The Magic Pen PART TWO All the way to Rampart, Johnny reflected on the second part of his latest "wish". Cap's accident was obviously not a coincidence, so the newest nurse falling in love with him was bound to come true too! His love life was secure for the foreseeable future. Gage's trademark crooked grin put in an appearance. The ambulance pulled up in front of the double doors to the Emergency Department where the attendents pulled out the gurney and rolled it into the hallway. Dixie met them at the door, instructing them to take it to Room 6. Roy assisted the patient's grandmother out of the ambulance, and into the hospital. He had her sit down, and told Dixie she was there. Johnny pulled up next to the ambulance and bounced into the ER. He spotted Roy at the base station. No nurses in sight. One RN that he hadn't seen before waddled into his periferal vision. He paid no attention; he was waiting for the dream date to appear. The woman passed him, stopped, backed up and stared at him. Her eyes got wide, and she could not believe what she was looking at. Before her was one of the most perfect men she had ever seen. Tall, dark, handsome, nice tight buns.... She was in love. Nurse Judy Halperin, the latest addition to the Emergency Room staff, with graying hair and in possession of multiple chins, was still a spinster at 52. She had been waiting...er saving herself for the perfect man, and now that he was here, like fine wine she was ready. She walked up to the vision standing before her, and said, "Excuse me, handsome, new in town?" Johnny turned and looked at her, thinking she reminded him of a favorite aunt, and gave her one of his devastating smiles. "No, ma'am, I come here often." "Good, so do I. Oh by the way, what's your name?" "John Gage, Squad 51. And this is my partner, Roy DeSoto." Roy had walked up to the desk with Dixie. Dixie covered her mouth with her hand to hide the wide smile that stretched across her mouth. The no-nonsense Nurse Halperin was obviously smitten with the handsome young paramedic. Wait until she told Kel and Joe! "Oh, Johnny, I don't think you've met our newest nurse. This is Judy Halperin. She's going to be part of our staff from now on." Johnny wore a big friendly grin until he heard the words "newest nurse". The smile faded from his face, and his eyes grew wide as he croaked out, "Newest nurse? But I thought...." Just then the HT in his hand beeped, and Sam Lanier's voice rang out in saving grace, "Squad 51, what is your status?" "Squad 51, available," Johnny responded. "Squad 51, stand by for response." Both men headed for the exit, Johnny breathing a huge sigh of relief. As soon as this response was over, he would fix that log to read, "Nurse Halperin drops John Gage for Dr. Early...no, better yet! Nurse Halperin drops John Gage for Dr. Brackett." He grinned. This could be fun after all. Johnny shuddered as he and Roy ran for the squad. Sam's voice came over the radio: "Station 17, Station 27, Station 51, Truck 127, Battalion 14, Structure fire, 67854 Alvarez, Six-Seven-Eight-Five-Four Alvarez, cross street Ventura, time out 1527." "Well let's go, Junior." For once Johnny was only too happy to get a call. As he slid into the passenger's side of the squad, Roy handed him a quickly scribbled note with the address and time out. With all the units responding, it was bound to be big. "Hey, isn't that the same toy factory we went to last month for an inspection?" Roy nodded in the affirmative. They had found multiple fire code violations and gave the owner four weeks to bring the building into compliance. The owner, a rather large, balding man with a huge handlebar mustache, had tried to bribe them with a few "gifts", but the boys refused, and reported it to Cap shortly after their return from the factory. Captain Stanley in turn, wrote up the incident in a report and forwarded it to Chief McConnike. "It looks like the owner decided to try for the insurance instead," Johnny commented. "We don't know that," Roy reminded him. "No, we don't know, but I'd bet money on it." Roy nodded. Johnny was probably right, but that didn't change the immediate circumstances...the place was on fire. Captain Stanley directed them to pull up behind Engine 51 and assist in checking the building for occupants. Johnny shook his head as he donned SCBA and looked at Roy knowingly. The building was a virtual maze, according to his memory, and this was a work day. There were lots of places to search. He just hoped everybody was accounted for. "Man, this is gonna be rough," he thought. Cap continued to order units around, until he could turn over control as incident commander to the Chief. Chet and Marco grabbed hoses off the back of Big Red, and Mike set up to give them all the pressure they needed. Everyone was in place, now if the Big Chief in the sky would look favorably on them, they could do their jobs, and return home safely. The owner puffed and panted his way to Captain Stanley, both handles of his mustache drooping as he wiped the perspiration from his florid face. "Everybody's out except the people in the second floor store room. They were taking inventory when the fire started. They set the boxes in front of the stairwell while they took count, and now the stairwell is blocked. They're trapped up there!" The man's shaking hands were barely able to hold his now soot-stained kerchief as he twisted it nervously. He looked beseechingly at Hank Stanley. Cap wanted to wring this man's neck. Instead he called to Roy and Johnny. "Gage! DeSoto! We've got people trapped on the second floor in the storeroom! Move!" At that, both paramedics ran toward the building. The flames grew progressively hotter, and the smoke more intense. Time was of the essence. As Johnny and Roy climbed the stairs to the second floor, Marco and Chet covered them with their hoses. If they could keep the fire at bay, then there was a chance to come back down the same stairs. If not, then escape could be a problem with deadly consequences. Marco's lips were moving in silent prayer as he moved the hose back and forth trying to keep the flames back. "Would you look at this!" Johnny said in disgust. A solid wall of boxes completely cut off the top of the stairwell. Gage looked down at the floor below and grimly grabbed the top box, tossing it over the rail, then reached for the