Dedication: Dedicated to Marjorie Monahan, Victor Browne, Christian
Kane, Richard Roundtree and the rest of the cast and crew for doing such
an awesome job. The show may be gone, but the characters will live on
forever in the hearts and minds of those who loved them. Also dedicated
to the R77 fiction list for giving me the confidence to finally write
this fic. Last but not least, dedicated to Kerry for putting up with my
general obssessiveness about Ryan and Bell and for getting me hooked on
the show. :-)
Disclaimer: Rescuse 77 and its characters are the property of Aaron
Spelling and Spelling Entertainment Inc. Elizabeth "Liz" Brody, Nick
Schaeffer, Betty McCabe and The Crystal Room belong to me, so if you
wanna use 'em, please ask. No infingement is intended and no money is
being made from the writing of this story, so please don't sue me!
Pairing(s): Yup, but if I told you it wouldn't be any fun. :-)
Content Warning: Nah, not in this story.
Notes: I live for feedback! This is my first story for R77. I am a
big Ryan/Bell fan, but since everyone has been writing those 2, I
thought I'd take another angle. Didn't remember Dr. Don having a name,
so I gave him one. Aren't I nice? I know Bell and Ryan have blue
eyes. Wick's eyes look green in my pics on the puter, so that's what
I'm making them. I think that's it for technical stuff. Enjoy!
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Sweethearts' Dance
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
© 1999, by Ash Carroll
"Morning," Dr. Joanne Caufield said as she stopped by the nurses'
station.
"Morning," Megan Cates greeted her with a yawn.
"How're things?"
"Slow. So far, we've had a sprained ankle, a fractured arm and a
busted tailbone."
"That's it? However did you manage without me?"
"Oh, it was rough," Megan grinned. "So, got any plans for this
weekend?"
"It's only Monday, Megan."
"I know, and Valentine's Day is Sunday. You've gotta have something
planned, right?"
"I assume you and Bell are headed somewhere special?"
"Um, no."
"No?"
"We kinda broke up."
"Shoot. Sorry, Megan."
"It's okay. It was a mutual kind of deal. Actually, I have a new guy
now."
"Really? Who?"
"Well, you know Don, don't you?"
"Stroud?"
"That's the one."
"You lucky girl, you."
Megan laughed. "Thanks, and yes, we're going somewhere special."
"That's nice."
"But you still haven't answered my question."
"No."
"No?"
"No. I don't have anything planned."
Just then a delivery man came running up with a vase of flowers.
"Dr...Joanne Caufield?" he asked, checking his delivery list.
"That's me."
"I have a delivery for you."
Joanne took the vase from him and set it on the counter, well aware
that Megan was eyeing it studiously.
"Who do you think they could be from?"
"I don't know, Megan."
"Come on, you must have some idea."
"Not a clue."
The guy handed her his clipboard. "Sign here, please." She scrawled
her signature and handed it back to him. He thanked her then headed off
down the hall.
"Not some hunky guy you haven't told me about?"
"No." Joanne turned to admire her flowers. They certainly were
beautiful. Peach roses, surrounded by ornamental lillies and pale pink
carnations. She picked up the card and opened it, well aware of Megan
reading over her shoulder as she scanned the unfamiliar handwriting.
Joanne,
Enjoy the flowers. They're almost as beautiful as you are.
Love,
A Secret Admirer
Megan chuckled.
"What's so funny?"
"Looks like your Valentine's Day plans just changed," she grinned.
Joanne shot her a withering look as she was paged to go check on a
patient.
~~~*~~~
"Hey Ryan," Carla asked, "got big plans for this weekend?"
"Nope."
"No?"
"I don't really like Valentine's Day. You waste money on flowers and
eat chocolate 'til you puke. I don't see what the big deal is over one
day. Besides," Ryan grinned, "everyone knows Capone was the only guy
who knew how to celebrate."
"Ouch, that's a little cold, don't you think?" Michael Bell asked,
entering the kitchen.
Kathleen shook her head. "No, just practical."
Bell put his hands to chest and pretended to pull out an arrow. "Oh,
you're wounding me here, Ryan."
