Part VII

Dr. Brackett caught up with Dixie just as she was about to leave after the end of her very long shift.

"Dix? If you aren't in a hurry, could I possibly talk to you for a few minutes? In private?"

That wasn't a request she got every day, so she was intrigued enough to put the desires of her aching feet aside and follow him into his office. She promptly sat in a chair. She was going to accommodate her feet that much at least.

"So, Kel – what's this all about?"

"You know Joe discharged Johnny earlier. Well, one of the other firemen picked him up long enough to take him by his place to get some clothes and then brought him back here. They think they saw Joanne DeSoto leaving as they were arriving and said she didn't look happy. When they got up to Roy's room, his IV was out and he'd collapsed half-way to the door."

"Oh no. What are those woment trying to do? Kill him?"

"Those women? Plural?"

"I came in on Roy's mother-in-law shouting at him over the phone. Took that phone and gave her a piece of my mind once I got her attention enough that she could hear me while Roy lost his breakfast."

"I talked with her before I let her in to visit Roy the first time. I tried to convey to her that getting upset in his condition wouldn't be in his best interest. Apparently I didn't get through to her. Carol was on duty and she says she didn't hear a fight, but I can't imagine what else would have gotten him out of his bed like that in his condition."

"Roy wouldn't tell you?"

"Roy's unconscious. Didn't even make a sound when we got him back into bed. Which frankly worries me."

"Are the others still with him?"

"Johnny is. The other man had to go in to work."

"So - that means A-Shift is on right now. Might be a good chance to see if we could talk with Captain Stanley. Maybe he could give us some guidance here."

"Us?"

"Yes, us. Your only choice is over the phone or in person."

"In person, I think."

"Good. You're driving."

Captain Stanley gave a look up from his paperwork to Chet when the lineman rapped on his door.

"Kelly, so help me, if the Phantom -"

Before he got any further, Chet's hands were up in defense.

"Nothing like that, Cap. Just letting you know that you have visitors."

"Visitors? Who?"

"Doctor Brackett and Nurse McCall. Hey!"

The exclamation was caused when a dainty but sturdy hand swatted Chet from the side.

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me Dixie?"

Chet's voice was half-whine/half-apology.

"I do call you Dixie when I'm talking to you, but I thought it sounded kind of rude to call you that when I was telling Cap who was here."

"Call a truce out there. Come on in and grab a chair."

After saying that, Hank shoved some of his never-ending paperwork off to the side so that he could give them his full attention.

"I don't imagine you came here for a social call, so what's up with my guys? Sorry if I seem to be jumping straight in, but we never know when the tones will go off."

"I suppose that's one advantage we have over your people. The people wanting help generally come to us. And you're right about this not being a social call. I can understand that you won't be able to tell us anything that was told to you in confidence, but the situation around Roy is negatively affecting his recovery and we'd appreciate any help you can give us."

"Well, ask your questions and, if it turns out to be something I don't feel I can comment on, I'll let you know. I think I have a feeling what this is about though. Home life?"

As the pair nodded, Hank sighed and reached for his mug.

"Either of you care for coffee? No? Well, the two of you have worked closely with two of my men and have passing acquaintences with the rest so you already know we have what might be termed a stressful job by some. Once I became a captain, I had to learn a few of the harder facts about what we do. Did you know that, if you go by statistics, over four-fifths of firefighter marriages end in divorce? Higher than for police officers."

There was a definite frown on Dixie's face.

"That doesn't seem right."

There was just a shrug from Hank.

"Think it over. We deal with a lot of the same situations as the police plus we run into burning buildings. Gets our families high strung after awhile. Especially following a major incident. Let me tell you - everyone in my family knows not to give my wife a late night call on nights that I might be working. Unless they really want to have their ear chewed off, that is."

Pausing for a moment, he looked down into his coffee cup.

"Look - what I'll tell you is fairly common knowledge among the guys here. Roy and Joanne have known one another since they were around nine years old. So far as I can tell, Joanne's mother has never liked him. At one point, Roy was even considering changing his appearance to see if it might help."

There was a light tap at the door. Hank frowned just a bit, gave an apologetic look to his visitors, then spoke.

"Come in."

To everyone's surprise, it was Stoker at the door.

"Sorry to interrupt, sir - but am I correct is assuming the topic is Roy?"

Dr. Brackett turned to look at Stoker. It took a moment for who he was to click in. He wondered if the firemen had as much trouble recognizing him without his labcoat as he had recognizing them out of uniform.

"You were with Johnny when he found Roy."

"Yessir. Johnny talked to me while we were driving. So far as Johnny knows, unless she said something to him today, Joanne hasn't spoken to Roy since before he was hospitalized."

He saw the look Dixie gave him and gave her a slight smile.

"Just because I'm don't say much doesn't mean I can't speak when it's something important."

Dixie reached out a hand to Mike that he took briefly. Dr. Brackett was frowning though.

"Wait. Joanne and the children were there in the room when Roy first showed signs of coming around."

Mike nodded.

"Yessir. But did you hear her say anything? Johnny said that she never did. And that, at least subconsciously, Roy had noticed. He mentioned Roy had thought he'd dreamed about his kids talking, but not Joanne."

The frown grew deeper as Dr. Brackett thought back.

"No. Now that you mention it, I don't even recall her going anywhere near the bedside."

"Maybe I should try to have a woman to woman talk with Joanne?"

"That might not be a bad idea. If you'd like some back up with experience, I could ask my wife if she'd go with you."

"If she wouldn't mind, Hank, I think that would be ideal. She might not be too keen to talk to me after the words I had with her mother over the phone."

"Ah – so you already knew about the mother-in-law?"

"To an extent. Just not how far back the history went."

Reaching for his phone, Hank made a quick call. It only took a moment to bring her up to date as he'd already been discussing the situation with her.

"She's on her way to pick you up here."

"Great. Thanks, Hank. Kel? I'll give you a call after the dust settles and let you know how it went."