second. Roy joined him and they finished the first stack, only to encounter another behind it. This was taking precious time, but there didn't seem to be any other solution. As quickly as possible, Johnny and Roy tossed a seemingly endless supply of boxes over the rail until, finally, they came to a door. Roy turned the handle to find several people, barely more than children, unconscious on the floor. This guy must have been breaking every law in the book! He'd bet any amount of money they were illegal immigrants. Grabbing the HT, Roy hit the send button. "Engine 51, HT 51, Cap we need help! There are several people up here, and they're all unconscious!" "HT 51, Hang on Roy, help is on the way," Cap's voice came back in reply. "I'm sending up 27's crew to help with the rescue." "10-4, Cap." Cap and Mike quickly removed the paramedics' equipment from the side compartments of the squad and started to set up a triage point in anticipation of the victims' arrival. Johnny looked at them gratefully as he hurried out with the first of the unconscious people, a small woman who looked to be less than fifteen. Mike applied oxygen while Johnny set up the link to Rampart. Chief McConnike hurried over to confer with Hank Stanley. "Chief," Roy called as he laid the second victim beside the first, "these are just kids. I think the police should know about this." "Alright, DeSoto. LA, Battalion 14, respond police to this location." "10-4, Battalion 14." McConnike, observing the obvious emotional state of his crews, turned around and grabbed the owner, who was sidling away. "Hey! Where do you think you're going?" "I'm not going anywhere, just wanted to get some fresh air." "Yeah, right. You're not going anywhere; you've got some questions to answer." The ambulance arrived to take the first of the victims to Rampart. Johnny opted to ride in with them. He decided it was the safest thing for him to do under the circumstances. It was either that or be arrested for assaulting the factory owner...three of the children didn't make it. The crew worked in near silence extracting four boys and three girls from the building. Two boys and a girl they turned over to the coroner. All of the firefighters were sick at heart. Roy, Cap, and Mike, as always, saw the faces of their own children as they worked to save these. Marco and Chet's eyes filled with unshed tears. What a horrible waste! And for what? So some lowlife could earn a few extra dollars? They were just children, barely babies. As the crew worked overhauling the wreckage, Roy loaded the equipment back into the squad. He got behind the wheel, and sat for a few minutes. Silent tears ran down his cheeks, and he pounded the wheel in frustration. Grabbing the mic, he hit the send button. "LA, Squad 51, 10-8 to Rampart General for follow-up." All the way to Rampart, Johnny thought about the frivolous entry he had written with his magic pen. It was funny about Cap's boots, and it was even funny about the new nurse. But what if he'd had the foresight to write, "no one gets hurt on this call"? His stomach knotted painfully. He could have prevented this. Instead he opted for a few laughs and a chance at a hot new nurse. Kicking himself mentally, Johnny exited the ambulance behind the attendant and hurried into the ER, holding two IV's as he walked between the gurneys. Such an awful waste. He wanted to rip the pen from his pocket and throw it into the nearest river. Instead he helped move the patients onto the exam tables and concentrated on his job. Dr. Brackett, seeing Johnny's obvious distress, excused him as soon as he could, then nodded to Dixie to follow him out. Dixie tapped Johnny on the shoulder. "Rough one, huh?" "Dix, you don't know the half of it. They're just kids, for God's sake! He had them trapped on the second floor, in the storeroom, and there was a ton of boxes in the way! They didn't have a chance!" Tears ran down Johnny's face as he shouted out his frustration. Dixie pulled him into the lounge, and sat him down. Roy walked in looking almost identical to his partner, his own tear-stained face a mask of great pain. Dixie poured them, and herself, mugs of hot steaming coffee. Sitting down between them, she held her mug, and listened. "I've never wanted to hurt anybody like I did that factory owner," Roy admitted. "The man ignored every fire code in the book. I wouldn't have put it past him to be the one who started the fire." Johnny looked up, stricken, he'd forgotten that they had suspected arson upon hearing the call. Gage's face grew taut in anger, his jaw clenched. "I could have prevented this!" he growled. Dixie was taken aback. "Now just how could you do that, John Gage? Did you know this was going to happen? You couldn't have done any more than you did...either of you." Johnny shook his head. Nobody would believe him anyway if he did tell them about the magic red pen that currently reposed in his pocket. Johnny decided that when he got back to the station, he was going to try and fix what had happened. He didn't know if it would work, but he had to try. If it would change things like the hot electric wire, maybe it could change this. Johnny stood at the base station as Roy loaded supplies into their box. The world went black as a pair of chubby hands reached around from behind him and covered his eyes. "Guess who, lover," a flirtatious voice whispered in his ear. Definitely not in the mood, and especially not for Miss Halperin, Johnny choked down the sarcastic response and remained silent. "Judy, please clean up Treatment Four," Dixie said, coming to Johnny's rescue as she finished her survey of the treatment rooms. They were in need of attention, and Judy Halperin was just the person to take care of them...at least until after Johnny Gage was gone. Johnny sighed in relief as the hands slid reluctantly from over his eyes. He'd forgotten the other item he wanted to fix with his magic pen. Roy looked over at the determined look on his partner's face. "Junior, don't let this thing get you down. If you let it, it will take over your life, and then you lose your effectiveness. You've got--no, WE'VE got to get over this. Remember the kids we got out alive. They're alive Johnny, because of you and me, that matters. The other matters too, but we can't let it beat us down." Johnny gave Roy a half grin. He knew his