The Donut Dip by Kajakat As usual John Gage was the last one in uniform this hot August morning. The rest of Station 51's A shift, minus their Captain, was in the kitchen, drinking coffee, snacking and chatting about their off duty time. By the time Johnny got into the kitchen for his much-needed cup of coffee, the pot was empty. "Ya coulda left some for me, ya know." Johnny said to no one in particular as he cleaned out the coffeepot preparing to make a new one. "He who hesitates, loses." Roy said. "You snooze you lose, Gage." Chet chimed in. "The early worm gets the apple." Marco said. "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise." Mike commented. Four pairs of eyes looked at the engineer who just shrugged his broad shoulders at his strange comment. As the coffee was brewing Johnny walked over to the table to see what there was to eat. "Donuts? Who brought in the donuts?" Johnny reached for one and Chet slapped his hand. "Before you eat one, ya gotta pay me." Chet held Johnny's hand before the lanky fireman could grab one. Johnny looked down at Chet who was sitting in the chair. "Pay you. Whaddya mean pay you?!" "Ya see Gage, I know a good donut when I see one. I was in Redondo Beach during my days off and I found this little donut store off the beach. It's called The Donut Dip. And you haven't tasted anything 'til you've had one of theirs." Chet closed his eyes remembering the first time he had a donut from the Dip. "So, let go of my hand and I'll try one." Johnny tried to wrangle his hand free. "Oh no. You gotta pay me for the privilege." Chet proudly stated. The rest of the crew was watching the interesting banter developing between Phantom and Pigeon. "Why? Are these donuts really that good?" Johnny looked at Marco, then Mike and finally settled on Roy. "Well, they are good, I must admit." Roy said as he got up from the table and headed toward the brewed pot of coffee. "Okay, Chet, how much?" "Fifty cents." "FIFTY CENTS?!" "But worth every bit." Chet proudly stated. Johnny dug into his pockets muttering and took out five dimes. He gave them one at a time to Chet who finally released Gage's arm. With a smile on his face, Johnny looked at the remaining donuts. His eyes landed on a cherry cake donut. He picked it up and ate it. He turned around to get a cup of coffee and was pleased that Roy poured a cup and had it waiting for him. "Ths isth good." Johnny said, while crumbs spewed from his mouth. "Where isth thith from?" "The Donut Dip in Redondo Beach. Didn't I tell ya Gage they're the best? Would I lead you down the wrong path?" The Phantom was in his glory. Johnny walked over to grab another one but Kelly stopped him. "That's another fifty cents, Johnny." "WHAT? I just paid you fifty cents." "I told ya before they're fifty cents each. You wanna 'nother one, ya gotta pay me." "Am I the only one working here today?" Captain Stanley asked as he walked into the kitchen. The distraction was all Johnny needed as he grabbed a Bavarian crème donut from the box. "Hey Johnny…" Chet couldn't finish his sentence as the tones went off summoning the station. Upon hearing the tones, Johnny stuffed the donut in his mouth and immediatly washed it down with a swig of coffee. But the telltale signs of crème still on his lips. *** When the trucks arrived the firefighters saw a body hanging partially off a scaffold about ten stories up. They had no idea who called in the alarm, as it appeared the man was working by himself. As Johnny and Roy were putting their equipment on, Roy started speaking. "I don't know Johnny, but I got a bad feeling about this." Roy squinted as he looked up at the man swaying back and forth. Johnny looked up at what Roy was referring to and for the first time he felt queasy. He chalked it up to downing his donut too fast. The nausea quickly passed and the two walked over to their captain. "I suggest we go up to the top and rappel down, since there are no windows on this side." Stanley directed his men to grab their equipment and head to the roof. It really was a hot and muggy day; not typical for Los Angeles, but every once in awhile summer made itself known in this usually temperate city. The heat was more intense as the firefighters wore their turnout coats. Sweat poured from the foreheads of each man. The top of the roof was black tar, which made the heat even fiercer. While setting up their gear, another wave of nausea hit John Gage. He shook his head clearing the cobwebs from his mind. This scene was almost reminiscent to when he had the monkey flu. Similar in the sense that it was a scaffold rescue and Johnny was feeling ill, a fever overtaking his body. "Can't be havin' a relapse. Brackett said it wasn't possible," Johnny thought. Yes, Brackett was right, a relapse was impossible. But other things weren't. "You okay?" Roy asked seeing his partner a bit off stride. Johnny looked up at Roy and shook his head. "Yeah I'm okay. It's just the heat. Let's go." The rest of the crew manned the lines so that both paramedics could climb over the wall. They slowly made their way down to the stricken man. Johnny got onto the scaffold first, hooked his safety belt and checked the man's pulse. Well he thought it was a man until he picked up the arm and it fell out. Johnny couldn't believe what just happened. He pushed his helmet back off his head and watched the arm fall to the ground ten stories below. Mike Stoker jumped back when he heard the thud. "It's a mannequin, Roy. Who the hell would