Home | Emergency Stories by Tammy | Send Stories | Fun Page | Guest Writer's

Medicine Man

Part 3

An Emergency Story by

Mypiot
 

Links to Part 1. 2. 3.

Chapter Seventeen

 

March 24th 6:22 pm

 

Agents Matt Anderson and Ed Knox sat in the Missoula Police station, drinking their coffee and pouring over a stack of maps of Montana and Idaho.

 

It had been 2 days since they had left L.A. and headed up to Montana. They had been disappointed to learn that not only had James Albright died a week ago, but that almost 5 days earlier, a mysterious cousin had phoned the hospice to inquire about him.

 

Both agents were convinced that the mysterious ‘cousin’, who had called, was none other than Martin Albright, their missing fugitive.

 

When the doctor informed them that he had told James’ ‘cousin’ that his body was now laying in a local funeral home, the FBI had immediately staked the place out. But now, 4 days later, the body had been buried, and no one had shown up to either claim or view the body.

 

They would leave an agent at the cemetery for a few days to keep an eye out, but neither agent held out much hope. Albright was too smart for that.

 

With the discovery of the bus and the bodies it contained, which not only included the innocent victims, but that of Angus Rankin and what turned out to be Angus’ cousin Duncan MacNeil, the sole focus of the investigation had turned towards Martin Albright and the 3 missing passengers.

 

 Unfortunately, it had taken some investigative legwork before they were able to track down the hospice where Martin’s brother was staying.

 

 

Due to the fact that Martin had only a month earlier petitioned the California State Corrections officials to let him out on restricted leave to visit his dying brother, it was most logical place to start looking for the man, once they had determined just exactly which state and which hospice James Albright had checked into. The fact that they had been a day too late and the stake out had turned out to be a bust was disheartening.

 

They had every police station in 4 states as well as the RCMP in 4 Canadian provinces on the alert. They had also sent bulletins and agents up to the border to work alongside customs officials on both sides of the border, as it was almost a given that the man would try to evade capture by trying to cross into Canada. Now they had to decide what their next move needed to be.

 

They had just decided to head on up to the nearest border crossing when the telephone rang.

 

Police Chief Frank Dunham picked it up and spoke into the receiver. “Missoula Police Station, Chief Dunham speaking…yes they are both here, hang on a second,” he motioned over to Ed and Matt. He held out the phone to the agents and said, “It’s Rob Fulton, he’s the Sheriff up in Flathead County, he wants to speak with you.”

 

Ed picked up the phone and spoke into it, “Ed Knox here, how can I help you….WHAT! You did? When? What condition are they in? …Yes, I see uh huh.” Ed snapped his fingers to get the Chiefs attention and motioned that he needed a pen and some paper. He kept on listening and soon he was scribbling frantically on the sheet of paper he had in front of him.  “How long until you get here?…good,…perfect,… great, this is the best news we’ve had since this whole nightmare started…no tell them to hold up there for now. We’ll dispatch some of our agents immediately. Okay, we’ll wait here for now, we’ll see you in about 45 minutes.” And with a big grin on his face he hung up the phone and shouted, “YES!”

 

“What was that all about?” Matt asked his partner.

 

“John Gage and the two missing Mills kids were picked up almost an hour ago walking along Gordon’s side road just past Mile Marker # 11 up in Flathead County by a local farmer who dropped them off at the local sheriff’s office 20 minutes ago. They are alive, and although it appears Mr. Gage is quite ill and in need of medical care, they are otherwise unharmed. Sheriff Fulton says that Gage has refused medical aide and says he wants to wait and have his own doctor in Los Angeles look at him. Understandably, they are pretty stressed, and tired. Fulton said that according to Mr. Gage they were being held hostage in a cabin by Martin Albright. Sheriff Fulton claims, that piece of land is owned by a local named Will Hamilton, who is known for his shady dealings, but he was unaware of any cabin on the land. Gage says if you follow the lane it leads to a trail and at the end of the trail there is a cabin, but it’s a 2 day hike, and the river near there is flooded, and the bridge has washed away…it’s where they escaped from and according to Gage, Martin was still there 2 days ago. Sheriff Fulton has a couple of men guarding the lane for now. Gage and the kids are being driven here right now in a squad car.”

 

Matt Anderson was already on the phone to the command center in Billings. As soon as someone on the other end picked up, Matt relayed the information and directions that they had been given and arranged to get some choppers, some agents and the swat team ready to fly.

 

He and Ed were ordered to stay and wait for the hostages. They needed to be interviewed, and escorted home. For now there was to be no announcement made to the press…at least not until the next of kin had been notified, and the FBI had had a chance to check out this cabin.

 

Matt hung up the phone and let out a sigh. His relief was matched by that of his partner. At least there was going to be somewhat of a happy ending to this story…although the loss of the 4 civilians had been a hard pill to swallow, the fact that the young paramedic and the two small children had managed to escape with their lives softened the blow.

 

 He looked over at Ed and smiled once more.

 

“Tell the pilot on our plane at the Missoula airport that there has been a change to our itinerary. It looks like we will be headed back to L.A. tonight. Let’s wait to phone the next of kin until we actually have Gage and the kids here with us.”

 

March 24th 7:35 pm

 

“Can I get anyone some more coffee?” Joanne DeSoto asked.

 

“No thanks Joanne, if I have anymore I won’t be able to sleep a wink tonight, and I’m on call first thing tomorrow morning. How about you Dix?”

 

 “No, Kel, I’m on duty tomorrow morning too, and I haven’t been sleeping the best this last week as it is.”

 

Joanne looked over at Roy. He nodded and held his cup out. She reached over and took his cup and took it into the kitchen to refill it.

 

“Thanks sweetheart, I have to get a few more things done tonight before Chris and Jen arrive back home tomorrow.” He turned to look at his two friends who were sitting on his living room sofa. They had dropped by after work to find out if there had been any more news on Johnny, and Joanne had convinced them to stay for dinner. “Jo’s sister Elaine has had the kids for almost a week now, and we decided it was time for them to come on back home. I’ll probably take another week off before I go back to work. I just can’t face sitting in the squad without my partner there beside me. It just hurts too much right now.”

 

 

He looked down at his hands and sighed. “If the worst happens, and I’m praying to God it doesn’t, but if it does, I’m leaving the paramedic program Doc. I won’t have another permanent partner other than Johnny.”

 

Kelly Brackett opened his mouth to protest, but Roy held his hand up to silence him.

 

“No doc, my mind is made up. Besides Johnny and I made a pact a few months after I turned down the Engineer’s position. We both decided that we would never have any other permanent partner other than each other. We both realized it just wouldn’t feel right. We don’t always understand the connection we have to each other, but we know it’s there, it’s very real and it just feels right… we know it’s what makes us love going to work each day. We also know that when we work with anyone else temporarily, when one of us is out sick or on vacation, that something is missing. It just feels all wrong. It feels forced. So, we decided we would stay together until we’re both ready to move on, and then we would both take the Captain’s exam together. And if something should happen to either one of us before then, the other would leave the paramedics and either try for Captain, go back to hauling hose or try for Engineer. We talked it over a lot, and it was a unilateral decision and it’s not open for debate.”

 

Dixie reached over and grabbed Roy’s hands. “Well, I for one still believe that Johnny’s coming back to us, so it won’t even be an issue.”

 

Roy looked over at Dixie, and smiled. “Dear God Dix, I hope you’re right, but it’s been a week now and there is still no sign of him anywhere, and it’s scaring the hell out of me.”

 

Just then Joanne came into the living room with 2 full cups of coffee for Roy and herself.

 

“Well,” said Dixie standing up, “I have some laundry to do, so I guess we should leave.”

 

Kel had just stood up, when the telephone rang, and Jo went into the kitchen to answer it, while Roy began to walk to their guests to the front door.

 

They had only made it halfway across the room when Joanne came hurrying out. “Roy, it’s agent Knox, he’s on the phone, and he says he has something urgent he needs to speak to you about.”

 

Hearing that it was the FBI, the entire group hurried into the kitchen where Roy took a deep breath and picked up the receiver.

 

“Hello, Roy DeSoto speaking.”

 

The other three people in the room looked on as Roy began to shake and he sank into the chair beside the phone.

 

“WHAT! You did? Is…is he…is he okay, is he alive? …OH THANK GOD!” Roy looked over at the trio beside him and with tears of joy running down his face he grinned; he spoke over top of the receiver to the other 3 people who were in the kitchen. “They’ve been found….alive.”

 

Immediately more tears of joy from the others joined Roy’s as they listened while Roy went back to speaking with agent Knox.

 

Roy had gained control of his voice, and once again the other three occupants in the Desoto kitchen listened intently to the one side of the conversation they could hear that was taking place over the phone.

 

“Yes…what? …how bad, …what does the doctor say?” After hearing this Kel took a step closer to Roy, as if by doing that he could hear the other end of the conversation.

 

“He what?…Oh I see, yes I understand…Do I want to what? …YES, YES, YES!” he said excitedly.

 

Suddenly a moment later Roy’s voice started to quiver and the tears started to fall once more.

 

“Hey there Junior, you gave me one hell of a scare there…Yeah, I know…yeah me too…yeah I know…God Junior do you have any idea how beautiful your voice sounds to me right now?”

 

Suddenly Roy’s voice dropped to a tone he used when he was trying to soothe or comfort his children when they were scared or ill. “Listen Johnny, I think you should let the doctor’s there help you okay? I promise I’ll be there before the night is over…But Johnny, you need medical attention now…okay, okay , calm down…no..no…alright. I promise…okay, if that’s what you need then that’s what we’ll do. Listen Junior, Doc Brackett and Dix are here with me right now…I’m going to bring them with me, will that be okay?”

 

Both Kelly Brackett and Dixie were nodding their heads towards Roy furiously in agreement.

“Okay, I will, I promise. I’ll see you in a few hours then, can I speak to one of the agents so I can get the details? …okay, listen you hang in there okay…we’ll be waiting for you at the airport…no…no ambulances or squads, I promise. Oh and Junior...I love you little brother.”

 

There was silence for a moment and then Roy spoke again.

 

“How is he really, he sounds awful. What did the doctor say? …Damn….no I can hear he’s a bit upset. It’s to be expected…so how did you find him? …Where did you find him? Are you serious? What…he did….he did…wow I’m impressed, no wonder he’s stressed. Yes, Yes, I understand…no I have a doctor and a nurse with me. Uh huh…okay let me get a pen and paper.”

 

Immediately both objects were thrust in front of him; he continued on as he wrote down the information he had been given. “Okay so it’s the private airfield not LAX…yes, yes, we will be taking them to Rampart general. Okay then when are you leaving?  That means you’ll be here around 2 am…nope it’s not too late for me…I’ll be waiting for you at the airfield.” Then looking over his shoulder at the others he grinned…“I mean we’ll be waiting for you.”

 

Roy had no sooner hung up the phone, than he was bombarded with questions, from the others. “Okay sit down and I’ll tell you everything I know.” They all sat down and listened as Roy began to recount his conversation with agent Knox.

 

“First of all…THEY didn’t find Johnny, Johnny found them.  He is currently in a city called Missoula Montana.  Apparently they had been forced to hike for 2 days in the wilderness up in one of the northern counties until they had come to a cabin in the mountains…that is where Johnny and the two kids have been held prisoner until 2 days ago when somehow, and it’s not clear exactly how, but Johnny managed to escape with the 2 kids…he has spent the last 2 days hiking back down the mountain trail with the kids, until he made it to a back country road where they were found walking, just before 6 tonight  by a local farmer who drove them to the nearest sheriff’s office.”

 

Dr. Brackett spoke up at this point. “What was that about Johnny needing medical attention…what exactly is wrong with him?”

 

 

Roy sighed…“Well I guess the three of them are more than a bit traumatized naturally, and when he was found, Johnny was running a fever and has shown all the signs of pneumonia. They also think he could have some kind of throat infection on top of it, but he won’t let any strangers near him. He is adamant about coming back to L.A. to get treatment. I tried to talk to him, but he just got really upset, and he’s clearly not going to let anyone else touch him but us. So they are flying the three of them back here tonight on one of the FBI’s own jets to a private airstrip not too far from here…they will be here in about 6 hours. We are supposed to meet them there.

 

Ah doc…I think we better take Joanne’s station wagon, because Johnny was also adamant about no ambulances or squads…also we have to kind of sneak them in to Rampart, because right now the FBI want this all hush hush for a while yet…something about not letting it leak to the press until they make an arrest. Besides they don’t want the three of them stressed out any more than they already are. They’re more than a little overwhelmed right now and a lot of people would be too much too for them to handle.

 

I’m going to call the Cap and explain the situation to him, and the FBI is going to be in touch with the chief and the kid’s grandparents. Their names are Samuel and Esther Mills, and they will be told to be at Rampart to meet the kids. They’ll be asking for me, but agents Knox and Anderson will be there too. They want you to make sure you check the kids out too. Right now they refuse to speak and are clinging to Johnny for dear life, so I guess it’s going to be kid gloves with the three of them when they get here.”

 

It was 3 hours later when there was another knock on the DeSoto front door. When he opened the door, he found Captain Stanley and the Chief standing there. “Come on in, Chief, Cap.”

 

 

“Hey Roy,” said Cap. “We aren’t going to stay long, we just wanted to come over and touch base with you ourselves. We just had a little impromptu meeting over at my house with the rest of the A shift. We told them as much as we knew. We have also made it clear that no one is to talk about any of this or to speak of it outside of this group. We’ve explained that no one is to try and see Gage until they have clearance from you and Dr. Brackett and the FBI, but we felt they should be told, so they won’t have to spend another night worrying about John. Your leave of course will be extended for as long as you and Gage need. We understand that he has been through a horrible ordeal and will be needing as much support as he can possibly get. The department will make sure that he gets that on our end of things. I am just so damned relieved that he is alive and coming home. I do expect you to keep me appraised of his condition at all times, and I would like a chance to visit with him alone first before the others see him, as soon as he is up to it.”

 

Roy nodded. “Of course, Cap…Chief. I promise to keep you updated. Would you like to come in for a minute?”

 

“No Roy we have to be going, but we just wanted to stop by in person to talk to you.” Hank grinned and gave Roy a congratulatory slap on the back…“You just go get our boy and take care of him for us…and tell him we’re all thinking of him and no matter what he needs, all he has to do is ask and he’s got it.”

 

It was only about 10 minutes after that that Dixie showed up again with Dr. Brackett. He had brought with him some oxygen as well his own drug box and blankets. He carefully arranged them into the back of the station wagon. “I’m not sure how bad he is, and I want to be ready for anything,” he said. “Joe is waiting back at Rampart; we have blocked off treatment room 5 at the end of the hall, and put isolation tape across it to keep everyone but us out of it. We also have a private room on the top floor reserved for our young friend. No other staff bedsides Joe, Dix and I are being informed of Johnny’s arrival until we get the all clear signal from the FBI and of course you and Johnny.  Although we may have to consider some kind of counseling for them, as I imagine they are going to have a difficult time readjusting to normal life after all of this. It might even do you some good too Roy. I know this has taken a toll on you as well.”

 

Roy nodded.” Well, from the sounds of agent Knox whatever we do, it we will have to be doing it around those two kids, because it sounds like the three of them are sticking together like glue. I am hoping with Jo and Dixie along maybe a big dose of TLC from them will go a long way to helping with that.”

 

By the time it had come to leave for the airstrip, Kel was beginning to think he was going to have to give Roy a sedative to calm him down…he was as excited as a kid on Christmas morning waiting to open up his gifts…not that Kel could blame him, he was pretty damn anxious to get a hold of Johnny himself, just to make sure that it really was over and they were getting him back alive and in one piece…even if he was a bit worse for wear. He would make sure Johnny got only the best of care.

 

“Okay,” said Roy excitedly as he got into the wagon. “Let’s go get my little brother and bring him home.”

 

Chapter Eighteen

 

 

March 25th 1 am

 

Johnny leaned back in his seat as he stared out the window of the jet in a very introspective frame of mind. He glanced down at his watch and noted that it was now March 25th. It was one week ago to the day, that this had all started. He stared down at the two children who sat huddled up next to him sleeping.

 

He sighed deeply as the thought entered into his mind, that exactly one week ago he was supposed to have been on another flight back to L.A. sandwiched in between two other small children. As a piece of irony it almost surpassed itself he thought ruefully.

 

In the last week he had grown extremely protective of these two, and he was sure as hell going to make sure they had a supportive family. They were not going to end up like he had; he would make damn sure that these two had caring grandparents. He would see that they provided these two innocents with a happy and loving home.

 

Home…He grinned as he thought about it.

 

 

He had kind of lost control of his emotions when he had heard Roy’s voice on the phone earlier. It was a voice that up until a couple of days ago, he was sure he would never hear again. He hadn’t been able to stop his tears of joy, when Roy had said “Hey there Junior” He had heard Roy’s tears, and that was all it had taken for him to lose his tenuous hold over his own emotions.

 

He knew he should have let the doctor in Montana examine him, and he knew he was being unreasonable, but he just didn’t care…he was emotionally stretched to the edge of his endurance, and right now he just felt like he deserved to have his way. He just wanted to feel safe, to feel loved; to feel cared for…he wanted his family around him. Seeing these two orphaned children beside him had brought his sense of need for his family to the forefront, and his emotions right now seemed to be in high gear and churning out of control. His need to see Roy, and Jo and the kids, to see Dix and his friends was stronger than he ever felt possible.

 

Johnny knew his condition was steadily worsening, and he knew there was no way he was going to get out of a hospital stay now, but as long as his family was there he could take it. He just hoped that he wouldn’t have to face too many people at once. Thankfully, the FBI was keeping the press in the dark right now. Johnny knew he couldn’t even start to deal with that. He knew everyone would be curious; that they would have questions about what had happened, but he had no desire to talk to anyone about this right now…maybe not ever.

 

The only thing he wanted was to be safe at home with the ones he cared about most, by his side.

 

His body shook with violent chills, and Johnny knew the fever was on the rise. Even this flight was costing him. His breathing had grown more and more painful, and it was getting harder to catch his breath. His throat burned like fire and his head had been aching all evening, but none of that mattered, because in less than hour, he was going to be home…Roy was waiting.

