The Jewelry Store 211
By Pally Lyons
Roy and Johnny left Rampart after picking up some supplies. As they head back to the station, Roy notices Johnny is not himself, he seemed a little down.
"Hey Junior, you feeling okay?" Roy asked him.
"I’m fine, Roy," he says unconvincingly as he looks at the window.
"Well, you don’t seem fine to me, and that worries me," Roy replied.
"It’s nothing, Roy, really," Johnny said.
"If it is nothing, then tell me what has got you so down," Roy inquired.
"Okay, I give. I just got a Dear John letter from Sharise. She moved to Florida two weeks ago, and I just thought she was busy."
Roy chuckled, "Yeah, packing. Chet is going to have a field day with this Dear John letter."
"Great, just what I need," Johnny replied. "Chet ribbing me for the next week." He rolled his eyes, just as the tones broke in.
"Squad 51, man down, at the Winston Jewelry store, West Alameda, cross street, West Hampton. Possible, gunshot victim. Time out 0930," the dispatcher announced.
Johnny responded, " Squad 51, 10-4," and hit the lights and sirens, just before he jotted down the address.
Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the jewelry store. Police and SWAT were found all around.
Johnny contacted dispatch, " L.A., Squad 51 on scene."
Dispatch returned, " 10-4, Squad 51, 0945."
Roy tried to gather his thoughts, " Johnny, we better try to find out what is going on here."
They got out and immediately saw Vince. He stayed low as he ran over to them.
As Vince approached, Roy said, " Hey, Vince, what’ve ya got?"
"It started out as a 2-11, we think. Now we have a hostage situation. One of the hostages has been shot." Vince offered.
" Do you know how bad?" Johnny asked.
"All we know so far, is its a chest wound."
"We’d better get our gear." Roy interjected.
They got back to the squad and started gathering their equipment. Vince and another man approached the squad.
"Hey guys, I want you to meet Special Agent Mike Davis. He is in charge of hostage negotiations."
"Mike, this is Roy DeSoto, and Johnny Gage, his partner." They shook hands.
Mike said, " Sorry we have to meet under these circumstances. Let me brief you on what we have so far. We were able to talk to the assistant. The gunman allowed her to call for medical help for the injured manager. Apparently, this was all started while the manager and his assistant were preparing to open the store. An ex-employee showed up and demanded his last paycheck. To avoid a conflict, they let him in to cut him a check. The gunman has agreed to let the paramedics come in to treat the manager, Mr. Walker."
Roy said, " I think we’ll need the gurney from the ambulance."
"I’ll go get it," Johnny replied as he ran off to the ambulance.
Johnny told the attendants what was going on, so they permitted him to take the gurney.
It was only seconds later when Johnny showed up with the gurney. They loaded their equipment on the gurney for easier transport.
Mike said, "Before you go in, there is one more thing to be aware of."
Roy asked, "What?"
Mike continued, " I can’t guarantee your safety. Once you’re inside, you’re on your own."
Johnny responded, " We know the risks, we need to take that chance."
Mike called into the Jewelry store, and tells the gunman, "The paramedics are coming in."
He hung up, and yelled to Johnny and Roy, "You’re clear to go in."
Roy said, "Let’s go, Junior."
As they neared the entrance, the door pulled open for them. They pushed the gurney in first.
The first person they saw is the gunman, Kyle.
He demanded, "Hold it right there."
They heard the click of the gun, a 357 mag, and Kyle pointed it right at them.
They responded by raising their hands above their waists in a non-threatening manner.
Roy said, "Look, we don’t want any trouble. We just want to check the manager out and get him out of here."
Kyle replied, "You can see him when I say you can."
Johnny added, "Come on man, the sooner we can check him out, the sooner we can get him the appropriate help and get him out of here."
Kyle, while motioning the gun towards the wall, said, "Get up against the wall."
"Okay, whatever you say," Roy said.
Johnny got up beside Roy as they put their hands against the wall.
"I don’t believe this," Johnny whispered.
Kyle patted them down. He took Johnny’s scissors.
