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Kindred Spirits

Part 3

An Emergency Story By

Mypiot
 

 

Links To Parts 1. 2. 3.

 

 

                                                                      Chapter Twelve

Johnny went straight home that day and spent the entire evening pouring over his budget. He knew by using his vacation money, he would have enough to cover Koda’s initial care for a week…maybe ten days; but long term care was going to require big bucks … big bucks he didn’t have. And then there would be other expenses over and above just the medical care.

For a while at least, Koda would need special feed, along with medications. And then of course, Johnny would eventually need to buy a horse blanket, saddle and halter. Johnny sighed heavily and ran his hand through his hair. His cash flow problem was growing bigger and bigger by the minute.

He had no clear idea yet of how he was going to pay for it all. He tried to calculate in his mind how much money he was going to need. By bartering out his time for Koda’s room and board, he would save a lot of daily expense.

After two hours of working and reworking his budget, he finally gave up and tossed his pen down on the pad of paper that was covered in numbers and dollar signs. Johnny levered himself up out of the chair, and pushed back from the table. He looked up at the clock and saw that it was nearing eleven pm.

Man, that lunch Jonah bought me feels like it was a lifetime ago, he thought as he reflected back on everything that had happened in the past twelve hours. From waking up with a medication hangover, to committing himself to Koda’s care, and then to top it all off, his late afternoon arguments with both Roy and Morton. He felt mentally and emotionally drained. To top it all off his hand and wrist were beginning to throb again. No way am I taking any more of those pain meds Morton gave me. I’ll just stick with Tylenol.

He rubbed his uninjured hand against his forehead; he could feel a headache beginning to build behind his eyes. He decided the best thing for him to do, would be to just call it a day and got to bed.  Maybe he just needed to sleep on it, and come at the problem fresh in the morning.

He grabbed his mug of coffee that had long since gone cold, and stood up. He carried the cup over to the sink and dumped the contents down the drain, rinsed out the mug, and headed toward the bedroom. Hopefully he would be hit with some inspiration in the light of day.

He lay in bed, and flipped over onto his right side so he wouldn’t be resting his entire weight on his bruised shoulder. He let his eyes slide shut as he listened to the wind making a soft whistling sound against the partially open window. It had always been his habit to sleep with his bedroom window cracked open; it made him feel less claustrophobic. But tonight he found no peace in the night sounds. His mind was in overdrive; swirling with thoughts about Koda, and how he was going to pay for his medical treatment without digging into the ranch savings. It was a problem that three hours later still had the paramedic staring at the shadows on his bedroom ceiling instead of sleeping.

With this latest injury, picking up overtime was out of the equation for the foreseeable future; but he needed to find a way to get some cash in a hurry. The old engine he and Roy were restoring was not yet ready to sell. Besides he was counting on that money to push him over the top with his goal of buying a ranch one day. He blew out a heavy sigh…Roy.

His partner clearly thought the horse was going to nickel and dime him to death, but he was determined to prove the older man wrong. Contrary to what his partner obviously thought, he was not stupid.

Johnny gave a disgusted grunt … that was something else that had to be dealt with. But right now his focus was solely on Koda, and how he intended on paying for his care. He wasn’t quite sure how, but he was sure nonetheless. Where there’s a will there’s a way, he mused.

He needed to find at least five hundred dollars by next week … seven fifty would be even better. He supposed he could try for a loan at the bank. But the idea was dismissed as quickly as it had flitted into his mind. For one thing, the bank would never loan out money on such a risky venture…unless he lied about why he wanted it. But lying was something that ran against everything he believed in. And having another monthly bill to pay was the last thing he needed.

No, he was just going to have to find another way to get the money he needed. But he had no idea how to accomplish it. He had already come to the conclusion that assuming ownership of Koda was going to mean he would not have extra cash for any evenings out for a long time.

There would be no more ordering in for pizza, bowling nights, or movies. Not that it mattered much; with his run of luck lately, maybe going on a girl diet wasn’t a bad idea…and less dates meant and more time and money he would have to devote to Koda.

His growling stomach interrupted his thoughts and drove his mind into his kitchen and the idea of a midnight snack. He snatched up his jeans up and shimmied into them, which was an awkward process with the use of only one hand.

He padded barefoot into the kitchen and made a beeline for his fridge to check out what he had to eat. Opening the door he saw the carton of milk he had picked up the night before his last shift. It sat beside a nearly full jug of orange juice… out of beer.

Rooting around further inside the fridge revealed a jar of pickles, some honey mustard, and half a package of deli meat. The vegetable crisper held four apples, a cucumber and some wilted celery. Well at least I’m well supplied in milk, he thought as he grabbed the carton and set it on the counter.

He closed the fridge and checked the cupboards hoping they held more promise. Inside he found a jar of peanut butter, a box of cereal along with two cans of soup and half a box of saltines. On the counter sat what was left of a loaf of bread.

He pulled off the tag and slowly opened the bag and looked inside. The bread didn’t look very fresh. He held the bag up to his nose and sniffed; it didn’t smell very fresh either.  He studied the contents for a moment and mulled over the idea of toast and peanut butter. With a final grimace he walked over to the trash bin and shoved the bag of bread inside…even he had his standards when it came to food. 

He frowned, wishing he had asked Jonah to stop off at the grocery store for food before coming home. It had been on his ‘to do’ list after his trip to the ranch. He could have used some fresh bread, hot dogs and some ground beef.  Man he was going to have to cut back on food now that he had a horse to pay for.

In a last ditch effort to find something appealing, Johnny opened up his freezer. The inside was nearly empty, except for a bag of frozen corn, a part bag of frozen peas, and joy of joys, sitting there like a pot of gold, was the large Tupperware container full of tuna casserole Joanne had sent home with him on Saturday afternoon after he had helped Roy clean out their gutters. If he was careful he could stretch it into three meals.

He carefully spooned out what he figured was a third of the container into an oven safe pan, and put the remaining food back into the freezer for tomorrow. After sliding the pan into the oven to heat, he opened up the cupboard to get a glass for his milk. There staring out at him was the jar where he kept his grocery money.

He withdrew the jar and carried it to his kitchen table, and dumped it out. He spread the pile of bills and coins on the wooden surface and counted it. The total amount added up to twenty five dollars, and thirty seven cents…and there were still six days until payday. Well he could eat sandwiches and cold cereal if he had too. Being off work meant he wouldn’t have to buy in for meals for a while either.

But the idea of living off sandwiches and cereal did not bother Johnny in the least. There had certainly been times when he’d gotten by on less. Even if it meant he had nothing to eat but bread and water for the rest of the year, he was going to save Koda.

The only certainty right now about his finances, was that he wouldn’t delve into his ranch fund; that was written in stone. His father had always cautioned him, even as a young boy to be careful with money. All these years later he could still here his father’s voice in his head … “Never buy a wallet with your last dollar, John. Always have something put away for the future.”  And he would need that ranch. Because if he did manage to save Koda’s life…and he would… he knew he couldn’t rely on free room and board forever. Eventually he would need a place of his own to keep him.

Johnny pondered his problem as he ate his meal. At least for the foreseeable future, Jonah and Jeannette were more than willing to exchange free room and board, for his helping out once or twice a month. And for the moment, he’d take his allies where he found them.

Suddenly he was exhausted. A glance at the clock and Johnny realized how much of the night had slipped by him. It was almost three o’clock. He gathered up his plate and cup and set them in the sink, and started to make his way back into the bedroom.

 “Please, God,” he prayed in desperation, “I need to find some way to get the money to pay the vet.”  He ended his plea to the Almighty and opened his eyes.

The first thing Johnny’s eyes lit upon when he opened them was his motorcycle helmet sitting on the top of his bookcase, and Frank Kelly’s words echoed in his mind. “You wouldn’t be interested in selling your bike would you?” The weariness and despair of a moment ago vanished…suddenly he was wide awake.

He loved his bike. He loved the freedom he felt when he hopped on it and took off down the coast with the open road ahead of him, and the wind in his hair. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that his prayer had been answered, and selling his bike was that answer. His mind grabbed onto the first glimmer of hope he’d had all day. 

At that moment a plan began to formulate in his mind. First thing in the morning, he would need to get a hold of Chet’s cousin, Frank. He wondered how badly Frank Kelly wanted his bike, and just how much of his money he was willing to part with … a thousand? He remembered having crumpled up the slip of paper with Frank’s number on it right after Chet had thrust it at him, and shoving the paper in the pocket of his uniform shirt. He only hoped it was still there now.

He ran to his bathroom and frantically searched for the uniform shirt in his laundry hamper. It had been the only part of his uniform to have escaped Betty’s scissors in the ER the day before. In all the fracas of the past twenty four hours he hadn’t gotten around to sending it out so it could be laundered.

The shirt was easy enough to locate, not just because of its colour, but because the hamper was almost empty. Joanne had washed most of his clothes three days ago when he had been at the DeSoto house. Putting his hand inside the breast pocket, he grinned in triumph when he found what he was looking for. There in his hand, was the slip of paper with Frank Kelly’s phone number scrawled across it. Johnny held it up to his face. He found there was just enough light filtering into his bathroom from the hallway, that he could read the numbers.

He held onto the paper as if it were made of gold… and in his mind it was. He set it down next to the phone where it would be ready for him as soon as it was daylight. He wished he had another way…another option. But he didn’t.  “Well, you have to work with what you have, not what you wish you had, Johnny,” he muttered.

For one brief moment he worried what Roy would have to say about him selling his bike on the gamble that he could save Koda’s life. But he quickly shoved it out of his mind. It was his bike to sell and his money to waste if that was his choice. It wasn’t like he had a wife and kids to support, and with his luck with women, he was beginning to doubt he ever would… so why shouldn’t he sell it?

He had prayed for an answer to his problem, and in his estimation, the answer had been given to him. What was he willing to give up in order to make saving Koda happen?  He loved the bike…but when stacked up against the life of that horse, there was no contest.

He loved the horse more. He smiled when he thought of how much he could get for the bike. If he played his cards right he would have enough for the care of Koda, and a little bit left over to add to his nest egg.

He thought back to how much Koda resembled Ajax. It had been that connection that had driven him to commit so much into trying to save the mustang in the first place. It was almost as if he had a chance to recapture a part of his life that had been stolen from him. Even now he could imagine riding his horse with the wind in his hair, just as he had done when he was a child.

A look of contentment slid over his features. The one bright spot about his being out on the injured list was that it gave him all the time he would need to be with the Koda as the mustang regained his strength and spirit. Johnny smiled contentedly; they could heal together.

Now that he had the problem of what to do about paying for Koda solved, Johnny had more time to think about his fight with Roy. Man he loved the guy….loved him like a brother, but the words he had spoken this time had really hurt.

He knew that anger, like alcohol, could work like a truth serum. In the heat of the moment, sometimes people’s true feelings leaked out. And the words Roy had spewed at him today clearly indicated that he thought Johnny could be irresponsible and stupid.

He wondered if this time the two of them could work it out to where they could recapture their closeness…could they ever get back to that special place they had shared since the first day they met … or would they from now on simply be, casual friends who worked together.

With his stomach now full, Johnny’s eyes became heavy.  He thought about his and Roy’s friendship some more, but it became less clear as the pull of the sleep lulled him back to bed. One problem at a time, he decided as he crawled beneath the blankets on his bed. With a final sigh, the stress of the day finally caught up with him, and he lowered his head onto his pillow and let his eyes slide shut.

The next morning Johnny rose with the sun. He wanted to call Frank before he left for work, and get his answer. He needed to have a financial plan worked out before he arrived at the ranch later that day. His hand trembled in anticipation as he dialed the number written on the scrap of paper sitting beside his phone. He thought over his decision one final time while he listened to the ringing of the phone. In his mind it was all about risk verses rewards. It was how he lived his life as a paramedic….and it was like that now.

He knew he could wind up losing both the horse and his bike if Koda died. As for the trip to Mexico… it was already gone. But that didn’t really bother him. If everything worked out as he planned he would have Koda to occupy his time during his holidays. As for selling his bike; was he willing to gamble it?

He didn’t hesitate in his answer; it was no contest…the answer was yes. At that moment he heard Frank’s voice on the other end of the line. He paused and steadied his voice.

“Hey, Frank? This is John Gage. I was wondering, just exactly how much would you be prepared to give me for my bike?”

                                    ~                      ~                           ~

Johnny watched wistfully as Frank drove off on what until two hours ago, had been his motorcycle. He knew he was going to miss it…miss all those drives down the coastline. But his melancholic reverie was only momentary, as thoughts of his bike were replaced with a mental image of himself, riding across the ranch on Koda, with the sun in face and the wind in his hair.

Gone too was the heavy weight of his financial worries over how he was going to pay for the mustang’s vet bills. In just a few short hours he went from wondering if he had just buried himself in debt, to not only having enough…but having more than enough.