 

He could still hear Roy’s final words to him before Agent Knox had taken the phone away from him earlier in the evening…“I love you little brother…”

 

He was going home…and his big brother was waiting for him.

 

Johnny wasn’t sure if he was more grateful or exhausted…but he was both of these things for sure.

 

Just at that moment he broke into yet another round of painful wet coughs that left him gasping painfully for breath and panting with the ache in his chest.

 

Agent Anderson came up to him and offered him some water as he looked down with worry at the young paramedic who was so obviously ill. “We’ll be there in another half hour or so, and then your doctor friend can hopefully give you something to help you out.” he said.

Johnny nodded as he sat back and closed his eyes, concentrating on trying to draw enough air into his tortured lungs. Gradually his breathing stabilized and he slowly slipped into a restless sleep.

 

Agent Anderson gently covered the three sleeping kidnap victims up with a blanket and quietly slipped back across the aisle and into his seat. He hoped that the half hour would pass quickly. The young man needed a doctor and he needed one soon.

 

 

 

Roy Desoto was pacing back and forth outside the station wagon, when he looked up and saw the lights of the jet approaching in the night sky. He quickly ran over and rapped on the window where his wife and Dixie sat dozing in the back seats, while Dr. Brackett was going over the supplies he had brought for the hundredth time in the last hour. “I think this must be them.” He yelled into the vehicle excitedly.

 

Immediately the other three occupants of the car joined him on the tarmac.

 

Roy’s pacing grew quicker and he could barely contain himself.

 

Kel looked over and grinned, “I think I am going to have to give your husband a sedative if he doesn’t calm down Joanne.  I think someone is really, really excited to see his wayward partner.”

 

Roy looked over and he made no apologies for the joyous tears that were already forming in his eyes. “You bet I am, and I don’t care who knows it. I almost lost him, and it was then that I realized how much there was that I wished I could have said to him, and I honestly thought I had lost that chance forever.

 

All because I was afraid of being teased by the guys…well it ends. I don’t care what anyone thinks anymore, and before they laugh or make fun of me, I’ll just remind them of what last week felt like…what this feels like.

 

You know this was the worst week of my life, and it was a real wake up call for me. Our job is dangerous enough without stuff like this happening. So there will be no more of this male posturing crap anymore.

 

He is my little brother and I love him, and I am going to make damn sure he knows it...every single day; because I just found out in a really harsh way that the thought of standing over someone’s coffin is a really shitty time to wonder if they really truly knew how you felt about them.”

 

“You won’t get any argument from anyone here, I can promise you that.” said Dixie quietly. She had a few tears of her own fighting to escape. “In fact I have a few things I want to say to that young man myself. And as soon as he is up to it, he and I are going out to celebrate my birthday, only this year it’s going to be my treat.”

 

Just then they looked up into the night sky and watched as the jet slowly touched down onto the runway in front of them, and gradually came to a stop.

 

Roy stood impatiently at the edge of the tarmac with the others, barely able to contain himself. Finally after what seemed like hours, the doors opened and Agent Anderson made his way down the stairs and walked over towards them.

 

Roy kept his eyes on the doorway, hoping that Johnny would soon appear, and began to panic when that didn’t happen.

 

As soon as Matt Anderson was within speaking distance, Roy called out to him, “Where’s Johnny, you did bring him right?”

 

“Relax,” said Matt. “He’s here, in fact he and the kids fell asleep not too long ago, and we thought it might be better, if this reunion took place on board. Your friend is pretty ill, and we thought he might be more amenable to the idea of accepting help if it was you who woke him up.”

 

Dr. Brackett and Dixie began to grab the medical supplies out of the vehicle and quickly made their way over to the plane. Roy and Jo were already half way across the tarmac, so they had to hurry in order to catch up to them.

 

Once on board, the group was directed to an area near the back of the plane.

 

Agent Anderson slowly stepped aside, and there before them was Johnny, sleeping sandwiched between Natalie and Lucas Mills.

 

Even from a few feet away, they could tell the man was ill, his cheeks were flushed with fever and his face was covered in a damp sheen from the sweat that was making his hair cling to his forehead. His breathing was labored, and Roy could hear the wheeze and the slight rattle in his chest from where he stood. He lay with each of his arms held tightly around the two small children, both of whom were clinging to Johnny as if their lives depended on it…but then up until a few short hours ago…it had.

 

Roy had to fight the emotions that were threatening to overwhelm him as he slowly made his way over to where Johnny lay. He gently knelt down beside him and brushed the hair back from the damp forehead. “Hey, there Junior,” he softly said as he gently shook his arm.

 

Slowly, Johnny’s eyes began to flutter and crack open, and for the first few seconds there was a look of disorientation and confusion on his face, and then as things gradually came into focus, Johnny glanced over and his dark brown fever bright eyes met Roy’s worried blue ones, and for one long moment they locked onto each other in silent communication.

 

It was the catharsis John’s body and mind had been waiting for. He could release all control now; he could safely rest and let someone else be in charge.

 

For the first time since he boarded that bus a week before, John allowed his tears to fall.

 

He slid out from underneath the sleeping children and shakily stood up on his feet and grasped Roy by his shoulders. “Roy” was all he managed to rasp out, and with that one word his eyes rolled back into his head, and he fell forward into Roy’s arms. Roy held him in an embrace for a brief second and then he gently lifted him in his arms, carried him over and laid him out across the seats on the opposite aisle.

 

Dr. Brackett quickly set down the medical supplies, and began to give out his orders to Dixie and Roy.

“Dix, get me a set of vitals and his temperature. Roy, let’s elevate him and get some oxygen on him right away.”

 

It was just at that point that Roy looked over and realized that Lucas and Natalie were now awake and staring wide eyed at the flurry of activity around Johnny. “Jo, he said as he gently pulled Johnny up against his chest in an effort to elevate him enough to ease his breathing. “Can you go to the kids? I think they could use some of that TLC now.” He then slid the thermometer into Johnny’s mouth.

 

Joanne quickly went over and sat beside the children and reached out to pull them close. The moment she reached out to comfort them, they jumped off the seat and ran to Johnny’s side.

 

Mindful of what they had been through Jo came up behind them and knelt down. “It’s okay guys, Johnny is very sick, and we’re here to make him all better again. We’re all his friends, and we aren’t going to hurt him. This man here is Dr. Brackett; this nice lady beside me is Dixie. She’s a nurse, and she’s here to help Johnny too. My name is Joanne, and the man holding Johnny is my husband Roy.”

 

As soon as she mentioned Roy, both children looked up at the man. It was obvious that it was a name they recognized as one they had heard before.

 

Jo, smiled, “I see Johnny has told you about us huh?”

 

Both children nodded but didn’t say a word.

 

“So you know we’re Johnny’s friends, and we’re here to help, but we really need to step back out of the way so the doctor, nurse Dixie and Roy can help him get better, okay?”

 

This time the children allowed themselves to be lead back over to their seats where they sat quietly with Joanne and watched the proceedings.

 

Dr. Brackett nodded, “Thanks Joanne…Dix what are his vitals?”

 

“Pulse is 125, BP is 135 over 90 and his respirations are 23 and labored.”

 

Roy pulled the thermometer out of Johnny’s mouth, “103.7” he said grimly, and he began to position the oxygen mask onto Johnny’s face.

 

“Okay, I’m going to get this I.V. in so we can start to hydrate him right away, and then we need to get him over to Rampart ASAP. Joanne can you and Dix, get the kids and get them settled, I want to make sure Joe gives them both a good once over, and I think it might go better if the two of you stayed with them for now. Roy, I think between the two of us and maybe some help from these two agents, we can get Johnny into the bed I have made up in the back of the wagon. I’ll let you get in first so we can prop John up against you so that he isn’t laying flat.”

 

They had just nicely gotten situated inside the back of the wagon, when another bout of coughing erupted from Johnny, pulling him back into wakefulness once more.

 

Roy leaned down and spoke quietly into his ear. “Shhh, Junior, try and lay still, we’re on our way to Rampart, and we’ll get you all fixed up and in a nice warm bed as quick as we can.” He grabbed hold of Johnny’s hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze as he cradled his best friend against his chest in an effort to help ease his discomfort.

 

Johnny reached over and slid the mask away from his mouth…”Lucas and Natalie?” he wheezed heavily.

 

“They’re in the front with Joanne and Dix…we’re going to have Dr. Early check them out, just to be sure. They won’t be left alone, now how about you put the mask back on okay?”

 

Roy tried to put the oxygen mask back on, but Johnny raised his hand to stop him. “Make sure they’re okay Roy? Someone has to stay with them…what they’ve been through and seen…dear God Roy, what all three of us have seen. It was just so horrible.” He then grimaced as he started to cough uncontrollably once more. When he was finally able to breathe again he rasped out weakly, “chest hurts when I breathe doc…throats feels like it’s on fire. Got a hell of a headache too, but I don’t think it’s from the knock on the head though.” Once again he was consumed by painful coughing as he laid his head back against Roy’s chest and closed his eyes.

 

Roy slipped the oxygen mask back in place. “Don’t try to talk, just rest, I promise we’ll look out for the kids”

 

Dr. Brackett looked up from where he was listening to John’s lungs and shook his head at Roy, silently indicating that he didn’t like what he was hearing. He leaned over closer to the young paramedic who was still leaning back against Roy with his eyes shut.

 

“Johnny, are you trying to tell us that you took a blow to the head?”

 

Johnny nodded weakly, “Yeah but it was almost a week ago now. Martin cracked me over the back of my head with his gun. I had a rough go of it the first day or so, but it was okay after that. I think this headache has to do with this other stuff. Why is it so cold in here, Roy?” He shivered, his voice, though weak and muffled from the oxygen mask was loud enough for both men to hear.

 

Roy looked up, his eyes full of worry. “Martin?” he mouthed silently to the doctor.

 

Kel shrugged, and he looked up as they approached the entrance to Rampart.

 

“Okay Joanne, I want you to drive around back to the service entrance. Even though it’s 3 a.m. we don’t want to take any chances. We don’t want anyone to know who we have here just yet…Joe should be waiting there for us with a gurney…we’ll be taking all three of them into treatment room 5 for now.”

 

Joanne nodded as she drove around to the back of the hospital and backed the station wagon up to the doors. She had no sooner stopped than Joe Early appeared with a gurney at the back of the station wagon. The three men made short work of transferring Johnny onto the gurney. Once they had the entire group assembled, they slipped inside the hospital.

 

Luckily, at 3 am the halls were deserted, and they had no trouble getting into treatment room five unnoticed.

 

As soon as they arrived Kelly Brackett went down the list of orders he wanted carried out. “Dix, I want a complete blood work up done. I want to see any and all bugs that are attacking our boy’s system. I’ll need to check his blood oxygen levels as well. Joe, can you get a portable X-ray down here as well. I want full chest and skull series.”

 

Joe looked over at Kel and said, “I’ve already got Malcolm on standby and he understands that he isn’t to speak about any of this.”

 

While Dixie was busy getting all the blood samples gathered and sent off to the lab, Johnny roused and scanned the room until his eyes found Roy’s. Once again there was a silent communication between the two. Each man needing to know that this wasn’t a dream…that this was real…it was finally over. Johnny was home.

 

Kel looked over at Joe while he listened to Johnny’s lungs. “I’m hearing rales in both lungs Joe, Let’s go ahead and get some antibiotics on board right away. I don’t think there’s any doubt what the blood tests and x-rays are going to show…he’s obviously got a pretty severe case of pneumonia going on here.”

 

 

Joe Early walked over to the gurney and spoke. “We’re going to need to get Johnny into a gown now, so this might be a good time to get the children next door into treatment room 3 so I can take a look at them as well. Their grandparents should be arriving soon. Agents Knox and Anderson are going to meet with them in Kel’s office, and we’ll take the children there to reunite them.”

 

Johnny was laying on the gurney that had been elevated to a 45 degree angle, breathing in the oxygen, while Roy sat on a stool beside him with his hands resting on Johnny’s arm, maintaining a constant physical contact.

 

Dr. Brackett wasn’t sure if it was for Roy’s reassurance or Johnny’s, but knowing these two like he did, it was probably just as much for one as it was for the other. One thing was for sure, it was clear that Roy had no intention of leaving Johnny’s side anytime soon, except for when the x-rays were being done. The two men had maintained eye contact ever since Johnny had come around when Dixie was taking the blood from Johnny’s arm. It was keeping both men calm right now, and neither man was willing to break off contact.

 

Joanne and Dixie walked over to the two children and took them by the hands and began to lead them out of the room.

 

As soon as the children became aware of the fact that they were going to be separated from Johnny’s presence they began to cry and twisted out of the two women’s grasp. They ran over to the gurney and Natalie grabbed hold of one of Johnny’s hands, while Lucas grabbed hold of his sister. They began to sob in earnest and clung tightly to the only adult there, whom they felt safe with.

 

Johnny pulled off the oxygen mask and struggled to a sitting position on the gurney. “It’s okay,” he gasped out. “Don’t make them leave.”          

 

Roy stood beside Johnny trying to get him to put the mask back on, while Dr. Brackett was trying to get him back into the reclining position on the gurney. “Johnny, you need to calm down and lie back, no one is going to hurt the children. Joe just needs to examine them. Now put that mask back on, you need the oxygen.” Dr. Brackett tried to reason with the now agitated man.

 

Johnny resisted frantically and held on to the child’s hand tightly, while the children continued to sob.

 

“No, leave them alone.” he said more forcefully this time. He began to wheeze and his breathing became more labored.

 

“Please Junior, you have to calm down, you’re only making yourself sicker. Let’s get this oxygen back on you okay?” Roy pleaded with the now distraught man.

 

Johnny just shook his head and held on the child tightly. “No, you don’t understand, none of you were there…these two children are going to stay right here.” He was panting heavily now, but he was determined to have his way. He continued on, “I refuse treatment, unless you allow them to stay. You can use a screen to gown me if you have to, but the kids stay. This is NOT open for discussion.”

 

Although it was not uncommon for Johnny to balk when it came to medical treatment, he usually acquiesced once Roy had him at Rampart. As much as Johnny hated it, he had never out and out refused treatment. He especially wasn’t one to push either Dixie or Dr. Brackett too far, but this time was different, and everyone there could sense it. 

 

Still this was new territory for everyone else in the room; this sort of defiance from Johnny when it came to Roy and the Rampart staff was unprecedented.

 

Johnny sat wheezing but remained adamant as he looked at the others. He had now reached over and pulled Lucas next to him as well. He stopped to catch his breath and then a distinct change in the tone of his voice was noticeable. “Either we do this my way, or not at all!”

 

His voice was serious and quiet. There was no note of anger or challenge now-he was stating a fact.

 

He had the air of a man who was well past caring about threats, pleading or consequences. Everyone could clearly see that this was one time when John Gage had had enough, and he wasn’t going to budge…his mind was made up.

 

 

Dixie walked over and stood next to Johnny. “Well, you heard the man gentlemen, I’ll get the screen and Joe, you can bring in another gurney to set the kids on while you examine them.” She then bent down next to Lucas and Natalie. “We have to get Johnny into a hospital gown now, so I need you to come with me, but you can stay in the room with him okay? And while, Dr. Brackett and Roy help Johnny; me and this other nice Doctor want to make sure that you guys aren’t getting sick too, but we promise you can stay right here close to Johnny the whole time, okay?” Dixie looked over and brushed the hair back from Johnny’s damp forehead. “Does that fulfill your requirements Mr. Gage?” She smiled and winked at Johnny.

 

Johnny slowly relaxed and nodded.

 

He looked over at Lucas and Natalie…“It’s okay guys, these people are all my good friends, and they won’t hurt you. As soon as I’m changed they’ll move the screen, and you’ll be able to see me the whole time. But I want you to go over with Joanne and Dixie and let the doctor check you out for me, okay? In a minute they are going to x-ray me; so everyone will have to step out for a minute, but then you can come right back. You just stick with Roy and Joanne, and they’ll bring you right back in…I promise, and I haven’t broken a promise yet, have I?”

 

The children nodded, and allowed Dixie to lead them over to where a second gurney had now been placed.

 

Johnny eased himself back on the gurney exhausted and spent from the outburst. His head had no sooner reached the pillow than he began to cough violently. Roy quickly grabbed the oxygen mask and placed it over his mouth once more. “Okay Junior, how about we get you settled here, so we can get these x-rays over with and find out what all is going on inside that body of yours.”

 

Dr. Brackett sighed as the screen was brought across that would allow for the privacy needed to get Johnny into his gown. The full extent of just what these three had been through not just physically, but emotionally, began to hit home. He mentally made a point to make sure that everyone involved in the care of these three used kid gloves. He hadn’t heard exactly all the information, but he knew that everyone on that bus…all but John Gage and these two small children had been murdered. He began to wonder, just what his patients had witnessed. One thing was for sure, he needed to make sure that they all treaded carefully when dealing with them. It was clear that the three of them were stressed to their limits. Healing was going to take time, and he had to make sure that they were all sensitive to that process.

 

He walked over to the gurney. Roy now had John back on the oxygen and stripped to the waist, and he was in the middle of helping Dixie thread the IV through the sleeve of the gown. Brackett put on his best bedside manner and walked over to the ill man. “Okay Johnny,” he said softly. “I want to get a swab of your throat and a sputum sample for the lab now, and then we’ll let x-ray in here, okay? We’ll get you settled into a room and leave you alone to get some rest as soon as we can…I promise.”

 

Johnny nodded, and once the gown was tied, he lay back once more and closed his eyes. Once the rest of his clothes had been removed, a blanket was produced and Johnny was covered up.

 

 

“Okay, let’s get these x-rays done. Dixie, as soon as you’re finished there, can you phone down and see how soon the lab will have the blood work finished?” Brackett asked.

 

Joanne once more walked over to the children who were finally allowing Joe Early and Dixie to give them a brief exam.

 

“They both look good,” Joe said. “Looks like Johnny took good care of them. Apart from some minor bruising around their wrists and ankles, where it seems they must have been tied up, they look really good…at least physically,” he said looking pointedly over at the others.

 

Joanne and Dixie walked over and helped the two off of the gurney they had been seated on.

