Part II

As Dixie left the treatment room Johnny was in, she almost did trip over Captain Stanley - though it took her a moment to place him. She was more used to seeing him in uniform. She then quickly realized that all of the rest of A-shift was with him, all in their off-duty clothes. She was also quickly surrounded by them.

"Thank God - a familiar face. Nurse McCall, how are my men?"

Her hesitation made all four faces fall. Then she lifted her hands as she gathered her thoughts

"Roy's being x-rayed right now, but I think Johnny would really feel better seeing all of you here. Just keep it down, okay? He's not complaining, but I know he's bound to have a massive headache."

Dixie opened the door to the treatment room again and spoke softly.

"John?"

"Already time for the x-rays? Seems like you just left."

"No, not time yet. But would you like a little company?"

Looking over to the door, Johnny caught sight of his shift mates and answered Dixie by breaking out into a huge grin. Smirking a bit, Dixie held the door and the four men filed in, two going on either side of the examination table Johnny was resting on.

"What is this, Gage? Can't I let you twits out of my sight for a minute?"

"Guess not, Cap. Hey, I didn't black out, did I? Isn't it still Christmas?"

Marco looked over Johnny and found a relatively unbruised spot on his friend to lay his hand.

"Yes, it is. And my mother is going to be sending me back here with a Christmas meal for you and Roy as soon as they clear you to eat real food."

Seeing the slight grimace on Johnny's face, and knowing it couldn't have anything to do with Mrs. Lopez's cooking, Chet did as he normally did. Dove in where angels sometimes feared to tread instead of holding back.

"Johnny, is it true what Roy's wife did? Acted like Roy was deliberately ruining Christmas for their kids?"

Stunned, Johnny looked over to Chet.

"Where'd you hear that?"

"B-shift guys told me. Apparently you and Roy were so caught up talking to each other, you forgot you weren't the only guys in the room."

Groaning, Johnny laid his head back while the others gave Chet a 'did you have to bring that up?' look. But when Johnny spoke again, they quickly forgave Chet's big mouth.

"I guess in a way that's for the best. I mean, I wanted to let you guys know that we need to support Roy more than usual, but I didn't know how to bring it up without going behind his back. I mean - I told Dix, but that's because it might be affecting his recovery, you know?"

Hank just nodded and, seeing the guilty expression on Johnny's face over having to do even that much, he tried to soothe his younger paramedic.

"You did the right thing. They need to know things like that. So, what shape are you in?"

"Concussion. Other than that, just some smoke inhalation, bumps and bruises. Dr. Early said they'll be taking x-rays just to make sure nothing's cracked or broken, but he doesn't think anything is. Just a precaution."

A rueful look formed on Johnny's face.

"Roy broke my fall. I'm just glad I didn't land on him bottle first."

Everyone winced at that thought. Mike finally spoke up.

"And how's Roy?"

"He's - he's in a coma. How bad he is beyond that, I don't know. He was injured before the last explosion, but I don't know the extent of what's wrong. I know his ribs were hurting him from the way he was reacting when I was trying to get him out, but he was inside the building for three explosions. He's being x-rayed now. Say, they figure out what was causing all of those blasts? It was an apartment building, not a factory."

Sighing, Hank shook his head.

"Utter stupidity is what caused it. Manager of those apartment had - get this - about six stills set up in the basement of that building. Distilling in an area with inadequate ventilation located near the furnace room. It was only a matter of time before enough fumes built up to start a flash fire and from there, as the stills overheated, they blew. It was pure luck that most of the people living there were out visiting family."

His crew just gave him an incredulous look. A set-up like that in a basement was idiotic enough. Doing it in the basement of an apartment building took it to a whole other level of insanity.

Marco spoke up again.

"That reminds me. The guys said that Mrs. Medina called asking about you two."

A frown formed on Johnny's face as he tried to connect that name. In deference to his aching head, he gave up.

"Who?"