"Hey, I need those," Johnny said.
Kyle then put the gun up to Johnny’s head.
"Hey that’s okay, really, we don’t need them. Keep them if you want," Roy attempted to appease Kyle.
"I will," Kyle said as he moved the gun away.
Johnny let out a sigh of relief.
Roy inquired, "Where’s the manager?"
"Back in the storage room, that way," he answered.
He walked behind Johnny and Roy. Roy opened the door and saw the manager on the floor with blood all over his chest, as the assistant ws holding direct pressure on the wound.
"I’ll take over for you," Johnny offered.
He smiled at her. She smiled back.
Roy set up the bio-phone. Johnny took his vitals.
"Who are you calling?" Kyle asked.
Roy answered, "I’m calling Rampart General Hospital to talk to a doctor."
"Rampart, this is Squad 51."
"Go ahead, 51," came the reply from Dr. Brackett.
"Rampart, we have a 55 year old male, with a gunshot wound to the right side of the chest. We are attempting to control bleeding at this time."
"Do you have vitals?" asked Dr. Brackett.
Roy answered, "Yes."
Johnny handed Roy a piece of paper.
"Vitals are: pulse 120 and weak, respirations are 12 and labored. Breath sounds are diminished on the right side. Blood pressure is 90 over 62. He is diaphoretic," Roy reported.
Roy added, " We’ve got oxygen started."
"51, continue the O2. Start IV ringers and transport as soon as possible," Dr. Brackett ordered.
"51, Keep monitoring those breath sounds," he added.
Roy replied, " 10-4, Rampart."
They placed the manager on the gurney. They strapped him down and cover him with the blanket.
Roy said, "We’re ready to transport."
Johnny responded, "Just a second, Roy."
Roy gave him a confused look.
Johnny explained, "I want to make sure the girl is not hurt, alright?"
He walked over to her, checked her pulse, and with concern Johnny said, "Are you okay?"
The assistant, Anissa, replied, "I’m fine."
He looked at her dishelved clothes and hair.
"Have you been hurt?" Johnny asked just to make sure.
Anissa said, "No, I’m okay, please get Mr. Walker to the hospital."
Johnny looked into her eyes, and knew she was terrified. He wished he could take her with them, but knew he couldn’t.
Johnny responded, "Alright, let’s go Roy."
They started pushing the gurney toward the door. And Roy yelled out, "We’re coming out."
Roy lifted the front of the gurney, where the manager’s head was, over the doorframe.
"Roy!" Johnny exclaimed.
Roy looked behind him. He saw that Kyle had grabbed Johnny from behind. He was holding the muzzle of the gun against Johnny’s neck. He saw the terrified look on Johnny’s face.
Roy asked, "What’s going on?!"
Kyle said, "I lose one hostage, I take one to replace him."
Roy worked to get the second set of wheels over the doorframe.
Kyle shut the door.
Roy got the manager down to the ambulance.
Mike came running to meet them.
"DeSoto, where’s Gage?"
Roy replied, "He was forced to take the manager’s place as a hostage. I have to get the manager to the hospital. I’ll be back as soon as I can."
After Roy got in the ambulance they left for Rampart.
Back inside the jewelry store, Kyle took Anissa and Johnny to the storage room in the back. Anissa entered first. Kyle brought Johnny to the doorway. He shoved him as hard as he could, and Johnny fell to his knees, and then face down onto his stomach.
Johnny slowly turned over on his side. He saw Kyle pointing the gun at him.
"Don’t try to be a hero, fire boy," mocked Kyle.
"I wouldn’t think of it," Johnny returned.
Kyle turned and shut the door and left. Johnny took a deep breath and laid his head on the floor and closed his eyes.
Anissa asked, "Are you okay?"
Johnny opened his eyes, and raised his head. "Yeah, I’m alright."
He got up and felt his neck where the muzzle was. He felt the indentations, which hurt to the touch.
"Well, since it looks like we’ll be here awhile, let’s introduce ourselves. I’m Johnny Gage," he said.
