A/N I am writing this story at the request of a special needs friend I help. I hope it will suffice for her-as I have never attempted to write an Emergency story.

A/N This story is AU, and I have played with some of the characters marital statuses—though, Roy and Joann are still married, Johnny is still single-as is Dixie McColl and Kel Brackett. Would someone tell me if Dr. Early was supposed to be single, married, divorced or widowed? For all the episodes I watched growing up-and am re-watching now, I have never caught that fact.

A/N I've seen two dogs on Emergency. In this story, it is Boot that the firemen have.

A/N Constructive criticism is always appreciated, down right rude remarks are not. I will delete any guest reviews that fall into the second category if I can (depends on how the site is acting at the time.)

Chapter One

"Whose idea was it to have this outing up here?" Johnny, who had parked his car at the edge of the clearing where other firemen, their families and a few off duty hospital staff had gathered, asked as he walked up to Roy. His partner was sitting in a chair that had been placed under the shade of a tree.

"A few of the other firemen's wives, along with Dixie and a few of the nurses." Roy replied as Johnny leaned against the tree that was standing behind them. "I think it's great myself. Been quite a while since Joann, the children and I had a chance to get out of the city."

"Yeah, been awhile for me to." Johnny admitted as he looked around. He could see Mike and his family, along with Chet and his girlfriend, Dr. Brackett, Dixie and a few others visiting.

"Where's Captain Stanley? I thought he said he was coming as well." Johnny turned his gaze towards Roy just as Joann walked up to them.

"I don't know." Roy shrugged his shoulders.

"He's stopping by the vet's. Remember," Joann looked at her husband. "You said Boot needed some shots, and the captain volunteered to take him."

"That's right." Roy looked towards the road. "He should be coming any minute. For now, let's go join the others." Roy said as he stood up and walked away with his wife.

Johnny stepped away from the tree, only he headed for one of the nurses that had just arrived. She was fairly new to the hospital and more than easy on the eyes.

~oOo~

It was almost noon when Jennifer Hansen heard her eight-year-old daughter, Cassie yelling for her mother-and the young's child's voice held a mixture of urgency and fear in it. Her daughter had gone out onto the porch of the home that her father had built shortly after her parents moved to the area. Mrs. Hansen figured not many people knew the place even existed- as it was set, miles in the hills that surrounded Los Angeles. The closest neighbor she knew of lived one miles away. Mr. Hansen had told his family that he may have to work in the city, but they didn't have to live in it.

Cassie's urgent call sent Mrs. Hansen flying out the door. She was startled to see the young girl pointing at a dark-haired gentleman wearing dark pants and a blue shirt staggering down the road that led to the three bedroom home, a dog that would be classified as small (even if she'd seen smaller), followed closely behind the gentleman. The animal was barking-when he wasn't nudging the man as if to tell him to continue walking. Even with the distance that was between them, she could tell there was blood on the stranger's face.

"Go back inside!" Jennifer touched her daughter's shoulder as she spoke, before hurrying down the steps and towards the stranger. By the time Jennifer reached the gentleman, he had dropped to his knees. She was startled to realize the shirt he was wearing had a rip in it and there was blood on the side of his arm as well.

After assuring the dog she meant no harm, she turned her attention to the injured stranger. "Sir," She slid an arm around him and urged him to stand up. "Can you make it to the house?" she asked even as she nodded towards her nearby home. While she received no verbal reply, the man struggled to his feet, leaned on her and-together-the two of them managed to get him inside their home; the dog followed-keeping his eyes on the man. Jennifer naturally assumed the gentleman was the dog's owner.

Jennifer wasted no time in helping the man into the third, unused, bedroom in the house. She had to give the man's dog a smile as he laid down on the floor near the headboard. "Don't worry. I'll do what I can for him." She then turned to her Cassie, who was now standing in the bedroom doorway. "Please, go get the first aid kit, along with a wet rag." She then began examining the now unconscious stranger who had staggered into their lives. Not two minutes later she was washing the blood off him and applying bandages where needed the first chance she got. As she worked on caring for the minor injuries she could see, a thousand questions ran through her mind. Who was he? How had he gotten hurt? How far had he walked? Those were the first three questions to come to her mind.

"I wonder who he is." Cassie, who had stepped into the room, stared at the man as her mother cared for him.

Mrs. Hansen looked through the open bedroom door, her gaze falling on the telephone hanging on the wall. Why did it have to stop working? She looked back at the injured stranger. "I don't know, but it doesn't matter for now. He's hurt, and we need to take care of him." The whole time the two had been talking Jennifer had been looking to make sure there were no other wounds or sign of internal bleeding. Being able to look for signs of internal injuries was something she could do because her father was a doctor back east. As an avid reader, she had read every book in his library-including each and every one of his medical books. She'd also had many conversations with him. She was relieved to find no such signs. She was also relieved to see that, while he had more than one cut, none were so deep as to demand stitches. She sent up a silent prayer of thanksgiving for that small miracle. It's not like she was trained to do anything like that. Pulling a chair that was next to the wall over to the bed, Jennifer sat down. "Go ahead and entertain yourself in the living room, but leave the door to this room open."

"Yes, Mother." Cassie turned and exited the room.

Jennifer Hansen hoped her unexpected visitor would wake up soon-or that the telephone would start working. After all, if he remained unconscious, the stranger would need medical help. Without half thinking, she began singing softly-keeping one eye on the stranger while keeping the other on her daughter who was now reading a book.

A/N I have never been to the hills of Los Angeles, and only been to the city once...and that was YEARS ago. That being the case, I'm taking writer's liberty when it comes to anything that would exist up there.