"Mrs. Medina is the mother of the two kids you and Roy rescued. Her mother lives in the same building and she'd left the kids upstairs while she took a plate of food down to the first floor where her mother's apartment is. Well, was. Next thing she knew, she was having to help get her mother outside because the fire had broken out. Her mother's in a wheelchair. She'd just gotten her to safety and they wouldn't let her go back inside for her kids. That was when she spotted you fellows and ran over."

"Oh, man - no wonder she was so panicked."

"She feels really bad that you two got hurt. She said to pass along that you're in her prayers."

Johnny cast a look to the wall between his treatment room and Roy's.

"Good. We can use all the help we can get."

At her mother's house, Joanne had spent most of Christmas Eve listening to her mother cataloguing the reasons she should never have married Roy in the first place. Normally, Joanne would be arguing in Roy's defense, but she just didn't have the energy for it. Chris and Kim stayed to themselves, giving both women as wide a berth as they could.

The situation escalated on Christmas morning. It started when Joanne started passing out the presents to be opened and Kim spotted the one she made and wrapped for her father among the packages. She started crying because he wouldn't be able to open his present from her on Christmas. Joanne tried to calm her back down, feeling guilty about upsetting her. She'd just grabbed up all of the presents under the tree without separating them.

It didn't improve things when the kids opened their own gifts from their father. Ever since they had gotten big enough to make something for him, Roy had made sure to make something himself to give back to them. His own father had done wood working as a hobby and Roy had many of his father's old tools. Chris's gift was a set of three yo-yos of different sizes and painted in different colors. Kim's was doll bed that had been made the right size for her favorite doll and painted lilac, which was currently her favorite color. Chris bit his tongue when he heard his grandmother make a remark about cheap gifts.

Once all of her presents were open, Kim parked herself right by the phone to await the call that he'd promised them on Christmas morning. As the morning got later and no call came, their mother grew angry once more and their grandmother's comments about their father became disparaging again. Seeing his little sister upset, Chris finally lost his own temper and snapped at them.

"Dad doesn't ever break his promises to us. Something happened or he would have called."

That thought had been somewhere in the back of Joanne's mind, but her son's words brought it forward fast. Picking up the phone, she dialed their house and got nothing but the answering machine. Then she called another number she knew as well as their own. Johnny's. If Roy wasn't at home, odds were that he was with Johnny. There was no answer there either and that made her concern start to rise. There was always the chance that they'd gotten stuck at the station, so her next call was to Station 51.

When she identified who she was, the sudden silence on the other end of the line caused her stomach to knot. Then the on duty Captain came on the phone with two sentences that froze her blood.

"You might want to call Rampart. They've been trying to reach you."

The sudden pallor in his mother's face didn't escape Chris's attention.

"Mom? What's wrong?"

"I don't know. Mother? Where is your phone book?"

Dixie was in the middle of a reviving cup of coffee when the phone rang beside her. The cup was sat down immediately when she found out who was on the other end.

"Joanne, this is Dixie McCall. Do you remember me?"

"Yes, yes, of course. I called the station and they said you'd been trying to reach me. Is it Roy? What happened?"

"There was an incident. Both Roy and Johnny were involved. Joanne, you might want to get here as soon as you can. We're still trying to determine the extent of his injuries, but Roy hasn't woken up yet."

"I'm on my way."

Hanging up the phone, Joanne looked to her mother.

"I've got to get to Rampart. Can the kids -"

"No."

Both women turned their heads at the interruption. Chris was on his feet, protectively holding Kim at his side.

"We want to come with you, Mom."

His grandmother tried a wheedling tone on him.

"Now Chris, you two need to stay here. Your mother will be busy with your father and -"

Joanne saw the storm in Chris's eyes just before it broke and realized one thing she wasn't a bit proud of. Her son had inherited her quick temper. Sure enough, Chris turned on his grandmother, but he didn't yell this time. In a way, the matter of fact tone he used was even worse.

"What do you care? You don't even like Dad."

Then Kim turned her blue eyes - the same shade of blue as her father's - onto Joanne.

"Please, Mommy? I want to see Daddy."

Joanne took a deep breath to steady herself as all the things the children might have overheard ran through her head. Then she nodded.

"Go get your things together quickly. We have to get going."