When Johnny had phoned Frank Kelly early that morning, he had been pretty evasive about how much he wanted for his bike. He had decided to feel Frank out, about how much he would be willing to pay for it. He knew the older man had a sentimental attachment to the bike, simply because it was the exact same model and year of the one Frank had owned before he’d gotten married and settled down. …that meant a person was usually prepared to offer more than it was worth just for the chance to own back a piece of a cherished memory. The fact that he was selling his bike to risk it on the chance he could save Koda was a perfect example.

In his mind he was hoping to get at least a thousand dollars out of Frank, so he was more than thrilled when the man’s first offer had been, eleven hundred and fifty dollars.

Johnny had made a long pretense of mulling it over, in an effort to hide his joy. In the end he had agreed to the deal, and had made arrangements to make the exchange on the weekend when Frank would be off work. Now he just had to arrange to get it over to Frank’s. His broken hand and wrist meant he wasn’t going to be able to ride it over himself. He would have loved to have had the chance to ride it just one last time. Glad I took the opportunity to ride it work on Sunday, he mused.

The problem had been solved when half an hour later, Frank called him back and told Johnny that he had called in sick, and could they do the deal this morning? And that he would be over at his place in an hour. Frank was hoping to have the ownership and registration changed over before the weekend so he could head out for a road trip right after work that Friday.

By ten o’clock that morning, Frank and Johnny were down at the DMV, getting everything sorted out. By noon, Frank had taken Johnny to his bank to deposit the check in his account, and brought him back home again. Johnny had thrown in his bike helmet for free, but had held on to his leather jacket. It was the one memento of his biking days he intended to keep, especially since it had been a gift from his late Aunt Marian. Besides he looked good in it, and the chicks loved it.

He glanced one last time at his bike, as Frank turned the corner at the end of the street, and was gone from sight. He bade a final mental farewell to his attachment to the bike, and slid Koda into the gap it left; mentally putting a period over one chapter of his life, but smiling as he thought about the chapter that was about to begin. He officially owned his very first horse.

 

Johnny walked into his bedroom and snatched up the picture of him and Ajax with his folks, from his nightstand.  As soon as Koda is back in the pink, I’m going to have Jeannette take a picture of the two of us together and keep it right beside this one, he mused. He just knew he and the horse would share the same close bond as his father had with Ajax.

Rescued animals, be it a horse or a dog, seemed to sense they had been spared a horrible fate and displayed a heightened sense of loyalty, affection, and gratitude toward their rescuer. He was convinced he and the mustang would share the same kind of bond. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that there was the chance that Koda would die. But he also felt in his gut that this was indeed a blessing from above.

That God had caused them to cross paths for a reason.  And from everything he understood about God, he knew that God never lost. If it was indeed a blessing, then he knew he would prevail, and Koda would live. He understood it…even if nobody else did.

As for his detractors, he didn’t seem to pay much, if any, attention to the fact that they doubted his ability to heal the wounded creature. But he understood this horse better than anyone else. Because even though Roy may be able to sympathize with his past…he could never really understand it. No one could unless they had actually lived through it themselves.  He knew the horse’s spirit had been wounded … but it was not beyond repair. Just like me, he smiled.

He paused as he thought back to all those years he’d spent growing up on the reservation without his mom and dad; of those dystopian days of being raised at the cruel hands of his grandparents who had stolen his childhood …along with a thousand other sins against human decency.

Back then all he had hoped for was a change for the better… but that change never materialized … not until he took matters into his own hands and made that leap of faith that there was a better way out there for him… he just had leave the reservation to find it.

And he had found it, and it all began on the day he arrived in Los Angeles. It had led him to not only his Aunt Marian, but eventually to Roy DeSoto… making those days after his parents’ death nothing but a dark memory. Johnny held onto the picture, and grabbed a blanket from his bedroom closet.

He padded into the living room, and draped the blanket over the back of his couch, before dropping onto the cushions, he set the picture on his coffee table where he could see it.

He swivelled his body sideways and stretched his legs out along the full length of his sofa. He hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, and with any luck he figured he could catch a quick half hour cat nap before Jonah arrived.

He lay on his back and pulled out the receipt from the bank showing the new, current balance of his checking account, and heaved a sigh of satisfaction. Once he had paid for the vet’s bills, purchased the saddle and the other items he would need for Koda, he would transfer the balance of the eleven hundred and fifty dollars from his checking account, into the savings account he had set up for his ranch.

Now more than ever he was determined to get his own place as soon as possible. He figured by the time he and Roy had that old engine working, any money he got for his half of the sale, would put him over the top. Hs smile flipped into a frown.  Roy...what was he going to do about this situation with Roy?

Johnny, for his part, had been prepared for a minor lecture from his partner the day before because of his failure to remember about his appointment and the fact that he had wasted several hours of Roy’s day off. But he had certainly been unprepared for the magnitude of anger that had been unleashed towards him from the older man; which to his way of thinking was totally unreasonable for the minor offense he had committed … especially since it had been completely accidental.

What really bothered him was his partner’s attitude over his buying Koda, and the fact that it hadn’t been simply a case of Roy advising him to reconsider his decision about assuming ownership of the gelding.

His best friend had practically ordered him to give up on the idea of saving Koda; he had stopped just short of using the word forbid. Even now thinking back on his partner’s words from the previous afternoon filled him with both hurt and anger.

The hurt part of his emotions, stemmed from the fact that Roy had completely dismissed his feelings as if they didn’t matter. Roy didn’t seem to care how much the horse meant to Johnny, his partner just seemed intent on trying to gaslight his plans. As for the anger…well that was pretty straightforward. He couldn’t believe the way Roy had talked down to him, and treated him like he was too stupid to get out of his own way.

He understood that they had always had a kind of, older brother- younger brother relationship. But until yesterday Johnny had always felt it was born out of a mutual love and respect for each other. But the words Roy had hurled at him yesterday clearly indicated that the older man not only didn’t respect him, but obviously thought Johnny was incapable of making his own life choices. Add to that, was the simple fact that Roy’s pessimism about his ability to cure Koda had not only rankled him…but had worn on his last nerve.

Johnny had finally reached a point where he knew if he didn’t get away from Roy right then; words might be said that could never be taken back. Because as angry as he was, he loved Roy like a brother and would never jeopardize what they had together. But right now the anger and hurt was still too fresh. He knew he needed some time and space to cool down.

He decided spending time around Koda was just the calming balm he needed. But he knew eventually in the coming days he was going to have to sit down and have a serious discussion with Roy and make him understand he was on dangerous ground, and about to cross a line that would be hard for either of them to recover from.

Johnny sighed and pulled the blanket from the back of his sofa and spread it over his legs. He wasn’t going to think about it anymore today… he wasn’t going to dampen his joy at having secured the money to save his horse.

His horse…he liked the sound of those words. Gradually his eyes grew heavy as sleep claimed the dark haired man.

                                                                                                                        

                                                   Chapter Thirteen

Roy struggled as he tried to maneuver the cooler full of food into the passenger seat of his Porsche. When he finally had it positioned to his satisfaction, he straightened his body, stretching out his back muscles.

It was exactly noon and he had just kissed Joanne goodbye, wishing her a pleasant afternoon of decorating for her friend’s baby shower. His wife’s parting reminder for him to go and set things right with his partner had him in an unusually pensive mood.

He slid into the drivers’ seat and reviewed his map on more time, just to make sure he had the directions to the equine rescue centre settled firmly in his memory. Johnny had only ever mentioned his activities at the ranch, once or twice in passing, but Roy had never been out to the place himself. In fact yesterday had been the first time he’d ever seen Johnny’s friend Jonah in person, although he’d heard his partner mention his name a time or two in the past year.

As he made the forty five minute drive to the ranch, he tried to work out in his head, what it was he was going to say to his partner. He had gone back and forth on the matter all morning long. He knew he had been guilty of overreacting, and he admitted he may have been a bit high handed in some of his comments. He had been in a bad mood when he left the station the day before, and that had influenced his actions as well as his words.

He knew he should have accepted Johnny’s apology over forgetting his follow up with Morton as soon as the younger man had given it. But by nature, Johnny was the more forgiving of the two of them. Roy wasn’t quite as endowed with that virtue as his partner was. Johnny was also more prone to being the more hot tempered of the duo. It probably would have been helpful if Roy had remembered both of those facts yesterday … but he hadn’t.

Roy tended to be more pragmatic about life, so when it came to the issue of Johnny spending large amounts of money on a sick horse … well that was another matter entirely. The very notion of it went against Roy’s sensibilities. For him to get behind his best friend on this venture was counter- intuitive to everything Roy believed in when it came to common sense. And as Johnny’s best friend and brother, how could he just stand by and watch his partner commit financial suicide?

Consequently, any chiding he had received from his wife about it being Johnny’s life, and his right to make his own decisions had fallen on deaf ears, although he did concede that the vernacular he had used, may have been a tad over the line. He knew he needed to apologize for his choice of words regarding Johnny’s decision to assume responsibility for the horse, but still find some way to dissuade his partner from sinking any deeper into debt than he already had.

As Roy pulled into the ranch’s lane, he slowed his speed down to a crawl. He didn’t know what he had expected, but the ranch was considerably larger than he had imagined it would be. From his vantage point he could see a large three story house, and no less than four barns…the fourth being barely visible as it stood far to the west, partially hidden behind a small stand of trees. There were also several paddocks, plenty of pasture land and what he assumed was an exercise yard. Even as a city slicker, he could see that the stables were a going concern.

As he glanced around, the only person in sight was a woman whom he guessed to be in her early thirties. He remember Johnny mentioning once that Jonah had a twin sister, and she looked enough like the man that had been in Johnny’s apartment the day before, that he assumed she was Jonah’s twin. She was walking across the yard with a bucket in one hand toward what he assumed was a long stainless steel watering trough. He pulled his Porsche closer to the front of the house, and parked in front of the double garage next to two golf carts that were parked side by side.

He stepped out of his car and approached the woman, who had paused in her task to look at the visitor that had just arrived at the ranch.

Roy walked over at her and smiled. “Hello,” he greeted, extending his hand. “My name is Roy DeSoto and I’m looking for my friend, John Gage … he’s probably with Jonah.”

Jeannette instantly recognized him from one of Johnny’s photo’s; “Mr. DeSoto,” she greeted, “how nice to finally meet you.” It was of course a lie, and she made no real attempt to conceal that fact. She had overheard Johnny telling her brother about his and Roy’s fight the previous day, and she had her own sisterly fondness for the dark haired paramedic and did not take kindly to anyone who tried to trample all over Johnny’s hopes and dreams.

The young woman took Roy’s proffered hand and shook it. “I’m Jeannette,” she informed him stiffly. “Jonah is my brother.”

Roy picked up on the strained smile immediately. She knows about my fight with Johnny, he surmised.

He decided the prudent thing to do would be to put out any fires before they began, and he acted accordingly by holding up his hands in surrender. ”I promise, I’ve only come to try and smooth things over with Johnny.”

Jeannette’s demeanor softened, but only slightly. She clearly wasn’t convinced of his sincerity and therefore not about to grant him total absolution. But she seemed to be willing to take a, wait and see attitude.

Roy took in the landscape and made a wide sweeping gesture with his hand whose arc took in the stables, paddock and the fields beyond. “This place is pretty impressive,” he remarked. Maybe flattery would gain him some brownie points.

Jeannette’s features softened even more; “Thanks… we’re proud of it,” she said with obvious satisfaction.  “But it’s been a lot of hard work and Jonah and I have had a lot of help to get it to where it is today.” She looked pointedly at Roy. “Volunteers like Johnny have really made a difference. We were very lucky to have found him…he’s a natural and he really knows his horses.”

There was no mistaking the meaning behind the words. This young woman was letting him know in no uncertain terms that she supported Johnny’s plans. He was definitely in Johnny’s territory here.

Jeannette set the bucket of water down and wiped her damp hands on her jeans. “I’ll get someone to take you back to Johnny…he’s with his horse.”

She led him to a large barn about fifty feet across the farmyard, stopping when she reached the open stable door. She leaned her head inside and called out; “Is anyone available to do a quick job for me?”

From the dark recesses of the barn strode a lean, grizzled looking man in his early sixties, wearing a black muscle shirt that had the image of a skull and crossbones on the front of it, torn jeans and Wellington boots. Jeannette saw him and motioned him over.

“You wanna take this guy to see Johnny? He and Jonah are out in the back barn with those new arrivals.”

The dour man surveyed the visitor to the ranch with an appraising gaze. “Sure, Jeannette, I gotta run some feed out that way anyway… just give me a minute to go grab it, and I’ll take him on back for ya.”

Without another word, the man disappeared back into the barn. Jeanette walked over and picked up the bucket she had set down and turned back to face Roy. “Well if you will excuse me, I need to get back to work. It was nice to meet you, Mr. DeSoto,” she said as she turned on her heels and walked back toward the barn.

