Chapter Twenty Five
They were falling…sliding down to the end of the tethered rope.
With a sudden jolt he felt the belt pull against his ribs as he swung back and forth in the open expanse dangling beneath the 405 overpass; the tanker driver precariously held in his arms though his own safety belt was hooked securely to Johnny's. "I'm slipping."
"You're okay. They won't let us fall." Johnny knew they wouldn't. In the dizzying sway of the pendulum they had become he somehow knew they wouldn't let them fall. But then suddenly, mocking his new found trust the rope slipped and again they were falling only to jerk to a stop once more. The belt pulled against his middle causing all the air to burst forth from his lungs at an unnatural speed.
A few short hours ago he had been at his apartment straightening his collar and finger combing his hair practically bouncing in anticipation of his first day back from sick leave. Now his back hurt, his arms trembled from the exertion; his teeth clenched against the pain the belt inflicted on his mid-section. He knew they wouldn't let them fall, but he'd feel better once their feet were safely on solid ground.
"Oh God, we're going to die!" The victim screamed after their second rapid descent.
"Hey it's all right. We're all right. We're tied off. Just take it easy. Stop struggling so much." Johnny remembered the stories the Dwyer brothers had shared with him back at Rampart about calming victims in rescue situations. He tried to emulate their words.
How he ended up climbing out onto the tractor that hung mostly off the freeway bridge seemed a little like a bad dream at the moment, and he wished for the feel of the water pulsing through the hose in his hands instead of the tug of the belt around his waist.
Tony and Joe had been working feverishly to extract the victims in the sedan lodged beneath the middle of the tanker. Captain Jones had asked for people with climbing experience. And to his credit his love for camping, backpacking and rappelling through the San Gabriel Mountains had led him to step up to the call for volunteers. Cap had questioned him about being sure he could handle the strain of the rescue, after all it was his first day back. A smile slid across his face as he remembered the concerned look his Captain had when he had asked. It felt good knowing someone actually cared. It felt good to be back at work.
He was shocked back to the present when an explosion rocked the bridge above them, and the big rig slid further off the edge. Johnny looked up into the staring headlights that threatened to crash down upon them and drag them into oblivion.
The men up top had directed their hose at the overturned tanker fanning the spray from side to side. Every time they moved the spray the flames shot up again, but they kept at it knowing that Tony and Joe still had a victim in the crushed sedan. The foam truck had just arrived on scene.
"Get that foam in there!" Captain Jones called over the HT.
Scotty looked down at the foam as it spread across the asphalt coating the leaking fuel. Gotchalk and McDonald stepped closer to the target and moved nearer to the crushed car.
Tony and Joe finally extracted the victim and ran past them. "Get back. It's gonna blow." Tony yelled to them.
Gotchalk glanced over his shoulder at McDonald who nodded in agreement. They, like the other teams of men with hoses nearby, would stand their ground until Tony and Joe were a safe distance from the tanker with the victim. Then they dropped the hoses, and everyone ran for cover.
Johnny could feel the rain of hot embers falling down on him and the tanker driver as the flash of heat wafted over their heads. He squeezed his eyes shut, lowered his face to his chest hoping his helmet would provide the needed protection to his eyes, prayed silently in his head that the rope wouldn't give or burn and pulled the driver closer. Another drop on the line as the jolt of the blast hit, and in an instant it was all over. They could feel the cool spray of water sifting down on them as the flames were once again shot down.
Johnny could barely hear the voices above. He thought he heard Captain Jones calling orders to the men, but the noises of the burning vehicles and the spray of the hoses kept him from making out what he was saying. "Hey!" Johnny yelled trying to get someone's attention.
"Hang tight for a minute Gage; we got our hands full up here." Gotchalk called down.
'Hang tight he says. Easy for him to say he's not the one swinging on the end of rope with a freaked out man grabbing at him. What was I thinkin' volunteering to climb down to this guy? I just told Tom Dwyer back in that hospital room that I didn't want to be in rescue. "I'm a lineman"…I told them. "I just wondered what makes you guys want to ride rescue." Well look at yourself now Gage…hanging off of a bridge, swinging in the wind. What was I thinkin'?
"Okay Gage, we're going to pull you up now." Gotchalk yelled down.
"Okay! We're ready!" He could feel the slow pull of the rope as they gradually came closer to the precariously teetering truck cab, the only thing keeping it from falling on the two men had been the lines that Captain Jones had insisted they tie it off with before allowing Johnny to go after the driver.
Hands grabbed under his arms and pulled him and the driver to safety back on top of the bridge. Cooper unhooked the driver's safety belt and escorted him over to the waiting ambulance to take him to Rampart so the doctor's could check him out. Cooper patted Johnny on the shoulder, "Good Job Gage."
Captain Jones came up beside him, "You all right Gage?"
Johnny looked into his Captain's eyes and saw that concern he'd seen earlier. "Yes Sir." He pulled the safety belt off and dropped it on the bridge, took off his helmet and ran his fingers through his sweaty hair. "Where do you need me?"
Captain Jones smiled at him, "Where do I need you? You're something kid, really something." He patted Johnny on the back. "How 'bout you take a breather over by the engine and cool off." Johnny nodded and turned to walk away. "Oh, and Gage." Johnny stopped and turned back to his superior. "Get something to drink. I can't have you getting dehydrated before we finish clean up." Captain Jones chuckled and turned back to the blaze. Johnny continued to the engine where Scotty handed him some water which felt wonderful going down.
While he sat beside the engine watching his shift mates fight down the blaze that now had the two vehicles looking like burnt out shells, Johnny thought about rescuing the driver and back to the day he met the Dwyer brothers and talked to them about why he had become rescue men. He remembered asking Tom about his career choice. "What made you leave the engine for the rescue squad?"
"Man, you don't ask easy questions do you?" Tom chuckled. "You thinking about rescue?"
"Me?" Johnny laid his hand on his chest. "Nah, I'm a lineman. I just wondered what makes you guys want to ride rescue. I love to tame the beast. I just got in, and I'm not gonna let anything mess that up."
"Well Johnny from what I hear you've got nothing to worry about. But to answer your question, I got in because my big brother Burt was a rescue man. He would come home telling stories about how he carried a kid out of a burning building or pulled a family out of wrecked car. It was infectious ya know? I mean he would get so excited about it. My whole family has been in the fire department for as long as I can remember my dad, my grandfather, my uncles and a bunch of cousins. It never occurred to any of us to do anything else. What about you? Why did you become a fireman?"
Johnny thought for a minute about Tom's question before answering. He had decided to open up a little. Maybe now was a good time to give it a try. Tom seemed like a nice enough guy, and they were stuck in the hospital room together. "When I was a kid I used to sneak into town. I would watch the fire station until they got called out. The way the engine pulled out with sirens blaring and lights flashing." He could feel the excitement building just remembering how watching those fire trucks barrel past made him feel.
Tom could see the gleam in Johnny's eyes when he talked about watching the fire trucks pulling out of the station. He could tell that Johnny had developed a love for firemen even before he had joined the academy. "So did you grow up around here?"
That did it. That question was too close. His inner sense of what is right or wrong seemed to be impelling him toward sharing part of his story, but a voice inside his head warned him that too much information always led to trouble. Johnny shifted uneasily in the bed. 'Why does everyone always want to know where I grew up? It isn't a good story.' The bad dreams he had about it was a testament to that. "I went to high school here." 'There maybe that will be enough. Maybe he won't ask anything else.'
Tom noticed that Johnny had shifted nervously in the bed; it made him curious as to why talking about his childhood would make Johnny uneasy. He hadn't really told him anything about where he grew up, so that must be a touchy subject. Deciding that maybe if he talked about himself some more Johnny would relax again, Tom resumed the conversation. "We grew up here, my brothers and I. We have a pretty big family. Actually we have two sisters as well. They're both married with kids. Burt's the oldest, Angie's next; then Lucy and then me and Charlie. We're twins."
Johnny looked over at Tom with a raised eyebrow and a small smile on his lips. "Twins huh?"
"Yep…but I got all the good looks." Charlie said from the door. Johnny's eyes shot immediately to the new voice in the room and saw two men in the doorway one of which looked an awful lot like Tom; the other one similar, but older and taller.
"Oh get in there you dufus." Burt pushed passed his brother and straight over to Tom's bed. "What happened?"
Tom pushed back into his pillow and pulled the blanket up tighter. "Roof collapse, but I got the victim out." He glared at his twin and continued, "Please tell me Charlie didn't worry Mom with this."
Burt chuckled and glanced over his shoulder at Charlie who had the decency to look sheepish. "Well…?" he shrugged his shoulders. "She is your mother, ya know."
Tom scowled at his twin brother. "Man Charlie, can't you just wait until I'm out of here to tell her?"
"It's not like she ain't gonna notice that big white cast there bro." Charlie defended himself.
Johnny couldn't help but laugh at the banter between the brothers which drew their attention to him.
Tom pushed up on one elbow. "Hey Burt, do you know who that is over there?" Burt and Charlie looked from Tom to Johnny and back. "That's John Gage."
"John Gage?" Charlie asked with a confused look on his face.
Burt on the other hand walked across the room with his hand outstretched. "Nice to meet you John. I heard about you pulling Cody out the other day. From what I hear it was quite a rescue."
Johnny reached out and shook Burt's hand. "You heard about that?" He said softly.
"You bet! I think the whole department is talking about it and you. I mean it isn't every day that some Boot beats the best hydrant drill time in the department."
Johnny's face and neck turned red, and he lowered his eyes.
"That's the guy that graduated first in the last class!" Charlie finally spoke. "Man it's great to meet you." He joined Burt beside Johnny's bed. "You ever thought about joining the ranks of rescue?"
Johnny huffed softly. "No. I'm a lineman."
"GAGE!" Johnny shifted his attention from his memories to his Captain's call. He rose from his resting place in the shade of the engine and returned to his duties as lineman smiling to himself knowing he loved the job he'd chosen. He loved riding the engine and pulling the charged hose into the battle. He jogged over and gratefully accepted his clean up assignment.
A few hours later a tired group of firemen trudged into the dayroom. A dumpster fire after the road rescue had been followed by a three alarm fire at a warehouse. Since they had been first on the scene their station had been released as soon as the fire was out. Clean up was left to the other responding units. Several of the guys congratulated Johnny on his earlier rescue as they filed into the day room.
After Captain Jones had talked to everyone on their shift about the incidents that led up to the nail in his tire, it had turned out that most of the guys really liked Johnny and didn't really understand why Cody had such a problem with him. Even Cody had talked to Cap and apologized for his behavior. Somehow the two Boots had actually become friends through all of the chaos. Now they could put all of this behind them and get back to the business of fire fighting. And that is exactly what they had done this morning. Now they were back at the station, and ready for some well deserved lunch.
"Okay fellas, who wants to man the grill?" Tony walked in with two sacks of groceries and a big grin on his face. "Cap had us stop for burgers and dogs." Joe trailed behind him with two more bags. All the men in the room stood to help un-bag the groceries and begin the food preparations. Before long the fire in the grill had been doused and the large group of men that made up their shift gathered around the large table enjoying their meal.
