The crew of station 51 backed into their station, their noses immediately aroused to the smells of something delicious cooking in their kitchen. Chet jumped from the not quite stopped engine and ran into the kitchen to find Alana busying herself setting the table. He smiled broadly at her and received a smile back. Anyone watching would have seen that the enthusiasm was one sided.
"It smells great and we are starving!" Chet exclaimed taking exaggerated sniffs in the air. Marco entered the room behind Chet and slapped his friend on the back agreeing with him. He grabbed cold water from the refrigerator and left the room to wash up. Alana frowned at the lack of attention given to her.
"Where is everyone?" Alana asked tersely. She had expected everyone to come running into the kitchen praising her for cooking them lunch.
"They'll be along. We just got back from a pile up on the freeway. Everyone needs to wash up and some need to change." He told her and took her in his arms to kiss her but she pushed him away.
"You smell like gasoline!" Alana said to Chet and continued to set the table.
"I'll just wash up and change." Chet told her, his smile faltering slightly. This was the first time Alana had been cross with him and she had never refused a kiss. He shrugged his shoulders and walked quickly to the locker room.
All the crew were either changing or washing up in the bathroom. Chet looked around and cheerily said, "Lunch is ready!" Everyone looked his way and nodded. "I can see Alana and I are not appreciated. Just make sure you thank her. She didn't have to do this you know?"
Roy looked up. "So why is she?" Roy asked Chet.
Chet sighed and frowned at the senior paramedic. "Because she's a nice person Roy...and she knows we're all worried about Johnny." Chet glared at Roy but the paramedic stood firm.
"Just seems strange to me Chet...One minute she's accusing Johnny of groping her...Next minute she's all concerned about him. She doesn't even know him." Roy continued to button up his shirt. Talking about Johnny in the same sentence as mentioning Alana irked him.
Cap stepped into the conversation to divert an argument. "Look we're tired and very worried about John so let's all calm down and just enjoy lunch. Roy how about you give the hospital a call and see how John's doing Pal?"
"Ok Cap...I'm sorry I was so..." Roy couldn't think of the word to describe his feelings. He felt like an emotional wreck with worrying about Johnny and the missing Ellen.
"Aggressive is a good word Roy."
"KELLY! Can it!" Mike yelled surprising everyone but Roy. He knew that Mike was extremely worried about Ellen's welfare as well as Johnny's health. His wife had spent a few hours sitting with Johnny trying to keep a connection to her friend Ellen.
Chet walked grumpily into the bathroom and washed his face and hands while the rest of the crew made their way to the kitchen. Roy went into Cap's office and called Rampart.
When Roy entered the kitchen everyone was seated and eating. They all looked up except Chet and Roy pursed his lips at him. "He's improved a little but he's in a lot of pain still. Brackett's going to start cutting back on the sedatives and allow him to awake naturally."
Lt Crockett entered the room just as Roy made the announcement. He put his hand on Roy's shoulder. "Keep thinking good thoughts Roy. He'll pull through."
"When he's awake he's looking for Ellen." Roy told the Lieutenant sadly. "What am I going to say when he can talk and he asks me about Ellen?"
Lt Crockett sighed and bowed his head. "We have a few leads Roy...Some witnesses but I can't say anything just yet...it's very early in our investigations...we have to check a few things out."
"Would you like to join us for lunch? Chet's girlfriend cooked it!" Roy smiled at the police officer with understanding.
Lt Crockett looked in the direction of Chet and eyed the female sitting next to him. The detective in him noticed the nervous body language of the quite stunning female. He couldn't visualise them as being a couple and chastised himself for being so judgemental.
"I think I might take you up on that offer. Mmmmm...Smells good." Lt Crockett said as he deliberately sat next to Alana. "You cooked all this?" He asked Alana hoping to come across friendly and maybe put her at ease.
Chet answered for her. "This is the second time she's cooked for us. Try this?" Chet handed the Lieutenant a dish.
"How long have you two been going out?" He asked Chet casually.
"A few weeks...Not just a pretty face...Alana's a great cook." Chet said as he put another spoonful of food into his mouth.
"This is wonderful...I should get the recipe off you for my wife." He noticed Alana just smiled and tried to act like she was very casual. The Lieutenant could see that she did not want to converse with him. That just made him more determined to find out more about this woman. Why he wanted to know more he couldn't tell you but somehow he had a gut feeling that she was not the sweet innocent that she was trying to convey.
"Where are you from Alana?" He asked her and watched her think over her answer.
