A Rock and a Hard Place Part II
By
Min was very upset, she talked to her husband on the phone and he had told her about the predicament that he and the rest of the firemen in the city were now in. She sighed and rubbed her hands over her face, she thought this was totally ridiculous and she was not about to sit idly by and wait for the city and the LAFD to grow up and get their heads on straight, she was going to do something about this.
Pete and MacGyver were in his office going over paperwork when the phone on his desk buzzed. He pressed the button. “Yes Sandra?”
“Mr. Thornton, Mrs. Min Gage is here to see you.”
Mac was sitting on Pete’s couch, he got up and walked over to his desk. “Min is here?”
“That’s what the lady said.”
“Send her in.”
Pete pressed the button. “Send her in Sandra.”
“Yes Sir right away.”
The door opened and Min walked in, she had Evan in his blue stroller and she smiled when she saw her friend. MacGyver smiled at the dark haired woman. “Hi Min.”
Min stopped the stroller and hugged her friend. “Hey Mac.”
“How are you holding up?”
“Not good.”
The hug ended and she sighed. “It’s been three days Mac, I can’t take much more of this.”
MacGyver had on a black Phoenix t-shirt and black jeans, he crouched down and touched Evan’s hands. “Hi little man, how are you?”
“Miserable, he misses his father and so do I.”
Min suddenly remembered Pete and she gasped, what she had done was very rude. “I’m sorry, Pete, I totally forgot my manners.” She extended her hand. “It’s good to see you.”
Pete had on a dark grey suit, he stood up and shook her hand. “You too and there is no need to apologize Min, I understand what you have been going through.”
“Thank you but it was still rude of me.”
He sat back down. “So what can we help you with today?” He pointed to his chair. “Please, have a seat.”
Min was wearing a grey knit shirt and grey pants, she sat down in the chair and moved the stroller close to her, she picked up Evan and set him in her lap, the little baby had on a bodysuit with baseballs and bats on it and a pair of blue shorts. “Thank you, I came here to see both of you because I want to ask a favor.”
Mac was sitting on the edge of his friend’s desk. “Sure that’s what we’re here for.”
Min sighed, she was glad to hear him say that. “This favor mostly involves you.”
The blond haired man nodded. “Okay, what?”
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Mac, I want you and the Phoenix Foundation to step in and take over the negotiations between the city and the LAFD.”
Both men’s mouths dropped open and MacGyver put his hand to his chest. “Me?”
“Yes, you and Phoenix have a reputation for sorting things out and that is exactly what the city and the LAFD need, a cool, calm levelheaded negotiator that will help them work this out.”
Pete nodded, he liked the idea, he had been following the coverage closely. “You’re right Min, I think he would be perfect for the job.”
MacGyver turned towards his boss. “You think I’m perfect for this?”
“Yeah I do, the Mayor and the City Council owe us for those asbestos inspections we did to the buildings downtown, I think it’s time we called in that favor.”
Min saw his hesitation, she leaned forward and touched his hand. “Please, I haven’t seen my husband in three days, this thing is getting worse and if it keeps up it might be a long time before he can come home. He and the other working firemen in this city have been running themselves ragged.”
MacGyver looked into her pleading dark eyes, he could see the lack of sleep and worry reflecting in them, he looked down at the little baby boy she held and he put out his hands. “Can I hold him?”
“Sure.” She lifted him up and Mac took him, the little baby smiled at him, he could see his father in the little boy’s face.
“You miss your Dad don’t you little one?”
Evan touched Mac on the mouth and he kissed his little hand and looked at his mother. “Okay, I’ll do my best.”
Min smiled widely, she got up and gave him a partial hug. “Thank you so much Mac, I am going to owe you big time for this one.”
Johnny dragged himself into the bunkhouse, he was covered in soot, they had just gotten back from a call. A restaurant on the far west side was burning and they had to go put it out since that station had only 2 firemen that had stayed on the job.
He got a wet washcloth out of the bathroom, he plopped down on his bed and started cleaning off his face.
“Going to take a nap?”
Roy was already in there, he was sitting on his bunk, he watched his partner clean off the black from his face.
“I’m going to try.”
“Me too, maybe we can sleep for an hour or two before the alarm goes off.” Roy swung his legs around and stretched out on his bed.
