| Copyright ,Spanky, 2000 Title: Through the eyes of a child Part: One By Spanky Rated: R Content Warning: Mentioned Child abuse towards Johnny Authors Notes : None ....... " Good morning" Roy DeSoto greeted his friends as he entered the locker room to start theirs shift "Morning." Johnny mumbled obviously in a bad mood as he buttoned his shirt " You don't look to happy, what's up?" Roy asked not being able to help but smile at Johnny's frown. " What's up, he asked." Johnny grumbled as he took a seat in his locker." No I'm not happy. Man Roy, we have to spend the morning with a bunch of screaming ten year olds." " Oh I see and you don't like this idea." Roy said as if he totally uderstood. Sometimes he would never understand his partner, he knew Johnny loved kids, he thought the world of Chris and Jenny." Come on Junior you know you love kids and look at it this way at least you won't have to worry about getting any more stitches." He snickered as he left the locker room. Subconsciously Johnny ran his fingers over the twelve stitches in his cheek remembering with a grimace their last shift. ........ Thirty minutes later both the Engine and Squad pulled to a stop in front of Murry's Junior High School. " Good morning boys and girls, I'm Captain Hank Stanley and these are my men. This is our engineer Mike Stoker , he drives the engine and works all of the gauges and nozzles that are needed when we are fighting a fire. These two men are Fire Fighters Marco Lopez and Chet Kelly, they are the men who actually handle the hoses that put out the fire. "That's my dad, he's one of the Paramedics. " Chrise DeSoto shouted out interrupting Captain Stanley. " Christopher please let the Captain continue." Mrs Johnson admonished Chris. "That's perfectly alright , it's to be expected when a fire-fighter has a child in the class. As Chris said, this is hid father Roy DeSoto and his partner John Gage. They are the paramedics with station 51, their job is to treat any person who has been injured and then take them to the hospital." Stanley said smiling at the children. " What we want to teach you today is that although fire is a very useful tool it is also very deadly and something not to be played with." Mike Stoker said taking over with his part of the demonstration. All of the children were given a chance to try on the turn out gear as well as sit in the drivers seat of Big Red. As for Johnny and Roy , they demonstrated how they contacted the hospital by doing a calibration check to the hospital. And then allowed each child to listen to his own heart beat and have their blood pressure taken. Throught the program Johnny noticed that one small girl did not participate. She stood back away from the rest of the children. With a smile Johnny walked up to the girl. " Well hi there." He began stopping when he noticed several large bruises on both legs as wel as her right arm. " What happened here sweetheart?" Johnny asked as he crouched to examine her legs. With a gasp the small girl pulled away from Johnny and began to tremble when he reached out to touch her. " No don't" She said in a whisper. Looking up Johnny looked into a pair of terrified blue eyes. His stomach knotted in the fear as he sat there. Something in the back of his mind started begging to be released. Pushing the thought's away, Johnny raised his hands in a calming gesture. " Now there there sweety, I'm not going to hurt you." Johnny said soothingly. " Becka what's wrong?" Chris DeSoto asked as he ran up to Johnny and Becka seeing the tears in her eyes. " Nothing's wrong Chris really." Becka said as she wiped her eyes. " Oh okay come on, I want you to meet my dad. " Chris said grabbing her hand to go find his father. " Dad I want you to meet someone." Chris said stopping at Roy's side. " This is Becka Lynn Williams, she just moved here a few weeks ago. Becka this is my dad." Chris said by way of introduction. " Becka Lynn, it's so nice to meet you." Roy said reaching out to shake the small girls hand. With a small gasp Becka stepped back away from Roy " Hey Chris do I get to meet your friend too?" Johnny asked as he studied Becka. " Becka this is my Uncle Johnny, he and my dad are partners on the squad." Chris said with pride. " It's nice to meet you both." Becka said with hesitation " Dad could Becka come to my birthday party?" Chris asked his father looking hopefully between Roy and Becka. " Oh sure, as long as her parents say that it's okay." Roy said with a smile. "No Chris I can't." Becka cried turning and then hurrying away. With a frown Johnny went over to the squad to start packing up their equipment. He knew that Roy and Chris had misssed the fear in Becka's eyes but he hadn't. He had seen that look before he just couldn't remember where. Without warning he broke out in a cold sweat and ran to the end of the squad and vomited his breakfast. " Roy you'd better get over here Johnny's sick." Mike Stoker called leaving the engine to go to Johnny. He had seen John's mad dash for the back of the squad and could now hear the sounds of retching. Roy and Chris along with the other members of station 51 ran to the back of the squad where Johnny was kneeling on the ground now suffering from dry heaves. Reaching out Roy attempted to support his partner's head. " No don't touch me." Johny gasped as he continued to choke. Taken back by Johnny's words Roy stepped back and watched helplessly as his partner gagged. " Johnny what's wrong? tell me what happened." Roy said in concern. " Nothing's wrong, I'm fine." Johnny snapped as he shakenly go to his feet. Dammit why is this happening now? It only happened at night he thought to himself as he got into the squad. " Roy is he okay?" Captain Stanly asked having witnessed the whold scene " He says he is." Roy said with some hesitation " Dad what's wrong with Uncle Johnny? why is he sick?" Chris asked with tears in his eyes. " Come on Chris, Uncle Johnny told us he was fine." Roy said soothingly to his son." Then why'd he yell at you? and why wouldn't he let you touch him?" Chris wanted to know. " I don't know Chris, I just dont know. But I'll tell you what, I'll aske Uncle Johnny to come home to dinner with me and then you can see for yourself thats he's alright." Roy promised getting ready to leave. Getting into the squad Roy studied his partner, his face was pale and drawn and Roy could see that his body still shook. Johnny sat with his eyes closed tight and jaw clenched. Sencing Roy's eyes on him Johnny spoke without opening his eyes. " I'm sorry I snapped at you Roy, I'm okay really." ........ As Roy had promised Johnny came over for dinner the next night. As they sat around the table eating, Chris kept stealing glances at Johnny. " Is there something wrong Chris?" Johnny asked " No nothing's wrong Uncle Johnny, I was just wondering if.... " Chris trailed off looking uncomfortable. "Wondering what Chris, how I'm feeling?" Johnny said finishing Chris's question for him. " I'm feeling fine." Johnny attempted a half hearted smile. " Why are you lying Uncle Johnny? You should tell my dad that your really sick so he can help you. You wouldn't even let him touch you yesturday. Why wouldn't you let him touch you?" Chris demanded in an angry voice. Johnny shifted in his seat uncomfortable. Dropping his eyes towards the floor he whispered ." I'm not lying Chris, I really do feel fine." " Johnny you do not have to explain anything, Christopher, you young man go to your room this instant." Joanne said turning to her son as she pointed towards his room. " Yes ma'me but he did lie." Chris said as he left the table. " Johnny I'm sorry, Chris had no right to say any of that to you." Roy apologized reaching out to squeeze Johnny's shoulder. With the look of panic, Johnny backed away from Roy's touch. " NO... No..... he..... had ..... every.....right...." Johnny stuttered obviously very upset. " No Johnny , no my ten year old had no right." Roy stated becoming increasingly concerned about Johnny. He knew that the only time Johnny stuttered was if he was upset or scared and the look that filled his eyes told Roy that he was scared. " Yes..... he.....did......I .....did.....lie." Johnny whispered his stutter becoming more pronounced with each word. " It doesn't matter what he thought." Joanne declared upset by the fact that Johnny had become so uncomfortable. " I..... gotta.... go....thanks....for ....dinner...." Johnny managed to get out as he fled from the DeSoto home. Roy gave Chrise fifteen minutes and then went down the hall to his room. " Chris we need to talk." Roy called as he tapped on the bedroom door. Getting no answer Roy opened the door and went in. Chris was laying on his stomach sideways across the bed and it was very obvious that he had been cring." Crying is not going to get you out of trouble Christopher." Roy declared sternly. " I know it won'l but you always taught us to tell the truth and Uncle Johnny lied to you. Not just yesturday at the school when he was sick, but tonight too. " Chris said as new tears formed in his eyes. " Chris whether you think Uncle Johnny lied or not, it is not your place as a child to say anything to him about it. You made Johnny very upset." Roy explained " I didn't mean to hurt Uncle Johnny but he's just like Becka is. He's so sad all the time and he was afraid of you yesturday and tonight when you went to touch him." Chris said sadly. Roy took a moment to think about his ten year old words. He knew Johnny had been afraid of him tonight by the way he backed away and by the fact that he stuttered. But had he been afraid yesturday also and he had missed it." Chris I don't know about Becka but I don't think Uncle Johnny was afraid of me" Roy said hoping to convince himself as wel as Chris " Yes he was, Becka does it to. She lies when you know that she is sick and says she isn't , and just like Uncle Johnny when someone tries to touch her she acts scared. " Chris finished his worry in a whisper. " Chris, I know that you are worried about Uncle Johnny and Becka but that still does not give you the right to call him a liar. You are grounded for one week, bed time is an hour earlier and you owe Johnny an apology." Roy said ...........Two Days Later...... Two days later Roy entered the locker room hoping to talk with Johnny and get to the bottom of what was bothering him. He stopped short at the sight of his partner. John Gage looked as if he hadn't slept in days. His eyes were rimmed with dark circles and his face was pale and drawn. He sat in his locker with his head resting against the side and his eyes closed. " Morning Roy." Johny greeted without opening his eyes knowing that his partner stood there watching him. " You dont look so good, You okay?" Roy aske das the warning flags started going up. " Yeah just didn't sleep very well. " Johny said brushing off the concern." Is everything okay with Chris?" "No not really, he's pretty worried about his Uncle Johnny as well as his friend Becka." Roy told Johnny as he opened his own locker. " He doesn't have to be worried about me, Why is he worried about Becka?" Johnny asked feeling an unusual sort of fear for the child. " It seems that Becka acts just like you do, or at least that's what Chris told me. He said that she also lies about being sick, she won't let anyone touch her either and that she is sad just like you are." Roy watched Johnny with building concern as his partner's face turned a shade paler. if that was at all possible and he dropped his head to look at the floor. " Tell Chris I'm fine really. Please don't let him worry about me." Johnny almost begged " Sorry buddy, I dont think that that is possible." ........MeanWhile........ Meanwhile across town, Becka Williams stood in front of her bedroom mirror crying. How was she going to explain a black eye to Chris DeSoto. Turning sideways she looked at the blood red welts on the back of her legs. " Why does he hate me so." She wimpered as she began to cry harder. TBC |