"I live in Carson." Alana simply answered.
"How did you become such a great cook? Your mama teach you?"
Alana looked startled by the question but quickly recovered. "Yes...She was a good cook too."
"Where did you grow up? This tastes foreign to me." Lt Crockett asked trying to justify the questions.
"It's Greek!" Chet announced.
"Oh...I've never tried Greek food before. Were your parents Greek?" He asked.
"Yes!" Alana answered abruptly. She was getting annoyed with all the questions.
"Where did you grow up?" Lt Crockett asked knowing he was pushing it with all the questions. He was amazed that the men, besides Chet, remained silent during the conversation.
"St Louis. I have to go. Enjoy your lunch boys." Alana rose from her chair and started to leave without even saying goodbye to Chet. He quickly jumped up and followed her out of the kitchen.
"She's a strange one." Roy said to no one in particular. The Lieutenant tucked the information away to investigate further later on.
The group of men sat in silence and finished their meal. Roy took the Lieutenant over to Johnny's locker for him to search. He carefully thumbed through any notes he had in his drawer and asked Roy if he could identify the writing on the notes. Roy was able to identify all but two and they were signed by Ellen.
"I'd like to take one of these to compare it to the note left for Johnny in his apartment." Lt Crockett told Roy. "I'll bring it back Roy." He told the paramedic seeing the indecision.
"Ok Lieutenant...If it will help." Roy said with a deep sadness.
"I'll find who did this and hopefully find Ellen." He told Roy with conviction. He could see that Roy was troubled about the whole ordeal, not understanding how or why this had happened.
"I hope so...I just don't know what I'm going to tell Johnny when he starts asking for Ellen." Roy's eyes were clouding; he blinked quickly to stop tears from escaping. Lt Crockett squeezed his shoulder and left.
"Thanks for lunch Roy...It was very enlightening." He waved and left the station.
Roy froze at his words and for the first time included Alana in his thoughts. 'No!' he thought, 'Surely not.' He slowly walked towards the dorm and sat down on his bunk. He dozed off thinking about his best friend.
Johnny could hear voices but his mind couldn't understand what they were saying. He tried to open his eyes but it all became just too hard and too much effort. His head hurt, like someone was pounding from the inside out. He tried to turn his head towards the voices but the slight movement caused such excruciating pain that he tried to scream out but only whimpers escaped his lips. He felt a hot breath next to his ear and a female voice talked softly to him. He couldn't understand what she was saying but her voice helped him calm down. 'Ellen!' he said in his head as tears escaped from the corners of his eyes.
Dixie wiped Johnny's face with a cool cloth. She saw the tears and it broke her heart to see this young man in so much pain. The whimpers that escaped his lips drew out the motherly instincts in her. She spoke softly into his ear reassuring him that he was safe and that they were giving him something for the pain. Johnny never opened his eyes and drifted back to sleep oblivious to the happenings around him.
"He just needs time Dix...This is going to be a tough recovery for Johnny. He'll need a lot of help." Dr Brackett looked down at the young paramedic with concern.
"He has a lot of friends Kel...They'll help him." She told him, including herself in the 'friends'.
"Does he have any family that can help?" Dr Brackett asked as he thought back and realised that he had never heard Johnny mention family.
"Not that I know of." Dix told Dr Brackett. They both looked down at the sleeping man and wondered about the enigma John Gage.
Alana arrived home to find her brothers sprawled over her living room furniture watching cartoons. Popcorn was scattered over her rug and furniture. She was in no mood for her brother's stupidity; the Lieutenant had shaken her with his questions.
"Nosey cop!" Alana stated as she slammed the door.
"Sis! Have some popcorn...You want to watch some cartoons with us?" Peter called out to her not noticing her bad mood.
"NO! Look at this mess!" Alana screamed at her brothers.
"Ahh sis...we'll clean it up...Don't worry...Come have some popcorn."
"I don't want popcorn!" Alana said through clenched teeth. She stormed down the hallway to her bedroom. She needed to think. She thought about what Roy had said about John Gage. Her stupid brothers she thought. There was no way soon that she could spend time with the handsome fire-fighter. Maybe she could confuse him and make him think that he was her lover, but what about Chet she thought? He was beginning to irritate her with his insistent theories. He would have been the one if she hadn't laid eyes on John Gage and the way he looked in uniform. "Damn my brothers!" She cursed out loud, they had ruined everything, but he was still alive she thought so she would still have her chance. John Gage will be hers and with that thought she undressed and showered planning her next move.