“I wouldn’t hold my breath.” Johnny’s washcloth was black with soot from his hands and his face, he set it on the nightstand that was between the two beds. “I’m so beat Roy, I don’t know how much longer I can do this.”
“I know Johnny, I feel the same way, but you know as well as I do we are stuck.”
Johnny laid down, he rolled over and reached into his back pocket, he took out a photo of his wife and son. Min had a big smile on her face, she was holding Evan out in front of her, the little boy was smiling. He touched the photo of them gently. “I wonder what Min and Evan are doing.”
Roy sighed, his eyes were getting heavy. “It’s afternoon Johnny, they are probably at the club.”
“Yeah, Evan is probably having his lunch, sitting with his mom.” Johnny closed his eyes and imagined them, it made him smile but it was fleeting, he missed them so much. All he wanted to do was go home and hug both of them to him.
“Are you going to call them later?”
Johnny swallowed a small lump in his throat. “Yeah.”
Roy yawned and rubbed his eyes. “Get some sleep Johnny, you’ll feel better.”
Johnny sighed, he knew no amount of sleep was going to make him feel better, only his wife and son could do that. He pressed the photo to his chest and closed his eyes, he fell into a heavy sleep thinking about Min and Evan.
Min wasn’t at the club, she didn’t have the heart to go in to work, her mind was elsewhere. Bo knew she was having a hard time, he had been staying with her in the house to not only lend a hand with Evan but to try and give some comfort to his sister. She was in the living room reading a book, Bo was in the garage giving her Mustang a tune up. The doorbell rang and she set the book down on the couch and got up. She peeked in the peephole and saw MacGyver and Gillian behind the door. She opened it and smiled at them both.
“Hi!” She hugged Gillian to her. The redheaded woman patted her back.
“Hi Min, how are you?”
“Terrible until I opened the door, come in.” She stepped back and the couple came in. “What are you both doing here?”
MacGyver unzipped his black vinyl jacket. “We were in the neighborhood and decided to drop by.”
They walked into the living room and sat down. “Can I get you both something to drink?”
“Got any juice?”
Min smiled. “Of course I do Mac, how’s grape?”
“Good.” He looked at his wife. “Gill?”
“The same please.”
Min went into the kitchen and poured them two glasses of white grape juice and put a few cubes in it, she walked back into the living room and handed them to her friends. “Here you go.”
“Thank you.” Gillian took her glass and sipped it.
“Thanks Min.” MacGyver had a drink of his and put the glass down on the coffee table.
Bo came in from the garage. “Min was that the-” He saw the couple, they turned towards him and smiled. “Hi.”
Mac got up and shook his hand. “Hey Bo, long time no see, how are you?”
“Good MacGyver, really good.” He looked down at the redheaded woman. MacGyver remembered that they had never met.
“Gillian, this is Bo Duke, Min’s brother.”
She stretched out her hand and Bo shook it. “Nice to meet you Bo.”
Bo smiled at Gillian, he thought she was very pretty. “Nice to meet you too.” He was wearing raggedy clothes and there was oil on his white t-shirt. “Excuse the mess, I was tuning up my sister’s Mustang.”
Mac sat back down. “Don’t worry about it, it’s impossible to stay clean when you work on a car.”
“How is that going Bo?”
He turned his attention to his sister. “Not so good, I can’t get that starter wire to stay in place, it keeps slipping out.”
Min sighed. “Perfect, as if the week hasn’t been tough enough.”
MacGyver cleared his throat. “You’re having wire problems?”
“Yeah, a starter with a wire problem.”
He nodded. “Can I take a look?”
“Sure, the garage is over here.”
Mac excused himself and followed Bo into the garage, the hood to the bright cherry red Mustang was popped open and Mac leaned over the engine and looked down into it, he saw the started and the wire Bo was talking about.
Bo was also leaning over the engine. “See it?”
“Yeah, I see it.” He took off his jacket and set it on top of the roof. “What we need is a way to fuse the wire in place so it won’t keep slipping out.” He turned and looked at Bo. “Got a sodering gun?”
The blond haired man shook his head. “No.”
Mac licked his lips and pressed them together. “Well we need one to fix that starter, so let’s find something to fake it with.”