“Likewise,” Roy said to the back of the quickly retreating woman. He had no sooner got the words out, before his escort returned with a large burlap sack of oats resting on his left shoulder.

 “Come on, we’ll take one of those golf carts. You don’t look like you’ve come dressed for walking across any paddocks,” he observed, looking at Roy’s shoes with a hint of amusement. “Besides, I don’t intend on carrying this sack of oats all the way to the back barn.”

Roy, feeling totally out of his element, nodded obediently.

“So you gotta name?” the older man enquired as he made his way over toward the first golf cart.

“Yeah…it’s Roy…Roy DeSoto,” the flustered medic answered.

“Pleasure to meet ya, Roy DeSoto,” he said stopping to extend the grimy, bear paw of a hand that was not being used to balance the sack of feed on his shoulder.

Roy, not wanting to be rude, extended his hand in return. The old man shook his hand with all the strength and force of someone who was used to tossing bales of hay all day long.

“They call me Dead Eye,” the older gent said as he strode the final few feet to the golf cart with Roy in tow.

The ranch hand hefted the sack of oats into the space usually reserved for golf clubs and slid in behind the wheel. “Hop in”, he said tipping his head in the direction of the passenger seat. “I’ll take you back to Johnny.”

 Roy was slightly taken aback by the man’s bombastic style, and he found himself floundering around for something to say that would qualify as casual conversation. After coming up wanting, he simply asked, “How did you get the name, Dead Eye?”

The old gent rasped out a laugh that was downright sinister and pointed to his right eye, which Roy only now noticed, was glass. “An incident with a crossbow,” he said with a peculiar smile. “It started out as a bar fight over a prostitute.”

“Uh…I see,” Roy stammered. He decided not to ask any further questions on the subject.

“Johnny’s in the back barn. We usually use it as a foaling barn, but right now we don’t have any pregnant mares, and it doubles as a good place to keep all the abuse cases until they have a chance to get used to their new home. They’re usually pretty stressed when they arrive here.”

Roy nodded in understanding but kept mute. He didn’t mind admitting the old man put him off his balance and he was at a total loss for words. He just wanted to get to Johnny and get this over with, so he could go home and relax for an hour before the kids got home from school, and hopefully try and salvage some of his last day off.

A short ride later and Dead Eye pulled up beside a metal gate that was closed and secured with a padlock. About a hundred yards beyond the fence stood a smaller barn with an even smaller paddock, surrounded by a grassy clearing.

“Shoot, I forgot the key,” he muttered. “Do ya think you can crawl over the gate?” The old gent asked as he eyed Roy skeptically.

Roy had to admit, dress slacks and a polo shirt were hardly farm attire. But he wasn’t about to let that fact stop him from talking to his partner. “I’m a fireman, I’m used to crawling over obstacles,” he replied. He’d felt an unreasonable need to let the man know he was just as manly as the next guy. Roy had somehow gotten the impression the ranch hand had him pegged for a sissy.

The older man’s eyes widened in understanding, it was as if the last piece of a puzzle had finally been put into its place in his mind.  He nodded as he finally realized how it was that someone like Roy knew John Gage.

“So you’re one of Johnny’s fireman buddies; the information seemed to have slightly elevated Roy’s status in the older man’s opinion. He gave the medic a smile that revealed two missing teeth, and pointed toward the barn where Roy could see a partially open stable door, “They’re in there,” the ranch hand stated, and before Roy could remark the old gent sprang out of the golf cart with an agility Roy found surprising in someone of his age.

He then proceeded to pull the sack of oats from the back of the golf cart, and slung it over the gate as if it were nothing.  He threw a wink at Roy and leapt over the fence with same agility and ease he had used when he had exited the golf cart.

Roy did his best to imitate the same swiftness of movement. He had no doubt that Dead Eye had seen Johnny do it on a regular basis. Roy hopped over the fence in a single leap just to prove to the other man that he wasn’t a wimp.

The other man never said a word; he simply regarded Roy with a faintly amused smile. Roy wasn’t sure if his smirk was in approval or derision, but he suspected it was the latter. But whatever the look meant, the medic figured his efforts must have passed muster, because Dead Eye nodded his approval as he hoisted the feed bag back up on his shoulder.

“I would avoid the left side of the pasture,” he advised. “The twins took in a bull the other day. They’re holding him for a friend until he can be moved to a breeding facility. He’s young, ornery, and looking for a girlfriend, so I wouldn’t turn my back on him if I was you.”

Roy stepped out onto the damp grass and scanned the field carefully. He let out a sigh of relief, when he saw no sign of the bull. Dead eye seemed to be quietly amused at his discomfort, and Roy began to wonder if the bull actually existed, or was the older man just having some fun at his expense. He figured the odds were dead even on either scenario.

As Roy approached the open barn door, he could hear the sounds of spirited chatter and laughter from inside the stables. Instantly he knew that one of the voices belonged to his partner…he would recognize Johnny’s giggle anywhere. 

Once inside the barn, Roy could see Johnny and Jonah at the far end of the stables, their backs turned to him. The two of them were quietly talking, and although he couldn’t quite make out the conversation, the quiet chuckle that came from his partner made it evident that the two men were involved in some light hearted banter. For a brief second, Roy felt a twinge of jealousy. For the first time in his friendship with Johnny, Roy felt like he was on the outside looking in on Johnny’s inner circle.

Dead Eye ushered Roy further into the barn and quietly called out. “Hey John… you have a visitor.”

Johnny slowly pivoted his body to see who his visitor was. When he saw who it was, his smile vanished and the happy mood of a moment ago instantly snuffed out, as if it had been smothered by a wet blanket. Jonah too glanced over at the newcomer coldly before leaning over to whisper something in Johnny’s ear. Apparently Jonah was none too pleased to see him either.

 Roy advanced closer to his friend, but as soon as he got close, Jonah moved forward and positioned himself in between the two paramedics in an overt gesture of support.

The significance of the action was not lost on Roy. Never in a million years would he have thought, that anyone would think Johnny needed protection, emotionally or otherwise, from him.

 Dead Eye apparently read the meaning of his boss’s body language as well, because he quietly pushed past Roy and stood beside the other two men. The battle lines had been drawn and each man has chosen their side. 

It was apparent that his partner was well liked and supported by everyone at the ranch. Not that it was a surprise to Roy. Johnny was generally well liked by everyone wherever he went…with maybe the exception of Brice and Morton.

The two sides stood there for several moments, no one saying a word.

When it became apparent that Roy wasn’t there to verbally attack Johnny, the mood gradually relaxed. Johnny gave a subtle nod to Jonah, who moved back several paces.  Dead Eye seemed to get the message, and also backed off.

Satisfied that his muscle wasn’t going to be needed, the old ranch hand approached the mustang that was housed in the stall.

“Looks like he’s actually improved slightly from yesterday, John; his eyes are less rheumy, and he seems to be taking a bit of interest in his surroundings, today.”

Roy thought the horse looked as if it was on its last legs. If this was better, he really couldn’t understand his partner sinking money into it…but he wisely refrained from voicing his opinion out loud.

“He is,” Johnny beamed. The younger man then cast a wary glance at Roy. “It’s going to take some time, but we’ll get there.”

Dead Eye leaned over and clasped a calloused hand on Johnny’s shoulder. “If I was betting man, I’d put my money on you John. If anyone can pull this fella through, it’ll be you.”

Johnny smiled with appreciation at the old gent’s vote of confidence.

“Thanks, Dead Eye…I know I can.”

As the grizzled ranch hand pulled his hand off Johnny’s shoulder, Roy noticed that the man’s pinky finger on his left hand was missing.

The old man caught sight of Roy staring at his missing digit and he leaned in close to his ear; his voice dropping low in an almost conspiratorial tone. For one brief horrifying moment Roy was afraid he was about to disclose some lurid, shocking confession.

Instead he tapped Roy on the chest with a craggy forefinger, with a menacing glint in his eye. ”Some dude in jail took a dislike to something I said to him,” he explained.

Roy drew back a few paces, almost as an involuntary move at the statement. He looked over at his partner, who neither seemed surprised nor bothered by the disclosure. Roy suddenly realized how ‘unworldly’ he truly was compared to his best friend. Johnny was clearly more connected to life on all its levels, than he was.

He turned his attention back to Dead Eye. Roy wasn’t too certain if a reply was expected, and he quickly found himself standing there stammering like an idiot, as his mind searched for an appropriate response, while the man continued to give him a hard look.

He didn’t even want to venture what the old guy had been in jail for, but it was obvious Dead Eye wasn’t too bothered about crossing the boundaries of the law. Suddenly the older man erupted into a great burst of laughter and he reached across and thumped Roy heartily on the back.

“Relax, lad. I was only having you on…I lost it in the war.”

Roy could hear Jonah and his partner giggling off to his side.

Dead Eye turned back to look at Jonah.

“You gonna need me to stick around, boss? I have to drop this bag of oats off at the mare’s stalls, but I can come back if you need me.”

Jonah shook his head and waved him off, “Naw, it’s okay Dead Eye. We can take it from here…thanks.”

“Just as well,” the older man said. “If I don’t head out of here by two thirty, I’ll be late for my check in with my probation officer.”

Johnny nodded his head in understanding. “Oh yeah; I forgot this is Tuesday. How many more check-ins do you have to do before your probation is over?” he asked offhandedly.

Dead Eye smiled. “Only three,” he crowed happily. “And then I am done with them for good…although I’ll miss, my probation officer, Karen,” he said with a note of regret.

“She’s a real looker … for a probation officer,” he joked, tossing Johnny a wink.

Johnny and Jonah exchanged glances and grinned. “Once you’re no longer her client, you should ask her out on a date,” Johnny teased back. “I mean she already has your number.”

The older man wheezed out a laugh that reminded Roy of metal being drawn across a file. It was a noise that hinted at something sinister in his past. The sound of it alone made Roy shift nervously on his feet, but Johnny and Jonah joined in the laughter.

Before taking his leave, Dead Eye offered to send someone back to get Roy when he was ready to leave, but the medic politely declined, assuring the man that he could find his own way back out without any help.

As the old man headed across the paddock, Johnny playfully nudged Jonah’s arm with his elbow and called out to the retreating ranch hand, “Be on your best behaviour with Karen, Ezekiel.” 

A flash of the middle digit from Dead Eye’s right hand was the only answer Johnny received, which sent both he and Jonah into another fit of laughter.

Johnny looked over at Roy who was glancing at the retreating ranch hand in confusion.

“His real name is Zeke…Ezekiel; but he hates it. He prefers Dead Eye,” Johnny explained.

Gradually the moment of levity passed and silence fell upon the group of men as they stood there looking at each other awkwardly. Jonah seemed to sense Roy wanted to talk to Johnny alone, so he excused himself, claiming he needed to be somewhere else.

“You don’t have to leave, Jonah,” Johnny protested mildly.

“It’s okay Johnny. I really think the two of you should talk,” he replied. “But I won’t be very far away,” he said with a warning glance in Roy’s direction. The meaning of Jonah’s words was crystal clear to both Johnny and Roy. Johnny nodded to him gratefully as he exited the barn.

As soon as the two paramedics were alone, Johnny turned his back on his partner, picked up a curry comb in his uninjured hand and began to brush out the gelding’s coat.

“You’re a bit out of your comfort zone aren’t ya?” he commented sarcastically to the older man. “What are you doing here?”

“I came looking for you,” Roy quietly replied.

Johnny did not greet the news with enthusiasm. “Well, you’ve found me,” he said stiffly.

Roy steeled his resolve and continued on. “I came because I knew you wouldn’t come to see me…and I think we need to talk.”

Johnny’s combing motions paused briefly. “Well luckily you don’t think for me, because I don’t happen to think there is anything left to say. You made your opinions abundantly clear yesterday; and I believe I did too,” Johnny shot back; his hand returning to the job of grooming the horse.

Roy sighed in frustration. Johnny clearly wasn’t ready to forgive and forget yet. “Can’t you just give me a few minutes?” he pleaded.

“I wouldn’t count on it,” the younger man snapped.

Roy sighed. “Johnny…”

Johnny whirled around and glared at his friend. “Look, Roy, You’ve made your opinions about my buying this horse perfectly clear…fine, you are entitled to your opinion, but if you’ve come here to tell me how stupid I am to buy him, or try to change my mind…you can just leave now.”

“I can’t do that Johnny. I really think we need to talk about this now before it goes any further… besides, I promised Joanne,” he confessed.

The last part of his statement got the younger man’s attention, and he quirked an eyebrow in question at Roy.

“Jo sent me out to call a cessation to the hostilities between us,” he explained.

For a brief moment, the corners of Johnny’s mouth quirked up into a slight smile. Roy instantly knew why. He knew Johnny had guessed at how his and Joanne’s conversation the night before had gone. In many ways, Joanne and Johnny were alike. Both apparently agreed that in some areas, he needed an attitude adjustment.