 

Joanne leaned down until she was eye level with the two of them. “Okay, now it’s just like Johnny told you, okay? We have to step outside for a few minutes while Johnny has some pictures taken, and then we can come back in here.” Slowly the children took hold of Joanne’s hand and let her lead them out into the hall. “How about while we are waiting to go back in, we go into the lounge, and I’ll get you some juice to drink? Would you like that?”

 

Both children silently nodded and followed Joanne into the doctor’s lounge leaving the others free to talk.

 

As soon as she had disappeared, Roy turned to Agent Knox who had been standing outside the door, while he watched his partner talking on the phone at the end of the hall. “So what is the whole story here, what about those three guys who kidnapped them? Have you caught them yet? Is Johnny going to be have to testify at a trial, are they on the loose, is he going to be safe here? Should we have a guard here to protect them?” Roy fired the questions off rapidly.

 

Just then Matt Anderson walked over. “There won’t be any trial,” he said. “None of this is official yet, but our agents located the cabin John told us about. They found Martin Albright’s body inside. It seems that he swallowed the end of his pistol. He left a suicide note behind for the police.” The agent paused and then continued on, “he left a note behind for Mr. Gage as well. We’re going to be making a press release in a couple of hours. We have to let the public know that there is no longer any danger concerning the escapees, but we are going to keep the location of the three survivors under wraps. I think they have been through enough without having to deal with the press right now, don’t you?” He looked over at the good Doctor who nodded in agreement.

 

“We already have Johnny booked into a private room under an assumed name. We’ll also provide a private place for the Mills family for as long as they need it as well. The children are fine physically, but they are going to definitely need some intense therapy and counseling. They all will. Can you tell us anymore about just exactly what has happened this past week?”

 

“Well,” said Ed Knox. “Now that there will be no trial, we can speak about it, but please understand, we haven’t talked too much to Mr. Gage ourselves. He wouldn’t say much in front of the children. He only told us where Martin was and where they had been held prisoner, and where to locate the stolen van.”

 

Roy stepped forward, “You keep saying no trial and that this Martin guy killed himself, but what about the other fugitive? What about him?”

 

“Other fugitives as in plural,” Said Ed. “It seems Martin Albright and Angus Rankin had outside help in the form of Angus’ cousin: one Duncan MacNeil. He had along criminal history as well, but had been paroled about a year ago. Although we hadn’t released this information before now, their bodies were among the ones we found on the bus, the day it was located. They had both been shot and killed.”

 

Everyone there gasped as Ed continued on with the story. “John had been able to somehow leave us a hastily written note inside the cover of Ms. McCall’s novel. In it he was able to tell us exactly when and where they had been kidnapped and that both the driver and the children’s father had been killed at the time of the hijacking. He informed us that the bodies had been stowed in the luggage compartment of the bus. At the time he wrote the note, all three fugitives were still alive as were Thomas and Helen Clarke. It was him who told us about the van. At the time of the note they were about to leave the bus and be transferred to the stolen van. It would seem that either just before or during the transfer something happened that resulted in the murder of not only Thomas and Helen Clarke, but Angus and Duncan as well. Due to the fact that John wrote both the time and date on the bottom of the note he left for us to find, we know within roughly a half an hour or so, just when this all occurred. But what happened exactly is something we are hoping he will be able to tell us eventually. One thing was fairly obvious though…they almost assuredly witnessed most if not all of the murders.”

 

“Shit,” Roy moaned. “They’re going to need a lot of support in the next while. I mean that is a hell of a lot to deal with.” The others nodded in agreement

 

Just then the treatment room door opened and Malcolm emerged. “I want those, stat,” Brackett ordered. It was half an hour before the last of the lab results came back in. Although the throat swab would not be ready for a while yet, both the blood work and the x-rays confirmed that Johnny had a serious case of bacterial pneumonia in both lungs.

 

By now the adults were getting concerned over the fact that neither Lucas nor Natalie would speak. Both Agents Knox and Anderson confirmed that neither child had uttered a word to them, but that when they had left the room both agents had seen them talk to Johnny, but that as soon as they re-entered the room, the pair had once again refused to speak.

 

 

Joe and Kel went over all the lab results and X-rays one final time before they walked over to where Johnny lay lightly dozing, while Roy stood over him protectively.

 

“Well, Johnny,” Brackett said to the young man laying on the gurney, “We are going to be taking you upstairs to a private room now and get you settled. We’ve got you on some pretty strong IV antibiotics, and because your blood oxygen level is only 92, we will be keeping that mask on until it is at least 95 or better.”

 

It was just at this point that there was a knock on the door and Matt Anderson stuck his head into the room. “Excuse me but Esther and Samuel Mills are here for their grandchildren.” He said.

 

“Okay, said Kel, show them in.”

 

As soon as the elderly couple entered into the treatment room and saw their grandchildren, they burst into tears, as they went over and immediately swept them up into their arms. The children began to cry and held on to them in return.

 

After the scene had calmed down, Esther came over to Johnny and grabbed hold of his hand.

 

“Mr. Gage, I wish there was some way I could pay you back for bringing my grandchildren back home to us safely. The hope that we would at least get them back alive has been all that has been holding us up all week. If we had lost them too, I don’t know what we would have done…Thank-you my dear, dear sweet man.” She then reached over and gently kissed his cheek.

 

Samuel too came over and kissed John on his forehead. “God Bless you son. We will be forever in your debt.”

 

Johnny lay there, and tears began to slide down his cheeks as he lay there holding onto Esther’s hand. He reached up and pulled his oxygen mask sideways. “I’m so sorry about Paul…I just wish there had been something I could have done to save him,” he rasped out as the tears began to fall harder. He glanced over at Lucas and Natalie.

 

Roy reached over and placed the oxygen mask back onto to Johnny’s face and gently took his other hand and clasped it tight.

 

“Shush now, young man.” Esther said as she wiped the tears from his cheeks. “You did more than we could have hoped for, or expected. You gave us our grandchildren, and as soon as you are well, we want to get to know you better. We live in South Pasadena, and we will be keeping up with how you are doing.”

 

Kelly Brackett stepped in at that moment and said, “We are going to be taking Johnny up to his room now, and if you and the children would like to step into my office we’ll make some arrangements on getting you out of here without anyone seeing you. I would also like to give you the name of a couple of really good child psychologists that I think would be helpful for the children to see.”

 

“Thank-you,” said Samuel, “We’ll take all the help we can get. We want to make this transition as smooth as possible for everyone involved.”

 

By now Esther had the children by the hand and was getting them ready to leave. Just as she approached the door Lucas and Natalie broke away and went over to Johnny’s gurney. “We want to say goodbye to Johnny,” she said.

 

Everyone in the room looked up in surprise. It was the first time any of them, had heard either of the children speak.

 

Natalie reached up on her tiptoes and gave Johnny a kiss on his cheek, and the best version of hug she could manage from her position on the floor. “I love you Johnny,” She said. “Thank you for making Martin let us go, and for getting us across that scary river. When you feel better we’ll come and see your horses, just like we said okay.  And maybe you can show grandma how to make a real Indian braid in my hair too.”

 

Johnny smiled and once again slid his mask off as he raised the child’s hand to his face and kissed it. “You bet sweetie, just like I promised we would. You be a good girl, and you guys come and see me whenever you want, as long as it’s okay with your grandma and grandpa.”

 

Lucas looked over and said, “Can you lift me up Grandpa. I want to say good bye too.” Samuel lifted the small boy up until he was level with the gurney and he too kissed the ill man on the cheek. “I Love you too Gray Wolf. When you get better we can go camping, and we can build another upside down fire, and another firebed too, cause we’re tribe brothers now. And you can tell grandma and grandpa all about Iktome and Rabbit Boy.”

 

All the other adults raised their eyebrows and looked at each other. Clearly the three of them had done a lot of sharing during their ordeal.

 

Johnny half coughed/half laughed as he scruffed the child’s head. “You got it swift fox, just as soon as I’m all better.” Johnny lay back down and put the mask back on as he watched the children go back to their grandparents side.

 

“Grandma,” Natalie looked up at Esther. “Johnny said that Daddy’s in heaven with mommy now, you know.”

 

The room got deathly silent, as the older woman sadly nodded toward the child.

 

Lucas walked over and looked up into his grandmother’s eyes. “Gray Wolf’s mommy and daddy are in heaven too you know…some bad men took his parents away from him when he was a little boy too. And he said it’s okay if we want to cry about it,” Lucas added sadly. “Those bad men were really scary, but Gray Wolf saved us, and now me and Natalie are part of his tribe. I’m Swift Fox and Natalie is Little Otter. Gray Wolf even said so.”

 

By this time there wasn’t a dry eye in the room.

 

Once again Esther walked over and squeezed Johnny’s hand. “We’ll be praying for you young man. We’ll come back and visit you if that’s okay.” 

 

Johnny nodded. And the small group slowly made their way out of the room.

 

Dixie walked over, and with the tears still evident on her face she said, “Okay handsome, it’s time to get you settled into your room now.”

 

Chapter Nineteen

 

Roy woke up with a start as he felt a hand come to rest on his shoulder.

 

“Sorry, Roy, I didn’t mean to scare you there, I didn’t realize you were asleep. How’s Johnny this morning?”

 

 

Roy hadn’t realized that he had dozed off either. He looked up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, and seen that the speaker was none other than Captain Stanley. “Oh hi Cap,” he said softly. “He’s still not responding to the antibiotics, and it will soon be 48 hours. Doctor Brackett said if there was no change by this afternoon he was going to switch to another stronger one. The problem is the stronger ones tend to make Johnny nauseas, so that means more anti-emetics will have to be used too.”

 

Cap, sighed, as he looked down on his youngest crewmember whose face was flushed and covered with a thin sheen of sweat, as he fought the fever that was ravaging his body. His breathing was coming in rapid, ragged gasps.

 

All of a sudden Johnny’s head jerked up, and his eyes flew open, full of panic. He began to wheeze and struggle as a harsh painful cough overcame him. The heart monitors began to screech out their warnings, which only added to the confusion in the room.

 

Roy jumped up and pushed the call button, as he ran to Johnny’s side and began to try and quiet him. “Shhh, Johnny, it’s okay. It’s me Roy, I want you to look at me…Listen to me Junior, you’re safe now, and the kids are safe too. It was just a dream.”

Dr Brackett rushed into the room, as Roy was trying to calm Johnny down.  He reached over and looked at the monitors and frowned. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a syringe and quickly emptied it into Johnny’s IV port. It only took a moment for the sedative to take effect.

 

As Johnny began to calm down, Roy gently lowered him back down once more.

 

By now Dr. Early and Dixie had entered the room as well. Dr. Brackett took out his stethoscope and listened once more to Johnny’s lungs. He frowned as he stood up and motioned Joe over.

 

Joe Early came over and took his turn at listening to Johnny’s lungs. He too frowned and looked up a Kel.

 

“Are you hearing the friction rub too Joe?” Kel queried.

 

“Yes, Kel, there’s definitely decreased breath sounds, especially on the left. His oxygen level is down to 89 now too”

 

“Damn,” they heard Roy say as he sighed heavily and sat back in the chair beside Johnny. Roy took John’s too hot hand in his own and whispered out once again, “Damn it.”

 

“What does that mean?” Cap asked

 

“This can’t go on Roy,” Brackett was saying. I’m going to start him on this new antibiotic now, but if we don’t see any improvement by tonight, then I think we’ll have to get more aggressive.”

 

“What do you mean doc?” Roy looked over at Johnny who had once more fallen into a restless sleep.

 

“Joe and I are both concerned that a secondary infection has developed. If he hasn’t improved with this new antibiotic by this evening, we are going to have to do a thoracentesis.”

 

“What’s that?’ asked Hank.

 

Kel looked over at Roy questioningly. Roy was Johnny next of kin, and technically they could not discuss John’s case in front of other’s without either Johnny’s, or if John himself was too ill, Roy’s permission.

 

“It’s okay Doc, you can speak in front of Cap. He knows enough to keep it confidential.” Cap nodded, indicating that was definitely the case.

 

“Well,” Kel explained. “We will insert a needle through his chest wall and draw off some fluid from the pleural space. We strongly suspect that John has developed a Paraneumonic effusion.”

 

“What is that exactly?” Cap asked.

 

We think that the bacteria have caused a direct infection of the pleural space. It is a far more serious complication, but until we can see what’s going on for sure, we won’t know exactly what we’re dealing with. We’ll give this new antibiotic until this evening to work, but if it hasn’t had any effect by this evening, then we don’t want to wait any longer to get aggressive. It’s a serious and potentially life threatening complication. If this is what we fear, we will have to insert a chest tube to allow it to drain.

 

 Hopefully, it will work. If not then we may have to do surgery, but we don’t want to cross that bridge unless we have to. Let’s just wait and hope that this new antibiotic does the trick before we go jumping at shadows okay?”

 

Kel stood up and looked over at Roy.       

 

“Roy there’s one more issue here. We’re going to be moving Johnny up to the ICU. His blood oxygen levels are now below 90. It’s putting too much strain on his heart, and it’s depriving his tissues of oxygen. We’re going to have to sedate him and put him on a vent. His body is already far weaker than we’d like as it is.”

 

Roy nodded, “I’ll sign whatever papers you need doc, just make sure he gets whatever he needs.”

 

Kel patted Roy on the shoulder. “Don’t worry Roy, we’ll get this thing licked. We just got him back, and I have no intention of letting anything take him away from us now. We’ll go ahead and get ready to move him up to the ICU immediately.”

 

As soon as the doctor’s left, Roy stood up, still holding onto Johnny’s hand. He gently reached up and swept the hair off the younger mans forehead. “Come on Junior, you gotta fight this for me. I need you well and beside me in the squad.” Roy’s voice began to quiver slightly. “Hell little brother, I need you in my life. I need all my family healthy and happy, and you are huge part of my family...you know that don’t you?” he said to the unconscious man in the bed.

 

Cap came over and put his hand on Roy’s shoulder. “He knows Roy… in fact, everyone who knows the two of you, knows that.”

 

Roy walked alongside the gurney as Johnny was being taken to the ICU; as they were transferring him to his bed, he began to rouse.

 

 

Johnny himself was lost in a world of painful breathing and terrorizing nightmares. He was never sure what was real and what was delirium. There were times he could tell Roy was near, comforting him and encouraging him. Other times, he was lost in the midst of his illness, seared with a fierce burning fever. Sometimes his mind drifted and ran wild, filling his head with frightening flashbacks of the past week’s events; images that were intensified by the delirium; other times it was clearer and aware of all that was going on around him.

 

As he neared the surface now, this was one of the moments where he was aware of what was happening. He recognized that he was now in the ICU. ‘This can’t be good,’ he thought to himself. Instinctively he reached out and called for Roy.

 

Roy was standing behind the orderly when he heard Johnny’s panicked voice call out weakly…“Roy.”

 

He leaned over and smoothed back the hair on Johnny’s forehead. As he drew closer to lucidity, Johnny began to cough, wheezing heavily, drawing in rapid breaths. “It’s okay Junior,’ Roy said softly, trying to soothe his panicked friend. “You’re having some trouble with your oxygen levels, and you need to go on a vent for a while, so your body can rest and heal itself.  I promise I’ll be right here. I won’t leave until I know you’re settled and okay.”

 

 

Dr. Brackett came up beside Roy and into Johnny’s field of vision. “Johnny, I’m going to give you some stronger sedation now, so you won’t be aware of what’s happening okay? Hopefully, this is just for a day or two until the antibiotics have a chance to kick in and start beating back this infection. You no longer have your spleen to help your body out, not to mention this infection has had the better part of a week to get a good strong hold on you. Right now your system is telling us that it needs a little more help in dealing with this. We’ve switched you to a new, stronger antibiotic now, so with proper rest and care, we shouldn’t need to keep you on this vent too long.”

 

Johnny reached out and grabbed hold of Roy’s hand and looked up into his face. “It’s okay Pally,” he rasped out through the oxygen mask. “I can do this, I’m kinda tired anyway. A nice long nap doesn’t sound so bad to me right now. Besides last week I was actually wishing for a nice warm bed…even if it was in cell block ICU of Rampart.” He flashed a weak smile and then looked over to Dr. Brackett. He nodded and gave weak thumbs up signaling that he was ready.

 

Dixie had entered the room with the respiratory therapist, who was now bustling around preparing everything that would be needed to ventilate Johnny.

 

Dixie walked over to the other side of the young man and looked into his fever bright eyes.

She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “I loved my postcard Johnny, and I’m honored that you think of me that way,” she said as she stroked his hair gently. “Is it okay if I keep you and Roy company until the respiratory therapist has everything set up?”

 

Johnny looked up and smiled and managed to give her a wink, which caused everyone in the room to laugh, helping to release a bit of the tension.

 

Dixie gently sat down on the edge of his bed and touched his cheek with the back of her hand, while her other hand continued to stroke Johnny’s fevered brow. He looked so small and young lying in the bed. It brought a lump to her throat, and she felt hot tears forming in her eyes. She continued stroking his brow, and for the second time in her life, Dixie gently began to sing, ‘I’ve Got a Crush on You’ to John Gage while Kel slowly injected the sedative into Johnny’s IV port.

 

Johnny slowly succumbed to the drug, as his tears slowly made their way down his fevered cheeks, until he knew no more.

 

“Okay” Kel nodded, let’s get him on the vent now.”

 

As soon as Johnny was hooked up to the vent, Kel walked over to Roy.

 

“I want you to go home now Roy. You’ve been running back and forth from your home to Rampart for the last 2 days. If you don’t get some real rest soon you’re going to make yourself sick as well. We’ll be keeping Johnny heavily sedated, so he won’t even know that you’re not here. Besides, you know he would tell you to go home to your family anyway.”

 

Roy nodded his head, but still held on to Johnny’s hand. “Okay Doc, but if he gets worse or the new meds don’t kick in and you have to do the thoracentesis, I want to be notified. If it has to be done, I want to be here when you do it.”

 

“Okay Roy, we’ll call tonight, but we want to give these new meds a full 12 hours to work. So I expect you to go home, visit your wife and kids and get at least 6 good hours of sleep and a couple of hot meals inside of your system.”

