out of her sight. Can you meet us at the hotel by 10:00? From what I understand Roy has reservations for the younger set to eat breakfast with the park characters. Ruth and Jake both don't want to be seen there."

"No problem," John replied. "We'll take the monorail over and have a more civilized breakfast at the pancake bar."

"Perfect," she replied. "I'll let Carol know. I think she and Frank are coming but they'll stick around with the group."

"Ok, Emily," Gage said. "I'll see you in the morning."

After hanging up the phone the tired paramedic rubbed his face. All he really wanted to do was stay home and lounge in the air conditioned splendor. Catch up on some reading. Now he was looking forward to at least 12 hours smack dab in the middle of Anaheim in the summer heat. He was going to bed early again tonight!

If Chet got wind of it he'd be teased mercilessly for a month. Sometimes he wondered about the man, especially why he rode him all the time. Be it water bomb or verbal jab it became pretty tiresome. Yes, he knew part of the reason was Johnny didn't get mad and stay mad. On the other hand if he ignored Chet the man would keep on going until Cap stepped in. Or, in today's case, Roy got involved and was well beyond irritated. That had been kind of surprising because his pally was the calmest person he knew. Maybe there was something bothering the senior paramedic that needed to be aired. Tucking that thought in the back of his mind Gage headed back to the kitchen.

"Hey, John," Cap called out, "what'd Jake want?" Perfect. The entire crew was in the kitchen area or sitting room watching a little tv.

"Oh, seems the teenagers don't want to be stuck with mom and dad tomorrow," Gage said casually. "Jake figured I could hang out with them and then Mrs. Itora wouldn't worry as much."

"If I were Mrs. Itora I'd worry a lot more," Chet immediately retorted. Marco just rolled his eyes and reached into the sink, grabbed a cup and dumped the sudsy water on his friend.

"Grow up!" he growled and stomped out of the kitchen.

"Kelly, get that water mopped up before someone slips," Hank jumped in.

"But it wasn't..." Chet tried to deflect.

"Now, Kelly, or we'll have to look at latrine detail for the next

rotation," Cap shot back.

It must be the heat, John decided. They'd been out in it for several hours and throw that on top of broken sleep made a recipe for crankiness. Shrugging his shoulders he stepped out to the utility

cupboard and snagged the mop and rolling bucket. Without a word he cleaned up under the mustached linesman and returned the equipment. Rather than going back into the kitchen he went over to the squad and pulled out the drug box.

He discovered Marco sitting on the engine's running board. As he poked around noting the levels of each item he listened to the man work on slowing down his breathing.

"Long, hot one," Gage commented.

"Yeah, pretty bad," Lopez agreed. "Especially out on the concrete pulling apart cars."

"I'm kind of cranky and really tired," the paramedic said, not looking left or right.

"Yeah, me too," the linesman agreed again. "Just wish Chet could be like Mike sometimes. You know, quiet." Johnny had to laugh, remembering a cereal commercial he'd seen at the DeSotos while watching cartoons with Jenny.

"What?" Marco asked.

"Just remembered a commercial I saw," he said. "Some cereal, the kids wouldn't touch it but then one quiet little guy started in and chowed down. the punchline was 'Hey, Mikie likes it!' and then all the kids wanted to be like Mike and eat the cereal. See? Told you I was tired, brain is mush!" Marco chuckled.

"Same here," he finally smiled. "Need me to write anything down for you?"

"Naw, just keeping out of Chet's way," Johnny said. "We stocked up last run since we used so much stuff on the accident victims." The drug box was slipped back into the squad and Johnny sat across from his crew mate leaning against it. They were chit chatting about the next two days off when the tones went off.

"Squad 51, possible drowning. Orange Avenue Park. 4304 Orange Ave; cross street Garfield. Time out 4:45."

Once again the little red squad was hustling down the street. Roy took the corner a little faster than expected sending Matt over against Johnny.

"Hey Pally!" Gage growled, "remember, this isn't the brickyard!"

"Ooops," Desoto grinned, completely unrepentant. He loved to drive, his adrenaline pumping and the sirens singing. But he did take the next corner more conservatively.