Scotty looked over at Johnny, he'd missed him while he recuperated from the pneumonia that had left him hospitalized for several days, and then more time off at his tiny apartment. He smiled as he thought about how the guys had come together to help, bringing food and keeping the place tidy for the kid. And Jimbo slipping that protein into the vanilla milkshakes had helped him gain back the weight he'd lost. Funny how fast the pounds seemed to drop off that wiry kid. Most people had to diet for weeks to lose a few pounds, but the weight just slid off the kid. He must have a metabolism that never stopped. Scotty smiled as he Adventures Coming to Life in Words watched Johnny eat like he hadn't eaten in days. To be such a skinny kid he sure could put away some food.
Feeling like he was being watched the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Johnny looked up from his second hamburger and saw all the guys looking at him. "What?" He asked with a mouth full of food. The men around the table burst into laughter. Johnny looked bewilderedly around at the men and settled his questioning gaze on Scotty.
"It's good to have you back Boot! Good to have you back." Scotty slapped him on the back and turned to his own plate.
Johnny shrugged and held up his half eaten burger in a salute, "Good to be back."
They were falling…sliding down to the end of the tethered rope.
With a sudden jolt he felt the belt pull against his ribs as he swung back and forth in the open expanse dangling beneath the 405 overpass; the tanker driver precariously held in his arms though his own safety belt was hooked securely to Johnny's. "I'm slipping."
"You're okay. They won't let us fall." Johnny knew they wouldn't. In the dizzying sway of the pendulum they had become he somehow knew they wouldn't let them fall. But then suddenly, mocking his new found trust the rope slipped and again they were falling only to jerk to a stop once more. The belt pulled against his middle causing all the air to burst forth from his lungs at an unnatural speed.
A few short hours ago he had been at his apartment straightening his collar and finger combing his hair practically bouncing in anticipation of his first day back from sick leave. Now his back hurt, his arms trembled from the exertion; his teeth clenched against the pain the belt inflicted on his mid-section. He knew they wouldn't let them fall, but he'd feel better once their feet were safely on solid ground.
"Oh God, we're going to die!" The victim screamed after their second rapid descent.
"Hey it's all right. We're all right. We're tied off. Just take it easy. Stop struggling so much." Johnny remembered the stories the Dwyer brothers had shared with him back at Rampart about calming victims in rescue situations. He tried to emulate their words.
How he ended up climbing out onto the tractor that hung mostly off the freeway bridge seemed a little like a bad dream at the moment, and he wished for the feel of the water pulsing through the hose in his hands instead of the tug of the belt around his waist.
Tony and Joe had been working feverishly to extract the victims in the sedan lodged beneath the middle of the tanker. Captain Jones had asked for people with climbing experience. And to his credit his love for camping, backpacking and rappelling through the San Gabriel Mountains had led him to step up to the call for volunteers. Cap had questioned him about being sure he could handle the strain of the rescue, after all it was his first day back. A smile slid across his face as he remembered the concerned look his Captain had when he had asked. It felt good knowing someone actually cared. It felt good to be back at work.
He was shocked back to the present when an explosion rocked the bridge above them, and the big rig slid further off the edge. Johnny looked up into the staring headlights that threatened to crash down upon them and drag them into oblivion.
The men up top had directed their hose at the overturned tanker fanning the spray from side to side. Every time they moved the spray the flames shot up again, but they kept at it knowing that Tony and Joe still had a victim in the crushed sedan. The foam truck had just arrived on scene.
"Get that foam in there!" Captain Jones called over the HT.
Scotty looked down at the foam as it spread across the asphalt coating the leaking fuel. Gotchalk and McDonald stepped closer to the target and moved nearer to the crushed car.
Tony and Joe finally extracted the victim and ran past them. "Get back. It's gonna blow." Tony yelled to them.
Gotchalk glanced over his shoulder at McDonald who nodded in agreement. They, like the other teams of men with hoses nearby, would stand their ground until Tony and Joe were a safe distance from the tanker with the victim. Then they dropped the hoses, and everyone ran for cover.
Johnny could feel the rain of hot embers falling down on him and the tanker driver as the flash of heat wafted over their heads. He squeezed his eyes shut, lowered his face to his chest hoping his helmet would provide the needed protection to his eyes, prayed silently in his head that the rope wouldn't give or burn and pulled the driver closer. Another drop on the line as the jolt of the blast hit, and in an instant it was all over. They could feel the cool spray of water sifting down on them as the flames were once again shot down.
Johnny could barely hear the voices above. He thought he heard Captain Jones calling orders to the men, but the noises of the burning vehicles and the spray of the hoses kept him from making out what he was saying. "Hey!" Johnny yelled trying to get someone's attention.
"Hang tight for a minute Gage; we got our hands full up here." Gotchalk called down.
'Hang tight he says. Easy for him to say he's not the one swinging on the end of rope with a freaked out man grabbing at him. What was I thinkin' volunteering to climb down to this guy? I just told Tom Dwyer back in that hospital room that I didn't want to be in rescue. "I'm a lineman"…I told them. "I just wondered what makes you guys want to ride rescue." Well look at yourself now Gage…hanging off of a bridge, swinging in the wind. What was I thinkin'?
"Okay Gage, we're going to pull you up now." Gotchalk yelled down.
"Okay! We're ready!" He could feel the slow pull of the rope as they gradually came closer to the precariously teetering truck cab, the only thing keeping it from falling on the two men had been the lines that Captain Jones had insisted they tie it off with before allowing Johnny to go after the driver.
Hands grabbed under his arms and pulled him and the driver to safety back on top of the bridge. Cooper unhooked the driver's safety belt and escorted him over to the waiting ambulance to take him to Rampart so the doctor's could check him out. Cooper patted Johnny on the shoulder, "Good Job Gage."
Captain Jones came up beside him, "You all right Gage?"
Johnny looked into his Captain's eyes and saw that concern he'd seen earlier. "Yes Sir." He pulled the safety belt off and dropped it on the bridge, took off his helmet and ran his fingers through his sweaty hair. "Where do you need me?"
Captain Jones smiled at him, "Where do I need you? You're something kid, really something." He patted Johnny on the back. "How 'bout you take a breather over by the engine and cool off." Johnny nodded and turned to walk away. "Oh, and Gage." Johnny stopped and turned back to his superior. "Get something to drink. I can't have you getting dehydrated before we finish clean up." Captain Jones chuckled and turned back to the blaze. Johnny continued to the engine where Scotty handed him some water which felt wonderful going down.
While he sat beside the engine watching his shift mates fight down the blaze that now had the two vehicles looking like burnt out shells, Johnny thought about rescuing the driver and back to the day he met the Dwyer brothers and talked to them about why he had become rescue men. He remembered asking Tom about his career choice. "What made you leave the engine for the rescue squad?"
"Man, you don't ask easy questions do you?" Tom chuckled. "You thinking about rescue?"
"Me?" Johnny laid his hand on his chest. "Nah, I'm a lineman. I just wondered what makes you guys want to ride rescue. I love to tame the beast. I just got in, and I'm not gonna let anything mess that up."
"Well Johnny from what I hear you've got nothing to worry about. But to answer your question, I got in because my big brother Burt was a rescue man. He would come home telling stories about how he carried a kid out of a burning building or pulled a family out of wrecked car. It was infectious ya know? I mean he would get so excited about it. My whole family has been in the fire department for as long as I can remember my dad, my grandfather, my uncles and a bunch of cousins. It never occurred to any of us to do anything else. What about you? Why did you become a fireman?"
Johnny thought for a minute about Tom's question before answering. He had decided to open up a little. Maybe now was a good time to give it a try. Tom seemed like a nice enough guy, and they were stuck in the hospital room together. "When I was a kid I used to sneak into town. I would watch the fire station until they got called out. The way the engine pulled out with sirens blaring and lights flashing." He could feel the excitement building just remembering how watching those fire trucks barrel past made him feel.
Tom could see the gleam in Johnny's eyes when he talked about watching the fire trucks pulling out of the station. He could tell that Johnny had developed a love for firemen even before he had joined the academy. "So did you grow up around here?"
That did it. That question was too close. His inner sense of what is right or wrong seemed to be impelling him toward sharing part of his story, but a voice inside his head warned him that too much information always led to trouble. Johnny shifted uneasily in the bed. 'Why does everyone always want to know where I grew up? It isn't a good story.' The bad dreams he had about it was a testament to that. "I went to high school here." 'There maybe that will be enough. Maybe he won't ask anything else.'
Tom noticed that Johnny had shifted nervously in the bed; it made him curious as to why talking about his childhood would make Johnny uneasy. He hadn't really told him anything about where he grew up, so that must be a touchy subject. Deciding that maybe if he talked about himself some more Johnny would relax again, Tom resumed the conversation. "We grew up here, my brothers and I. We have a pretty big family. Actually we have two sisters as well. They're both married with kids. Burt's the oldest, Angie's next; then Lucy and then me and Charlie. We're twins."
Johnny looked over at Tom with a raised eyebrow and a small smile on his lips. "Twins huh?"
"Yep…but I got all the good looks." Charlie said from the door. Johnny's eyes shot immediately to the new voice in the room and saw two men in the doorway one of which looked an awful lot like Tom; the other one similar, but older and taller.
"Oh get in there you dufus." Burt pushed passed his brother and straight over to Tom's bed. "What happened?"
Tom pushed back into his pillow and pulled the blanket up tighter. "Roof collapse, but I got the victim out." He glared at his twin and continued, "Please tell me Charlie didn't worry Mom with this."
Burt chuckled and glanced over his shoulder at Charlie who had the decency to look sheepish. "Well…?" he shrugged his shoulders. "She is your mother, ya know."
Tom scowled at his twin brother. "Man Charlie, can't you just wait until I'm out of here to tell her?"
"It's not like she ain't gonna notice that big white cast there bro." Charlie defended himself.
Johnny couldn't help but laugh at the banter between the brothers which drew their attention to him.
Tom pushed up on one elbow. "Hey Burt, do you know who that is over there?" Burt and Charlie looked from Tom to Johnny and back. "That's John Gage."
"John Gage?" Charlie asked with a confused look on his face.
Burt on the other hand walked across the room with his hand outstretched. "Nice to meet you John. I heard about you pulling Cody out the other day. From what I hear it was quite a rescue."
Johnny reached out and shook Burt's hand. "You heard about that?" He said softly.
"You bet! I think the whole department is talking about it and you. I mean it isn't every day that some Boot beats the best hydrant drill time in the department."
Johnny's face and neck turned red, and he lowered his eyes.
"That's the guy that graduated first in the last class!" Charlie finally spoke. "Man it's great to meet you." He joined Burt beside Johnny's bed. "You ever thought about joining the ranks of rescue?"
Johnny huffed softly. "No. I'm a lineman."
"GAGE!" Johnny shifted his attention from his memories to his Captain's call. He rose from his resting place in the shade of the engine and returned to his duties as lineman smiling to himself knowing he loved the job he'd chosen. He loved riding the engine and pulling the charged hose into the battle. He jogged over and gratefully accepted his clean up assignment.
A few hours later a tired group of firemen trudged into the dayroom. A dumpster fire after the road rescue had been followed by a three alarm fire at a warehouse. Since they had been first on the scene their station had been released as soon as the fire was out. Clean up was left to the other responding units. Several of the guys congratulated Johnny on his earlier rescue as they filed into the day room.
