Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

Johnny slowly opened his eyes and reached over to shut off his alarm clock. He could already hear Diane and Katie out in the living room, and he lay there for a long moment, listening to them.

Suddenly he heard the door crash open, and Katie leapt on to the bed, landing right in the middle of Johnny's chest. He winced as a shooting pain went through his hip, letting out a hiss in response.

It was going to be one of those days.

"Daddy." Katie was right in his face. "Mama says you have to get up."

Johnny squeezed Katie tightly. "I know. I'm getting there."

"Katie?" Diane called out. "We have to go."

"'Kay, Mama." Katie made no move to leave. "Daddy, I wanna stay here with you."

"Well, I've gotta go, too." Johnny reminded her. "I've gotta work today."

Katie scowled at that, and Johnny patted her back. "You go with Mama. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Promise?" Katie held out her hand.

"Promise." Johnny replied, hooking his pinky finger with Katie's.

Katie gave him a quick kiss and climbed off the bed, racing to meet Diane, who was waiting at the bedroom door with a worried frown on her face. "Are you okay?"

"Fine." Johnny finally sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, gingerly placing his feet on the floor before slowly standing and making his way over to her. "Just getting old and falling apart."

"Really." Diane scoffed, kissing him.

"Really." Johnny answered. "Gonna have to trade me in for a younger model before long."

"Not a chance, handsome." Diane told him affectionately, though she still looked a little concerned. "I do wish you'd go get that checked out."

"I will." Johnny assured her. "Soon as I find some time."

Diane regarded him skeptically but didn't say anything more, finally getting herself and Katie out the door, leaving Johnny in a quiet, empty house.

He got dressed and poured a cup of coffee before grabbing the bottle of ibuprofen, opening it and shaking out the last four tablets. Hopefully he still had some at the station. This wasn't going to be enough to get him through a shift.

He shifted his weight as he stood at the counter, chasing the ibuprofen with his coffee. God, this thing was really bothering him today. Never mind that he'd been up and down all night, unable to rest comfortably for more than an hour or so at a time.

This was going to make for a tough shift. He supposed it was too much to hope for an easy one.

He finally made his way out to the Rover, bracing himself as he climbed up. It felt like the ibuprofen was kicking in, and he let out a little sigh of relief. He knew he would have to get things checked out eventually, but for the time being, at least, he could ignore it.

By the time he got to the station, the pain in his hip had eased significantly. That was, until it was time to hop down from the Rover. "Son of a…"

"Morning, Johnny." Mike greeted him, having pulled in next to him. He regarded Johnny with a concerned look. "You okay, there? You seem to be walking a little funny."

"Just slept funny, I guess." Johnny replied dismissively.

Mike nodded but didn't say anything more, and the two men continued their casual chat into the station. It seemed oddly quiet. Normally Chet and Adam would already be insulting each other. Instead, it was just Sam and Chet in the locker room, and Johnny and Mike walked in just in time to see Chet laying a big fat smooch on Sam.

"Hey, hey, you know that, uh, fraternization is frowned upon around here." Johnny clapped Chet on the shoulder before opening his locker.

Chet huffed in exasperation. "Can't a guy get any privacy around here?"

Johnny couldn't help laughing at that. "Did you forget where you work, Chet? Hey, Sam."

"Hi, Johnny." Sam replied as she finished tucking in her shirt.

They soon filed into the day room, and Johnny caught up with the C shift paramedic team, still looking around to see if Adam had made it in. It wasn't like him to run late.

Soon they were lined up for roll call, and Adam came trotting in just as Cap was asking about him. Johnny threw him a look, and Adam merely shrugged. Johnny supposed he'd explain later while they were out on a run.

After roll call, Johnny made his way toward the coffee maker. Hopping down from the Rover had been a stupid move, because now his hip was throbbing again. He'd have to find something in the drug box before long.

"Johnny." Chet's low whisper pulled him out of his thoughts.

Johnny shifted his weight slightly as he poured a mug of coffee. "What?"

Chet seemed a little taken aback. "Wow, you're cranky. Forget it."

