Copyright: November 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: Young Roy

Author: Robin R. Neher

Rating: R

Pairing: N/A

Archive: Yes

Summary: Set in 1969, This story follows Roy DeSoto one year prior to joining the Paramedic program.

Content Warning: Some rough language.

YOUNG ROY

by Robin R Neher

Fireman Roy DeSoto shook his head as he went into the dorm of station 41. Roy had just completed his first year in the fire service with a glowing evaluation. Roy was a Rescue Man with squad 41, which met that he and his partner, Ed Marlowe, were always the ones sent in to search for trapped victims in structure fires, car accidents, or any other rescues.

Roy loved his job, but hated the fact that there wasn't much he nor Ed could do for their injured victims except try and recuistate them. The only medical equipment that the squad carried was enough for basic life support, which wasn't much.

"We lost another one." Roy sighed as he and Ed stripped the dorm's beds.

"DeSoto, don't start with the Paramedic thing again." Ed warned. "Nobody wants to risk the image of the department to lead such a program. Even Dr. Brackett is against it. It won't happen, so you might as well accept that."

"They use them in the Army. I was one." Roy argued. "I was stationed in Germany for two years."

"That was a different time and place." Ed replied, putting clean sheets on a bed. "They aren't useful here. Roy, if you want to be a medic, you should've stayed in the Army. Roy, we are firemen, not doctors."

"We could save alot of lives if we had a Paramedic program." Roy sighed. "I talked to the Cap about it. He just laughed at me."

"What did you expect?" Ed replied. "Do you really expect anyone to take the idea of a Paramedic program seriously?

"Roy nobody's gonna listen to the idea of a fireman!" Ed insisted. "Roy, don't waste your time."

"We need a Paramedic program!" Roy argued.

"In your opinion!" Ed told him. "Roy, you are 21 years old and just out of your probationary period. Why should anyone listen to a boot? Roy, maybe in a few years, things will be different,
until then, you just focus on fighting fires."

With that, Ed went into the kitchen. Minutes later, Roy followed.

"Well, Well, if it isn't Dummy DeSoto!" Taunted Fireman Adam Cummings. "Come in to make another mistake?"

"Knock it off!" Ordered Captain Pete Walton as Roy hung his head. "DeSoto feels bad enough as it is!"

"Yeah, Sure!" Sneered Fireman Sandy Vincent. "Who let this dumbo in the fire service anyway? He can't even set up a ladder right! DeSoto, your carelessness put two of 16's guys in the hospital! The fucking hospital! Are you satisfied, Dummy DeSoto?"

"Look, you think I wanted that extension ladder to fall?" Roy sobbed. "I'm a Rescue Man, I don't work on the engine!"

"Knock it off, Vincent!" Pete growled. "Roy is new here and bound to make some mistakes!"

"Roy the Rescue Man!" Vincent kept up. "Wants to start a Paramedic program! Another of Dummy DeSoto's ideas!"

Roy rose from his chair, tipping it over as he went.

"You all go to hell!" Roy sobbed, ripping the badge off his uniform and slamming it on the table. "I quit!"

All of 41's crew watched as Roy stormed off toward the lockeroom. Cap Walton went after him.

"Roy, take it easy, Son." Pete soothed.

"Cap, I didn't enter the fire service to go through this!" Roy sobbed. "I entered cause I wanted to help people! Apparently that's not the reality though! I've only been here a year and I'm already tired of watching people die needlessly! Maybe Ed's right! Maybe I should reenlist in the Army! At least I was respected there! So long, Cap!"

Cap Walton watched as the young man left the station and drove away.
________________________________

Two days later, Staff Sgt. Roy DeSoto, United states Army, was on his way to Vietnam, assigned to a MASH unit not far from the front, having reenlisted in the Army. Roy was hurt that his longtime girlfriend, Joanne Parker, wouldn't come to the airport to say good-bye before he shipped out.

Roy cried at the thought of leaving his love behind and her last words to him before he'd left for the airport.