"My name is Anissa Larson. How long do you think Kyle will keep us like this?" she asked.
Johnny, stunned, asked, "You know this guy?!"
Anissa admitted "Yes, he used to work here, but Mr. Walker had to fire him."
"Why?" Johnny inquired.
"He...he…" she stammered, "…kept harassing me here at work. I finally had to do something. I told Mr. Walker what Kyle was doing, and he fired him. It must have been about 2 days ago. Kyle came here to get his last paycheck. Mr. Walker thought it would be fine to let him in. When he did, Kyle immediately pulled a gun on him. When Mr. Walker tried to take Kyle on, Kyle shot him."
She started crying, "This is all my fault. If I hadn’t refused his advances maybe this wouldn’t have happened." Johnny put his arm around her to console her.
"This wasn’t your fault, okay? Everything will be alright," Johnny tried to comfort her.
"I am so sorry you got caught up in this mess," Anissa said.
"I’d rather be here with you then at the station hearing Kelly rib me about the Dear John letter I got today," Johnny said, trying to lighten things up.
Back at Rampart, Roy went to the nurse’s station to use the phone.
He dialed the fire station, and Captain Stanley answered, " Station 51, this is Captain Stanley."
"Cap, it’s me, Roy," he said, "You need to take the Squad out of service."
"Why, what is wrong?" he replied.
"That call to the jewelry store," he explained, "It was a hostage situation. We started to remove the manager who was shot, the gunman grabbed Johnny to take his place."
"Are you okay?" Captain Stanley probed.
"I’m fine, and I want to get back to the scene," Roy answered.
"Okay, if you need any help, call us," Captain Stanley said.
"Thanks, Cap. Oh, by the way, can you have Kelly come down to Rampart to come get me?" Roy asked.
"Yeah, Kelly will be there in about 10 minutes." Captain Stanley assured.
As Roy started to leave, Dixie stopped him. She asked, "Where is Johnny? I thought he’d be here by now?"
"He won’t be coming. He’s being held hostage at the jewelry store," he informed her.
"Oh, my God!" Dixie exclaimed. "I saw the news report about it," she continued, before Roy interrupted.
"Dix, I really have to go. Chet should be here any minute to give me a ride back to the jewelry store. I’ll see you later," Roy said.
Several hours have passed without any progress with negotiations. Kyle had been drinking over half of a bottle of Jack Daniels during that time.
Kyle ws getting frustrated with the negotiations and finally he exploded over the phone to Mike, "You don’t seem to be taking me serious, so I’m going to show you just how serious I am!"
Mike questioned, "Kyle, what are you going to do?"
"Watch and see," Kyle said as he slammed the phone down.
Roy returned and stood next to Mike; he clearly heard Kyle’s response through the phone over the speaker.
Roy asked, "What do you think he’s going to do?"
Mike, holding back his real concerns, simply answered, "I’m not sure."
Kyle went to the storage room door and kicked it open.
Anissa and Johnny, startled, jump.
Kyle taunted, "Get up, fire boy!" as he pointed the gun at him.
"What’s going on, Kyle? Maybe we could talk about it?" Johnny said.
"I’m done talking," Kyle answered just before hitting Johnny with the butt of the gun.
Johnny fell sideways, hitting his cheek on the corner of the desk. The blow stunned him briefly.
Anissa yelled at Kyle to stop as Johnny went down.
Kyle then shoved Anissa to the couch and pointed the gun at her.
"Your turn is coming," Kyle threatened.
He turned and grabbed Johnny by his shirt collar. Johnny’s cheek was bleeding.
Kyle forced him out of the storage room and shoved him up against the window while he called Mike on the phone.
"You see your paramedic?" he yelled into the phone.
"I see him. What are you going to do?" Mike tried to ask calmly.
Roy noticed that Johnny’s been hurt. It was clear even from afar.
"Maybe this will prove how serious I am." Kyle barked.
Kyle put the gun to Johnny’s temple.
Roy said under his breath, "Oh no."
