Chapter 30

"Hello," Elise answered the phone. She was groggy from the pain pills she had been given for her headache but had been unable to sleep. She and Dixie had compromised and she was allowed to rest in the recliner instead of in bed.

"How you doing," John asked from the station phone.

"The pills and a couple of ice packs have brought the headache under control," Elise reported, but Dixie could tell that she wasn't being totally truthful about the headache. "I'm sitting here in the recliner trying to be a good girl and go over a few files but every time I rest my eyes for a minute Dixie folds the files up and puts them on the end table." Elise managed to open her eyes and give Dixie a playful glare. "I'm alright, really."

"I know you are," John played along, he could hear the pain in her voice but trusted in what Dr. Early had said that she should feel much better in a couple of days. He already knew that she had a constant headache that he hoped would finally go away once the spare parts, as she called them, were removed from her skull. "I called to talk to you about a couple of things. Cap was wondering if you were up to that chowder cook off you challenged him to. We were thinking we could schedule that in about a week."

"That would be great!" Elise spoke with as much enthusiasm as the pain pills would allow.

"We couldn't decide if we should do it here at the station while we were on shift or Cap offered his house, but I thought with that great big kitchen there at home station…"

"Definitely here at home station," Elise cut him off. "We can set up tables in the bay and invite as many people as you want."

"Now let's not get too carried away here," John broke in, "I don't want you to get too run down before surgery."

"I can handle a simple luncheon John." Elise stood her ground.

"Okay, okay, we'll do it at our place. I think I can get about six judges that can be impartial and not have to worry about their career if they choose the wrong chowder. How does that sound?"

"No, no, no John. You have to have an uneven number of judges so there can't be a tie." Elise smiled with the phone tucked between her head and a pillow.

"I never thought of that," John responded then thought for a moment. "Alright I think I can get a seventh without too much trouble. You let me take care of all the details you just get ready to cook. Oh, and there's one more thing. Chet Kelly here at the station gave us a unique wedding gift. He's offered to come by with his uncle's tractors and a huge dump truck and help us pull up the parking lot and turn it in to a back yard and fix the front drive in to a circle drive like we want."

"Oh John, that's too much. We can't let him do all that."

"Well he's going to need some help. I thought we could hire some day workers to do all the heavy stuff while he runs the tractors and I can drive the dump truck. We just need a place to dump all the cement."

"That's easy," Elise answered, as she grew more alert. "It can be dumped around the pond to build up the lower bank, and then we can shovel all the stuff left after the barn is taken down and use that to fill in the back yard. All that manure should be great for the plants and the grass we want to put in."

John could hear the excitement in his wife's voice and knew he was helping her spirits. He just had to make sure she didn't overdo herself physically.

"That big semi that was in the smash up today?" Elise started a new conversation.

"Yeah what about it, it's not still there is it?"

"No, it's gone," Elise answered. "But it was here to deliver the used horse railing we bought. I had him unload it to the south of the station here. And the dismantled barn should be here tomorrow. We'll need to get a foundation poured and then we can put it up."

"I'll talk with Chet and find out what kind of machinery we're going to need to erect those panels and then lift the roof on." John responded.

"We should be able to use the winch on Little Red for the side panels. I'm not sure about the roof, but I think some simple rope work with do the trick there."

John and Elise conversed until Elise drifted off to sleep; something Dixie confirmed. John made sure to let Dixie know that being in a constant drugged state was what Eess had run away from and cautioned her to be careful with the meds. Of course Dixie was obligated to follow doctor's orders not husband's orders but she had been 'advised.'

After dinner conversation focused on the remodel of the home station and John learned that Elise had hired Marco's brothers and cousins to paint and re-landscape the homes Elise was trying to get sold before her surgery. And Elise had even worked out a deal of all deals with one of the houses. Marco was excited that his parents were finally going to have a home of their own and not have to rent. Marco was quick to offer his extended family as day laborers and hurried to the phone to tell them that they had been volunteered. Mike volunteered to come along and drive the dump truck. He didn't feel it would be much different than the engine as far as driving anyway.

