Copyright: December 2000 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: Women's Lib

Author: Robin R. Neher

E-mail: NRobin1027@aol.com

Rating: PG

Pairing: N/A

Archive: Yes

Summary: Johnny is in for the hospital stay of his life when Rampart's nurse's decide they've had enough of Johnny Gage.

Content Warning: A little violence against Johnny.

Women's Lib
By Robin R. Neher

SLAP!!! Johnny Gage recoiled in suprise and shock at the sting of his date's slap across his face.

"You pig!" Nurse Sallie Westmore yelled as a stunned Johnny backed away.

"SALLIE!" Dixie McCall yelled, stunned by the younger nurse's behavior toward the young Paramedic.

Johnny stood dazed as his nose started to bleed as his face to swell.

"You deserve your reputation!" Sallie yelled, angrily. "You're nothing but a dog!"

"What did I do?" A confused Johnny asked. "Sallie, whatever I did, I'm sorry!!"

Sallie just stormed away as Johnny watched, crying tears of hurt.

"What did I do?" Johnny sobbed. "I thought she liked me!"

"C'mon, Johnny, let's get you checked out." Dix said, softly and led him into treatment room four.

*

Johnny winced as Dr. Kelly Brackett examined his injuries.

"Hmmm. Dix, escort Johnny to X-ray for a skull series." Brackett ordered. "Johnny, finally got beat at your own game, huh?"

"Yeah," Johnny muttered. "Me and my big mouth!"

"I told you you'd get slapped one of these days." Dix smiled as she wheeled Johnny to X-ray in a wheelchair.

*

A few hours later, Johnny lay in his hospital bed, diagnosed with a concussion, and a broken nose. He was waiting for a nurse to help him to the bathroom, being ordered not to be on his feet without help because of the dizziness brought on by the severe concussion.

Come.on! Come on! Johnny thought. I'm about to wet the bed here!

Johnny hit the call button over and over, but nobody came. Giving up, Johnny carefully got out of bed and made his way to the bathroom, where he did his business, then returned to bed, all while leaning against walls for balance.

An hour later, a woman came in with his dinner tray and slammed it down in front of him.

"Eat!" She said, lifting the cover.

"The doc said I was only supposed to have liquids!" Johnny argued. "I can't eat this!!"

"I couldn't care less!" The nurse answered, then threw some gauze, cotton and tape at Johnny. "You can also do your own dressing changes, Mr. Smart ass fireman! Let's see if you can treat yourself, Mr. Bigshot Paramedic!"

With that, the nurse left to tend to other duties.

As Johnny sat in his bed, wondering what to do, Nurse Sallie Lewis was in Dixie's office.

"Sallie, why did you hit Johnny?" Dix demanded. "What did he do to deserve that?"

"He and I were in a bar, having a couple of drinks. The alcohol starts to affect the both of us." Sallie began. "Johnny gets up on a table and announces to everyone there that he thinks all women should be barefoot and pregnant! He then says that all women should be dressed like he sees in Playboy! I've never been more embarrassed in my life!"

"Sallie, Johnny was a little intoxicated and probably wasn't thinking clearly. He was wrong, but you didn't have to slap him." Dix said. "He probably has no idea what he did. I promise he will get a stern talking to and a reminder that women are equal to men!"

"He's already getting that." Sallie snickered. "He is not getting any help from us nurses. I asked the others to leave him to his own devices and let him do his own dressings and such!"

"Sallie, he is a patient with a right to our care!" Dix yelled. "I can't believe you'd do that to an injured man!"

"Dixie, Johnny Gage is a sexist!" Sallie yelled back. "He doesn't want to admit it, but he is! He thinks that all women are there to service him! Look at the way he treated Karen Overstreet when
she rode with squad 51! He treated her like she was a dunce that couldn't even take a pulse by herself! No wonder she left paramedic training!"

"Johnny was doing his job!" Dix told Sallie. "The fire service is a boy's club! Firefighting is traditionally a man's job and to have a woman in it is hard for those guys to accept! They were
hassling her, yes, but she wasn't exactly a saint to them either!"

"Still, they could've acted alot nicer to her! Station 51's A-shift might as well be in high school, the way they act! The only one on that shift who acts even close to his age is Roy DeSoto!"

"Sallie, ease up! These guys work 24 hours at a time in a stressful job. Yes, they act like high school boys sometimes, but their horse play keeps them sane. Try riding with them before you judge them." Dix suggested.