Bo creased his brow. “Like what?”
“Good question.” He sighed and looked around the garage. “Can you take the starter out and take it outside to the Corvette, I need to get a few things and meet you out there.”
Bo picked up some tools. “All right, give me a minute to get the starter out.”
Mac saw where Bo got the tools out of, he crouched down and started going through the big red tool box and saw a metal file. He picked it up and left the garage, he went back in the living room. “Min do you have a key you don’t need anymore?”
The two women had been talking and they both turned and looked at him, the dark haired woman was puzzled. “I think so, why?”
“I’m going to fix your starter.”
“With an old key?”
MacGyver had the file tucked into his back pocket. “Yeah.”
Min got up from her chair and went to her keychain, she still had the key to the apartment that her and her husband had once shared, she took off a silver key and handed it to him. “Here you go.”
Mac looked it over. “Thanks, this will work nicely.”
Min was very curious as so what he was going to do, so was Gillian they both followed him outside. Bo had come out the garage door, he had the starter wrapped in newspaper and was holding the bundle. “Here is the starter.”
MacGyver took his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the Corvette, he pulled the trunk lever and went around to the back of the black car, he opened the trunk and got out a pair of jumper cables. “Thanks Bo, set it down on the ground.”
He closed the trunk and opened the driver side door back up and popped the hood. He walked around to the front of the Corvette and raised the hood.
Bo was watching him. “What are you going to do with jumper cables?”
Mac took the covers off of the battery leads and hooked them up, he handed Bo his keys. “Here can you get behind the wheel and start it up when I say to?”
Bo smiled widely. “Sure no problem!”
MacGyver snapped his fingers, he forgot something. “Min do you have a wire hanger?”
Min was standing next to Gillian. “Sure, in the front closet, in the living room.
“Thanks.” Mac ran back to the house and opened the door, he came back out with a wire hanger, he bent it and straightened it out.
Min leaned close to the redheaded woman. “Gill, what is he doing?”
Gillian sighed and shook her head. “Just being Mac.”
MacGyver unhooked one of the jumper cables from the battery, he squeezed it open and it gripped the wire. He tugged it to make sure the teeth had a good hold of it. He took the key that Min had given him and the metal file out of his back pocket. He tore off a piece of newspaper that was around the starter and crouched down, he started filing the key until he had a nice pile of metal shavings on the paper. He stood up and looked around the hood at the blond haired man behind the wheel of his car. “Okay Bo, hit it!”
Bo started the Corvette, MacGyver took his dark sunglasses out of his pocket and slipped them on. He picked up the pair of cables. Bo got out of the car, he wanted to see what MacGyver was going to do. Mac looked up and realized he had a crowd around him.
“Stand back.”
He picked up the jumper cables and tapped them together, sparks started to fly and the three people moved back. He picked up some metal shavings and sprinkled them on the wire and the place it was supposed to go. He turned his head away a little and touched the straightened hanger to it, there was a few sparks at first. He put more shavings onto the wire and used the hanger to soder it in place. He blew on the wire and gave it a tug, it didn’t move.
“Okay Bo, kill the engine.”
Bo went back inside the Corvette and turned off the ignition, Mac stood up and took the jumper cables off of the battery, he closed the hood and walked around to the back of his car, he took off the hanger and put the cables behind his seat. Bo picked up the starter and looked at what his friend had done.
“Think it’ll hold?”
“It should.”
Bo shook his head. “That was a pretty smart idea, let’s go put this baby back in and see how well your homemade sodering gun worked.”
The two men went inside and Min and Gillian followed them.
“Okay MacGyver, cross your fingers and turn it!”
Bo stood up and took a rag out of his back pocket and wiped his hands. MacGyver was behind the wheel of Min’s Mustang, he turned the key and the powerful engine came to life. Bo slammed the hood and tapped it hard.
“Yes! All right!”
Mac cut the engine and got out of the car, he smiled at his friend. “Well we got lucky, it worked.”
Bo patted his back. “That was a good idea, I’ve got to let you do some work like that on the General Lee.”
MacGyver creased his brow. “The General Lee?”
Bo took his wallet out of his pocket and took out a photo of him and Luke standing next to the bright orange stock car, he handed to his friend. “Here take a look.”