 

“Don’t worry Roy,” Dixie spoke up. I’m off for the next two days, so I’ll stay with him, to make sure he’s resting.”

 

Roy looked up at her with a grateful smile. “Thanks, Dix. I know I seem like a mother hen, but I just spent a week thinking I’d lost him forever, and I’m still a little reticent to have him out of my sight for too long yet. I know he’s a grown man, but he is my little brother too. When he was missing and I knew those thugs had taken him, there was just such a huge pain inside of me, and I don’t ever want to go through that again.”

 

 

Roy kept to himself the fact that he was also feeling a tremendous amount of guilt. He still felt that if he hadn’t let Johnny trade places with him by staying behind in San Francisco in the first place, that none of this would have happened. He didn’t want Johnny to find out he was feeling guilty and somehow turn it around and blame himself for Roy’s guilt. Roy knew they both tended to play the blame game when it came to each other, especially when one of them got hurt.

 

The day passed slowly in the ICU. Dixie never left Johnny’s side no matter how much Kel tried to cajole her into leaving. But with each subsequent vitals check, Dr. Brackett grew more and more discouraged as the young paramedic not only failed to improve, his condition began to slowly deteriorate further.

 

Finally by 6 o’clock that evening, he called in Joe Early. When Joe arrived he walked over and read the monitors and sighed. “I think it’s time to do the thoracentesis…I think we might as well prepare to insert a chest tube as well. I think we both know that’s where this is headed.”

 

Kel sighed. “I better go call Roy then. I know he’ll want to be here, besides we’ll have to get him to sign a consent form anyway.”

 

“I’ll call him Kel,” Dixie said. “Why don’t you and Joe go get a cup of coffee and something to eat after you order up the OR.  I’ll get the forms ready for Roy to sign while we wait for him to arrive.

 

Roy and Joanne sat on the couch in their living room watching the six o’clock news, while the children played out back in the yard. Roy had managed to sleep the entire afternoon away, and had enjoyed a wonderful roast chicken dinner thanks to his wife’s amazing culinary skills. It had been such a frantic month, and he was tired. First there had been the vacation to San Francisco, then Johnny’s abduction, now his return and subsequent illness.

 

The kids had returned home from Elaine’s, albeit a day later than scheduled, and now all Roy needed to make his world happy and complete once more, was to have Johnny well and back beside him in the squad. Roy’s attention was brought back to the television screen when once more a picture of his partner and the Mills children flashed onto the screen, followed shortly thereafter by the pictures of the deceased victims and the fugitives.

 

“Boy the press seems really bugged that they aren’t being given the location of the survivors,” said Joanne.

 

Roy leaned down and buried his face in his wife’s hair as he kissed the top of her head. “Yeah, I have to hand it to the FBI, they’ve done a good job of keeping things quiet. The Mills’ have taken Lucas and Natalie to a distant cousin’s home in San Diego until this all dies down. Right now most of the press seems to think Johnny’s in a hospital in Montana, and that’s how I’d like to keep it. He’s going to be harder to conceal in the ICU, but keeping him listed as being in isolation has helped. Plus he’s been officially admitted to Rampart under the name Roderick Gray Wolf. Which I thought was rather clever of Dixie, since it was her idea.”

 

“Are you heading back to Rampart later on tonight?” Joanne asked.

 

“It all depends on whether or not he’s responding to the new meds. If he’s responding well, and there’s some improvement, I’ll just wait until tomorrow to go back. He’ll be sedated anyway. But if he’s not getting better and this other procedure is necessary, then I’ll be going back up; I want to be there. I have to sign the consent form anyway. I’m just really hoping these new antibiotics kick in. Johnny’s been through enough as it is, I hate to see him need to have a chest tube inserted…or worse.”

 

Joanne snuggled in closer to Roy on the couch, “Well just give me a days notice so I can get the John Gage Suite ready for him when he’s released. He will be coming here for a while, won’t he?”

 

“He will if I have anything to say about it. His neighbor Bob is more than willing to look after his animals for as long as it takes.  And believe it or not Chet, and Marco have been going out every day and collecting his mail, checking on his house, watering his plants and garden for him. They’ve even made sure any bills that have come in were taken care of. You know finding out a bit about John’s past and how he lost his family has really had an effect on the guys, especially Chet. I know he feels horrible about all the Indian pranks he pulled on John over the years...I think all the guys kind of feel bad about laughing at John whenever Chet would tease him about being Indian.”

 

“Well honey, they just never realized how much pain Johnny has had to endure in his life until now. Deep down they’ve always liked Johnny, but he’s always buried his hurts so deep, so they had no clue that they were actually hurting him with their jokes until now,” said Joanne. 

 

The ringing of the telephone interrupted any further conversation.

 

 

“Sit still Jo, I’ll get it. Brackett was going to call me with an update, and I’m hoping this is him now.”

 

Roy walked into the kitchen and picked up the phone, while Joanne switched off the TV and got ready to call the children in for their baths.

 

She had just walked through the kitchen door when Roy hung up the phone with a sigh. “Bad news Roy?”

 

“Yeah, Johnny’s not getting any better. He’s actually getting worse, Dr. Brackett and Dr. Early are going to do the thoracentesis and most likely insert a chest tube tonight. I have to go up and sign the forms. If you don’t mind, I’d like to stay with him until he’s settled back in ICU, maybe even longer depending on how he’s doing.”

 

“No Roy you go on up…once the kids are in bed, I’ll see if Mrs. Cameron up the street will come and spend the night. That way I can come up and sit with you, at least until he’s out of recovery.”

 

“Thanks honey, I wouldn’t mind the company actually. It could be another long night,” Roy said as he leaned over and kissed his wife tenderly. “I’ll go out the back way so I can kiss the kids goodnight before I go. I’ll send them in for their baths while I’m at it.” Roy grabbed his jacket and his keys, and headed out the back door.

 

Back at Rampart, Dr Brackett and Dr. Early were finishing up their hurried meal. They were hoping Roy would arrive soon and sign the papers. With Johnny being ‘incognito’ they were going to need Dixie to scrub in and join them in the OR. Johnny Gage knew all the Rampart nurses and would be immediately recognized by any one of them if they were asked to assist with this procedure.

 

As of now the only staff that knew Johnny was there, besides Dixie, Brackett and Early were, Mike Morton, Betty and Carol. It was necessary to tell them, because they needed to have a trusted group of nurses to make sure they had him covered at all times. Even though patients’ information was supposed to be confidential, somehow gossip always seemed to spread like wildfire amongst the nurses and orderlies. It would be inevitable someone would end up leaking it to the press, and that was something John didn’t need.

 

Roy arrived in the ER and was quickly ushered into Kel’s office to sign the necessary forms. He was then escorted into the ICU, for a quick visit with Johnny before he was wheeled into the OR for the procedure. Roy waited in Brackett’s office rather than the doctor’s lounge or the surgical waiting area. Anyone who seen him in either place would not be long in putting two and two together and realize who he was there for.

 

Roy had been waiting nervously for about an hour, when the door opened and Joanne slipped quickly inside. “Mrs. Cameron came early...I thought I’d find you here. Has there been any word yet?” she asked.

 

“Nothing so far Jo, but it should be soon. I hate all this waiting.” Roy stood up and began to pace. “I tell you Jo, I think every hair on my head that’s fallen out or gone gray is because of Johnny. I lose a bit more hair or new gray hairs form every time he ends up here.” He stopped and smiled. “But he’s worth every hair on my head. I wouldn’t trade him…not even for a full thick head of hair. Although it does seem a bit unfair that he has such a great head of hair, and I lose mine.” He rolled his eyes as he heard his wife sitting on the chair giggling uncontrollably at his mini rant. “Damn, now I’m even starting to rant like him!” Roy moaned.

 

This time Joanne’s giggles erupted into full-fledged laughter.

 

As two more long hours slowly went by, Roy began to get worried. He looked at the clock, it was almost midnight. “What’s taking so long?” He said out loud, even though he knew it was a rhetorical question that wouldn’t be answered. “The procedure wasn’t supposed to be more than 45 minutes to an hour long. It’s been just over 3 hours now.”

 

 

The words had no sooner left his mouth than Dr. Brackett entered his office. He looked tired and very serious. Roy felt his stomach drop into his boots. “Is the news that bad?” Roy asked.

 

“Well, it’s not great,” Brackett replied. “It’s just as we suspected, the bacterial infection has spread to the pleural cavity. Johnny definitely has a pleural effusion that has become organized. It’s what we call an Empyema. It’s a build-up of pus and fluid in the pleural cavity, which is not allowing his left lung to expand properly. We did the thoracentesis, and we drew off quite a bit of frank pus from the space.

We waited while we sent it to the lab, but with the large amount we saw, it was clear we needed to insert a chest tube. Since he was sedated and on the vent anyway, we went ahead and did it right there.

 

Thankfully, Johnny is out right now. With this type of infection, the chest tubes tend to clog up, which in turn can cause several issues if that happens, not the least of which is a pericardial tamponade, or a tension pneumthorax. To prevent that, we have to either insert more than one chest tube or use a large bore tube. In John’s case, since there was a large amount of fluid, we used the large bore tube.

 

Unfortunately, the large bore tubes are very painful while they’re in there. Right now until his lung function on the left improves, we’ll keep him on the vent, but we will want to get him off of it as soon as his oxygen levels creep back over 90. While the low 90’s aren’t great numbers, they’re not as critical as his numbers are right are now, which is at 87 without the vent.

Hopefully those numbers will begin to improve now that the drain is in. Right now we have him on some high, aggressive doses of antibiotics. The pneumonia had almost a week head start and it has taken a strong hold on his body, couple that with no spleen and it was just a time bomb waiting to go off.

 

Joe and Dix are with him right now, and we’ll keep someone with him 24/7 for now. Everything looks okay, but there is a small risk of him developing a pneumothorax or a pulmonary edema from the thoracentesis, so he’ll be watched closely for now. He’ll probably stay in recovery for quite a while and then we’ll slip him back up to ICU before the shift change.”

 

Roy sighed and squeezed Joanne’s hand. “So how long will he need the chest tube in? …what kind of recovery time is he looking at?”

 

“That’s a kind of prediction I wouldn’t even hazard to try and guess. There are too many variables right now. Even if his antibiotics started to kick in now, and he made a fast recovery, we’re looking at probably 3 weeks in the hospital. Then more lengthy recovery once he gets home. Recovery from empyema is fairly long, but it is usually complete once it happens. He won’t be in the squad with you for a few months anyway Roy. This isn’t going to be a quick fix. Johnny is a very sick young man right now.

 

But the tube needs to be in place for quite an extended period of time, not only until the infection has cleared, but also until we can be absolutely certain that there is no chance of a recurrence.”

 

Roy shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “What if he doesn’t respond to this treatment?” he asked nervously.”

 

“Well, Roy I won’t kid you, it’s not good. If the tube doesn’t adequately drain it successfully or the antibiotics can’t handle it, we’ll have to go in and do a decortification, which requires a thoracotomy.

 

If that happens I think it’s safe to say, John would not be able to stay on in the department. Most patients like Johnny, who are young and in good physical shape, usually have an adequate functional respiratory recovery from a decortication, and while it probably wouldn’t preclude normal day to day activities, the strenuous physical requirements and long term functional results from the surgery would mean he couldn’t stay on with the fire department…But that’s a worst case scenario Roy…There’s no reason to believe that the chest tube we inserted to drain the infection, plus the antibiotics we are pumping into his system, won’t work, and that given enough recovery time, Johnny will make a full recovery, and get back to doing the job he loves… with the brother he loves.” Kel added with a grin.

 

Roy blushed, and grinned up at the physician. “How soon can I go see him?”

 

“You can go on up as soon as he’s in ICU…I don’t suppose it would do me any good to tell you that while he’s on the vent he’ll be out, so you might as well go home and rest?”

 

“I’ll go home doc, I promise, but I just need to see him for a few minutes first…I have to see him for myself.”

 

“Okay Roy…15 minutes and then you go home and sleep in your own bed tonight…or at least for what’s left of the night, and I don’t want to see you in here before noon tomorrow.”

“Thanks Doc,” Roy said, as he and Joanne made their way slowly towards the ICU to wait for Johnny to arrive from recovery.

Chapter Twenty

 

 

Roy tried hard to stay awake in his chair beside Johnny’s sedated form in the bed beside him. The repetitious noise from the ventilator was having an almost hypnotic effect on him, and he fought hard to keep his eyes from sliding closed. It didn’t help that his body’s gas tank was now running on fumes.

 

It had been 3 days since the chest tubes had been inserted and there was still a lot of drainage coming from inside of Johnny’s body. Johnny’s fever was still present, although it had fallen from its dangerously high levels of a few days earlier. It was still dancing at the 102-degree mark, fluctuating very little. His oxygen levels had improved slightly as well and now sat at around 93. The left lung was still not fully inflated, but was definitely on the way, but the pneumonia and the empyema had taken a strong hold, and Johnny was not bouncing back as quickly as any of them had hoped.

 

Johnny himself was sedated heavily, but not fully unconscious. To Johnny it seemed like he was never actually asleep, nor was he fully awake. His sleep when it did come was filled with terrifying images of the murders of his fellow passengers on the ill fated bus 87. He welcomed the moments when he was blissfully unaware, but his fever consumed mind, left his sleep restless and troubled.

 

His medicated haze left him struggling to sort out what was real and what was delirium. The one thing he was aware of, however, was Roy’s presence. No matter how close to the edge of fear and anguish his delirium took him, there was always the knowledge that Roy was close by. His comforting words of love and encouragement called him back, inch by inch…drew him back from the precipice of the dark abyss of those terrible dreams.

 

Roy sat by Johnny’s bed watching his unsettled sleep. He knew Johnny so well, that he could tell when Johnny’s restlessness was from the fever and pain and when it was from the nightmares. He sighed deeply. He was so angry at life right now…he railed against the fates that had once again dragged this man, who was closer to him than a brother, through yet another painful life experience. “Why, Johnny, Why does it always have to be you that life shits on?” he said aloud.

 

“I don’t know Roy, but we’ll all make sure he gets through this one, he won’t be alone this time,” Said Dr. Brackett.

 

Roy jumped up with a start. He hadn’t realized that the good doctor had entered the room.

 

“Sorry, Roy, I didn’t mean to startle you.”  Brackett said apologetically.

 

 

Kelly Brackett had actually been standing at the door watching Roy for a good five minutes. He had always marveled at the relationship between his two best paramedics. He had given up long ago trying to figure out what made them click. As opposite as the two men were in personality, they were also truly the definition of simpatico. They were truly a contradiction to every rule he’d ever been taught about human nature. When Roy had first asked for John as his partner, Kel had given the pairing 6 months tops. He’d never been so wrong about anything in his life, and for that he was extremely grateful. He was also thankful that he could now call both of these men, good friends.

 

Initially he had wanted to curb how long Roy spent with John in the ICU, but he soon realized that both men suffered when they were forced apart. It had taken very little to make Kel acquiesce and allow Roy full access to Johnny. The two were so closely tied together. It literally seemed at times that the two were bound up in each other, almost as if it was Roy’s efforts alone that were responsible for Johnny’s recovery. Kel did have to admit that no matter how unaware of his surroundings Johnny seemed, the monitors always indicated that Johnny’s condition was always markedly improved when Roy was beside him.

 

He came up beside Roy and spoke. “Joe and I have discussed this, and we’re going to remove Johnny from the vent later on this afternoon, and get him back in the private room. I’ve already ordered the sedation to be discontinued. His oxygenation level has been at 93 for 24 hours now, and although this pneumonia and empyema are not relinquishing their hold as easily or as quickly as we would like, we don’t want him on the vent longer than necessary. His throat culture showed that it wasn’t strep, but it’s still an infection, and the tube will be irritating it. There’s also the increased risk of a pneumothorax as well as barotrauma the longer we keep him on it.”

 

The doctor walked over and examined the monitors. He then pulled out a rectal thermometer, and proceeded to gently shift Johnny into position. He looked over at Roy and grinned. “If the monitors start to screech then I’ll know Johnny’s waking up and is aware of what I’m doing…but I want to get an accurate reading here, and auxiliary isn’t my first choice.”

 

After the correct amount of time had passed, Brackett removed the thermometer and looked at it. He frowned and glanced over at Roy. “102.5…the medication and drain are working, just not as quickly as we’d like, and that’s probably down to the fact that his immune system is depressed by having no spleen. But he is slowly making small improvements. As long as the trend is in his favor, no matter how slowly, we see no need to needlessly put him at risk for the complications that can arise from long-term use of the vent, especially since we are not using it to keep an airway open. As long as he can maintain his oxygenation level at 91 or better, we’ll switch to using a mask. Once he gets to 95 we’ll change him to a nasal cannula. It will also be easier to keep his location quiet with him safely tucked away on one of the private suites on the top floor.”

 

Roy grinned, “Be careful doc…you get Johnny used to the VIP treatment of the private suite, and he may never settle for a semi-private room ever again.”

 

Kel chuckled, “well after all he’s been through, I think a little pampering is just what this doctor is ordering…like I said earlier Roy, we’ll all make sure Johnny has all the support he needs to get through this. Although, I do wish I had known earlier about some of his past. I get the distinct impression there’s a lot more pain in his past than just what you shared with us about that necklace.”

 

“Yeah doc, there is, but I won’t break John’s confidence. Any more information about his past will have to come from Johnny himself. I only told you all about the necklace and its history because Knox and Anderson gave it to me in front of everyone. But I will tell you this, Johnny is an amazing man, and I have a lot of respect for him for overcoming what he has had to and still turning out to be such a caring soul. I am truly honored to call him friend and brother. I was blessed the day his path crossed mine, that’s for sure.”

 

“Speaking of the FBI Roy, have you talked to them lately?” Brackett asked.

 

“Yeah, they called last night to check on Johnny. The case is obviously closed, now that there is no need to have any kind of a trial, but they still want a full statement as to the details of what Johnny saw and just what exactly he knows about what happened. I tell you doc, I’m not looking forward to it. The Mills children clam up whenever the FBI even tries to talk to them. According to Esther and Samuel, the children’s therapist says they shouldn’t force the issue. The kids are having nightmares and they ask to see Johnny a lot, but they are beginning to talk about what happened a bit more, but nothing specific, just about how they are feeling.

