Part III
After all the x-rays were done, Roy's broken ribs were carefully taped. Dr. Brackett was relieved to see that none of the breaks were bad enough to require surgical intervention. Roy's body had already gone through enough trauma without adding surgery to the list. He made the decision to put Johnny and Roy in a room together in hopes that being near Johnny might help stimulate him back out of his coma. The tests had shown minimal swelling of the brain and no bleeding had been detected, so the doctor had high hopes that Roy could start coming out of it at any time.
At the moment, he was in his office, tapping a pencil against his desk while thinking. Dixie had filled him in on what she'd learned from speaking with Johnny and also told him about speaking to Joanne over the phone. Much as it was disagreeable, he knew that he needed to have a long talk with Joanne before allowing her to see Roy. The last thing the paramedic needed was to have her in the room with him if she was still angry at him.
As Joanne parked at the hospital, she tried not to let Chris and Kim see her jumble of emotions. She had to admit that her head was an mess. She was anxious to see if Roy was alright, frustrated at his job that put him in constant danger and irritated with herself for blaming her husband for things that were beyond his control. And even with all of that, part of her was still angry at him for all of this happening. Christmas had been ruined. She had so many wonderful memories of Christmas from her childhood and she was beginning to wonder if her children were going to feel deprived at the lack of those sorts of memories when they were grown with children of their own.
Dixie saw them coming and directed them to one of the waiting rooms.
"Dr. Brackett is checking on Roy and Johnny right now. Then he'll be out to have a word with you before you go in to see them. Hello, Kimberly - Christopher. Can I get you guys some juice?"
Both children said hello back, but politely declined the juice. As she fidgeted in her chair, Kim looked around the waiting room and not far away, she saw a family of four, just like hers. A mom, a dad, a brother and a sister. As she was looking, the girl turned her head and looked right at her. For some reason, it was like the girl seemed to know her, but Kim was sure she'd never seen the girl before. Finally, the girl got up and shyly moved a little closer.
"Perdon - excuse me, por favor. But are you Kimberly?"
The question got Joanne and Chris both looking around as Kim nodded. The other girl turned to her mother and said something quickly in Spanish before rushing over and offering her hands to Kim.
"I heard so much about you. Your papa told me when he saved me. You have pretty eyes just like his."
The rest of the girl's family came over and the father offered his hand to Joanne.
"I am Gabriel Medina. This is my wife, Tia and our children, Eliana and Jorge. Our children were just released a little while ago, but we have been waiting for a chance to thank the firemen that saved them."
Taking the offered hand, Joanne felt a little choked up as she spoke.
"Joanne DeSoto and this is my son, Chris. Apparently you already know Kim's name."
Nodding, the man smiled as he looked at the girl his daughter was still beside.
"Yes. The fireman and our daughter were trapped together while waiting for a ladder to reach them. Eliana told us that the fireman kept her calm by telling her about his own daughter. The one that likes lilacs and horses."
Kim looked a little shy herself at that, then was a little startled when Eliana impulsively hugged her. After just a second, she hugged the other girl back. The two boys looked at each other warily as if each were afraid that the other might go in for the mushy girl stuff. Then Chris offered his hand to a relieved Jorge who took it and shook it firmly.
Chris frowned suddenly as a thought occurred to him.
"You guys lost your home? On Christmas?"
Mr. Medina gave his son's shoulders a light squeeze.
"We just lost things, young man. Our church has found a shelter for us until we can find another place to live. Thanks to your father and his partner, everything that matters was saved."
The door opened then and Dr. Brackett entered.
"Mr. and Mrs. Medina? Mister Gage is ready to see you. I'll have to ask you to keep the visit short since these aren't visiting hours, but I think it will do his morale a world of good to see you. Especially your children. I've been answering questions about their condition ever since they brought him in."
As they filed past him, Dr. Brackett turned his attention to Joanne, though he spoke to the children first.
"Chris, Kim? Mind if I borrow your mother for a minute? Then you can all go in and see your father."
The doctor wanting to see her alone worried Joanne, but she followed him to his officer and took the offered seat.
"Mrs. DeSoto. Joanne. I don't know any way around this other than get straight to the point. I've heard that you were pretty angry with Roy because he had to fill-in on a shift. I need you to be honest with me and tell me if you still are."
Joanne was a bit stunned at the question. How on Earth did he know?
"Did Roy wake up for a few minutes?"
Dr. Brackett considered for a moment how to answer that. By this time, he'd spoken with Captain Stanley and knew that the situation was known pretty much by everyone assigned to Station 51.
"No, he didn't. But Johnny had noticed that he was upset and got Roy to talk it out. They didn't realize that some of the other guys were in hearing range."
