This piece is an AE story based on the Emergency! Episode entitled “Helpful” from Season 2/Ep. 12. It was written by: Preston Wood and Directed by: Lawrence Dobkin.

Johnny Gage was lying in his hospital bed at Rampart General Hospital at a 45-degree angle. It was the most comfortable for him since his lungs hadn’t healed completely and breathing properly was still a bit of a challenge for the young paramedic.

He was still overwhelmed with all of the information his friends and the hospital staff had relayed to him in the last few hours. John had apparently been in Rampart for the past four days, although all he remembered was waking up this morning, sore as hell over his entire body and very little memory of why. He was currently in a regular room, 231, to be exact, but it seems he had been in the emergency room and then in the ICU for the past three days. He was just upgraded and moved this morning.

Dixie was the first person he saw that he recognized and she greeted him with one of her most endearing smiles. Johnny felt awful, but that smile made him feel a whole lot better. She said that Dr. Brackett would be in at some point this afternoon to answer all of his questions, but in the meantime she could tell him that he’d been on a vent and that was why his throat was so sore. Johnny immediately brought his right hand up to his throat, as if to make sure the vent was gone.

During the morning hours Johnny was visited by Captain Stanley, Mike Stoker, Marco Lopez, and even Chet Kelly. He was very glad to see them and they spaced themselves out so as not to arrive in a bunch, but he was at a loss as to why Roy hadn’t come to visit. He asked each one that came about Roy and watched their faces carefully for any sign that Roy had been hurt and they were keeping it from him. They all assured him that Roy was okay, but he’d been with Johnny since he’d been in the ICU and was probably home getting some sleep.

This seemed logical to Johnny, but there was something else. Something wasn’t quite right but he couldn’t put his finger on it. As he laid there quietly, snatches of conversations entered his head. He had a partial memory of Roy telling him that he’d fought with Joanne. From what Johnny was able to sketch together, it was quite the battle. He was getting frustrated. The more he tried to remember, the more the memories slipped from his conscious mind. He was beginning to get sleepy as well. That nurse, Kitty, she had injected something into his IV telling him that he needed to rest. Before he knew it, Johnny was sound asleep. And then it happened. . . the bad dreams began.

***********

Roy DeSoto was sitting at his kitchen table finishing up yet another draft of the most difficult letter he’d ever had to write. He was writing to his very best friend, apologizing for all of the horrible things he’d said to him and taking full responsibility for Johnny being in the hospital in the first place.

Roy went on to explain why he hadn’t been to visit since he’d heard that Johnny had woke up and had been moved out of the ICU. Roy was beside himself with joy that Johnny was on his way to making a full recovery, but the guilt was all consuming and wouldn’t allow him to share his elation with Gage. Roy was in a world of self-purgatory and there was nothing on earth that would allow himself parole.

DeSoto confessed to John that he was contemplating leaving the paramedic program altogether, after all what kind of healer ignores their patient. Roy went on to tell Johnny that he was guilty of gross negligence and on his next shift he was turning himself into Captain Stanley and then would proceed to Dr. Brackett.

Roy continued to sit at the table and write until he got writer’s cramp. Joanne was pretty sure that he had used every piece of paper in the house. He stuffed it all into an envelope, sealed it and scrawled John Gage Room 231 on the front of it. He proceeded to get up from the table, kiss Joanne, and then went out to the garage. He got in his Porsche and took off for Rampart.

*********************

Johnny woke up in a cold sweat, screaming. Nurse Hawk came rushing into his room to see what the trouble was. Noticing that Johnny was diaphoretic and a bit cyanotic, she quickly paged Dr. Brackett and went straight back to him. Brackett came barreling into Johnny’s room just as his most capable nurse had him calmed down.

Kel told her she’d done a great job and he would take over. Nurse Hawk smiled at him, took one last look at Johnny and left the room. Brackett sat down next to Johnny on the bed. John’s chest was still heaving but he was calm and still. Kel put his hand on Johnny’s shoulder and spoke quietly to him.

“Johnny, can you look at me?” Kel said.

“Yeah, Doc,” Johnny whispered as he turned towards Brackett.

“Can you tell me what happened?” Dr. Brackett asked quietly.

“I, um, I had a bad dream is all, Doc. I’m okay,” Johnny smiled slightly.

“Do you remember the dream, Johnny?”