 

“The FBI wanted to know where to send Johnny’s personal possessions…you know his suitcase and all his carry on stuff that was still on the bus when it was found. They also said that although they are keeping the original note Martin Albright left for John in the cabin, they would be giving a copy of it to him if he wants it. It was after all addressed to him. They wouldn’t tell me what it contained, and that makes me nervous. I don’t want Johnny upset in anyway.”

 

“Well Roy, don’t worry about that for now. I won’t allow them access to John until I am certain he is ready to face them. I don’t think we should feed Johnny too much information about what the FBI is doing and what happened to Martin Albright right away. I don’t want him overwhelmed. I want all his energy spent on recovering from this empyema. However once he regains some awareness, he may start asking questions, and if that happens we’ll have to tell him. If I’ve learned anything from past experience in dealing with Johnny, it’s that trying to hide information from him upsets him as much, if not more, than just being straight with him. But until he starts asking questions, I don’t want anyone bringing it up. As far as letting the FBI talk to him, I’m just going to take my cue from Johnny himself on when he’s ready.”

 

 

By late that afternoon, Johnny’s awareness level improved, his mind cleared, and he began to recognize those around him with more clarity. By early evening he had been removed from the vent and he, along with his menagerie of equipment and monitors, had been settled back into the private room that had been set up especially for him on the top floor of Rampart.

 

It was early the next morning when Johnny woke up. His lungs still felt sore, but it paled in comparison to the pain that was caused by the large bore chest tube that was draining the poison from his pleural cavity. His throat was still raw and sore, but he figured it was probably due as much to the breathing tube as it was to the infection. They had been having him gargle with saline, and he had to admit it had helped a lot. He wished he could get rid of this fever too, it was still high enough that it added yet another layer to his misery. But as much as the tube hurt, he wasn’t going to complain.

 

Once he had been coherent, the first thing he demanded to know was what was wrong with him. After a fair bit of hedging he had finally been told about his condition. He had also been informed about the possible need for a decortication and what it would mean to his future as a paramedic and firefighter.

 

Brackett said that since he was responding, albeit slowly, that right now, the risk was small. He had however, cautioned Johnny that even at that, recovery from an empyema was a slow process and that he should be prepared for an extended convalescence period.

 

Still, the idea that he may end up having to undergo the life changing surgery, however small, was a frightening thought that was plaguing Johnny as he lay there quietly.

 

He tried to gingerly shift in his bed, trying to ease his stiff and aching back, praying that he wouldn’t start to cough. That was an experience in torture that he could definitely do without. He slowly shifted and couldn’t hold back the moan of pain as the tube made its presence known.

 

Almost instantly, Roy was beside him. “What do you need Johnny, do you want me to call the doctor, or Dix…it’s probably time for some more pain meds anyway.”

 

Johnny grimaced as he let his head fall back on to his pillow.  He hadn’t realized that Roy was there. He looked at the clock and it read 7:10 am. “I’m okay, I just needed to give my back a new position to lay in,” he rasped out from beneath the oxygen mask covering his mouth.  Roy reached over and slid the mask aside and fed him some water through a straw, which Johnny gratefully accepted.

 

Johnny cocked his head sideways and gave Roy and appraising look. “Man, Roy, please tell me that you haven’t been here all night.”

 

Roy shrugged, “Yeah, I just wanted to make sure you settled in alright on your first night out of the ICU.”

 

Johnny frowned in disapproval. “Roy, you can’t keep doing this, you gotta go home and get some real sleep…I’ll be okay. Dixie, Betty and Carol are keeping a close eye on me, and Brackett and Early are both hovering over me like a swarm of mosquitoes. Go home and get some sleep…. when exactly are you sleeping anyway?”

 

Roy grinned, “Didn’t you know, I’ve mastered the art of sleeping with one eye open at all times. It’s a skill I’ve honed from years of keeping a lookout for my 2 children and my wayward partner.”

 

Johnny snorted; his eyes twinkled with merriment as he looked over at Roy… “And which eye would that be?”

 

Roy laughed... “My right…haven’t you figured that out yet Johnny? I’m always right.”

 

Both men giggled until Johnny became exhausted by the effort and lay back and closed his eyes while he breathed in the cool sweet oxygen from the mask covering his face.

 

After a few moments, Johnny’s mood sobered, and he turned to face Roy. “Roy, I’ve been thinking, and there’s something I want to discuss with you.”

 

Roy grew uneasy at the tone of Johnny’s voice. “What’s the matter Johnny?” he asked cautiously.

 

He didn’t want Johnny’s mind to go into any dark places right now….he was still far too ill to be upsetting himself.

 

Johnny steeled himself and reached up and slid his oxygen mask to the side. “If the worst happens and I end up having to leave the department, I don’t want you thinking that you have to quit too. I know we promised, but I have no intentions of holding you to it. It wasn’t fair of me to let you make that deal. I don’t have a family who is depending on me. You do, and I’d understand why you would stay with the program”

 

Roy groaned inwardly, this was exactly what he had been afraid of when Brackett had discussed this with Johnny last night. “First of all Johnny, it’s not going to happen okay? And second of all, you most certainly do have a family depending on you, or don’t Jo, the kids and I count? And third, it’s not on the table for discussion. Now put that mask back on right now, you need it to keep your level stable.” Johnny opened his mouth to protest, but Roy cut him off. “Put the mask on John, NOW.”

 

Johnny put the mask back in place, but he had no intention of letting the matter drop. “Roy,” he said through the mask. “Of course you are my family…you know how I feel about you guys. I just meant that when it comes to Jo, Chris, and Jen, and their futures, financially you have more at stake than I do. And that I’d understand that you have to make them your priority.”

 

Roy pulled the chair over next to the bed and he rested his hand on Johnny’s arm. “Okay Johnny, I can see you won’t let this drop until we talk about it. Let me reiterate, that this is a non-issue since it’s not going to happen, but since it’s upsetting you, then I’m going to explain this to you one time, and one time only, so you can settle your mind and forget about it once and for all. Yes, this illness is bad, and yes, recovery is going to take a while, but it will happen and you will completely be well again in time. You’re scrawny little butt will once again be in the shotgun position in the squad where it belongs. But if…and this is a hypothetical if…if you were not able to return, then I have NO intention of having any other partner but you. We already settled all this years ago after I turned down the Engineer’s job.

 

Johnny even if that did happen, to either of us, we would be fine. We do have other things we could do.

 

“As far as financially goes, the 30 thousand we got when we sold the old engine has set the kids up for college, so that isn’t a worry anymore. And because of that, you were able to get a few really nice horses for your ranch. Hell, maybe if we had to leave the department, we could pool our resources and become partners in the horse business, and make the ranch a real viable money-maker, breeding and selling horses. You yourself have been telling me how much a good working ranch can make in a year.

 

We could even start up the DeSoto-Gage restoration company and spend our off time fixing up old engines and even old cars and reselling them, like we did the first time. We could be our own bosses, and we could even work part time as paramedic instructors. We could alternate each taking a class once or twice a year. The point is Johnny, we do have options. As long as we’re partners whether it’s in the department, in the restoration business or the horse ranch business or even all three, we’ll be okay. But no matter what, the deal remains…you go…I go. That was the always the deal, and we made it because it’s what we both decided we wanted…or have you changed your mind on me?” Roy looked at John, hoping he had gotten through to him once and for all.

 

 

Johnny looked up at Roy and smirked…“Uh Roy? I believe you made a mistake. It’s Gage-DeSoto...not DeSoto-Gage.”

 

Roy rolled his eyes and grinned, “Well, we can hammer out the details if and when the time ever comes. Now you, little brother, are going to let me call Dixie in to give you your pain meds, because I can see the pain on your face; then as soon as you are resting, I’m going to go home and kiss my wife and catch a chance to get some real sleep…with both eyes closed.” he said as he reached over and pressed the call button to summon in which ever of Johnny’s three nurses was presently on duty

 

 

                                                               Chapter Twenty-One

 

 It had been a week now since Johnny had been removed from the vent, and although the sickness did not release its hold over his body easily, Johnny was now sure that he was on the long road to recovery.

His oxygen levels were now holding at 95, he was on a nasal cannula and his fever was now down to 100.7.  His biggest complaint at the moment was the ever present and very painful chest tube. There were still small amounts of fluid draining, and Dr. Brackett had informed him that the tube would remain until no more fluid was draining and that they could be sure the infection was gone for good with no chance of a recurrence.

 

He had just had his meeting with Agents Knox and Anderson from the FBI, and had reluctantly re-lived the events of his entire ordeal. Roy, Dixie and both Doctor Brackett and Early had insisted they be present while he was being interviewed.

 

Roy had sat protectively on one side of him and Dixie was on the other. Johnny would have laughed at how much they resembled guard dogs, had he not been so touched by their concern. He also had to admit, he did want them there as he was feeling more than a little trepidation at having to go through it all again for the FBI.

 

 

After the agents had left, Johnny looked over in the corner to where his luggage lay. They had also given him an envelope, which contained a suicide note Martin had written to him.

 

Roy looked over at Johnny who looked pale and drawn after his visit with the agents.

 

Brackett walked over to the bed keeping one eye on the monitor while he was checking Johnny’s vital signs. “Johnny, I’m going to give you a little something to help calm you down a bit…your vital signs and the monitor are both indicating that your body is a bit stressed from all of this and I don’t want you losing any ground now that you’re improving so much.”

 

“Aw doc,” Johnny whined. “I hate the way they make me feel so sleepy, I’ll be okay in a minute or so…. really I will.”

 

“Listen Johnny, you’re still a long way from well, and your body can’t take a lot of stress, I promise I will only give you enough to take the edge off, and not enough to knock you out, but I’m not going to let your body go through any unnecessary stress right now.”

 

Johnny sighed and nodded. The truth was, their visit had unnerved him, and he was feeling a tad shaky just now, even with his friends close by.

 

As soon as Brackett had injected the mild sedative into Johnny’s IV port, he, Joe and Dixie had left the two men alone to talk in private.

 

“So” Roy said, “I’m guessing that cold swim across the river in 30 and 40 degree temperatures when you were already sick, is what really settled the pneumonia into your lungs huh?”

 

“Yeah, probably. But it had to be done. I just wish I had known that night that Martin was probably already dead when I crossed. I wouldn’t have been as worried that first night on the trail.”

 

Roy stood up and walked closer to Johnny’s bed, and looked him over closely. He could tell right away that Johnny was emotionally drained right now. He was conflicted as to whether to let him rest, or if maybe it might be better to talk now and try to help bring his friend some peace of mind, so that he could hopefully rest without being tormented by nightmares.

 

Johnny looked over at Roy and he could instantly read the thoughts that were swirling around inside his head. He looked over at Roy and his dark eyes met Roy’s blue, and he held his gaze for a long minute. Finally, Johnny motioned to the chair beside the bed. “Sit, Roy, we might as well talk all of this out now, and get it over with…that way we can both move on and concentrate on getting me out of here and back into the squad.”

 

Roy came over and sat beside the bed. “Okay Johnny, first of all what do you want to do about this note Martin left for you. Are you going to read it? And then do you want me to take your luggage home or should I just leave it here in case you want to use some of the stuff now?”

 

“Honestly Roy? I don’t know if I want to read it or not. In one sense I don’t care. I know that sounds cold, but after everything he put me and those two kids through, I really don’t care. We all have shit that happens to us, but we don’t all go around handing guns to killers and hijacking buses just to get what we want. On the other hand, I want to read it in the hope that there’s something in there that helps all of this make sense to me. So I really haven’t decided as far as the letter goes. I’ll decide later, after I’ve had a chance to put some distance between me and all of this.”

 

Johnny stopped as he coughed and tried to catch his breath. He grimaced at the pain the chest tube caused him, when he coughed. He immediately felt Roy’s hand rubbing circles on his back in an effort to help his coughing spell ease up. Johnny nodded indicating to Roy he was better now and he continued on. “As far as the luggage goes, I don’t want any of it…it was laying on that bus with those dead bodies for almost a week. I have no intention of even opening any of it. There’s nothing in there that I’m so attached to that I want to salvage it. The first chance I get, I’ll take it out back of my ranch and burn it. As far as Dixie’s novel goes, I think the FBI still has it. I’ll just buy her a new copy as soon as I am able.”

 

 

Johnny lay back and closed his eyes; the conversation had left him spent.

 

“I don’t think Dixie cares about the novel Junior, I wouldn’t worry about that one. As far as the luggage goes, I’ll take it with me now and send it to the dump if that’s what you want.”

 

Johnny nodded, “Yeah Roy, that’s what I want. Thanks.”

 

Roy shifted uneasily for a moment, and then he slowly drew his hand out of his pocket. Johnny’s eyes misted over as he saw his mothers necklace sitting in Roy’s hand.

 

Roy silently bent over and slipped the necklace over Johnny’s head; he leaned over and gave him a warm hug. His voice was heavy with emotion, and he found he couldn’t contain his tears as he spoke to Johnny. “When I read the postcard you left me John and then the necklace slid out of that envelope, I thought my heart was going to die right there on the spot. I was so damn scared Johnny, I thought I had lost you forever. I realized that there is so much I take for granted that you know, but that I had never had the chance to tell you.”

 

Johnny grabbed Roy’s hands in his and looked up, his own eyes spilling tears. “It’s okay Roy, it’s over now, and you don’t have to say anymore…I know, I’ve always known, and I’m back now…it’s over now.”

 

“No, Johnny, I  have to say more, because I made a promise that if you came out of this alive, I was going to make sure I told you everything I should have been letting you know all along.”

 

He held his hand up to silence Johnny when it looked as if he was going to interject.

 

“Johnny, the day that you walked into that office to sign up for the paramedics was one of the best days of my life.  When I think back over all the special days in my life that I consider real blessings; I think of the day I met my beautiful Joanne and the day she and I became husband and wife. I think of the day that Chris was born, and then a couple years later when Jennifer was born. And I also think of the day that you walked into my life.

 

“You are my brother, and I don’t mean that lightly John. You are a part of my family, just as much as Jo, the kids, and my mom. I know we balk at saying stuff like this because we’re supposed to be big macho firemen, but when I thought you were dead, and I hadn’t let you know how much you meant to me…well Junior, the pain and regret I felt over that was devastating. I made a promise to God right then and there, that if he’d get you safely back home to me, that I would not let another day go by without rectifying the situation. I know we men don’t say this kind of stuff, but I don’t care…I know what’s at stake and I’m saying it.

 

 

“John Roderick Gage, you are my brother in every way that counts and I love you little brother. My wife loves you and my kids love you, and I am thankful to God above that he brought you into my family. I am proud of who you are, and I’m proud of everything you’ve conquered to become the great man that you are today. I am also thankful that I’m a better man for having known you. I’m a better paramedic, and a better human being. So thank you Johnny. And don’t ever forget that you do belong to a family now, and you are deeply loved.” He bent over once more and gave John a hug and then he kissed the top of his head. He slowly stood up and wiped his eyes.

 

Johnny was wiping his own tears now, as he looked at Roy. “Roy, when my mom and dad died and then I went through all of that hell because of my grandparents, I literally forced myself to stop feeling. I was so afraid of being let down again. Hell, Roy I still have problems with that. But the day you came into my life, it was like I was given a second chance at happiness. I’m not good at words like this, and sometimes I’m not great at expressing myself. And if I’m being honest, I have to admit that sometimes those feelings scare the shit out of me, and I’m not sure how to handle them. But I do know this, you and Jo and the kids mean more to me than life itself. I would die for any one of you.

 

“And yes, Roy, I love you too. And I am the one who is proud to call you brother. You have brought me back from the edge of a lonely, black void and dragged me back into the land of the living. You taught me how to feel again. You’ve given me a sense of love and security that I haven’t felt since mom and dad were killed. And I am the one who is privileged to call you brother. I was alone and hurt and wounded; you came to me, found me ragged and alone and you bound up all my hurts and wounds; you helped my soul heal. You gave me hope and a future, and for as long as I live, I can never thank you enough for all that you have done for me.”

 

Johnny grabbed Roy’s hands and pulled him once more into as big of a hug as his chest tube would allow for. He then pulled Roy’s head down enough so that he too could place a kiss on the top of his head. “Thank-you brother,” He whispered.

 

Johnny looked at Roy and could tell Roy was still upset that all this had happened, and although he’d never voiced it, Johnny knew he blamed himself for letting John stay behind in San Francisco in his place.

“So Roy, you okay now?” Johnny asked

 

“Yeah I’m good.”

 

“Liar” Johnny snorted…”you’re still upset about all of this.”

 

“Well” Roy replied. What about you? Are you okay?”

 

“M’ okay Roy,” Johnny said

 

“Liar,” Roy smirked back.

 

Both men grinned, and after a moment John let out a shaky sigh.

 

“Okay, I’m not perfectly okay, but I will be in time.”

 

“Yeah, me too Junior, me too.” And Roy leaned over and gave Johnny one more gentle hug.

 

The two men separated and their eyes met in a final glance. Each mans’ look was full of emotion, and it was enough. In that moment all was settled.

 

Yes, with words, but so much more was said with just that one look, that one smile. In that moment of mutual affirmation, their bond that had been forged over the last 5 years, whose foundation was built on not only loyalty, friendship and love, but also on the many shared triumphs and tragedies they had gone through together. Now, after coming through this terrible nightmare, that bond had grown even stronger yet again, with another layer of depth of honesty, and a new realization and appreciation for all that bond stood for…for all that they meant to each other.

 

It was the next morning as Roy and Johnny were sitting back and watching TV and just enjoying each other’s company, when the door of Johnny’s room opened slowly, and the rest of the A shift slipped in quietly. They had been careful not to make too much noise in case Johnny was sleeping.

 

They were pleased to find Johnny awake and watching an old black and white movie with Roy on the large TV that was sitting on the desk at the end of his bed.

 

Dixie and Dr. Early and Dr. Brackett slipped in after them.

 

Dr. Brackett came over and gave Johnny the once over. Making sure he had recovered from the FBI’s visit from the previous day. He quickly did a quick vitals check and slid the thermometer into Johnny's

mouth. He checked his drainage tube and oxygen levels while he waited for the allotted amount of time to pass in order to get an accurate temperature on his patient. After another minute passed, he removed the thermometer from Johnny’s mouth and held it up. “101.3 Johnny, but considering the stress of yesterday, I’ll take that. There is still some drainage happening but the tube site looks good.”