After Captain Jones had talked to everyone on their shift about the incidents that led up to the nail in his tire, it had turned out that most of the guys really liked Johnny and didn't really understand why Cody had such a problem with him. Even Cody had talked to Cap and apologized for his behavior. Somehow the two Boots had actually become friends through all of the chaos. Now they could put all of this behind them and get back to the business of fire fighting. And that is exactly what they had done this morning. Now they were back at the station, and ready for some well deserved lunch.
"Okay fellas, who wants to man the grill?" Tony walked in with two sacks of groceries and a big grin on his face. "Cap had us stop for burgers and dogs." Joe trailed behind him with two more bags. All the men in the room stood to help un-bag the groceries and begin the food preparations. Before long the fire in the grill had been doused and the large group of men that made up their shift gathered around the large table enjoying their meal.
Scotty looked over at Johnny, he'd missed him while he recuperated from the pneumonia that had left him hospitalized for several days, and then more time off at his tiny apartment. He smiled as he thought about how the guys had come together to help, bringing food and keeping the place tidy for the kid. And Jimbo slipping that protein into the vanilla milkshakes had helped him gain back the weight he'd lost. Funny how fast the pounds seemed to drop off that wiry kid. Most people had to diet for weeks to lose a few pounds, but the weight just slid off the kid. He must have a metabolism that never stopped. Scotty smiled as he Adventures Coming to Life in Words watched Johnny eat like he hadn't eaten in days. To be such a skinny kid he sure could put away some food.
Feeling like he was being watched the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Johnny looked up from his second hamburger and saw all the guys looking at him. "What?" He asked with a mouth full of food. The men around the table burst into laughter. Johnny looked bewilderedly around at the men and settled his questioning gaze on Scotty.
"It's good to have you back Boot! Good to have you back." Scotty slapped him on the back and turned to his own plate.
Johnny shrugged and held up his half eaten burger in a salute, "Good to be back."
Chapter Twenty Six
Several months passed and things began to settle into a normal routine for Johnny, except his finances. Being sick with pneumonia had left him behind on his rent and utilities which had finally caught up with him. With the missed shifts his paychecks had not been what he had hoped for. He had tried to pay Scotty and Captain Jones back for replacing the tire on his bike, but they wouldn't accept the money. Even with that he was still late paying his electric bill. The power had been turned off two days ago. Thankfully he had to work that day, but he had yet to get paid again, and had to spend the night in his apartment with no power, and nothing to eat.
He broke down and went to the shelter where he used to go when he was on the streets to get something to eat. Firefighting was tough business, and his high metabolism seemed to be running even higher since he joined the department. He'd been surprised to run into some of his shift mates and his new friend Nurse Dixie McCall there donating their time on Thanksgiving to feed the hungry. He suspected that she knew why he had shown up at the shelter, but being the wonderful woman he was finding her to be, she had not let on that she knew. She did however make him stay the rest of the day and "help" with the evening meal as well. Then she had insisted that she give him a ride back to his apartment, but asked him to help her unload her car at her place of the containers she had taken cookies and other baked goodies in to the shelter before taking him home.
"Just have a seat over there Johnny; I'm going to put on something a little more comfortable." Dixie disappeared down the hallway. Johnny stood in the middle of the nicely decorated room. Not moving. He felt completely out of place in his old sweats. He could hear drawers open and close, running water and a host of other noises coming from the other room. He nervously waited for her to return and take him home. Dixie came back down the hall in a pretty pink jogging suit humming a soft tune. She stopped at the end of the hall and smiled up at the nervous young man. "You can sit on the sofa Johnny," she chided.
"Oh…um…I'm okay. Are you ready to go?" He blushed and looked at the door…the escape.
"It's a bit chilly don't you think, how about some hot chocolate or tea?" She breezed past and into the kitchen. "Won't take but a minute."
"Tea would be nice." Johnny said softly and followed her into the kitchen. "But you don't half to go to any trouble."
"Tea…really? I thought you would be a hot chocolate kind of guy." She glanced over her shoulder as she filled the tea kettle at the sink.
"I'm allergic to chocolate."
"Oh." She stopped on her way to the stove and looked at him for a second. "I love chocolate. You must hate that." He shrugged in answer. She turned to the appliance, set the temperature on the eye and placed the kettle on the heat source. "Are you hungry?"
Johnny chuckled. "No ma'am I ate plenty at the shelter." He patted his flat belly.
Dixie giggled. "Yes, I guess you did. So what kind of sweets does a guy who is allergic to chocolate like to eat?" She hooked her arm in his and steered him to the sofa in the other room.
"I like vanilla shakes."
"Well thanks to your friend Jimbo I already knew that. What else?" She sat next to him and curled her legs on the cushion.
He thought for a minute as they settled on the sofa. "I like fruit. It's really sweet when it's fresh. Pie…I like apple pie with ice cream on it, vanilla ice cream." He grinned.
Dixie giggled again, "I could have guessed the flavor of the ice cream." She rose from the sofa to get the whistling tea kettle. "Stay put, I'll be right back."
They had enjoyed hot tea together and then Dixie made an excuse to get something in her bedroom. Johnny leaned back and closed his eyes. He had to be on shift the next morning. The warmth of the tea combined with the restless cold sleep from the night before and the warm heat in her home left him drowsy. He dreaded the thought of going back to his cold apartment. Before he knew it he was sound asleep.
He slowly opened his eyes and stretched beneath the warm blanket. Blinking several times brought the strange room into focus. He knew it was early. He always woke up early. He didn't always get up and often fell back to sleep, but the years he'd spent on the reservation had taught him to wake up just before dawn. He shifted on the sofa and untangled his legs from the blanket to put his feet on the floor. Someone had taken his shoes off. He rubbed his face with his hands trying to clear the last of the sleepy fog from his brain.
"Good morning!" Dixie called from the kitchen.
The smell of coffee drifted into the room. Johnny realized he was still at Dixie's and it was morning. He got up and walked to the kitchen doorway. "I'm sorry, Dixie, I didn't mean to fall asleep."
"Don't worry about that. I can take you by your apartment this morning if you need to before I drop you at your station." She poured him some coffee. "How do you take your coffee?"
He reached for the cup. "This is fine. Thank you." He'd finally gotten used to the taste of coffee. Just like Scotty had told him months ago…you can't be in the fire business and not need lots of caffeine; coffee was a great source of caffeine. He sipped carefully so as not to burn his lip. "You can drop me at my place. I can get my bike."
"No sir, Mr. Gage. It's raining cats and dogs out there. I'll drop you off. Then if you need a ride when you get off shift, you can just call me." He could tell there would be no arguments about it. She had a plan and nothing he could say or do would change her mind.
"Okay, but you can just take me to the station. Everything I need is already there in my locker." He looked sheepishly into the dark liquid in his cup. "I'm sorry to be so much trouble."
"John Gage, you are not any trouble. Your fire station is just a couple of streets over from the way I normally go to the hospital. I am the one that asked you to help me yesterday, so stop apologizing." She swatted at his arm as she passed. "It will just take me a minute to get into my uniform. Do you want some breakfast before we leave?"
"The coffee is fine."
"Coffee is not a well balanced breakfast. Why don't we swing by Jimbo's on the way."
"Jimbo's isn't on the way from here. It's all the way out by my apartment." He corrected her.
"Well, in that case if you need something from your apartment before I drop you at the station, it won't be any trouble to stop and get it. Besides, I'd like to see my old friend again. I haven't seen him since you were released from Rampart a couple of months ago. I'll be right out." She left Johnny standing in the hallway with his mouth agape. Dixie McCall had a way about her that seemed to keep everyone in line. Johnny was no exception.
In what seemed like a blink of the eye the two friends were pulling into a parking space beside Jimbo's. Johnny jumped out of the car and ran around to the driver's door to open it before Dixie even had time to think. The rain had let up a bit, but he lifted her umbrella over her head anyway. She smiled up at him as she slid from behind the wheel. "Why thank you Johnny." She hooked her arm in his and together they walked to the door and inside. Johnny shook the umbrella outside the door and dropped it in the umbrella stand just inside. They found a booth by the front window.
"Well hello there sunshine." Margie, the pretty blonde haired gum smacking waitress Johnny had met when he came in on his way to Rampart when he was sick, sidled up beside their booth. "Haven't seen you in a while. What can I get ya?" She smacked her gum popping a bubble between her teeth, her eyes never leaving Johnny as she held up her pen and order pad ready to write.
"I'll have some orange juice, toast and an egg over easy," Dixie replied.
Margie shot her a sideways glance and scribbled on her pad. "This your mother?" She asked Johnny snidely.
Johnny turned a deep shade of red and looked down at the table. "No."
Margie's eyes grew big. "Oh."
If it was possible Johnny's blush grew even deeper. Jimbo came up just at that moment, "Dixie!" he bent down and kissed her fondly on the cheek. "It's great to see you!"
"Hi Jimbo." She smiled sweetly. "I was giving Johnny a ride to work and thought it would be nice to stop by and see one of my favorite people."
"Yeah? That's great, just great. Hey Johnny! Margie, why don't you get their drinks, and I'll get the rest of their order."
"What are you drinking today sweetie? Water again?"
"He'll have two glasses of milk and an orange juice." Jimbo answered for Johnny who looked up at him and wrinkled his forehead in question. "Vitamin C…we can't have you getting sick again can we?" He grabbed Johnny's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Now will it be pancakes or French toast?"
"Pancakes." Johnny said softly. He was still having trouble with all the care everyone seemed to want to give him.
"Pancakes it is, and bacon and eggs." Jimbo turned and headed back to the kitchen before Johnny could protest at the amount of food Jimbo was preparing him.
Dixie smiled too. Phoning ahead to get Jimbo's help in making sure Johnny ate a good meal before reporting to work had been a stroke of genius. "He sure is a nice man."
"Yep, that's Jimbo all right. Nice guy." Johnny grinned broadly. "A good friend too." It felt good to finally relax enough to allow himself to trust someone a satisfactory amount to call them a good friend. "I really appreciate all you've done for me too Ms. McCall."
"It's not a problem Johnny. I hope you think of me as a friend too." She patted his hand. "Now while we wait on our food, why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself?"
"Not much to tell." His happy demeanor dissipated quickly. Dixie could see the immediate change in posture. He shifted uncomfortably in the booth. "I grew up on a ranch up north until my folks died. Then I spent a few years in the foster program; listened to a bunch of fighting between the couples that kept me; got tossed around from place to place until I ended up here with my aunt and uncle until he died. She couldn't afford for me to stick around, so after high school I left, and that's about it. Now I'm a fireman."
Dixie's heart broke at the detached way he described his childhood. Not wanting to stir up sad memories she quickly changed the subject. "And a darn good one I've been told."
"Really? You heard I was good?" He seemed surprised that anyone would say that.
"Well of course I've heard."
Right about then Margie returned with their drinks followed shortly by Jimbo with their food. "Eat up." He smiled. "I can't have our newest fireman lacking energy to haul his hose now can I?" He teased Johnny who in turn blushed again before digging into his breakfast.
After they finished the hearty breakfast Dixie insisted on taking Johnny by his apartment to pick up the things he would need for his shift. They pulled up in front of the dingy old apartment building. Johnny climbed out promising to hurry. He walked a few steps away from Dixie's car…stopped…looked around…turned and walked around the front of her car. Dixie rolled down her window. "Uh…this is not a very good neighborhood. Lock your doors." He stood up and looked around again. "Don't open them for anyone. Leave if you have to." He then hurried to the stairs and bounded up the two flights taking two steps at a time.
