At a stop sign a few blocks from the house, Johnny grabbed some aspirin from inside the glove box. After swallowing them, he looked around and seeing only a car coming up behind him, he got ready to cross his intersection. Before he could move though, the car slammed hard into the left corner of his back bumper.
"What the…" he mumbled a few minutes later, gingerly picking up his head from where it rested between the steering wheel and window. "Not again..."
Looking around carefully after stretching out the kinks in his neck, he couldn't see the car that had hit him, but he did hear the faint roar. Taking a deep breath, he just shook his head carefully.
I can't believe this! Twice in one day! Johnny thought angrily. Do I have some kind of target on me or what?
Performing a self-check on himself, he found nothing more than another small bump along with a bit of dizziness and the remains of a headache from when someone had slammed him into the hallway of his apartment building. Figuring he was too stunned to notice the car leaving and knowing how hard his head must have slammed into the wheel, John just considered himself lucky not to have any damage to his window, or himself for that matter.
"Stupid idiot. Bet ya he was too busy and in a hurry to give a crap. Just better have not done any damage to my car," Johnny ranted out loud as he got out of his car to check it over.
Finding only a bit more minimal damage to the bumper, he shrugged.
Well, my headache isn't much worse than it was and this bump isn't that bad. I really don't want to spend time at Rampart for something this dumb. I guess unless I feel worse, I won't mention this to Roy. It's not like they can do much anyway, Johnny shrugged mental as he reasoned things out.
Besides which, if I reported this, I'd be tied up for who knows how long and end up with a puddle of ice cream in my car, then have to go back to that store for more. I am not going back to that zoo. Whoever invented six hour sales has got to be mental and needs to be locked up. With the way my luck has been going today, something else would happen. I'll just let Roy know if something pops up later. Doubtful that it will. I know how a concussion feels by now, he reasoned. As far as the car goes, it wouldn't be the first time I've repair it myself. It's a whole lot cheaper than getting insurance involved.
"Hey Junior, thought you got lost," Roy smiled when Johnny wandered into the backyard.
"Nope, no such luck! Besides, even when lost, I still know where I am, so I am not really lost, am I?" Johnny quipped, slipping on his sunglasses.
"Now if that isn't the dumbest thing I have ever heard…" Chet stated.
"Kelly!" that one word from Captain Stanley was all that was needed for a quick 'sorry' to come to Chet's lips.
"Hey, Johnny. We've been wondering where you were," Marco said.
"Hey Marco. Cap," Johnny nodded towards them on the deck where they were sitting. "Got sent on errands just as soon as I arrived. What can I say? Chet cannot be trusted with such an important task."
"Thank you so much by the way," Jo said, rolling her eyes as she and Hank's wife set up the food on a couple folding tables. "Roy's about to set up the grill and then we'll eat when the burgers and hot dogs are done. I'll just take the ice cream and put it away from now."
"Sweet. I'm starved!"
"When aren't you, Uncle Johnny?" Chris asked, coming up to be 'saved' from the mob of girls running around the yard.
The structured games had already dissolved by that point and there was just a free-for-all game of tag going on. Chris couldn't wait till after lunch when the girls went home. That's when he felt the fun would really begin as everyone but the family would leave, giving them more time to play something fun.
Laughing, Johnny launched himself at Chris, tackling him before tickling merciless him until Chris cried out, "Enough, I give, I give."
"Thought that would teach ya a lesson." Johnny smirked, a bit breathless.
Seeing Jenny racing across the yard, John bounded over to her, grabbed her and held her so that she could finally be 'it'. With that accomplished, he dashed off again, claiming he was off limits.
Jenny yelled, "Get him!" and soon, all the girls were chasing after him.
"Man, Cap, where does he get that energy?" Mike asked as he watched Johnny trying to dodge a dozen different girls.
"No idea, pal," Hank replied.
"Let's just be glad it isn't us," Marco pointed out.
"I think this may be the first time Gage has girls chasing after him. Too bad they're too young for him," Chet laughed.
As the four crew members watched their youngest station mate, they began laughing as Johnny was less and less successful at escaping the girl's clutches. Soon, one by one, they each got enough of a hold on him that they were able to tackle him.