“Yeah, Doc. I remember being in the storm drain going after those two boys, ah, Charles and Kirby. I thought I was gonna drown there for a minute and then I was soaked to the skin and I didn’t bother to change my clothes.

I was really tired when we got back to the station and I went right in and laid down without getting’ out of my wet uniform. Is that why I got so sick? Cuz I don’t remember anythin’ after I went to sleep,” Johnny explained.

“Yes, that’s exactly what happened. Fortunately, Roy found you and got you in here fast. He was all alone at the station, ya know. Apparently, the engine was out on a run and Roy had to handle it all himself.”

“Geez, that’s really somethin’ Doc. Especially since he was so mad at me.”

“Mad at you? About what?”

“Oh we’d had a fight cuz I stuck my big nose in where it didn’t belong. Totally my fault and now Roy hates me.”

“Johnny, I know for a fact that Roy doesn’t hate you, he was here at the hospital with you the entire time you were in the ICU.”

***********************

While Kelly was up with Johnny, Roy was down in the Emergency Room giving his letter to Dixie McCall.

“Roy, now are you sure you don’t want to go give this to Johnny yourself? I’m sure he’d love to see you.”

“No, Dix. I gotta get home, Joanne was starting to get lunch ready. I’ll come back another time to see Johnny. Um, Dix? How’s he doin’?”

“He’s holdin’ his own. Kel’s up with him right now, it seems he was having a pretty severe nightmare.”

“Oh, but Johnny’s ok?”

“Yes Roy, he’s okay. I’ll bring this letter up to him right now.”

“Thanks, Dix. I’ll see ya later.” And with that, Roy left the hospital and went back home wondering the whole way if he would still have Johnny in his life after today.

********************************

Dixie took the rather heavy envelope up to Johnny’s room. He was alone now. She merely told him that it had been dropped off for him and he didn’t ask any questions. He did put the envelope down on the bed next to him and stared at it like it was going to explode.

Johnny recognized Roy’s handwriting right away. He was petrified to open the envelope thinking that Roy had written him a “Dear John” letter, ha ha. He finally decided that any contact with Roy was better than none and opened the letter. Johnny snuggled down in his pillows, sighed deeply, and began reading.

Dear Johnny,

I am writing this letter because I have so much to get off my chest and I was too afraid to face you in person, thought you might kick me out of your hospital room, and I wouldn’t blame you. I need to start back with that day, you know the one, where I was in a bad mood and you were trying to find out what was wrong. I know you remember.

Of course Johnny remembered that day. He thought about it constantly. Johnny was mopping the floor and Roy was ready to throw the resuscitator across the room. He’d fiddled with it and mumbled to himself long enough. Johnny finally pointed out to him that something was bothering him. Roy seemed surprised that Johnny even noticed. He continued to coax Roy into telling him about it with Roy continually telling him that he didn’t want to talk about it. Finally, Roy said something to the effect that he was dumb and Johnny jumped right on it and said that he knew Roy and Joanne had a fight. Roy admitted as much but still didn’t want to talk about it. Then Roy motioned Johnny over to the bac k bumper of the squad. Just when Roy was going to tell Johnny what the fight was about, they got a call.

You of course also remember that I was rude, sarcastic and condescending towards you when all you wanted to do was help. I obviously can’t take my mean words back but I can tell you that I honestly didn’t mean them. I was mad and hurting and I lashed out at you. This is not an excuse, just trying to explain where my head was at.

I have to tell you Johnny, the first time that I felt bad was when I saw you go under the water in that storm drain. But I truly panicked when I found you in your bunk, in your wet uniform, and ice cold. God Johnny, I thought you were dead and I was so scared that I’d lost you and would never be able to hear you rush into the locker room yelling Morning, Morning, Morning and slapping me on the back, or listening to you go on and on about the incredible chick you met, but more than that, just to think that I’d never see that silly grin of yours or have you come up with another Gage scheme hurt so badly that I thought I would die right along with you. Especially knowing that I was responsible for your condition.

Remembering what happened when we got back to the barn makes me feel the most guilt of all. You hopped out of the cab as soon as I backed the squad in and headed for the dorm. I told you to come get some hot coffee when you finished and you muttered something I didn’t quite hear. Course I thought you were just using the latrine since I was still under the impression that you had changed your uniform back at Rampart. I walked into the dayroom and Cap was sitting at the table with his clipboard and a bunch of papers. Mike was sitting next to him with his nose in an engineering manual. Chet was over on the sofa feeding pastry to Boot and Marco was standing at the back door with a cup of coffee watching the rain. As I walked over to the coffee pot, Cap asked me how the boys were and Marco turned and asked if I would like to play a game of chess with him. I told Cap that Kirby and Charles were just fine and their parents were on their way to Rampart. Then Marco and I walked over to the table and began the chess game, never noticing that you didn’t come out to the dayroom.

