Stay tuned for scenes from our next story: Celebration of Life, written with Golden Waterfall.

COMING ATTRACTIONS

Scene One
~ August 26, 1972

"Come on, Roy," Johnny shouted over his shoulder as he turned on the television.

"I don't see what the big deal is," Chet griped as he poured his coffee. "It's just a track meet."

"It is not 'just a track meet,' Kelly," Johnny argued, "this is the best athletes in the world coming together in the name of sportsmanship and healthy competition." Chet laughed. "What's so funny?"

"You sound like Howard Cosell. 'This is John Gage, reporting on the Olympics live from Station 51'," he droned nasally in a passable imitation of the famous sportscaster. He came over and stood in front of the television. "What are you so excited about now? No one's competing yet, it's just the opening ceremony."

"He does have a point," said Roy as he came into the kitchen and headed for the coffee pot.

Johnny spun to face him. "Are you kidding me? Roy, this is the Olympics! The Olympics, Man!" He had joined his partner at the counter before he noticed the grin. He accepted the coffee Roy had poured for him and, with a glance at Chet, lowered his voice conspiratorially. "I could've been on this team."

"Which team? You mean the Olympic team? You could have made the U.S. Olympic team?" Unnoticed by both paramedics, Chet had made his way to them just in time to overhear Johnny's statement.

"Yeah, Chet, almost," Johnny said with pride.

"Hey, guys," Chet called as Mike and Marco came into the room, "get a load of Gage. He says he was going to be in the Olympics."

"Why don't you go play in traffic, Kelly." Johnny left Chet snickering to the others as he made his way back to the television and settled in.

"Leave it alone, Chet," Roy firmly advised as he followed his partner across the room. He took the seat to John's left. "You were really good enough for the Olympics?"

Johnny smiled. "I could have been. My high school coach thought I could compete."

"Weren't you still in high school during the last Olympics?"

Johnny rolled his eyes, but his smile never dimmed. "I graduated that spring, the games weren't until October. It was too late to make the team, though. I wouldn't have been ready for Mexico City, but Coach said that with some hard work and the right training I would make the next U.S. team. This year's team."

"Wow." Roy grinned, genuinely impressed. "You said you were good, not that good. Why didn't you go for it?"

"I couldn't train for the Olympics and the Fire Department," John explained matter-of-factly. "But Roy, some of this year's competitors were here, in California, back then. Not just the U.S. team, either. I knew some of those guys. Before I started at the Academy I got to run with them. It was incredible!"

"Not incredible enough to change your mind, though."

"No," Johnny's smile widened. "Since I was a kid all I ever wanted was to be a fireman. I was right there, you know? Graduation, my birthday, then straight to the Fire Academy. But man, for a minute … I was world class."

"Has it started?" John Smith, 51's current captain, came in from his office, leading the way as the rest of the crew joined the paramedics in front of the television.

The men settled in to watch. A few announcements in German from the television, then the music began.

Scene Two
~ August 29, 1972

Johnny entered the locker room as Roy was changing into his uniform. "Good morning, good morning, good morning!" He clapped Roy's shoulder before heading to his own locker.

"You're in a good mood this morning."

"Well why not? I had a great day. Great sports, great friends, great food."

"You spent most of the afternoon watching the Olympics with Chris."

"He's a terrific kid. And who'd have thought a kid his age would love the Olympics."

"I don't know if it was the Olympics or just watching it with you, Junior. He did enjoy it." Roy chuckled. "It didn't hurt that you let him blow out your candles, or that you passed him a second piece of cake."

"You caught that," Johnny smirked. "He has a heck of an appetite for a kid his age. For any age."

"Like someone else I know."

"Chris is lucky, though; he gets Joanne's cooking every day. At least the baby's not eating solid food yet, leaves more for him … and me, of course," Johnny teased. Before Roy could respond, he added, "Seriously Pally, thanks. It was a really great way to spend my birthday."

"Let's do it again before the games are over. I'm sure Chris would have a good time even without the birthday cake."

"Why no cake?"

Roy grabbed his shoes from the bench, tossed them into his locker and closed the door. "If you want cake, you bring it." He moved to the door. "Hurry up if you want coffee before roll call."

With another laugh, Johnny turned to finish dressing.

Scene Three
~ September 6, 1972

Roy backed the squad in after returning from a run. He reached for the door and noticed Johnny hadn't moved. "Are you ok?" He wondered if Johnny even heard him.

"Yeah, just give me a minute."

Roy nodded his understanding and exited the squad. He spotted Captain Smith in the office doorway. With a nod toward Johnny, Cap asked, "What's with your partner?"

"You saw the news last night, didn't you?" Cap nodded. "It hit him really hard. And this run didn't help matters." Cap simply raised an eyebrow. "He was fine on the run, completely professional," Roy quickly volunteered. "It was nothing, a twisted ankle. At the University track. Just give him a minute," he reiterated Johnny's request and went to the day room.

Cap watched Johnny for a minute, then deferred to Roy and returned to the office.

Unnoticed by them all, Mike Stoker heard the exchange from the cab of the engine. He dropped the cleaning rag on the seat beside him, then he, too, watched Johnny for minute. Finally he climbed down and moved to the passenger side of the squad. John still did not notice. "Johnny?"

"Huh?" he jumped, startled from his thoughts. "Oh. Hey, Stoke."

"You ok?"