"Dixie, Johnny only respects you because you're head nurse. He has to respect you. Think about this! If you weren't head nurse, Johnny would be chasing you too." Sallie said, then headed
home.

*

Two days later, Johnny Gage was back on duty at 51's. He got there before everyone else and got into uniform. Cap came out to meet him.

"Pal, heard you got slapped by a girl." Hank Stanley smirked.

"Yeah, she broke my nose and gave me a concussion!" Johnny griped. "I still don't know what I did to deserve that!"

"I do." Dix said, coming into the station. "Johnny, how much did you have to drink that night?"

"I don't know. Two maybe three beers." Johnny replied. "Dix, if you think-"

"No, Johnny, I know you wouldn't do that. According to Sallie, you did something that was much more hurtful. According to her, you jumped on to a table and told everyone in that bar that you thought women should be barefoot and pregnant. You also said you thought women should dress like in Playboy." Dix told him.

Dix and Cap watched as Johnny turned pale and started to shake, uncontrollably.

"Oh, God, I'm a sexist!" Johnny gasped. "I am a chauvinist pig!"

"Johnny, come on, let's go in the office." Cap suggested, fearing Johnny was about to faint.

*

Cap helped a shaken Johnny to his office and into a chair as Dixie shut the door.

"I'm sorry!" Johnny whispered. "I'm so sorry!"

"Take it easy, Pal, breathe deep." Cap instructed. "Slow your breathing down."

Johnny took slow deep breaths in an effort to calm himself and get a grip on his emotions. As the shaking subsided, Johnny spoke.

"I'll apologize to Sallie, of course." Johnny softly said. "I not only embarrassed her, I damaged the department. Dix, don't be mad at your nurses. I got what I deserved. I made fun of all
women and drinking is no excuse. In the future, I'll keep my opinions to myself."

"You don't really think that of women do you, Pal?" Hank asked.

"Cap, if I said it, I obviously do." Johnny replied. "Johnny Gage has a hidden aspect to his personality, Imagine that! Question is, what do I do about it?"

"Johnny, you had been drinking." Dix reminded him.

"Dixie, I was not bombed out of my mind!" Johnny growled. "I was aware of everything around me and who I was! I was in full control of my faculties!"

"Nobody's saying you weren't." Hank soothed. "Johnny, being under the influence does not necessarily mean that you were bombed and laying in a gutter. Any amount of alcohol can
impair you, even just one beer. Everybody reacts differently to different amounts. Some people are passed out after one beer while others can down a six pack and not miss a beat."

"Johnny, the key is learning to drink responsibly or not at all." Dixie added. "It's okay to say no sometimes. Johnny, alcohol can sometimes make us a little looser with our tongues then we'd normally be. Booze lowers inhibitions."

"Then maybe I should be like Roy and not drink at all." Johnny replied. "He does okay without drinking."

"There are alot of people who are tea totalers." Cap agreed. "Some laugh at them, but if that's what makes them happy, then to each his own. Roy has a right to his own choices and so do
you."

"But, you see ads on TV that say drink this beer or you're not a man." Johnny said. "They all say to be sexy, you must drink this or that."

"John, I don't like those kind of ads, nor do I like the all you can drink happy hours that most bars have now." Dix stated.

"Why?" Johnny asked. "Alot of people would like free booze."

________________________________________

An hour later, Roy and Johnny arrived a Rampart to get supplies. Johnny saw Sallie in the room behind the nurse's station and excusing himself to Roy, went up to her.

"What do you want, Gage?" Sallie demanded, not facing him.

"I want to apologize." Johnny replied.

"Save it!" Sallie hissed. "You said enough the other night! Johnny, you are a sexist pig! I've told the other nurses not to ever accept a date with you again!"

Johnny hung his dark head and walked away toward the squad. Roy walked over to Sallie while Carol got the supplies.

"A little hard on him, weren't you?" Roy pointedly asked.

"DeSoto, John can say he's sorry til he's blue in the face, but his apologies are not sincere." Sallie told Roy. "John uses I'm sorry like the rest of us use hello. Is that the way you taught your
partner to behave?"

"Sallie, John was drunk!" Roy argued.

"Were you there, DeSoto?" Sallie sneered. "Were you there when Johnny degraded all women in public?"

"Well, no." Roy admitted.

"Then don't defend your partner! If you do, you're just a pig like he is!" Sallie sneered, then walked away to check on her patients. Roy sighed, then went to join Johnny in the squad. ___________________________________________

When Roy arrived home the next morning, he found Joanne already gone for the day. Roy went into his bedroom and gathered all the dirty clothes, then gathered them from his kids rooms. Then going into the utility room, put them all into piles, then put into the washer.

