THE TRAINEE by Mary Ann Johnny and Roy sat in front of Hank's desk, while Hank was seated behind his desk. "Look, we know how it's always been done in the past, but the department's trying some cost cutting measures. Separating you, for the two months, will double up how fast we can get another paramedic unit up and running." Dr. Kelly Brackett leaned back against the desk added, "the field training should take two months, we've extended it because it'll be one on one, rather than the two of you together. We want to make sure that you're getting adequate time to evaluate their capabilities, and that they're getting sufficient time to experience as many scenarios as possible." "Headquarters has decided that you'll stay here at 51's, Johnny, and train a paramedic that will be assigned to station 36, and Roy you'll go to station 48 and train one of the paramedics that will be assigned there." Hank noticed the look Johnny and Roy exchanged. "Don't worry, they're not planning to break up one of the best paramedic teams we have. As soon as the field training is over, you'll both be assigned back to 51's together." "You both know the demand for more paramedic units has been growing. We need to get the new units up and running as quickly as possible. You aren't the only team being split up by this. We're trying to get four more paramedic units rolling before the end of the year." Kel explained. "If anybody understands the need for more paramedic units out there, it's us." Roy nodded his head in agreement. "Just as long as the transfer's not permanent, I'll go along with it." Johnny also agreed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Johnny chatted with Dixie, at the nurses' station while waiting for Roy to finish up with the patient they just brought into Rampart. He saw Trey Miller, a firefighter friend of his that just completed the paramedic course. Curious about the trainee that was going to be assigned to him, he excused himself from Dixie and chased Miller down the hall. "Trey!" he called. Trey stopped and smiled as he recognized his friend. "Hey Trey. I was just wondering if you knew anything about Sarah Mason. I'm gonna start field training her my next shift." "Good luck." Trey gave him a sympathetic look. "She's not exactly the most friendly person in the world. Don't get me wrong, she's one of the smartest people I've ever seen. In training we used to call her the Perfect Princess. She scored almost perfect on every test we had, but her attitude……." He shook his head. "It's kind of like she thinks she's better than everybody else and she knows it." "Oh great, just my luck, I get partnered with the female version of Brice." Johnny muttered to himself. "Thanks for the warning, Trey." He smiled at him before heading back to the nurses' station. "Anytime." Trey waved to him. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Why me?" Johnny complained to Chet as he leaned against the counter, pouring himself some morning coffee. Chet sat at the table drinking a cup before roll call. "I guess HQ thinks that if Mason is trained by you and she still wants to be a paramedic, then they've got an employee for life." "Chet, I'm serious. I work better when I've got a partner that understands me. Someone I can trust to watch my back when I'm in the middle of a dangerous rescue." Johnny sipped his coffee. A few seconds later Sarah Mason walked in the door. She looked at Johnny Gage sizing him up. He was only a little taller than she was; she came up to about his nose. She noticed his dark hair, dark eyes, and a healthy tanned complexion. Johnny eyed her as she went to the coffeepot and got a cup of coffee. She was taller than he imagined. She had a trim figure, long sandy brown hair that was pulled neatly into a French braid just past her shoulders. She turned around to face them. Johnny noticed she didn't wear make-up but she still had attractiveness to her face. Her blue eyes had a hardness to them that defied anyone to see behind them. "By the way Gage." She walked over to the sink, and dumped out what was left of her coffee, heading towards the door. "I've been a firefighter for four years before I joined the paramedic program. I have never once in all that time not watched my partner's back, no matter how dangerous the situation. Oh, you better get moving. Captain Stanley's starting roll call." She walked out. "There." She thought to herself. "Now he knows that I know that he doesn't trust me." Johnny stared after her as she left the room. "Well you've really started off with your new partner on the right foot." Chet teased dumping the last of his coffee in the sink. "Yeah." Johnny agreed. "With my foot right in my mouth." After Hank finished roll call, he made a few announcements before assigning the duty roster. "As you know, Station 51 is now co-ed. So there are a few changes that need to be made. Stoker, you'll be moving to what is normally DeSoto's bunk. Mason, you'll take the single cubicle next to the door, and across from me. Since we only have one locker room and shower facility, we will need to take turns. Only men or women in there one at a time. Let's all behave like adults and use a little discretion, especially at night. So let's have everyone conduct themselves as professionals. Okay, enough said about that. Now on to the duty roster." He assigned the duties, never noticing the look that came over Sarah's face as he assigned her kitchen duty. When he dismissed them, Sarah approached him. "Captain Stanley, can I speak to you in private?" She asked. "Sure Mason. Come on in my office." They both stepped into his office and the door closed. The rest of the guys looked at each other for a moment and all snuck towards the office door. "What do you want to talk to me about?" Hank asked sitting behind his desk. "Captain, I appreciate what you said back there, but I can take care of myself. I've been a firefighter for four years now. I am used to sharing dorm space with men." "I made the announcement for the benefit of the men here. They have not been in a co-ed situation before. I just wanted them to know what the expected protocol is for this situation." "Again, thank you, but I have one problem, you assigned me kitchen duties. I just want to make it clear that I am a fully trained firefighter, capable of doing any task associated with this job. I do not want any special treatment, and I do not want to be labeled as the station chef, just because I am a woman." Hank smiled at her. "I understand your concerns and I can see how you could misinterpret your job assignment today. Believe me it was unintentional. I just plugged you into what would have been Roy DeSoto's rotation today." "Thank you for your honesty Captain. I am looking forward to being a member of your crew for the next two months." She pulled the office door open briskly. Chet, Marco, Mike and Johnny were all surprised by the sudden door opening and fell into the doorway in a heap. "Get back to work, ya twits." Hank ordered. The pile of firemen untangled themselves and dispersed through the station. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The station tones sounded. "Station 51, motor vehicle accident, intersection of Evergreen and Taylor, corner of Evergreen and Taylor, Time out 09:35." Hank acknowledged the call and climbed into the engine. The doors opened and Johnny pulled the squad out first on the way to the accident. After a difficult extrication, Sarah and Johnny treated the two victims of the MVA. Johnny was impressed by Sarah's quiet efficiency and noticed that unlike the cold attitude she had toward her fellow firefighters, she was much more open with her patients. The caring and concern were evident in both her touch and her words. "So how'd she do on her first run?" Dixie asked Johnny as he leaned on the nurse's desk filling out paperwork to restock the squad. "Really well." He answered. "She is quite the professional, never missed a beat. She's got a real knack for getting the patients calm and to cooperate with her during treatment. I just don't understand why she isn't as open with us at the fire station?" "Johnny, she's not really a snob. She is just cautious about opening up to people she sees day after day. She's been hurt before, so she's just protecting her heart." "How do you know her so well?" Johnny asked. "Sarah's parents and I have been good friends for many years. I've known her since she was a little girl, and watched her grow up." Johnny looked thoughtfully at Dixie for a moment and returned to his paperwork. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the squad on the way back to the station, they were both silent. Johnny finally broke the silence. "So Dixie's a family friend of yours?" Sarah looked shocked for a moment. "What exactly did she tell you?" "Just that she's friends with your parents and that she's known you since you were little." Johnny noticed the shock and then panic in her eyes and felt it better not to tell her about how Dixie said that Sarah's standoffishness was her way of protecting her heart. Sarah's expression changed. "I knew I could trust Aunt Dixie." She thought to herself. "Yep. Ever since I can remember she's always been Aunt Dixie to me. Of course now that we work together, I try not to call her that anymore. But she understands." The squad got quiet again. Johnny was thinking how intrigued he was becoming. There was definitely something mysterious that happened in her past. Something that caused her to build a wall around herself to protect herself from being close to anyone. It reminded him of himself when he was a teenager. Closing off his heart and building a wall around it so that he could hold his head up with pride as the city kids at school teased and picked on him for being an Indian. If it wasn't for Roy, that wall would still be there. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ They were just finishing up eating lunch at the station. "I hate to admit it, but I'm glad Roy got transferred, and you got his kitchen rotation today." Marco said after eating his third helping of the goulash Sarah threw together at the last minute. "Well, just don't expect it everyday." Sarah said. "I hate kitchen duty just as much as the next person. I'd rather be checking hoses or polishing something." "So you're really into this women's lib thing?" Chet asked referring to the overheard conversation of that morning. "I don't know if it's called women's lib, but I do think that men and women can do any job equally well. All I want is a chance to show that I can do it just as well. And respect for the fact that I can do it as well as anybody else." The guys looked thoughtfully at their plates as they continued eating. The tones sounded again. "Station 51, structure fire, 3561 Lamont Rd, 3 5 6 1 Lamont Rd., Cross street Trenton, Time out 14:18. The guys all sprang into action, with plates of food left behind at the table. Most of them washing down their food with a swig of coffee as they pushed their chairs back and headed out. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ They arrived on the scene of the house fire. Hank ordered his men into position to fight the fire. A neighbor ran up to him. "They're still inside!" She pointed to the house. "I haven't seen them come out yet. There are two of them. Their daughter's at school now." "Gage, Mason. Mask up, you've got two victims inside." He called to his paramedics and grabbed the engine's radio. "LA-Engine 51, requesting an ambulance dispatched to our location." "Engine 51." The radio confirmed. Johnny and Sarah pulled on their airtanks and headed for the house. "You ready?" Johnny asked Sarah. "As ready as ever. This isn't the first time I've been inside a burning building, you know." "I just meant if you're ready for your first search and rescue." Johnny remarked pulling on his airmask, tightening the straps and putting his helmet back on. "Don't worry Gage. I've got your back." She replied pulling her mask on and putting her helmet on. Johnny nodded at her. "Let's go." He yelled loud enough for her to hear him through the facemask. They entered the building and found a man and woman laying near the stairs unconscious. Johnny hurried to them and felt for pulses. "We need to get them outside now. Looks like smoke inhalation." Johnny positioned the man into a fireman's carry and looked at Sarah. "I'll meet you outside, she's all yours." Sarah nodded and picked up the woman as Johnny had done and carried her out. They laid them down side by side and pulled their facemasks down so they could work. They set up oxygen for both of them, and the woman started coming around. Johnny was treating the two victims while Sarah was calling Rampart; she had her back to what was going on. "Mason, I need your help." She heard him say. "She's getting combative on me. Help me restrain her please." Sarah told Rampart to stand by and dropped the phone to help Johnny. She looked at the woman lying on the ground; understanding crossed her face as she saw what the woman was doing. She was signing. "Oh Christ!" Sarah yelled turning and running back to the fire. "Mason, where are you going?" He shouted after her. "Their daughter's home sick from school today. She's still