Dixie kept her doors locked and her eyes on the derelict building Johnny lived in. Sadness gripped her heart that such a kind and caring young man had to live there. She vowed to herself to encourage him to move to a nicer complex as soon as he was able. Suddenly she heard the handle on the passenger side click. She jumped at the noise. Johnny was back. She unlocked the door relieved that he was back and they could be on their way. "That was quick."
"Didn't want you out her alone for very long." He shifted in the seat and glanced back at his complex. "I've never had any trouble, but then I'm not an attractive lady in a car by myself." He turned back to the front.
"Why thank you Johnny."
He looked over at her, "For what?"
"You called me attractive. Thank you." She teased.
When they pulled up in front of Station 10 Johnny hesitated before climbing out of the car. "Um…Dixie, I uh…I want…Th…thank you." As he normally did when he was nervous Johnny stumbled over the words and blushed deeply.
Dixie reached over and gripped his hand. "No thanks necessary. Friends help friends. I want to be your friend."
"Yes ma'am." Johnny nodded before he turned to get out of the car. He opened the door and then softly said, "I'd like that."
Strolling into the front of the station Johnny was met with several cat calls. "Hey Gage! Got a new girl friend?" "Hey Johnny! Since when do beautiful ladies haul you around." "Wow Johnny! She's a doll." Etc. Which of course caused the young man to turn several shades of crimson. He hurried across the bay and into the locker room as fast as he could.
After roll call the station was called out to an MVA, and then a structure fire. After lunch the rain had stopped and the crew hoped for a slow afternoon, but no one said that out loud. Every fireman worth a grain of salt knew that you never mention how the day is going. If you do then the tones won't sleep. Scotty found Johnny dribbling the basketball out back. "Want some company Boot?"
Johnny tossed the ball to Scotty. Then he took up a blocking stance. "Show me what you've got, Old Man."
"Old man? I'll show you an old man." He dribbled around Johnny, spun around from behind him and tossed the ball against the backboard and watched it drop through the net with a swoosh. Johnny smiled at Scotty's antics. The two men had grown very fond of each other in the last several months. Boot had become Scotty's nick name for Johnny. Even though there were three boots at the station right now. He called the others by their name and Johnny, he called Boot. Oh he liked the other guys all right, but Scotty saw such potential in Johnny and admired the young man for achieving so much in his young life and apparently with no one's help. Scotty admired that. He admired Johnny's strength and courage.
Calling Scotty "Old Man" that day in the back lot of Station 10 marked the beginning of a tradition between the two friends that would continue for many years. Johnny grabbed the ball and dribbled past the engineer. Without much fanfare he turned and tossed the ball into the air and watched as it bounced once on the rim and then slipped through the net.
"What's on your mind today Boot?" Scotty caught the ball and turned to Johnny waiting for his answer.
"Just thinking about stuff." Johnny shrugged. In truth talking to Dixie had brought back the ugly memories of his time in foster care when he found many spaces his small body could hide in while the adults yelled at one another. He shuddered at the memories. Then looked over at Scotty with a half smile he tried to hide his emotions.
"That stuff got you upset?" Scotty had learned to be very perceptive with Johnny.
"No…not really. Just not the best things, but it's all in the past. It was a long time ago." Johnny moved around between Scotty and the goal. "You gonna shoot or what?"
Just as Scotty started to move toward the goal the tones echoed across the lot. "Well Boot, they're playing our song." The two men jogged into the station and up to Engine One. In a matter of seconds the Vehicles poured from the bay in another parade of red racing to the scene.
As the crews pulled hoses and began to battle the flames a woman ran from the house and collapsed in the front yard. Tony and Joe raced over and moved her away from the house. An ambulance had arrived and the attendants met them with a gurney. Joe climbed into the ambulance with the woman. He was strapping the oxygen mask over her face as the attendant closed the doors and slapped the back before running around and climbing in the front.
A woman ran up to Captain Jones and explained that a middle aged couple lived in the home with a foster child. Before the fire started they could be heard yelling at each other. She thought they had been fighting about the boy. She suggested that they had possibly been cooking and forgot.
"Okay, Gage you assist Tony with the search. The neighbors report a man and a small boy still inside. Cody you back up Bill in Gage's place." Captain Jones directed.
Johnny pulled on his SCBA and moved over next to Tony. "What do we do?"
Tony smiled at him, "We Rescue, Johnny." He was bouncing on his feet ready to go in. "Come on, let's go find them." Johnny jogged behind Tony across the yard and into the front door of the burning structure. Tony stopped just inside the door and motioned to Johnny the direction they would start. Johnny nodded his understanding and followed.
Johnny could feel the exhilaration running in his veins. Fighting the fire was exciting, but this was different. Now he felt a heightened sense of purpose. There were people who needed his help, and he was perfectly willing to give it. This was more than saving a building…this was saving the people who lived in the building too. They crossed the living room and into the kitchen where they found the man. He'd been trying to put out the fire. It looked like it had started there. Tony grabbed the man by the shoulders and Johnny grabbed his feet. They carried him out of the house and over to the squad where they laid him on a yellow blanket. Tony began draping the man with sterile sheets and pouring liquid over the burns on his legs.
Johnny turned back to the house. Other stations had arrived to help protect the surrounding homes. Men Johnny didn't know pulled hoses into the front door where they had just exited. "What about the boy?" He asked.
Tony looked back at the burning house. "It's no use it's too hot. Cap would never let us back in now."
"But he's just a kid!" Johnny couldn't believe that Cap would just let a kid burn. Maybe this Rescue stuff wasn't that great after all if they couldn't save a little kid. "We can't just leave him in there!"
"Gage, you need to take a break, and then I need you on a line." Captain Jones directed.
Johnny went over beside Engine One and watched the flames shoot from the rafters and up into the evening sky. 'Just a kid.'He thought. 'We can't just leave him in there.' He knew Cap wasn't really going to not try to save the kid. He knew in his heart that his superior was only trying to protect his men; when they had things move under control they would search again. Over the past several months his shift mates had learned that Johnny had a soft spot when it came to kids. The young man had a way with them that helped them stay calm in bad situations. They knew if the missing boy died in this fire. Johnny would be the one most saddened by it. But what they didn't know is how far he would go to try to save the boy.
Johnny didn't feel right about taking a break when a child might be trapped in the fire. He replaced his air mask and jogged back to the house.
He moved past the lineman at the front door and into the black haze. The fire raged hot. Soot and heated ash particles filled the air. Even with a steady flow of water against them the flames still crept up the walls and tickled the ceiling.
Even in the intense heat a chill ran up his spine at the similarity between this situation and his own childhood. This was another lost boy like himself, and Johnny wouldn't leave until he was found.
Finding his way slowly into the family room he swiftly checked the first secret place he remembered from long ago when he used to hide while his foster parents argued. He pulled the charred sofa away from the wall and shone the flashlight into the space behind it. It was a tight squeeze, but a boy smaller than normal for his age could easily have been there where no one would think to look for him. If he stayed quiet and kept his breathing shallow he could stay there for hours, safe when things got scary between his parents, but that is not where the child was found. Not on this day when it would have been better if he had been there in the recess against the wall. He moved to the next safe hiding place.
Outside the burning structure Captain Jones asked Tony about his helper. "Have you seen Johnny?"
Tony looked up with alarm written all over his face. "Didn't he come out?"
"Relax Tony," Cap placed a calming hand on Tony's shoulder. "He came out with you a little while ago. I told him to take a break. I thought he would be helping you." Tony looked over his shoulder at the burning house. "I ordered him to help on a line, not back inside Tony." Tony looked back at his superior with an unsure gaze. "You don't think he would have gone back in against orders?"
Tony closed his eyes. "With a missing child, Cap." It was more a statement than a question. "I would have."
"If he…" Jones hesitated. "When he gets out of there I'm going to kill him." He lifted the HT to his mouth. "HT-10 to Battalion."
"Battalion to HT-10"
"Gage is checking the structure again for the boy. Keep that door clear."
The Chief's orders could be heard across the many HT's carried by each crew. Chet Kelly looked over his shoulder at his fellow lineman. "Come on Marco we gotta keep an exit for whichever crazy fireman came back in here to look." The two men moved back into position in the front room near the door.
"I don't know who that guy is, but he's loco to be coming back in here. This place is about to go." Marco Lopez yelled to his friend. He pulled the heavy hose along as they went further into the deteriorating structure.
Johnny hunkered low and moved into the kitchen. The fire was hottest in that room where it had started. He managed to get partway through the doorway and realized it was just too hot. If the boy had gone in there to hide…it was too late. Not wanting to waste any time. Johnny thought about the other places a traumatized young boy might look for a hole to disappear into.
He moved back down the hallway. The smoke was so thick he could barely see two feet in front of his face. 'Where are you?' He felt the door to the storage beneath the staircase before he saw it. He pulled it open and flashed his light inside. The closet was packed with boxes. The light scanned across the black marker that told of the contents of each carton; Christmas decorations, Halloween witch, Mom's china. The boy couldn't have gotten in there even if he was small. Johnny pushed the door closed and moved on toward the base of the staircase.
'I know you're here somewhere, but where? I already looked in the obvious places down here. Upstairs maybe? In a chest?' Johnny turned and bound up the stairs two at a time. He had a knack for remembering directions. Once he saw a floor plan it stuck in his head. He knew exactly which way to go to find the bathroom. There was a vanity cabinet. 'That has to be it.' He hurried down the hall.
He could feel the weakened floor give a little with each step. They didn't have much time.
The men on the hose couldn't believe their eyes when they saw Johnny go up the stairs. The railing was already half gone and the edges of the steps at the base had burnt away. They turned the hose on the flames the danced up the wall and trailed the length of the post at the bottom of the single flight. Battalion had ordered everyone out of the upstairs rooms a long time ago, before they knew the boy was missing.
He stopped at the door to the small room and stared open mouthed at the X on the door. 'They already checked in here for you, but they wouldn't think about you not wanting to be found.' He pushed open the door and dropped to his knees, opened the cabinet, flashed his light inside and revealed a small boy at the back behind the elbow of the drain beneath the sink; in a space too small for anyone to have suspected he would be. Johnny pulled his glove off and quickly grabbed the boy's wrist clumsily checking for a pulse. 'Thank God.'
He carefully slid the tiny body out around the pipes and into his arms, pulled off his face mask and slipped it over the boy's face. Then he unbuckled the clasps of his turnout coat and pulled it around the boy at the same time he rose up from the floor. The tiles beneath his feet seemed to sway with his shifting weight. He practically ran for the stairs and stumbled down them with the awkward way he carried the child. The smoke burned his throat, but he kept the clean air flowing from his mask on the boy's face.
Chet saw him coming down the stairs with the precious bundle and smiled. Marco said silent prayers that the boy was alive and would stay that way. They turned the spray to a mist to protect the rescuer and his victim. Steam rose off the heat of his protective gear.
Johnny glanced at the men on the hose as he hurried by giving them a nod of thanks just before he burst through the front door to safety. He didn't know who they were, but he was glad for the cooling spray they directed his way.