Mike said, "Kyle, don’t do it!"
Johnny tried to get his thoughts together as he felt the muzzle of the gun at his temple. Just then he heard Kyle cock the gun.
Johnny begged, "No, Kyle, no." Then he heard a click. He flinched, thinking he’d been shot, but felt no pain in his head.
Kyle said to Mike over the phone, "Next time there will be a bullet in his head," ending the call.
He grabbed Johnny and took him back to the storage room. He shoved him to the floor.
"Start saying your prayers, fire boy," Kyle said sarcastically.
Kyle left the storage room. Immediately, Anissa went to Johnny’s side.
"Johnny, you’re hurt. Let me try to find something to stop the bleeding," Anissa offered.
She started rummaging around the storage room. To her surprise, she found a first aid kit.
"I’m sorry about all this," Anissa said as she tended to his cheek to stop the bleeding.
"This isn’t your fault, Anissa. Kyle is the one who started all this," Johnny replied.
Johnny leaned his head back on the couch. Anissa was able to stop his cheek from bleeding with the gauze she found in the kit.
"How bad is it?" Johnny inquired.
"It is about an inch long. It’s not too deep, but you may need stitches," Anissa offered.
"Maybe a scar would give me more character," he said with a grin.
"I don’t think you need a scar to have character," she said as she smiled at him. "I think you’re pretty good looking without a scar."
He turned his head away, grinning again.
"Are you blushing, Johnny Gage?" Anissa joked.
"I’d never admit if I was," Johnny replied.
She stopped tending his cheek, and looked at him. He noticed she was staring at him.
He questioned her, "What, why are you staring at me? Is there something wrong?"
"This may not be the right thing to do under these circumstances, but I don’t care," she said as she leaned towards him on the couch. She unbuttoned several buttons of his shirt uniform while she kissed him.
After a couple of minutes, Johnny broke the kiss. He felt uncomfortable with the situation.
"I’ve never been kissed like that before," Johnny said.
"And I’ve never kissed anyone like that before," Anissa responded.
He touched her cheek and as she turned away, Johnny said, "Now look who’s blushing."
Anissa tried to deny it and said, "No I’m not."
"Your cheeks are as red as a fire engine," Johnny laughed.
She laughed quickly, but when her eyes meet his, she stopped smiling.
Johnny, confused, asked, "What’s wrong?"
"If we get out of this alive, can we go on a date?" Anissa asked.
"You bet we will," he said, giving her his famous, crooked, Gage grin. "I never just kiss and run."
She ran her hand through his hair, as tears ran down her face. Johnny wiped them from her cheek.
"I’m scared, Johnny. I know this sounds crazy. I’ve only known you for 5 hours, but I hope we get through this so we’ll have the time to get know each other better," Anissa said.
Johnny sounding hopeful said, "Don’t worry, we will. Remember, I don’t kiss and run."
Meanwhile outside Roy was listening to Mike call in another agent over his radio.
"Joel? It’s Mike. What’s your 20?" Mike asked.
"Hey Mike. I’m down at CHP Headquarters giving a demo. What’ve ya got?" Joel responded.
"A hostage situation. I need FOX now," Mike informed him.
"I’m on my way," Joel assured.
"Great. We’re at the Winston Jewelry store. You know where that is, right?" Mike asked.
"Yeah, no problem. I know where it is." Joel responded.
Mike set the radio on the hood. Roy was still standing there, watching and waiting patiently.
"I bet this is pretty hard on you, isn’t it?" Mike asked Roy.
"You could say that. Seeing Johnny hurt like that, and not being able to treat him is worse," Roy said.
"I’m doing everything I can to get them out safely," Mike offered.
"I can see that. I have one question. Who is Fox and how is he going to be able to help Johnny and the girl?" Roy wondered.
"FOX is a robot we use for hostage situations and bomb squad. He has a camera in his face. We see the images he looks at on a monitor. Joel maneuvers the control panel to cause FOX to look left, right, up or down. He has a built in mic so we can pick up what’s going on around him," Mike explained.
