Copyright: June 2001 By Robin R. Neher

THIS STORY IS WRITTEN FOR PLEASURE AND IS NOT INTENDED TO INFRINGE ON ANY PREEXISTING COPYRIGHTS THAT MAY BE VIOLATED. FEEL FREE TO SHARE WITH FRIENDS, BUT NOT FOR PROFIT.

THIS STORY IS FICTIONAL, A WORK OF THE WRITER'S IMAGINATION. THE CHARACTERS AND INCIDENTS USED IN THIS STORY ARE PURELY FICTIONAL AND ARE NOT BASED ON ANY PERSON AND/OR PERSON'S ACTUAL
EXPERIENCES.

Title: Pimple

Author: Robin R. Neher

E-mail: NRobin1027@aol.com

Rating: PG

Pairing: N/A

Fandom: Emergency!

Archive: Yes

Summary: Johnny has a skin problem.

Content Warning: Some harsh Language

Pimple
by Robin R. Neher

Johnny Gage froze as he looked in the bathroom mirror at station fifty-one on a typical morning as he dressed before work.

"Oh no!" A frightened Johnny uttered. "Tell me it's not true!"

"What's not true?" Chet Kelly asked as he stood at the sink beside John to shave.

"Chet, look! The tip of my nose!" Johnny cried.

"What about it?" Chet asked, lathering his face.

"Look!" Johnny insisted.

"Johnny, there is nothing there but a zit!" Chet snapped.

Chet then understood that was what was upsetting the Paramedic.

"So, you've got a pimple, so what?" Chet asked. "You act like this has never happened to John Gage!"

Johnny threw Chet a baleful look as Chet picked up his razor for the first stroke.

"You mean, you've never had acne?" Chet gaped. "Even when puberty hit?"

More dirty looks came from Johnny.

"Oh, I forgot, you haven't hit puberty yet!" Chet joked.

"This is no laughing matter!" Johnny roared, then ran out of the latrine.

***

A few seconds later, Roy DeSoto came into the latrine, looking pissed off.

"Kelly, what in the hell did you just say to Johnny?!" Roy demanded. "He just ran out as if the station was on fire!"

"Oh, Johnny's just upset cause he has a zit on his nose!" Chet replied. "Apparently, it's his first pimple!"

"And I'll just bet you made some joke about it, right?!" Roy yelled. "Thanks a bunch, Kelly! Now, that's all we'll hear about all shift!"

"How was I supposed to know he was gonna get that upset over some acne?" Chet defended himself.

"Chet, you know Johnny will get way beyond upset." Roy told the shorter man. "This will turn into an obsession and I'm the one who has to ride with Gage all shift."

With that, Roy left Chet to finish shaving and went to find Johnny. A few minutes later, Roy found his partner on the station's pay phone, apparently trying to make an appointment.

"Is that the only time she can she me?" Johnny asked into the phone. "Ma'am, I'm on duty right now!"

Roy watched as the dark-haired man listened, then hung up.

"Damn!" Johnny cursed, angrily.

"What was that about?" Roy asked, know he was gonna regret the answer.

"I was trying to get an appointment with a dermatologist." Johnny answered.

"Johnny, it's just a pimple." Roy told him. "It's nothing to panic over."

"DeSoto, what do you know!?" Johnny growled. "You don't have to worry about looking good!"

"And why don't I?!" Roy demanded.

"You're married! Joanne shouldn't care how you look!" Johnny replied, as the tones sounded, much to Roys relief.

Unfortunately for Roy, the tones were sending the engine to a brush fire, so he was left alone with John and his pimple. Roy decided to try to head off the obsession that something minor usually turned into with his partner. Roy found Johnny out back in the station's parking lot, rummaging through his truck.

"Lose something?" Roy asked as Johnny dug out all the wrappers and such that entered the truck's interior and put them in a trash bag he'd gotten from the kitchen.

"I'm just cleaning my truck." John replied, not turning around. "Damn, no wonder I got a pimple! With all the damn junk I eat, it's no wonder!"

"Johnny, chocolate nor greasy food cause acne." Roy informed him, knowing the information would probably fall on deaf ears. "Acne is caused dirt in the pores. Just wash your face better."

"Roy, do me a favor and shut up!" Johnny hissed through gritted teeth. "You are not a doctor, so therefore you know nothing about pimples!"

Roy just shrugged and went back inside the station. He knew that John was in no mood to listen.

***********

A few hours later, Roy and Johnny were at Rampart getting supplies, just having brought in a gunshot victim. Johnny had gone to the hospital pharmacy while Roy got the supplies.

