Friday, November 26:
In a hurry to leave the city behind, Johnny bounded up the stairs to his apartment, dropped his gear just inside the door, snatched up the waiting back pack, dashed down the stairs, tossed the pack into the back of the Land Rover, and headed north in less than three minutes. Traffic was fairly congested, due to the early after-Thanksgiving Day sales. Once he got off the city streets and onto the freeways, the pace picked up a bit. The weather promised to be sunny, a treat after the chilly fog of the previous morning.
Rampart
Dixie looked up as Dr. Brackett approached the nurse's station. "Hi Kel. How was the rest of your turkey day?" she greeted.
"Fine, fine. And yours?"
"Like the bird, I'm over-stuffed." She waited for him to finish signing off the paperwork before speaking again. "It's such a shame about John Gage. He's one of the best paramedics we've got. I still can't believe he didn't pass the exam."
Dr. Brackett put down the pen and rubbed the back of his neck. He and Dixie had been having this conversation for the past week. "You know I have a hard time believing it myself. I checked the printout three times to be sure. He only missed by a couple of points."
"Well, it's too bad!" she declared, eyes flashing, almost daring Dr. Brackett to contradict her.
"Dix, you know we've been through this already. We have to maintain standards. Everyone has to re-certify continually. You do. I do. And especially the paramedics do. It's still a new program and you know there are those who want it to fail. Those who feel threatened by what they see as essentially untrained personnel in the field usurping the doctor's rightful place." Dr. Brackett poured himself a cup of coffee. "He'll be eligible to retake the exam in six months."
"If he wants to. Based on what I hear from Roy, Johnny's taking it pretty hard. It doesn't sound like he's going to try again. Maybe you should check the exam one more time." She shuffled papers around on the desk while watching the doctor out of the corner of her eye.
"Dix, I told you I've checked it several times! Checking the exams of those who failed was the first thing I did!" Annoyance and a little anger tinged his voice. "I said before that I didn't like what the exam might do to the paramedics' self-confidence. But maybe if they can't handle the pressure, they shouldn't be paramedics after all. Would you quit if you failed to re-certify in emergency medicine, Dix?" Dr. Brackett questioned the nurse over the rim of his coffee cup.
"No, I suppose not. I have other nursing skills to fall back on. Just like Johnny can fall back on firefighting. But it just doesn't seem right to me somehow. Maybe he was just having an off day, or test anxiety. He's a good paramedic. One of the best. You said so yourself. Just like I'm one of the best emergency medicine nurses you know." Dixie tapped Dr. Brackett on the chest with her finger to emphasize her last point. A hint of a smile played around her lips.
Dr. Brackett saluted Dixie with his coffee cup. "That you are, Dixie. That you are."
The insistent buzzing of an incoming call precluded further discussion.