“But even if Joanne hadn’t suggested it, I would have come. I really do think we need to talk,” Roy said

Johnny’s mouth quirked into a smile again at the word, suggested. He could imagine exactly how Joanne had suggested her husband straighten things out between them.

Roy drew closer and rested his hand on Johnny’s arm. “I came because I realized I owed you an apology.”

Once again, Johnny paused in his task of combing the horse.

“Oh?” he asked, before lifting the curry comb up to gently slide it along the mustang’s withers.

“I was having a rough day,” Roy started to explain. “First you went out injured, and when I got back to the station I found out I was getting Brice as your replacement… which would have tried the patience of a saint. We were up all night on call after call, so I never got more than twenty minutes sleep between runs. I got puked on twice, on back to back calls to the same bar. And then when the shift was finally over and I got home, I opened the front door only to find Joanne in tears, surrounded by a puddle of melted ice cream that was dripping out of the fridge freezer, because the fridge had broken down through the night. I was tired and all I wanted was a hot breakfast and a long nap. But instead I spent the morning getting the fridge repaired and helping my frustrated wife mop up the mess.”

 Roy paused and blew out a sigh. “Then when I couldn’t find you, I got worried that maybe you’d had to return to Rampart. I phoned the hospital, but Betty said you hadn’t come in and that Morton was waiting for you. I went down and asked Mr. Hopkins if he knew where you were, and he told me that you’d gone off with a friend a couple hours earlier. That’s when I started to get angry, but I still decided to wait around, hoping you would be right back.” Roy walked over and sat down on one of the bales of hay with a heavy sigh.

“Morton called twice while I was waiting at your place, and I had to listen to him go on and on about how precious an ER doctor’s time is. I was just about to phone Morton and tell him he would have to reschedule when you showed up two hours late, laughing and joking with Jonah. I guess I used your little faux pas as an excuse to vent my frustrations over my bad day…I took it all out on you, and I just came out here to say I was sorry. I should have accepted your apology when you first gave it.”

Johnny simply nodded. “Finally, something we can both agree on,” he said crisply.

Roy fidgeted nervously. This was not going to be as easy as he’d hope it would. “So can we sit and talk for a while,” he asked.

Johnny set the curry comb he was holding on the edge of the stall and sighed.

“Yeah…okay. I need a break anyway.”

The younger man grabbed a canteen full of water, and using his uninjured hand, he slid another hay bale across the stable floor until it was resting next to Roy’s. He carefully lowered his body onto the bale with a tired sigh, stretching out his long legs toward the stall. He kicked at a clump of soiled straw with the toe of his boot, and waited for his fried to speak.

 “So are we okay?” Roy asked pensively.

Johnny looked down at his feet and shrugged. “I accept your apology, for not accepting my apology,” he answered.

Roy knew there was more that Johnny wanted to say.

“But?” the older man asked.

“But… I’m still not okay with some of the other things you said.”

Johnny looked at Roy, his face a mixture of disappointment and sadness.  “Why are you still even partners with me, if you think I am so irresponsible and stupid? Is this some recent conclusion you’ve come to…or have you always felt that way?”

Roy looked at Johnny as if he’d grown a second head. “Do you seriously believe that I would ever think that about you?” he challenged.

“Evidently,” Johnny replied tersely.

“How can you even entertain the idea that I would think that?” Roy questioned.

Johnny pinned him with a hard stare. “Oh, I don’t know…let me see… how did you put it again? Oh yes … You never think these things through, Johnny …  you’re letting your emotions rule your head…don’t be stupid, Johnny … You see something that piques your interest and you just jump in with both feet without thinking it through… That’s the trouble with you, Johnny… you go off half-cocked.  “Do any of those words sound vaguely familiar to you?” Johnny asked; his voice a mixture of hurt and anger.

Roy listened as his partner hurled his own words back in his face. It was only now that he heard them coming back at him out of his partners’ mouth that he realized just how ugly they sounded to his ears.

 “That’s not what I meant,” Roy said, defensively.

“They were your words … not mine,” the dark haired man shot back.

“Well it wasn’t what I meant,” Roy objected.

‘It’s what you said,” Johnny retorted.

“Well I didn’t mean it.”

“Sounded pretty convincing to me,” Johnny countered, not giving an inch.

“Well, then you took them the wrong way,” Roy said, now getting flustered at how the conversation was going. This wasn’t supposed to be how it unfolded.

“Oh…there was a right way to take those statements? Well I guess I’m just too stupid to realize that.”

The younger man paused shaking his head in disgust. “Man, you’re doing it again, Roy. I’m not an idiot.  I didn’t misconstrue your words. And you certainly meant those words when you said them. I know the difference between serious and teasing.”

Roy realized Johnny wasn’t going to let him off the hook that easily, nor was he going to accept his feeble defence, that Johnny had just taken his words out of context. He knew Johnny was right. He had said those words, albeit in anger, but he had said them. And he needed to own up to it, instead of trying to accuse Johnny of having misunderstood what he had said.

Roy looked at Johnny straight in the eyes. “You’re right, partner. I was wrong and I shouldn’t have said what I said to you ... I’m sorry.”

“You and me both,” Johnny said sadly.  Johnny shook his head, his brow furrowed in disbelief.

“Tell me Roy, have I ever said any words that sounded even remotely similar to those you said to me yesterday…ever?”

“No,” the older man admitted sheepishly.

“No…and you never will,” Johnny finished quietly.

Roy knew he had to convince his friend that he was truly sorry for his words. “I mean it, Johnny,” he said. “I’m really sorry. I should have just kept my opinions to myself.”

Johnny’s eyes narrowed and Roy knew he’d stepped in it again.

“Meaning you still think I’m stupid for doing it…just that you shouldn’t have said it out loud.”

The look on Roy’s face must have exposed the truth in Johnny’s accusation. He did think pouring money into a sick horse was a dumb idea. But while he may have thought Johnny was being naïve, he didn’t think he was stupid…it was just the idea he thought was stupid. But he knew there was no way he could convey that in a way that wouldn’t upset his partner further.

He finally settled on a half-truth. “I don’t think you’re stupid Johnny,” he said truthfully. ”I never have, and I never will.”

“Just my ideas,” Johnny finished, having already guessed his partners thoughts.

Roy sighed. Sometimes being able to read each other’s minds wasn’t such a blessing. He tried to explain it in a way so Johnny could see things from his point of view.

“I’m just worried that you’re getting in over your head. The vet bills for treating this horse are really going to add up. How on earth are you going to come up with that kind of money, Junior?”

Johnny hoisted himself up off the bale of hay, and returned to grooming his horse.

“It’s taken care of, so you don’t have to worry,” he informed the older medic.

Roy’s head shot up. He prayed to God that Johnny hadn’t dipped into his ranch money.

“What does, taken care of, mean?” Roy asked. He was unable to hide the suspicion in his voice.

“It means, I’ve got it covered,” Johnny explained.

“Using your using ranch fund,” Roy concluded dismally.

“No, I’m not using any of my ranch money,” Johnny answered in annoyance.

Roy eyes widened. “You didn’t take out a loan, did you,” he asked in alarm. He had visions of Johnny being buried in debt for the rest of his life.

Johnny rolled his eyes and grunted in disgust … shocked that Roy thought he really was that stupid. “Of course I didn’t, I told you before …I’m not stupid. He paused and held out the curry comb using it like a pointer as he aimed it in Roy’s direction. “But even if I had, it wouldn’t be your concern.”

Despite his best efforts, Roy couldn’t hide the skeptical look on his face.

Johnny sighed heavily. “Not that it’s any of your business; but I sold my bike to Chet’s cousin. And I got more than enough money from the sale to cover the vet costs, plus some left over.”

The look on Roy’s face was one of disbelief. “You sold your motorcycle? But I thought you loved your bike.”

Johnny shrugged nonchalantly.  “It was a luxury that I am willing to forego in favour of saving this horse,” he said as he gently rubbed the Koda’s back.

Roy couldn’t hold back his opinions any longer.  “Johnny, can’t you see that this horse is in all likelihood going to die, and then you will be without the horse and your bike. Not to mention the money you’ve already sunk into it. Why don’t you just cut your losses now and put what’s left of the money into your savings account? This horse is just an expense you don’t need. Not to mention you really don’t have the time to run out here every day you get off, even if it does live. If you try heaping too much on to your plate, eventually something is going to fall off.”

The rebuke stung a little. But the exchange didn’t anger Johnny as much as it might have the day before. He knew Roy was a painfully cautious man. And he also secretly felt his partner missed out on some of life’s greatest experiences because he had been afraid to take that leap of faith.

He would accept that his partner at least did not think he was stupid. As far as his thinking that trying to save Koda was still a stupid idea… it did not bother as much today. It was probably due to the fact that he was surrounded by people who were in his corner on this issue; that and the fact that the burden over his finances had been lifted.

He sighed resignedly and shook his head as he realized Roy still had no faith in his ability to save this horse…nor did he seem to get how important it was to him. He loved the guy, but he wished Roy could see how insulting his attitude was.

Roy mistook Johnny’s sigh of resignation as one of surrender, and for the briefest of moments he grinned in victory.  His words had clearly made his partner have second thoughts about his reckless actions. But the smile quickly faded as his partner turned to face him.

Johnny drew in a calming breath, and schooled his features before speaking, “I’m sorry if you’re angry with me, Roy, but I’ve made up my mind, and there’s nothing you can say, or do that’s gonna change it…I am saving this horse.”

“But why, Junior? Why this horse?” Roy asked. “Surely there are other horses out there that you could buy that don’t require you selling all your possessions to do it.”

“Don’t you get it, Roy? This horse is me…or the animal equivalent of me back when I was ten. I can’t just walk away…I won’t walk away. I am going to be for this horse, what no one ever was for me.”

Johnny raised his hand to his chest as was his habit when trying to explain his thought processes. “He wants to live…and I am going to give him his chance, because I happen to believe that everyone and everything deserves a chance to live, and be happy.”

The double meaning of Johnny’s words was not lost on Roy.

Johnny finally threw his hands up in the air in resignation. “Look just forget it…I knew you wouldn’t understand.”

“Johnny,” Roy started. But the younger man cut him off.

“I said forget it, Roy, the subject is closed.”

Johnny wondered how it was that after everything he had told Roy about his past, his partner still didn’t get it … or him.

“Okay,” Roy quietly acquiesced. The older medic seemed to accept that the two of them had an uneasy truce for now. Roy still thought sinking any more money into the horse was a bad idea, but he decided to let the matter drop for fear of a fresh argument breaking out. He had come out to the ranch to make things better … not make them worse.

Johnny looked up and saw Roy scrutinizing him. “You’ll see, Roy. One day I will look in your face and say, I told you so.”

“I hope so, Junior,” Roy said honestly. “For your sake, I hope you do.”

It was at that point that Jonah returned. “How is it going in here?” he asked cautiously.

“I’m just going to feed and water him and then that’ll just about do it for now,” Johnny answered. “Alex gave him his treatment for today, and I’ve done everything I can for the moment too.”

Johnny leaned over and spoke quietly in the mustang’s ear, before he began to carefully measure out the proper portion of food into his manger. Roy had to admit that the horse seemed to brighten whenever Johnny spoke to him. His ears perked up, showing interest in what Johnny was doing.

The older medic continued to watch Johnny interact with the animal, his face so intent and focused on his task, oblivious to all else around him.

The sight of Koda nuzzling Johnny’s neck, and Roy instantly realized that he’d lost his partners attention, and the argument. Johnny was going to save this horse, or go broke trying. It was the thought of him going broke that worried Roy most...that and the broken heart that would result when the horse died.

Johnny motioned over to Jonah as he kept up with his exacting movements while he prepared Koda’s meal. Even one handed, Johnny worked like a seasoned pro around the horse.

Jonah walked into the stall beside Johnny as the dark haired man explained what he was doing.

“Alfalfa is too rich for weakened horses. For now we’ll just give him grass hay…that’s best for him right now. A slat mineral block is fine as long as he has plenty of fresh water. Hunger and thirst messes up the blood chemistry, so we need to restore his electrolyte levels, but nothing with sugar in it,” he cautioned.  “It could provoke spasmodic colic. A flake of grass hay, water and some molasses a few times throughout the day would be best to start with. And then let nature and the medicine take its course. We’ll just keep him quiet and warm and let him rest. Just remember,” he warned Jonah.  “Don’t give him hay without water.” Again he looked at Roy. “Horses digest hay by a fermentation process.”

Johnny turned his focus back to Jonah. “What he needs is electrolytes with lots of water to maintain water and ionic balance in his body. His supplements contain, minerals such as sodium chloride and potassium, and they all require drinking adequate water. If you give electrolytes to a severely dehydrated horse, it risks transferring water from the circulation to the gastrointestinal tract, which compounds the dehydration… and absolutely, no oats. We’ll even need to limit his intake of hay for now…just baby him along with a flake of grass hay and spread it out … say every four hours.”

