VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, [2] ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 08:13:15 08/31/99 Tue
Author: Brenda
Subject: Joanne stood staring at the pay phone in the hall,

not wanting to pick it up and dial, not wanting to talk to anyone just yet. Pastor Garey's words kept bouncing around the corners of her mind, fighting for space with the grief that welled in her heart.

'I know it's hard to accept right now, but sometimes God doesn't make sense. Sometimes, we won't understand until we join with Him why He does the things He does.' Pastor Garey had said. Once she was finally able to control the tears, they had had a long talk about both Johnny and what Roy was going through, in addition to many prayers.

Joanne leaned against the wall in the hallway a moment to try and collect herself, try and focus on her next task. But her mind and heart wanted so desperately to make sense of all that had happened...

'...and remember with fondness all the lives he has touched with his skill and compassion, with his friendship and love and he'll never be far away...'

Joanne wiped at her eye again, not wanting the tears to fall. She knew deep down that the pastor was right, but she couldn't help questioning God's decision in this one case, and she felt she'd question it for a while to come. But for now, she had to get herself under control. Roy was going to need her to be strong to help him through the grief, was going to need her to be strong to help make Johnny's fune....she still couldn't accept the finality of his death, of never seeing him again. She would no longer be seeing him and Roy off on another fishing trip, no longer have to put that additional place setting at the kitchen table for dinner, no longer see him chasing the kids through the yard in play.

The kids - they were going to be devastated when they heard the news. From Johnny's first visit to the house back when he and Roy had officially become paramedics, the kids had become attached to Johnny. It wasn't hard - in many ways the child in him had never left John Gage. He could enjoy life with the same wild abandon that Chris and Jennifer did. 'Uncle Johnny' was a regular part of their lives and his death was going to leave a large empty hole in their lives...

Joanne physically shook herself out of her thoughts and rummaged through her purse for some change. Even though she wasn't ready to explain things to the kids yet, she had to check in with Susan....

Grabbing the change, she picked up the phone and dialed, trying to clear her eyes as the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Susan?"

"Joanne ---" Susan heard the trembling in her best friend's voice and her own alarm bells went off. "Oh my God, has something happened to Roy?" When Joanne had called and asked her if she could pick up the kids from the Keatings' and stay with them, all she had known was that there was an explosion and that Roy and Johnny were involved. She'd had no other news on what happened because she had made sure the radio or TV were not on, so that the kids would not end up seeing their daddy or Uncle Johnny inadvertently on the news...

Joanne willed her voice to be strong. "Susan," still shaky, she tried again. "Susan, Roy's upstairs in surgery. He's taken a lot of glass in the eyes and they had to perform surgery right away - they thought he would lose his sight if they didn't operate immediately....but..." Her voice broke off again, as the grief of the past hours threatened to overwhelm her again.

"Jo?"

"but because of some head injuries, they think his surgery could be dangerous. Dr. Brackett is there assisting the specialist, Dr. Cahan. I haven't heard anything..."

Susan was silent for several moments, searching for the right words. What do you say to a fireman's wife who is afraid for the life of her husband, AND afraid that if he does survive, he will no longer be able to see?

"Joanne, you know Roy will do everything in his power to come back to you. He loves you more then anything."

"I know." The words were small and quiet.

"What about Johnny?" Susan wanted to know.

There was a long, painful silence on the other end of the line, and Susan was beginning to wonder if they had been cut off.

An equally small, quiet voice finally emerged through the line. "Johnny's d...dead, Susan."

Susan's own voice was absent for a long while. Then finally, "I wish I could come there and be with you, but with all the casualties and chaos from the explosion, Deke was called in to work..." She said quietly.

"I know. Thanks. How're the kids?" Joanne asked.

"They're out in the backyard playing right now. Since I picked them up from the Keatings' they know something is up but I haven't mentioned anything to them."

"Did they ask to watch TV?"

"Yeah, but I explained that since it was a beautiful day out, they should play outside." A pause. "I'll take care of them as long as you need me to, Joanne."

"I know thanks. I'm going to wait here while Roy's in surgery - I'll call you as soon as I know anything. Give the kids my love, okay? Tell them I'll be by as soon as I can to get them."

"I will Jo. I'm praying for Roy..."

Joanne hung up the phone quietly, and slowly headed back toward the ER waiting room. Even if she was devastated by the day's events, she knew it would help to be around her friends there.

As she rounded the corner, she nearly bumped into someone in the hall.

As hands reached out to steady her from her sudden stop, she realized it was Hank Stanley, and she had never seen him look as sad as he did today. She was interrupted from further thought.

"Joanne - we've been looking for you..."

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]
[ Contact Forum Admin ]

Forum timezone: GMT-8
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.