"Not really, but if you want me to it can be arranged," she smiled
sweetly.
"Uh, no thanks I'll pass, but I *would* like to know if you're free on
Sunday."
"Why?"
"Well, I sort of had plans, but since Megan and I broke things off,
they kind of fell through. I just wanted to know if you were
interested."
"That would depend on what you have in mind," Ryan answered.
"Nothing major. There's a dinner party at the house to do with the
company. It's gonna be boring as hell, but since I have to be there and
I don't have a girlfriend anymore, I thought I might bring a victim-uh,
I mean, friend."
Ryan laughed at his joke. "Wick's not clammoring to go?"
"Haven't mentioned it. Besides, all he'd do is get turned down by
every girl in the room anyway." He grinned. "So what do you say?"
She thought for a minute. Who was she kidding? She'd jump at the
chance to spend some time alone with Michael. They'd never get
invloved, but at least she could pretend for one night that they were.
"Sure. There are worse ways to spend an evening, I guess."
"Good. I will pick you up at six."
"I'll be ready."
Bell left the kitchen so the women could finish with dinner. Carla
turned to Ryan and grinned. "So you got a date with Bell. Good catch."
"It's not a date. Just keeping him company at boring dinner party.
We'll probably spend the evening watching paint dry."
Carla grinned, her eyes taking on a mischievous sparkle. "I'm sure
you'll think of other ways to spend it."
Ryan rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to preparing dinner.
~~~*~~~
It was a typical Wednesday afternoon. Joanne was sitting in the staff
lounge, looking at the latest gift from her secret admirer. Smiling,
she turned the gold foil-wrapped box over looking for a clue as to who
this admirer could be.
"What's that?" Megan asked, entering the lounge.
"Chocolate," Joanne answered.
"Ah, another gift from your secret admirer," Megan stated with a
knowing smile.
"Oh, stuff it," Joanne said trying to sound annoyed, but in truth she
was flattered.
"Well, whoever he is, he's got good taste. Godiva's expensive stuff.
You're holding about twenty-five bucks worth of chocolate in that little
box. I think this is so sweet. I wish Don would do something like this
for me."
"Megan, you're making a big deal out of absolutely nothing. So I got a
couple gifts. So what?"
"So what? You mean you aren't the least bit curious?"
"It's probably just some prank anyway. I'm not even thinking about
it."
"Whatever. Look, I gotta go check on a patient. See you later."
"Later."
Megan headed out of the lounge, leaving her alone. Joanne sighed.
She's not even thinking about it? Yeah right, and pigs fly too. She
couldn't help but wonder who was sending her these gifts. It was
flattering, really. She just wished she knew who it was. So far, she'd
gotten flowers on Monday and she'd received the chocolate today. That's
one day in between. If he followed his pattern, then something else
would come on Friday. She left the lounge, heading for her locker so
she could put the chocolate out of sight. Once that was done, she left
to go and check on a few patients in recovery before calling it a day.
~~~*~~~
Ryan stood in front of her closet, scanning its contents for something
to wear to the dinner party at Bell's parents' home.
"There's this one," she said aloud to herself, pulling out a tomato red
halter number.
Holding it against her, she studied herself in the mirror. She made a
face and threw it on the bed. Nope, too flashy. The was no way she
could show up at the Bell's wearing that. This was the first time she
was meeting them and she didn't want to embarrass Michael by looking
like a hooker. She searched through the closet again, spying a powder
blue v-neck. She took it out, held it against her and studied herself.
"How about this one?" she asked her reflection. She shook her head.
"Makes me look like a little girl."
That wasn't exactly the look she was going for either. Sighing, she
tossed it onto the bed with the red one then turned her attention back
to the closet. She saw a black dress, but didn't even bother taking it
out to look at. No, she decided, no black. Looks too much like a
funeral. *Then it's perfect for Valentine's Day,* she thought with a
laugh, remembering her comment to Carla in the firestation kitchen. It
was already Thursday and she didn't have a dress yet. She looked
through her closet one more time, coming to the conclusion that she'd
have to go shopping. Good thing today was her day off. She retrieved
her dresses from the bed and hung them back up then grabbed the keys to
her jeep and headed out in search of the perfect dress for Sunday.