Johnny stood up and pointed Jonah to a flake of grass hay. “If you could make sure someone reliable gives this to him around seven and refills his water trough, that would be great,” Johnny said.

Jonah nodded. “Sure, don’t worry about it Johnny. I’ll ask Jeannette to take care of it herself before she calls it a day.”

Johnny nodded his thanks as he brushed off some loose hay from his jeans.

“Once we get him over the first hurdle, then we can switch to small meals of high-quality alfalfa hay. That will provide a good source of protein to begin rebuilding the body.”

Johnny turned to Roy and explained. “Alfalfa is high in calcium, magnesium and phosphorus. It helps provide electrolytes that reduce the risk for catastrophic system failure. After ten days or so, it is to be hoped he can be fed as much alfalfa as he can eat in two feedings, as well as a salt or electrolyte mix. Feeding grain or other supplements will have to be avoided until he is well on his way to recovery.

“How long do you think it will take?” Jonah asked.

Johnny seemed to consider the matter for several moments. “Full return to normal body weight is probably going to take four to five months. I’ll just have to be patient and go slowly.” Johnny grabbed up the curry comb and carried it back to the tack room leaving Roy alone with Jonah.

“He really knows his stuff,” Roy commented to Jonah. And although it had been more of a rhetorical statement, he heard Jonah chuckle softly beside him.

“He sure does,” Jonah replied. “He’s probably known it from his cradle,” he tacked on wryly.

Roy hadn’t noticed that Johnny had returned from the tack room and was standing behind him and Jonah, so he jumped when he heard his best friends’ voice next to his ear.

 “Contrary to popular belief, I don’t jump into things that are important to me, without considering the consequences. You should know that by now, Roy.” There was an awkward pause before Johnny added on quietly, “Up until recently, I thought you did.”

Johnny stepped back inside Koda’s stall and whispered something to the animal in his native tongue. Roy rarely heard Johnny use his native language so he had no idea what he had said to the horse, but whatever it was, the horse responded with a soft whinny, his nose rising slightly to nuzzle Johnny’s hand. Johnny had loved horses as a child, and it was clear that it was a love that hadn’t waned with the passage of time.

Roy asked Johnny what it was he had said to the horse, but his question went unanswered, and Roy instinctively knew he would never know. The younger man exited the stall and closed the door, pushing the bolt across. He looked over at the mustang one final time and looked over at Jonah. “He needs rest and quiet now. I’ll come back again tomorrow morning. ”

“You want me to come and get you?” Jonah asked.

Johnny smiled gratefully. “That would be great, I’d appreciate that. Diving a stick shift is going to be awkward for a while.”

“Sounds good,” Jonah agreed. “I’ll be at your place around eleven, if that’s okay.”

“Eleven would be fine,” Johnny answered.

Johnny looked at his wrist watch and grimaced. “It’s almost four, we’d better get going or Joanie’s gonna kill both of us…and I’ve had enough people angry with me lately as it is,” he said casting a sideways look at Roy.

Jonah grinned. “Just let me gather up these hay forks and put them away before we leave,” he said grabbing up the forks and heading to the tack room.

“I’m not mad at you anymore, Johnny,” Roy said quietly after Jonah had left. “If you need a lift home, I can take you,” he offered.

Johnny cocked a wary eye at his partner; it was with a sinking feeling in his stomach, that the older partner watched as Johnny turned his back, his head shaking negatively.

“Naw… its fine, I’m catching a ride home with Jonah. He has to get back home anyway, and his wife, Joanie promised me some supper. Besides, I want to make sure Jeannette is clear on what to do for Koda, before I leave.”

The realization that Johnny would rather ride with Jonah unsettled Roy. There was a brief flash in the back of his mind that he was he losing his position as best friend in Johnny’s life to Jonah. But how could he sanction Johnny doing something that he felt in his heart was a mistake?  He dropped his gaze. “I guess I’ll be on my way then,” he said dismally.

Johnny shrugged, “Okay,” he acknowledged, and he walked away to join Jonah in the tack room. 

Roy sighed heavily. The conversation was over, and he realized that he’d just been dismissed. He made his way back to his car and drove back towards the city. His mind was so preoccupied, that he was half way home before he noticed the cooler still sitting on the passenger seat.

Dang it. I forgot to leave the food with Johnny. Well I’ll just drop the food off at Johnny’s apartment on my way home.

                                    

                                                          Chapter Fourteen

Roy used his left hand to balance the cooler on his hip, while fumbling with the key to Johnny’s door with his right. It took him several tries, but he finally got the key inserted into the lock, so he could let himself into the apartment.

Once inside the fair haired medic made his way into the living room, stopping when he got to the couch. He slid the cooler off his hip and onto the coffee table, as he dropped bonelessly onto the sofa cushions. It had been a long day and he relished the silence and solitude.

A glance at the clock on the wall revealed that it was almost five thirty. Joanne and the kids would be home now. She would be expecting him home for dinner soon. He was fairly certain his wife was going to ask him how things had gone with Johnny. He knew full well that she wouldn’t be too happy, once she found out that he and Johnny had reached a strained truce at best.  

During the entire drive from the ranch to Johnny’s apartment, Roy had been going over everything that had happened in the past two days in his mind. How had such a simple thing as a forgotten doctor’s appointment escalated into this?

He realized he should have accepted Johnny’s apology when he had given it, and he had both acknowledged that fact, and apologized for it to Johnny. He also knew he shouldn’t have used the word, stupid during their heated exchange. Johnny could be hypersensitive, and took everything personally.  Another choice of words and a bit more tact would have been wiser; but Johnny committing to a half dead horse just went against the grain of Roy’s sensibilities.

It had always frustrated him when Johnny went off on one of his wild tangents … which was something he did with some regularity. But this time his wild idea had gone further than just the talking stage. This time Johnny had invested all of his hopes, not to mention a lot of money, into the notion that he could save the beast. This time his impetuous young partner had actually jumped headlong into a deal without thinking it through.

Roy leaned his head against the back of the sofa, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. He stayed in that position for five minutes, head back and eyes closed as he kept wracking his brain…why that horse? Why would his mule headed partner pick the one horse that was probably beyond all help to champion?

 If it was simply because of a desire to own his own horse, there were others available that he could have chosen; ones that were not sick; ones that wouldn’t mire him down in vet bills for months to come. The fair haired medic just couldn’t wrap his head around the idea that Johnny had already given up his vacation and his motorcycle for the animal. There had to be more to it…there had to be something he was missing. This was far more than just a desire to own a horse…this was bordering on obsession.

But then that pretty much summed up his partner. Once he cabbaged onto an idea, he would become full of passion…obsessing about it until he drove everyone around him crazy. He was your classic, leap and the net will be there, type… which he invariably did … sometimes to his own detriment.

Roy’s eyes fell upon the small plaster handprint that Jenny had made for Johnny for his last birthday. Johnny had it proudly displayed on the top shelf of his bookcase. Seeing how much his partner valued his children and their feelings made Roy smile. Johnny may be headstrong and cocky, but he was also the type who would bend down to hear little old ladies, and leave saucers of milk out for stray cats. The kind to take the plaster handprint of a five year old and display alongside his most prized possessions.

Roy sobered and picked up the plaster handprint his daughter had made for her favourite uncle. Johnny Gage, for all his faults, had a big heart that he usually wore on his sleeve. Perhaps that was what had appealed to his partner about that horse … the fact the animal was alone and sick.

Johnny had a soft spot for all animals, but horses and dogs in particular…especially wounded ones. Roy supposed his partner’s empathy stemmed from his childhood; which even if it had been told as some kind of dystopian tale would be shocking for the listener. It was the kind of stuff you didn’t read about in books.

Roy finally gave up trying to understand his partner’s actions. At the end of the day, Johnny was a grown man and a free agent. And as much as his big brother instincts wanted to step in and stop the younger man from making a grave financial blunder … Johnny did have the right to live his life the way he pleased.

Roy decided he was just going to have to bite his tongue on this one. But even though he would stop trying to talk Johnny out of the horse, he wasn’t about to agree with his partner’s decision, because he still thought it was an abysmal idea, and he just couldn’t support an idea he thought was the wrong choice. But in the end, there was nothing he could do about it… it was Johnny’s funeral, not his.

Pushing his body up off the sofa, the fair haired paramedic decided he would put the food from the cooler in Johnny’s fridge and go home to his family. He would give it a few more days, and then call Johnny again to try and get their friendship back on track.  

It was as Roy picked up the cooler that his gaze fell upon the picture Johnny had left sitting on the coffee table when he had taken a quick nap earlier in the day. The moment his eyes lit upon the picture of young Johnny with Ajax, Roy froze.

The horse in this picture and the abused animal at the rescue centre could have been the same horse.

Roy finally connected the dots as he drew the comparison between the horse in the photo, and mustang at the ranch. Clearly the resemblance had not been lost on Johnny either; which would explain why his partner had had such a strong emotional response when he had first seen the animal. Small wonder his partner wanted that particular horse. It would be akin to giving him back a happy memory; a chance to recapture a part of his childhood that had been taken from him; to re-live those feelings of love and security he’d felt that day  when he had stood between his parents for the picture.

Roy finally understood three very important things. Number one, he now understood why Johnny had to have that horse. Number two, Johnny would not come to Roy again. Not for advice nor help…not when it came to the horse. And number three; there would be no way Roy would win if he continued to not support him.  And he finally understood why. It would be like Johnny telling him he could not love Joanne or his children.

Roy sat on the edge of the sofa with the picture in his hand. For over an hour he just sat there staring at the image of Johnny with his parents… and that horse. He knew the story behind the photo, he remembered Johnny telling him about it, and he also knew its significance … of it being the last picture they’d had taken as a family.

He looked down at the face of Johnny as a child. The happy family standing there with no idea what was right around the corner in their future. Johnny so full of happiness in between his folks…that same crooked grin, smiled up at him from the photo. Roy tried to smile back, but his mouth stuck in place, as he suddenly had an overwhelming urge to cry. He wished he could have been there for Johnny back then…but they had met ten years too late.

Roy swallowed hard as he recalled the image of Johnny speaking Lakota into the horse’s ears. There had been something behind his partner’s dark eyes as he had talked to the wounded creature… an emotion he didn’t at first recognize. It had been more than just empathy. What he had seen in his best friend’s eyes, was an understanding.  Johnny knew… he knew what the horse was feeling. 

Roy was now able to see past the outward appearance of Koda, and he saw the handsome, healthy companion Koda would be for Johnny if given the proper love and care… in the same way Roy had been able to see beyond the defensive exterior Johnny had first shown to him back at their first meeting, when he had signed up for the Paramedic program. It had taken some time, but Roy had chipped away at the wall Johnny had built around himself, until he exposed the man Johnny truly was inside.

In the beginning of their partnership, Roy had held on to the aloof warmth of an older brother who likes his younger sibling but doesn’t want his friends to know about it. But by the time the Paramedic class was over, he had dropped all pretenses. It became quickly clear to everyone, that the two men had grown to be best friends. And though Johnny had been a bit slower to let Roy into his world, he too, eventually realized that he liked having Roy around, not only as a partner but as a friend… and as time went on, an older brother. And for as much as Roy had changed Johnny in positive ways, Johnny had done the same for him.

Up until he had come to Station 51 and taken on John Gage for a partner, Roy had been fairly indifferent when it came to his neighbours, work colleagues, and partners … and only slightly less indifferent to their comings and goings from his world. People came and went; neighbours moved; people got promoted or transferred. And when that happened, another simply slipped into their place, filling the spot the previous occupant had occupied.

But Johnny had been different from day one. He’d never thought of John Gage as a mere working peer, partner or even a casual friend, but rather a pleasant staple in the background noises of his life.

He was a best friend you never needed to call, always ready with a helping hand when you really needed one; the invisible shoulder big enough to rest an entire souls’ worth of conversations on. Roy had become so comfortable around him, that their friendship was like one long companionable conversation. And up until yesterday he thought they could talk about anything and understand each other.

Instead of examining Johnny’s part in the fight, Roy began to examine to what extent his own misguided anger had played in the events of the past two days. He went over the sequence of events in his mind, only instead of starting at the point where he entered Johnny’s apartment two days earlier, only to find him missing, he began at the point where it had all went off the rails. 

From the time Shane died and Johnny had been injured. It had been as if a stone had been tossed into a lake, disturbing the tranquility. It had had a ripple effect until it had grown into a tumultuous wave that had crashed into the shore.