partner was trying to pull them both out of the depression that threatened to swallow them. "I'll be okay," he reasurred his best friend. "You?" "Yeah," Roy said hoarsely. He looked at Dixie and gave her a weak smile, "Thanks, Dix. Didn't mean to sob on your shoulder." "It's a willing shoulder, Roy, and pretty darned comfy if I do say so myself. Feel free to use it whenever you need to." Dixie winked at her two favorite paramedics, glad they were showing signs of getting back to normal. "See ya, fellas." "Bye, Dix." Roy clapped Johnny on the back and the two men headed for the exit. "They'll be okay." Dixie thought to herself, then proceeded to Treatment Room 4, where she gave Miss Halperin a lesson on Emergency Room rules of conduct. Out in the squad, Johnny picked up the mic. "LA, Squad 51 returning to quarters." "Squad 51" answered Sam's voice. They pulled out of the lot and headed for the station. Captain Stanley looked up as Johnny Gage entered the office, heading for the log book. "Hey, John, you guys all right?" "Yeah, Cap, we'll be fine. I thought I would update the log book." "Hey, that's um...very efficient. But you know, you can still do it at the end of the shift instead of after every call." Johnny hesitated, "Uh that's true, Cap, but I don't want to get behind. This way I can do it while the call is still fresh in my mind." Stanley stood up and left the office, wondering what had gotten into his youngest crew member...and wondering if it would last. Letting out his breath with a WHOOSH, Johnny opened the log and checked out the next entry. Someone was definitely determined to get him. It read, "John Gage falls out of the moving squad and breaks his collar bone. Johnny picked up the red pen, and crossed out the last entry, entering instead, "Engineer Mike Stoker finds 20 dollars." Going up to the other entries, Johnny attempted to cross out the previous run all together and put down all victims survived, but found that the pen would not allow him to. Everytime he tried, the whole page would go blank. "Well, I guess there are some things that you just can't change, no matter how much you want them to," he thought. "Oh yeah, I need to fix the nurse problem." And with that, he changed "newest nurse" to "pretty new nurse". "That ought to work. I hope." Out in the kitchen, Chet was feeling kind of bad for his pigeon, but didn't think it would make for good realtions to all of a sudden come up with the missing green pen. "Johnny, phone!" Stoker's voice sang out from the kitchen. As Johnny approached, Mike asked, "Who's Judy?" Oh, God, he was too late! "I'm not here," he mouthed silently to Mike. Quickly Johnny raced back to the log book and scribbled in "Miss Halperin drops John Gage for Dr. Brackett." There. Now he would have a pretty nurse, he would lose Miss Halperin, and Mike would gain twenty dollars. Things would go his way again soon. Chet looked at his pigeon with renewed interest. Just who was this Judy person, and why was she calling Gage here at the station? Marco was staring morosely at his ruined meal. How could he have forgotten to turn off the stove? Mama Rosita's special sauce was a burned disaster. He needed something really good to take everyone's minds off the day's events. Maybe he could do something quick like tostadas, or maybe chili. "Nah, maybe I'll just call for pizza take out," he thought. He was tired. Cap looked at his chef du jour. "What's the matter, Pal?" "I burned the sauce, Cap," he admitted. "I'm not really in the mood to cook now, but I thought a good supper would help lighten things up around here, you know?" "That's a good thought, Marco, what did you have in mind?" "I don't know. I've just about decided to settle for take out pizza." "Hey, that sounds great!" Johnny chimed in. "Roy and I can pick it up in the squad." "Is everybody up for that?" Cap asked. The crew checked their pockets for cash before answering. Mike Stoker got a funny look on his face. "What's the matter, pal?" Cap asked. "I just found a twenty dollar bill in my pocket, Cap. I know I didn't put it there." Johnny snickered. "You call it in, Marco, and we'll be on our way to pick it up. No anchovies." Johnny began to whistle as he headed for the squad. Johnny and Roy headed to the pizza place, and picked up the pizza, and a nice antipasto salad. It smelled tremendous, and Roy's stomach growled with hunger. Johnny looked at his partner with surprise. "Man, is that your stomach? Sounds empty, Pally." "Don't you worry about my stomach, Junior. I'll take care of it when we get back to the station." "Roy, doesn't Joanne feed you? It's really growling." "Hey, I worked hard today, and we never got lunch. No wonder we're hungry." BEEP BEEP BEEP "Squad 51 what is your status?" Johnny looked at Roy, "Now what?" "Maybe it'll stay warm." Johnny picked up the mic. "Squad 51 available." He knew the guys back at the station were probably groaning about now at the thought of their pizza traveling around the county getting cold. "Squad 51, man down, 1247 North Judson, one-two-four-seven North Judson, cross street Wilcox, time out 1945." "Squad 51, 10-4." Johnny hung up the mic as Roy flipped on the siren and the squad raced through the darkening streets. Back at the station, a chorus of groans erupted as the crew heard the Squad get called out. "Oh man, there goes supper," Chet lamented. "Isn't there anything in this place to snack on?" Cap reached into his pocket for his keys, and went into the office. Returning to the kitchen a few minutes later, he tossed a bag of cookies to Chet. "Share them, that's an order." "Cap, you're a life saver!" Marco exclaimed. Mike, a man of few words, smiled at his fearless leader, and said simply, "Thanks Cap." Johnny watched the street signs as they sped down Wilcox and directed Roy to North Judson. "There it is," Johnny pointed toward a man waving frantically at them from the sidewalk. Roy found a place at the curb and pulled the squad over to park. Johnny jumped out and was accosted by a man who grabbed his uniform shirt in both hands. "He's unconscious. He's not breathing. I just know he's dead." "All right, now, just calm down," Johnny told the fellow. The man continued to clamp onto Gage's shirt with clawlike hands. "Where is he?" Johnny asked, attempting to extract himself from the pincer grasp of the excited little man in