"Don't expect me to wait for you. Roy, cause I won't!" Jo had told him and gave him back his high school ring

The next day, Roy arrived in Vietnam where he got his bags and awaited his ride to the MASH 3022nd where he would command a bunch of fellow medics. Roy sat down on the bench next to a woman it her twenties dressed in an Army dress uniform. Roy was about to say hello when he notice her uniform bore the insignia of a second lieutenant. Roy turned away from the pretty officer.

"Hello." The woman smiled. "Going home?"

"No, just arrived." Roy quickly replied. "Things didn't work out back home, so I reenlisted."

"That's too bad, Sgt.-" The lady hesitated.

"DeSoto, Roy DeSoto." Roy replied. "Headed home?"

"Nope. I've been assigned to the 3022nd MASH. I'm Candy Denver. Nice you meet ya, Roy." Candy smiled.

"Same here, Ma'am." Roy smiled back. "Maybe we'll ride together. We've been assigned to the same place."

"Are you scared?" Roy asked.

"I volunteered to come here." Candy replied. "I just passed my nursing boards six months ago. I joined up right afterwards."

Roy nodded.

"I did two years in Germany, then went back to the states and joined the fire department in Los Angeles." Roy told Candy.

"What happened?" Candy asked.

"I was interested in being a fireman since junior high school. Now that I've been one for a year, I must say I hate it." Roy replied. "I went in thinkin I was gonna help people. That didn't turn out to be the case."

"How so?" Candy asked.

"Candy, In the fire department, I was a Rescue Man." Roy explained. "Everytime I rescued a victim that had arrested, all we could do was CPR. I'm tired of people dying so needlessly
because asshole doctors like Kel Brackett won't support a Paramedic program!"

"Roy, put yourself in their place. Why should they support a program they have no experience with? Roy, in the Army, the surgeons respect the medics because they have worked with them! Army doctors know what medics can do." Candy stated. "Roy, think about it, any doc that supports a medic program in a city like LA could flush their career and reputations down the
toilet."

"Lives could be saved!" Roy argued.

"Yeah, maybe." Candy agreed. "But money has to be factored in too. How are you gonna train these medics? Equip them?"

"I never thought about that." Roy admitted. "I just thought we could train Rescue Men as Paramedics."

"Firemen?" Candy laughed. "Roy, how do you think those men would feel about being taken off an engine to do that?"

"Somebody has to!" Roy argued.

"Roy, nobody has to do anything!" Candy told him. "No fireman I know would participate in such a program. You'd be asking them to train for skills they may never use! Roy, you'd be
asking them to train for five weeks to be what would be an ambulance attendant in their minds!"

"DeSoto, Denver, your ride's here!" Shouted the clerk at the desk.

"Let's go, Sergeant." Candy smiled as she led the way out to the waiting jeep.
____________________________________

TWO WEEKS LATER.........

Roy DeSoto sat in the mess tent, eating Army food after being on duty for twelve hours. His thoughts were of his Joanne. He was hurt that she had not written him since his arrival in
Vietnam, not that he'd expected her to. She had been hurt by Roy's decision to reenlist. They were to have been married on this very day.

Jo must be with someone else by now. Roy thought. She told me she wouldn't wait when I left.

The camp's company clerk came over to him them.

"Sgt. DeSoto, Col. Hines wants to see you." The young private told him.

"Thanks, Private." Roy replied, heading toward the command office.
________________________________________

Roy arrived in the CO's office minutes later.

"You wanted too see me, sir?" Roy asked.

"I did." The older man replied. "Some of your men are complaining about you. They say you snap at the slightest things. Is something wrong, Son?"

"Sir, you know why I left the fire service don't you?" Roy asked.

"Seargent, you can't just demand that any fire service change their operations to please you." Col Steve Hines told Roy. "If you want a medic program, you have to ask in a way that won't
alienate the docs and your fellow fireman. Roy, write a letter to the brass in the department and to the Chief of the ER there. Lay out your idea in a clear, concise way, without any personal editorials or emotionalism "

"You really think that will work?" Roy asked.

"It won't hurt to try." Hines replied. "Roy, it would be better if you didn't talk to fellow firemen about it. You'd only get laughed at."

"Don't I know it." Roy shook his head. "Even my Captain laughed at me!"

