Wednesday, December 1:
Rampart
Roy exited the treatment room and headed towards the supply station. He was a bit surprised not to find Johnny there. He looked around for a moment before heading out to the squad. He opened the door and found Johnny sitting inside.
"Did you get the supplies?"
"No."
"Well, you want to get them now?" Roy asked with some irritation. To say that the encounter with that last victim had been unpleasant was a vast understatement. He was feeling rather unsettled himself.
"No."
Roy flushed at this unreasonable response. "Fine, I'll do it!" He shut the door a bit harder than he intended.
He was tossing things into the boxes and muttering to himself at the supply station when Dixie came up. She let out an exasperated sigh. "Not exactly 'Prince Charming' you brought in." Looking around expectantly, she asked, "Where's Johnny?"
"Uh, he's out in the squad."
"Oh." She paused, head tilted to one side. "Didn't see you fellas all day today. Was this your first run?"
"No. But the other runs were really minor stuff. A scraped knee; Fluffy was up a tree; a lady had her hair stuck in a mixer; a girl caught her braces in the carpet. Kind of weird stuff, actually." Roy smiled.
Dixie smiled and nodded her head. "This was your first real run, then. Kind of difficult, don't you think?"
"Oh. Yeah." Understanding dawned for Roy. "Yeah. I'll see you later, Dix."
"Say 'hi' to Johnny for me. And tell him I'm still waiting for our date!"
Roy squinted his eyes, his expression bemused at this last remark. "Okaaay…."
After putting the drug box and the trauma kit away, Roy climbed into the drivers' seat of the squad and took a more cheerful tack. "Helluva run, eh?" He glanced over at Johnny to check his response. Nothing. Roy sighed. "He was just a difficult patient. Don't take it personally."
"I did read the friggin' paramedic manual, Roy!" Johnny lashed out angrily. He rolled his eyes at the ceiling of the cab, annoyed with himself. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. It's not you. It's me. I can't do this." He waved his hand around, vaguely indicating the squad and Rampart. "I couldn't even start the IV, Roy!"
"It was a lucky stick! You know how hard it is to start IV's on obese patients. Hell, even on good veins we're doing well to hit 95%."
"Yeah, and what about the IV solution? The guy was right. I'm incompetent."
"Oh, come on! You would have noticed it before you hooked it up. It was minor. You shouldn't feel that way!" Even as he said it, he knew it was the wrong thing to say. "Sorry. I guess I should read the friggin' manual," he added quietly.
Johnny laughed once mirthlessly in response to that.
Roy tried again. "It's not a career-ending mistake, Johnny. Don't let it get to you. Move on."
"And what about next time?" Johnny seemed in the mood to wallow.
Roy didn't know what else to say. He started the squad.
Johnny picked up the microphone. "Squad 51, available."