"I’ve heard some of the police stations are starting to use them. But what if someone shoots at it?" Roy questioned.
"Robots are close to being indestructible. The only way to get a good shot to incapacitate it is to shoot the power cord. But the camera will still function." Mike responded.
"That’s unbelievable," Roy said in amazement.
"It really is. If the situation is life threatening to an officer, we’ll send in a robot such as FOX. If he is shot, we can fix and replace it. We can’t replace human life." Mike added.
Roy looked away from Mike to the jewelry store, thinking of what could happen to Johnny.
Joel arrived on the scene with FOX, the robot. It takes just moments to get him ready for action. It seemed like an eternity to Roy.
Joel relayed to Mike over the radio, "FOX is set up."
"Great. Take it nice and easy. Let’s not spook this guy," Mike interjected.
Joel worked the controls to get FOX to the front door. He watched the monitor closely to see what was going on.
Joel sized up the situation, " FOX is in the right place. I can see Kyle on the floor, a half empty JD bottle next to him."
"Can Kyle see Fox?" Mike was curious.
"Negative," Joel replied, "He’s out of his line of sight."
"Let me know if Kyle moves," Mike said.
"10-4," Joel replied.
"Mike, Kyle just got up. He’s headed towards the back room," Joel reported.
Mike instructed, "Have FOX open the door slowly, then enter."
Joel replied, " Alright," while he maneuvered FOX to open the door, made him go inside to the counter. FOX moved his head side to side, and saw Kyle open the back storage room door.
Anissa said to Johnny, "I wish I had met you sooner."
"All that matters now, is that we met," Johnny replied.
Johnny pulled her close to him and kissed her lightly on her forehead.
They don’t notice Kyle was watching them and getting furious.
Kyle at this point yelled, "Anissa!" As they looked over at Kyle, he was standing there with gun in the front of his waist holding the near-empty bottle of JD. He staggered over to them, grabbed Anissa’s wrist and pulled her towards him, seeing Johnny’s shirt unbuttoned. He slapped her hard across the face causing her to fall to the floor. Johnny went to her to help her up, and got himself between her and Kyle.
"I won’t let you hit her again, Kyle," Johnny exclaimed.
"Fine, then I’ll hit you," Kyle said as he hit the bottle on the chair.
Johnny pushed Anissa behind him to guard her.
Kyle grabbed Johnny by his shirt and pulled him close to his face. "You’re a dead man, fire boy," Kyle threatened.
He shoved Johnny to the floor and straddled him, hitting his head against the floor. Johnny was dazed. Kyle took the bottle and slashed Johnny on the left side of his neck, causing blood to go everywhere. Annisa screamed just as Kyle was about to finish Johnny off.
As Johnny got a sudden burst of adrenline, he grabbed Kyle’s gun and fired off 2 rounds. Kyle fell, dead, to the floor.
Joel and Mike heard Anissa’s screams and the two gun shots. "Everyone in now—shots have been fired," Mike ordered.
Roy ran to Mike. "DeSoto, you can’t enter until the scene is secured," Mike said.
Roy replied, "By then someone could be dead." He headed to the door as he heard Joel on the HT.
"We have a code F and a code I. Send paramedics," Joel’s voice crackled through the HT.
Roy and Dawson, one of the other paramedics called to the scene after Johnny was taken hostage, ran to the back room and saw Kyle lying next to Johnny. He had blood all over his shirt, and was not moving. Roy checked for a pulse. Kyle had no pulse. Then he noticed Johnny was unconscious with blood all over the left side of his neck. Anissa was applying direct pressure to Johnny’s wound. Roy then saw the bruise on Anissa’s cheek.
"Ma’am, are you okay?" Roy inquired.
Anissa answered, "I’m fine. Please help Johnny, he is hurt bad."
Dawson set up the bio-phone, and handed it to Roy.
"Rampart, this is Squad 51," Roy reported.
"Go ahead, 51," Dr. Brackett replied.
"Rampart, we have an unconscious male, 30 years of age, with numerous lacerations from broken glass," Roy began.