"Do we have an understanding Gage?" Captain Jones glared at his Boot.
"Yes sir." Johnny coughed out. He knew he was in deep trouble. He had directly disobeyed his Captain's orders, but he had to. He was the only one who could find that kid. And he had found him. He had found him in one of the places he knew to look. No one else could possibly have known the secret places like he knew. And he did know, because he heard the parents had been arguing, accusing each other. He knew the boy had to be hiding. Captain Jones had told him to take a break and then man a hose. He'd been in there too long, but he knew where to look for the boy. He just knew.
Tony pushed the oxygen mask back over Johnny's mouth and nose. "Keep that on Johnny."
Johnny closed his eyes. He knew he could be washed out if Cap was angry enough, but it was worth it. He'd found the boy.
Several months passed and things began to settle into a normal routine for Johnny, except his finances. Being sick with pneumonia had left him behind on his rent and utilities which had finally caught up with him. With the missed shifts his paychecks had not been what he had hoped for. He had tried to pay Scotty and Captain Jones back for replacing the tire on his bike, but they wouldn't accept the money. Even with that he was still late paying his electric bill. The power had been turned off two days ago. Thankfully he had to work that day, but he had yet to get paid again, and had to spend the night in his apartment with no power, and nothing to eat.
He broke down and went to the shelter where he used to go when he was on the streets to get something to eat. Firefighting was tough business, and his high metabolism seemed to be running even higher since he joined the department. He'd been surprised to run into some of his shift mates and his new friend Nurse Dixie McCall there donating their time on Thanksgiving to feed the hungry. He suspected that she knew why he had shown up at the shelter, but being the wonderful woman he was finding her to be, she had not let on that she knew. She did however make him stay the rest of the day and "help" with the evening meal as well. Then she had insisted that she give him a ride back to his apartment, but asked him to help her unload her car at her place of the containers she had taken cookies and other baked goodies in to the shelter before taking him home.
"Just have a seat over there Johnny; I'm going to put on something a little more comfortable." Dixie disappeared down the hallway. Johnny stood in the middle of the nicely decorated room. Not moving. He felt completely out of place in his old sweats. He could hear drawers open and close, running water and a host of other noises coming from the other room. He nervously waited for her to return and take him home. Dixie came back down the hall in a pretty pink jogging suit humming a soft tune. She stopped at the end of the hall and smiled up at the nervous young man. "You can sit on the sofa Johnny," she chided.
"Oh…um…I'm okay. Are you ready to go?" He blushed and looked at the door…the escape.
"It's a bit chilly don't you think, how about some hot chocolate or tea?" She breezed past and into the kitchen. "Won't take but a minute."
"Tea would be nice." Johnny said softly and followed her into the kitchen. "But you don't half to go to any trouble."
"Tea…really? I thought you would be a hot chocolate kind of guy." She glanced over her shoulder as she filled the tea kettle at the sink.
"I'm allergic to chocolate."
"Oh." She stopped on her way to the stove and looked at him for a second. "I love chocolate. You must hate that." He shrugged in answer. She turned to the appliance, set the temperature on the eye and placed the kettle on the heat source. "Are you hungry?"
Johnny chuckled. "No ma'am I ate plenty at the shelter." He patted his flat belly.
Dixie giggled. "Yes, I guess you did. So what kind of sweets does a guy who is allergic to chocolate like to eat?" She hooked her arm in his and steered him to the sofa in the other room.
"I like vanilla shakes."
"Well thanks to your friend Jimbo I already knew that. What else?" She sat next to him and curled her legs on the cushion.
He thought for a minute as they settled on the sofa. "I like fruit. It's really sweet when it's fresh. Pie…I like apple pie with ice cream on it, vanilla ice cream." He grinned.
Dixie giggled again, "I could have guessed the flavor of the ice cream." She rose from the sofa to get the whistling tea kettle. "Stay put, I'll be right back."
They had enjoyed hot tea together and then Dixie made an excuse to get something in her bedroom. Johnny leaned back and closed his eyes. He had to be on shift the next morning. The warmth of the tea combined with the restless cold sleep from the night before and the warm heat in her home left him drowsy. He dreaded the thought of going back to his cold apartment. Before he knew it he was sound asleep.
He slowly opened his eyes and stretched beneath the warm blanket. Blinking several times brought the strange room into focus. He knew it was early. He always woke up early. He didn't always get up and often fell back to sleep, but the years he'd spent on the reservation had taught him to wake up just before dawn. He shifted on the sofa and untangled his legs from the blanket to put his feet on the floor. Someone had taken his shoes off. He rubbed his face with his hands trying to clear the last of the sleepy fog from his brain.
"Good morning!" Dixie called from the kitchen.
The smell of coffee drifted into the room. Johnny realized he was still at Dixie's and it was morning. He got up and walked to the kitchen doorway. "I'm sorry, Dixie, I didn't mean to fall asleep."
"Don't worry about that. I can take you by your apartment this morning if you need to before I drop you at your station." She poured him some coffee. "How do you take your coffee?"
He reached for the cup. "This is fine. Thank you." He'd finally gotten used to the taste of coffee. Just like Scotty had told him months ago…you can't be in the fire business and not need lots of caffeine; coffee was a great source of caffeine. He sipped carefully so as not to burn his lip. "You can drop me at my place. I can get my bike."
"No sir, Mr. Gage. It's raining cats and dogs out there. I'll drop you off. Then if you need a ride when you get off shift, you can just call me." He could tell there would be no arguments about it. She had a plan and nothing he could say or do would change her mind.
"Okay, but you can just take me to the station. Everything I need is already there in my locker." He looked sheepishly into the dark liquid in his cup. "I'm sorry to be so much trouble."
"John Gage, you are not any trouble. Your fire station is just a couple of streets over from the way I normally go to the hospital. I am the one that asked you to help me yesterday, so stop apologizing." She swatted at his arm as she passed. "It will just take me a minute to get into my uniform. Do you want some breakfast before we leave?"
"The coffee is fine."
"Coffee is not a well balanced breakfast. Why don't we swing by Jimbo's on the way."
"Jimbo's isn't on the way from here. It's all the way out by my apartment." He corrected her.
"Well, in that case if you need something from your apartment before I drop you at the station, it won't be any trouble to stop and get it. Besides, I'd like to see my old friend again. I haven't seen him since you were released from Rampart a couple of months ago. I'll be right out." She left Johnny standing in the hallway with his mouth agape. Dixie McCall had a way about her that seemed to keep everyone in line. Johnny was no exception.
In what seemed like a blink of the eye the two friends were pulling into a parking space beside Jimbo's. Johnny jumped out of the car and ran around to the driver's door to open it before Dixie even had time to think. The rain had let up a bit, but he lifted her umbrella over her head anyway. She smiled up at him as she slid from behind the wheel. "Why thank you Johnny." She hooked her arm in his and together they walked to the door and inside. Johnny shook the umbrella outside the door and dropped it in the umbrella stand just inside. They found a booth by the front window.
"Well hello there sunshine." Margie, the pretty blonde haired gum smacking waitress Johnny had met when he came in on his way to Rampart when he was sick, sidled up beside their booth. "Haven't seen you in a while. What can I get ya?" She smacked her gum popping a bubble between her teeth, her eyes never leaving Johnny as she held up her pen and order pad ready to write.
"I'll have some orange juice, toast and an egg over easy," Dixie replied.
Margie shot her a sideways glance and scribbled on her pad. "This your mother?" She asked Johnny snidely.
Johnny turned a deep shade of red and looked down at the table. "No."
Margie's eyes grew big. "Oh."
If it was possible Johnny's blush grew even deeper. Jimbo came up just at that moment, "Dixie!" he bent down and kissed her fondly on the cheek. "It's great to see you!"
"Hi Jimbo." She smiled sweetly. "I was giving Johnny a ride to work and thought it would be nice to stop by and see one of my favorite people."
"Yeah? That's great, just great. Hey Johnny! Margie, why don't you get their drinks, and I'll get the rest of their order."
"What are you drinking today sweetie? Water again?"
"He'll have two glasses of milk and an orange juice." Jimbo answered for Johnny who looked up at him and wrinkled his forehead in question. "Vitamin C…we can't have you getting sick again can we?" He grabbed Johnny's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Now will it be pancakes or French toast?"
"Pancakes." Johnny said softly. He was still having trouble with all the care everyone seemed to want to give him.
"Pancakes it is, and bacon and eggs." Jimbo turned and headed back to the kitchen before Johnny could protest at the amount of food Jimbo was preparing him.
Dixie smiled too. Phoning ahead to get Jimbo's help in making sure Johnny ate a good meal before reporting to work had been a stroke of genius. "He sure is a nice man."
"Yep, that's Jimbo all right. Nice guy." Johnny grinned broadly. "A good friend too." It felt good to finally relax enough to allow himself to trust someone a satisfactory amount to call them a good friend. "I really appreciate all you've done for me too Ms. McCall."
"It's not a problem Johnny. I hope you think of me as a friend too." She patted his hand. "Now while we wait on our food, why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself?"
"Not much to tell." His happy demeanor dissipated quickly. Dixie could see the immediate change in posture. He shifted uncomfortably in the booth. "I grew up on a ranch up north until my folks died. Then I spent a few years in the foster program; listened to a bunch of fighting between the couples that kept me; got tossed around from place to place until I ended up here with my aunt and uncle until he died. She couldn't afford for me to stick around, so after high school I left, and that's about it. Now I'm a fireman."
Dixie's heart broke at the detached way he described his childhood. Not wanting to stir up sad memories she quickly changed the subject. "And a darn good one I've been told."
"Really? You heard I was good?" He seemed surprised that anyone would say that.
"Well of course I've heard."
Right about then Margie returned with their drinks followed shortly by Jimbo with their food. "Eat up." He smiled. "I can't have our newest fireman lacking energy to haul his hose now can I?" He teased Johnny who in turn blushed again before digging into his breakfast.
After they finished the hearty breakfast Dixie insisted on taking Johnny by his apartment to pick up the things he would need for his shift. They pulled up in front of the dingy old apartment building. Johnny climbed out promising to hurry. He walked a few steps away from Dixie's car…stopped…looked around…turned and walked around the front of her car. Dixie rolled down her window. "Uh…this is not a very good neighborhood. Lock your doors." He stood up and looked around again. "Don't open them for anyone. Leave if you have to." He then hurried to the stairs and bounded up the two flights taking two steps at a time.
Dixie kept her doors locked and her eyes on the derelict building Johnny lived in. Sadness gripped her heart that such a kind and caring young man had to live there. She vowed to herself to encourage him to move to a nicer complex as soon as he was able. Suddenly she heard the handle on the passenger side click. She jumped at the noise. Johnny was back. She unlocked the door relieved that he was back and they could be on their way. "That was quick."
"Didn't want you out her alone for very long." He shifted in the seat and glanced back at his complex. "I've never had any trouble, but then I'm not an attractive lady in a car by myself." He turned back to the front.
"Why thank you Johnny."
He looked over at her, "For what?"
"You called me attractive. Thank you." She teased.
When they pulled up in front of Station 10 Johnny hesitated before climbing out of the car. "Um…Dixie, I uh…I want…Th…thank you." As he normally did when he was nervous Johnny stumbled over the words and blushed deeply.