The washer started, Roy then did dishes and vacuumed.

See, Roy? You're no sexist! Roy laughed to himself.

Once the chores were done, Roy then got the food out of the freezer for a suprise dinner for him and Jo.

Tonight is just for Jo. Roy smiled to himself as he then left the kitchen to watch some TV in his living room.
__________________________________________________

That night found a smiling Roy in a tux with black tie. His heart leapt with anticipation as he waited for Jo to come in from work. At seven o'clock, she did.

"Hi, Honey." Roy smiled.

"Hi." Joanne tiredly replied, then headed upstairs to rest, totally ignoring Roy's dress and dinner.

"Honey?" Roy asked. "How do I look?"

Jo turned to look at her husband.

"A little overdressed, aren't you?" Joanne yawned "I'm going to bed. Night."

"Honey!" Roy protested. "I cooked this dinner and bought a bottle of wine!"

"Roy, I'm tired and I have a headache." Jo said though gritted teeth. "I am not in the mood for romance! Why don't you invite John or Dixie to eat with you? For goodness sake, take off that
tux! You look ridiculous! Goodnight!"

A crushed Roy sighed as Jo made her way upstairs.

___________________________________________________

As Jo approached the top of the stairs, she heard her husband cry quietly and felt bad about what she'd done.

Roy did all that for me! Joanne thought as she turned around. He went to all that trouble and I ignored him! I may be tired, but that doesn't mean that Roy should suffer because of that.

Joanne quietly made her way back to the kitchen, where she put her arms around Roy.

"Honey, I'm sorry." Jo whispered. "My day hasn't been very good."

"That's okay." Roy sniffed as he wiped his eyes.

"No, Honeybunch, it's not. You went to a lot of trouble to do this and I threw it back in your face." Jo insisted. "You only wanted what any normal male wants, time with his wife."

"Yeah, but I should've known you'd be tired." Roy replied. "Jo-"

Before Roy could utter another word, Joanne kissed him, her arms going around his neck. Roy pulled his Jo to him and held her as the kiss broke.

"Tell me why my little lamb is so upset." Roy requested.

"Roy, there's gonna be some layoffs at the firm." Joanne told him. "I may be one of the ones who gets the ax."

Joanne worked as a tax lawyer for the firm of Hunt & Stephens,

"Honey, if they lay you off, we'll be okay." Roy assured her. "I'm sure there are plenty of other firms that will hire you."

"I'm not so sure." Jo sighed. "I'm not exactly fresh out of law school. Most firms want the young go getters."

"Honey, you're as good at your job as anybody. You're probably better then most of your colleagues." Roy smiled. "Lawyers are always in demand. You can go into private practice."

"I have thought about it." Jo admitted. "The overhead for such a venture is beyond belief!"

"Honey, if you had your own practice, you could be your own boss." Roy encouraged her. "Honey, I'll help you to get started."

"How?" Jo asked.

"Honey, when my dad died, he left me a large sum of money to use for college. Since I never went, it's just sitting in the bank." Roy replied. "Honey, I'm willing to let you use it to start your
own firm."

"Roy, there's no guarantee that this will succeed." Jo hedged. "Thank you for the offer though." Jo smiled. "By the way, how come you didn't go to college?"

Roy hung his sandy head.

"Cause I'm dumb." Roy whispered.

"Roy DeSoto, that is not true!" Joanne told him.

"Jo, my grades in high school sucked!" Roy argued. "My best grade was a C in gym!"

"What about your other classes?" Jo asked.

Mostly D's, but not for lack of effort. Jo, I hated school!" Roy told his wife. "I studied my brains out, but could never get any better then a C- on most tests! I'd do worse in college! I'm not as smart as you!"

"Sweetheart, grades are not an indicator of intelligence. You may have had some teachers that turned you off of learning and didn't help you when you needed it. Roy, some people can learn
easily while others struggle." Jo smiled, holding Roy close. "Besides, there is one thing that you're excellent at."

Roy smiled as Joanne started to remove his clothes.

*

Meanwhile at Rampart, Dixie had all her nurse in her office.

"I'm very disappointed in you all!" Dixie told them. "Our job is to care for sick people, yet you ignored Johnny when he was hurt! Johnny would risk his life to save you all were you injured or trapped!"