in there." She yelled back to Johnny. "They're deaf." She yelled pulling her facemask back on, answering the unasked question in Johnny's head. He quickly grabbed out his pad of paper, and green pen from his uniform pocket under his turnout coat, and quickly wrote. "Partner understood, she's going back in for your daughter." He held it so that the woman could see it and the woman finally relaxed nodding her head. Sarah returned outside with an unconscious girl. She approached the woman and began signing with her, then looked at Johnny. "That's it, no more victims inside." She continued signing with the woman explaining what was happening. "Mason, Rampart wants you to ride in with the daughter. They need you're help to translate." Johnny told her as the ambulance arrived. "She's going to need to be treated. The parents are riding in with her so they can consent to treatment. "Okay." She agreed. "You'll meet me there with the squad, right?" "Don't worry Mason." He said smiling at her. "I got your back." "Maybe we could be friends." She thought to herself as she climbed in the ambulance. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Johnny searched for Dixie at Rampart. He found her in the Doctor's lounge taking a coffee break. "Help yourself Johnny." She smiled at him, pointing at the coffeepot. "Thanks Dix." He poured himself a cup. "Sarah still in with the Doc?" "Yeah, Kel said it was a good thing she could translate. Some of the medical terms are hard to understand, and writing back and forth would take forever." "So how does she know sign language anyway?" He asked sipping his coffee. "That, my dear Johnny, you will just have to use that Gage charm of yours to get it out of her." She answered smiling at him again. "I've been sworn to secrecy." Sarah walked in. "You ready, Gage?" "Yeah. Thanks for the coffee Dix." He got up and walked to the door. "Did you tell him?" Sarah mouthed to Dixie. Dixie shook her head no. "Thanks." Sarah mouthed and Dixie nodded. They got back in the squad to return to the station, and Johnny finally spoke. "Listen Sarah." He said using her first name for the first time. "I know we didn't start off on the right foot. But I wanted you to know that I think you're a good person. I don't know why you feel the need to keep people at arm's length, I'm sure you have your reasons. I just wanted you to know that I'd like to be friends with you if you want." Sarah looked at him a moment trying to decide if she could trust him. She sighed and finally started. "My mother's deaf. Actually, my father and I are the only hearing people in my family. I never thought of my family as different, they were just my family. My mother was afraid to let me bring friends from school to the house to meet her. I begged and begged her and finally she let me have a slumber party at the house. I was so excited about it. I planned it for weeks. When the parents arrived to drop off their girls for the party they found out my mother and my brothers and sister were deaf. They refused to let their children stay there. They were afraid that their children would catch something and become deaf. The next week at school the teasing started. That's when I learned you don't get hurt if you don't let people you see everyday in." She looked at him again. "I'm trusting you with this information, Johnny. I hope your not going to let me down too." Johnny was a little shocked to hear her say his first name. He didn't even know she knew it. "I would be the last person on earth to make fun of another person for being different. You shared something personal with me, so I'll share something personal with you." Johnny smiled at her before looking at the road again. "My parents wanted me to get a good education. They weren't happy with the reservation schools. So they paid for me to go to a private white school in town. From the moment I walked in the door I was the target for everything from teasing to getting beaten up once a week. I can understand building a wall around yourself to protect yourself. I built mine so that I could walk tall in there everyday, no matter how I felt, so that they couldn't have the satisfaction of seeing me beat down." "I had a feeling that you might understand." She smiled at him for the first time. "She really is attractive."" Johnny thought to himself. Shocked at his own thoughts. "You're her field trainer." He reminded himself. They arrived back at the station just after the engine did. "I am looking forward to washing the fire smell out of my hair." She told Johnny as she closed the door to the squad hanging her turnout coat on its peg in the squad. Chet and Marco looked at each other and grinned. "Hey Mason, did you mean it when you said you wanted no special treatment because you're a woman?" Chet asked still grinning, while Marco snickered in the background. "Yeah, I meant it. Why?" Sarah answered looking at Chet. "In that case, whoever gets to the locker room first, gets to shower first." Chet announced taking off at a run for the locker room door. "No fair, you got a head start!" Sarah yelled sprinting after him. Chet just beat her to the locker room door. "Come on guys. It's men's first day today." Chet entered the locker room, laughing. "I'm starting to like this women's lib thing." The other guys joined in laughing and headed into the locker room. "You just wait Kelly, I'll be ready for you next time." Sarah shouted in the locker room laughing. She turned to look at Johnny. "Well I guess I'm just one of the guys now. One of the guys that has to wait for the shower." She yelled louder so she could be heard in the locker room. "Hurry up!" Johnny walked up to the locker room door, his hand resting on the door, and turned back to her. "Listen, since it's your first day and everything, I could keep you company until the other guys are finished." "No, that's okay." She said looking at her watch. "I need to get dinner started anyway. Think of me when you wash the smoke smell out of your hair. Tell the guys I'll have some fresh coffee waiting for them when they're done. Maybe they'll move faster that way." She smiled at him. "Okay, I'll try to hurry them up." He smiled back at her as he pushed the door to the locker room open. Sarah walked to the kitchen and started cooking dinner. She couldn't help notice how handsome he looked with that silly grin of his. "Are you nuts, he's your field trainer." She scolded herself. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The first Saturday Roy and Johnny both had off, Johnny parked his Land Rover in front of Roy's house. He walked up to the door knocked three times and opened it and walked in. "Hi honey, I'm home." Joanne came out of the kitchen wiping her hands on a dishtowel. "Hey Johnny, good to see you." She gave him a quick hug and a peck on the cheek. "Dinner's gonna be late. Chris' baseball game went into extra innings and we just got back. Roy's on the back porch relaxing, so why don't you grab a couple of beers and go join him?" "Thanks, Joanne, a beer sounds good right now." He walked to the fridge, grabbed two beers and headed for the back porch. "Hey partner, long time, no see." He handed Roy a beer. "Yeah, this field training is something. I miss having my partner that I don't need to order around all the time. I swear Turner wouldn't pick up a dying person off the ground if I didn't tell him to." He took a drink of beer. "How are things going with you?" "Sarah's doing great. She's got a way with people. She gets them to calm down and lets her treat them. She's one of the smartest people I've ever met. Do you know that she got revenge on Chet for always beating her to the locker room to clean up after fires? The squad and the engine were backing into the station. As soon as the bay doors started going up, she jumped out of the moving squad, rolled under the door and ran into the locker room before Chet could even get down from the engine." Johnny laughed his eyes sparkling. Roy looked at Johnny. There was something familiar about the look on his face and the way he was gushing. "Hey junior, your not falling for your trainee, are you?" Johnny looked taken aback for a minute. "Is it that obvious?" "Maybe not to anyone else, but you know that I can read you like a book." Roy chuckled. "I'm trying to fight it Roy. I really like her a lot, but how's it gonna look. You know how rumors fly through the stations. People are gonna say that the only reason she passed her field training is because her field trainer had feelings for her." "Yeah I know. Maybe after the field training is over you could hook up with her?" Roy encouraged, trying to make Johnny feel better. "What would a beautiful, intelligent girl like that want with a hose jockey like me." He replied frowning. "Don't forget Johnny, she's a hose jockey too. It might even be a turn on for her. You never know." Roy reminded him, sipping his beer. "Maybe." Johnny agreed, looking away thoughtfully. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sarah bumped into Dixie in the hallway at Rampart. "What are you doing here on your day off?" Dixie asked. "I was checking out some stuff in the hospital library." "Well I'm just starting my coffee break. Care to join me?" She offered. "Sure that sounds good." Sarah agreed, and they walked into the doctor's lounge, poured a cup of coffee and sat down. "So how do you like working at Station 51?" "I'm really enjoying it. They don't give me any special treatment. Do you know I had to race the guys to the locker room after a fire call to get in the cleaned up first? It was Kelly's idea. I fixed his little red firetruck yesterday though. I didn't wait for the squad to park before running for the locker room. Johnny. . . . .I mean Gage was backing up the squad and the bay doors started opening. So I jumped out of the moving squad, rolled under the door and ran to the locker room before he could even get down off the engine." Sarah laughed. "The captain decided the competition might get too dangerous, so he said from now on, we'll flip a coin to see who goes first. I'm heads, the guys are tails. They next time Kelly gets out of line, I'm gonna start using that trick two-headed coin you gave me for my birthday when I was twelve." Dixie was glad to hear that Sarah was finally opening up to the people around her. She couldn't help but notice how Sarah had stumbled over Johnny's name and the slight blush that had risen in her cheeks for a moment. "Sarah, you're not starting to fall for that old Gage charm, are you?" Sarah blushed again and asked. "Is it that easy to see?" "Not to the average person, but to Aunt Dixie it's crystal clear." She patted Sarah's arm. "You know I'm not one to preach, but relationships at work are really difficult. Just remember if it doesn't work out, you'll still have to see each other all the time." "I know Aunt Dixie, I've been struggling with these feelings. I know how gossip flies around the workplace. People will say I just became a firefighter/paramedic to catch a man. Besides, what would someone handsome and funny and sensitive like Johnny Gage want with a plain Jane like me." "You never know. Johnny has his own perspective on the world." Dixie encouraged. You might be right Aunt Dixie, but there's not much I can do about it now, he's still my field trainer." "He won't always be your field trainer." Dixie reminded her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sarah only had three more weeks left before the end of her field training, and they were returning from a late night run. "God, this squad stinks." Sarah remarked wrinkling her nose. "Can't you drive any faster to air that smell out of this squad?" "It only stinks because it's all over our turnout pants and boots." Johnny laughed. "As soon as we get back to the station and get out of them, and into a shower it won't stink anymore." "You want me to flip a coin now and see who's going first?" She asked, cocking an eyebrow at him, and grinning. "No, I would prefer to wait until I can check out the coin and make sure it isn't another two-headed coin." He answered laughing. "I can't believe it took Chet a week to figure out you were using that with him." They were silent for a few moments, before Sarah broke the silence. "Hey Johnny, you ever pull a sewer worker out of a tank like that before?" "Nope that's a first for me." Johnny replied, and began chuckling softly. "I was half tempted to mask up to get the guy out." "I bet that's why you had me ride in the ambulance with him to Rampart." She joked. "Oh no, it was all just part of your training." He looked over at her with a serious look on his face. "Oh." The squad grew quiet again. Johnny couldn't continue to keep the serious look on his face, and started chuckling again. "You're right, that's exactly why I made you ride in the ambulance." "I knew you'd let all that power of being senior partner go to your head." She teased and playfully reached over to punch him on the shoulder. Johnny caught her fist in his hand. Neither one of them moved for a second, as they just looked deep in each other's eyes. Sarah nervously pulled her hand out of his. "Johnny, I think you'd better watch the road." Johnny was stunned by the rush of feelings this one touch brought and concentrated on the road for a minute. It took him that long to get the courage to look over at her. Sarah was staring out the passenger side window, willing the blush to fade out of her cheeks, thankful for the dim light in the squad. "I've never felt electricity from just one touch like that before." She thought to herself. Johnny finally broke the silence. "Listen, since I made you ride in with that sewer worker, you go ahead and get in the shower first." "Thanks, I'll try and make it quick." They didn't say anything else until they arrived back at the station. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Johnny backed the squad up to the bay doors and parked it, turning it off. "I think it's better if I stay out here with the squad and air it and myself out until you're done showering. I don't think the guys would appreciate the smell. Why don't you go around back and leave your turnout pants by the back door. I'll hose both yours and mine off while I'm waiting." "Okay thanks Johnny." She agreed distractedly and headed for the back door. A few minutes later she stood in the shower letting the hot water pour on her shoulders. She hated to admit that the sewer worker was heavier than she thought, and the muscles in her shoulders had that tight cramped feeling of being a little overworked. Her mind drifted as she tried to figure out what just happened in the squad. "He's your field trainer." Her mind debated back and forth. "Yeah, but he's still a really cute, and sexy man." Johnny sat down on the front bumper of the squad wiping his wet hands off on his shorts. He hung up their turnout pants on the hose drying rack and decided to sit down and wait for Sarah. His mind was still racing. "What just happened in the squad?" He wondered. "One minute we're laughing and joking around and the next I'm staring in her eyes, holding her fist, feeling electricity shoot up my arm. I've never felt that way with anybody." He sighed, running his hand through his hair, and reminded himself. "Just remember, she's your trainee." After letting Johnny know that the shower was free, Sarah started a pot of coffee, and sat staring out into space over her cup of coffee at the kitchen table. She was absently rubbing her shoulders and stretching her neck. Johnny walked into the kitchen after his shower. "Can't sleep?" "No, it's only an hour before the morning tones are going to sound, as long as I'm already up, I might as well stay up." She answered still rubbing her shoulders. "Your shoulders' bothering you?" He asked, watching her continue to try to relax her shoulders. Sarah looked at him a little stunned, then she realized that she was still rubbing her shoulders, and he wasn't reading the thoughts running through her mind. She laughed, and lowered her arms to the table. "For a second there, I thought you were a mind reader." She lowered her arm to the table. "You want a cup of coffee?" He turned his chair around backwards and sat down next to her. "Thanks. That would be great right now." Sarah brought him a cup of coffee, and stretched her neck one more time. "Here let me help you with that." Johnny moved his chair behind hers and began rubbing her shoulders. Sarah closed her eyes, enjoying the relief from her sore muscles. "That feels good." "I've had more than my share of sore shoulders when I first started lifting and carrying victims on backboards." He continued to rub her shoulders in silence. Suddenly, she sensed his nearness. She felt his breath on her neck, and heard as he inhaled the scent of her hair. Sarah felt paralyzed for a moment. She didn't want the moment to end, but she realized that it couldn't continue this way. Johnny froze as he realized what he just did. "There's no turning back now. I've got to tell her how I feel." He told himself. "Hey since we're both up. Why don't we go outside and watch the sunrise?" Sarah grabbed her cup of coffee and headed towards the door. He followed her out. They both sat on the front bumper of the squad in silence. "Johnny I think . . . ." "Sarah I wanted . . . ." They both spoke at the same time and awkwardly stopped. Finally Sarah looked at him. "You know we can't continue like this, wondering what is happening between us." "Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing." They both nervously turned away from each other and watched the sunrise for a few minutes. Johnny stared straight ahead and finally broke the silence, whispering softly. "I think I'm falling in love with you." Sarah looked at his profile in the dawning sky. "I already know, I'm falling for you too." "What are we going to do?" He asked her. "I don't want people to think I'm passing you on your field trials because of how I feel for you." "There's nothing we can do. We'll just have to wait until the field training is over and then we can do whatever we want and forget about what anyone else thinks." Johnny nodded his head slowly. "You're right. Three weeks is going to be an awfully long time to act like we're just friends." "Yeah." She agreed with him. "But knowing we have feelings for each other will carry us through." She put her hand on top of his. Johnny turned his hand over and entwined his hand with hers. They sat and watched the rest of the sunrise in silence, holding hands and enjoying the feeling of the moment in their hearts. The morning tones sounded suddenly, surprising both of them. Sarah pulled her hand away from Johnny and picked up her coffee cup off the ground. "What were you thinking about?" She asked him. "That I can't wait until I can tell the world that I'm falling in love with Sarah Mason." He stood up and stretched. "I know, I can't wait myself." She closed the gap between them and reached up and kissed Johnny on the cheek. "That will have to do for now, my friend." He laughed and closed the passenger door to the squad, while she hit the button to open the equipment bay door. Johnny backed the squad in, and Sarah headed into the kitchen to make breakfast. It was Chet's turn, but she needed something to keep her busy. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Three more days." Johnny reminded Sarah of the fact that the end of her field training was rapidly approaching, as they rode to the scene of a huge warehouse fire. Station 51 was called to it on the third alarm. "I know." She replied distractedly, looking at the flames and smoke towering over the warehouse in the distance. They were still two or three minutes away from the fire scene. "You'll do fine." He told her, knowing the nervousness she was feeling at working such a big fire. He reached over, taking her hand in his, and gave it a little squeeze. "How'd you know what I was thinking?" She asked feeling a little better. "I trained you didn't I?" "You're right," She smiled at him, before turning back to watching the warehouse come into view in front of the squad. "Okay back to work, my friend." The phrase "my friend" had become a code word for them. They used it whenever they wanted to tell each other, "I care for you". "Yes ma'am, my friend." Johnny replied, as they pulled up to the triage area, parked the squad, and pulled out their equipment. Captain Mitchell approached them. "We've got DeSoto and Turner bringing out two firemen that got too much smoke. We just got a call about another fireman that got hit in the head with a flyaway hose. His partner says he's unconscious." "Okay Captain Mitchell, we're on our way. Better bring the C-collar and backboard." Johnny turned to Sarah. "Right." She pulled the items out of the squad. "Ready to go, my friend?" He asked after they'd strapped their airtanks on. "After you, my friend." She replied, extending her hand towards the door. They gave each other a quick smile and put their facemasks on. Johnny looked around quickly to see if anyone was near them. "I love you" He mouthed to her, expressing his deepening feelings for her, for the first time. "I love you too." She mouthed back, meaning every word of it. Then they entered the inferno. "That way." Roy yelled to Johnny pointing to the left of the door as they passed one another in the doorway. "Thanks." Johnny yelled back. They passed rows of crates stacked six and eight high, some of them were on fire. They reached the injured firefighter. He was sitting up leaning back against some crates. "Are you alright?" Sarah asked kneeling down next to him. "Yeah, I'm fine, I just saw stars for a minute." He replied. "Well, you know the drill, we still need to take you out of here and check you out." She told him and stood up, walking over to Johnny. "He says he's fine. Just saw stars for a minute. I told him we still need to take him out and get him checked over." "Okay, let's get him out of here." "Alright." She agreed and turned to walk back to the injured fireman. "Sarah!!" She heard Johnny's voice from behind and felt a huge shove. She landed hard on her wrist feeling bones snap. She turned around in time to see a pile of crates crashed down exactly where she was standing moments before, Johnny was nowhere in sight. Sarah pulled herself up, the injured fireman next to her was standing up also. "You're hurt?" She yelled at him. "Not as hurt as he is." Was his answer, as they both raced to the pile of crates. The fireman yelled to his partner to get water on the pile of rubble in front of them that was catching fire. Sarah pushed aside the feeling of horror that had settled in her stomach and pulled out her HT. "Engine 51, this is Squad 51." "We read you squad 51." Hank's steady voice came back over the HT to her. "We have a code I in here, same location as the fireman hit by the fly-away hose, we're requesting help. Fireman buried under wreckage." "Understood squad 51." "Cap, you'd better send squad 36 in here too. I can't extricate by myself." Hank's stunned voice came back over the HT. "Roy's on his way in." Sarah dropped the HT back in her pocket and started moving pieces of wood and packing material out of the way. "Johnny!" She shouted, but got no response. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Roy heard the broadcast, and it knocked the wind out of him. He nodded his head at Hank and put his facemask back on to head back inside. If Sarah was requesting back up he already knew why, Johnny was the code I. He reached the location quickly. Sarah and three other fireman were still picking through the mangled pieces of lumber. He saw Sarah bend down over something and hold it in her hand. Roy realized it was Johnny's hand. She looked up at Roy and smiled. "Weak, but it's there." She gently laid his hand back down and grabbed more wreckage from on top of Johnny and flung it aside. "Are you hurt?" Roy asked Sarah. "No." She lied. "I just bent back my wrist when Johnny pushed me out of the way." Roy thought to himself as they both cleared more wood out of the way. That's Johnny all over, making sure she was out of the way and safe and taking the fall himself." They finally reached Johnny. He was lying face down, his leg was at a crazy angle and his arm was twisted in a funny way. Sarah grabbed the knife out of her turnout coat pocket and cut the straps holding Johnny's airtank on, and pulled it off him. Roy checked over Johnny's injuries quickly, and told her. "Let's roll him on the backboard and get him outside." "Okay." She agreed, and they carefully rolled him on the backboard. "Ready?" Roy asked. "Yeah. Hey Marco, grab his airtank and carry it out with us." Roy grabbed one end of the backboard and Sarah grabbed the other. "One, two, three." Sarah yelled as they picked up Johnny. The pain in her wrist almost made her drop her end, but she gritted her teeth against the pain and followed Roy's lead out of the burning building. They reached the triage area and Roy and Sarah went to work taking care of Johnny. Roy set up the biophone as Sarah took Johnny's vitals. "Rampart this is squad 48. Do you read?" "Go ahead 48." Dixie answered. "Rampart we have a 27 year old male. He is unconscious and has sustained injuries after having 10 to 15 foot high crates fall on him. He has an apparent compound fracture to both left leg and arm. Vitals are . . ." Sarah looked at Roy. "B.P. 90/60, pulse is weak 65, respirations are 26 and shallow. Roy it looks like he's got some broken ribs too." Roy relayed the information to Rampart. Brackett's voice answered. "10-4 48, start IV Ringers, immobilize leg and arm and transport immediately." Sarah started to reach for the splints in the trauma box, but they fell out of her hand. She cried out in pain, and Roy looked up at her, startled by the sound. "Stand by Rampart." He went over to Sarah, and looked down at her hand, and thought to himself. "How did you ever carry Johnny out with that wrist?" It already swelled to twice its normal size and her hand was beginning to turn white. Roy called his partner over. "Turner, take care of her, I'll get Johnny." Roy started the IV and immobilized Johnny's broken arm and leg. Rampart advised Sarah to be brought in too. They were concerned that not enough blood was reaching her hand due to the severe swelling. Turner loaded Sarah in the jump seat of the ambulance, and then helped Roy load Johnny on the stretcher. Roy got up on the bench seat carrying the biophone