~~~*~~~
"Hey, guys," Bell said as he entered the living area of the
firestation.
"Hey," Bridges said, his nose buried in his cards.
Michael laughed. That was Bridges for you. "So, who's winning?"
"Schaeffer's kickin' our asses," Brody answered.
Nick Schaeffer laughed. "Everyone kicks your ass, Brody."
Brody shot him a dirty look and stuck out her tongue. Bell smiled to
himself as he watched the scene. Elizabeth Brody and Nick Schaeffer
were the newest members of stationhouse 77. Separately they were fine,
but together...well, they should have been named oil and water because
they just didn't mix. Elizabeth was a petite five-foot-four with
flaming red hair, luminous green eyes and an Irish temper unmatched by
any he'd ever seen, including Ryan. She was a passionate medic though,
and everyone respected her dedication.
Nick was exactly the opposite: a laid-back five-foot-eleven with
sun-bleached blond hair, sapphire blue eyes and a chest full of
muscles. He was the current dish at the station and Bell and Wick often
joked with him about how he was stealing all the girls and how they
didn't stand a chance with any of them now that he'd moved in. He was a
good firefighter, but he had a hero complex even bigger than Wick's and
Bell had a feeling that one of these days it was going to get him into a
dangerous situation he wouldn't be able to come out of. He turned his
attention back to the four at the table.
"I'll raise you dinner duty," Wick said.
"I'll see your turn to make dinner and raise you garbage duty for a
week," Bridges responded.
Liz frowned. "I'll see your garbage duty and raise you clean-up duty
for a week."
"A week?" Schaeffer asked, "C'mon, guys, if you're gonna bet, make it
interesting. I'll see your clean-up duty and raise you scrubbing out
the toilets with a toothbrush for three months. One for each of you
when you lose." He winked at Liz.
Wick studied his cards. Two pair, dueces and nines. A completely
crappy hand. "Sorry, guys, I fold." He set his cards down on the table
and sat back, waiting to see who would win.
"Chicken," Nick grinned.
Wick laughed and flapped his folded arms, making chicken noises.
Bridges cleared his throat. "Okay, I'll see your toothbrush toilet duty
and I call." He laid his cards on the table. A full house, aces over
kings.
"Not bad, Bridges," Nick grinned, "but not good enough." He spread his
own cards out and Bridges muttered a curse. Nick's hand was good.
Royal straight flush, diamonds.
"Nice hand, Nick, but I'm afraid it won't do you any good." Liz broke
into a chesire cat grin.
Nick groaned. If she was grinning like that, it could only mean one
thing. His fear became a reality when she showed her cards. Royal
straight flush, spades.
Wick got up from the table chuckling. "Sucks to be you, man."
"Really," Bell agreed.
"Thanks," Nick moaned. "Your sympathy is touching."
Bell and Wick were still laughing when they walked out of the rec room,
headed for the bedroom they shared with Ryan. Bell took a seat on his
bed as Wick flopped down on his own.
"So, I hear you're goin' to a party with Ryan on Sunday, man," Wick
said, studying his partner. "What's up with that?"
Bell met his gaze then looked away with a laugh. "Nothin', man. It's
nothin'. Just a boring family dinner party type deal. I was supposed
to take Megan, but we're finito, so I had to find someone else."
"'Zat that all it is? I mean, it's okay if it's not. You and Ryan'd
make a good couple, man."
"That's all it is," Bell lied. Truth was, he did like Ryan, but
somehow he got the impression the feeling wasn't mutual. He didn't want
to do anything to mess up their friendship or the woking relationship
they had. He might never be able to call her his, but for one night at
least, he could pretend she was. He decided a change of subject was in
order. "How 'bout you, man? You got plans for Sunday?"
"Yeah. Nothin' major, just a date."
"With who?"
"Forget it, man," Wick said grinning. "I ain't tellin' you. Everytime
I do that, somethin' goes wrong."
Bell's eyes glinted mischievously. "You mean you don't get a little
somethin'-somethin'?" He wiggled his eyebrows a la Groucho Marx as he
said the last words.