He then pulled out his stethoscope and helped Johnny to sit upright while he listened to his lungs.

 

Johnny hissed in pain as the movement irritated the chest tube.

 

 

“Sorry, Johnny. I know that’s painful, but I wanted to get a good listen to your lungs. There’s still some congestion, but there is definitely a marked improvement today…we’re getting there.”

 

Johnny grimaced once more as Roy and Dixie helped ease him back.

 

Brackett reached over and injected a syringe into Johnny IV port. “Here this should take the edge off for you Johnny.”

 

Johnny rolled his eyes and glared. “Aw doc, why’d ya go and do that for, this is the first chance I’ve had to see the guys and now I’m gonna just fall asleep on them.” He whined.

 

Dr. Brackett looked him in the eyes and gave him his best no nonsense look. “Look John we’ve been over this one before. You have a serious illness, which could have been a lot worse. Your body is still fighting off an infection, and it’s extremely weak right now. You can’t afford to put any more strain on it by not giving it pain relief when it needs it. You have to keep on top of the pain, or you could relapse, and I know I don’t have to tell you how dangerous that would be on your system do I?”

 

Johnny sighed, “No doc, I know. I just hate the way it makes me feel. I feel like I’m sleeping my entire life away.”

 

Cap walked over and looked John in the eye. “Well just be thankful you have a life to sleep away. We came pretty damn close to losing you and none of us are prepared to risk that again. We’ll have many more chances to visit, and if you fall asleep while we’re here, that’s okay. We’ll be back again. Besides we just got off shift and went out for breakfast together. We decided since we finally got the go ahead from your keeper here,” he said pointing at Roy. “That it was okay to come and visit, we thought we would just pop in, but we aren’t staying long anyway. We all need to get home and grab some sleep; it’s been a long shift.”

 

Johnny gave in and smiled…“Okay, okay, I’ll behave. It’s great to see you all. I’ve really missed you guys…even you Chester B.”

 

 

Chet looked around at all the perks a private hospital suite afforded Johnny. He looked over at Dr. Brackett and winked when Johnny wasn’t looking.

 

He let out a low whistle, “Wow Gage, it’s finally happened. You’ve got your own personal room here at Rampart. You know that when they told you last year when you got hit with that car, that if you didn’t quit ending up here as a patient, they were going to give you your own room? Well you do realize that was a threat and not a challenge don’t you?”

 

Johnny laughed–the exertion hurt him considerably, but he was genuinely amused.

 

Chet went on…

 

“I mean your face is all over the media. On every TV and every newspaper. What you did escaping like that and getting those kids back to safety when you were half dead yourself. Man Gage, even that publicity loving, glory hound, Tom Wheeler has had to concede to defeat and bow down in honor of your greatness. He can’t touch the ‘Great John Gage’, master of good PR for the department…you’re the golden boy now. In fact you’re the poster boy for good public relations.”

 

Everyone held their breath hoping that Chet hadn’t said the wrong thing and upset the ill man in the bed. Dr. Brackett was ready to sedate him to the gills in order to make sure he stayed calm. Roy himself was ready to kick Chet’s ass if he had upset Johnny.

 

They were all relieved however, when Johnny stared open mouthed at Chet for a moment and threw back his head and laughed out loud.

 

“That’s right Chester B,” Johnny giggled. “You’ve got me…It’s all part of my master plan. You see I’ve been secretly bucking for my own special wing in the Civil Servants Hall of Fame.”

 

Everyone looked over at the two men, momentarily stunned, and then the entire room was filled with gales of relieved laughter. At that moment everyone there knew that although Johnny had a long road ahead of him, he would eventually be okay.

 

They visited for another five minutes, but it wasn’t long before Johnny began to succumb to the pain killer and his eyes began to droop heavily. As much as he tried not to, a huge yawn escaped from his mouth.

 

 

“Well gentlemen,” said Cap. “I think that’s our cue to leave and let Johnny get some rest.” He looked over at his youngest crewmember. His cheeks were still slightly flushed with the low grade fever he was running, but the rest of his face was pale, and his face was slightly sunken as the whole ordeal had taken its toll on his body. He had clearly lost a fair bit of weight.

 

Johnny noticed Cap giving him the once over and smiled. “Don’t worry Cap. I’ll be up and around before you know it.”

 

“You better be John, and that’s an order. You listen to Roy and your doctors, and make sure you allow yourself to be sick, so that you can get well again. None of this, I’m okay and I don’t need my meds crap. And that’s an order too.”

 

“Yes, sir,” Johnny said as he flashed his crooked grin at the man.

 

And with one final wave, the crowd slowly slipped out of the room leaving Johnny and Roy alone once more.

 

Johnny lay back in his bed and allowed sleep to overtake him, while Roy quietly switched off the television set and picked up his book and settled in to read while Johnny napped.

 

Chapter Twenty-Two

 

 

Johnny lay in his hospital bed mulling over the events of the past three weeks in his mind. It was one of the few times he was actually alone. He had spent the last hour or so trying to sort out all of his thoughts and emotions, trying to give himself some semblance of closure on this whole mess. He was relieved when he discovered that he had actually been able to achieve his goal, with a certain measure of success.

 

This was now the 10th day since his chest tube had been put in, and there was now just some minor drainage happening. Johnny had been pushing Dr. Brackett for a date as to when the tube could be removed, as it was a very painful experience, and the chest tube left him very little hope of obtaining any real comfortable position to lie in. So far however, Dr. Brackett kept putting him off.                                                        

 

He was actually feeling a fair bit better now. But for some reason his fever would not let go entirely and his temperature continued to remain in the 101.5 range no matter what they did. Brackett also reported that although his right lung now sounded clear, there was still evidence of congestion in his left lung, which was the side that the pleural effusion was on. 

 

Both Doctor’s Brackett and Early had come in and examined him this morning, and had told him at breakfast that he had been scheduled for a chest x-ray after lunch. Johnny insisted that Roy not be told about it. He had sent Roy home the night before with strict orders not to show up today. Johnny had told Roy to spend the day with his family, before his leave was up. They had discussed it, and Johnny had convinced Roy that he did not need to take any more time off work, and that he should return to active duty the next week. That meant Roy had 4 more days off before he was to return, and Johnny wanted to make sure he had spent some of the time with his wife and kids.

 

True to their word, it was just after lunch when two orderlies showed up with a gurney and had taken Johnny down to x-ray. He had just nicely returned to his room and was trying once again to find a position to lie in, which would be the least likely to irritate his chest tube.

 

As he lay there, he glanced over to his bedside table and as gingerly as he could, he reached over to the drawer and pulled it open. He reached inside until his fingers fell upon the necklace he had taken off before he went down to x-ray. He picked it up and slowly and carefully slipped it back over his head. He had left it on after Roy had returned it to him, and until this x-ray he had refused to take it off.

 

As he lay there, studying the beautiful craftsmanship of the necklace, he let his mind drift back through time; he once again recalled the many times he had sat upon his mother’s lap late at night, while she told him the love story that had brought his parents together. It had been on his mind a lot the last few days. Probably because he had recently witnessed Lucas and Natalie experience the same sense of loss that he himself had had to endure as a small boy. It had re-opened some old and very painful wounds. It had also stirred up some extremely unsettling memories.

 

Johnny spent nearly an hour lost deep in his thoughts, which is probably why he had not heard the door to his room open quietly, nor had he noticed Chet Kelly’s head peer around the corner of the door.

 

Chet paused and stood silently watching Johnny as the ill man gazed down at the necklace around his neck, while a few stray tears slid down his face.

 

Chet himself had worked hard to find someone to switch shifts with him on very short notice. When he had found out that Johnny had ordered Roy to stay at home, he had made up his mind that he himself would go and keep his wounded pigeon company. He had been secretly wanting a few minutes alone with Johnny away from the others, and so when the opportunity had presented itself, he had grabbed it.

 

This whole event had shaken Chet to the core and he had been haunted by a few of his own nightmares lately. His nightmares however, had all been about the day he had pulled the necklace prank on Johnny.

 

Ever since he had found out the significance of the item, and all that it stood for, he had felt physically ill. For the entire time Johnny had been missing, Chet had feared the young man was dead, and he would never get the chance to put things right. His nightmares had all been more or less admonishments, from his subconscious over the pain his pranks had caused his pigeon. He had been tortured in his sleep, by having to re-live that horrible event, over and over again. It had been the same nightmare every night since John had been kidnapped. The hurt and anguished look on Johnny’s face from the day Chet had pulled his prank with the necklace and the dummy had been branded and seared into his brain forever.  

 

When the word came down that Johnny had been found alive, he felt as if God was giving him a second chance to right a terrible wrong. Just like Roy, he had made a few promises himself to the almighty, if he would only return his young pigeon safely back home to his roost. So when he had opened the door and saw Johnny lying there with tears on his cheeks, completely absorbed in the very object he was here to discuss, it caught him slightly off guard, but he also took it as a sign that he was being given the exact second chance that he had prayed for. He pushed his way into the room and quietly said, “Hey Johnny, can I come in for a while?”

 

Johnny jumped with a start at the sound of Chet’s voice, the action causing him to hiss in pain as the sudden movement pulled on the chest tube. He had been totally unaware of Chet’s arrival in his room, and he quickly swiped at the tears on his face as he hurriedly tried to slide his necklace underneath the hospital gown he wore. His face flushed in embarrassment at the thought that Chet had found him in such a state. That was why Chet’s next words caught him totally off guard.

 

 

As soon as Chet heard the hiss of pain escape from Johnny’s mouth, he hurried quickly over to the young man’s bedside. “Shit Gage, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. Do you want me to call the nurse?”

 

“No, Chet, It’s fine. It’s not your fault…I do this to myself a dozen times a day. This damn chest tube is torture you know?” Johnny was still trying to get the necklace underneath his hospital gown as surreptitiously as possible.

 

“Don’t John,” Chet said as he reached out and stopped him from hiding the necklace from sight. “I was kind of hoping we could maybe talk about that necklace for a minute…if you don’t mind that is.”

 

Johnny looked questioningly at Chet and slowly nodded, “Uh-sure Chet, I guess we could if you want. What did you want talk about…specifically?”

 

Roy had told Johnny the day he had returned the necklace to him in the hospital, about how the FBI had given both he and Dixie their envelopes with the postcards and the necklace right there in the station 51 kitchen in front of Dr. Bracket and the rest of the A shift. Roy had also confessed to Johnny, that the others had asked about the necklace and its significance, that day, and that Roy had felt compelled to tell them the story behind it. Therefore, Johnny knew that although Roy had not told the others about all the abuse and other misfortunes Johnny had gone through in his life, they now knew how his parents had met. They also knew all about the circumstances responsible for their deaths. That made him unsure and wary about Chet’s request, and he shifted nervously as he waited for Chet to continue.

 

The only consolation he took was from the fact that as nervous as he felt….Chet looked like his nerves were in even worse shape than his own. He leaned back and waited for Chet to proceed.

 

Chet pulled up a chair next to the bed, and sat down. His leg was nervously bouncing up and down and he fidgeted and wrung his hands together.

 

Johnny smiled and grabbed Chet’s arm. “Calm down Kelly, it’s just me. It’s not like you’re heading to the executioner’s block. And as much as I can’t believe I am actually saying this…to you of all people…just spit it out. What’s on your mind?”

 

“Okay Gage,” Chet took a deep breath and plunged forward. “I’m about to bare my soul here, so ya gotta promise me, you’ll let me get this out and not interrupt me until I’m done okay? Because this is all unfamiliar territory for me, and I don’t think I can do it more than once.”

 

Johnny grinned up at him and rolled his eyes. “Chet if you’re going to bare your soul to me, I can pretty much guarantee you, that it’s uncharted territory for me as well.” Johnny then sobered and he reached over and squeezed Chet’s arm once more. “All kidding aside Chet…I promise I won’t interrupt you.”

 

Chet stood up and began to pace back and forth at the foot of Johnny’s bed. “I never meant to hurt you, you know…I mean the day I stole your necklace and put it on that dummy. When I saw how upset you were, I felt really awful… I just never stop to think sometimes. I never seem to know when I’m over the line. Did you know Cap almost suspended me that day?”

 

Johnny shook his head no, but kept his promise to remain silent until Chet had said his piece.

 

Chet stopped pacing and came back over and sat on the chair beside the bed. “Well he almost did, and I was damn lucky Roy didn’t kick my ass…he sure as hell wanted to. Cap had told me to knock off the Indian jokes a few days before that, and I wish I had, but at the time I just didn’t get it. It wasn’t until after that last prank that it finally sunk in how hurtful and demeaning it was to you to make fun of your heritage; I’d give anything if I could take those pranks back…but I can’t. And then when I found out the history of the necklace…and the bigotry that killed your folks. I literally felt sick.” Chet looked Johnny in the eye and said, “I’m really sorry about what happened to your mom and dad Johnny. I really, really am, and I’m really sorry for being a total ass to you too.”

 

Johnny waited, and when Chet didn’t continue he spoke. “Thanks Chet, and don’t worry about it anymore…I accept your apology and it’s okay.”

 

Chet lowered his eyes to the floor. “No Johnny, it’s not okay. It was never okay. Water bombs and short sheeting beds are pranks, hurting someone, especially one of your best friends isn’t. You know I always figured when I was told be careful that you don’t hurt someone, that people meant physical injury. I’ve learned the hard way that not all wounds are physical, and you can really hurt folks badly without doing physical injury. That’s what I did to you, and you didn’t deserve it, and it wasn’t right, and again, I’m sorry about it all. And I want you to know, that this isn’t just because of what has happened to you now. I kind of wanted to tell you this for a while, but this incident just drove home the fact that we never know when we could lose the chance to make things right, so I wanted to make sure right now, once and for all, that we’re good…you and me I mean.”

 

 

Johnny looked up and smiled and held out his hand toward Chet. “Yeah Chet…we’re good. So you think of me as one of your best friends huh” Johnny smirked.

 

Chet grabbed the outstretched hand and shook it warmly. “You know why it’s you I prank Gage?” Chet asked.

 

Johnny rolled his eyes. “Because I’m an easy mark, and I keep falling for it?”

 

“No Gage, it’s because of all the guys at the station, you’re the most fun. I mean Roy and Stoker are great guys, but damn Johnny they’re kinda stiff. Sometimes I don’t know why you and Roy get on so well. He’s so straight laced, and your just not. And Marco, he’s my best, best friend, but he’s far too serious sometimes. He’s a great guy…the best, but he doesn’t know how to let his hair down, if ya get my drift. I mean if I was looking to have a night out when I wanted to really kick back and have some zany fun, you would be my first pick to have along with me…because you do know how to kick back and have fun.”

 

Johnny laughed. “Well Chester B, sometime, when I’m back on my own two feet, we may just have to go out and test that theory then.”

 

“Of course you know,” Chet grinned wickedly. “The Phantom still lurks, and he’ll deny this whole conversation ever took place.”

 

Johnny laughed, “Yeah, that was a given Chet.”

 

“But he’ll keep his pranks as pranks. He won’t be a cruel bastard ever again, and you can take that to the bank.”

 

The two men sat back then and turned found the Dodgers game on the T.V. while they passed the rest of the afternoon in pleasant yet mindless chatter.

 

 

Back down in the doctor’s lounge, Joe and Dixie sat on his couch having a coffee break while they waited for Kel to look at the x-rays and review Johnny’s latest blood work results. When he walked into the room, the grim look on his face told the story.

 

“What is it Kel?” Joe asked.

 

“We’ve got a problem with Johnny…he’s developed another complication.” He turned and looked over at the head nurse. “Dixie, I know Johnny didn’t want this, but I think you had better call Roy to come in. I’d rather he be here to act as a patient advocate for John. Not to mention I think Johnny’s going to need the emotional support.”

 

“Is it serious Kel?” Joe asked.

 

“See for yourself.”  Brackett said as he handed the packet of x-rays and the blood result to Joe.

Dixie got up and followed Joe across the hall to the treatment room where he was headed to view the x-rays.

 

“Chet Kelly is up with Johnny right now,” she said. “I’ll have one of the nurses nudge him along out of there before Roy arrives. I’ll go make both the calls in a minute.”

 

Roy rushed into the ER at Rampart, looking around for either of Johnny’s 2 doctors, or Dixie. They wouldn’t give him any information on the phone, only to say that there had been a complication with Johnny, and he needed to come in right away. He was just about to have the good doctor Brackett paged, when he seen the trio come out of treatment room three; their countenance was serious, and Roy felt his stomach tighten.“What is it, what’s happened to Johnny?” he asked.

 

“We’ll tell you and Johnny together, we just thought it would be better for him, if he had you there for support. Chet was with him this afternoon for almost 2 hours, but we managed to get him out of the way, without letting on. We didn’t want to talk to Johnny without you there with him. You seem to be the one who holds all the keys, when it comes to dealing with John Gage.”

 

And without further delay the group headed over to the elevators and pressed the button to the top floor.

 

Johnny lay on his bed, dozing. He was actually in a good mood. His Dodgers had won the game, he had finally found a position to lie in that was comfortable, and he and Chet had had a great visit. He had been shocked, but pleased with how his day had turned out. It made him feel good to hear the things Chet had said to him. Although he had never admitted it to anyone but Roy, he had been deeply hurt by the pranks surrounding his heritage, and there was a part of him that had always wondered if Chet really did think so little of him.

 

Chet’s coming in to apologize and clear up any of those misconceptions had really been a wonderful tonic to Johnny…even if he couldn’t tell anyone about their little meeting. Well, he’d tell Roy of course, but then again, Roy wasn’t just anyone, Roy was an extension of him.

 

 

He lay back and closed his eyes in contentment. Yes, it had been a good afternoon all round. Now if he could just get rid of this damn chest tube and get home, his world would be back on track once more.

He had just settled back, when the door to his room opened up once more. He looked over, and immediately the warm thoughts of a moment earlier, dissipated like a fine mist into thin air.

 

Coming through the door was Dr. Brackett, Dr. Early, Dixie and…uh oh…ROY.