Joanne flushed at the thought of the things that she'd said being common knowledge at the station. She couldn't bring herself to meet the doctor's eyes when she answered him.
"Honestly, I was still a little angry. Until a few minutes ago. Now? Now I'm just embarrassed."
"Oh? What happened a few minutes ago?"
"The Medinas. Here I've been griping and complaining - yelling even - about Christmas being ruined. Just because we weren't all going to be together on Christmas Eve. Those people lost their home. They almost lost their children. Dr. Brackett? Their Captain and the Battalion Chief. Any time I've spoken with them, they tell me that Johnny and Roy are the best paramedic team out there. Are they really? Or do they say the same thing to every wife?"
That seemed like an off-topic question, but he answered it truthfully.
"We have some fine paramedics, but they really are the best team we have out there. I don't even think there would be a paramedic program without your husband. I'm embarrassed myself to have to admit having to be one of the ones that he brought around to believing it was a good idea. And I occasionally have nightmares when I think about the number of lives that would have been lost if he hadn't changed my way of thinking."
He took a deep breath, then spoke again.
"The anger and frustration you've been feeling? I'm sure that there are a lot of the families of firemen that go through that. I'm not saying it very well, but you have a right to your feelings. I just would prefer that you don't express them around Roy while he's in recovery. He might not be able to comprehend what you're saying or he might understand every word. In case it's the latter, try to keep things upbeat. The sooner he wakes up, the better his chances are for a quick recovery."
"Exactly what's wrong with him?"
"Concussion, bruising, some broken ribs along with some cracked ribs. There's some brain swelling, but that's already showing signs of going down on its own."
"Can we see him now?"
"Yes. I think so. Let's go get your kids. Like I told the Medinas, the visit will need to be short tonight. Their bodies have had a rough time of it, so the guys need their rest."
The Medinas were still having a conversation with Johnny when he shifted his eyes to watch as the door opened for Joanne, Chris and Kim to come in. Kim blew a kiss over to him and Johnny pretended to catch it the way that he always did with her. Chris just gave a little wave, but both children quickly centered their attention on the all too still form of their father.
Kim didn't hesitate. She went right up to the side of the bed and laid her hand on her father's arm. Then she began to tell him all about the presents that she'd gotten and especially spoke at length about the doll bed that he'd made for her. She told him about what they'd eaten and how grandmother's tree had looked. Without being told, Kim left out anything unpleasant and just concentrated on what had been nice.
Chris followed suit and began talking when Kim started to run out of things to say. Joanne just stayed back and let them do the talking. Personally, she felt that if she were Roy, her voice would be the last thing that she'd want to hear.
Eliana looked over and Kim saw her, extending a hand to the slightly younger girl. Coming over, Eliana grasped Kim's hand and looked over Roy. Kim gave her an encouraging smile.
"It's okay. You can go ahead and speak to him if you like. He can hear us, he just can't answer us right now. He'll be so happy that you're okay."
Timidly, Eliana laid her free hand next to Kim's on Roy's arm. Her voice was barely over a whisper.
"Gracias. Papa says that you are a paramedic. I want to be one like you when I grow up. Or maybe a nurse."
Chris heard the change in breathing. His father had taken in a deeper breath suddenly, then released almost like a sigh.
"Mom! Get Dr. Brackett. I think Dad heard her."
Johnny had been fighting sleep, but those words brought him fully awake again. Everyone was practically holding their breath as Joanne went for the doctor. Neither of the young girls moved or pulled their hands away from Roy's arm.
Dr. Brackett hurried in, a smile forming as the blue and brown eyes of the girls fixed on him. Picking up the arm across from them, he felt Roy's pulse.
"Roy? Roy, it's Dr. Brackett. Can you hear me?"
Roy's head moved just a little and the faintest signs of frustration could be seen on his face.
"Easy. Relax. The kids you and Johnny found are just fine. In fact, they've been released to their parents and stopped by to see you hose-jockeys on their way out. Johnny's in here too. Didn't see any point wasting another room when you two spend all your time by each other's bed any way."
There was a slight twitch that looked like the attempt at a smile. Mrs. Medina crossed herself again, this time before saying a brief prayer of thankfulness. Quirking a smile, Dr. Brackett laid Roy's hand back down, then spoke to the others.
"I think everything's going to be fine, but these two need to get some rest now. And all of you look like you could use some yourselves. Go get some sleep."
Kim was reluctant to leave her father, but went back to her mother with a little coaxing. Once the room was clear of visitors, he adjusted the IV drips on both of this patients and then went to make the call he'd promised to Captain Stanley.