He supposed the real anger had begun upon his returning to the station to discover Brice waiting for him. He remembered having muttering under his breath that Johnny owed him for this. He began to wonder if he had harboured a subconscious anger at his partner for being injured. Did he secretly blame Johnny for begin saddled with Brice for the rest of his shift? Surely not; Brice being a pain in the keister wasn’t Johnny’s fault…it was Brice’s. But the more he thought about it, the more he wondered. Had his foul mood been a case of transference of his anger to the wrong person? And if so, did he use Johnny’s forgetting about his appointment as an excuse to make him the scapegoat for his frustrations of the previous day? A niggling unpleasant feeling told him, that it may have been the case…even if only slightly. 

After careful consideration he found that his own behaviour had come up wanting. He had taken Johnny’s honest forgetting of an appointment and turned it into a crime. He had taken it too far and Johnny had had every right to draw the line. And he, in his anger had willingly crossed that line. He now saw what he had earlier considered to be righteous anger as high-handedness.

Johnny’s own day was something else he hadn’t considered before. Johnny had been injured and was probably not feeling his best. Then the very next morning he’d been confronted with the sight of a horse that was this spitting image of his fathers, and he had formed an instant attachment to it.

That alone would have stirred up a lot of past emotions in Johnny. Add to the mix all the stress of the huge financial and emotional gamble he was taking by committing to the horse’s care, and Johnny’s own emotions had probably been pretty raw. So when Roy verbally brow beat him all the way to Rampart the day before, Johnny’s temper had flared.

Morton heaping more on top of him when he got to the hospital had only made it worse. Joanne was right… it had been like tossing gasoline onto an already raging fire.

Suddenly nothing of what they had argued over mattered anymore. Gone was the rancour of the previous day. There was no indignation or self-righteous anger; only a hollow emptiness clawing its fingers into his gut. He had to make things right with his best friend… he just needed to figure out how.

Suddenly it seemed as if their relationship had become polarized. Whereas before there commonalities had been the core of their friendship, now some fundamental differences of ideals were glaringly obvious. Never before had he had a sense that Johnny didn’t think he could trust him with his feelings.

The two of them needed to have a long heart to heart talk. As it stood right now, it was Jonah who had Johnny’s back. Roy had failed miserably in that respect this time. Johnny was going to stay with the one whom he felt had his back…and that hadn’t been him.

Roy also took note that not once during their entire conversation that afternoon had Johnny called him, Pally. And even though it wasn’t uncommon for him to refer to him as Roy, the private nickname was usually peppered into their private conversations. But it had been conspicuous by its absence both yesterday and today.

The fair haired man had a nasty feeling that this estrangement between them was building up to something beyond repair, and he had to stop it before it advanced to a point of no return; because without the link, they were just co-workers, like Brice and Bellingham. Nothing more than two people who worked together under a station roof, but then went their separate ways at the end of their shift.

In that moment all of Roy’s reservations began to fall away. He would help Johnny in any way he could, come hell or high water. He was his best friend and brother… and that’s was brothers did. Like a marriage vow, they were best friends and brothers, for better or for worse.

Roy made up his mind to wait for Johnny to come home. He would make things right with him before the sun set that evening. He remembered Johnny saying he was having supper with Jonah and his family. He just hoped he was tired enough that he wouldn’t stay out too late. The thought occurred to him, that if he had not given Johnny such a hard time yesterday, it would be he and Joanne who had him over for dinner and not Jonah. But he had every intention of fixing that.

He called Joanne with every intention of telling her he would be waiting for Johnny, but when his wife answered the phone, he could immediately tell something was wrong.

“Oh honey, I am so glad you called,” she said with obvious relief. “Chris was sent home from school at noon. I got the call just as I was heading out the door for Charlotte’s. He started vomiting just before lunch. I ‘m sure it’s just this gastric bug that’s been going around, but could you please pick up some ginger ale and some saltines on your way home?”

Roy sighed. “Sure honey, how is he now?”

Sleeping,” his wife answered.  “Did you get a chance to speak to Johnny?” she asked.

“I did…but,”

“Oh good,” Joanne interjected, cutting off the rest of his sentence. 

“Can you come home right away? Maybe I can still help out Charlotte this evening, even if it’s only for a couple hours.”

Roy heaved a mental sigh. “Sure honey…I’m on my way. I’ll just have to stop off at the store for the ginger ale and saltines, and then I’ll be right home.”

So much for waiting for Johnny… he would have to do it after his next shift.

                                     ~                     ~                        ~

It was taking every ounce of will power Roy had, not to break the speed limit as he drove toward the rescue centre. It had been a frustrating week for him and he just wanted things to get back to normal again; but it seemed as if fate was conspiring against him.

After he had left Johnny’s apartment on Tuesday afternoon, he had gone home to help Joanne deal with his sick son. It had been later on that night, after he and Joanne has spent some quality time relieving some of the days stresses in their favourite way…a shared shower and some heavy love making, that he had filled in his wife about everything he had learned that day about Johnny, and the real reason he wanted that particular horse.

He had also come clean to Joanne about the fact that, while he had apologized for his having been so unforgiving about the forgotten doctor’s appointment, he had still refused to be supportive of his partner’s decision to try and save the mustang; but that he had changed his opinions on the matter now that he fully understood why Johnny’s desire over this horse was so strong.

Joanne had gently pointed out to her husband that, even if the horse hadn’t had the sentimental value to Johnny, Roy should have still supported him as a best friend. She also pointed out that time didn’t always guarantee you a tomorrow to say sorry … that life happens and so do accidents, and how would he feel if something happened to either one of them and they never got the chance to patch up their differences… could Roy live with that?

Armed with everything he had discovered that afternoon, Roy was determined to go apologize to Johnny over the harsh things he had said to him regarding his decision to take over ownership of the horse. He had also decided that he was ready to help him in any way he could.  As he and his wife drifted off to sleep that night, Roy had made up his mind to go out to the ranch and straighten things out with his partner just as soon as he got off shift on Thursday morning.

But that isn’t how life had worked out for him. Three hours before the alarm clock sounded to wake Roy up for work, his own bodily clock woke him to a churning stomach and intestinal cramps. He had spent the rest of the night and most of the next day leaning over his toilet, or sitting on it.

Thursday morning Roy was not only still feeling punky, but his daughter Jenny was now plagued by the gastro-intestinal bug.

Friday morning Roy had to pull a shift over at Station 67 for Greg Rawlings, who had covered his shift while he had been off sick. The day after that he had to go and work his own regular shift … and he still hadn’t had a chance to speak to his partner.

He had been all set to head out to the stables on the Sunday, but had arrived home to discover that last, but not least, his loving wife had finally been stricken down with the flu. That meant he had had to stick around for both of his days off in order to look after his wife and children. He had begun to think that the universe was conspiring against him.

The idea that fate was deliberately trying to prevent he and Johnny from getting together was further solidified in Roy’s mind by the realization that Tuesday and Wednesday, Station 51’s, A shift was scheduled to be on for a forty eight hour shift. 

And so it had been that between the flu and work schedules, it wasn’t until the following Thursday that Roy finally got the chance to drive out to the rescue centre. Roy had phoned Joanne from the station and confirmed that everything at home was fine, and that no one was sick. Once he had been assured everything was copasetic at home, Roy had just headed straight out to the stables from the station. He figured he would stop at the drive thru that was located near the ranch and pick up some coffee and some muffins. He hoped he and Johnny could have a talk while they shared some breakfast.

And that is how he currently ended up, trying to control his urge to put the petal to the metal as he made his way to the rescue centre. The fair haired man had spent a good part of the last ten days thinking about his partner, their friendship and how he owned ninety percent of the blame over their current estrangement… especially now that he realized why it was this particular horse Johnny had chosen to save.

He just prayed to God the horse had made it, because if the horse  had died, not only would Johnny be gutted that he had lost the horse … but he would always resent that Roy hadn’t been in his corner during the fight for its life.

He had tried to convince himself that Johnny would have called him if the horse had died, but there was a tiny voice in the back of his head that whispered, would he call you, DeSoto? Or would he avoid you for fear of you throwing one of your famous, I told you so’s, back in his face.

 In his heart Roy already knew the answer, and he felt horrible that he had created a situation so intolerable for his partner that if Johnny had needed him, he wouldn’t have felt like he could call him, because he no longer felt that he could count on him to be in his corner.

What if his horse really has died, DeSoto?  The voice in his head hissed. What if Johnny had turned to Jonah and Jeannette for support? After all they had they been the ones who had been there for him. What if the siblings supplanted his role in Johnny’s life? The very thought of it made him shiver.

Until now Roy had never realized how big of a place Johnny held in his life. Since the first day they had met, he had never gone for such a long period of time without hearing the sound of his partner’s voice, and he realized just how much missed his friend. It was just one more reason why he was anxious to put things right between them.

Roy glanced in his rear view mirror and stepped on the gas pedal, pushing his speed to the limit. He needed to get to Johnny right away. He had to make things right…he would beg if he had to. 

 

 

                                                                     Chapter Fifteen

Johnny and Koda were together every spare moment the young Paramedic could squeeze in during the first two weeks of the Koda’s convalescence. Johnny spent his mornings with Koda and then puttered away the afternoons helping around the ranch, usually arriving home late with just enough time for a quick meal, and a shower before falling into bed exhausted. But it had all been worth it, because Koda had defied the odds. It appeared that Johnny had been correct. Koda did have a fighting spirit … he did want to live. The mustang responded to the young medic’s gentle care and the two bonded quickly.

Johnny had discovered the food Roy had brought over the night he had come home for having dinner with Jonah and his family.  Across the bottom of Joanne’s note about the food she had sent over, Roy had scrawled the words, we need to talk, Junior. Please call me.

But with Koda slowly beginning to make progress, he wasn’t about to let Roy spoil his good mood with another one of his, ‘you’re making a big mistake’, lectures. Usually when Johnny was injured or working on a new project, Roy’s counsel was not only a given… but a relief. But this time, there was no feeling of relief washing over him as it should have at the thought of phoning Roy to talk; now he immediately tensed up, and braced for a fight. What had happened to them in just a few days? Whatever it was, he didn’t like it…it was unsettling. It was as if everything that had been so familiar to him, was now gone; like he was standing on the edge of an ever growing sink hole watching everything he had known fall into the cavernous crater left behind.

It was a feeling he hadn’t had since he was ten, but he had no idea how to fix it, because this time, in his mind at least, he was in the right. This time the ball wasn’t in his court. He just hoped Roy would come around, because Johnny had no intentions of deviating from his plans to save the mustang.

He had every right to have Koda…he had every right to happiness.  Those facts were the main reason why he was avoiding calling his partner. He had no intentions of changing his position on the matter,  but neither was he going to continue arguing with Roy about it, because he knew neither one of them would win.

So he continued to focus on Koda. He hardly noticed the passage of days as he worked tirelessly with Koda to bring the horse back to full health and vigor. He hadn’t realized how much he missed being on a ranch until he began to spend more and more of his time at the rescue centre.  

                             ~                            ~                              ~

As Roy pulled his car into the driveway of the ranch, he was once again met by Jeannette, who gauging by her body language, was still feeling a little frosty towards him. He slid out of the driver’s seat of his Porsche, and headed toward her. This time however he made sure she knew that he had come prepared to eat crow, and that he was not only here to apologize to his best friend, but was also more than willing to stay for the entire day and help out in any way he could.

He was also relieved to discover that not only was the horse still among the land of the living, but that it had shown a marked improvement over the past ten days. Jeannette informed Roy that Johnny was back at the same barn as before with the vet, and that the two of them were going over the mustang’s progress and what course of action still needed to take place.

 In an effort to avoid, Dead Eye’s company again, Roy assured the young woman that he could find his own way back to the barn. He had only walked a dozen or so steps toward his car, when he paused and turned back to Jeannette. “About the bull that was in the pasture,” Roy asked nervously. He had no desire to tangle with seventeen hundred pounds of angry bull if he could avoid it.

Jeanette threw back her head and laughed. “If you want a word of advice, Mr. DeSoto… you should take everything Dead Eye tells you with a grain of salt. That fierce bull he told you about was actually a small calf, and he was picked up the next day by his new owner.”

Roy flushed in embarrassment as he realized that Dead Eye had played him for a fool, but the pretty young woman quickly eased his chagrin. “It’s not just you… he pulls those stunts on everyone.”

Roy grinned sheepishly and thanked Jeannette as he went back to the Porsche and retrieved the paper sack that held the coffee and muffins he had picked up at the drive thru.

As he approached the barn, Roy could hear the muffled sounds of a conversation coming from the far end of the stables. He walked along the corridor between the stalls, until he was close enough to overhear what was being said. There was no doubt that one of the voices belonged to his partner, the other he assumed belonged to the Veterinarian.

“That horse was as good as dead, Johnny,” the older medic heard the vet say. “It had all four feet in that big corral in the sky; there was virtually no hope at all…but look at him. I can’t argue with results. It won’t be long before that horse will be as healthy as… well … as healthy as a horse.”

Roy could only just see the back of the vet from his vantage point. And although he could hear his partner’s voice clearly, the younger man was further inside the box and completely out of sight to Roy. But even though he could not see Johnny’s face, Roy could hear the happiness in his voice.