"He has a 2 inch laceration on the left side of his neck that is bleeding profusely, though no sign of major arterial or venous bleeding. Vital signs are: pulse 120 and weak, respirations 24 and shallow, BP 94 over 76. We are applying direct pressure to the wound and have started O2," Roy finished reporting.
"51, start IV with ringers. Continue with O2 and pressure. Transport as soon as possible," Dr. Brackett ordered.
"10-4, Rampart," Roy acknowledged.
Roy and Dawson got Johnny loaded up on the ambulance.
Anissa was staring at the ambulance. Roy saw her.
"Maybe you should come to the hospital and get checked out and then you can see Johnny," Roy suggested.
"I owe him my life," Anissa responded.
Roy helped her onto the ambulance and continued to monitor Johnny’s vitals.
Roy paced nervously about the waiting room.
Johnny had been in the treatment room for almost an hour now. He looked down at the cup of coffee he held in his hand. It was cold and untouched. Shaking his head, he dumped the cup, coffee and all into the trash. He looked again down the hall. Dixie had shooed him out of the room as soon he was done helping transfer Johnny to the hospital gurney. He wanted to stay and watch, but one look at Dixie and he knew he wouldn’t win an argument with her. "Johnny, why did you have to play the hero?" he wondered aloud, with an audible sigh.
"Because that’s who Johnny is," Brackett answered, entering the room.
Roy turned quickly, startled by him."How is he?" he asked.
"We got him stabilized," Brackett answered, burying his hands into his lab coat’s pockets.
Roy nodded gratefully and listened as Brackett continued, "We put 18 stitches into his neck. Damn lucky, that partner of yours. Another half inch and his Carotid would have been cut. Other than that, he has some minor cuts and bruises. Looks like he got banged up a bit. He’ll probably have a hell of a headache, too."
"Concussion?" Roy asked.
"Very minor. Nothing to worry about," Brackett replied.
"So he’ll be alright?" Roy asked.
"It was a nasty cut. We’ll be watching it closely for infection. As long as the antibiotics work and he gets plenty of rest, he should be fine," Bracket answered.
"Thanks, Doc," Roy said, "Can I see him?’
"No problem, Roy," Brackett responded. "You can probably still see him down here. I don’t think they found a room for him yet."
Roy started to proceed to the treatment room and Anissa saw him. She asked "Did the doctor come, Roy?"
He responded, "Yeah, he said he’ll be alright. I’m going in to see him now. Would you like to see him too?"
"Better see him alone. I’ll go in after you," she replied.
"Okay, I won’t be long," Roy said. He went in and Johnny opened his eyes.
Roy questioned, "How ya doing partner?"
Johnny replied, "Tired…my head really hurts." As he touched his neck he asked Roy,
"How bad?"
Roy replied, "18 stitches, another half inch and your carotid would have been cut."
Johnny looked away from Roy.
"What’s wrong," Roy wondered.
"How’s Kyle," Johnny asked as he looked back at Roy.
"He didn’t make it," Roy informed Johnny.
"Anissa, is she okay?" Johnny asked.
"She’s fine," Roy replied, " Dr. Early checked her out."
Roy noticed how tired Johnny looked. Johnny could hardly keep his eyes open as they were talking.
"You know Roy, maybe I’ll see her a little later. I’m getting tired," he said as he yawned. " …from the medications…they’re making me feel….." He fell asleep in mid-sentence.
Roy turned to leave and looked at his sleeping partner one more time. "You’ve been through a lot today, Junior. You deserve a long rest." Roy said quietly, opening the door.
He saw Anissa as soon as he got the door open.
"How is he?" Anissa asked.
"He’ll be okay. He fell asleep talking to me. He’s pretty out of it with the medication they’re giving him for the pain. Best thing now is for him to sleep and let his body heal. How ‘bout I buy you a cup of coffee? It will give us a chance to talk." Roy offered.
"I’d like that," Anissa accepted the offer.
