Concussion #13

Kel walked into John's room, clucking his tongue. "You here AGAIN? It's your day off for cryin' in the night!"

John looked up at him miserably, clutching an ice bag to his head. "I was helpin' my neighbor move. I bumped against the landing railing... and it gave way. I fell, and her couch fell on top of me."

"M-hm. Well, lay back."

As John did, slowly, Brackett asked, "Is she cute?"

"Oh yeeeeaaahhh."

"Obviously not taken..."

"Nope, free as a bird. Ouch! Watch it, Doc!"

"I intend to. What's her name?"

"Serena... man, that's the prettiest name I think I ever heard..."

"Serena....yeah, it is. I'll be sure to say it over and over."

"Scuse me? You're gonna be saying it?"

"Yep. You're not leaving this hospital for two weeks, hose jockey. So I'm gonna drop by and let her know you're gonna be okay. Maybe ask her out for dinner," he teased.

"You'd bird dog an injured man?" Johnny wailed, half seriously.

"When it's you? Any day!"

"You're cruel, you know that? The nurses are right..."

He smiled. "I'm not the one who ended up with concussion #1,735."

"Wrong. Only concussion number 13. It just FEELS like 1,735."

"Oh, so you're keeping count? Unlucky 13."

"They were all unlucky," he groaned, laying back and shutting his eyes against the bright exam room lights.

Brackett chuckled. "Rest."

"Just stay away from Serena..." Johnny growled, sounding like James Cagney.

Brackett paused. ".......what?"

"I said, stay away from Serena... or I'll have ta rub ya out." And, underneath the ice bag, Johnny's mouth tilted up impishly.

"I'd like to see you try."

"Right now, you're safe, believe me," his voice was his own again, and tired.

"How'd you do that?"

"I don't know, I just hear the sound in my head... and make it."

"WOW!"

"Just one of my many talents..." Johnny yawned.

Dixie came to see him after he'd been admitted. "You just can't stay out of trouble can you?"

Bogart spoke from under the arm thrown across Johnny's face. "I was born for trouble. My middle name is trouble."

"Okay, who smuggled in the tape recorder?"

"It's me, swe'heart.."

"Johnny??? Are you doing that?"

"Sure!" he chuckled, "Who else is in here?"

"Since when do you do such a convincing Bogey?"

He shrugged. "Dunno... just... can."

"Mmmph. Do someone else."

"Who?"

"Joe."

"Joe? Sheesh!" But a second later, Joe's voice asked, "Dix, aren't you going to get him off this table and into a room?"

She laughed. "Your chariot awaits. Do Roy."

"I'm sorry. It's my fault, really. I'm so sorry."

Dixie had to sit on the table she was laughing so hard.

"Come on, Dix, it hurts to laugh!" he complained, chuckling inspite of himself, her merriment was so infectious.

"Now if you could do women and mechanical sounds....animal sounds..."

"Animals, I think... women... well, my voice won't go that high, " he laughed. "Mechanical sounds?"

By now she was pushing him down the hall. The wheelchair's wheel began to squeak. "Aw, shoot." she stopped it and bent down. "Funny...not squeaking now..."

It squeaked again, standing still. She slowly raised her eyes and looked at John. The wheel chair squeaked again.

She grinned. "You're doing that."

"You DID ask if I could make mechanical sounds..."

"I expected a yes or no....not a demonstration!"

He grinned.

"You couldn't do this before your head knock, could you?"

"Well, a little, but not this well. I used to drive the teachers nuts in school." He laughed softly. "I had my third grade teacher chasing a cricket for days."

That made her laugh again. A cricket sang brightly by her feet, then seemed to move to the water fountain a couple of feet away.

"Holy COW!"

"I could always do crickets, birds and frogs."

"And now your repertoire's grown."

"Seems that way."

"My."

Two weeks later, Chet laughed as John ran in late again. "First day back and the Pigeon's already late!"

Johnny turned to his locker, just as the tones rang out for the engine. Chet scurried out... and Johnny dressed in peace.

Chet came tearing back in, several seconds later. "What... what was that?"

Roy walked in. "What's with Chet?"

"What do you mean?" Johnny asked with careful innocence.

"He's swearing on his gramma's stew he heard the tones!"

Johnny turned to him... and the tones came out of his mouth, softly, followed by a reasonable facsimile of Sam's even phrasing.

Roy took a step backward. "How in the WORLD..."

"I dunno, I've always been able to mimic stuff some... but not like this."

"What changed?"

Johnny reached up and gingerly rubbed the goose egg on his skull. "One crack on the head too many, maybe?"

"Brain damage?"

"Gee thanks, Roy."

They went to Rampart for supplies. Brice was there, getting supplies for 16's. His back was turned to John and Roy.

John came up close behind. Beep Beep Beep Squad 16, what is your status?

Roy stuck his hand over his mouth to keep his laughter inside.

Brice fumbled for his handie-talkie. "Squad 16, available!"

"Repeat, Squad 16?" It was the genuine voice of Sam Lanier, this time.

"Repeating, LA. Squad 16 available."

Roy leaned over to Dixie. "Man!" he whispered. "I can't tell the difference!"

"Squad 16, no call was made. LA out."

Brice frowned at the handi-talkie. "That is BIZARRE...."

Repeat, Squad16? Johnny ventriloquized again.