“Thanks a lot, Doc. I don’t mind admitting I was a little doubtful those first couple of days. I really appreciate your having enough faith in me that you didn’t give up on him.”

Johnny words hit Roy as if they had been a physical blow to his body. If only I’d had just a little faith in him, this whole mess would never have happened, he thought regretfully.

Roy crept closer and craned his neck sideways in order to catch a glimpse of the horse. He had to admit that the creature before him was definitely a different horse from the one he had seen just over a week earlier. And although the horse was still far too thin, there had been definite improvement. His coat was already showing signs of returning to its natural state. Its eyes were clear and his ears stood straight up and curious.

Roy heard the vet saying his goodbyes to Johnny, so he quickly ducked back into an empty stall where he would be out of sight. He didn’t want Johnny to know he was there until he was sure the two of them would be alone.

After the vet had exited the barn, Roy found himself remaining in place, undetected, just watching Johnny interact with the horse for several moments.

One of the many facets of John Gage, was how situationally aware he was … always in the now. Johnny was hyper-alert to every smell, sound and movement that was around him at all times. It didn’t matter if he was on a rescue, in a burning building or out in nature … and it was the same with his horse. It almost seemed to Roy as if the dark haired man was reading the mustang’s body language.

For over ten minutes, Roy just stood, observing his partner interact with the horse. The younger man was very quiet and purposeful with the horse, paying attention to its every movement. Roy loved seeing Johnny get so into the Koda that he just lost himself, and everything around him…including all sense of time.

The older man finally understood why his partner had missed Morton’s appointment… it had simply slipped off his radar, pushed away by more urgent matters. If Morton could see Johnny now, he’d understand how it had happened.

Johnny finished giving the horse a final once-over, and stood back to admire the animal. Although far from completely healthy, Johnny was obviously happy with how far he had come, because he gave the horse a gentle pat and blew out a long contented sigh of satisfaction.

The younger man lifted his hand to brush away an errant piece of hair that had fallen into his eyes. As he brushed aside the stray lock, his fingers discovered a small piece of straw in his hair. He picked at the offending object and tossed it aside.

Leaning forward, Johnny grabbed Koda’s halter and quietly led him to the adjoining and currently empty stall.  Securing him inside the box, he gave the horse a gentle pat and whispered quietly in its ear before heading back into the corridor and selecting a large dung fork to take back to Koda’s recently vacated stall.

Roy chose that exact moment to back into a bale, putting him off his balance. In an effort to prevent himself from falling he threw his free hand out to the side where it connected with the handle of a pitchfork that was leaning against a beam, sending it sliding down to the floor with a loud crash.

Alerted by the sound of the fork toppling over, Johnny thrust his head out of the stall and looked around, but seeing nothing but the toppled hay fork, he quickly disappeared back into the stall. The dark haired man picked up the dung fork and began to clean out the soiled bedding, maneuvering the fork awkwardly with his one good hand. Being down one limb meant he was making very slow progress. He had just reached in and tried to fork up a large clot of soiled straw when the dung fork started to slip from his grasp. Instinctively he made a grab for it with his casted hand, which caused a sharp pain to flare up his broken wrist and hand causing him to hiss in pain and drop the fork on the floor.

Roy, having witnessed the entire event, set the bag with their breakfast in it on the hay bale, and walked to his partner’s side. The older man bent down and picked up the dung fork that Johnny had dropped. “Here partner, why don’t you let me do that…you look like you could use a hand.” He smiled feebly at his unintended pun.

Johnny initially reacted with shock at the sudden appearance of his partner from out of nowhere, but it quickly turned into a scowl. Snatching the fork back from Roy, he pulled free of the hand resting on his arm. “I can do it myself,” he said tersely, despite the fact that his face was pinched with fatigue and pain.

Roy, worried that Johnny could exacerbate his healing bones, so he took the fork forcibly from the younger man’s hand for a second time. “Well at least take a break. I brought us out some breakfast,” he offered pulling out a styrofoam cup of coffee. 

 “I really wanted to talk to you, Junior,” Roy said quietly. “I think we need to talk.” Johnny looked at him impassively. “I think I need to apologize to you for being a jerk,” the older man clarified.

The impassive look fell away from Johnny’s face, and Roy saw a look of wariness take its place. Never before had he seen Johnny look at him with such mistrust, and he didn’t like it now that he had.

“Okay,” Johnny finally acquiesced, as he accepted the cup of coffee Roy had proffered, and lowered himself onto the bale of hay with a weary sigh. Roy taking this as a sign that his partner was receptive to having a conversation, followed suit and sat down beside him. He looked over at his partner and fell silent. Eventually Johnny became aware that Roy was watching him, and he lifted his eyes to meet the older man’s. The questioning look on his face let Roy know that Johnny was waiting for him to speak first.

“How are you doing, Junior?” he asked. 

Johnny searched Roy’s face, as if to judge the sincerity of his question. Slowly he gave a subtle nod of his head.

“Okay,” he quietly answered.

Roy put his hand on Johnny’s slumping shoulders. “No, Junior, I mean, how are you really doing?” he asked again, his voice was serious but sympathetic.

“I’m tired,” Johnny admitted; his dark eyes full of sadness.

“Me too,” Roy replied with a sigh. “I guess it’s been a rough couple of weeks for both of us, huh?”

“Guess, so,” the younger man agreed.

“Sorry, I came down on you so hard, Junior. I was wrong.”  Roy apologized.

Johnny’s look was still cautious, but he seemed to be willing to let the conversation unfold.

“Sorry, I wasted your time. I really did just lose track of time that day. I would never purposely blow off a doctor’s appointment and worry you.” Johnny replied.

Again a prolonged silence fell upon the two men. It was Johnny who spoke next.

“I just wanted you to realize how much this meant to me.” He gave the older man a sad but genuine smile. “I guess I just always assumed that you would be happy about the horse, if it made me happy … I always thought we were connected in some inseparable way… that we could feel what the other one was feeling.”

Roy looked at his partner in dismay. “You mean you don’t think that anymore?” he questioned.

Again there was another prolonged silence as Johnny seemed to consider Roy’s question. Finally he sighed with a shrug of his shoulders. “I dunno,” he said, the admission so quiet it almost came out as a whisper.

Roy found his reticence unnerving. Normally his partner’s tongue seemed like it was tied in the middle and wagged at both ends…but not now. Johnny’s current silence was a hundred times louder than any rant Roy had ever heard come out of his partner’s mouth. And although they had called a truce, their conversation was still strained. There was still an underlying tension there.

Roy realized that he had never really apologized….not really. He knew it was what Johnny was waiting for. He had been quick enough to hurl out insults and accusations when he had been angry with him, and he knew he had to be just as passionate and sincere with his repentance if he ever wanted to get his relationship with Johnny back to where it had been before this whole mess had started.

He handed Johnny over one of the muffins and then stood up to face him. “Forgive me for saying your dream of owning Koda was stupid?” Roy gave his partner a sardonic smile and then he amended his request. “Forgive me for being stupid?”  It had been the first time he had referred to the gelding by his name. He could tell Johnny had taken note of that fact too. 

Roy watched his partner weighing out his words, as if he were weighing out his options. Again the younger man’s words when they came out were almost inaudible.

“You didn’t have to be interested in Koda, or even want to help out.  Heck I didn’t expect you to like it; but I was kind of hoping you would have at least wished me well…or been happy for me, for no other reason than because I was happy… using words like stupid and irresponsible really hurt, Roy.”

Roy looked down at his feet, his face colouring in shame. “I’m sorry I hurt you, Junior… I really am. I wish I could take every single word back. I realize now how wrong I was… about everything. I was the stupid one. I guess I’m just really hoping that incredibly forgiving nature of yours will kick in so we can put this whole thing behind us.”

Johnny studied the fair haired man’s features, his eyes furrowed in confusion.

“So what happened…what suddenly made you change your mind?” he quizzed.

Roy smiled at the younger man fondly as he picked off pieces of his muffin and ate it. “I saw the picture on your coffee table when I dropped off the food Jo sent over to you. As soon as I looked at it, I understood why. I also realized I was being unfair, and that my asking you to forget about the horse would be like you asking me to not love my family. Sometimes I forget that life isn’t always something you can do like an equation.”

“No,” Johnny agreed. “Life isn’t as linear as an equation. It might be… if you only used your brain. But along with a brain, the human body also has a heart. Sometimes you need to use your brain... but sometimes you have to follow your heart. Your brain may tell you how to functionally live but your heart tells you what it is you’re living for. The key is knowing which one to listen to, and when to listen to it. Up on a scaffold… managing a rescue, I want my brain in control, but when dealing with Koda, I used my heart.”

Johnny looked his partner in the eyes, “I could tell the last time you were here, what you were thinking. You were sorry for not accepting my apology, but you still thought the stuff you said to me about me trying to save Koda was accurate… and I knew it.” Johnny paused and gave Roy a small smile. “But this time, I believe you. This time I believe you mean it.”

“That’s because I do, partner… I honestly do,” Roy affirmed sincerely.

Johnny looked at the older man long and hard until finally Roy grew uncomfortable.

Roy lowered his eyes. “I should have supported you all along, and not made it worse for you. I was a jerk.”

Johnny’s face softened. “I accept your apology, Roy.”

Roy shoved the second muffin into Johnny’s hand. “Here, eat this. You look like you’ve lost a few pounds.”

The older man reached over and picked up the discarded dung fork. “I’ll finish this up for you,” he said.

“You don’t have to do that, Roy… I can finish it myself,” Johnny said with a tired grin.

Roy squared his shoulders and refused to hand the fork back. “At least let me do the heavy stuff, Junior,” he insisted.

Johnny rolled his eyes and stood up, shoving the last of the second muffin into his mouth. “This isn’t your fight, Roy. Besides you hate horses, remember?”

“I’ll learn to like them,” Roy answered stoutly. “Besides it’s my concern as your best friend and brother to have your back … to support you. I should have done it all along, so I am going to help you, whether you like it or not.”

Johnny shot Roy a wry grin.  “And what if I don’t want you doing it?” he asked.

 Roy turned to look at him with a twinkle in his eyes. “So fire me.”

Johnny smiled and took the fork from Roy’s hands. “It’s okay, Roy. I can handle it on my own.”

Roy slid his hand into the front pocket of his jeans and withdrew a nickel. “Heads you take a break and let me do the heavy stuff, tails I’ll sit down, shut up, and let you have your way…deal?”

Johnny looked over at Roy with a trace of amusement in his eyes. “It would almost be worth losing just to see you muck out a stall… but seriously, Roy, you don’t have to try and buy my forgiveness by doing my work for me. My forgiveness is free as long as the apology is sincere. I know this kind of work is not high on your list of enjoyable ways to spend your day off.”

Roy held the coin in his fingers, poised to flip the coin. “I know, and it has nothing to do with forgiveness. But A: you shouldn’t be using that bad hand and wrist until you are cleared to do so; and B: this is something I should have been doing all along. As for the, my not enjoying the task … how much did you enjoy helping me clean gutters, or fixing my toilet? This is about friendship and supporting each other…not the actual task.”

Johnny seemed to consider Roy’s words and accept them, because he reached over and took the nickel from Roy’s hand and flipped the coin in Roy’s direction. Roy stretched out his hand in an attempt to grab the airborne object, but instead of grabbing it, the coin, hit the side of his hand and bounced into the pile of straw and dung Johnny had already managed to remove from Koda’s stall.

Johnny giggled as he watched to see what his partner would do.

Roy took one look at the manure and threw up his hands. “I’m just going to declare that it was heads and finish cleaning out the stall, because I have no intentions of feeling my way around mounds of horse manure to find the nickel now.”

Johnny rolled his eyes and handed over the dung fork to his best friend with a grin, while he sat down on the hay bale and finished his coffee. Not a word was spoken the entire time Roy mucked out the stall while the dark haired partner watched. Johnny had to admit, that Roy had done a first rate job. Something he appreciated, considering the fact that ever since he had made the grab for the dung fork earlier, his hand and wrist had begun to throb again.

Fifteen minutes later, Roy exited the stall, a look of triumph on his face. “Well I hope you’re suitably impressed, Junior,” he said with an impish grin.

Johnny chuckled warmly. “Well, I have to admit that I am… you did a great job, Pally.”

“So,” Roy said, squaring his shoulders, “what do we need to do next?”

Johnny patted the bale of hay, indicating that Roy should sit beside him.

“We let it air for a while, let the dust settle and dry out a bit. Then we fill manger with fresh hay and the trough with clean water.”

Roy lowered himself beside his friend and watched as Johnny withdrew a wallet sized copy of the picture that sat beside his bed, and held it in his hand. He stared down at it… his gaze fixed on Ajax.

Roy leaned to the side and peered over Johnny’s shoulder. “I still can’t believe they let you ride that horse in a rodeo when you were ten. He seems like a big horse for a child, and you were not exactly the biggest kid.”   

