When You Care Enough to Send the Very Best*

By Anela51

“Hey, Roy?”

“What is it, Johnny?”

“You know what day it is today?”

“Yeah, it’s Sunday.”

“No, I mean what day it is today!”

“Am I supposed to?”

“What do you mean, ‘Am I supposed to?’ Don’t you remember?”

“Remember what?!”

“What day it is today!!”

“Well, since you seem so fired up about it, why don’t you tell me what day it is today?”

“Come on, Roy. Think!”

“I’m thinking. I’m thinking!”

“Man, I don’t believe you!”

“So tell me already.”

“It’s the anniversary of the day we first met!!”

“It is?”

“Man, I can’t believe you don’t remember…”

“Well, I can’t believe that you actually remember the specific date of the day we first met.”

“Hey, it’s not every day a guy meets his best friend! You sure were gung ho about the paramedic program back then.”

“Well, as I recall, you’d certainly done your homework before you even stepped foot into that office. You asked some tough questions.”

“Yeah, well, I wanted to make sure I didn’t end up like some glorified ambulance attendant or something. Besides, it wasn’t so much your answers but your enthusiasm that changed my mind. It was infectious.”

“You did graduate at the top of your class.”

“Oh, that was just to get back at Brackett. Man he was a hard case in those days.”

“Just to get back at Brackett?”

“Well, no… I really did want to do well…and I didn’t want to let you down, either.”

“Me?”

“Yeah. You’d already come in at the top of the first class outa Harbor General; I didn’t want you to think I was just some kind of dummy, you know?”

“I’ve never thought of you as dumb, Johnny—ever. From another planet, maybe, but never dumb. That’s why I chose you to be my partner after graduation.”

“Because you thought I was from another planet?”

*Snort* “No, because I could tell that you were going to be one of the best paramedics the program would ever turn out.”

*Grin* “You’re not so bad yourself, partner.”

…

“Anyway, here.”

“What’s this?”

“Just a little something for you for our anniversary.”

“You DID remember!”

“Of course I remember.  It’s not every day a guy meets his best friend, you know.”

“Then why’d you act like you had no idea what I was talking about?”

“I just wanted to make sure we were talking about the same thing.”

“The same thing? What else could I have been talking about, Roy?!”

“With you, partner, you never know.”

“Very funny. What are you, channeling Chet?”

“Now that would be scary…”

“Yeah, it would, wouldn’t it?”

“So are you gonna open the card or not?”

*Smile* “You got me a card. Well, you ol’ softie, you!”

“Just open the card!”

…

“What are you doing?”

“Just checking the back.”

“What for?!”

“I wanted to see ‘if you cared enough to send the very best.’”

“You’re some kind of a nut, you know that?”

“Yeah, but I’m a friendly kind of nut, right?”

*Snort* “Right…”

……

“Johnny?”

*Throat clearing* “Thanks, Roy…. I mean it.”

“You’re welcome.”

……

“Yeah, well… Just so you don’t think you’re the only mushy one around here…. Here.”

“Awww, you got me a card. How sweet.”

“Oh, just shut up and open it already.”

…

“Gee, Johnny, and you ‘cared enough to send the very best,’ too.”

“Ha, ha. Very funny.”

……

“Roy?”

*Throat clearing* “I like it, Johnny. I like it a lot. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

……

“So, uh, Joanne wanted to have a small celebration tonight and bought some steaks for the barbeque. You want come over for dinner?”

“Sure! What time should I be there?”

“Anytime, Johnny. You’re always welcome at our house, you know that.”

“Good deal. I’ll bring dessert.”

“Sounds great.”

……

“Hey, Roy?”

“Yes, Johnny?”

“We really did have some great times together, didn’t we?”

“Yeah. Yeah, we did, partner. We sure did.”

“We still do…partner.”

……

“Happy Anniversary, Junior.”

“Happy Anniversary, Pally.”

The End

This story is dedicated to Randy, Kevin, Michael, Mike, Tim, Marco, Robert, Ron and Vince, and in grateful remembrance of Jack Webb, Robert A. Cinader, Harold Jack Bloom, Bobby Troup, Julie London, Dick Hammer, Sam Lanier and William Boyett. Thank you to all the wonderful people who contributed to this entertaining and groundbreaking television program and gave us fans forty years of  viewing, reading and writing enjoyment. Happy Anniversary!!

*This was my first Emergency! fan fiction story and was originally posted on fanfiction.net in January 2012.

DISCLAIMER: "Emergency!" and its characters © Mark VII Productions, Inc. and Universal Studios. All rights reserved. No infringement of any copyrights or trademarks is intended or should be inferred.  “When you care enough to send the very best™” © Hallmark Cards. This story is only written for entertainment. No financial gain is being realized from it. The story, itself, is the property of the author.

Posted to site 04/05/13