"Dixie, why should we take care of a guy who's only thrill in life is to harass nurses?" Nurse Sharon Walters asked. "Johnny Gage sees us as glorified prostitutes!"

All the other nurses gaped in shock at Sharon's uncharacteristic description of the young paramedic.

"Sharon, I thought you liked Johnny." Dix said.

"Dix, I did, until Sallie told me what happened the other night." Sharon answered her boss. "Instead of a uniform, Johnny should wear a toga and carry a club!"

Dixie's jaw dropped at the young nurse's remark.

"Dix, Sharon's right." Sallie said. "Johnny Gage is a neandrtothal!"

"Ladies, John is a charming young man who just wants what any normal man wants." Carol said. "I agree he goes overboard sometimes, but he really is a wonderful man. Look, I'll even
date him myself to prove what a good man he is."

"Sallie, Johnny was impaired that night." Dix added. "He isn't entirely responsible for what happened between you two. You were drinking too. How do you know that you didn't say or do something like that?"

Sallie gasped as the head nurse's words hit home.

"How much do you remember of that night?" Dix continued.

"Not much." Sallie admitted. "Johnny was and still is wrong."

"I don't disagree with that." Dixie said. "But you nurses are just as wrong for not helping John when he was injured. He was a patient and deserved our care. So, Sallie, for suggesting that
your colleagues ignore Johnny, I will be writing you up and putting a reprimand in your file. You will also be on probation for one year. As for the rest of you, you will all be transferred out of my ER. I need to know that the nurses on my watch will care for patients with the same dedication and love I do. When I care for a patient, I care for him or her as if they were a member of my family. I treat them the same way I'd wanna be treated were I a patient."

The nurses all hung their heads in shame as Dix turned to go.

"Carol, Sharon, Sallie, with me." Dix directed. "The rest of you, clear out your lockers and leave."

With that, Dix, Carol and Sharon and Sallie left the room. The other nurses all stood crying.

"Well, Miss McCall sure kicked our asses!" Nurse Amanda Stuart sobbed.

"It's not like we didn't deserve it!" Nurse Millie Petrie too sobbed. "What do we do now?"

*

While that was happening, Joanne was leading her naked husband up to their bedroom and lovingly laying him on the large bed. She smiled at the sight of Roy's beefy shaft growing hard.

"Joanne, just say you'll love me forever!" A writhing Roy begged.

"Always, My Angel." Joanne smiled as she eased herself next to Roy and softly kissed his erection.

*

Roy writhed as Joanne caressed him lovingly.

"Roy, my darling, what are you gonna do about Johnny?" Jo asked.

"What about Johnny?" Roy replied. "Oh, you mean that problem at Rampart? I'm not getting involved."

"Why not?" Joanne wondered.

"I tried to, but Sallie told me if I defended John's actions, I was a pig just like him." Roy told his wife.

"She what?!" Joanne exclaimed. "How dare she! I'd love to give her a piece of my mind!"

"Why don't you?" Roy asked, seriously. "Johnny was wrong, but so was Sallie. Johnny tried to apologize, but she wouldn't listen."

"Why don't you invite her here?" Jo suggested. "I'd like to have a woman to woman with this Sallie."

"And I'll have a man to man with Johnny." Roy put in.

"Why don't you include Chris too? He needs to learn about sexism and why it's wrong." Joanne said.

"Are you gonna do the same with Jenny?" Roy asked.

"Of course. They could learn from Johnny's mistake." Jo grinned. "But right now, I just wanna love you."

Joanne slowly took Roy's hardness into her mouth, slowly blazing up and down it's length with her tongue.

"Jo! Jo!" Roy cried out, arching upwards.

Jo sucked with all she had as Roy throbbed in her mouth.

"Oh, you taste so good." Jo purred, around his shaft.

Roy was lost in the sensations and writhed in pleasure.

"You like that, Huh?" Jo smiled.

"Oh, Honey!" Roy screamed, overcome by passion. "Love me all night long!"

"I intend to." Jo snickered, reaching for a coil of rope.

Joanne took the rope and bound Roy's hands and feet to the bed. She then reached for a whip. Roy's eyes widened.

"Roy, you are now my captive for the night." Jo told her husband. "You will do exactly as I tell you, or else!"

"Yes, Mistress." Roy replied. "I while obey your every wish."

"Excellent." Jo smiled. "First, a reminder of who's boss!"

Roy writhed and screamed as the whip cracked across his erection.

END PART 10: Woman’s Lib