“Wow nice color! ’69 Dodge Charger?”
“Yeah the one and only General Lee, that car has won more races than you can count.”
“What kind of engine?”
“440, 4 barrel carb.”
MacGyver whistled. “I bet that thing moves.”
Bo smiled proudly. “It does, he’s fast, maybe the next time you are free I’ll introduce you to him.”
The two men walked back into the living room, the two women stopped and Min smiled.
“I heard my car start, so the wire is holding?”
Bo nodded. “Yeah, it’s holding.” He smiled at his sister. “Hey Min, should I take Mac here to meet the General?”
Min grinned. “You want to introduce him to the General Lee?”
Gillian was the only person in the room that wasn’t sure what they were talking about. “Who?”
Bo handed her the photo, she took it and looked at it. “Now that is a color you won’t lose in parking lot, 1969 Dodge Charger, right?”
“Right, my cousin and I built that car.”
Gillian gave the photo back to him. “Nice, I bet its pretty fast.”
Min nodded. “Oh he is, the General is a great car, he’s almost human.”
Mac sat back down beside his wife. “Well Bo promised to take me one weekend to meet him.”
Bo excused himself and went to go clean up, Min watched him leave and smiled at her friend. “Thanks for the repair job Mac.”
He gave her a nod. “No problem, I only hope the problem between the city and the LAFD is just as easy to fix. That is one of the reasons we came to see you, Pete talked to the mayor and the City Council. They gave us permission to take over the negotiations.”
Min sighed, she was worried that the city wasn’t going to allow the Phoenix Foundation to get involved. “Any trouble from the Unions?”
“No, they were more than willing to have us help out.”
Min was playing with her wedding ring, she kept looking at it. “I miss him, so much. I’m going nuts in this house, poor Bo has been trapped here for three days.”
Gillian reached out and touched her hand. “I understand what you are going through, I feel the same way every time Mac leaves for an assignment.”
“I know you do Gill, I appreciate your concern.”
MacGyver leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Why don’t you and Evan come stay with us? It’ll give you a chance to get out of this house and you can help me with the negotiations.”
Min looked surprised. “Me? How can I help?”
“You are a fireman’s wife Min, you have insight that none of us involved in this has. Johnny comes home to you every night, you see first hand how hard he works and how tough his job is. That kind of information would help me a lot.”
Gillian nodded. “We have plenty of room Min, please?”
The young woman looked at her two friends, she was feeling rather down and their company would certainly make her feel better. She thought about Evan too, her son was crazy about Gillian and MacGyver. This also gave her a chance to help get her husband home and that was something she really wanted to do.
“Okay, when Johnny calls me I’ll tell him what’s going on and then I’ll pack up Evan and myself and come over.”
Min was folding up Evan’s portable playpen when the phone starting ringing, she checked her watch and it was 6, that had to be Johnny. She raced into the master bedroom and picked up the phone.
“Hello?”
“Hi Honey it’s me.”
The voice of her husband got the young woman’s heart racing, she sat down on the bed. “Johnny…it’s so good to hear you.”
“It’s good to hear you too, how are things going?”
Min sighed. “Terrible without you but there is a small ray of hope, what about you?”
“Not so great either, I finally managed to get two hours of sleep before the alarm went off. What is this ray of hope?”
The young woman smiled. “You’re going to hear about this sooner or later so I’m going to go ahead and tell you now. I went to see MacGyver and Pete at the Phoenix Foundation, I asked them to step in and take over the negotiations.”
“You did? And what did they say?” Johnny got excited, he knew that the Foundation being involved could bring this crisis to an end.
Min smiled. “They say okay, MacGyver starts first thing in the morning, he is going to be the negotiator.”
Johnny sighed. “That is great news Honey, it really is.”
“I know, I had to do something Johnny, this thing is so stupid and I want you to come home.”
“So do I Min, how’s my baby?”
“He misses you and so do I.”
“I miss you both too, if this thing is ever over we are going to go on vacation for at least a week or two, I want to take you both out of the city and go someplace nice.”
“I would like that, a lot. And speaking of not being home, Mac and Gillian asked me to come stay with them so I can help MacGyver with the negotiations, do you know their phone number?”