Wick held back a laugh and tried to pretend he didn't know what Bell
was talking about and failed miserably. "Yeah, but seriously, man,
that's not what I'm lookin' for this time. I was hopin' to just get to
know her first. Maybe the other stuff'll come with time."
Bell blinked. Woah, that sounded too mature to be Wick. "All right,
who are you and what have you done with the real Wick?"
"Not funny, man. I know, that don't sound like me, but I figured
that's probably why you have better luck with women than I do. You
don't go in lookin' for it. It occurred to me that I might have better
luck if I followed your example."
"Why, Wick," Bell said in a mock-sniffle pretending to wipe a tear from
his eye, "you've just grown up so fast. Where have all the years gone?"
Wick punched him in the arm and smiled almost bashfully. "Aw, shut up,
man."
The two friends shared a laugh and the room settled into companionable
silence.
~~~*~~~
Nurse Betty McCabe looked up to see Dr. Joanne Caufield step out of the
elevator. "Dr. Caufield!" she called, motioning her over.
"Hi, Betty. What's up?" Joanne asked as she reached the nurses'
station.
"I was instructed to give this to you," Betty said handing her a teddy
bear with balloons tied around its paws.
"Thanks. Who gave it to you?"
"Some guy. Brought it in and told me to be sure I gave it to you. Do
you know who the admirer is?"
"No," Joanne smiled. "I'm afraid I haven't a clue." She looked at the
bear. It was pure white with a large red heart on it's tummy and
smaller red hearts for the pads on its paws. Finding the card, she
pulled it out of the envelope, read it then showed it to Betty.
Joanne,
Saw this little guy and thought of you. Hope you will meet me for
dinner on Sunday. The Crystal Room, 6:30. Ask the maitre'd for Mr.
Wolf. Looking forward to seeing you there.
Love,
A Secret Admirer
"This is so sweet, Dr. Caufield. You are the envy of every woman in
the hospital."
Joanne smiled as she folded the card and out it in her labcoat pocket.
"It is sweet, isn't it? He's been driving me crazy all week. I've been
trying to figure out who it is. Guess I'll find out Sunday. Thanks,
Betty."
"You're welcome."
Joanne left the nurses' station and headed to the staff lounge. Megan
was seated inside when she entered.
"Hey," Megan said looking up.
"Hi," Joanne replied, trying to contain her excitement.
Megan noticed the bear and smiled knowingly. "I see you got another
gift."
"Yeah."
"Did he give you any clues?"
"Not exactly. He invited me to dinner on Sunday."
"He did? Where?"
"The Crystal Room."
"Wow. That's a pretty nice place. How will you know who he is?"
"I'm supposed to ask the maitre'd for Mr. Wolf."
"Cool. What are you gonna wear?"
"I haven't a clue. I get off in a couple hours. I'll check my closet
and try to decide."
"Well, good luck."
"Thanks."
Two and a half hours later, Joanne was standing in front of her closet,
trying to decide what to wear. She didn't really have any nice
dresses. Most of what she had were Sunday clothes and she needed
something a bit fancier for The Crystal Room. She decided she'd have to
go shopping for something, and changed into a tee shirt and shorts
before grabbing her car keys and heading to the mall.
~~~*~~~
Kathleen checked her makeup for the tenth time in fifteen minutes.
*What the hell is wrong with you, Ryan?* she asked herself. *It doesn't
matter what you look like. Bell is never gonna think of you as anything
other than a good friend. No matter how much you might want him to see
you as more.* Something more? *'Yeah right, Kathleen. That'll never
happen. He's smart, gentle, charming, gorgeous and sooooo
sexy...everything you could possibly want in a man. Trouble is, you're
just a plain old girl; no class, no status. He wouldn't want you. Why
would he when he can have a zillion other girls who are better
connected? Besides, it's better to keep your friendship and the working
relationship you built than to risk it all over a fling.*
The doorbell rang, making Kathleen jump. Giving herself one last
cursory glance in the mirror, she opened the door.
"Hey," she greeted Bell.