Five days later, Johnny was released from the hospital. During that time, Johnny had thought a lot about what has happened between him and Anissa, his feelings for her, and how much he didn’t want to lose her. But the thought of what he did to Kyle gave him nightmares. He was so torn up, he couldn’t even confide in Roy. He knew his silence was hurting both Roy and Anissa. He just couldn’t tell them what he’d been feeling about what he’d done. After a lot of soul searching, he made the only decision he knew that he could make.
He showed up at the fire station when Roy was out on a run with Dawson.
He went directly to the Captain’s office. Hank looked up as Johnny entered.
"Hey, Cap," Johnny said.
"John, it is good to see you," Captain Stanley said as he shook Johnny’s hand, "So you’re ready to go to work?"
"No, I just stopped by to give you this," he said as he handed him a piece of paper.
The Captain took it and read it. "This is your resignation," he said matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, I quit," Johnny confirmed.
"You can’t quit," challenged Captain Stanley, "You and Roy are the best we have."
"Not anymore," Johnny quipped. "I’m sorry Cap."
Johnny left.
A half an hour later, Dawson and Roy returned. Captain Stanley called Roy into his office.
"Hey, Cap, you wanted to see me?" Roy asked.
"You’d better take a look at this," he said as he handed him Johnny’s resignation letter.
"He can’t do this. You can’t accept his resignation," Roy replied.
"I don’t have any intention on doing that. You better talk to him and find out what is going on," Captain Stanley ordered.
"Can you get someone to cover me?" Roy asked.
"Not a problem. Get going," Captain Stanley responded.
Roy left and headed over to Johnny’s. As he pulled up he saw a car he didn’t recognize. Upon walking up to the door, he heard Anissa and Johnny in a loud conversation.
"You resigned? Why?" Anissa asked.
"Because I don’t want to be a paramedic anymore. I’m tired of helping people," Johnny replied.
"That’s a lie and you know it. Roy told me the reason you became a paramedic. You wanted to make a difference and help people, who wouldn’t stand a chance without your training," she challenged.
"You don’t know me. You’ve only known me for five days," Johnny debated.
"I may have only known you for five days, but I’ve learned five years of information about you. You’re not the kind of person to give up on a patient or yourself. You have fought hard to save a lot of people. Why won’t you fight now to save yourself?" she rebutted.
"I don’t want to talk about this with you!" Johnny yelled.
"Well, I do, and you’re going to listen to me," she yelled back, " You’re a fireman paramedic. You go out on dangerous rescues and fires. There has been times when someone has been hurt badly and you haven’t thought twice about risking your life to save theirs. You won’t give up to save their lives, but you’ll give up your own dream to be the best rescue man you can."
"My dream never included killing a man. I’m supposed to save lives, not take them," he refuted.
"You had no choice. If you hadn’t killed Kyle, he would have killed you. He almost succeeded in that. Once he was done with you, he would have killed me too –just not as fast. He would have made me suffer the most degrading way he could have," she said as she started to cry, "You saved me and I am so grateful for that." She wiped away the tears. "If you hadn’t helped me and comforted me like you did, I wouldn’t have the feelings I have for you. You didn’t give up on me in there, I’m not going to give up you now, Johnny Gage. You mean too much to me. You are a brave and special person. Don’t let Kyle win. There are too many people who love and care about you to see you throw it away because you had to save us from Kyle."
Johnny then turned around and faced her. He was crying too. He pulled her close to him and kissed her.
" I am so sorry, Anissa. God, I’m sorry," he said as he wiped his tears away.
Roy wiped his tears too as he headed to his car. He returned to the station and visited the Captain.
"Well what happened?" inquired Captain Stanley.
"Well, I say Johnny will be wanting his resignation back. I would guess he’ll be here in a little while," Roy replied.
Roy smiled as he left the Captain a little confused.
An hour later, Johnny and Anissa showed up. All the guys were in the kitchen, and they welcomed Johnny back.
Chet called out to Johnny, "So Gage, when are you going to grace us with your presence?"