“Yeah I know it, when are you going?”
“I told them as soon as I talked to you I would be over.”
“That’s good Min, I’m glad you are going to stay with them, you won’t be alone and I know they will take good care of you.”
“Well Bo was here.”
“I know but he has the club to worry about.”
Min sighed. “Are you guys taking care of yourselves?”
“Yeah we are, it isn’t easy but we are managing to get rest and food whenever we can. We have been all over this city Min. Roy and I are taking care of people in areas of this city we have hardly been too before, all because of this strike and the lack of firemen and paramedics.”
“Do you think that the ones that left their stations are going to be fired?”
“The city said yes but I’m hoping that is something MacGyver can change, if he can’t make them change their minds about that, we will be in trouble, this city can’t function without those men.”
“I’ll tell that to him, he said he wanted information, I’m going to give it to him.”
Johnny sighed. “I have to go now Min, dinner is almost ready and then I want to try and get some more sleep before the alarm starts going off again.”
Min could feel her eyes get wet, she didn’t want him to hang up. “Do you have to go?”
“I don’t want to, but I have to.”
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I love you Johnny, take care of yourself okay?” She wiped her face.
“I love you too Min, and you know I will. I’ll call you at their house as soon as I can.”
Min nodded. “Okay Honey, talk to you soon.”
“Bye Min, give Evan a kiss and a hug for me.”
“I will, bye.”
She hung up the phone and covered her eyes with her hands and let her tears flow.
Johnny sighed as he hung up the phone in the bunkhouse and went into the kitchen. It was Chet’s turn to cook, he had made hamburgers and potato salad. He saw his fellow fireman’s face as he put a hamburger and some potato salad on a plate and handed it to him.
“Here you go Johnny, talk to your wife?” Chet could tell by his face, his face looked rather passive.
Johnny took the plate from him. “Thanks, yeah just now.”
Chet nodded. “How are they doing?”
Johnny gave his friend a little smile. “They’re holding up, but she did tell me some good news.”
He sat down at the table and all of the men seated there turned towards him.
Roy wiped his mouth. “What news?”
“An outside party has just agreed to help the city and the Fire Department work this out.”
The men got excited, this was good news. “Who?”
Chet asked the question and Johnny smiled a little. “The Phoenix Foundation.” He looked at Roy. “Min went to see MacGyver and he agreed to help out.”
Roy smiled and laughed a little. “That sneaky, brilliant woman.”
Johnny nodded. “Yeah I know, she said that she’s going to go stay with MacGyver and Gillian at their house so she can lend a hand personally, she is going to tell Mac about trying to change the mind of the city about firing the men that went on strike.”
Chet sat down at the table. “That’s good, that’s probably almost an important an issue as our raises.”
“Exactly, I told her that without those men even if the strikes is over, we would still be in trouble because all of the firemen in the city would have to work longer and harder to make up the difference.”
Hank was done with his dinner, he pushed his plate aside. “And the City Council agreed to let the Phoenix Foundation help?”
“That’s what Min said Cap, I don’t know how they did that but what’s important is that both sides have finally agreed on something, it may not be much but it’s a start.”
Everyone had a glass of milk and Hank lifted his. “Here’s to hoping this is over soon.”
All of the men lifted their glasses and clinked them together, for the first time in three days, the men of Station 51 were happy and hopeful.
Min was still upset as she pulled her Mustang into the driveway beside MacGyver’s truck, she got out and pulled the passenger seat forward, she took Evan out of his car seat and slung his diaper bag over her shoulder. She walked up the driveway and rang the doorbell. The door opened, it was Gillian, she smiled and opened it.
“Hi.”
“Hi Gillian.”
Gillian had changed out of her work clothes and put on a pink tank top and white shorts, she stepped aside and the young woman walked in. MacGyver he was still in his black t-shirt but he had on black shorts, he came out of their bedroom and saw her.
“Hi, need some help with your stuff?”
Min nodded. “Yes please.”
“I’ll take Evan while the two of you go unload your stuff.”
Min took the diaper bag off of her arm and handed her son to the redheaded woman. “You stay with Aunt Gill Ev, your uncle and I are going to go bring in our stuff.” She gave him a kiss and touched his hair.