"Roy, you might also put together a pamphlet for the other fireman, explaining why they should want a medic program and what you can offer them if they join. Explain why this training is so important and why it is needed." Hines continued.

"What if I showed them what a medic can do?" Roy asked, as the company clerk entered.

"Mail call." He announced handing Roy a letter, along with the Colonel.

When Roy opened his and read it, his face fell.

"Roy?" A concerned CO asked.

"I can't believe it!" Roy whispered, tears rolling down his face. "My girl, Joanne! She's marrying someone else!"

"Oh, Son." Col. Hines shook his head. "I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do?"

"Colonel, I loved that girl so much! How could she do this to me?!" Roy screamed and sobbed at the same time.

"Roy, it happens to all of us at one time or another." Hines soothed. "Maybe Joanne just couldn't wait anymore. Alot of women feel that way. They can only stand loneliness for just so long."

"We were supposed to be married today!" Roy sobbed. "I promised her!"

"Roy, you are a young man. They'll be lots of other women in your life. Joanne may have found her what she needs in someone else. What else does she say about this man?" The CO asked.

"She says this guy's a lawyer. A tax lawyer!" Roy told his commander. "Me, I'm just a lousy ex-fireman! No wonder she dumped me! I can't offer her shit! Richie is everything she wants according to her! Rich, educated, successful!"

"Roy, success should not be measured by how much money one has. I wonder if this Richie is happy with all he's got? Yes, he can give Joanne material things, but can he give her the love you can?" Col. Hines inquired. "Roy, you have alot to offer, even if she doesn't see it."

"I've got to talk to her!" Roy sobbed.

"No, Son, it's best to let her go." Hines told him. "Talking to Joanne won't change her mind. She's made her choice, respect that and move on."

"How? I loved her from the moment I first saw her in fourth grade!" Roy sobbed.

"Roy, what do fourth graders know about love? They're not even teenagers yet! Roy a kid that age knows nothing of love." Hines said. "Love is something that kids that age rarely even discuss!"

"I remember when I first met her." Roy sniffed. "Sir, she was the prettiest girl I'd ever seen! Jet black hair, ice blue eyes and a smile like you wouldn't believe! I saw her that day on the jungle gym, and I was smitten!"

"What did she think of you?" The CO asked.

"She thought I was trailer trash!" Roy remembered. "I asked her to play with me, she gave me a black eye instead!"

"Sounds like she didn't feel the same about you as you did about her." Hines smiled. "What happened next?"

"That day after school, I went to the library to study as usual, when I saw her again. I went over to her table and asked if I could sit down. She told me to go away." Roy laughed.

"Did you?" Hines laughed with him.

"I guess I'm a glutton for punishment cause I just sat down beside her." Roy replied. "She just ignored me."

"Were you a bookworm?" Col. Hines inquired.

"Yes, Sir, a nerd in every sense of the word. I had the pocket protector, the wire rimmed glasses, the works!" Roy replied. "I was an ugly duckling as a kid. I even had buck teeth!"

"We all went through that stage." Hines guffawed. "How would you like to go on a special detail?"

"What kind of detail, Sir?" Roy asked.

"I have to travel to Tokyo on business for a week. I need a driver. You game?" Hines asked.

"Yes, Sir!" Roy nodded.

"We'll be attending a series of seminars there on improving procedures for treating wounded in the battlefield and here at the MASH units. I'd like it if you'd speak on the role that medics play out here! Demonstrate how you guys work in the field."

"Yes, Sir." Roy nodded. "When do we leave?"

"0600 tomorrow." Col. Hines replied. "Be at the motorpool by then in dress uniform."

"Yes, Sir!" Roy barked.

*

One week later, Roy and Col. Hines returned from Tokyo. As Roy went to put his things away, the company clerk handed him a letter. Roy's heart jumped when he saw it was from Joanne.

Don't get your hopes up. Roy reminded himself. She's just writing to smear her new husband in your face.

Roy nervously opened the letter and began to read.

Mr. DeSoto,

I hope that this letter finds you as happy as I am with Richie. I know that our last meeting was not our finest hour and that I hurt you, but I had to face reality. You are much better off
without me to tie you down. You have your own dreams and goals as I do mine. Roy, as much as I love you, you will never advance beyond being a fireman. You just don't have the ambition.