front of him. Roy hurriedly pulled out the oxygen, drug box and biophone, leaving Johnny to bring the datascope and defibrillator...as soon as he was free. "I just know he is dead, he's not moving," the little man kept saying. "Sir, you have to let go of me, I can't help your friend if you don't let go." The man finally released Gage and stepped back. "He's back here, he's unconscious." Roy knelt down next to the man, and did a sternal rub on his chest. The victim moaned, and rolled his head. Johnny appeared then, and started to set up the datascope and patch the man in. Roy got on the horn to Rampart. "Rampart base, this is Squad 51." The unconscious man's nervous little friend paced circles in the back yard, leaning in to watch the paramedics and backing off at warning glances from Johnny and Roy. Finally he stumbled over the drug box and landed face down on the biophone. Johnny flinched as Roy first righted the little man and then resumed contact with Rampart. "Look, we can't help your friend if you're in the way. Sit down over here and stay put. Got it?" Johnny's voice was hard. "Got it, you don't have to get mean about it," whined the little man. "Rampart base, this is Squad 51, how do you read?" "We read you loud and clear, 51." Dixie's calm voice came back over the link. "Rampart, we have a man approximate age late 40s, unconscious on our arrival. We tried a sternal rub, he moaned, no other response. Stand by for vitals." Johnny gave Roy the vitals: "Roy, pulse is 60, respirations 10, blood pressure is 90/60. Can find no apparent injuries." Johnny turned to the nervous little man, now wringing his hands and jiggling his knee as he sat watching the paramedics intently. "Sir, what was your friend doing before he collapsed?" "Oh, he's not my friend. He's my brother. As for what he was doing...ah he was tinkering in the garage over there. He wandered out the door, looked up at the sky and sort of fell down, like this..." The little man stood up, staggered a few feet, looked up and then sank to the ground, his eyes rolling back in his head. Johnny would have thought it funny if this wasn't a serious situation. "Sir, that's fine, you can get up now. Sir? Uh, sir, do you hear me? Roy, he's out!" "You're kidding." Johnny did a sternal rub. "Sir! can you hear me?" No response. "Roy, I'm gonna go check out that garage." Johnny flipped on the garage light, and stepped into the room. He checked around the perimeter, and going back out into the yard, he said to Roy, "Roy, I don't smell anything. I'm gonna ask for some help." Meanwhile, Roy was on the horn to Rampart. "Uh Rampart, we have another victim, the first victim's brother. He was demonstrating to us what had happened when he collapsed. No response. We have both victims on O2." Johnny had asked for help on the HT, and Engine 51 responded. Rolling up to the scene, Kelly jumped off the rig, and demanded to know where the pizza was. Captain Stanley told him to get back, and stay by the rig. "What do you have, John?" "Well, Cap, we have two men, both unconscious, and no apparent injuries. I checked around the garage, there are alot of different solvents, paints, and chemicals around there. It looks like they do body work of some kind. I saw some fiber glass materials." Cap thought a minute, and instructed the rest of the crew to put on SCBAs, and start looking. Johnny suddenly saw two of everything before the world went gray and he dropped where he stood. "Cap, we're gonna need another ambulance," Roy told him as he hurried over to his fallen partner. This was getting stranger and stranger. "And Cap, be careful, this might be skin contact rather than inhaled." Roy took Johnny's vitals and reached for the biophone. "Rampart, we have a third victim...a Code I." Kelly Brackett's brows went up in concern. Now what? "What's happening out there, 51?" He looked at Dixie, "They've got victims dropping like flies!" "Everyone put gloves on, that's an order. LA, Engine 51, we need a hazmat team at this location. Respond another ambulance, we have a Code I." "10-4, 51" Mike, searching along a wall, found a container with the lid off, and looked at the label. "Holy Crap! Look at this!" he shouted. Lopez and Kelly, shocked by his outburst, came running. "Man, oh, man, we got to find something to put that in," said Marco. "Cap! We found something!" "What is it, Marco," Captain Stanley called, running toward the garage. "It's tetrachloroethyline, and there's an open container." "Get out of there now! That stuff is unstable!" 51's men came pouring out of the garage. "Leave it for the hazmat team." "Mike, pull an inch and a half, and rinse these guys off, and yourself. Then spray the victims, and remove their clothes." Roy got back on the biophone. "Rampart, we found out what it is. Tetrachloroethyline, and we are removing clothing, and hosing off the victims." "51, start IVs, D5W TKO, maintain O2, and transport immediately." Roy repeated Brackett's instructions, and got ready to start the IVs. "51, adminster 5amps epinenephrine IV to each victim." Brackett instructed further. "10-4, Rampart." Johnny slowly opened his eyes; he had trouble focusing. "Wha... happ'nd?" "Lay back and relax, Johnny." Gage reached up to remove the oxygen mask, Roy pushed his hands away. Johnny slapped at the hands that attempted to re-seat the mask. "Don...don want that thing on m' face." "Johnny, lay still and leave the oxygen mask alone." The younger paramedic's eyes focused and blurred. "Wha' did I drink? I don't wanna ever do it again." His voice slurred, Johnny's head dropped back to the ground. "You've been exposed to tetrachloroethyline, now just relax, I'm gonna start an IV." "I don' want 'n IV, they hurt. Hey! I'm all wet! Roy, where's my clothes? Nobody said there was gonna be a wet shorts contest in this bar!" Kelly burst out laughing. "Oh, Gage, man are you out of it! What's with him, Roy?" Roy grinned. Johnny's relatively rapid recovery meant that he wasn't exposed as seriously as the two other men. "I think he'll be okay, let's get a blanket on him." Marco wrapped a blanket around his friend, as Cap and Mike placed blankets on the other two. Picking up the biophone, Roy spoke. "Rampart, our Code I is conscious, albeit a little incoherent." "A little?" asked Chet. Ignoring Kelly, Roy continued. "Our two victims are still unconscious, we