Johnny let out a short huff, feeling a little bad about snapping at Chet. "It's nothing. What did you want?"

Chet looked around before pulling an object out of his pocket, opening it to reveal a small diamond solitaire ring.

"Chester, I'm flattered." Johnny told him with a short laugh. "But I'm already married."

Chet looked exasperated as he closed the ring box and shoved it back in his pocket. "It's for Sam, you idiot."

"You're gonna propose?" To say Johnny was surprised was an understatement. "Well, I'll be damned. Didn't think you had it in you."

Chet looked over his shoulder, where Sam sat at the table with an open textbook while she made notes. "I'm crazy about her."

Johnny lowered his own voice. "You guys have talked about this, right?"

"I mean…a little." Chet replied nervously. "She hasn't exactly come out and said she wants to get married, but she doesn't seem to hate the idea, either. Believe me, if she did, she'd say so."

"Well, here's hoping she says yes." Johnny responded. "And if she says no, you can come cry on my shoulder."

"Oh, you're real funny." Chet scoffed. "Real funny."

The tones went off, and Johnny started to trot to the squad, ignoring the shooting pain that went through him with every step.

Adam was just coming out of Cap's office and met him at the squad, climbing in alongside Johnny. Cap handed them the address slip and they were on their way.

"Left at the light." Adam told him.

Johnny glanced over at him. Something seemed off with Adam, though Johnny couldn't say exactly what. He'd been distracted, distant. Even his usual back and forth with Chet had lost some of its characteristic bite.

"Hey, Cap wasn't too hard on you, was he?" Johnny asked casually.

"Oh, no." Adam answered. "Just wanted to know why I was late, that's all. Go right."

"Pretty unusual for you." Johnny ventured. "Everything okay?"

Adam gave Johnny a sideways glance, shrugging ever so slightly. "Isaac's been…a bit under the weather. Nothing major, just enough to make us both miserable."

That didn't sound right, but Johnny knew he'd get nowhere pressing Adam. They were both well aware of the virus that was spreading like wildfire, seemingly with no end in sight, and Johnny knew that Adam had taken more than his share of time off for funerals over the last couple years.

Johnny could only imagine how much it all weighed on Adam, having to deal with this on and off the job. But so far, he had seemed to soldier on as he always did.

Johnny had a feeling that Adam was starting to crack a little. Anyone would.

They pulled up to the call, gathering equipment and heading into the bungalow, where their patient was propped up in a recliner. "I'm fine, Carol. It's just indigestion."

"Now Ron," Carol scolded him. "You just sit tight and let these young men take a look at you."

Johnny couldn't help but be amused at that. Clearly Adam shared his sentiment, smirking ever so slightly at Johnny as he set up the bio-phone while Johnny started taking vitals.

"I'm telling you, this is unnecessary." Ron complained.

"Can you describe what you were feeling?" Johnny asked.

"It burned a little, right here." Ron pointed to the middle of his chest.

"And he was complaining about his arm being numb." Carol broke in. "I'm telling you, Ron, you're having a goddamn heart attack."

"BP's one-sixty over ninety." Johnny told Adam. "Pulse is one-twenty, respirations rapid and shallow."

Adam relayed the information. "Two liters of oxygen and an IV of D-five-W."

Morton. Johnny thought to himself as he placed an oxygen mask over the man's face and started the IV. He heard the ambulance sirens as it pulled up. "Okay, we're gonna get you over to Rampart. They'll be able to tell you if you've had a heart attack or not, okay?"

The ambulance attendants came in and loaded their patient up, with his wife following close behind. Once outside, Adam frowned at Johnny. "I'll ride in with him."

Johnny nodded, grateful that Adam had offered. Being on the floor working with the patient had done him no favors and pushing himself off the floor seemed to have made things worse. He was definitely going to raid the drug cabinet when he got to Rampart.

It was a short drive, and he backed the squad in next to the ambulance before carefully climbing down and slowly walking into the building, soon arriving at the base station. "Hey, Dix."

"Oh, hi, Johnny." Dixie replied.