Pulling up to the public pool they picked up their equipment and were led onto the decking. A young boy was lying on the ground and the lifeguards were giving cpr. Not a positive sign as more than 5 minutes had passed since the call came to them.

Roy took the lead and was soon on the biophone. An airway was ordered and carefully slipped in, making it easier to continue breathing support. There was a pulse, although weak and thready. Bp wasn't very good, either. But there was a pulse, and he was trying to breathe on his own. IV started and soon he was on his way to Rampart.

Somewhere along the ride the boy opened his eyes, easing Roy's concern. He used his calm, fatherly voice to keep the boy from panicking. Once in the treatment room Dr. Early was able to pull the tube and begin a neuro assessment.

Johnny was pleased that the engine was gone when they got back to the station. Chet was bad enough on a good day, but a cranky Chet was not pleasant for anyone. Since he learned from Marco the man was upset about not getting a personally crafted breakfast (which had amused him) he decided to start dinner.

"I'm starving!" Marco whined from the back seat.

"Me too," Mike agreed.

"Well, I'm so hungry the seat cover is looking good," Chet growled.

"Chester B!" Mike snarled in return.

"I seem to recall we all had a lot of pizza a couple hours back," Hank stated.

"But then we went on two runs!" Chet picked up the whine. "All that hose and heat! I sweated off 10 pounds!"

"Shoulda sweated a little longer..." Mike muttered, adding something about 20.

"I have to agree with the men, Hank," Itora chimed in pleasantly. "I could eat."

"Well, if you think so," Stanley appeared to be considering. "I mean, a captain knows these things."

"Right," Mike muttered once more, and not in a positive tone. Hank glanced at his engineer. He looked hot and tired. These 48s in the heat of summer were not kind to firefighters. It was going to be a tough night. With a heavy sigh he leaned back on his seat.

"I'm so hungry I could eat the dashboard," Stanley said in a whiny tone. He decided to push a good mood onto his friend.

"Dibs on the steering wheel," Itora popped in. Mike looked like he would blow a fuse.

"I think it would be too tough," Hank considered.

"Hey, I don't mind chewy, 'specially with some poi," Itora said. Marco and Chet looked from captain to captain to engineer. Maybe it would be better to walk back to the station...

"I heard about that stuff," Mike grumped. "I don't think stuff that tastes like glue would enhance the flavor of my steering wheel!"

"Well, it is an acquired taste," Frank allowed. "Kind of like creamed spinach or liver."

"Or menudo," Chet chimed in hoping to distract the driver.

"Hey! Menudo is great!" Marco snapped. "What about that stew with the cherries in it?"

"That stuff's gross!" Mike said. "At least everyone likes spaghetti."

"Just don't make that pepper meat loaf again," Hank made a face.

"YES!" chorused the back seat. Finally Mike grinned.

"Oh, come on," he snickered. "It wasn't that bad!"

"We had to send the paramedics to Rampart to get the strongest antacid available," Hank pointed out.

"Well, I didn't send you guys to the ER with food poisoning," Mike pointed out. Hank considered this.

"No, no one has done that.... yet!" Cap agreed.

"Maddie did that to us," Itora put in. "Made some poke and the fish was off."

"Mental note, don't eat Maddie's fish," Chet said dramatically.

"We were one bunch of miserable kamaainas!" he had to laugh at the memory. The engine began backing into the apparatus bay. As soon as it stopped doors popped open. Happy smiles wreathed the men's faces.

"DINNER!" Chet yelled happily. There was a mad dash for the kitchen. Hank held back a bit with Itora.

"Thanks," he said, "thought Mike was going to explode."

"No problem," Frank replied. "Matt's partner, Stephan, is a lot like Stoker. Even keeled, quiet, never ruffled. That's why I was so surprised he blew up on the phone." They pushed into the kitchen, making sure to close the door keeping the air conditioned air in.

Once more Gage elected to go to bed early. He took a couple aspirin for his sore leg and slid in between the sheets. He would have been surprised had he paid attention as Chet climbed into his own bunk a few moments later.