"Of course," Johnny replied glibly. "Why wouldn't I be?" Mike said nothing. Johnny looked to the engineer, then turned to again face front. They remained like that for several long minutes; Johnny staring blindly out the squad's windshield, Mike watching him. Johnny finally broke the silence. "I had dinner at Roy's last night. After we ate we all sat down to watch the Games." There was another long silence. Mike waited patiently, and finally Johnny continued on his own. "Later, Chris had a-a nightmare or something and came back into the living room. Joanne tried to pick him up but he wouldn't let her, so she went to make him some cocoa and Roy tried to hold him." A small, sad smile crossed Johnny's lips. "Chris ran over to me." He finally looked up at Mike. "He climbed up in my lap and held onto me like his life depended on it."

Stoker nodded knowingly. "What time was it?"

"Um … t-ten something," Johnny replied, confused. "Why?"

"About the time the news broke?" Mike asked socratically.

"But even if he could've heard the television, would he even u-un-understand what he was hearing?"

"Kids that age are pretty sharp," Mike told him. "When someone they care about is hurt, they hurt. You were hurting."

With that the dam broke. Johnny informed Mike of his Olympic aspirations, short-lived though they'd been. "I-I got a chance to-to meet some of this year's a-athletes, to-to work with them. Coach was p-pushing pretty hard mm-my senior year, so …" He inhaled deeply, pushing down the emotion and attempting to tame the stutter. "Mike," he spoke slowly, calmly, "it wasn't just Americans. The I-Israeli track coach — he … he wasn't a coach yet. He was studying here, a-a-at the University. I-I ran with him; I trained with him. I knew his family. His-his wife, E-Esther, she … they'd jus-just had a-a-a little girl.

"Wh-what if they don't … what if … what if he doesn't …"

With a sad shake of his head, Mike gently laid his hand on Gage's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Johnny."

They stayed together like that in silence while Johnny gathered himself. A short time later they went into the kitchen together, where Chet was at the stove stirring his chili and Marco was setting the table around Roy, who was doing paperwork. With Mike right behind him, Johnny went to the television and turned it on.

Sportscaster Jim McKay appeared on screen. "The latest word we get from the airport is that, quote 'all hell's broken loose out there,' that there's still shooting going on, that there — that there's a report of a burning helicopter— "

The tones sounded.

Nearly two hours later, six hungry firemen sat down to the dinner they had abandoned. Roy and Mike both watched Johnny carefully, subtly, neither wanting Johnny to notice, thereby hiding their concern from each other as well. Both saw that he was barely eating, both realized now, in front of the others, was not the time to address it, and both resolved to talk to Johnny later, at the first available opportunity, in private.

When the meal was done, much to everyone's surprise, Johnny volunteered to do the dishes. The rest of the crew gathered to watch TV. For what seemed a very long time, the television and the running water were the only sounds in the room. Only Mike looked up when the water stopped.

On the television were scenes of the Munich airport and the standoff between the Palestinian terrorists and the West German authorities. Johnny's back was to the television while the rest of the crew sat engrossed in the unfolding drama. No one noticed the death grip he held on the counter's edge.

"When I was a kid," Jim McKay's voice was calm, conversational, "my father used to say, 'Our greatest hopes and our worst fears are seldom realized.' Our worst fears have been realized tonight." He turned to look directly into the camera. Only his eyes revealed the depth of emotion behind the words. "They have now said there were eleven hostages, two were killed in their rooms yesterday morning, nine were killed at the airport tonight. They're all gone."

It wasn't until they heard the back door close behind him that the crew realized Johnny was gone.

Scene Four (Bonus scene)
~ September 7, 1972

"What in the world?" She hurried to the door, pulling her apron off as she moved. The knocking wasn't too loud, but it was insistent.

"Who could that be at this hour," her husband called from the living room.

"Who knows." Anyone who knew them knew they would usually not be home at 8:30 on a weekday morning. Today was special. Tragically special. She opened the door. "Boychik!"

"Can I come in?" His voice cracked, filled with the tears he would not shed.

"Yes, yes, of course, I'm sorry. I'm just so surprised to see you. Please, come in." She stepped aside, then closed the door behind him.

"Who is it," Eli called again from the living room.

"John Gage," she called back.

"Who?"

Despite his deep sorrow, Johnny felt a smile tug at the corner of his mouth. "The paramedic," Sarah called.

"The boy from Wexler?"

Johnny turned to Sarah. "I shouldn't have come."

"Nonsense," she insisted.

Just then Eli came into the foyer. He wore pants, his slippers and bathrobe. "Hello Paramedic from Wexler."

"Hi, Mr. Gottmann. I'm sorry to bother you at home. I just knew Sarah would be home today, and I -"

"It's no bother, Paramedic." Eli was staring at him. "I know you. You're my paramedic. I mean, you took care of me when I fell." Johnny smiled sheepishly and nodded. "Then it's double no bother. Come, come, come in. Come, sit, have a cup of coffee."

"Not yet," Sarah admonished, "not for you, my dear. Go get dressed."

"Slave driver, this one," said Eli, with a wink to Johnny. He then kissed Sarah and headed upstairs to do as he'd been told.

A minute later Johnny and Sarah were at the kitchen table sipping coffee, a plate of pastry between them. "I'm sorry to bother you at home," Johnny repeated. "I knew you'd understand."

"Understand what, Boychik?"

"I didn't even have to look up your address. I just remembered it, like I was supposed to know it or something, and I knew you'd be here today." He sipped his coffee and eyed the pastry. "What is that?"

"It's called babka. Help yourself."

He did, and took a large bite. "It's good," he said with a full mouth. He finally swallowed. "Sorry. It's good."

It was obvious to Sarah that John was stalling, struggling with something. He wanted to talk. He needed to talk. When ready, he would talk.

"Did I tell you I ran track in high school?" She just watched him and smiled that little smile she had that always put him at ease. "I was really good, too. Ran with a university level coach." Here it comes, she saw. "Olympic level coach." Johnny started breathing hard, struggling to let the words out without releasing the tears with them. "Israeli coach."