are awaiting transport." At his words, the ambulance raced around the corner, skidding to a stop near the scene. Johnny sat up again, crooking his finger to Roy. "Hey, Pal...Pal...Pally, I've got a secret. Shhhh, don't tell Chet, he'll get jealous." "Johnny just lay back." "No, Roy, let him talk, this is getting interesting." The Phantom was all ears. Roy helped the attendants load the other two victims into the ambulance. Squad 45 pulled up behind the arriving hazmat team and agreed to accompany the first two to Rampart. Roy watched with mild concern as his partner exhibited all the symptoms of extreme intoxication. He wondered if there would be a hangover involved as well. "Hey, Roy, I'll bet that Judy Halperin drops me for Dr. Brackett." He broke into hysterical giggles. Shaking his head, Roy took a seat. This could be an interesting ride. Chet shut the doors on the ambulance, thumping them twice. Marco had removed the pizza and the antipasto from the squad. "Hey! Let me at least have a piece of pizza! I'm starving!" "Chet wait for the rest of us! We're just as hungry as you are!" Mike walked over and took the pizza from Marco and placed it in the cab of the engine. "Kelly, you can wait." "Stoker, I swear...." "Kelly, I wouldn't if I were you." Stoker's slate blue eyes were cold and steely. Chet actually took a step back. His eyes were wide. Hank Stanley chose that moment to walk up to his men. "Problem here, guys?" "No, sir, Cap." "No, Cap" "Not here, Cap" "Good, Chet get the squad over to Rampart and pick up Roy, and we'll head back to the station and warm up the pizza. It ought to be ready by the time you get back." Johnny continued to giggle and babble all the way to Rampart. Roy sat back and watched the show. "Hey, partner, I'm gonna have a date with a pretty new nurse. My love life is set!" "Sure, Johnny," Roy replied, chuckling. "No, Roy, I'm serious. You see I have this magic pen. It can write the future. I wrote that Cap would get his boots stuck...and they did. I wrote that Chet would rip his pants...and he did. I even wrote that Mike would find twenty dollars. Ya see? It's a magic...magic...hey! where's my pen?" "In the squad, Junior." Roy shook his head. Johnny was farther gone than he thought. "Anyway, Roy, I said a pretty new nurse would fall for me, and that Judy Hal...Hal'prin would drop me for Brackett, see?" "Sure, Johnny, whatever you say." As the ambulance backed up to the double doors Roy hopped from the back and followed the gurney into Treatment Three. A squawk from the base station and Judy Halperin ran to Johnny's side. "Oh my God! What happened? You poor baby!" Lying on the gurney, Johnny grinned up at the concerned nurse. "Hiya, Judy! How's it goin'? Have you met my pal Doc Brackett yet? You guys would be perfect for one another!" Giggling maniacally, he winked at Roy. "Pally, I'm tellin' ya, ya gotta warn me when we go to these parties. They get pretty wild! Joanne will have a fit when she hears about the wet shorts contest! Oh, by the way, did I win?" The door opened to reveal the arrival of one Doctor Kelly Brackett. Judy Halperin reached for Johnny and cradled him in her arms, nearly smothering him in her ample bosom. Her hands smoothed and caressed the shaggy black mane. "Nurse Halperin, put that man down." Startled, Judy abruptly released John Gage and turned to face the doctor, her face aflame. Johnny's head hit the gurney with a thump, but he felt no pain. "Well, partner," Roy mused, "you were right. She dropped you for Doctor Brackett." Kel looked at Roy questioningly. Roy shrugged and grinned to himself. "One, two, three!" Johnny was still grinning inanely as Roy and the ambulance attendants transferred him to the exam table. He focused on Dr. Brackett who was preparing to examine him further. "Hiya, Doc! How's it goin'? Ya met my friend Judy yet? You guys would be perfect for each other." Johnny stopped, swallowed, and said, "Hey Doc, I don feel so good." His face took on a greenish tinge. Roy grabbed an emesis basin, and Judy and Brackett rolled Johnny to the side. "That's it, partner, get all the poison out of your system." Johnny gave Roy a look that was less than enthusiastic and resumed emptying the contents of his stomach. Judy Halperin, less than enchanted at the sight of her handsome paramedic paying homage to the emesis basin, began looking at Kelly Brackett with interest. So darkly handsome and distinguished, so talented, such capable hands. Johnny might be right. They just might be perfect for each other. Kel, busy adding a second IV to replace the fluids Johnny was steadily losing, missed the speculative glances on the face of the newest ER nurse. Dixie, walking in just then, saw the looks, and and decided she needed to have another talk with Miss Halperin. Taking the syringe from Kel's hands, she pumped up the b/p cuff, and found the vein. Inserting the needle, she started the IV. "Ow, Dix, that really hurt!" Johnny complained mournfully. "Sorry, Johnny, but we needed to get another IV started on you. You don't want to stay here any longer than necessary, do you?" She reached out and brushed his hair off his forehead. Johnny shook his head. "Nope, I don't. Just long enough to scope out some cute new nurses." His face got another silly grin on it. "Or maybe some beautiful other nurses. Dix, did I ever tell you how gorgeous you are?" Looking at Roy, he asked the same question. "Hey, Pally did I ever tell Dix? Well she is, and I don't care who knows it." Dixie smiled gently, amused at Johnny's prattle. He looked like a little boy laying there. "How much of that stuff did he take in?" she asked Roy. "He was only exposed for a minute. He seemed to be fine, and then, when he'd taken a few breaths, wham! out like a light. By the way, how are the other two patients?" "They're not so hot. Both in intensive care, probable kidney and liver damage. They must have been exposed to that stuff for quite a while." "Yeah. We don't really know how long, or where they came by the stuff. Hazmat had just arrived to clean it up when we left." Johnny reached out and took Dixie's hand, pulling it to his cheek like a child's blanket before turning over and dropping off to sleep. "Oh, Miss McCall." Bambi the blonde entered Treatment Three with a stack of charts. "Shhh," Dixie said, looking fondly at Johnny Gage, his face