"Uh, hi." he said, suddenly having trouble speaking. "You look
great." *Great? That was the understatement of the year.*
Kathleen was nothing short of gorgeous and way more than just
stunning. Her blond hair was curled and piled at the crown of her head
with long spiral strands framing her face. Her dress was a sleevless,
long, burgundy pané velvet number. It had a slit up the side, a bateau
neckline with a cowl and a low-cut back. She looked as though she'd
just stepped out of Vogue. He suddenly wondered if he'd made a mistake
by asking her to go.
"Thanks," she replied. "So do you." *Great? God, Kathleen, he's
gorgeous and all you could think of was great?*
Michael Bell was the most perfect specimen of the male species Kathleen
Ryan had ever laid eyes on. If there was another she hadn't found him
yet. She wanted to run her fingers through his dark brown hair, and his
blue eyes - well, she could drown in them and die a happy woman. She
memorized the moment, admiring how well his tuxedo jacket fit his broad
shoulders and sculpted chest. Then there were his pants, but maybe she
better not go there...
"Ryan?" Bell's voice pulled her from her thoughts.
"Yeah?"
"You were zoning on me there."
Kathleen fought back a blush. Busted. If he'd only known what she'd
been thinking. "Sorry. What were you saying?"
"Are you ready to go?"
She smiled. "Let's rock and roll."
~~~*~~~
Joanne took a deep breath as she opened the door to The Crystal Room
and stepped inside. She looked around in awe. Now she knew why they
called it The Crystal Room. Everywhere she looked there were crystals.
As a result, there were rainbows dancing all over the place. It was
truly the most enchanting place she'd ever been to.
"May I help you, miss?"
"Um, yes. I'm supposed to meet a Mr. Wolf."
The maitre'd smiled. "Ah yes, Mr. Wolf. You must be Joanne?"
"Yes."
"He is expecting you. Follow me, I will show you to your table."
Joanne followed the maitre'd through the restaurant to a cozy corner
table in the back. She seated herself and wondered where the mysterious
Mr. Wolf was.
"Mr. Wolf had a phone call. He will be back in a few moments, but I
was instructed to serve you with this while you wait for him," a waiter
said, setting a glass of white zinfandel in front of her.
"Thank you," she answered. He nodded then went off to check on another
table. Joanne sat back and sipped her wine, waiting for Mr. Wolf to
show up.
He watched her from behind the plant, twirling the single red rose he'd
brought her. She was beautiful. The pale pink dress she'd chosen set
off her dark skin beautifully. It ended well above her knees accenting
her toned legs. He tugged on his tie for the millionth time. He hated
ties and suit jackets and dress pants. In fact, he'd have liked to have
taken her to a place where the only dress code was shoes and shirt rule,
but she was a classy woman and she deserved a classy restaurant.
Besides, how could he ever hope to impress her by taking her to
Denny's? Taking a deep breath, he stepped out from behind the plant and
made his way to the table.
"This seat taken?"
She looked up and her jaw fell open. "*You're* Mr. Wolf?"
"Yeah. You know, Wick *Lobo*. Mr. Wolf, get it?" Wick Lobo smiled
sheepishly as he seated himself across from her and handed her the
rose. "For you."
"Thank you," she replied accepting the gift.
"You look beautiful. Not that it's any change from the way you
normally look. I mean, you always look beautiful." He looked nervously
at the napkin he'd set in his lap.
Joanne blinked and bit back a laugh. He was nervous! She smiled
warmly. "You don't look so bad yourself."
"Thanks," he answered with a hint of a blush.
She studied him as inconspicuously as she could. He was nervous enough
and she didn't want to make it worse. She'd never known that there was
an insecure side to him. The way he normally carried himself, it never
showed. He was acting like a high schooler on the first date of his
life. It was actually kind of cute. The waiter came and took their
order then the table plunged into silence once again.
"I just wanted to thank you. You know, for all the gifts."
"You're welcome."
"It was the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me. Of course you
know everyone at the hospital's jealous now."
"I'm can't be the only one who's ever given you gifts."
"Well, no. Your way was just the sweetest way anyone's ever done it."
He smiled. "Thanks."
She returned his smile. Maybe the night wouldn't be so bad after all.