If I could have a wish it would have been to redo those last three hours. Chet was over at the stove making his award winning chili when suddenly the tones went off and the Engine was called out to a trash fire.

The station became deathly quiet and that’s when it dawned on me that I hadn’t seen you in a while. No, wait, I hadn’t seen you since we’d gotten back from Rampart. I took off to the dorm room to see if I could find ya. I did, you were lying on your bunk facing away from me, on your right side. As I bent closer to you I realized that your clothes were sopping wet. I listened to your breathing and I could barely hear you take a breath. It sounded more like a tiny squeak.

I felt your forehead, it was like ice as was your entire body. I knew that hypothermia had settled in and it was imperative to get those wet clothes off and heap layers of warm blankets on ya, but I was alone in the station with you and so the first thing I needed to do was to call in a Code I and stand the squad down. Then grab the equipment and call Rampart.

I managed to do all of that and was never more grateful to hear Dr. Brackett’s gruff voice. He was confused because he knew that Squad 51 had not been called out.

“No Doc, it’s Johnny. I’m pretty sure he’s hypothermic. The skin is ice cold and he’s barely breathing. The engine was called out so I’m all alone here. I stood us down and got the equipment from the squad. Doc, I don’t know what to do,” I said sounding pathetic.

“Roy, it’s ok. We’ll call an ambulance from here. Can you get me a set of vitals? Oh and see if you can get a bunch of blankets to cover him with. Roy? You with me?” Brackett asked anxiously.

“Yeah, I’m with ya. I’m gonna grab the blankets, Doc. Be right back.”

“Great Roy, you’re doing fine. Is Johnny shivering uncontrollably, Roy?” Brackett needed to know.

I was on autopilot. I remember grabbing the blankets off of everybody’s bunks and wrapping you up like a mummy. Then I got back on the bio-phone cuz I knew Brackett had asked me somethin’.

“Ok, Doc. He’s all wrapped up and what else did you ask? Oh ok, Dr. Brackett? I hear a siren, I hope that’s the ambulance,” Roy was starting to lose focus.

“Roy, first, is Johnny shivering?”

“Um, no, he’s not. He’s very still and it’s unsettling.”

 “All right, can you get me a set of vitals, now?”

“Yeah Doc. Doing that right now,” I complied.

I swear, Johnny, I was talking to myself. I had to stop myself from breathing too heavy and told myself to focus. I was so scared that you were going to die. I set about obeying Dr. Brackett’s orders as that was the only thing keeping me from picking you up and taking you to the hospital in the squad myself. As I took your vitals, the panic came back.

“Oh God, Doc, his BP is non-existent and I can barely get a pulse. No respirations either!”

“Ok, Roy, don’t panic. This is typical with hypothermia, all right? Listen for a sec, do you hear the ambulance?”

“Yeah, Doc, they’re here now."

“Ok, wrap him up good and get him in here.”

“10-4 Doc. On our way.”

Writing all of this down has been very painful for me. I certainly didn’t act in a professional manner while treating you. Johnny, you have Dr. Brackett to thank for saving your life, since I was basically ‘out to lunch’. While bringing you out to the ambulance I honestly thought that Malcolm, the ambulance attendant, was going to have to carry me out too.

I felt so relieved when I was able to turn you over to Brackett and Dixie. They were both standing right there in the ambulance bay when the doors opened. I saw Dr. Early hurrying down the corridor towards us as well. We all rushed your gurney at breakneck speed to Treatment Room 2.

I helped the others lift you from the gurney to the exam table. Brackett started listening to your chest, checked your eyes, ears, and extremities. He gave Dixie orders to very carefully remove your uniform, covering you over with layers of blankets as she went and then to use the temperature probe rectally to get a core temperature reading. Brackett explained that would give them a much accurate picture of the extent of the hypothermia and how to proceed. As Dixie began, he turned to Carol and told her they needed:

CBC

Glucose

Electrolytes

BUN & Creatinine

ABG

Brackett explained to me, Johnny, that hypothermia is treated in steps.