Before he turned in for the night John made one more call home and found his wife was much more alert and growing more and more excited about what had been talked about earlier. She had also ordered Dixie to cut the pain meds in half during the day, something that after a lengthy discussion Dr. Early agreed to.

It was a man down call in a tough part of their coverage area that pulled the men of station 51 out of their beds at 1:43 a.m. By the time the apparatus bay doors were open and the trucks were responding, all aboard were awake and trying to mentally prepare themselves for what they might find. It was likely that only the squad was really needed but calls at that hour in certain parts of town it was wise to have some extra numbers, so nobody really grumbled about being dragged along, accept maybe Chet once or twice.

When they reached the address that had been given they noticed a police car pulling around the corner and stopping, so both paramedics rolled out of the squad. John quickly threw his helmet in the open window of the cab then opened the compartments and grabbed the oxygen and the bio-phone knowing his partner would grab the drug box and the scope as soon as he came around from the driver's side. He felt something hit his head hard from behind and then everything went black.

Cap and Chet who were moving toward the squad to give a hand with equipment saw the man take one of the cases and run as John hit the sidewalk and didn't move. Chet showed some football ability no one knew he had by tackling the guy and holding him to the ground until the police officer took over.

Before Roy had finished his evaluation on his unconscious partner patient, John was coming around and Cap had determined that the call was a false alarm.

John knew he would have to go into Rampart to be checked out but he tried and failed to convince the Captain to let Roy take him in the squad. An ambulance was called and full spinal precautions of a C collar and backboard were used despite the fact that John didn't think they were needed.

By the time the x-rays of his skull were back Dr. Morton was recommending twenty-four hours in Hotel Rampart for observation. Dr. Neilson, the lead Dr. that night, was ready for Johnny's objection and after giving the patient a good looking over was willing to do what had been done before in similar circumstances and let him go to his partner's house under the watchful eye of his partner's wife. He also knew that by approving this alternative John would willingly stay until morning so they wouldn't have to wake his friend's wife in the middle of the night.

What Dr. Neilson didn't know was that there was now a Mrs. Gage and that a dutiful Captain had done what he does for all of his married men when they're injured on the job and called his wife to inform her.

Dr. Neilson was just suggesting the alternative of going to the DeSoto house when the door to the treatment room was opened and Elise stepped in ahead of Dixie McCall.

"Why on earth would you send him to the DeSoto's? JoAnne is nice and all but I'm his wife and I have a little more medical training than she does."

Clearing his throat Dr. Morton got Dr. Neilson's attention and nearly forced him into the hall for a private consultation where he informed the clueless Dr. about Elise and her own medical needs. Dr. Morton questioned seriously her ability to take care of her husband. But they were stuck, they had already told him he could go if there was someone to watch him and his wife was there willingly accepting that role. In the end John was released into the care of his wife but only because Dixie was still on duty watching over Elise.

When a sleep-deprived Dixie parked her car in the Firestation's bay, facing inward because she felt no need to back in, three people peeled out of the car. While Elise slid her arm around John's chest to steady him and headed for the bedroom Dixie headed for the dorm to gather up extra pillows. When she reached the bedroom door she found it locked and after a moment of confusion began to knock.

"I can handle it Dix," was heard from behind the locked door. "I understood the instructions as well as you did, I have just as much education in this matter as you do. I can handle this, he's my husband and I'll take care of him."

Reluctantly Dixie retreated to the other side of her car, debating on whether or not to call someone. As she leaned against the rear fender she heard the lock on the door click and she knew Elise was being reasonable and allowing passage if it were truly needed, but a verbal do not disturb sign had been put out.

Dixie sat on the sofa, on the other side of her car and thought for a while. All was quiet behind the previously locked door but it was time to do a neuro-check on John so she tiptoed to the door and very quietly pushed the door open only to hear a quiet alarm go off followed by: "Hey there handsome, can you tell me what your name is?"

"If you don't know what my name is then why are you in bed with me wearing that Sexy night gown?"

Dix then backed off. She knew Elise was able to take care of her husband and if there were problems they both knew where to find her so she might as well get there and get some sleep. She needed to report to work in the morning at Rampart.

As she lay in her bed in the dorm Dixie began to put herself in Elise's shoes and wondered what she would do if the roles were reversed?