pull this stupid stunt? Of all the asinine things anyone could do on a day like today…" Johnny trailed off as another wave of nausea hit him hard. With shaky hands he re-attached his life belt to the scaffold's bar. "What's wrong?" Roy asked seeing his partner in distress. Johnny rubbed his forehead with his gloved hand which propelled his helmet to fall to the ground. "What's going on down there?" Captain Stanley shouted as he watched Gage's helmet smack down on the ground, again startling Stoker. Roy looked up, fastened his safety belt and then answered his captain. "It's a dummy, a mannequin." Captain Stanley swore under his breath. "You want to rappel down?" It really wasn't a question, as the two had no choice. Johnny clutched his stomach. "Rrooyy? I don't think I can." Johnny stumbled on the platform and knocked the dummy off it. He was shivering and holding his stomach. "I think I'm gonna be sick." Stoker dove for cover as the parts of the mannequin landed on the ground and bounced before finally coming to a stop. "What IS going on down there?" Stanley yelled. "Johnny's sick. I don't think we can rappel down." Roy answered. "You want me to send Kelly down to help?" Roy looked at his partner who was miserable with a capital M. "Lemme see if I can get this scaffold to move." He fidgeted with the device holding the scaffold and it slowly moved, bouncing as it headed down making the indisposed Gage even more unhappy. When Johnny closed his eyes, dizziness overwhelmed him. With his eyes open the spinning was worse. He was holding his stomach with one hand and the scaffold's bar with another. The chills continued as the queasiness intensified. "I can't believe this." Johnny muttered through gritted teeth. Roy was able to get the scaffold down to the ground in about ten minutes. Stoker was there to help, but all Johnny did was stay in his place. "Mike, help me get Johnny to some shade." The two men took Johnny by the arms and moved him toward the engine's bumper. "LA. This is Squad 51. We have a code I and will need an ambulance." Johnny moaned when he heard Roy's remark. The rest of the engine crew joined Roy, Johnny and Mike. "What happened?" Stanley asked. "Whatever it is, Cap, it hit him fast. Maybe it was something he ate." Chet was holding the dummy's arm watching the scene unfold. The engine crew looked at the Phantom and Chet got defensive. "Hey, I didn't do anything. You saw Gage. He picked his donuts himself. I didn't give him any. What kind of guy do you think I am? I don't sabotage food, like some pigeons do with chocolate cremes." "When did you buy them?" Roy asked. "What?" Chet asked. "The donuts, you twit." Stanley remarked. "Yesterday morning." "And you kept them in your apartment?" Roy inquired as he was taking Johnny's vital signs. "Well, um, I, um, I kinda left 'em in my car. I mean they're donuts. They're like bread." Roy snorted. "Yeah, the plain ones and maybe the jelly ones, but not the crème filled ones." Roy said the last three words with emphasis. Johnny moaned in perfect timing to Roy's statement. "Oh man. Chet what did you do to me?" "I didn't do anything. I didn't tell you to take that donut." Chet walked away. "I'm gonna kill you one day Chester B. Mark my words. An' I don't care if these guys hear me. One day, you'll never see it coming…" Johnny didn't complete his threat as he vomited. *** Rampart gave Roy instructions, which he followed impeccably. "Ya know Junior, I'm beginning to feel you are my own personal pin cushion." Roy was trying to make a joke, but it only caused the distressed Gage to emit a low moan. *** Johnny was admitted overnight suffering from ptomaine and dehydration. Mercifully he was given enough medications so he could sleep. Since he would be released the next day, Roy offered to pick him up and bring him back to the station to pick up his car. Brackett insisted that Johnny take the next shift off, to recover his strength and this was one time Johnny didn't argue. "How ya feeling, Junior?" Roy asked as he walked into Johnny's room handing him a bag with his clothes. Gage was ready to leave but only had his uniform with him, so he grabbed the bag, and headed into the bathroom to change. "Feelin' much better. It's amazin' what some bed rest can do." Johnny was humming to himself as he changed. "For a man who was really unhappy yesterday, you seem pretty chipper today." "Why shouldn't I?" Johnny asked as he emerged from the bathroom wearing his street clothes and a smile on his face. "The sun is shining and I feel great!" "Yesterday, you were threatening murder. I know you John Gage. You don't forgive that fast." Roy was perplexed. Johnny's demeanor was not what he expected. He anticipated a ranting raving John Gage, not a pleasant almost cheerful Johnny. Then it hit him. "You met a nurse." Johnny looked up a Roy with the biggest, crookedest grin on his face. "Yup. And we're going out tonight. I gotta tell ya Roy, she's amazing. She's beautiful an' smart and likes to bowl…………" The End Just like Homer loves donuts, this author loves feedback. Author's comment: This story is dedicated to Pattie and Alan. There really is a Donut Dip in Springfield, Massachusetts and for two days they listened to me whine about stopping there. And yes, the donuts were worth it, including the Bavarian crème. It was while I was with Pattie and Alan that this idea came to me and I joked with Pattie about writing a story. It only took me a couple of weeks to put it on paper! |