Step 1: Drying & insulation – getting all the wet clothing off and wrapping in layers of blankets along with an accurate core temperature.

Step 2: Fluid resuscitation – This involves warmed fluids given through IV ’s and may also involve warming and replenishing his blood, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves Brackett said to me.

I’m sure at this point I looked like I was going to pass out, because I know I felt like it. Dr. Brackett took me by the elbow and guided me out into the hallway. He told me to stay there for a few minutes and Dixie would come get me when she was through.

When I was allowed back in to you, I was given the verdict. You had what they called moderate hypothermia. Your core temperature was 89.3 and you were in some respiratory distress so Brackett and Early concurred that you should go on a vent to save stress on your lungs. You were to go to the ICU to be very carefully monitored. They were also going to begin warming you up from the inside out using warm fluid IV’s.

Johnny had to stop reading. He was getting agitated over all of this information. Not for himself, but for what Roy had to go through because of him. John couldn’t help but think if he’d acted more responsibly the doctors and nurses at Rampart and Roy wouldn’t have been put out having to take care of him. How could he have been so selfish. He regretted his poor decision and felt so guilty. Plus, if he had minded his own business and stayed out of the fight between Roy and Joanne then Roy wouldn’t have ended up sleeping on the couch and neither of them would have gone through so much pain.

John knew that he was too weak at this point to be able to write a letter so he’d have to do it in person. He needed to call Roy and apologize for everything. He was contemplating actually calling when Nurse Hawk walked in.

“Hello, Johnny. How are you doing?” she asked nicely.

“Oh, I’m alright, Kitty,” Johnny answered.

“Is there anything I can get for you?” Kitty asked sincerely.

“Um, actually, could you dial a number for me? I really need to talk to my partner, Roy,” Johnny asked anxiously.

“Of course, Johnny. I’d be glad to,” Kitty said as she was dialing.

There was no answer so Johnny had to leave a message on the DeSoto’s new-fangled answering machine. He felt rather silly talking to himself but he did it.

“Hey Roy, it’s John. Could you give me a call here at the hospital when you get this message? I’m in Room 231. Thanks and say Hi to the family for me. Bye.”

Johnny decided to read some more of Roy’s letter.

I sat with my eyes wide open, yet not seeing anything except the blinking lights on the monitors and all of the tubes coming out from seemingly everywhere. There were no sounds save the rhythmic whooshing of the respirator that was forcing air into your lungs, Johnny.

Whenever one of the many nurses opened the curtain to check on you or draw blood or take your vital signs yet again, a sliver of light would accompany it. At these times, I’d glance over at them with a glimmer of hope in my eyes thinking maybe this would be the time they would give me some good news.

In those first twenty-four hours that I’d been sitting in that back breaking, bone crushing plastic chair I was given no such hope. I continued to search the corners of my mind trying to come up with a logical explanation for what happened, but the answers just would not come. All I knew for certain was that I was to blame for you lying in that bed here in the ICU with very little hope for survival.

Johnny put the letter down on his lap and fought the strong emotions he was feeling. He knew for a fact that this was 99% his fault and he was having a very hard time dealing with the fact that Roy felt so guilty. He picked up the letter and continued reading.

I started to think back to how this whole stupid thing started. I was upset because I’d had a fight with Joanne. You saw how mad I was and tried to get me to talk about it. Of course, I was too stubborn at first to talk to you, my best friend.

Johnny stopped reading again as he felt the lump in his throat. His fingers inadvertently ran themselves over those last three words that Roy had written: my best friend.

Wow, maybe he really does mean it. Okay, let’s go on.

Naturally, you thought I was mad at you. Ya know, you’re too sensitive for your own good. You’re not self-centered, just always think that you screwed up in some way and that I’m mad at you. You’d been getting better at not automatically thinking you’d messed up, but I guess I was so furious you just assumed that you were responsible. My continually telling you that I didn’t want to talk about it didn’t help either.