"Johnny not feeling well?" Nurse Dixie McCall asked as she got the requested supplies.

"You could say that." The senior medic sighed. "Johnny's got a pimple and he's freaking out over it."

"So?" Dix prompted.

"Dix, it's his first zit!" Roy hissed. "Johnny was trying to get an appointment with a dermatologist this morning!"

"Over a lousy pimple?" Dix asked.

"Yep," Roy smirked.

"You ready?" Johnny asked, coming up behind Roy, a paper bag in his hand.

"What's that?" Roy inquired.

"Just a little something for my, ah hem, problem." Johnny replied as the medics waved at Dix, then headed back to the squad to return to the station.

********

After arriving back at the station, Johnny went straight to the latrine and locked the door. Roy went to the rec room to read, not wanting to know what the younger man was up to. Two hours later, engine fifty-one returned to the station. Cap and the engine crew all wanted hot showers.

"Cap, Johnny's in there." Roy advised. "He's been in there for two hours."

"You're kidding!" Stanley exclaimed.

Going to the latrine, Hank banged on the door.

"Gage! Get out of there!" Cap ordered. "There is a hot a dirty engine crew that would like hot showers!"

"Cap, you're just gonna have to wait!" Johnny shouted back. "My face is more important then you guy's hot stinky bodies!"

Cap went to kick down the door, but Roy stopped him.

"No, Cap. Johnny's upset." Roy said. "This pimple has made him self conscious. He used all the hot water anyway."

"Oh, that's just great!" Cap yelled. "We're hot and dirty and have no way to shower!"

********

"Roy, we all need baths!" Cap insisted.

"Look, there are showers at Rampart the guys can use." Roy offered. "You all need to be checked out anyway."

"Okay, Okay," Cap decided. "But you have to get Johnny out of there!"

"I will, Cap." Roy promised. "It'll take some doing, but I will get him out! You get yourself and the engine crew over to Rampart for examination."

Cap signaled to chet and the guys, who climbed back aboard the engine.

"LA, Engine 51 out of service for one hour." Roy reported into the station's CB radio.

Engine 51. Dispatch responded as the engine left the station for Rampart.

Roy then sat his sights on getting Johnny to come out of the latrine. Roy knocked on the bathroom door.

"John? Are you okay?" Roy asked. "You've been in there for two hours."

"Are they gone?" Johnny called from the other side of the door.

"The guys? Yeah, they're gone." Roy answered. "Johnny, you need to get out of there, now!"

A few seconds later, the door opened and Johnny emerged. Roy was appalled by the sight before him.

"Johnny, what did you do?!" Roy demanded. "Scrub you face til it was raw?!"

"So, it's a little red." John shrugged.

"A little?!" Roy yelled. "You look like a damn lobster! What the hell did you use?!"

Roy entered the latrine and saw a sink littered with every acne remedy on the market. Open jars, tubes and bottles were everywhere. Roy gaped at the mess. He then went back out to find Johnny.

Roy found his friend in the dorm, looking himself over in the mirror.

"Johnny?" Roy quietly asked. "Why?"

 "Roy, do you know what women look for in a man?" Johnny asked. "No, of course you don't, you're married!"

"Now, you hold it!" Roy yelled, grabbing Johnny by his arm and spinning him around. "I may be married, but that doesn't mean that I have to stop wooing my Joanne! I still have to make an effort to look good for her! I still take her to movies and romantic dinners! Don't think you single jerks corner that market!"

"Oh, so now, you think I'm a jerk!" Johnny challenged.

"Yes, a self-centered, vain, arrogant, jerk!" Roy yelled. "If you think that girls go for you just because you look a certain way, then maybe you aren't ready for a relationship and shouldn't be dating! Johnny, in order to love someone else, you must first love who you are! If you can't do that, then you aren't ready to marry or handle sex, much less talk to girls! If you have to act
like a slimeball to impress nurses, then that just shows you have alot of growing up to do!"

In his rage, Roy didn't see the tears running down Johnny's cheeks or the hurt that filled the brown eyes.

"Johnny, you think that because I'm married I shouldn't have to impress Joanne! Buddy, you are dead wrong! The dating and romance never stop just because you say I do!" Roy finished, then walked outside to hang hoses.

Johnny cried as Roy's words rang in his ears. His insecurities welled up inside him as the words rang over and over.

Roy's right. I am a jerk! A sobbing Johnny thought to himself. Hell, I can't even handle a blemish, so how can I handle dating?

With that, Johnny went to the pay phone and dialed his latest flame. When she answered, Johnny broke off the relationship, then hung up. Johnny then went to his locker and got his black book. Retrieving it, Johnny threw it away.

END PART 6