wearing a contented smile as he snuggled her hand in his sleep. "Aw how sweet! Is he a relative, Miss McCall?" Roy snickered. "No, he's not." Giving Roy a pointed look, Dixie explained who Sleeping Beauty was, and how he came to be there. After introducing Roy, she instructed Bambi to call upstairs and have a room prepared. Johnny slept blissfully on, unaware of his surroundings, or circumstances. Dixie attempted to disengage her hand from his clutches, but everytime she tried, Johnny would grip her hand tighter, and whimper in his sleep. Shaking her head partly in exasperation and partly in amusement, Dixie firmly tugged her hand away and replaced it with a rolled up towel. "Help me get him into a gown, Roy," she said. By the time Johnny was dressed in the hospital's answer to Christian Dior, two attendants showed up with a gurney ready to take him upstairs. Roy followed them into the hall where he found Chet pacing anxiously outside the door. "Roy, How's Gage? He looks like he's sleeping." "Chet, he'll be okay, he just needs to sleep this off. He's in a lot better shape than the other two guys we brought in; they're in ICU." "Man, that's too bad. Cap is calling in a replacement for Gage," said Kelly. "God, I hope it's not Brice, anyone but Brice. The guy would drive anyone up the wall," lamented Roy. "I don't know who he's calling," Chet admitted. "Hey, who's the blonde?" "I think her name is Bambi," Roy informed him as they headed for the exit. "Oh, then it's not Judy?" "Definitely not." Roy grinned. It's a good thing Chet hadn't gotten a load of Nurse Halperin and her crush on his partner. "Dix!" Brackett's voice boomed from Treatment Four. Chet and Roy watched as Nurse Halperin, her face a bright red, exited the door as Dixie went in. "Kel, what's wrong?" "That...that NURSE just nibbled on my neck...in front of a patient!" Dixie tried not to smile. "I'll take care of the problem," she muttered. "You'd better. I don't want to see her face in this emergency room again." "That's Judy," Roy informed his shiftmate. "THAT'dy?" Chet was estatic. The Phantom was going to have a field day with this, and no amount of latrine duty was going to deter him. Oh ho ho, this was going to be good. "Roy, you've made me a happy man. A very happy man." "Chet, come on, give poor Johnny a break. At least wait until he's feeling better." Chet splayed his hand across his chest. "Roy, you wound me! The Phantom never kicks a pigeon when he's down. I'll wait til he's back to work." "You know, you're all heart, Kelly," Roy answered sarcastically. "Let's go, Cap will be sending reinforcements to look for us." They walked out the double doors toward the squad. Still hugging the rolled up towel, Johnny was transferred into a waiting hospital bed. Her face a picture of sympathy and compassion, Nurse Bambi arranged the covers carefully and, looking around to make sure she wasn't seen, kissed her patient softly on the forehead. Outside the door, a tall muscular man stared in disbelief as his girlfriend gave more than the required attention to her patient. "Eddie!" Bambi squeaked as she left John Gage's room. "What are you doing here?" "I came to see how my girl does her Florence Nightengale bit. And boy, did I just get an eyefull. Is this the way you treat ALL of your patients?" "Ah...er...of course not! I mean...he's had a rough time, poor guy." Eddie took a good look at the name tag above the patient's bed and then escorted Bambi down the hall. "Yeah, and he'll have an even rougher time if I catch you kissing him again. You're MY girl, and I don't like you going around kissing patients, got it?" "Look Eddie, you don't own me, and I'll do what I please when I'm at work." "Yeah, well, if you want to keep going out with me, you'll do as I say." "Yeah, well maybe I don't want to keep going out with you. Maybe I've just found somebody better." Eddie balled his fists and flexed his not-inconsiderable muscles. Maybe he'd come back and rearrange Pretty Boy's face for him when Bambi wasn't looking. Roy was terribly relieved to get back to the station and find Bob "the Animal" Bellingham waiting for him. He was so relieved he offered Bob the keys to the squad. Bob shook his head no, and said "Thanks but no thanks. Your district, you drive." The rest of the crew laughed, glad to see Roy in a good mood. They had all worked with Brice, and many of them agreed with Roy's assessment of Bellingham's partner from hell. After scarfing down some pizza Roy made his nightly call to Joanne and gave her a recap of the day's events. "Jo, you'll never guess who I ran into today. Remember Patsy Wilkins from high school? Yeah, that's right! Her sister-in-law had a baby today. Guess who delivered it? A boy...7 pounds 6 ounces. He had the umbilical cord ...well I thought you were interested in the details. Okay. Well anyway, Johnny fell for Patsy in a big way, and I kind of think she likes my partner too." Roy listened while his wife asked a few more questions. "No, I don't think there's another boyfriend hanging around on the periphery. She would have mentioned it to me, ....yes she looks the same. No..... of course not, hon, you're more beautiful to me everyday." Roy's eyebrows went straight up, and his face got a grin on it. "Ah, yes, that sounds nice, I'm looking forward to it. I'll be careful. I love you too. Bye." Roy hung up the phone and turned to discover five faces staring at him, waiting for him to finish the conversation. "What?" he asked the room at large. "So, how's Johnny doing," Cap asked him. "Any permanent damage?" Roy looked at Chet, "You didn't tell them?" "Roy, you're the paramedic, and he's your partner. I just told them about Judy." Roy glared at the Irishman as Cap snickered, Marco chuckled and Mike tried to hide a smile. "Kelly, you're something else, you know that? Johnny will probably be released tomorrow, as soon as his body is clear o the chemical. He was really lucky, the other two guys are in ICU, and not doing well at all." Roy was about to add something else, when the tones sounded. "Station 51, Station 118, Truck 127, structure fire, 2347 Royal Lane, two-three-four-seven Royal Lane, cross street Ebony, time out 1927." The kitchen emptied as firemen headed for the engine and squad. Captain Stanley responded quickly to the call, "Station 51, KMG-365", and the men of 51's headed