Itching to Find an Answer by Icecat62 Sitting in the squad, Gage rubbed at his nose. He could feel another sneeze coming on. The feeling faded. He scratched idly at his forearms, then without warning he sneezed. Roy looked over at him and frowned. "You still have that cold?" Sniffling, Gage rubbed at his eyes. "Yeah, I guess so. Man, I felt good for the past few days and now I'm back to this. I tell ya' Roy, I'm sick of bein' sick." "Maybe you should get Brackett or Early to check you out." "Ohhhh no. No way." "Why not? It's better than suffering like this." "It's a cold. There's nothing that'll cure a cold. I'm just going to hafta' ride it out. Again." Roy felt bad for Gage. His partner had been sick on and off for the past two weeks, sneezing and scratching. Coughing had become as much a part of him as the bad mood it put him in. He could understand the crankiness. Between being sick and the lack of sleep he had the past few days, Roy knew he wouldn't have been very happy either. Backing the squad into the parking space, Roy peeked a look at Gage who was blowing his nose. It had to be done. As they walked toward the nurse's station, Roy prepared to turn Gage over to the lions. To his relief, Dixie saved him the trouble. "You're still sick, Johnny? Come with me." "What? No, I'm not sick...I'm...recovering." Dixie arched an eyebrow at him and pointed down the hall. "Room two is open. You go sit and I'll get Joe." "Aw come on Dixie, I'm fine! It's just a little cold." "Colds don't last two weeks. Go." "Aw man!" Gage turned to Roy who shook his head no. "Don't look at me, she's right. You need to get checked out." With a look of disgust on his face, Gage stomped down the hall and disappeared into the exam room. ******************** Leaning against the exam table, Gage scratched at his neck. Clearing his throat, he sighed. He couldn't understand how he could have gotten sick again so soon. He felt fine, then boom! As soon as he came to work, he got sick. The door to the room opened and in walked Doctor Early, followed by Roy. Early patted the table and smiled. Not bothering to argue, Gage hopped up on it. "Roy said you've been sick for almost two weeks." Shooting Roy a glare, Gage cleared his throat. "Yeah, I guess so." "How about I check you out then." Palpitating and probing Gage's neck with his fingers, Early took a tongue depressor and look down his throat, then he check his ears and eyes. Stepping away from the table, Early went to a medicine cabinet and picked out a bottle. Walking back to Gage, he handed it to him. "Take one of these every eight hours and see if it helps." Gage looked at the bottle in his hand, then back at Early. "Antihistamine?" "You don't have a cold Johnny, you have some sort of allergy." "Allergy? How'd I get that?" Early shrugged his shoulders. "It could be caused by a number of things. The deodorant you use, your shampoo, something you ate. All you have to do is think of something you've done or had that's been different these past few weeks." Gage looked lost in thought. Early patted him on the shoulder. "Let me know how you feel in a couple days." ******************** Sitting in the locker room at the station, Gage could feel the familiar itching coming back. With a sigh, he pulled the bottle from his shirt pocket and took one of the pills Early had given him. He had felt some relief during his previous shift when taking the pills and on his day off, he had felt perfectly fine. What was more confusing, he had worked an overtime shift at one-ten and never had any problems. As soon as he had come in and began changing, a tickle at the back of his throat had begun. Roy, who was sitting beside him, noticed how preoccupied Gage was and he also noticed him taking one of the pills Early had given him. "You haven't figured out what your allergy is yet?" Shaking his head no, Gage sneezed twice. "I don't know what it can be. I tried to think if I changed any of the stuff Early mentioned, but I couldn't think of anything. The weird part is...I didn't sneeze or itch or anything the entire time I wasn't here." His eyes widened. "That's it! I'm allergic to something here!" Taping the Smokey poster in his locker, Gage closed the door and walked out to the kitchen. Picking things up, he began sniffing them. Chet gave him a strange look. "Why're you sniffing everything John?" Gage kept making his way around the room sniffing things. "I'm allergic to something here." Walking over to the leather sofa, he knelt down and sniffed Henry. Nothing happened. Standing, he walked over to Chet and sniffed his hair. He smirked. "I couldn't be that lucky." Chet's frowned at him. "Hey!" Ignoring Chet, he proceeded to sniff Cap, Marco and Mike. Roy walked into the room and stood watching Gage. "Johnny, what're you doing?" Going over to Roy, he leaned toward him and sniffed. Pulling back, he paused for a second before sneezing loudly. He gave Roy a curious