DISCLAIMER: Mark VII and NBC Universal own all rights. I only claim Julianna.
Roy suddenly got an idea. He looked at his wife. "The fireman's ball!"
Joanne's eye's widened and she smiled. "Perfect."
"What are you talking about," Johnny asked, confused.
"The fireman's ball is in two months. You have two months to convince her," Joanne said.
"She's not going to go to the fireman's ball. And if she did, what makes you think she'd go with me," Johnny said.
"That's why you have eight weeks," Roy said.
Johnny headed out to his car, wishing he'd had a better night. He had no idea how he was going to convince Julianna to go to the fireman's ball, but he was going to figure out something.
A week after their physical encounter in her bedroom, and the outburst in the bowling alley, Julianna was working a shift at Rampart. She overheard Roy's call over the base station.
"Anything I can do to help," she asked Kel.
"Can you take the patient that 36 is bringing," Brackett asked.
"Sure. Anything else, let me know," she said.
36 came around the corner and Julianna was surprised to see Bellingham working for them.
"Juli! Good to see you," he said.
"You, too. How's the patient," she asked, following him into the room.
"Fine. Settled down during transport. I'm thinking insulin reaction," he said, grabbing the oxygen tank.
"We'll do a blood sugar. Thanks," she said.
Bob waved and left the room. He'd come over for dinner the night before and he'd talked with her about the fireman's ball. They made a pact that if neither had a date, they'd go together. Juli knew Bob would get a date, so she wasn't worrying about what to wear. Of course, Joanne was sure she'd have a date, they had a date to go shopping for dresses.
Julianna finished with the patient and got him admitted for management of blood sugar. She saw Roy and Johnny standing near the desk.
"What happened," Julianna asked.
"That trauma patient was Drew," Johnny said.
Julianna put her hands to her mouth. "Oh, my God. Are you OK," she asked, putting her hand on his arm.
"Yeah. Waiting for Brackett to give an update," he said. Julianna reached for his hand and grasped his hand with hers. Julianna gave it a small squeeze and smiled at him.
Brackett came out of the OR and Johnny's grip on her hand tightened.
"I'm sorry, Johnny. I couldn't stop the bleeding," Brackett began. Julianna was sure Johnny didn't hear the rest because his eyes glassed over.
"I've gotta tell Pam," Johnny said. He looked at Roy and Julianna. "But what am I going to tell her? That maybe Drew's life could have been saved if we'd had a clear channel," he said. Roy and Julianna started to say something, but he put his hand up. "I'll do it," he said.
They watched him walk off, but Julianna couldn't take it. She jogged after him and grabbed his arm. She pulled him into the surgeon's lounge and led him to the couch.
"Johnny," she started.
"Don't, Jules. Please, don't. Don't give me that canned speech that doctor's give whenever someone dies. I don't think I could take it today. I'm mad. I'm mad as hell," he said.
Julianna nodded and softly said, "OK. You should be. I'm mad, too," she said.
Johnny looked at her. "You're mad," he questioned.
"I'm mad because you've been put into this position. I'm not going to offer false platitudes because I want you to feel better because it's easier on me. I want you to feel better and I know you won't feel that way for a long time. I'll go with you when you talk to Pam, if you insist on telling her yourself. You need to let her know that we're there for her. Whatever she needs. We're there for her," Julianna said.
Johnny wiped his face with his palm. "Remember how they were in high school," he asked.
"Yeah. Pam was this ditz and Drew was the smart athlete. It's a wonder they were ever a couple," she said.
"She was so helpless when they got married right after graduation. I was happy for them. Two people so in love. Course it made me miss you like crazy. Pam told me you sent a note and a gift since you didn't go to the wedding. She was really sorry we broke up and that she'd lost one of her good friends," Johnny said.
"I talked with her about a year after I left. I even surprised her when the baby was born. But seeing her and Drew so happy made me miss you and that was a recipe for disaster," Julianna said.
Johnny nodded. He took a deep breath and offered his hand to Julianna. "You'll come with me," he asked.
"Yeah. I'll be there with you," she said.
They headed out of the lounge and into the waiting area, Johnny's hand holding Julianna's like it was a life line.
Johnny knelt down on the floor in front of Pam. Julianna stood to the side, offering silent support to Johnny.
Pam knew why they were there. "Did he suffer?"
"He was unconscious. He said you were the best thing that ever happened to him," Johnny said, holding back tears.
Pam looked up at Julianna and Julianna spoke, "I'm sorry, Pam. I know how much you two loved each other and how much his family meant to him. We'll be there for you, anytime."
"Thanks," she said. She offered a small smile at the sight of Johnny holding Julianna's hand. "Promise me you two will stick together. Drew and I hated that you weren't together and we couldn't spend time with you both at the same time. We had such fun," Pam said.
Neither said a word and Pam got up, took her daughter's hand and walked to the exit. Julianna watched her walk away and saw her mother take her by the arm and guide them out the door. Julianna's heart broke. She didn't know how she'd react if something happened to Mike or even Johnny. She let go of his hand and headed back to do her job.
Roy and Johnny went back to work, trying to put the incident out of their minds.