I need a man with the guts to advance and reach for the top. Roy, love alone is not enough to sustain any relationship. Love is about give and take, not to mention compromise. Roy, when
it comes to love, you're still in fourth grade. You think that love is about clumsy gestures and roses.

Roy, I also think you are not ready for marriage. Marriage takes maturity and hard work, both of which you lack. One day, you will see that there is more to life then firefighting and paramedic programs. I hope that one day, you will find the right woman for you. A woman who shares your background and interests.

The truth is, you and I would never be compatible. I live in a world of Champagne and limousines while your world is army uniforms and turnout gear. I wish you happiness and joy in
whatever you do.

Joanne Parker Howell

As Roy cried, Col. Hines put an arm around the young man.

"She's gone, Son. Let her go." Hines whispered, helping Roy to his quarters.

"She's really gone!" Roy sobbed. "My love, my world, gone!"

"Roy, look at me. You don't need a girl like that! She's a spoiled, selfish bitch! I hope that she'll go broke someday!" Hines said. "What you need is someone like that pretty Candy Denver." Col. Hines replied.

"Come on. A woman like that would never go for a guy like me!" Roy sniffed.

"How do you know if you don't try?" Col. Hines insisted. "Roy, she's unattached and so are you."

"Okay, I'll give it a try." Roy smiled weakly. "Sure beats sitting here, feeling sorry for myself."

The CO smiled as Roy wiped his tears.

"Roy, you'll be better off without Joanne, you'll see." Col Hines said as he left and Candy Denver entered.

Candy came over and set down next to Roy on his cot. Roy groaned as he felt his manhood start to stir.

"I'll bet Joanne never made that happen." Candy giggled, as she started to unbutton Roy's trousers.

ONE YEAR LATER.........

A tired Roy DeSoto got off the plane at LAX, unsure of what the future would hold for him now. After his year in Vietnam, Roy DeSoto was alot wiser for the experience. He knew that
Joanne was not the only woman in the world and that there were alot of women who'd appriciate him, even if Jo didn't. As Roy claimed his bags, his thoughts drifted to the fire department and his dream of being a firefighter.

I don't wanna go back there again. Roy thought, I'm just too much of a dreamer to ever be a fireman. Maybe I'll go to college on the GI bill, have a real career. Maybe one day I'll marry and have a couple kids with a nice girl. Who knows? The future is yours, Roy boy, and only you can make it what you want it to be. Your destiny is in your hands.

As Roy walked out of the terminal to catch a cab, a familiar figure walked up to him.

"Welcome home, Sgt. DeSoto." Smiled Joanne.

"Mrs. Howell, nice to see you." Roy politely responded. "It's been awhile."

"It has." Joanne nodded.

"Look, Let's dispense with the formalities. What the hell do you want?" Roy demanded. "You come to rub my nose in it again?!"

"Roy, please, listen to me." Joanne pleaded. "Roy, I know that I hurt you, but there's no reason why we can't be friends."

"Friends? Yeah, sure." Roy scoffed. "Why don't you go back to your attorney?! Go back to your limo, cause I sure as hell don't want to see you again! You know, I thought I couldn't live
without you once, I know now that I can! Jo, I may not be rich, but I can love you better then he can! I may not be able to by you fancy things, but what I give, money cannot buy! Have a
good life, Mrs. Howell."

With that, Roy caught a cab and rode away as Joanne cried.

*

Over the next few weeks, Roy again adjusted to civilian life, renting an apartment and looking for a job. Roy was watching TV one day shortly after moving into his new place, when there
was a knock on the door. Answering it, Roy found a pretty, dark haired woman standing on the other side.

"Could I possibly borrow a cup of sugar?" The lady asked.

"Sure." Roy grinned.

"You're new here, aren't you?" The lady asked.

"Just moved in the other day. I'm Roy DeSoto." Roy replied.

"Joanne Grayson, I live across the way from you." The woman smiled. "Wait a minute. I knew a Roy DeSoto in school. Are you from Norwalk?"

END PART 7: Young Roy