out into the twilight streets. The fire kept them busy for the rest of the shift, and they had just pulled back into the station in time for shift change. Six tired firefighters changed and headed for their respective homes. Roy headed for Rampart to pick up his partner, and drop him off at the station to pick up his car, with orders to go straight home and rest. The exhausted man then drove home where he fell into the welcome arms of his loving wife. Two days later, John Gage pulled into the parking lot at Station 51, early for once, and eager to retrieve his red pen from the squad, the green pen forgotten. "I sure hope the other shifts left it alone," he muttered. After a cursory search, he found it on the seat and tucked the magic pen in his pocket, ready and willing to put it to better use. First though, he wanted to read the log. As Johnny exited the squad and was about to shut the door, he noticed Chet Kelly enter the kitchen, his movements sneaky and very suspicious. Johnny decided this merited investigation. Chet bent down next to the refrigerator, and stuck his hand under the appliance. He pulled something out, and then straightened up. Johnny sneaked up behind him, and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hiya, Chet!" The Irishman jumped, and then grabbed his chest. "Sheesh, Gage! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" "You would have been in good hands, Chester B." "Whatdya doing sneaking up on people anyway?" demanded Kelly. "Whatcha got in your hand?" Johnny pointed to the hand Chet had quickly placed behind his back. Guilt and trepidition was written all over the man's face. This was probably worth pursuing. Chet thought fast. "It's a girl's address, a beautiful girl, and I'm sure not giving it to you, Gage. Besides, you wouldn't have a clue what to do with it." "Oh, yeah? Well, what beautiful girl would give YOU her address? Besides, I have a beautiful girl of my own at the moment. She called me twice on my days off." "Oh yeah? What did she call you? Moron? Pigeon?" Johnny's hands were moving in the direction of Kelly's throat, when Captain Stanley intervened. "John, pal, roll call's in five minutes. Better get ready." In the tone of voice Hank used, it wasn't a request. "Kelly, no funny business today, got it?" "Right, Cap." "Sure, Cap." Johnny stuck his tongue out at Chet Kelly and headed for the locker room and then the office. He wanted a peek at that log. Chet hurried to watch where Johnny went, then casually dropped the green pen on the floor of the apparatus bay and kicked it toward the wall. "Kelly, you are lower than dirt, you know that?" Roy said coming up behind Chet. "I had to put up with that man ranting and raving about losing that pen for hours last shift. I think I'm the one who owes you now." Johnny opened the log, his mind on the phone calls from Bambi. His attention was riveted, however by the next entry in the book. "Time: 0830, Squad 51 called to respond to unknown type rescue. No victim found. Paramedic Gage has arm broken by jealous boyfriend." Johnny's eyes widened at that last notation. The last thing he needed was a jealous boyfriend beating up on him. He scratched out the last notation, and wrote in "Gage patches up argument between woman and jealous boyfriend. Asked to be best man at wedding." He grinned, there were always lots of chicks at weddings. "John? do you need a personal invitation to roll call?" Captain Hank Stanley leaned into the office. Gage is sure acting curious over that log, he thought. He's even acting strange for Gage. Johnny closed the log and hurried out to roll call after placing the red pen back in his pocket and giving it a satisfactory pat. Roll call went quickly with Chet receiving his usual latrine detail and Johnny assigned to clean the floor of the apparatus bay. As he headed toward the supply closet, he caught a glimpse of bright green on the floor against the wall. His missing green pen! "Hey! My pen! I found my pen!" Johnny bent down and picked up the lucky green pen. Placing it in his pocket, he proceeded to gather his supplies to start cleaning. Roy walked out of the locker room, and noticed that his partner had a silly grin on his face. "Partner, what's with you?" "I found my lucky pen! Isn't that great?" Roy shook his head, and headed for the kitchen. Johnny looked after Roy, and then muttered, "Grouch!" Before starting the housekeeping chores, Johnny went to the refrigerator for a glass of milk. He pulled the milk carton from the fridge, and raised it to his lips. "Ahem." Johnny jumped, startled to be caught. Mike Stoker and Roy DeSoto glared at him. With a shrug, Johnny went to the cupboard for a glass. As he opened the door, the Phantom's water bomb doused him thoroughly. Johnny grumbled, pulling the sopping wet material away from his skin, and headed for Cap's office. He had one more job for the red pen. Entering the office, Johnny picked up the log. Looking at the clock, he realized that they were due for a call shortly. He pulled the red pen out of his pocket, and prepared to get Chet good. Opening the logbook, Johnny read, "1046, squad and engine called out for MVA with injuries, corner of Morningside and Bradbury. Paramedic Gage punched in nose by irate victim." Johnny crossed out the last entry, and wrote instead, "Firefighter Kelly doused with water from errant hose. Upon returning to station, all boobytraps that he set for Gage backfire and get him wet." Johnny grinned, that would certainly fix Chet good. Johnny placed the red pen in his pocket next to the green one, thinking what a nice combination of colors they made. "Almost like Christmas!" he grinned. The tones sounded, sending Roy and John to the squad. "Squad 51, unknown type rescue, Madeira and Oak, Madeira and Oak time out: 0830." Cap handed the slip to Roy, who passed it to Johnny, who noted the time, and put it in the glove box. The squad pulled out of the station, and turned right. Arriving at the scene 10 minutes later, they found no victim, but Bambi and her irate boyfriend happened along at the same time the squad arrived." "Oh look, there's Johnny and Roy!" "Who the heck are Johnny and Roy, and why do you know them?" "You know Eddie, you have got to stop being so jealous. Johnny was the fireman that got admitted the other night." Eddie thought that this was an excellent