look. "It can't be." Leaning in, he took a deep sniff. The resulting sneezes left him staggering to a chair. After catching his breath, Gage gave Roy a wide-eyed look. "I can't believe this. I'm allergic to you!" A faltering smile appeared on Roy's face. "Johnny, you're not allergic to me." Oh yes I am! I didn't itch, sneeze or scratch at home or at one-ten. How do you explain that?!" Running a hand through his hair, Gage frowned. "Man...this means I'm going to hafta' transfer out." "You don't have to transfer anywhere, you aren't allergic to me. Think for a minute. You didn't start sneezing until a few weeks ago. It has to be...I don't know...maybe Joanne changed our soap or detergent." Gage's expression didn't change all that much. "You think so?" "What else could it be?" "Yeah, I guess you're right. Do you think maybe you could call Joanne and ask her if she's changed anything?" "Sure. I'll do it now." Roy walked over to the phone and placed a dime in it. Dialing the number he listened to the rings. He frowned slightly as Joanne's harried voice yelled out on the other end. "Chris, stop that now! Hello?" "Jo...it's Roy." "Could you hold on for a moment honey?" The phone muffled, but Roy could still hear her. "Do you want to go to your room for the rest of the day? No? Then you had better leave your sister alone." There was a pause. "Jenny, put that down! No...don't pour it, I'll..." Her voice came back on the phone loud and clear. "Honey, I have to go. Jenny spilled the milk and...Chris, I said stop it!" The phone clicked in his ear. He stood there for a second, then pulled it away from his ear to stare at it. Replacing the receiver, he turned to find everyone look at him expectantly. "Uh…she's a little busy right now." Gage's mouth dropped open. "Busy?! My job is on the line and all you can say is she's busy?!" "The kids are…Johnny your job is not on the line. I'll call her back later and find out if she's changed anything at our house." Gage tapped a foot nervously on the floor. "Have you changed your deodorant?" "No." "Your shampoo?" "No." "Your soap?" "No." "After shave?" "No." "What about where you get your uniforms dry cleaned?" "Johnny, I get my uniforms done at the same place as you." "Oh…that's right." Gage slumped in the chair, completely dejected. "I really don't want to transfer to another station." Roy sighed. It was going to be like this all shift. "When are you gonna' call her back?" "Later." "How much later?" "I don't know…later. When she's not as busy." "Roy, she's home all day, how busy can she be?" Roy stared at Gage, not believing he said what he did. "Do you remember last year when you watched Chris and Jenny while Jo and I went away for a few days?" Gage thought for a few seconds before his face registered what Roy was hinting at. Watching Chris and Jennifer for those few days was like sleeping in a nest of rattlesnakes. "Oh…yeah." "Look, I'll call her back later. We'll see if she's changed anything and if she has, I'll go back to the old stuff." "What if she didn't change anything? What am I supposed to do then? Scratch and sniff the rest of my life?" Cap stepped between them. This discussion could go around and around all day. "Then I'm sure Doctor Early will figure out a treatment that will help you. Right now there's some hose outside that has your name on it. You go with him Mike. Roy, you can go scrub the bay." Giving Cap a dirty look and receiving a dark stare in return, Gage made his way outside to hang hose. If Joanne hadn't changed something, then his life was over at 51s as far as he was concerned. ********************************************** Dialing the number, Roy looked around. Gage was nowhere in sight. "Hello DeSoto's residence!" "Jenny it's Dad, can I talk to Mom?" "Hi Dad! Did you know that if you drop a whole roll of toilet paper in the toilet and flush it that it overflows?" Roy cringed. He could only imagine the mess. Hopefully it wasn't plugged to the point that Joanne had to call a plumber. "Yes Jenny, I knew that. Could you put Mom on the phone?" "Hold on." Jennifer held the phone slightly away from her mouth and screamed. "Mom, Dad's on the phone!!!" Roy pulled the phone away from his ear, wincing as he did it. He could barely hear Joanne yelling in the background, but he couldn't understand what she said. Jennifer came back on the phone. "Mom said she'll call you back later, she's busy." "Jenny, what's Mom doing?" "Chris was tryin' to glue a model together and got some on his hand and then he touched his head and Mom's cutting his hair so she can get his hand off of his head." Roy closed his eyes in exasperation. There was never a dull moment in his life with two children. "Okay…just tell Mom I called and when she gets a chance give me a call back." "Okay Dad. Love you." "I love you too Pumpkin." Hanging the phone up, Roy hoped that Gage wouldn't come and ask him any questions because he still didn't have any