and the drug box. As soon as the doors closed the ambulance took off. Sarah looked at Roy. He recognized the look in her eyes. He saw it on Joanne's face when he was rushed into emergency surgery for a ruptured appendix. "Talk to him." He told her smiling. "I already know." "I didn't think he could hide it from you." She smiled back at him, and moved down by Johnny's face and brushed the hair back from his forehead. She bent down and kissed him on the forehead. "Johnny." She whispered in his ear. "Don't you leave me now. We only have three more days and we can shout to the world how we feel about each other. I can't wait for you to wrap me in your arms and kiss me until the sky bursts into fireworks. Don't you deny me what I've been dreaming of every night, ever since we sat out on the squad and watched the sunrise." Roy felt a little out of place hearing all this. He looked out the window as they pulled into the hospital entrance. "We're almost there." Sarah sat back in the jump seat. "Thanks Roy." She told him gratefully and closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths to push the emotions down. She finally opened her eyes and looked at Roy. He was smiling at her, gesturing to Johnny. "Look." Johnny had opened his eyes and was looking at her. "Are. . you. . alright. . .my friend?" He asked her struggling with each word. "I will be if you stick around and make my dreams come true, my friend." She answered smiling at him. Johnny grinned a little. "I'm not. . . going. . .anywhere." He looked over at Roy. "Is this. . number three or four?" Roy chuckled, and replied. "It's number four." "Good." Johnny chuckled. "Five more left." His chuckle turned to a cough, and he closed his eyes again, just as the ambulance doors opened. Johnny was wheeled to room 1 and Sarah rode in a wheelchair to room 4. Dixie came in as Dr. Morton was wrapping her wrist. "How's Johnny?" She asked anxiously. Dixie looked at her knowingly. "Holding his own. They're about to send him into surgery to set his arm and leg. They're going to have to pull bone fragments out of his collapsed lung, but if anybody will make a full recovery, you know he will." "Thanks Aunt Dixie." Mike finished wrapping Sarah's wrist with a soft cast. "Okay, you'll need to come back in a couple of days when the swelling goes down and have a hard cast put on. You're really lucky you didn't damage it worse. Roy told me that you helped carry Johnny out with that wrist. You're going to probably be off work six to eight weeks, but you should regain full use of it by then." "Thanks doctor. Can I go now?" "Yeah, go ahead." Sarah left the treatment room, walking to the doctor's lounge, she pushed the door open, to find Roy sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee in his hand. "You hear about Johnny?" She asked him, sitting down next to him. "Yeah, Dixie was just here." "What did Johnny mean when he asked about number 3 or 4?" Roy grinned. "He was referring to what life he was on. Everybody keeps saying he's got nine lives like a cat. He keeps getting into scrapes that would kill someone else and walks away from them." They sat quietly for a minute. "How's you wrist?" "Huh?" Sarah looked at him with tears streaming down her face. The full impact of the day's events finally was sinking in. "Why'd he do that Roy?" She asked. "Why'd he push me out of the way. I'm supposed to be the one going through all that pain right now, not him." Roy put his arms around her and pulled her head down on his shoulder. She sobbed loudly for a few minutes. Then she lifted her head. "You don't have to say it Roy, I already know. It wouldn't have mattered if it was me or anyone else. He still would have done it. I know down in my heart that's the kind of person he is." "Well," Roy replied handing her a tissue. "It seems as if there's one other person in this world besides me that knows Johnny Gage better than he knows himself." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Johnny opened his eyes slowly, seeing Dixie changing an IV bag. Sarah was sitting in the chair next to the bed asleep. Dixie started to say something, but he shook his head slightly and looked over at Sarah. Dixie smiled, and lowered her face by his ear. "She's been here the whole time. I can't get her to leave. Is there some kind of magic spell you put on your partners that they seem unable to leave your side, even when your unconscious for two days?" She smiled at the grin on Johnny's face. "I'll leave you two alone. By the way. I thought you should know. Kel, Captain Stanley and Roy all signed off on Sarah's field training paperwork. She's no longer your trainee." She winked at Johnny. "I thought you'd want to know." "Thanks Dix." He whispered back. He settled back on the pillows watching Sarah sleep. Her left hand and arm were wrapped in bandages and hung from a sling over her shoulder. Her right hand lay on the bed close to his right hand. He hated to wake her up. She looked so peaceful, but he couldn't wait to look in her eyes again. He picked up her right hand and squeezed it gently. She moved slightly and opened her eyes. "You're awake." She said taking her hand out of his and rubbing her eyes with it. She grinned at him and leaned in close. "I'm not your trainee anymore." "I know." He answered, grinning back at her. "Dixie just told me." "So how about that kiss you promised me?" "I'll kiss you." He promised her. "But not this way. The fireworks kiss is gonna have to wait until I can really take you in my arms and do it right, not while I'm lying here on my back." "I'll take what I can get." She whispered softly and kissed him on the lips gently. She opened her eyes and smiled. "Too late, Johnny, it may not have been fireworks, but it sure was at least firecrackers." He smiled back at her. "You too huh?