Chapter Text
Emily Stanley returned to the waiting room to find Johnny and Chet talking quietly with two young nurses and Mike Stoker watching with a smile. He looked up and caught Emily’s eye, nodding slightly. “Boys, Hank is probably going to sleep. I’ll stay around here for a while longer. Why don’t you all go home and do the same?”
“How will you get home, Mrs. Cap?” Chet asked, knowing Stoker had driven her to the hospital.
“Hank’s sister is a volunteer in the gift shop. She’ll give me a ride after work. I’ll be fine. I promise to call if I need you.”
Chet and Stoker agreed, telling her that they would be back later in the day during visiting hours. With a wave to Johnny, the two firefighters left. Johnny bit his lip, scuffed his shoe on the floor, then looked up at his captain’s wife.
“Ma’am, I’m sorry.”
“For what, John?”
“If I hadn’t asked Cap for a favor, none of this would’ve happened.”
“Now, John, you know very well that Hank would’ve come the same way on his drive home. If you hadn’t been there, who knows how bad it might have been.” She moved to take the young man in a gentle hug. “It was an accident. You of all people should know that some things can’t be avoided. Hank will be fine.”
“Okay. Are you sure you can get a ride home? I have to call a cab anyway, we could go together.”
“No, John, Caroline will drive me home. You don’t have to worry about me. I’m going back up to sit in Hank’s room for a little while longer. Do you have enough money for the taxi?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Johnny gave into an impulse and leaned down to drop a quick kiss on her cheek. “You need anything, you call me first. Okay?”
“Yes, dear, I will. Go home!” she ordered.
She watched as Johnny loped down the hallway, heading for the nurse’s station. Emily could hear him greet nurses and doctors and the sound of his chuckle at something Nurse Carol Williams said to him. Relieved, she headed back to her husband’s room, to keep watch while he slept.
The End
April 2004