Gillian held the little baby boy close to her. “Come on Evan, let me show you where you are going to be staying.” She walked down the hall with him and Mac touched his little hand as he passed his wife and went out the front door.
Min unlocked the trunk and opened it, she had brought his playpen for him to sleep in and she had taken apart his swing and brought it along. MacGyver picked up the playpen and their suitcase.
“I got these can you bring the swing?”
“Yeah I can get it.” She gathered up all the pieces and closed the trunk.
The first spare room just off of the master bedroom was where Min and her son were going to sleep. It was pretty good sized, it had a queen size bed, a dark oak dresser, and a dark oak nightstand with a phone on it. Min looked around, it was decorated in the same Southwest style as the master bedroom. There was a Navajo blanket above the bed and the walls had a few pictures of famous Indians on them. The comforter on the bed matched the design of the blanket that hung on the wall. She sat down on the bed and folded her legs under her.
“What do you think?”
Min saw MacGyver standing in the door way, she tried to smile but it wasn’t genuine. “It’s nice.”
He walked into the room and set the suitcase and the playpen down. “What did Johnny have to say?”
“He’s glad you are going to help and he wants me to tell you that one of the things you need to work out is the firing of all of the firemen that went on strike. He said if you don’t change the city’s mind about that things won’t go back to normal, all of the firemen will have to make up the difference and that means double and triple shifts.”
Mac sat down on the bed beside her. “Yeah I know, that is one of the things I plan to address tomorrow.”
Min sighed heavily. “He said he knows that you and Gillian will take good care of me and Evan until he gets home.” She wasn’t looking at him, her head was down.
“That we can definitely promise, you both can stay here as long as you need to.”
“I appreciate that Mac.”
He turned towards her and touched her chin, turning it so he could see her face. Her dark eyes were very sad. “Hey, keep your chin up, okay?”
Min laughed a little. “I’m trying.”
“Good.” He stood up. “Come on, Gill made dinner, you must be hungry.”
Min had put Evan in his swing and it was rocking gently, it was getting close to the baby’s bedtime. The foursome was in the dining room having dinner. Gillian had made lasagna, garlic bread and salad, Min actually felt better, the food was good but it was the company that made the difference. She had another bite of lasagna and wiped her mouth.
“This is great Gill, you need to give me the recipe.”
“Thanks, I love to
cook.” She served herself some more salad.
MacGyver was drinking some ice tea. “Yeah the problem is you cook too good Gillian,
you are trying to make me fat.”
Min coughed a little and wiped her mouth. “Oh please Mac, you couldn’t be fat if you tried.” She shook her head at her friend. “Johnny says the same thing, he claims it’s some great conspiracy I planned that if I make him gain weight he’ll have to leave the Fire Department.”
Gillian looked at her. “And what do you say?”
“I tell him he’s nuts, he’s way too active, even if I wanted him to gain weight it wouldn’t happen.”
“Aha, see Mac same thing with you.”
MacGyver was done with his dinner, he pushed his plate aside. “Yeah yeah keep denying it.”
Gillian shook her head at her husband. “You are so paranoid.” She got up from the table and went to the fridge.
Mac watched his wife. “What are you doing Gill?”
“Getting dessert.”
“What dessert?”
She brought out a chocolate cake and Mac folded his arms across his chest and looked at her sideways. “Not trying to fatten me up huh?”
Gillian shrugged. “Coincidence, I got this because we have a special guest for dinner.”
“Uh huh.”
She walked by her husband and whispered something in his ear, he turned red. She kissed his burning cheek. “Still think I’m trying to make you fat?”
Mac cleared his throat. “No.”
Min shook her head at both of them, she could just imagine what Gillian must have said to her husband to turn him as red as an apple. “Looks good Gill.”
She set it down on the table and picked up a knife and turned towards her husband. “So I take it you don’t want any?”
MacGyver smiled. “I didn’t say that.” He picked up his plate and she put a small piece on it.
“Min?”
The dark haired woman handed Gillian her plate and she put a small piece on it. Evan made a noise and it made Gillian laugh. “Sorry Sweetie you are too young for chocolate cake.”
She cut a small piece for herself and started eating it.