opportunity to repay Johnny for the kiss he got from Bambi, even if he wasn't aware of it. Roy and John got out of the squad, and looked around for any sign that there was someone who needed rescuing. Eddie walked up to the guys and said, "I got a bone to pick with you, hose jockey!" "Me? What did I do?" Bambi came running up just then, frantic. "Eddie! What are you doing?" "Bambi? Are you with this guy?" "Yeah she's with me, and I don't appreciate my girl kissing firemen." Roy looked at Johnny. "I thought I told you to rest when I dropped you off!" "I did, Roy!" "Then what were you doing going around kissing nurses?" "I didn't kiss her!" Looking at Eddie, he repeated himself. "I didn't kiss her! Honest!" "I know that, she kissed you. I don't like it." "Then what are you yelling at me for?" Roy looking very disgusted, thought to himself, "Only you, Junior, would wind up in a mess like this." Johnny meanwhile was in the middle of trying to save his bacon. "Look, Eddie, man, you love her don't ya?" Eddie nodded his head. "Then tell her." Turning to Bambi, he asked her the same thing. She nodded, and then Eddie asked her to marry him. She said yes, and gave her new fiance a big hug and a kiss on the spot. Johnny breathed a huge sigh of relief, and turned to get in the squad. Eddie and Bambi stopped him, and Eddie asked him to be the best man at their wedding. Johnny grinned, answered in the affirmative, and got into the squad. Picking up the mic, he spoke into it. "LA, Squad 51, no victim here, returning to quarters." "10-4, 51." Turning toward his partner, he said, "Roy, I love happy endings." Roy DeSoto, patient man, and paramedic, answered his friend. "You're from another planet." As the squad returned to the station and began backing into the bay, the tones sent them out again. "Station 51, motor vehicle accident with injuries, corner of Morningside and Bradbury, time out 10:46." "Station 51, KMG-365" Captain Stanley answered for them, then thrust the call slip in to Roy who passed it to his partner. At the scene they found an intoxicated man trapped in a burning vehicle. Johnny ran for a crowbar while Marco pulled a reel line from the engine and Roy set up the equipment a short distance away. As Johnny pried open the stubborn car door, a rubbernecking motorist nearly ran down Chet Kelly, who was on his way to disconnect the battery. "HEY, YA JERK!" Kelly yelled. Startled by Chet's words, Marco Lopez turned to see what was the matter with his shiftmate. The reel line he had been using to hose away spilled gasoline, shifted aim to hose down Chet Kelly. "Turn it off, Lopez! Geez!" Even Chet's mustache drooped as the sopping wet fireman tried to get out of the line of fire. Johnny snickered, his eyes sparkling, just as the door popped open, allowing him access to the victim. Rising fumes from inside the car gave a pungent clue to the cause of the accident. "Roy, he's soused. Wanna help me get him out of here?" Vince Howard pulled up just then and approached the car. "What do you have, guys?" "I think he's pretty intoxicated, Vince. Doesn't appear to be anything else wrong with him though, apart from a few cuts and bruises." "Isn't that always the way?" Officer Howard shook his head. "Will he be okay to accompany me downtown?" "Yeah, I think so, just let me confirm it with Rampart." "Rampart base, this is Squad 51. How do you read?" "Loud and clear, 51." Joe Early's calm voice came over the link. Roy continued. "Rampart, we have a male victim of an auto accident, no apparent injuries, just some cuts and bruises. Victim appears to be very intoxicated." "51, monitor victim and transport, non code R." "10-4, Rampart "Sorry, Vince, he's goin' to Rampart." The handsome black officer smiled, "No problem, I'll just pick him up there." Johnny climbed into the ambulance beside the patient and wrinkled his nose in disgust. The man not only smelled like a distillery, but he hadn't bathed in quite some time either. Why do I get all of these? Johnny wondered. Maybe he'll at least stay out until we reach Rampart. The patient cooperated emitting a loud snore. At Rampart, Johnny was glad to leave the ambulance for the fresher air of the hospital corridor. The pungent patient was taken into a treatment room and Johnny headed for the base station. After a few moments, he heard a familiar voice, "Hey, handsome." It was nurse Halperin. Looking both ways for the nearest escape, Johnny started heading for the men's room. He was halted by an outraged yell from an irate Kelly Brackett. "Dix!" Dixie McCall came running to the rescue. It could only be Judy Halperin again, still in hot pursuit of Kelly Brackett. Johnny shuddered at the results of his meddling. His life would be forfeit if Brackett ever found out he was responsible. Pulling the red pen from his pocket, he purposefully walked to the base station and dropped it in the nearest wastebasket. "Ready to go, partner?" Johnny asked Roy as the senior paramedic reached the base station. "We need supplies...Johnny!" Roy followed his partner down the hall as Mike Morton remarked, "Hey, somebody threw away a perfectly good pen." Johnny walked outside and got into the squad, Roy right behind him. The two men sat in the squad not moving or speaking. "What gives, Johnny?" John looked into the blue eyes of his partner. "Man, Roy, I had to get out of there. If Brackett finds out I'm the one who set Judy on him, he'll kill me!" "You set Judy on him? I don't get it...." "The magic pen, Roy. I wrote that Judy would drop me for Brackett." "Look, Johnny, there's no such thing as a magic pen. And... if I hear one more word about it, I'm going to...to..." "To what?" "I'm going to forget about the dinner invitation." "What dinner invitation?" "The one Joanne said to give you for tomorrow night. Patsy will be there." "Hey! For real?" "Anything else about the magic pen?" Johnny smirked. "What Magic Pen, Roy?" Roy grinned back. At the hospital, Mike Morton finished writing up a report for the administrator. He was thoroughly irate at the man's newest rules. At the bottom of the report, he wrote, "I hope he chokes on it." Moments later the object of his animosity was rushed to the ER with a piece of food lodged in his throat. Mike looked at the report....nah! THE END Send feedback to the Phantom, AKA Min and Nexxie right here. return to main page .