"I give! You win!" Johnny hollered, holding up his hands in surrender, exhausted by the horse play.
Man, maybe I shouldn't have done that, he winced as his throbbed in time with his heartbeat.
Taking a deep breath, he sat down, willing the aspirin to begin working quickly.
"Food's ready!" Roy hollered, calling everyone to the picnic tables.
Letting everyone go ahead of him, Johnny realized that the smell of food was starting to get to him.
I didn't have time for breakfast this morning! That must be it, I'll just get a little to start with and then go back for more. Hopefully by then, my vision will stop being cloudy on and off.
Relived by having a plan, Johnny went ahead, grabbing a few things here and there. However, as everyone began talking over one another, Johnny instead fell silent instead of immersing himself in whatever topic came up. He was too busy trying to force down his small meal. After everyone was finished, he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
"Cake time!" Roy announced minutes.
Oh, no! I don't think I am up for this, I am just too tired and sore…
At Roy's pronouncement, Jenny automatically went to find her Uncle Johnny.
"You're gonna help me cut the cake, right Uncle Johnny? You promised last year on my next birthday, I could help cut the cake finally," pleaded the blonde headed girl.
"Don't worry, Princess, I remember," smiled Johnny weakly. "Let's get going before the hungry vultures attack us."
Giggling, Jenny led him to the head of a picnic table and with as much energy as possible, Johnny sang along before helping to cut the cake. Once done with that, he told the young girl that he would be right back, but in reality, he knew his stomach couldn't handle the rich, dark chocolate cake or vanilla ice cream that would await him.
A couple of hours later, the last girl invited to Jenny's party was picked up. Helping pick up all the left over wrapping paper, he watched as his Uncle Johnny sank into a lounge chair. Normally, he'd be one to help, making clean-up into a game. Stuffing the paper into the trash, Chris went to over to where his dad was saying good-bye to his crewmates.
"Dad, why is Uncle Johnny so tired today? And did you see he hardly ate anything, not even cake?!" Chris questioned his father, worry for his uncle coloring his voice.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, he normally has a bunch of food, you know? And he could barely eat what he put on his plate and it wasn't a lot. Now, he looks like he's ready to fall sleep."
"Hmmm," Roy looked over at his partner. Now that he got a good look, he too noticed that Johnny did look more tired than usual, not to mention a bit pale. "Give me a bit, Chris. Let me see what I can find out."
Walking up to Johnny, Roy asked him if he was feeling okay.
"Uhh? Yea, sorry long night last night, I guess. Neighbors were fighting and that must have bothered me more than usual."
"You sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine," he snapped.
Looking and feeling guilty, he quickly apologized. "Sorry, I'm just tired, ya know? You think Jenny and Chris would understand if I head out early? I want to try to get some extra sleep tonight, rest up tomorrow before the next shift."
"Sure, you know how they are, besides, the guys have already headed out," Roy paused, debating with himself.
He knew how Johnny could get cranky and resent help if he wasn't feeling well. Roy knew that if Johnny wasn't doing well and he pushed too hard, it could backfire and said cautiously, "If you need to, you can stay in your room here if you want. Up to you."
"Nah, just would rather sleep in my own place for once, ya know," John cocked a grin at Roy.
Both knew he had a key to the DeSoto's and his own room anytime he needed, partly because of his tendency to get hurt at work. Mostly however, the DeSoto's wanted him to know he had a home no matter what.
"Alright, I'll let you say good-bye to the kids and I'll see you at work in a couple days. Call me or Jo if you need anything."
"Yea, yea." Johnny agreed, getting up and going to the kids.
It wasn't easy, especially since it was his princess' birthday, but after promising that just the three of them would do something special after his next shift, he was reluctantly allowed to leave.
Man, I have no idea why I am so exhausted. And this stupid headache just is not going away, Johnny wondered what was going on.
Hopefully, a good night's rest and a relaxing day tomorrow was all he needed before his next shift.
I better not be getting sick, he thought, climbing into his Land Rover, all thoughts of the accidents and his earlier promise to himself forgotten.