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Three weeks later, Sarah walked into Johnny's room, rattling her car keys. "Ready for me to spring you from this place?" "Am I ever. I need to go home and have some good home cooking for a change." He replied, packing the last of his clothing inside his bag. "Oh, then what are we having for dinner tonight?" She teased him. "You don't want to eat my cooking or we'll both end up back here again." He grinned looking up at her. "I know. I already bought groceries and they're at my place. I'm planning to cook you the best steak you've ever tasted." Dixie came in the room with a wheelchair. "Aw, Dix, do I have to, why won't you let me have some crutches and hobble out of here like any respectable walking wounded." Johnny begged. Dixie laughed, and wagged a finger at him. "You know Kel said that arm of yours is too weak to support yourself on crutches. You'll be running around on them just as soon as Kel thinks you should." "I know, I know. Hey Sarah, you want to help me get in the wheelchair? You might as well practice since you'll be taking care of me for the next couple of weeks at your place. Too bad there's all those stairs at my apartment, or I wouldn't inconvenience you like this." "Inconvenience, having you around is worth a little inconvenience." Sarah told him walking around his bed. "Come on, help me in the wheelchair." He swung his legs off the bed. "I just need you to balance me and pivot me in the chair." "Okay Johnny, I'll probably do it a million times before you're on crutches anyway." He opened up his arms for her and she grabbed him around the waist, then he wrapped his arms around her. "Are you ready?" She asked. "One, two, three." Johnny pushed off the bed and stood up. Sarah helped pivot him on his good leg until he was standing in front of the wheelchair, she started to let go of him so that he could sit down in the wheelchair, when she noticed that Johnny still had his arms around her. She brought her face out of his shoulder and looked up at him. He grinned down at her. "How about we make some fireworks my friend?" She smiled at him. "I love you too." She said softly as he lowered his lips to hers. He kissed her with all the passion that was simmering inside him since that night of the fire where he first confessed he loved her. When the kiss ended, he finished seating himself in the wheelchair. "Before we go back to your house for dinner, do you think we could stop by the station and see the guys?" "I don't see why not. I'm gonna have your wheelchair in the trunk anyway." Sarah turned to the bed, and picked up Johnny's bag. "Good luck." Dixie whispered handing Johnny a small box. "Thanks." He whispered back stuffing the box in his jacket pocket moments before Sarah turned back around. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ They arrived at Station 51 and found it quiet. The doors were down but squad 51 was sitting in the driveway in front of the bay doors. "That's strange." Sarah commented, puzzled. "Why would they leave the squad out with the doors open like that?" "Maybe they pulled another sewer worker out." He joked as Sarah transferred him into the wheelchair. "Maybe we'd better check it out." He wheeled himself as best he could towards the squad. "Johnny, why are you grinning from ear to ear?" Sarah asked following him over to the squad. "Have a seat." Johnny motioned to the front bumper. Sarah sat down a little confused. "Where is everybody?" She said looking around again. She didn't notice Johnny slipping out of the wheelchair onto his good knee. When she turned around she was surprised to see Johnny on the ground in front of her. "Johnny?" She asked worriedly. "Did you fall out of your wheelchair?" "No." He answered. "I have a very good reason for being down here." He pulled the small box out of his pocket and handed it to her. Sarah took the box and stared at it. "Open it." Johnny prompted her when she didn't move. With a shaking hand she awkwardly opened the box. It was difficult with the cast on her hand, but she managed it. She was shocked to see her grandmother's engagement ring. "Johnny, how did you get this?" "I called your parents and talked with your Dad. He interpreted the call to your Mom. As soon as your Mother heard that I'd asked your Dad's permission, she insisted I take your grandmother's ring to give to you. Dixie drove out to your parents' place and picked it up from them yesterday and snuck it to me today. So now you know how the ring got here. But I still have one more question for you." He looked up from the ring to Sarah's face to see tears falling silently down her cheeks. "We both know the risks doing the work we do. I always used to tell Roy that I didn't want to settle down with anyone because I couldn't stand the thought of putting someone I love in that much pain if anything happened to me. I felt that pain myself in the warehouse. I felt the fear of losing someone you love when I saw those crates begin to fall towards you. It was at that moment, I knew that the pain of losing you, was worth every second of feeling that love for you. I knew that if we both survived that moment, that I would never want to be without you in my life. Marry me, and I'll make every moment from now on worth any pain it could cause us later." Sarah opened her mouth to speak, no words came out, and all she could do was nod her head and smile at him. Johnny reached in the box and pulled the ring out, and slid it on her hand. Sarah dropped to the ground next to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. They kissed and once again fireworks blasted in the sky overhead. "I assume she said yes." Roy broke in with a laughing voice. Sarah held up her left hand with the diamond gleaming on it. "That's wonderful." Hank smiled stepping out from behind the squad. Marco, Mike, Chet, and Bellingham followed out after him. Chet looked at Johnny and teased. "Man, I never knew you were such a romantic." "Chet, there's a lot you don't know about me. Find the right woman someday, and you'll be just as mushy. Hey guys can I ask you a favor. Do you think you could help me up. I got down here okay, but I don't think I'll make it back up." Everybody laughed for a minute, then Marco and Chet helped Johnny back in the wheelchair, and Roy helped Sarah stand up. "Come on inside." Hank motioned for them to follow him. "We have a surprise for you both." They walked in the station's kitchen and there were Hank, Mike and Roy's wives and Dixie. Food was piled on the table and a large cake that said. "Congratulations Sarah and Johnny" "Hey Dixie, how'd you get here so fast?" Sarah asked. "As soon as you were out of sight in the parking lot, I jumped in the car and got here as fast as I could. I just got here. So what did I miss?" Sarah laughed and showed Dixie the ring. Dixie looked Sarah grinning and teased. "I never thought I'd see the day when Johnny Gage would stop chasing my nurses. I guess they're safe enough now." "Not from me." Chet spoke up. Everybody laughed and Johnny pulled Sarah down in his lap. He hugged her tight. "Are you happy my friend?" "More than you'll ever know, my friend." She answered smiling at him. He kissed her passionately again. "Man, it's a good thing we're in a fire station. Someone needs to put out all those fireworks." Sarah rested her head on his shoulder. "I hope they never go out." "They won't, I promise." THE END |