The look on Brackett and Early’s faces was serious.

 

 They were going with their entire starting line-up…the whole team was on deck.

‘Shit- this can’t be good news.’

 

One look in Roy’s eyes was all it took, and Johnny knew that there was a big problem here.

Johnny never said a word; he just dropped his head back onto his pillow and sighed. “Damn” he uttered…”How bad is it, doc?” was all he said.

 

“Well, Johnny,” Kel said. “It’s not what we were hoping to see, but it could be worse.”

 

“Do I need the decortication?” Johnny asked nervously.

 

“Not yet, Johnny, but it is a possibility,” The doctor replied.

 

Johnny looked over at Roy, who had now come up next to him and had rested his hand on Johnny’s right shoulder.

 

“So what exactly IS the problem doc?” Johnny inquired.

 

Dr. Brackett walked over and sat in the chair beside Johnny’s bed.

 

“Well, Johnny, it’s like this, the drainage we were seeing from your chest tube is just about where we would expect it to be at this point; we should normally have been working on getting it removed, but some of the other signals your body was sending out just weren’t matching up. Your right lung has been clear now for almost 72 hours, but there is still a fair amount of congestion in your left lung. Now granted it was in worse shape, but we would have expected it to be further along by now. Especially when you compare it with how little drainage we are seeing at this point; couple that with the cough and persistent fever, and alarm bells were going off. That is why the new x-ray and blood work was ordered for today. I’m afraid both the x-ray and the blood work confirmed my suspicions.”

 

Johnny shifted uneasily and reached up to grab onto Roy’s arm for support. “What exactly were your suspicions doc?” he asked.

 

Dr. Brackett continued on,” Well in medical terms you have what we call a loculated effusion or, fibrin septa to be exact.”

 

Roy spoke up now, as he could see Johnny was feeling a bit overwhelmed with this sudden turn of events.

 

“So does it mean he will have to have the decortication or not? What exactly is this fibrin septa, and how do we fight it?”

 

Brackett looked over at his two best paramedics and gave a tight smile. “No, it doesn’t necessarily mean that Johnny needs the decortication, although he is at a much greater risk now, but before we go that route we do have one other course we can, and will be taking. As for what fibrin septa is, well it just means that the fibrin molecules in your body, have created “pockets” if you will, which are full of fluids or pus that can’t be reached with the drain. They’re basically preventing the chest tube from doing its job.

 

“Now the treatment we want to do, and let me reiterate at this point that we are extremely optimistic that this will be successful, is what is called intrapleural fibrinolytic therapy. What we will be doing is starting you on a treatment of either urokinase or streptokinase, which will be administered intercavitary through a small caliber chest tube. You should probably expect to be on the therapy for 3-5 days. What the treatment does is break up the fibrin and allow the pleural cavity to completely drain, and finally allow the lung to completely re-expand. It will prolong your stay with us, but I cannot stress enough that we need to be thorough here. Complete drainage is crucial to controlling pleural sepsis and restoring full pulmonary function and preventing pulmonary fibrosis. We’ll also be doing periodic x-rays and actual lung measurements. We need to make sure that the lung has completely drained and the empyemic cavity has been obliterated, and the sinuses are completely healed as well. We have to make absolutely sure of this to prevent your acute empyema from turning into a chronic empyema.”

 

Johnny looked up at the doctor, the fear was written all over his face. “And if this doesn’t work?”

 

Dr. Brackett patted Johnny on the leg. “Look Johnny, we have every reason to believe this is going to resolve this issue, and I don’t want you jumping at shadows that may never materialize into anything. Still I know that, that is easier said than done, and yes, if this doesn’t work, then you will have to have the decortication...but it’s a big if, and there is no reason to think that is going to happen just yet. So please try to not worry about it Okay?” He smiled and patted his leg once again.

 

“Now, if you gentlemen don’t have any more questions, I’m going down to arrange with our pulmonologist, to get this show on the road. We’ll probably be back sometime early this evening Johnny, to start the therapy. Dixie here will come in before hand and give you some sedation. We want to make you as comfortable as possible when we insert the other chest tube. But it is a small caliber one, and it shouldn’t be as uncomfortable as the large one.” With one final pat on the leg, the two doctors left the room.

 

Dixie came over to Johnny, and began to do a vitals check on him. She reached over and brushed the hair from his still too warm forehead.

 

 

“Hey handsome, I know it’s easier said than done, but try not to worry. This therapy has a really good track record, and it’s not as invasive as the last one was, once the chest tube is in place. By this time next week, the therapy will have been a success and this will just be a bad memory.” She reached over and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

 

Looking over at Roy she smiled sadly…“Stay with him and keep him company as long as you want Roy, I’ll make sure the nurses know that you don’t have to leave when visiting hours are over.

 

Chapter Twenty-Four

 

Johnny sat nervously in his bed awaiting the test results from his latest x-rays and blood work. It had been 4 days, and there had been a fair amount of fluid draining from Johnny’s chest tube. His chest felt less tight, his fever was down to 99.8, and he had lost the nasal cannula the day before. Still even with all of the positive signs, he was a nervous wreck waiting to hear the final verdict.

 

Roy sat beside John watching him fidget. He had long ago given up trying to draw Johnny into a conversation in order to distract his mind from the test results. Besides he was a bundle of nerves himself right now. Johnny had been in the hospital for over 3 weeks, and he was getting antsy.

 

Finally, when it got to the point where Roy was ready to ask Dixie to sedate Johnny, the door opened and in walked Doctor Brackett and Dixie. From the looks on their faces, the news was good.

 

 

“Well, Johnny,” Doctor Brackett announced. “I think I can safely say that this treatment has worked, and you won’t need to worry about the decortication. The fibrin molecules have either broken up or are breaking up, and the fluid level is way down. Even the blood tests are showing that the antibiotics are finally knocking back the pneumonia. Your left lung has almost completely re-expanded as well. I think if you stay on this course of treatment for another 3 days, we should be able to remove the small tube, and hopefully we can remove the larger one a few days after that. If all goes well, we should be able to think about releasing you in 2 weeks.”

 

Johnny’s face held mixed emotions, and Roy looked over at him questioningly. “What’s the matter Junior…this is great news, you’re finally on the mend.”

 

Johnny stared down at his hands for a few moments before he looked up and gave a weak smile. “Yeah, it’s great news, and I am VERY relieved. It’s just that I was hoping if it was working I could be out of here next week. Two more weeks seems like such a long time to me. The sooner I get out of here the sooner I can get my strength back, and we can get back to work Roy.”

 

Doctor Brackett came over and sat on the edge of Johnny’s bed. “Now hang on a minute Johnny, we need to get a few thing straight right now. You need to understand just how seriously ill you have been, and still are. This is not going to be a quick recovery. Your body has been through a lot, and your respiratory system has been greatly weakened here. When I release you, you will be going to Roy’s, and you will be on total bed rest for another week maybe two. Then you can begin to get up and walk around the house, as long as you take frequent rests. And I don’t want you out walking in the smog for another 2 weeks after that.”

 

He looked Johnny in the eye and proceeded on with his warning.  “You will be at an extremely high risk for recurrence for the first 3 months or so, and at a high risk for recurrence for 6 months to a year. It is imperative that we prevent that from happening at all costs. It is the only way to guarantee that this acute empyema does not turn into a chronic one. There is that risk that it won’t completely heal and turn chronic otherwise, and I don’t need to tell you what that means.

 

“We’ll be doing functional capacity tests at 3 months, 6 months and 1 year. The plan is for you to stay with Roy and Joanne for a month at least, and then if…and only if, you can assure me that you will not attempt to ride your horses, lift heavy bales or do any heavy labor, will I consider giving you the all clear to go home.

 

“You will be re-evaluated by the pulmonologist at the end of 3 months, to determine what further respiratory therapy is needed. You’ll be working with a respiratory specialist for the first 6 months to get you back up to par with full function and range of your respiratory capacity. You will then be monitored once a month until the year is up.  But Johnny, I can assure you, that you will not be going back to any work for at least 6 months.”

 

“Six months! But doc…that’s half a year. Why so long? Why can’t I start doing rehab as soon as the chest tubes are removed? And why can’t I do some light duty at dispatch once I’m better?”

 

Dr. Brackett sighed. “Look Johnny I want you to have complete and total rest for the first three months to let that left lung fully heal up, that means being able to stop and rest at any time. That’s not something you could do if you were on light duty. I want you to be able to sleep in late, if you happen to have a restless night. And I especially want you to limit your exposure to outside germs. If you even so much as sneeze, I want you in here. Even if you are over tired or your throat has a bit of a tickle, you need to come in just to be safe. I also want you inside on any heavy smog days in those first 3-6 months. And if any of these things happen, and I had released you to light duty, I know you, and you wouldn’t want to call in sick you would go to work and not say anything. So no, I have no intention of even clearing you for light duty for 6 months…when I say total rest and recovery, that’s exactly what I mean.”

Doctor Brackett got up off the bed and sat down in the chair beside John.

 

“You have to remember Johnny, you don’t have a normal job here. You have an extremely strenuous job that can be very taxing on the body. You haul heavy hoses and walk around with heavy SCBA gear. You carry victims up and down ladders and you face smoke inhalation and CO and other toxic fumes on a regular basis. You already have a propensity towards pneumonia as it is, and now that’s complicated even more by the fact that you no longer have a spleen to help fight off infections. Even a simple cold can go sour on you overnight.

 

“Johnny, you’d be at an increased risk for the first year or so even if you had a spleen. Also as a paramedic, you run the risk of being exposed to potentially infectious diseases with a certain amount of regularity as well; neither one of us needs to be reminded of the whole Koki virus situation. So you add up all these risk factors that you fall into, and you are in the red flags, and warning bells zone here my friend, and I am going to make damn sure that you’re 100% before I even consider letting you return to any kind of work, period. So get used to the fact that you are officially on a six-month medical leave, starting from the day I decide to release you. And there’s no arguing. I’ve talked to the department and it’s already a done deal.”

 

After Brackett had left, Roy came over and sat beside Johnny. “Hey, Junior, are you okay? I know 6 months seems like a long time, but at least you know you’ll heal 100% now, as long as you follow orders. And hanging out at my house for a month or two won’t be that bad will it?”

 

 

Johnny looked up with wide eyes. “No Roy…I hope you don’t think that’s what I was thinking. I love spending time with your family…It’s just a lot to take in and process all at once. You have to admit, in the last 5 weeks I have had a hell of a lot thrown at me. But I hate to intrude on you like that. I’ve already monopolized your time for the last month.”

 

Roy walked over and sat on the edge of the bed and reaching out with his hand, he forced John’s chin up so that they were looking eye to eye. “Stop, right there Junior, first of all you are not intruding on my family…it’s our family. You’re part of the DeSoto family too. Second, Jo and the kids as well as me, love having you around, so I don’t want to hear anymore talk like that EVER…As soon as you are able, you are coming home, where you belong.”

 

Roy stood up and gave John’s head a scruff. “It’s been a long day, and you still have a bit of a fever, and infection left, so I’m going now and you’re going to lay back and have a nap, so that we can finish knocking back this empyema and pneumonia.”

 

Once Roy made sure that John had fallen asleep he stood up and went out the door. The fact that this treatment looked like it had been successful and the tide had turned in Johnny favor, was the best news he had had since he heard that Johnny had been found alive, and he was anxious to share the good news with Joanne, Cap and the rest of the guys at the station. 

 

Heading across to the parking lot, Roy’s step had a spring to it, and his heart held a lightness he hadn’t felt in what seemed like an eternity. He had a big smile on his face as he got into his car to head to the station…Yep, he thought, life is good, and as soon as his little brother was under his roof recovering, all would be well. His family would be whole and safely where he could keep an eye on them, once more.

 

April 25th  

 

Johnny lay in his bed, and looked down at the newspaper in front of him. ‘April 25th…it’s hard to believe it was a month ago today we were found and I was admitted into Rampart,’ Johnny mused. He looked down at his watch…11:48 am.

 

He sat impatiently as he waited for his special invited guest to arrive. He had told, the doctors and nurses the day before, that he did not want any visitors or interruptions between lunch and supper time today. Since he had had the chest tubes, and the last of the IV’s removed a few days earlier, they had agreed. Most of them had assumed that Johnny just needed some time alone to sort out his emotions, and that it was probably a good thing. Esther and Samuel Mills had brought Lucas and Natalie over twice in the last week and a half to visit with Johnny and Dr. Brackett wondered if it had stirred up some emotions.

 

But so far, only three people knew differently.

 

Johnny had only told the truth to two other people, and that was Joanne and Roy DeSoto, and that was only because he had needed their help. The other person had been Dixie McCall. He he’d asked her yesterday, to please come in today for a private visit on her day off. Dixie had wondered what it was about, but she wouldn’t refuse John Gage anything right now, and had even agreed to keep mum on the subject.

 

He had also been very clear that he did not want Roy or Jo to discuss this with anyone else either.

 

So here he was waiting for Dixie to arrive. Roy and Jo had brought everything he had asked for and had arranged everything neatly, and they had just left. Now all he had to do was wait for Dixie’s arrival.

 

Dixie arrived at Rampart and took the service elevator up to the top floor to where Johnny was waiting for her in his hospital room. She had no idea what was up with her favorite paramedic, but she had purposely taken this day off to fly under the radar, and spending it with Johnny, hiding out in his room, was a perfect way to lie low.

 

She pushed open the door to Johnny’s room, and stepped through. Immediately her mouth dropped open in awe. “Oh, Johnny…this is so beautiful!” she gasped out.

 

 

As she stepped into the room, Johnny grinned. “Did you think I’d forget?” he asked.

 

“Johnny, you’re sick, and I never would have expected you to remember, much less keep our date. But you’ve really outdone yourself this time.” She walked into the room and looked around in amazement. It was filled with at least a dozen beautiful glass bowls of water, which were overflowing with Gardenia’s floating in them. Two hospital tables had been pushed together and covered in fine white linen, and on top of it were set 2 place settings of delicate china. Beside Johnny on the bedside table stood a covered warming dish, filled with delicious smelling food, and there was some soft jazz music playing quietly in the background.

 

“Happy Birthday Dixie” Johnny said softly as he motioned for her to sit in the chair.

 

It had become a very secret tradition between Johnny and Dixie, that on her birthday, (or in the event one or both of them were working on the actual day, the first day closest to her actual birthday that they were both off) Johnny would treat Dixie to a birthday lunch. It had started back when he was a rescue man working out of station 10. In fact it had started about 3 months after the night that she had first sung for Johnny, when he had been ill and alone as a patient in Rampart.

 

Dixie had found herself alone on her birthday, because Kel had been out of town, giving a seminar. She had been feeling alone and forgotten and a bit angry. She had gone out to a local grocery store to spoil herself by buying herself her favorite desert, a Baked Boston Cheesecake. It was while she was in the store that she had bumped into Johnny, who was there buying some milk.

 

When he had seen her with the cake, he had teased her by asking her who the lucky man was, that was so deserving of such a delicious treat. Dixie had quipped back, that it was for the first good-looking, available, hungry man who crossed her path.

 

Johnny had joked, that she had better watch what she was saying, as he couldn’t comment on the good-looking part, but that he was both available and hungry. And before either of them knew it, they had ended up in Dixie’s kitchen trying to work up the nerve to put the wiggling lobster she had bought for dinner into a pot of boiling water. It was during the course of the meal that Dixie had let slip that it was her birthday.

 

As soon as he found out, Johnny had insisted she let him take her out on the town. True he didn’t have much money and they had spent the evening in the bowling alley laughing and being silly. He had however made a sweet gesture by stopping at the florists and buying her a single long stemmed rose. He capped the night off with a midnight ride on his bike, along the beach where they stopped and sat on the sand looking at the stars. It had been a wonderful day filled with fun. There had been no pressure, no romance…just two friends hanging out celebrating her special day.

 

Every year since then Johnny had shown up and taken Dixie out for a special birthday lunch when April 25th rolled around. Over the years of lunches, he had discovered that her favorite flowers were Gardenia’s and that her favorite meal was lobster thermidor. Of course, he had figured out about the Cheesecake that first year.

 

She was brought back to the present when Johnny said quietly…“I might need a bit of help serving this up…Jo tried to leave everything where I could reach it, but I’m still a bit shaky at times.”

 

Dixie stood up and for the first time she noticed the wine bucket and the Crystal. As she began to open up all the lids from the warmer, she gasped…“Johnny, this is lobster thermidor!”

 

“Well, said Johnny, the birthday girl should have her favorite meal on her special day…we’ll be having Spinach salad with hot bacon dressing and some fusilli on the side. And you my dear, will be enjoying some Sauvignon Blanc, imported from New Zealand, while I, on the other hand, will be drinking ginger ale, because I’m not allowed any alcohol until I’m done with my meds.”

 

The two friends sat and chatted while they enjoyed their repast. As they were finishing up the first course Johnny stopped and looked over at Dixie and smiled. “Hey Dixie, before we get to the Cheesecake, there is something I’d like to do.” And he slowly reached behind his pillow and produced a large package wrapped in gift paper.

 

 

“What is this Johnny? You didn’t go a buy me a gift too did you, because this meal was more than you should have done. These Gardenia’s are so beautiful…I can’t believe you remembered that they’re my favorite…in fact this whole meal is my favorite.”

 

“Well, I just ordered it and paid for it…Jo and Roy had to help me get the rest organized. I phoned and made sure the meal was prepared, but they had to go and get everything and bring it here to set it up. And this gift isn’t exactly something I bought…I uh…I kinda made it. I hope it’s okay.”

 

 

Dixie took the gift it and unwrapped it slowly. As the paper fell away, it revealed a beautiful handmade Native American blanket.

 

“Oh Johnny,” she gasped…“This is absolutely gorgeous. You made this?”

 

“Do you like it?”

 

“Like it? Johnny I more than like it…I don’t think I have ever received a gift that I have loved more in my entire life. This must have taken you ages to make. I’ll treasure this for the rest of my life.”

 

“Well, there is a lot more to it…I made it for you, for a reason.” He hesitated nervously and went on.

“I know you got the card I picked out for you…Roy told me the FBI agents gave it to you…he also said that you and he had talked, and that he had kind of told you a bit more than you already knew about my past.”

