Sorry for the long wait. Spring Break has never been more welcome!
Crosstrainers 30
Saturday found Johnny and Hank at the 27s. Roy was solo at the 32s. Both stations were solid, although Roy had the joy of serving in Castle's area.
Pulling into the station's parking lot Gage looked over at his passenger. With a sling on, Cap did not look to be in the best of moods.
"Uh, penny for your thoughts?" the younger man tried. He received a sharp glance, not quite a glare.
"Ok, how about a quarter's worth?" he followed up. Hank shook his head.
"Nothing pertinent to the job, Gage," he said testily.
*Great! Just great!* Johnny thought. One of those husband/wife/family things. He hated it when Roy acted like this. Now he had to put up with the Cap and there was no Mike to take care of it.
"I'm at a serious disadvantage," he mumbled as he got out of the car and picked up his bag and dress hat. Reaching over he snagged Hank's bag as well.
Walking into the station they were greeted by the departing 'C' shift. Gage wore his happy crooked grin as he shook hands. Then a more false one as a couple magazines made their appearance and he scratched his autograph by pictures of his younger self.
"Gentlemen," a deep, firm voice intoned. "I believe we spoke about this?" A man wearing the captain's stripe came forward and broke up the group.
"But Ca-ap! We're off-shift!" one of the men whined.
"And Mr. Gage is coming on shift," he rumbled as he moved next to the visiting paramedic. A hand on his back and he was guided to the locker room.
"Sorry, Gage. I'm Captain Harris, A-shift," the man said as he opened up an empty locker. "Some of the guys are a little... excited about your surfing abilities."
"It has been a little surreal," Johnny admitted as he hung up extra uniforms, first in his locker, then Hank's in the adjacent locker. "At least when we're on calls it's all professional."
"Glad to hear it," Harris said.
"This is my captain, Hank Stanley," Gage completed the introductions and backed out as the two men sized one another up then shook hands.
"Let's get to line up," the Hawaiian captain said and led them back into the bay in front of the engine and squad.
As Johnny slipped into line another man approached him with a magazine and pen. He waited for Harris to growl but was surprised to hear the stern man chuckle.
"Ah, Jake, just can't resist, can you?" he asked. The man in street clothes smirked.
"You know Mindy would kill me if I forgot," Jake answered. He turned to Gage. "Captain Jake Langdon," he held out his hand, "C-shift. Wife's a big surfing buff." Johnny struggled not to roll his eyes as he inscribed the cover for the man.
"Ok, now we're done with the celebrity stuff!" Harris harumphed. He proceeded to introduce the 51s team, read announcements and make duty assignments. Once completed, the line disappeared as men scurried off to do their work.
Johnny followed the paramedics to the side of the little yellow squad. He watched as they pulled out their boxes and began poking through them.
"So, Roy Desoto was here already," Gage said. "Said you two were doing well."
"We have some issues with the box set-up," Patrick Gibson admitted. "And we're still a little hesitant with the needle end of the job."
"I don't like needles at all," Gage admitted, "especially on the receiving end! Why don't you show me your equipment and we'll talk through your challenges."
Stanley and Harris leaned against the wall watching the three men spread out their things. Long, sure fingers danced over vials, syringes and bags as his soft voice questioned his trainees.
"Your Desoto was a good trainer," Harris started, "got us all involved from the word go."
"He's one of the best," the LA captain allowed. "John, too. That's why they were tapped."
"Heard through the wireless there have been some difficulties," Harris continued. "Real hot heads out there." Stanley agreed as he adjusted his sling.
"I think overall there has been some real positive growth taking place," he said. "Between our team, Dr. Kel Bracket, Chief Kimura and all the well-trained paramedics the program is doing well."
They watched a moment longer as the med box was being reassembled.
"Coffee?" Harris asked. With a nod the two captains walked into the kitchen.
Roy Desoto strode into Station 32. Another new team; 'senior' paramedic Leah Hawthorn and paramedic Dan Rice. Ok, every team over here was new. He steeled himself for the day.