Min was wide awake, she couldn’t sleep, not without Johnny beside her. She turned towards the clock on the nightstand, it read 11 30. She pulled back the covers and got up, she decided to go get something to drink and maybe find a book to read. She had on her white sleeveless night gown, she picked up her white robe and slipped it on. She walked over to Evan’s playpen and peeked at her son, he was asleep, she kissed her fingers and touched them to his cheek. She left the room quietly and walked down the hall towards the kitchen. The light was on and walked in and saw her friend sitting at the table, he didn’t have a shirt on and she quickly turned around.
MacGyver heard a noise and turned around, he saw her with her back to him.
“Min? I hope I didn’t wake you up.”
Min wasn’t looking at him. “No, I wasn’t asleep.”
Mac saw that she was turning her head from him and why. “Sorry I didn’t mean to embarrass you, I’ll get a shirt.” He got up and went into the garage, he came back out with a t-shirt. He sat back down at the kitchen table. “What are you doing up?”
The young woman got over her embarrassment. “Like I said I couldn’t sleep, what about you?”
Mac sighed and wiped her hands down his face. “I’m just going over the 4 contracts that the Union has submitted to the City.”
She walked over to the table and looked at the pile of papers. “4? That’s a lot.”
“Yeah it is.” He got up and went to get himself something to drink, he opened the fridge. “Do you want something to drink?”
Min picked up the newest proposal, the one that had caused the strike. “A glass of milk, please.”
Mac got out two small glasses and filled them with milk, he brought them over to the table and handed one to his houseguest. “Here you go.”
“Thanks.” Min was going through the proposal. “This is the one that caused the strike.”
He sat back down and nodded. “Yeah I know, it really isn’t that bad, none of them are, hardly worth losing every fireman in the city over.”
“I know but tell that to the city.”
MacGyver had a drink of his milk. “I plan too, first thing in the morning, or better yet…we plan too.”
Min creased her brow. “Who’s we?”
“My team of course.”
“Which is?”
MacGyver smiled. “Gillian and you.”
Min set her glass down on the table. “Me? What good is it for me to be there Mac?”
“It’ll do a lot of good Min, like I said you see this thing from another point of view. You get to see the other side, all the city sees are firemen that want more money and better benefits.”
“But what about Evan?”
“Can Bo watch him for you?” Mac saw her hesitation and he touched her hand. “I need you there tomorrow Min, this whole situation is in my hands and I don’t want to mess that up and keep the firemen from their families any longer than they already have been. You asked for my help now I’m asking for yours.”
Min looked at her friend, it had been her idea to ask him to help, she couldn’t turn him down.
“Bo can watch Evan, all I have to do is ask.”
MacGyver smiled at her and breathed a sigh of relief.
Min wasn’t the only person that couldn’t sleep, Johnny was lying on his bunk with his arms tucked under his head. He was staring up at the ceiling listening to the other firemen around him in the throes of slumber, their deep peaceful breathing filling the room. Johnny sighed, his bunk felt tiny and empty, he missed his bed and his missed his wife. Min would hold him close in the dark, her warm body pressed against him was a comfort. Sometimes he would wake up in the middle of the night and look at his wife. Her beautiful face peaceful as she slept, looking like some heavenly creature that didn’t belong on Earth and certainly not with him. He realized how much she really meant to him, he thought about the first time they had met, he had pulled his future wife out of a battered and beaten up Mustang. The last thing he ever expected was to fall in love with her. His mind drifted to their wedding, seeing her in that beautiful white dress made him smile. She looked so beautiful, as she walked down that aisle towards him, being escorted by her brother and her cousin. Johnny had put a gold ring on her finger and promised to be forever hers. He thought about the most precious thing his wife had given to him besides her heart and her love, his son. Johnny could never tell her how much Evan meant to him and how truly grateful he would always be to her for his son. He could see them in that white room waiting for Evan to make his appearance, how scared and excited he was at the exact same time. Min leaning back against him, she had been so brave that whole time. Johnny watched the doctor put that tiny crying baby on her chest and how his throat had tightened when he saw him. He closed his eyes against that image, all he was doing was making himself more miserable. He turned to the side and faced the wall.
“Good night Min, night Evan.” He kissed his fingers. “I love you.”
Johnny whispered, he closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep.
continued in part III