answers. ********************************************** The rest of the shift was spent alternating between calls and Gage inquiring as to whether or not Roy had gotten a hold of Joanne. It had to be a conspiracy because Joanne would call and find an empty station and when Roy called, Joanne was either busy or out of the house. By the time the shift was over, Roy was exhausted and Gage was cranky. As they dressed to go home, Gage kept at Roy. "I know I'm bein' a pain…" Roy looked directly as Gage and made a face indicating that yes…he was being a pain…a royal one. "Look, if you felt like I do, you'd be wanting to know too!" "I know, I know!" Grabbing his jacket from the locker, Roy closed it. "Follow me home and I'll ask Jo and you can stay for breakfast." "I don't know Roy. I'm really itching." Roy was surprised. Gage had to be bad if he was refusing a free meal. "I promise if Joanne find out what she changed, I'll go and shower or whatever so you can stay and eat." "You'd do that?" "Sure." "Okay, fine. I'll stay as long as I don't have to itch or sneeze." ********************************************** Walking into the kitchen Roy wasn't surprised when he found Joanne there making breakfast, but he was surprised at how harried she looked. Walking up to her, he gave her a kiss. She looked at Johnny and waved a hand at him. "Morning." Gage frowned at Joanne. "Man, you look worse than I do." She sneezed loudly. "I don't know what it is, but ever since last night I've been itching and sneezing like crazy." Gage's eyes widened. "Me too!" Roy knew they had the answer to their problem now. "Joanne, did you change my shampoo?" She paused for a second as she scratched her arm. "No. Believe me, I've checked everything. I haven't bought anything different that would make me itch like this." She sneezed again. "Take a seat Johnny, I'll have breakfast ready in a second." Gage shook his head no. "Thanks, but no. You shouldn't be makin' me or Roy anything. You need to go see Doctor Early about your allergy." "I already made an appointment. They'll squeeze me in tomorrow." She sniffled again as Chris and Jennifer shuffled into the kitchen. Jennifer went straight to Gage and hugged his leg as she yawned. "Mornin' Uncle Johnny." She looked up at Roy. "Mornin' Dad." Chris didn't say anything as he walked over to a cabinet and withdrew a box of cereal. Gage looked at the family around him. They were a mess and he didn't want to add to it. "I'm gonna' go on home. I'm beat and I can see the rest of you are too." He ran a hand through his hair. "Look if you find anything that's different…you know…if your shampoo is different or whatever, let me know okay?" Jennifer frowned as he began to move away from him. "Where're you going?" "Sweetheart, I'm gonna' go home. I'm all itchy like your mom and I'm just not feelin' too good." "How come?" "Well your dad has something in his shampoo or soap that's makin' me itch." Roy frowned. "Johnny, Joanne just told you she didn't change my shampoo." "Roy it has to be it, what else could it be?" Jennifer smiled at them both. "I changed the shampoo." The whole room froze, save for Chris who sat munching his cereal, totally disinterested. Johnny knelt down in front of Jennifer. "Jen princess, how did you change it?" "Dad's shampoo smelled icky. Mom was gonna' have to use it 'cause I accidentally knocked hers over in the tub so I put some Tinkerbell perfume in it to make it smell good." She smiled widely, pleased that she had done something so thoughtful. Gage scooped her up and hugged her tightly. "Thank you!!!" Joanne rolled her eyes as she scratched idly at her neck. She remembered a few weeks ago when Jennifer had knocked the shampoo over. Luckily she had another small bottle left, but unluckily she had run out of it last night and had resorted to using Roy's shampoo. Jennifer must have thought that she had been using her dad's shampoo all this time. Roy gave Joanne a small smile and shrugged his shoulders. They were use to small 'adventures' like this in their house. Having woken up with lipstick and blush on his person after an afternoon nap had taught him that anything was possible. He looked over at an ecstatic Gage who was dancing with Jennifer in his arms. "Well Johnny, it looks like you don't have to leave." "Nope, I'm stayin'." He set Jennifer down and began ushering Joanne and Roy from the room. "You two go get showered and I'll start breakfast. How about pancakes?" Roy looked at Joanne and smiled. She looked back at Gage and raised an eyebrow at him. "You think we should save water and shower together?" Gage blushed a deep red and made a face at them. "Go! I don't care, just get showered so I don't itch! Making their way out of the kitchen and up the stairs, they could hear Gage trying to explain to Jennifer why her mom and dad were getting showered together. Giggling, they decided to do just that. Why waste the water? Icecat feedback |