The 32s ran out of Castle so he anticipated problems right out of the gate. Brackett was over at Queens so there'd be no help there. He looked at the yellow trucks and couldn't believe he missed his little red vehicle.
Why was he feeling homesick? Couldn't be because of the tiff he'd had with Joanne that morning. Just because she was with the kids 24/7 and he had to go to work she'd complained about the constraints. She had the other women to hang out with! Squaring his shoulders he headed for the break room.
"Roy Desoto ready for duty," he said almost mechanically. Several smiling faces turned to him.
"Ah, finally!" a woman, most likely Hawthorne, chimed up first. A slightly greying man stood up and held out his hand.
"Captain Roberts," he said. "Come have some coffee." Roy was seated and served as the fire crew gathered around. There were introductions and he noted how they were all comfortable with one another.
"Leah was one of my linesmen," Roberts was saying, "before she trained. Made the transition much easier for our team."
"And I moved up to engineer," Nick Walsh, added. "Got two experienced lines men and Dan, here."
"Oh well, two out of three," John Talis, said. He was one of the lines men who'd come over to the 32s. The rest of the crew smirked at the joke while Dan pretended annoyance.
"We should go check out the squad," Leah suggested. Taking her coffee she moved out the door followed by her partner and his mug. Pretty laid-back station, Roy decided as he topped his mug off and went out into the bay.
He was surprised with the ease the team displayed as they checked in with Castle. Dr. Hu was snippy, as always, caused Dan rolled his eyes at Leah. They finished their inventory and decided they could resupply after a run.
"B shift stocked," she said as way of explanation. "I'm on latrine." She grinned and walked off to the bathrooms.
"And I get the joy of hoses with Talis," Dan said as he closed the last door on the truck.
It was the strangest shift, neither paramedic had any questions and he got the feeling by lunch they were avoiding him. Well, that was fine! He had other things to worry about, spending his time brooding.
Over at the 27s it was a totally different scene. The paramedics were happy to have another training day and pumped Gage for as much information as they could. As with the other teams he gave them small spirals and pens, showing them how he kept his notes on runs.
Then they spent time shooting hoop and discussing triage. Interspersed with conversation were several runs, from heat exhaustion to a serious mva involving three cars. Through it all Gage was right in the mix talking them through their work, explaining the reasons behind the actions, helping keep patients calm with his ready smile.
"Wow! We thought Desoto was great!" Uriel said as they packed up the squad. "You're da best!"
"Naw, I have it easy," he teased. "Just sit back and let the kids handle it." Santos smiled.
"Ok, old man, get your decrepit body into the cab," he shot back. The LA paramedic pretended to limp to the door.
By late afternoon, and a phone call, Hank was back on even keel. He sought out Johnny.
"Wanted to apologize for being so abrupt this morning," he began and waved off Gage trying to stop him. "Look, me and Emily had some words. She's right, even though we're on sort of a vacation we haven't had any alone time to speak of."
"Ok, that's TMI," Johnny pretended to complain causing his Cap to laugh.
"No, if I told you what our alone time consisted of, that could be TMI," he snickered. "Which I will NOT describe. Suffice to say we haven't even had time for a cup of coffee alone."
"If all you want is coffee then rent a movie for the kids and go down to the coffee shop," Gage tried to look sincere, mischief dancing in his brown eyes.
"You think you're funny, eh?" Stanley groaned. "Don't give up your day job!" They both chuckled.
"Then how about this," he suggested, "Monday is our last off day together. How about I take the kids and you have a coffee date? I'll pick 'em up after lunch and they can stay with me for the afternoon and evening."
"You'd take those two all day? What about Brackett?" he asked, hopeful.
"Eh, Kel seems to have a date lined up," Gage shrugged. "Since my opportunities have been slim and none, given the disasters the man got me into I find myself free!"
"You know, pal, I think I'll take you up on that!" he gleefully rubbed his hands together. "I'll just go call Em and make a date..."
"TMI!" Johnny called out playfully.