Why, why? Was it that hard to admit to a fight with my wife? Geez, you tell me all about your dates, well mostly. Why did I have to go and tell you that I didn’t want to talk about it with you? I did actually tell you that the fight was over Mike Stoker’s spaghetti, or at least that’s what set it off, but we’d been building for a doozyof a fight for a while. Jo brought up her getting a job, again! Just part time she’d said, just to make a little extra money but I was too stubborn and said, “No, absolutely not!”  She wanted more for the kids and right now with what I make, that was out of the question. Jo kept insisting she’d work only part-time, while the kids were at school. I put my foot down and flat out said no, that she needed to be home for the kids. The kids, HA. Johnny you know as well as I do that it wasn’t the kids I was concerned about, it was, well me! God it’s so hard to admit that especially to myself. Knowing that she would be waiting at home for me after a bad shift was enough to make me selfish enough not to allow her to get a job.

So we had a “beaut” of a fight, as you put it, and I was actually mad at you for not being as miserable as I was. How’s that for being selfish and immature? So Gage, you and I spent the day goin’ back and forth with you giving me “expert” advice on the psychology of women from a Freudian point of view. I had the audacity to tell you that it would all blow over if I just forgot about it. If you would leave me alone. I basically told you that you had no idea what you were talking about and how could you think yourself an expert on women when you couldn’t even cope with the dog after Boot grabbed a splint and ran under the squad with it.

Now I come to the worse part of the whole fight. Joanne was starting to unfreeze a little and I knew that if I just left it all alone, then it would all blow over. Then of course you had to push the limits once again and call my wife that night we were off shift and give her Mike Stoker’s spaghetti recipe. Oh she was polite on the phone with you but after she hung up, man you would have thought we were living on the San Andreas fault. Boy she laid into me up one side and down the other. Mostly she was furious that I had confided in you. She wanted to know how many of the other guys I had shared our private fight with. It got so bad I ended up sleeping on the couch. I’d thought about going off to a motel but I decided this was my house too and I wasn’t gonna be kicked out. I couldn’t wait to get to the station and let you have it for stickin’ your big, fat nose into my personal business. The closer I got to the station, the madder I became and then you walked in whistling that stupid, off-key tune.

Johnny stopped reading. He knew what was coming next. This was the part that really had hurt his feelings. John was tired and getting hungry. He had barely eaten anything all day because of a lack of appetite, but now, he was getting quite famished. Johnny was also tired, again. It seemed that he became fatigued at the drop of a hat and that was frustrating. Dr. Brackett had explained to him that he would feel cold and tired. This was to be attributed to the hypothermia and would take weeks, maybe even months to get back to feeling normal.

Just as he was drifting off, there was a bang at the door. Johnny jumped and looked over that way and saw Nurse M. Fitzgibbons coming toward him with a food tray. He watched her under hooded eyes as she set up the tray, took the cover off and inspected everything on it, then put the cover back on and wheeled it over to him. She looked up just as he blinked and she smiled at him.

“Well, good evening, sleepy head,” the nurse chuckled.

“Hey there, Millie. What’s for supper? I’m actually pretty hungry,” I answered.

“Glad to hear it, John. We’ve got some nice thick cream of chicken soup, nice and hot.  You’ve also been given a mug of hot chocolate and a glass of warm milk,” Millie explained.''

“All right, Millie. I think I can eat some of that soup, it actually smells really good,” I said surprising myself.

“Are you sure you’re really John Gage?” I recognized that voice immediately.

“Hey, Roy. Yeah I think it’s still me in here,” I tried to joke a little with him. Millie looked up sharply at Roy.

“I’m sorry sir, but it’s time for Mr. Gage to eat his supper. He hasn’t eaten anything to speak of all day and I would prefer he eat undisturbed,” Millie told Roy in no uncertain terms.

“Oh of course. Johnny I’ll come back another time,” Roy backed away.

“No, Roy, please stay. Millie this is Roy DeSoto. He’s my partner. We’re both paramedics with Station 51,” Johnny explained to the 50-year-old nurse.

“I see, John. Sorry Roy. You are welcome to stay as long as you’d like,” Millie smiled at Roy.

Millie left the two men alone, sensing there was much more going on than what they were showing. After she left, Roy sauntered closer to Johnny’s bed. He noticed his letter sitting on Johnny’s lap under his food tray. He didn’t know how to bring it up or how to talk about it but felt that he had to.

“Um, Johnny, I’d like to talk to you about my letter. I mean after you finish your meal.”

“Ok, Roy. I don’t mind, cept I’m up to the part where you call me that name,” Johnny said barely above a whisper.

“Oh I see.” Roy then reached under the food tray and latched onto the letter.

“Do you mind if I read from it for a while?” asked Roy.

“Yeah, sure go ahead. I wasn’t really looking forward to seeing this part in print anyway,” Johnny said miserably.