Brice frowned and keyed the radio. "LA, repeat please?"

A bit of pique was detectable in Lanier's normally smooth tones. "Squad 16, no call was made. What is your status?"

"Squad 16, available, LA."

"10-4, LA out."

Brice shook his head and got the last of his supplies..his hand closing around Johnny's as he did so. "Gage."

"Huh?" Johnny pulled back a bit, startled.

"Nice to see you procuring supplies as well."

"Uh, yeah.... thanks. Uh... it's been a busy shift for us. How 'bout you?"

"Not too bad...but I didn't want to run low on anything." He then frowned deeply. "Gage, has your handie-talkie been giving false reports?"

"What? No, of course not." Johnny grinned and lifted his handi-talkie. "Works perfect, even after the squad ran over it."

"The SQUAD ran OVER it?" Brice's eyes went huge.

"Uh, yeah.... a couple of weeks ago. I kinda laid it up on the hood, when we were working an MVA... and then, we had to move the squad real quick to let an engine through...." He shrugged.

"Mmm."

"You can still see the tread marks..." Johnny held out the instrument. Sure enough, the marks of a rugged radial were compressed into the leather. "If the ground hadn't been soft, it would have been flattened, I guess."

"You were lucky."

"Yeah. Cap would have eaten me for lunch if I'd creamed another one."

Brice turned...but not before John saw a smile on his face.

Johnny turned to go... and a cricket chirped by Craig's feet.

Brice jumped nearly a foot, yelping.

"What?! What the heck's amatter with you?!" Bellingham blurted, startled by his partner's wild outburst.

"I stepped on an animal!"

"What kinda animal could be inside the ER, Brice?" Bellingham commented in a long-suffering tone.

"A cricket!"

"Look-- there's nothing there, unless it's stuck to the bottom of your shoe..." Bob gestured to the linoleum near Craig's boots.

"But I HEARD..." was Craig's protest as they left.

As soon as the doors closed behind 16's paramedics, Roy and Johnny burst out laughing so hard they both had to lean on Dix's desk for support.

"You're too good, you know," Dixie said.

Johnny shrugged. "Thanks... but it's nothing that 's gonna do anything for me. I mean, if I was going to be granted some weird talent, why couldn't it have been something like ESP or invisibility? This... mimcry... won't even get me on the Tonight Show."

Beep, beep, beep! "Squad 51, what is your status?"

Johnny lifted the HT. "Squad 51, 10-8 from Rampart."

Roy looked with irritation at John, then, remembered Gage had sworn not to do that to 51's again.

"Engine 51, squad 51, structure fire, 14446 Velvet. 14446 Velvet. Cross street Tyler, time out 14-30."

Grabbing their gear, the pair took off at a quick trot for the squad.

The building was not fully involved, but it was getting close. Roy and John went in after a child.

Johnny yelled as best he could, through his mask, "SARAH!!! SARAH!!! WHERE ARE YOU??!!" He opened doors, pulled over the sofa and chairs, looked under tables and in closets.

In the bedroom, he found her on her hands and knees, screaming. "BOOTS! BOOTS WHERE ARE YOU?"

He made a grab for her, "Sarah, come on, sweetie, we have to get out!"

She pushed him away. "Go away! I'm not leaving till I find Boots!" She resumed her frantic search. "Boots! Boots, here kitty!"

"Sarah! Come on!" He grabbed at her again. "Boots will be ok, but we have to get out of this house!!"

"NO! He'll DIE!" She pushed him away again. "BOOTS! PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOU'RE OKAY!"

Johnny grabbed the girl up into his arms, and held her firmly. Mroaw!!! came from somewhere just outside the room.

"BOOTS!" She tried to wriggle from his grasp. "That's Boots!"

"I hear him... listen, he'll follow us out. You just breath into this, to keep the smoke out, ok?" He fitted his mask over her face and hurried out into the hallway. A loud meowing stayed just behind them.

She stayed calm the whole time, confident her cat was following them.

Johnny laid Sarah down onto the disposable blanket Roy had spread a safe distance from the fire ground.

"Where's Boots?"

"I... I don't know..." Johnny fudged, inwardly wincing at his deception.

Roy walked over. "What's going on?"

"Her cat's still missing," Johnny told him, under his breath.

Roy knelt before her. "Sarah, honey, was your cat a ginger cat?"

"Yes, with a blue collar with a little gold bell on it!"

He smiled. "Look." He pointed to where Marco was leaning against the engine, slowly and patiently running his fingers down a little ginger and blue bundle he held in his hands.

"BOOTS!!!" She pushed the O2 mask away and stretched out her arms. "He DID follow us out!" She beamed at Johnny.

Roy looked at Johnny and just pointed at him, raising his eyebrows.

A single nod was his reply.

Once they met up again at Rampart, he moved to John's side. "You okay?"

"Yeah... I'm fine. I'm just glad that darn cat got out ok." He shook his head, "I hated lying to her, but she was fighting me tooth and nail to look for the stupid thing."

"You did the right thing, Junior. The absolute right thing."

"Then why do I feel like such a heel?"

It was Dixie that answered. "Because you used your gift for something other than pranks. You know now it's a gift and a responsibility." She squeezed his shoulder. "You grew up a little, John."

He gave her a small smile.... and a cat mewed softly from somewhere around her ankles.

Catch a ride back to the Flight Deck...