Dixie reached over and gripped his hand. "No thanks necessary. Friends help friends. I want to be your friend."
"Yes ma'am." Johnny nodded before he turned to get out of the car. He opened the door and then softly said, "I'd like that."
Strolling into the front of the station Johnny was met with several cat calls. "Hey Gage! Got a new girl friend?" "Hey Johnny! Since when do beautiful ladies haul you around." "Wow Johnny! She's a doll." Etc. Which of course caused the young man to turn several shades of crimson. He hurried across the bay and into the locker room as fast as he could.
After roll call the station was called out to an MVA, and then a structure fire. After lunch the rain had stopped and the crew hoped for a slow afternoon, but no one said that out loud. Every fireman worth a grain of salt knew that you never mention how the day is going. If you do then the tones won't sleep. Scotty found Johnny dribbling the basketball out back. "Want some company Boot?"
Johnny tossed the ball to Scotty. Then he took up a blocking stance. "Show me what you've got, Old Man."
"Old man? I'll show you an old man." He dribbled around Johnny, spun around from behind him and tossed the ball against the backboard and watched it drop through the net with a swoosh. Johnny smiled at Scotty's antics. The two men had grown very fond of each other in the last several months. Boot had become Scotty's nick name for Johnny. Even though there were three boots at the station right now. He called the others by their name and Johnny, he called Boot. Oh he liked the other guys all right, but Scotty saw such potential in Johnny and admired the young man for achieving so much in his young life and apparently with no one's help. Scotty admired that. He admired Johnny's strength and courage.
Calling Scotty "Old Man" that day in the back lot of Station 10 marked the beginning of a tradition between the two friends that would continue for many years. Johnny grabbed the ball and dribbled past the engineer. Without much fanfare he turned and tossed the ball into the air and watched as it bounced once on the rim and then slipped through the net.
"What's on your mind today Boot?" Scotty caught the ball and turned to Johnny waiting for his answer.
"Just thinking about stuff." Johnny shrugged. In truth talking to Dixie had brought back the ugly memories of his time in foster care when he found many spaces his small body could hide in while the adults yelled at one another. He shuddered at the memories. Then looked over at Scotty with a half smile he tried to hide his emotions.
"That stuff got you upset?" Scotty had learned to be very perceptive with Johnny.
"No…not really. Just not the best things, but it's all in the past. It was a long time ago." Johnny moved around between Scotty and the goal. "You gonna shoot or what?"
Just as Scotty started to move toward the goal the tones echoed across the lot. "Well Boot, they're playing our song." The two men jogged into the station and up to Engine One. In a matter of seconds the Vehicles poured from the bay in another parade of red racing to the scene.
As the crews pulled hoses and began to battle the flames a woman ran from the house and collapsed in the front yard. Tony and Joe raced over and moved her away from the house. An ambulance had arrived and the attendants met them with a gurney. Joe climbed into the ambulance with the woman. He was strapping the oxygen mask over her face as the attendant closed the doors and slapped the back before running around and climbing in the front.
A woman ran up to Captain Jones and explained that a middle aged couple lived in the home with a foster child. Before the fire started they could be heard yelling at each other. She thought they had been fighting about the boy. She suggested that they had possibly been cooking and forgot.
"Okay, Gage you assist Tony with the search. The neighbors report a man and a small boy still inside. Cody you back up Bill in Gage's place." Captain Jones directed.
Johnny pulled on his SCBA and moved over next to Tony. "What do we do?"
Tony smiled at him, "We Rescue, Johnny." He was bouncing on his feet ready to go in. "Come on, let's go find them." Johnny jogged behind Tony across the yard and into the front door of the burning structure. Tony stopped just inside the door and motioned to Johnny the direction they would start. Johnny nodded his understanding and followed.
Johnny could feel the exhilaration running in his veins. Fighting the fire was exciting, but this was different. Now he felt a heightened sense of purpose. There were people who needed his help, and he was perfectly willing to give it. This was more than saving a building…this was saving the people who lived in the building too. They crossed the living room and into the kitchen where they found the man. He'd been trying to put out the fire. It looked like it had started there. Tony grabbed the man by the shoulders and Johnny grabbed his feet. They carried him out of the house and over to the squad where they laid him on a yellow blanket. Tony began draping the man with sterile sheets and pouring liquid over the burns on his legs.
Johnny turned back to the house. Other stations had arrived to help protect the surrounding homes. Men Johnny didn't know pulled hoses into the front door where they had just exited. "What about the boy?" He asked.
Tony looked back at the burning house. "It's no use it's too hot. Cap would never let us back in now."
"But he's just a kid!" Johnny couldn't believe that Cap would just let a kid burn. Maybe this Rescue stuff wasn't that great after all if they couldn't save a little kid. "We can't just leave him in there!"
"Gage, you need to take a break, and then I need you on a line." Captain Jones directed.
Johnny went over beside Engine One and watched the flames shoot from the rafters and up into the evening sky. 'Just a kid.'He thought. 'We can't just leave him in there.' He knew Cap wasn't really going to not try to save the kid. He knew in his heart that his superior was only trying to protect his men; when they had things move under control they would search again. Over the past several months his shift mates had learned that Johnny had a soft spot when it came to kids. The young man had a way with them that helped them stay calm in bad situations. They knew if the missing boy died in this fire. Johnny would be the one most saddened by it. But what they didn't know is how far he would go to try to save the boy.
Johnny didn't feel right about taking a break when a child might be trapped in the fire. He replaced his air mask and jogged back to the house.
He moved past the lineman at the front door and into the black haze. The fire raged hot. Soot and heated ash particles filled the air. Even with a steady flow of water against them the flames still crept up the walls and tickled the ceiling.
Even in the intense heat a chill ran up his spine at the similarity between this situation and his own childhood. This was another lost boy like himself, and Johnny wouldn't leave until he was found.
Finding his way slowly into the family room he swiftly checked the first secret place he remembered from long ago when he used to hide while his foster parents argued. He pulled the charred sofa away from the wall and shone the flashlight into the space behind it. It was a tight squeeze, but a boy smaller than normal for his age could easily have been there where no one would think to look for him. If he stayed quiet and kept his breathing shallow he could stay there for hours, safe when things got scary between his parents, but that is not where the child was found. Not on this day when it would have been better if he had been there in the recess against the wall. He moved to the next safe hiding place.
Outside the burning structure Captain Jones asked Tony about his helper. "Have you seen Johnny?"
Tony looked up with alarm written all over his face. "Didn't he come out?"
"Relax Tony," Cap placed a calming hand on Tony's shoulder. "He came out with you a little while ago. I told him to take a break. I thought he would be helping you." Tony looked over his shoulder at the burning house. "I ordered him to help on a line, not back inside Tony." Tony looked back at his superior with an unsure gaze. "You don't think he would have gone back in against orders?"
Tony closed his eyes. "With a missing child, Cap." It was more a statement than a question. "I would have."
"If he…" Jones hesitated. "When he gets out of there I'm going to kill him." He lifted the HT to his mouth. "HT-10 to Battalion."
"Battalion to HT-10"
"Gage is checking the structure again for the boy. Keep that door clear."
The Chief's orders could be heard across the many HT's carried by each crew. Chet Kelly looked over his shoulder at his fellow lineman. "Come on Marco we gotta keep an exit for whichever crazy fireman came back in here to look." The two men moved back into position in the front room near the door.
"I don't know who that guy is, but he's loco to be coming back in here. This place is about to go." Marco Lopez yelled to his friend. He pulled the heavy hose along as they went further into the deteriorating structure.
Johnny hunkered low and moved into the kitchen. The fire was hottest in that room where it had started. He managed to get partway through the doorway and realized it was just too hot. If the boy had gone in there to hide…it was too late. Not wanting to waste any time. Johnny thought about the other places a traumatized young boy might look for a hole to disappear into.
He moved back down the hallway. The smoke was so thick he could barely see two feet in front of his face. 'Where are you?' He felt the door to the storage beneath the staircase before he saw it. He pulled it open and flashed his light inside. The closet was packed with boxes. The light scanned across the black marker that told of the contents of each carton; Christmas decorations, Halloween witch, Mom's china. The boy couldn't have gotten in there even if he was small. Johnny pushed the door closed and moved on toward the base of the staircase.
'I know you're here somewhere, but where? I already looked in the obvious places down here. Upstairs maybe? In a chest?' Johnny turned and bound up the stairs two at a time. He had a knack for remembering directions. Once he saw a floor plan it stuck in his head. He knew exactly which way to go to find the bathroom. There was a vanity cabinet. 'That has to be it.' He hurried down the hall.
He could feel the weakened floor give a little with each step. They didn't have much time.
The men on the hose couldn't believe their eyes when they saw Johnny go up the stairs. The railing was already half gone and the edges of the steps at the base had burnt away. They turned the hose on the flames the danced up the wall and trailed the length of the post at the bottom of the single flight. Battalion had ordered everyone out of the upstairs rooms a long time ago, before they knew the boy was missing.
He stopped at the door to the small room and stared open mouthed at the X on the door. 'They already checked in here for you, but they wouldn't think about you not wanting to be found.' He pushed open the door and dropped to his knees, opened the cabinet, flashed his light inside and revealed a small boy at the back behind the elbow of the drain beneath the sink; in a space too small for anyone to have suspected he would be. Johnny pulled his glove off and quickly grabbed the boy's wrist clumsily checking for a pulse. 'Thank God.'
He carefully slid the tiny body out around the pipes and into his arms, pulled off his face mask and slipped it over the boy's face. Then he unbuckled the clasps of his turnout coat and pulled it around the boy at the same time he rose up from the floor. The tiles beneath his feet seemed to sway with his shifting weight. He practically ran for the stairs and stumbled down them with the awkward way he carried the child. The smoke burned his throat, but he kept the clean air flowing from his mask on the boy's face.
Chet saw him coming down the stairs with the precious bundle and smiled. Marco said silent prayers that the boy was alive and would stay that way. They turned the spray to a mist to protect the rescuer and his victim. Steam rose off the heat of his protective gear.
Johnny glanced at the men on the hose as he hurried by giving them a nod of thanks just before he burst through the front door to safety. He didn't know who they were, but he was glad for the cooling spray they directed his way.
"Do we have an understanding Gage?" Captain Jones glared at his Boot.
"Yes sir." Johnny coughed out. He knew he was in deep trouble. He had directly disobeyed his Captain's orders, but he had to. He was the only one who could find that kid. And he had found him. He had found him in one of the places he knew to look. No one else could possibly have known the secret places like he knew. And he did know, because he heard the parents had been arguing, accusing each other. He knew the boy had to be hiding. Captain Jones had told him to take a break and then man a hose. He'd been in there too long, but he knew where to look for the boy. He just knew.
Tony pushed the oxygen mask back over Johnny's mouth and nose. "Keep that on Johnny."
Johnny closed his eyes. He knew he could be washed out if Cap was angry enough, but it was worth it. He'd found the boy.
Chapter Twenty Seven
Time seemed to take on little significance as Johnny sat on the yellow blanket watching Tony with the boy. Rescue men actually did very little in the way of administering care to the victims once they had pulled them out of the bad situations they had gotten in to. Oxygen, simple burn care like the sterile sheets and liquid poured over the burned area, taking vitals and applying bandages, but it was those simple things that helped get those same victims ready to go to the hospital. It was those simple things that sometimes kept the victims alive. The small boy was now awake and coughing harshly. His father had already been moved into the ambulance and whisked away to Rampart with a rescue man from another station.