Roy began to read.

“Mornin, “you said smiling and whistling.

“Mornin,” I said with a scowl.

“You’re still bugged. Thought it would be over,” you mused.

“Could have been,” I ground out.

“What happened?” you asked confused.

“You! That’s what happened,” I growled.

“What’d I do?” you asked so innocently.

“Where did you get the bright idea to call Joanne last night and give her Stoker’s spaghetti recipe?” I asked incredulously.

“I don’t know. I thought it would help. She seemed happy to get it,” you stated.

“She was just being polite. You should have been there for the excitement after she hung up. You’re a positive menace,” I declared and walked away. I turned around for an instant as I left the locker room and you were just standing there looking positively devastated.

We didn’t speak again before the tones went off for the children lost in the storm drain. you got your turnouts on and grabbed the SCBA’s, but other than that, offered no comments. I suggested to Cap that we call to the boys by their first names of Charles and Kirby only so that we’re not all chasin’ each other. Cap agreed and you and I took off for Section 551-B which ran right up Spring St.

We finally found the boys and got them out of the storm drain just in the nick of time, but you had a hard time. You got knocked down by a huge stream of water and it took a couple of minutes to get orientated. I took the boy from you and got both boys safely up the ladder at the manhole and handed them off to Chet and Marco.

You weren’t right behind me on the ladder so when I got up on solid ground I looked back down the manhole and all I saw was rushing water. I was contemplating going back down when you suddenly appeared. You started up the ladder and I grabbed your hand to steady your ascent to the surface. We got the boys to Rampart and fully checked out along with ourselves, at least that’s what I thought had happened. Leaving the hospital and heading back to the station in that downpour, I had no idea that you hadn’t gotten looked at. You picked up the mic in the cab and announced, “Squad 51, available. Returning to quarters.”

We didn’t talk the whole way back to the barn. Partly cuz of the fight and partly cuz it was raining so hard I needed to focus on my driving. I noticed you shivering some out of the corner of my eye, but I didn’t pay much attention to that either.

Sitting here on this butt breaking chair listening to the ventilator breathing for my best friend and partner, I have so many regrets and feel exceptionally guilty. My body leans forward on its own and I automatically reach my hand out and slip it into your still cold palm. I literally am willing you to warm up and open your eyes and look at me, but then I wonder what you’ll think of me when you first see me. I know that I would want to punch me right in the nose, but you’re is such a forgiving soul.

“Look, Johnny. I know that your feelings were really hurt because I called you a menace. I swear, if I could cut my tongue out, I would. It was a horrible thing to say, especially since I didn’t even mean it. Thinking back on the entire situation, it was really myself that I was yelling at. You just happened to be standing in front of me. I feel rotten about hurting your feelings, Johnny, but that pales in the face of the physical danger to your life that I put you into,” Roy said quietly.

“What’da mean, Roy? This happened to me, I knew for a fact that I was soaking wet and I chose to stay in my wet clothes. How could that possibly be your fault? And from what Dr. Brackett told me, I wouldn’t even be here having this conversation with you if you hadn’t acted so quickly. .. "

“But see, that’s the thing, Johnny. I DIDN’T act quickly. You were lying in your bunk going into a coma and I was sitting in the dayroom winning a game of chess from Marco!!”“Look Roy, yes I was hurt by the sting of your barbed words, but I’m a grown man. Just cuz I was ticked off at you was no reason to neglect my health, ya know?”“It sounds like we’re both saying the same thing, I think? What do you think?”

Roy asked Johnny.“Yeah, I was getting the same impression. Look, I think we’ve both said things to each other that neither of us really meant. I don’t want to lose you as a friend or a partner, partner,” Johnny said with his famous grin.“All right, Johnny.

Let’s start from right here and now learning from what’s happened. Hopefully, this will make me a much better person,” admitted Roy.“I agree, Roy. Good deal, man!”

With that, Johnny put his hand out and shook Roy’s hand. “So now, getting back to Joanne getting a part time job, I got a friend that owns an appliance store and he’s always looking for part time office help,” Johnny baited Roy.Roy rolled his eyes and said, “Here we go again!”Johnny shot a sideways glance over at Roy and saw the panicked look on his face. “Ok, so things are pretty much back to normal now,” Johnny said mostly to himself while he enjoyed the moment. 

The End 

Posted to Site 1/16/16