"Will tomorrow be early enough for you, Chet," Johnny replied.
"Tommorrow……hmmmmm. I’d better get busy," Chet said with a twinkle in his eye. With that, Chet headed to the locker room.
Anissa shot a look at Johnny and asked, "Busy doing what?"
"The phantom returns, Oh no!" Captain Stanley exclaimed.
"Cap, can I talk to you alone in your office?" Johnny asked.
"Sure, John," he responded as they left for the office.
Roy and Anissa made their way over to the couch.
"I heard what you said at Johnny’s place. I didn’t know he was upset about what happened with Kyle. He never opened up to me about that. Johnny keeps a lot to himself. The only way to get something is to pry it out," Roy said.
"I’m sure he would’ve told you sooner or later. I wanted to see how he was doing. I didn’t get to see him much at the hospital. He was either asleep or the doctors were checking his wounds. After you called me and told me he’d be released, I drove over to his place and I could tell by his mood something was bothering him. And he told me he resigned. I guess I lost it and gave it to him with both barrels. I’m sorry you had to hear me go off on him." Anissa explained.
"I’m glad you did. It brought him back to his senses," Roy responded as he gave her a hug.
Just then, Johnny and Captain Stanley returned to the room and went over to them.
"Did you get that paper taken care of," Roy inquired.
"What paper?" Lopez interjected.
Johnny put his hand around Anissa’s waist and responded with a smile, "I burned it. Never mind, Marco. Anissa and I are almost ready to go."
Roy said, "I need to talk to Johnny for just a second, Anissa."
Anissa replied, "Sure, Roy."
Then Chet chimed in, "I’ll take care of her, Johnny. You wanna see my barbed wire collection, Anissa?"
Anissa looked at Johnny all confused.
Johnny replied, "Chet!"
Chet joked, "I’ll bring her right back, Gage."
Chet grinned as he led her out the door. Roy led Johnny over to the table.
"You could’ve told me you were having a problem coming to terms with what happened to Kyle." Roy started.
Johnny replied, "Roy, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I’ve never killed some one before. I didn’t like that feeling. Thought if I quit, the whole thing would just go away."
"You’re not the kind of guy to run away from a problem, Johnny," Roy responded.
Johnny said, "If it wouldn’t have been for Anissa, I would have. She brought me back to my senses pretty quick. Besides, the thought of you being stuck with Brice also had me thinking of what a mistake I would be making. No one should be stuck with Brice."
They both started laughing as Roy put his arm around Johnny’s shoulder.
"So tell me Junior, just how did you comfort Anissa?" Roy joked.
Johnny answered, "How did you find out about that?"
"I was at your place when she read you the riot act. I was going to, but she beat me to it." Roy explained.
Johnny grinned and said, "Roy, a gentleman never kisses and tells."
Roy shook his head as Chet returned with Anissa.
Johnny took hold of Anissa’s hand. Chet heard the part about Johnny calling himself a gentleman.
Chet said, "Gage, a gentleman? Now that’s a laugh."
"Chet!" Johnny said sternly.
Chet looked at all of them, and innocently said, "What?"
Then they all said in unison, "Shut up!"
THE END
Author’s note: I would like to thank Mady Bay for all her help on vitals and dialogue, not to mention her patience. If it hadn’t been for Mady, this story wouldn’t have been posted or even written. If I hadn’t stumbled on the Emergency archives then I wouldn’t have read her stories, Part of the Job and Hostages. I wrote her to tell her how much I enjoyed the stories. I told her how I was inspired to write my own and she supported my idea, and said I should give it a shot. And thanks to Jennifer Brogan for putting this in sentence form and her ideas of dialogue and story line. Thanks to both of you for making this possible. E-mail address: pally51@juno.com. Let me know if you like this story Good or bad, I can take it. J
NOTICE: The layout and graphics on this page are the property of Two Chickies Fan Fiction. They may NOT be used on any other fan fiction site and any such use consitutes HTML theft. We urge you not to support any site that engages in such tactics, and to report any such usage to Marcia or Tangee.