Thoughts of another time floated around in Johnny's mind that he had somehow never remembered before, things that he had subconsciously blocked. A small boy clinging to the lifeless body of his mother while firemen cut away the steering column of the car so they could get his father out seemed to take what little breath he had away and made his stomach cramp. In his mind's eye he could see the firemen moving around the car working feverishly to get the man out…his father out. Things in Johnny's mind seemed to get all mixed up…current memories of runs to MVA's they had been to since he had joined the department merged with those he'd blocked for so long after he had been pulled from the back seat of his parent's car.
Tony glanced over at Johnny and said something to him, but the buzzing in his ears kept him from understanding what Tony had said. Tony knew Johnny had been exposed to too much heat and might possibly be suffering from heat exhaustion. Many firemen suffered from the intense heat and became dehydrated. He called over to Scotty who having assisted Tony before knew exactly what he needed. He checked the gauges on the engine before coming over to help.
Johnny continued drifting from current to past seeing the men in turnouts lift his father's battered frame onto a gurney and running beside it to the ambulance. He could see his mother's sweet face as they draped a yellow blanket across her and over her head. Then he saw the staring eyes of the woman from the pileup a few months ago. Her eyes held his mind's eye for a time before the memory of screeching sirens broke the contact and the wailing mixed with the cries of a child who'd lost so much so quickly. He felt hands on his shoulders causing him to jerk away.
"Hey take it easy Boot. I'm just helping you with your SCBA." Scotty calmly spoke.
Somewhere in the distance Johnny could hear a familiar voice. He felt the weight of his air tank lifted from his shoulders. He felt so hot. Maybe if he could get the heavy coat off he could feel the breeze. He fumbled with the front of the coat.
Scotty batted his hands away. "Let me help you with that."
Johnny felt the strong arms circle around him as he shook with cries. He was scared, really scared. He wanted his mother. Then he felt a cool breeze against his overheated skin and it called him back to the present. He felt the cup that had been placed in his hand. He was starved for water. He lifted the cup and drank.
Scotty placed a hand on Johnny's wrist. "Ah ah ah…not too fast, it will make you sick if you drink it too fast."
Johnny nodded and sipped more slowly. He felt so tired and kind of funny, like he couldn't think straight. The hoses snaking across the pavement in a crisscrossing maze seemed confusing. The constant noise of the engines pumping water to the men hauling the hoses and the shouts and radios chattering orders to the men all seemed too much for him to decipher. He sipped some more water until the cup was empty and then it disappeared too.
In a few minutes Scotty was back with more water. "Here ya go Johnny."
Johnny lifted his eyes to see who had brought him the water. Scotty always called him Boot…never Johnny. Why would he be calling him Johnny now? He must know that he had really screwed up this time. He knew that Captain Jones was going to wash him out for sure. He sighed deeply.
"Come on kid, drink the water. It'll help you feel better." Scotty turned to Tony. "I think he's coming back now. A little more water and he should be okay." They had seen many a fireman suffer from the effects of heat from fighting fires. They were practiced in what to do. Then if things didn't get better from the water and oxygen, they knew to take the downed man to the hospital. Johnny hadn't collapsed or passed out, so it looked like they would avoid that today, but it had been close, too close. "I better get back to the gauges. Let me know if he needs anymore."
"Sure Scotty." Tony finished bundling up the small boy and sent him to Rampart with the second man from the other squad. Then he turned to Johnny. "Okay Gage, I think I had better check your pulse." He reached for Johnny's arm. Johnny didn't fight him or pull back like he had with Scotty. He knew where he was now and just wanted to get back to the station for a cool shower and his bunk, if Cap didn't send him home first.
The trip back to the Station was done in a daze. Johnny remembered climbing aboard the engine, but nothing about the ride. Then someone shaking his knee and telling him to hit the showers. "Come on Boot you need to take a cool shower." Scotty helped Johnny down from his seat and stayed near until he reached the locker room. Heat exhaustion and dehydration tended to make a man a little wobbly.
"Thanks Scotty. I must have dozed off. Sorry."
"Don't worry about it Boot. That was one hot fire." Scotty patted Johnny on the back. "I think you'll feel better after cooling down some more in the shower."
"Yeah." Johnny headed toward his locker, and Scotty turned toward the kitchen. He needed some coffee.
After his shower, Johnny was more alert; alert enough to know he could have just thrown away his career. He needed time to think…a place to be alone, but how could a guy find a place to be alone at a fire station full of men? He wandered out to the back lot and leaned against the building. Jeff started out the back bay door to shoot a few hoops, but seeing Johnny and knowing his fellow academy graduate could be in deep trouble he didn't know what to say, so he turned around and headed for the TV room instead.
Wishing he could get away into the woods or up in the mountains to think, Johnny pushed himself off the station wall and stretched. He scanned the lot looking for a more secluded spot.
A while later Captain Jones came looking for Johnny. He had finished the incident reports from the fire, allowed himself time to calm down and school his anger and now wanted to talk to him about his defiance of a direct order. He walked out into the bay and saw Scotty leaning against the side of the back bay door sipping coffee. "Nice evening." He said as he walked up beside his engineer.
"Is it?" Scotty asked somewhat sarcastically.
Captain Jones stepped aside and turned toward his friend. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Scotty pointed up on top of the hose tower at the figure seated with his legs folded and his face up toward the evening sky. "Is it a nice evening for him?"
Captain Jones followed Scotty's finger and looked at the man perched above. "He disregarded a direct order Scotty. I can't just act like that didn't happen."
"No, I guess you can't, but what happens now?" Scotty took another sip of his coffee. "He's a good kid. That little boy would've died if Johnny hadn't gone back in."
"We might have found him, after we made sure the structure was safe. It's not an easy decision for a Captain to pull your men out when there's still someone inside especially when that someone is a child, but we have to follow safety protocol otherwise we might lose good men as well. No sense in putting good men in harm's way when the loss could be two or three instead of one."
"I know Cap, but he's passionate about this, and for some reason he's even more so when it comes to kids. It's like he knows how they feel or something." Scotty couldn't quite get what he wanted to say into words. "He pushes himself when others are ready to quit."
"I can see that Scotty, but it is my job to control these situations and his to follow my directions. It doesn't matter how good it looks like he is or will be if he can't follow simple instructions." Captain Jones hated this part of his job. He could clearly see what a good fireman Johnny would become if he did what he was told, and truthfully, he thought the kid would make a fine rescue man someday. "Tell him I want to see him in my office." Captain Jones turned around and took a few steps; turned back around and spoke again. "When he comes down."
Scotty smiled. He knew Captain Jones was a fair man.
Johnny meditated for a while on top of the hose tower. He thought about the fire, the boy and his parents. He reflected on his feelings when he was twelve and lost his parents. But most of all he thought about why he had decided to become a fireman. He had originally thought it was something that he had wanted to do from a very small age chasing the red trunks with the flashing lights and sirens, but now he wondered if it had more to do with the kindness of the firemen who had been called out to the accident where his parents were killed. Those men acted fast and with precision to extricate his father, and they gave his mother some sense of dignity by covering her lifeless form on the side of the highway. Now here he was facing possible discharge from the job that seemed to already be a part of who he is…a part of who he wanted to be. Tired to the bone he uncrossed his legs and let them dangle.
Scotty saw Johnny moving after sitting so still for so long. It was strange to see the young man so still. He always seemed to be moving in some way…bouncing his knee, tapping his fingers on his leg, looking around a room or pacing. Then he watched as Johnny's legs moved to hang down from the tower. 'Don't fall my friend. There isn't much space up there.' Then Johnny shifted again and reclined on the thin strip of flooring, raised one leg up in a bent position and allowed the other to dangle in air. He slid one arm beneath his head and rested his other hand on his chest. Scotty watched in amazement at the calm way Johnny balanced on the thin space seemingly unconcerned with the height or the narrowness. After watching for long enough for his remaining coffee to turn cold and thinking that if Johnny fell asleep he might fall, Scotty decided it was time his friend came down. "Hey Boot!"
Johnny rose up on his elbow, one leg still hanging and turned toward Scotty who flinched at the thought that he might fall. He didn't answer back, but only looked at Scotty.
"Cap wants to see you." Scotty watched Johnny push up from his elbow into a sitting position and then up on one foot while turning and placing the other on the narrow ledge. He then took a step toward the ladder and in a quick climb was once again on flat ground. Scotty let out the breath he'd been holding.
Johnny walked past Scotty without a word and down the side of the bay to the Captain's office. He stopped just before knocking, lowered his head and took a few deep breaths; then knocked.
"Enter."
Johnny opened the door and stepped into the office. It was a small room, but had enough space for three desks and two chairs. There were never more than two Captains at the Station at a time at shift change, so they shared the chairs. Johnny stood just inside the door in the room where he remembered first being welcomed to the station and meeting Captain Jones for the first time. It was only fitting that this would also be the room where he told him he was washed out, Johnny thought.
"Have a seat." Captain Jones had yet to turn around. Johnny stood very still with his hands by his side ready to face his punishment like a man, like a warrior, like his grandfather had taught him as a very small boy. Captain Jones turned to see the man standing at attention. "At ease." He didn't tell the man to sit again; he could if he wanted to. "I want to talk to you about your actions today." Johnny flinched, but didn't relax from attention. "John." Captain Jones waited for the young man to look at him. "John, look at me." Johnny turned. "I'm not going to wash you out." Johnny broke the stance. His shoulders drooped and his mouth opened and closed again, but only for a second; then he straightened up again. "Take a seat, son."
Johnny took a seat this time. He didn't think he could stand any longer without falling. All the worries of the day slid from him and left him drained. "I'm sorry Cap. I know it was wrong to go back in that house, but he was just a scared little kid."
"How did you know where he would hide?" Captain Jones asked softly, calmly.
"My foster parents used to yell a lot. I hid. I was small for my age, and found some very small spaces to squeeze into. They never found me. When I heard the neighbor talking about how the parents argued about him…" Johnny looked at his hands. He had decided honesty with Cap would be best, but talking about it wasn't easy. "It's hard when you're just a kid with no one to rely on; no one to call when you need them. It's just you."
Captain Jones could see the struggle Johnny was having telling his story. "It's okay John. You don't have to continue. But let me tell you this. You get one chance and you've used it. Got it."
Johnny looked to his Captain with thankful eyes. "Yes sir."
"Now get a glass of milk or two and hit your bunk. You look like hell."
Johnny stood slowly and turned to leave, "Thanks Cap. It won't happen again."
"It better not, or I won't have any choice but to cut you loose."
Scotty was standing just outside the office when Johnny came out. He placed his arm across Johnny's shoulders and gripped his shoulder. "Well?"
Johnny looked at Scotty out of the corner of his eye and grinned. "Looks like you're stuck with me."
Scotty laughed, "Good…that's good Boot, but how 'bout you not do anything like that again."
Johnny shrugged. He didn't plan to do anything like that again, but what if he needed to?