 

Dixie looked him straight in the eye. “He didn’t tell me everything, but yes, he did tell me some other things, and it only served to make me even more proud of the man you have turned out to be.”

 

“Yeah, I know some of the stuff he told you, and I’m okay with you knowing…I meant what I wrote on the card about you being a big sister to me, and I just wanted to do something to say thank-you for that. It really helped me so much when you sang to me both times…I really miss my mom, and you always manage to bring just a little piece of her back when you sing those songs. And I was wondering if you would allow me to make you part of my Tiyospaye…I’ve thought about it a lot and it’s something I would really like to do, if it’s okay with you.”

 

Dixie looked over at the young man in the bed who was looking at her with those dark eyes that had a look of hopeful expectation and trepidation at the same time. He looked so young, and she knew at that moment she would agree to almost anything. “Well, what exactly is a Tiyospaye?”

 

 

Johnny gave her a shy smile, and said quietly. “It’s Lakota and it means that I am accepting you or adopting you into my life, so we become family…an extended family that is united by choice rather than blood. Roy and Jo and the kids are part of my Tiyospaye…well they are my only family. Normally there would be a Hunkakaga ceremony, but I don’t think Doctor Brackett would approve of us painting our faces…especially you as the Hunkapi…that’s what we call the person being adopted.

 

“With Roy and Jo and the kids, I just made them each something special to “seal” the deal as it were. They adopted me into their family, and so I wanted to do something back to adopt them into mine…even if I am the only member in it…well, now it has all the DeSoto’s in it too, and I was hoping you would do me the honor of accepting me as a real brother. I wanted to do something to show you how special you are and how much I appreciate it. You have always been in my corner, and you and Roy make sure I’m never alone whenever I wind up as a guest here…please say yes. It would be a great honor to me.”

 

By now Dixie had tears streaming down her face. “Oh Johnny, I would be so honored to be a part of your Tiyospaye…Thank you for asking me. No one has ever done anything so special.” She then reached over and pulled him into a hug and held him there for several minutes while they both composed themselves.

 

When they finally pulled apart, Johnny filled their glasses once more. His with ginger ale and Dixie’s with wine. Johnny lifted his glass and said, “A toast.”

 

 

Dixie reached over and grabbed her glass and held it up.

 

“To Family” Johnny said smiling.

 

“To Family” Dixie echoed as the clinked glasses and each took a drink.

 

Chapter Twenty- Five

 

 

Roy woke up and stared at the bedside clock…3:07 am. He didn’t have to wonder what had woken him up at this hour. In the two weeks Johnny had been home, this had happened several times before.

 

Roy got up and made his way into Johnny’s room, on his way he stopped to get a glass of water. He opened the door and was not surprised to see Johnny sitting up in bed, his face covered in sweat and his breath coming in quick gasps…he had had another nightmare.

 

Roy turned on the small bedside lamp and set the glass on the night table. He sat on the edge of the bed, and checked Johnny pulse and respirations. Both were racing, but he could tell they were beginning to slow down already. He reached over and brushed the hair off Johnny’s forehead and then handed him the glass of water…“Another bad one Johnny?”

 

 

“Yeah, m’sorry about this Roy. Maybe I should just go home now. I’m feeling fine, and I can’t keep waking you up all the time.”

 

“Stop it John.” Roy ordered in his best no nonsense tone. “You are home, and it isn’t all the time. Besides after what you‘ve been through, nightmares are a given. Why don’t you tell me about it…maybe talking about it will help.”

 

Johnny sighed…“Naw Roy, I don’t wanna drag you through all my shit…it’s not very nice.”

 

“First of all, you are as weak as a kitten and even getting up and going to the bathroom totally exhausts you. You need to be here and you are still on complete bed rest. And how many times do I have to tell you that we love having you here? If it were up to me, I’d never let you out of my sight again after this experience. And Johnny, you’re not dragging me anywhere; I want to help you. It’s been almost 2 months since this all happened and you still haven’t talked to me about it. I know you’ve talked to the hospital shrink the department recommended, but how about me…why won’t you let me help you through this? It’s bothering me more to think that you’re shutting me out, than it would be hearing about it.”

 

Johnny looked up with a panicked look in his eyes…“Shutting you out? Never Roy…I’m protecting you from all of this. I don’t want you to have to go through all of my junk.”

 

Roy sighed, his young partner had such a hard time accepting that he was loved and cared about, by not only himself, but by Jo and the kids and by Dixie McCall, as well as quite a few others…”Listen up Junior…you’re part of this family and part of the responsibility of being a family is not only giving support and help, but you also have to accept help and support back. Now I couldn’t be there for you when it was all going down and it tore me apart. Please let me help you now…talk to me Junior.”

 

Johnny sighed…“The nightmares aren’t about the bus…it seems that my little unscheduled bus trip has kind of triggered some flashbacks of my mom and dad’s murder. That’s what I keep re-living in my nightmares Roy.”

 

He sat in silence for a moment, starring off into space, his mind lost momentarily in a long distant memory inside his head, from when he was a small boy. Tears slowly rolled down his cheeks as he re-lived that night when he sat on the side of the road as a 10 year old child with a broken arm, crying as his mother used her dying breaths to give him her necklace, and trying in vain to comfort him; while he sat in the shadows of the eerie glow that the flames from the burning car that contained the body of his dead father cast onto the edge of the road.

 

Johnny shook himself out of his reverie. He took a deep breath and continued on.  “As weird as it seems, I haven’t really had any nightmares about the bus since we escaped from Martin.”

 

Johnny paused for a brief moment and then went on, his voice was tense and his expression darkened.

 

“You know I did read his suicide note…but all it did was make me angry…I don’t know what he was looking for by leaving me some feeble attempt at an apology as an explanation, but if he was looking for some kind of absolution from me, I’m afraid I just can’t give it. Some things are just better left unsaid. Sometimes words, no matter how apologetic they are, simply aren’t enough. The hollow platitudes ring empty and feeble in my ears.

 

“Evil on that level is too hard for me to reconcile within myself. Yeah, I pushed him to his emotional edge that last night, and no I don’t regret it. I’d do it again in a heartbeat. I don’t feel bad that he took his own life, because I believe that the three of us, Lucas, Natalie and myself, were entitled to live and survive, and to do what we had to do in order to try and escape. Those men stepped all over our rights, and took away four innocent people’s right to life, not to mention the loss their families will feel. And the minute Martin did that, he gave up his own rights to be treated like a human, as far as I’m concerned.

 

“It was a situation of his own choosing. He held all the cards. The rest of us had no control over any of it. We weren’t given the choice as to whether or not we wanted to be involved…we weren’t given any options. The only option I had was to do whatever was necessary, to get the three of us home alive, and I took that option. And I am totally at peace with how I handled everything.”

 

Roy let Johnny continue without interrupting him. It was the first time he had let this out of his system, and it was long overdue. He hoped by letting him vent that it would help put some of these nightmares to rest for good.

 

Johnny began talking again, this time his voice had a bit of a tremble to it. “I’ve talked to the shrink at the hospital, but it’s not the same as talking to you about it…it’s just…Oh hell, I don’t know Roy, right now it still seems so unbearable. Is it better to just jump right in and deal with the pain while it’s still fresh, while all my emotions are still raw and my mind is still reeling? Or is it better to wait and put some time and distance between those events and me, when it’s less overwhelming and I can be more objective?

 

“I know I need to accept what happened and move on. I need to let the anger go because anger makes hate, and hate kills…It was hate that killed my parents. I know that to some extent I’ll always live with the memories and nightmares, but I have to use those strong emotions and turn them into something good. I want to be the antithesis of what Martin, Angus and Duncan were. I refuse to let it turn me into a hateful bitter man. I want to rise above it all, and be better than that. Even if I can’t forgive, I will not let the anger over what happened on that bus, consume me either. I’ll leave the judgment up to our creator and concentrate on being the best person I can be. It’s why I do what I do for a living. It’s how I fight back. Every save is another victory; every success another win for the good guys.”

 

Roy leaned over and guided Johnny back into a laying position.

 

“Tell me what happened on the bus Johnny. Let me help you get it out. Talking about it will help you release some of those overwhelming emotions, and I want to help you get through this okay?

Remember our deal…if you go…I go.”

 

Johnny looked over at his brother and smiled. He took one deep breath and began…“Well Roy, it all started when I decided it would be quicker for me if I just took the bus back home to L.A…..”

 

And as the night wore on and dawn broke, Johnny re-lived the entire ordeal in every detail, not holding anything back. He let out his feelings of hopelessness and fear; his frustrations and the horrors of what he had witnessed. He allowed Roy to hold him when the emotions got too strong, and he broke down in tears, and he accepted his comfort and support, and at seven am that morning, Roy gently pulled the covers up over Johnny’s sleeping form that was finally resting peacefully. He gently wiped off the last residual tears from his cheeks, and then he slipped quietly from the room.

 

Roy looked out over his backyard at the sun that was beginning to rise in the East. It was going to be a fine day in more ways than one…not only was Johnny slowly healing physically, but he had finally let the dam holding his emotions in, burst and now his soul could begin to heal as well.

 

Yes, he thought again…it was going to be a beautiful day.

 

 

 

Hank Stanley looked out of the sliding glass doors in the DeSoto’s kitchen. It was now early June and the weather was getting warmer and the days longer. Johnny had been here for a month, and it had just been decided by Dr. Brackett, that he needed to stay for a second month, as his strength, though it was improving steadily, was still not to the point where Johnny could manage alone. He still got winded fairly easily, and he frequently ended up napping several times throughout the day.

 

Hank had finally gotten around to stopping by Roy’s to drop off some of the more personal gifts that had been left at the station for Johnny. The others had been finally boxed up and Chet had taken them out to John’s ranch for him to sort through at a later date when he was stronger and up to dealing with them all. When he arrived, he found Dixie McCall was also at the DeSoto home. She had dropped in to check on Johnny and had been promptly told that she was to stay for supper.

 

Joanne and Dixie were sitting at the kitchen table, and had offered Hank a beer. When they found out he was alone for the weekend, Joanne had immediately invited him to stay for supper as well. Since Emily and the girls were away visiting his mother in law, Hank accepted the offer gratefully. He had used the excuse of dropping off the gifts from the station, but he had secretly wanted to come over and see for himself how Johnny was faring.

 

He knew from the report from the departmental psychiatrist that he had received the day before, that Johnny had had a couple of sessions with the man, and had been declared emotionally fit. The fine details were not mentioned, but it seemed that despite what he had been through, the Dr. felt that Johnny was actually dealing with it remarkably well and had come to terms with what had happened.

 

The doctor had said, even though Johnny still had the odd nightmare, that it was nothing that was any cause for concern and that it was a perfectly normal occurrence for the kind of trauma John had been through.

 

Hank, wondered if Johnny had ever given in and read the suicide note that Martin Albright had left behind for him. And if he had, Hank wondered if it had it provided him with any of the answers he must have been looking for. If he had read it, he never let on, nor had he given any hint as to what it had contained. Roy probably knew…but Roy would never tell either, he guarded Johnny’s privacy with the tenacity of a pit-bull.

 

Hank glanced over at John, who was reclining in a lounge chair on Roy’s deck with a blanket covering the lower half of his body, and he thought he still looked too thin and pale. And even though John’s eyes had their sparkle and liveliness back, the man was still obviously weak and tired.

 

Hank looked back over his shoulder to the two women sitting at the table. “Johnny really looks tired, are you guys sure he’s really alright to be out there? I mean he won’t catch a draft or anything will he? Maybe he should come back in and rest on the couch for a while, out of the drafts.”

 

Dixie McCall came up behind him and giggled…“Welcome to the club Hank…Johnny is fine, he’s only going to be out for half an hour, and it’s a nice warm day. There are no smog alerts, the air quality is excellent today, and a little fresh air is good for him. Roy made sure that Kel okayed it.”

 

Hank looked at Dixie, questioningly…“Just exactly what club have I joined here?”

 

Dixie and Joanne laughed out loud, and Joanne came up and patted him on the back…“You Captain Stanley, are now a card carrying member of the, John Roderick Gage surrogate parent club.”

 

Dixie handed him another open beer, and said, “It comes with a lifetime of worry, but the benefit package you get from having him as part of your life, is worth all the gray hair you’ll get because of it.”

 

Hank smiled wryly. “Yes, ladies, I do believe I have joined that club. Hell, I know that I have more than a few gray hairs because of him already, but I accept each one gladly as long as I keep getting to look out and see those two together, healthy, happy and enjoying life.”

 

“Why Captain Stanley,” Joanne grinned. “I never realized you were such an old softie. You really do believe in fairy tale endings and happily ever afters, don’t you?”

 

Now it was Hanks turn to laugh…He knew that what these men did was a dangerous job, and that each call threw up perils that they all had to navigate each and every day. He knew that on any given rescue that his men could be claimed by the enemy called death, and lost to him forever, but he tried not to dwell on such things.

 

They had had a near miss this time, but once again Johnny had beaten the odds and to Hank, that was all that really mattered. The what is, was all that was important…it was pointless to obsess on the what ifs of life.

 

There really was no point in worrying or obsessing too much about all the maybes and what ifs that came with this job…with life itself. Most of life’s imagined fears never actually happened anyway. He had learned the hard way, that a lot of the most serious injuries Johnny had faced, be it the Koki virus, a hidden rattlesnake, a drunk driver, or a bunch of hijackers on a bus, had not happened during a hazardous rescue. They had all come out of left field.

 

Hank actually had to admit that all of their more harrowing rescues had gone off without a hitch. He knew it was because his men were the best, and they were always vigilant when performing their tasks…the other times when Johnny had been badly hurt, had all been after the fact, when they had no reason to be on the lookout.

 

Hank mused that come to think of it, that was how it was for everyone, no matter what they did for a living. He knew that 99% of the things most people worried about on a day-to-day basis, never actually happened. It almost always came from the things that hit out of nowhere, things like storms, earthquakes, and floods, and the things that were actually beyond anyone’s ability to control anyway.

 

No, Hank had no intention of wasting the now, with worrying about shadows and maybes, and things that would probably never happen anyway. Because now, was all they really had. It was the one tangible and the only true guarantee…and maybe that was the best way to think of it…now, was really all that mattered.

 

 

He just couldn’t wait until the 6 months were up, and to have Johnny declared healthy and fully recovered. That would be the next party, and he would throw that one himself…a party to rejoice in the fact that he would have all of his boys back together once more.

 

Hank knew that one day, one by one, they would all move on, and some of them may drift off and gradually lose contact with each other. But there was one thing he was sure of. No matter where life’s path took each of them, no matter where they all ended up, Johnny and Roy would end up on the same path, taking their journey together.

 

How long would the six of them remain at 51’s? He had no idea, but he knew that the lessons he had learned from Johnny and Roy would remain with him for the rest of his life.

 

He looked once more, out onto Roy’s back deck and saw Johnny sitting in a chair quietly talking to Roy, while Roy sat with his hand protectively on Johnny’s shoulder. Hank doubted he would ever again in his lifetime see two people who were closer than these two men before him. And he was thankful to the almighty that he had been blessed enough to have been part of it for however long he was allowed to be their Captain.

 

He looked once more at Johnny and Roy.

 

They were doing it again; they were having one of those private conversations without speaking …communicating with just a look and a glance…damn, he wished he could figure out how to do that.

 

He looked on as he witnessed the bond between the two men in action. It was obviously a deeply private moment to be cherished and kept secret between the two of them…Hank smiled and walked back over to sit down with the ladies and drink his beer, leaving the two men alone.

Did he believe in happily ever after?

 

Hell yes. He had just witnessed it first hand, right outside on Roy’s deck.

 

 

 

The End

 

Authors A/N for Medicine Man

 

Disclaimer: Emergency and its characters are the property of Mark VII Productions Inc. and Universal Studios. All rights reserved.

No infringements of any copyrights are intended or should be inferred.

 

This is a fictional story written for entertainment purposes only. No financial gain is being realized from it.

 

The story itself and all original characters are the property of the author.

 

The Legend of Rabbit Boy:

This is a Lakota Legend and so unlike any original work it is difficult to ascribe ownership to one recognized author, other than to say it belongs to the Lakota people.

 

This story is told as accurately as I could make it, I have tried to keep it truthful and unchanged, because frankly I think the Native American people have probably had enough of the White man changing their ways and history to suit his needs and wants…It would be a great disservice to this amazing culture… and so in order to keep it pure and not messed with by my unskilled hands, I went to the Pyramid Mesa site on the net and have used the version told by a wonderful storyteller named Jenny Leading Cloud from the White River Rosebud Indian Reservation to make sure I did not leave any important details out when it came time to have Johnny tell the story to Lucas and Natalie….Call it verbatim, (I prefer to use the words accurately and truthfully) I made sure that I stuck to the true story (although I have heard it more than once, but it is the same in all versions I heard because that IS how it goes...There is no alternate way to tell it)

 

But to actually claim that it belongs to any one person or even website makes me uncomfortable because in truth it is hard to copyright history, especially when the true originator of the legend is lost in the mists of time.

 

Lakota Legend/Mythology was largely word of mouth and traditionally there were NO WRITTEN RECORDS…They have lived on in the retelling of the tales which have been passed on from generation to generation into modern day.

Therefore I reiterate to say the Legend of Rabbit Boy belongs to the Lakota People.

 

Lastly to all of you amazing authors on this site who have inspired me and encouraged me. I am constantly amazed at the level of skill and talent I have found on this site, not to mention a lot of amazing new friends.

And to the reviewers…thank you for all the wonderful feedback. The E fanfiction family is the best there is...bar none…………Thanks again, Mypiot.

Links to Part 1. 2. 3.

 

Published to my Site 05/30/11

 

Home | Emergency Stories by Tammy | Send Stories | Fun Page | Guest Writer's

The Characters of Emergency do not belong to me. They are the property of Universal Studios and Mark VII Limited. No copyright infringement is intended or monetary gain made. I merely like to toy with them and return them to their proper owner in good working order.

Copyright © 2009 - 2010 - 2011 - 2012
Post your story by sending an email to Tammy at tbillings51@gmail.com.
Or feed the writer at their link