Johnny rolled his eyes and threw him a baleful look.

“What?”  Roy said a little too defensively. “It was a big horse. You weren’t intimidated by his size?”

“Roy,” Johnny answered drolly. “The people on the rez intimidated me…the horses never did.”

It was all the explanation Roy needed; he knew exactly what Johnny meant.

Johnny’s eyes alternated from staring at Ajax, to watching Koda standing quietly in his stall. Finally he slid the picture back into his wallet and looked over at Roy.” I’m glad you’re here, Pally. It means a lot to have your support on this…even if it isn’t something you would have chosen.”

“Roy gave his partner’s good hand a squeeze. “I’m sorry for trying to run your life for you. I never should have told you not to go after your dreams. I’m sorry that I got a little high handed.”

Johnny rolled his eyes, “a little?”

Roy chuckled. “Okay, a lot,” he conceded.   

  

There was another pause, and then Johnny cocked his eye at Roy. “I could have strangled you, you know.”

Roy’s head dipped in shame. “Thanks,” he muttered.

“For what?” Johnny asked curiously.

“For not busting me in the mouth when I deserved it,” Roy answered.

This time it was Johnny who snickered. “Well, I’m down to one hand as it is…I couldn’t risk busting up the other one. Besides, I guess getting puked on twice and having to put up with Brice would put anyone in an unreasonable mood.” The younger man paused and wagged a warning finger in Roy’s direction.“But if you ever …” he started.

Roy raised his hands in surrender to forestall the rest of the warning.

“Never, Junior… I promise.”

Johnny drained his cup and stood up, “Well I guess I’d better get him fed and watered so he can settle in for the day.”

Roy stood too and punched Johnny playfully on the arm. “Evens?” he asked, even though he knew all was forgiven.  Johnny grinned and gave him playful shove back, “evens,” the younger man agreed.

They had just gotten Koda settled in his stall, when one of the ranch hands appeared in the doorway of the barn.

“Jeannette wants you to come and take a look at Maisie, Johnny. She thinks it might be time and wants your opinion.”  The hand didn’t wait for an answer, but simply took off for one of the other barns across the field.

“The twins had a very pregnant mare come in three days ago. She was pretty close to her time, so they kept her up front where they could keep an eye on her.” Johnny explained to his partner. “Normally she would be back here, but Koda and the other three mares are still adjusting so they have her housed in the main barn. If Jeannette is right, you could be just in time to see your first foaling,” Johnny declared with excitement.

“Gee, should I boil some water?” Roy joked.

“Only if you want some tea,” Johnny answered with a smirk.

Roy was seized with a sudden urge to ruffle the younger man’s hair. It was good to be enjoying some light hearted banter with his partner again.

Johnny’s eyes were dancing with excitement as four hours later a healthy foal entered into the family of the equine centre. Roy had been amazed as Johnny had been right in the thick of things the entire time, giving his opinions and advice.

Roy had been impressed with how knowledgeable his partner was on the subject. He thoroughly enjoyed watching Johnny’s excitement over the birth. On more than one occasion during the process, Johnny had flashed Roy his trademark crooked grin.

Roy couldn’t have been more thrilled with the return of his partner’s impish grin, and the silly giggle. He had even called Roy, Pally a few times. 

As the two men made their way over to Roy’s Porsche, the older man couldn’t keep the grin off of his own face. The nearness the two men had always shared was back, and Roy’s world made sense once more.

Johnny looked over and saw the wide smile on his partner’s face. “What’s so funny, Pally?” he asked.

Roy put his arm around the slim man’s shoulders. “You’re a good man, Charlie Brown,” he said … and this time he did give the shaggy mop of dark hair a scruff.

“Would you cut it out, Roy,” Johnny groused. But his good natured grin took any anger out of his words, as the two men slid into Roy’s Porsche so they could be on their way to the DeSoto’s for dinner.

                                                 Epilogue:

As the days and weeks rolled by Roy made the trek with Johnny to visit Koda on a regular basis. It had been six months since the horse had been brought in and unless you had known how close to death he had been, you never would have guessed that he’d ever been so sick. To everyone’s surprise, not the least his own, Roy actually discovered he enjoyed helping out around the ranch.

During the first two months Johnny spent every day with Koda. But as time went on, Johnny’s cast had been removed and he started back to work, so his visits to Koda had been relegated to his days off.

It was a sunny Saturday morning when Jeannette heard the familiar sound of car tires crunching on the gravel as Roy drove into the ranch. He pulled his Porsche up next to Johnny’s Land Rover, and stopped. Jeannette smiled and gave the newly arrived guest a friendly wave. Long gone were the frosty glares from the young woman that had once been the norm whenever he’d arrive at the rescue centre.

“Hey, Roy,” she greeted as he exited his vehicle. “Have you come to be with Johnny for Koda’s final vet examination?”

Roy walked over and gave her a warm hug. “Yup… it wouldn’t seem right if I wasn’t. I assume he’s already back with Koda?”

Jeannette rolled her eyes, and laughed. “He got here shortly after sun up. He’s out in the paddock giving him a morning work out before the Alex gets here.”

Roy wasn’t at all surprised. Johnny was like a new mother with her first child. Even when he was out at the ranch to work, he never let Koda out of his sight for too long. “Okay thanks, Jeannette. I’ll just head on back then,” Roy said with a wave goodbye.

Just as he had expected, he arrived at the back paddock in time to see his partner galloping across the field on the mustang’s back. He was hard pressed to say who was happier with the morning run, Johnny or Koda. Either way, they both seemed to be in their element as they raced through the field in the early morning sunshine. Watching the two of them together was like poetry in motion.

Roy was truly happy for Johnny. It was about time that life gave him something back that had been stolen from him. And while Koda wasn’t Ajax, nor could  he ever make up for Johnny having lost his parents at such a young age; Roy had a feeling that from now on whenever his partner looked at the picture that sat by  his bedside, he would see something more than what he had lost. Maybe now when he looked at the horse in the picture, he would see Koda and his chance for a happy future as well.

For the younger man out in the paddock, Roy’s arrival had gone unnoticed.  It had only been about a week earlier that he had starting riding Koda. Never having had a saddle on before in his life, Johnny had taken things slowly with the two year old mustang.

Having undergone the stress of almost dying from abuse meant that Johnny was being extra cautious, and not rushing into anything. He figured he had years ahead of him to enjoy riding again… he had waited this long, he could wait a few weeks more. But last week Johnny and the vet had both agreed the time had come to start riding him.

Johnny had kept that first day of riding down to a very short period, but even the brevity of his time on Koda’s back, couldn’t put a damper of the feeling of exhilaration Johnny had felt, riding across the field on the back of a horse that he actually owned. In the past week, Johnny had spent every free second of his days off out at the ranch, sitting in the saddle on Koda’s back, gradually increasing the duration he rode.

Just as he had as a child, Johnny found riding a horse to be a heady experience. He loved the feeling of total freedom he experienced while galloping across the fields of the ranch. It was a sensation he hadn’t experienced in decades…one he had only now realized how much missed. He determined more than ever to save up as much as he possibly could, so he could get his own ranch as soon as possible. He leaned over the horse, running his hand along the full length of Koda’s body.

Roy stood at the fence just watching his partner revel in the experience of riding Koda. Johnny sat tall and proud in the saddle, his attention fully on his horse. At one point Roy saw the dark haired man lean back and close his eyes, as Koda galloped across the across the field toward the paddock; the wind in his hair and a smile on his face.  It was evident to the older man that Johnny was no longer in a paddock in California … his partner was back in Montana in that corral with his mom and dad, and the horse that he had ridden to victory during his very first rodeo…even if it was only for that one brief moment in time.

Roy’s musings were interrupted by the arrival of Jonah with the vet in tow. The two newcomers joined Roy at the fence, and the trio just stood there watching Johnny ride. After several moments, Roy turned to the veterinarian.

“Thanks for pulling the horse through, Doc. It means the world to my partner,” he said, as they watched Johnny gallop by with a smile of contentment on his face.

The vet shook his head, “I’d like to take all the credit for that mustang’s recovery, but in truth, the real credit goes to that young man out there,” he said pointing to Johnny. “He was the one who really had the gift of healing that horse. I just gave him the physical medicine but John gave him a more important kind of healing. He gave him something to come back for… he gave him the will to live. I only knew what notes to play…it was that young man over there that made him sing.”

“Of course it didn’t hurt that they had youth and a strong spirit on their side,” Jonah interjected. The vet grinned, “Yes …on both counts,” he agreed, casting a glance at Johnny.

Johnny chose that moment to look up and see his audience standing at the fence. His face broke into a wide grin and he waved at his friend. “What do ya think, Pally?” he called out.

Roy returned the smile and gave his partner the thumbs up signal. “Looking good, Junior.” 

Alex held up his leather bag and pointed at the horse, “Time for his final checkup, Johnny. Can you bring him over?” he shouted.

Johnny acknowledged that he’d heard the vet with a ‘thumbs up’ of his own, and trotted Koda up to the fence. He dismounted and sauntered over to where Alex stood inside the corral.

“Hey Doc,” he said to the vet as he approach the group of men leaning against the fence. “He’s all ready for his final check-up…it’s been six months today.”

“Well, he certainly has settled into his new home. I never would have thought it possible, but he has shown remarkable progress,” the vet said as he examined Koda.

“His temporary home,” Johnny corrected.  “I plan on getting a ranch of my own in the next year or so … but that’s a bigger conversation for another day,” he said looking pointedly at Roy. “Jeannette and Jonah are graciously allowing me to board him at the stables for as long as I need to, in exchange for one day a week of volunteer work.”

“I think we got the better of the deal,” Jonah laughed. “This horse works like a John Gage magnet. I don’t think a single week has gone by where he’s only been here for one day. I think he must come out here every day off he gets; even if it’s only for a morning.”

The vet winked at Johnny. “And who could blame him, Koda here is a beautiful horse. I’ve never seen a mustang with a more gentle nature.” He paused and slapped the young medic on the shoulder affectionately. “Well John, I don’t think you will be needing my services any longer. I can see you have things well in hand here.”

 “Thanks, Doc. How much do I owe you for this last visit?” Johnny asked.

The vet rested his hand on Johnny’s arm and smiled warmly. “Not a red cent, son. This visit is on the house. Seeing this magnificent piece of horseflesh brought back from the dead, is all the payment I need. Never in my life have I been so wrong in my predictions about an animal. But I am more than happy to admit it now. I was wrong about him…and you.”

Roy looked over at his best friend. “That goes double for me, Johnny. I was wrong too….about everything.”

Johnny’s gaze dropped as a blush crawled up into his cheeks. “Well maybe not about everything,” he admitted. “I did stand you and Morton up that first day.”

Roy looked at his friend apologetically. “Yeah but I was way over the line, with some of the things I said to you.”

Johnny nodded but didn’t disagree. “Well, I accepted your apology, so let’s just forget about it.”

Johnny had never said anything that even hinted at an, ‘I told you so’. Not that Roy would have cared if he had. He was just happy that Koda had not only come back from the brink of death, but seemed to be thriving under Johnny’s care. And Koda wasn’t the only one who was thriving. Johnny was as well.

Having Koda in his life had been like Johnny gaining back a part of his life that had been wrenched away from him when he was ten. The younger man seemed to be more at peace with life in general… he certainly wore a smile more often. The older medic shuddered when he thought back to his earliest assessment of the horse and how he had tried so hard to convince Johnny to give up on his dream.

He was just grateful he hadn’t lost his best friend because of his high-handed attitude. But the truth was; that over the past six months, they had bonded while puttering around the ranch and tending to Koda. The two of them were closer than ever before…if that was even possible. In the past it had always been Johnny who had spent time helping Roy out at his house, but now that the tables were turned, Roy had discovered a more balanced and deeper friendship had formed between the two men.

Roy smiled as the thought occurred to him that he’d never in his life had another best friend like the one he’d discovered the day John Gage walked into that little room at HQ and grilled him on the Paramedic program.  Sure he had made a few buddies in the army, and a few more when he’d first joined the fire department, but none of them were like Johnny. 

Maybe it was because he hadn’t met Johnny until his life had been settled; after he’d been married, and had a couple of kids. When he finally knew who he really was and what he wanted out of life. In John Gage he had found a best friend who filled up that spot in his soul that a spouse couldn’t; the person you could talk to about things you never spoke of with a wife for fear of upsetting them. He wondered if it was the same for everyone, or just the lucky few who truly had a best friend that was so close they were like an extension of your own body. He kind of hoped that out there, somewhere in the universe, that God had made that kind of friend for everyone… that they just had to go out and find them.

And when you finally did find that person you connected with on all levels… that friend would become your brother.

 

                                                                        The End

 

Posted To Site 6/4/17

Links To Parts 1. 2. 3.

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