Time seemed to take on little significance as Johnny sat on the yellow blanket watching Tony with the boy. Rescue men actually did very little in the way of administering care to the victims once they had pulled them out of the bad situations they had gotten in to. Oxygen, simple burn care like the sterile sheets and liquid poured over the burned area, taking vitals and applying bandages, but it was those simple things that helped get those same victims ready to go to the hospital. It was those simple things that sometimes kept the victims alive. The small boy was now awake and coughing harshly. His father had already been moved into the ambulance and whisked away to Rampart with a rescue man from another station.
Thoughts of another time floated around in Johnny's mind that he had somehow never remembered before, things that he had subconsciously blocked. A small boy clinging to the lifeless body of his mother while firemen cut away the steering column of the car so they could get his father out seemed to take what little breath he had away and made his stomach cramp. In his mind's eye he could see the firemen moving around the car working feverishly to get the man out…his father out. Things in Johnny's mind seemed to get all mixed up…current memories of runs to MVA's they had been to since he had joined the department merged with those he'd blocked for so long after he had been pulled from the back seat of his parent's car.
Tony glanced over at Johnny and said something to him, but the buzzing in his ears kept him from understanding what Tony had said. Tony knew Johnny had been exposed to too much heat and might possibly be suffering from heat exhaustion. Many firemen suffered from the intense heat and became dehydrated. He called over to Scotty who having assisted Tony before knew exactly what he needed. He checked the gauges on the engine before coming over to help.
Johnny continued drifting from current to past seeing the men in turnouts lift his father's battered frame onto a gurney and running beside it to the ambulance. He could see his mother's sweet face as they draped a yellow blanket across her and over her head. Then he saw the staring eyes of the woman from the pileup a few months ago. Her eyes held his mind's eye for a time before the memory of screeching sirens broke the contact and the wailing mixed with the cries of a child who'd lost so much so quickly. He felt hands on his shoulders causing him to jerk away.
"Hey take it easy Boot. I'm just helping you with your SCBA." Scotty calmly spoke.
Somewhere in the distance Johnny could hear a familiar voice. He felt the weight of his air tank lifted from his shoulders. He felt so hot. Maybe if he could get the heavy coat off he could feel the breeze. He fumbled with the front of the coat.
Scotty batted his hands away. "Let me help you with that."
Johnny felt the strong arms circle around him as he shook with cries. He was scared, really scared. He wanted his mother. Then he felt a cool breeze against his overheated skin and it called him back to the present. He felt the cup that had been placed in his hand. He was starved for water. He lifted the cup and drank.
Scotty placed a hand on Johnny's wrist. "Ah ah ah…not too fast, it will make you sick if you drink it too fast."
Johnny nodded and sipped more slowly. He felt so tired and kind of funny, like he couldn't think straight. The hoses snaking across the pavement in a crisscrossing maze seemed confusing. The constant noise of the engines pumping water to the men hauling the hoses and the shouts and radios chattering orders to the men all seemed too much for him to decipher. He sipped some more water until the cup was empty and then it disappeared too.
In a few minutes Scotty was back with more water. "Here ya go Johnny."
Johnny lifted his eyes to see who had brought him the water. Scotty always called him Boot…never Johnny. Why would he be calling him Johnny now? He must know that he had really screwed up this time. He knew that Captain Jones was going to wash him out for sure. He sighed deeply.
"Come on kid, drink the water. It'll help you feel better." Scotty turned to Tony. "I think he's coming back now. A little more water and he should be okay." They had seen many a fireman suffer from the effects of heat from fighting fires. They were practiced in what to do. Then if things didn't get better from the water and oxygen, they knew to take the downed man to the hospital. Johnny hadn't collapsed or passed out, so it looked like they would avoid that today, but it had been close, too close. "I better get back to the gauges. Let me know if he needs anymore."
"Sure Scotty." Tony finished bundling up the small boy and sent him to Rampart with the second man from the other squad. Then he turned to Johnny. "Okay Gage, I think I had better check your pulse." He reached for Johnny's arm. Johnny didn't fight him or pull back like he had with Scotty. He knew where he was now and just wanted to get back to the station for a cool shower and his bunk, if Cap didn't send him home first.
The trip back to the Station was done in a daze. Johnny remembered climbing aboard the engine, but nothing about the ride. Then someone shaking his knee and telling him to hit the showers. "Come on Boot you need to take a cool shower." Scotty helped Johnny down from his seat and stayed near until he reached the locker room. Heat exhaustion and dehydration tended to make a man a little wobbly.
"Thanks Scotty. I must have dozed off. Sorry."
"Don't worry about it Boot. That was one hot fire." Scotty patted Johnny on the back. "I think you'll feel better after cooling down some more in the shower."
"Yeah." Johnny headed toward his locker, and Scotty turned toward the kitchen. He needed some coffee.
After his shower, Johnny was more alert; alert enough to know he could have just thrown away his career. He needed time to think…a place to be alone, but how could a guy find a place to be alone at a fire station full of men? He wandered out to the back lot and leaned against the building. Jeff started out the back bay door to shoot a few hoops, but seeing Johnny and knowing his fellow academy graduate could be in deep trouble he didn't know what to say, so he turned around and headed for the TV room instead.
Wishing he could get away into the woods or up in the mountains to think, Johnny pushed himself off the station wall and stretched. He scanned the lot looking for a more secluded spot.
A while later Captain Jones came looking for Johnny. He had finished the incident reports from the fire, allowed himself time to calm down and school his anger and now wanted to talk to him about his defiance of a direct order. He walked out into the bay and saw Scotty leaning against the side of the back bay door sipping coffee. "Nice evening." He said as he walked up beside his engineer.
"Is it?" Scotty asked somewhat sarcastically.
Captain Jones stepped aside and turned toward his friend. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Scotty pointed up on top of the hose tower at the figure seated with his legs folded and his face up toward the evening sky. "Is it a nice evening for him?"
Captain Jones followed Scotty's finger and looked at the man perched above. "He disregarded a direct order Scotty. I can't just act like that didn't happen."
"No, I guess you can't, but what happens now?" Scotty took another sip of his coffee. "He's a good kid. That little boy would've died if Johnny hadn't gone back in."
"We might have found him, after we made sure the structure was safe. It's not an easy decision for a Captain to pull your men out when there's still someone inside especially when that someone is a child, but we have to follow safety protocol otherwise we might lose good men as well. No sense in putting good men in harm's way when the loss could be two or three instead of one."
"I know Cap, but he's passionate about this, and for some reason he's even more so when it comes to kids. It's like he knows how they feel or something." Scotty couldn't quite get what he wanted to say into words. "He pushes himself when others are ready to quit."
"I can see that Scotty, but it is my job to control these situations and his to follow my directions. It doesn't matter how good it looks like he is or will be if he can't follow simple instructions." Captain Jones hated this part of his job. He could clearly see what a good fireman Johnny would become if he did what he was told, and truthfully, he thought the kid would make a fine rescue man someday. "Tell him I want to see him in my office." Captain Jones turned around and took a few steps; turned back around and spoke again. "When he comes down."
Scotty smiled. He knew Captain Jones was a fair man.
Johnny meditated for a while on top of the hose tower. He thought about the fire, the boy and his parents. He reflected on his feelings when he was twelve and lost his parents. But most of all he thought about why he had decided to become a fireman. He had originally thought it was something that he had wanted to do from a very small age chasing the red trunks with the flashing lights and sirens, but now he wondered if it had more to do with the kindness of the firemen who had been called out to the accident where his parents were killed. Those men acted fast and with precision to extricate his father, and they gave his mother some sense of dignity by covering her lifeless form on the side of the highway. Now here he was facing possible discharge from the job that seemed to already be a part of who he is…a part of who he wanted to be. Tired to the bone he uncrossed his legs and let them dangle.
Scotty saw Johnny moving after sitting so still for so long. It was strange to see the young man so still. He always seemed to be moving in some way…bouncing his knee, tapping his fingers on his leg, looking around a room or pacing. Then he watched as Johnny's legs moved to hang down from the tower. 'Don't fall my friend. There isn't much space up there.' Then Johnny shifted again and reclined on the thin strip of flooring, raised one leg up in a bent position and allowed the other to dangle in air. He slid one arm beneath his head and rested his other hand on his chest. Scotty watched in amazement at the calm way Johnny balanced on the thin space seemingly unconcerned with the height or the narrowness. After watching for long enough for his remaining coffee to turn cold and thinking that if Johnny fell asleep he might fall, Scotty decided it was time his friend came down. "Hey Boot!"
Johnny rose up on his elbow, one leg still hanging and turned toward Scotty who flinched at the thought that he might fall. He didn't answer back, but only looked at Scotty.
"Cap wants to see you." Scotty watched Johnny push up from his elbow into a sitting position and then up on one foot while turning and placing the other on the narrow ledge. He then took a step toward the ladder and in a quick climb was once again on flat ground. Scotty let out the breath he'd been holding.
Johnny walked past Scotty without a word and down the side of the bay to the Captain's office. He stopped just before knocking, lowered his head and took a few deep breaths; then knocked.
"Enter."
Johnny opened the door and stepped into the office. It was a small room, but had enough space for three desks and two chairs. There were never more than two Captains at the Station at a time at shift change, so they shared the chairs. Johnny stood just inside the door in the room where he remembered first being welcomed to the station and meeting Captain Jones for the first time. It was only fitting that this would also be the room where he told him he was washed out, Johnny thought.
"Have a seat." Captain Jones had yet to turn around. Johnny stood very still with his hands by his side ready to face his punishment like a man, like a warrior, like his grandfather had taught him as a very small boy. Captain Jones turned to see the man standing at attention. "At ease." He didn't tell the man to sit again; he could if he wanted to. "I want to talk to you about your actions today." Johnny flinched, but didn't relax from attention. "John." Captain Jones waited for the young man to look at him. "John, look at me." Johnny turned. "I'm not going to wash you out." Johnny broke the stance. His shoulders drooped and his mouth opened and closed again, but only for a second; then he straightened up again. "Take a seat, son."
Johnny took a seat this time. He didn't think he could stand any longer without falling. All the worries of the day slid from him and left him drained. "I'm sorry Cap. I know it was wrong to go back in that house, but he was just a scared little kid."
"How did you know where he would hide?" Captain Jones asked softly, calmly.
"My foster parents used to yell a lot. I hid. I was small for my age, and found some very small spaces to squeeze into. They never found me. When I heard the neighbor talking about how the parents argued about him…" Johnny looked at his hands. He had decided honesty with Cap would be best, but talking about it wasn't easy. "It's hard when you're just a kid with no one to rely on; no one to call when you need them. It's just you."
Captain Jones could see the struggle Johnny was having telling his story. "It's okay John. You don't have to continue. But let me tell you this. You get one chance and you've used it. Got it."
Johnny looked to his Captain with thankful eyes. "Yes sir."
"Now get a glass of milk or two and hit your bunk. You look like hell."
Johnny stood slowly and turned to leave, "Thanks Cap. It won't happen again."
"It better not, or I won't have any choice but to cut you loose."
Scotty was standing just outside the office when Johnny came out. He placed his arm across Johnny's shoulders and gripped his shoulder. "Well?"
Johnny looked at Scotty out of the corner of his eye and grinned. "Looks like you're stuck with me."
Scotty laughed, "Good…that's good Boot, but how 'bout you not do anything like that again."
Johnny shrugged. He didn't plan to do anything like that again, but what if he needed to?