Johnny went behind Dixie, opening one of the cabinets and rooting around. Before he knew it, he felt Dixie's eyes on him.

"Johnny, what are you doing?"

That tone in Dixie's voice immediately made him pull back. "Just restocking. You got any ibuprofen in here?"

"I didn't know you guys were carrying that in your drug box."

"It's for the station." Johnny tried to sound casual. "You know what a headache it is working with Adam."

"Very funny." Dixie answered. "Now get out of that cabinet. You know you can't take anything out of there without a supply form."

Johnny backed away and filled out the form, handing it to Dixie so she could fill the box.

He turned to pour himself a cup of coffee, noticing movement out of the corner of his eye. Dixie had set a couple of packets of ibuprofen on the counter, and Johnny picked them up, tearing them open and washing them down with his coffee.

"Don't go crazy with those." Dixie admonished him. "Whatever's bothering you, you need to get it checked out."

"Jesus, Dix, not you, too." Johnny huffed.

Dixie fixed him with a sharp look. "You're not hiding anything. Pretty obvious you're hurting."

"I'll get it taken care of." He assured her.

Just then Adam showed up. "I need to head upstairs for a minute. I'll be right back."

"I—okay." Johnny was completely thrown. Before he could say anything more, Adam was gone.

He let out a huff and drained the remains of his coffee cup, tossing it in a nearby wastebasket.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Diane's voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Waiting for my partner." Johnny told her, pulling her in briefly. "He said something about going upstairs."

Diane frowned slightly. "I hope it's not another one of his friends."

Johnny had a sudden thought. "Or Isaac."

Diane seemed to have the same thought. "You don't think…oh, he certainly would have said something."

Johnny shrugged. "He did say Isaac was a little under the weather."

Diane pressed her lips together. "Well, let's hope that's all it is."

Adam soon reappeared, nodding to Diane. "Hey, Diane. Johnny, whenever you're ready."

"Sure thing." Johnny kissed Diane briefly. "See you later. Love you."

"Love you, too." Diane replied. "And try to take it easy, will you?"

"No promises." Johnny answered lightly, trotting to catch up with Adam.

Adam gave him a sideways glance as they climbed into the squad. "Moving a little slow there, partner."

"It's nothing." Johnny answered shortly.

Adam rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say."

Johnny let out a huff and started up the squad, and they were soon headed back to the station. "So, uh, who'd you go see?"

Adam looked briefly alarmed. "Friend of mine. He's been in the hospital a couple of days, so I figured I'd check in on him while I had a minute."

Johnny wanted to push further, but he wasn't entirely sure he'd get a straight answer out of Adam. "Is he doing okay?"

"Better than expected." Adam replied. "Should be home in a day or two."

"Good. That's good." Johnny backed the squad into the bay and shut off the engine. "Guess you're having a tough time of it lately. You know, with your friend being sick and Isaac being sick."

Adam's expression told Johnny all he needed to know. "I don't want to talk about this right now, Johnny." He told him quietly.

"Adam—"

"I said I don't want to talk about it." Adam snapped. "God, why can't you just leave things alone?!"

Before Johnny could formulate a reply, Adam had hopped down from the squad and slammed the door behind him. Johnny quickly moved to follow, a little too quickly as his feet landed hard on the concrete floor. "Goddammit." He muttered softly.

Adam immediately whirled around. "I knew it. You are working hurt."

Johnny recovered, straightening up to face Adam. "And you aren't being straight with me."

Adam scoffed. "When am I ever?"

"I'm serious." Johnny crossed over to meet Adam. "What the hell is going on?"

The two men stared each other down until Adam broke eye contact first, turning on his heel and walking away without a word.

Johnny couldn't help but draw his own conclusions. Isaac was sick, really sick, and Adam had been carrying that load for a good long while. And for whatever reason, Adam chose to keep that to himself rather than reach out.

The man was stubborn as the day was long, but this was ridiculous, even for him.

"Johnny?" Cap's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "Everything okay out here?"

Johnny let out a short sigh, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, Cap. Everything's fine. Just fine."