Worst Day Ever.

chapter three , Sink or Swim

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"Okay, how about you try smiling?"

Emery rolls her eyes, "Fine." She scoffs, holding her hands up. She awkwardly places her knuckles under her chin and plasters a strained smile on her lips.

Buck winces, "Maybe, relax your smile?"

"Are you sure you know what you're doing, Probie?" Emery throws her arms up.

Buck rolls his eyes, "Do you really have to call me Probie outside of work?"

"I don't...but I will." Emery quirks a brow.

"Very clever, Em." Buck huffs.

Emery laughs quietly and Buck quickly snaps the photo. "There!"

Emery hops off the porch steps and walks over to him. She stands beside Buck and looks at the phone. Emery raises her brows. She normally didn't where her hair down, usually it was in two slick braids that were tucked together in the back. But now, her curly hair was down and brushing against the top of her shoulders. She liked it. "Wow, I...didn't think you were able to take pictures." She looks at him.

"Another compliment." Buck inhales a sharp breath. "Careful, Emerson. People might think that we're actually getting along."

Emery wrinkles her nose. "I mean, the phone did most of the work. I don't see how that would be a compliment."

Emery grabs the phone from him. "So, what now?"

"Now, we set up your profile."  Buck states. "What are you interested in?" He takes the phone back.

Emery raises her brows and scoffs. She grabs the phone from Buck's hands. Buck holds his hands out and sighs, "Did you want my help or not?"

Emery exhales through her nose. "Yeah. Sorry..." she hands the phone to him.

"You don't have to be competitive all the time, y'know?" Buck chuckles.

Emery leans against the railing. "That's easy for you to say Mr. Everyone pays attention to me."

Buck chooses to ignore what she says and Emery notices. "Hobbies?"

"Uh, I like reading, cleaning, photography..." she trails off her sentence as soon as she notices Buck pretending to go to sleep. Emery arches a brow and pinches his arm. "Are you seriously telling me that's what you do for fun?" Buck looks at her.

Emery shrugs, "I mean...I also like to meditate and I exercise."

Buck looks away from her with a laugh. Emery pulls her brows together and folds her arms. "Okay, fine. If you're such an expert at hobbies what do you like to do?"

Buck raises his brows, a particular hobby in mind. Emery wrinkles her nose. "You know what? Never mind. I think I already know and I feel sick."

"Oh, please." Buck scoffs. "My hobbies are a lot more fun than your reading and photography."

"And cleaning." Emery smiles. "Don't forget cleaning."

They both laugh. Emery softly smiles and looks at Buck. "Thanks for helping me with this. Seriously. I don't even remember the last time I went on a date."

Emery lied. She knew. She just didn't want to remember.

Buck looks at Emery, "How long has it been since you've even been with anyone?"

Emery inhales a deep breath. "Probably...2 years..."

"Nope, no, no, no—"

"What?" Emery laughs.

"I don't believe you." Buck says. "2 years without sex is...bizarre..." he exhales sharply and Emery frowns.

"Okay, calm down. No need to be so dramatic." Emery chuckles. She moves some of her hair behind her ear. "Sometimes dating isn't for everyone."

"Well, I don't date." Buck points.

Emery frowns, "Looks like we both have our issues."

Buck pulls his brows together and a confused smile spreads across his lips. "I don't see how me not dating is an issue."

"No one has to date, Probie." Emery folds her arms.

Buck mimics the girl and folds his arms.

"But instead of dating. You have sexual intercourse." Emery states.

"You could just say sex—"

"You walking around thinking you're some playboy, is an insult to women everywhere." Emery cuts him off.

Buck's smile drops while one forms on Emery's lips. "So, that is an issue." She tilts her head and raises her brows. "Thank you for helping me with my profile. But I think I can handle it from here." She grabs her phone, walks up the apartment steps and enters the complex without sparing the taken aback Buck a glance.

☆

Emery looks over Hen's shoulder. "So—"

"Not yet."

Emery rolls her lips into her mouth and takes a step back. Buck grabs some of the veggies in the pot and eats it. Hen deadpans and Emery wrinkles her nose.

"Really? If you want some, just ask." Henrietta says.

"I'm good. I already ate." Buck says, his eyes glued to Bobby.

"You didn't even wash your hands." Emery huffs. "You need to wash your hands before you go grabbing at things, Probie."

"Yeah, yeah—whatever." Buck brushes Emery off.

Hen walks over to the fridge. "You still owe me 20 bucks, Buck. Don't think imma forget."

"For what?"

"For the damn cookie bouquet, that I delivered to Chimney." Henrietta walks over over to Emery and Buck. "The one with the get well card that I personally watched you sign."

"Are you broke or something?" Emery asks. "Because I bought my giant Teddy Bear by myself."

Buck pouts his lower lip, "And you are such a big girl." He taps her nose.

Emery pulls her face back and scoffs. "Did you just boop me?" She looks at Hen. "Did he just boop me?"

"He did. You should hit him." Hen insists.

"He's doing it again."

Hen and Emery follow Buck's eyes and see Bobby sitting at a table alone.

"What? Eating dinner?" Hen questions.

"Staring into that book." Buck clarifies. He looks at the two women. "Come on, one of you must have a line on the gossip around here. What is it? Why is he so obsessed with it?"

Emery presses her lips together and shakes a look with Hen.

"All I'm gonna tell you about that book is to stay the hell away from it." Henrietta warns.

Buck squints his eyes and looks at Emery.

"Just trust her." Emery chuckles with a wince. "She would know."

Henrietta shudders thinking back. "I made that mistake three months into working here."

Emery grabs her a plate of food and walks with Hen to the table.

"So, you're saying no one here knows what he writes in it?" Buck asks. "Well, watch this."

Emery looks over at Buck and sees him walking over to Bobby. "All right, Buck. When he pops you in that pretty face, just make sure it's on the side that's already got a mark."

Emery chuckles, "Oh, this is going to be hilarious."

"No, this is going to be embarrassing." Hen corrects.

Emery nods, "Yeah...but it'll be funny to me."

They both look watch as Buck and Bobby talk. Emery eats some of her food. From afar it looked like the conversation was going well. Bobby stood up and Buck followed him. Suddenly, Bobby slams Buck against the wall.

Emery's eyes widen and her back straightens. "Ah, shit."

"Don't ever do that again!"

Bobby releases Buck and walks away from him. Buck's breathing was quick. He turns his head to Hen and Emery. Hen shakes her head.

"Told ya!" Emery calls out.

The alarm starts to blare throughout the firehouse. Emery sets her fork down and runs downstairs to the fire truck.

Once they got to the location of the call, the group was greeted with a plane erupted in flames that was floating on the water. Bobby gives the firefighters their orders. They all get on a boat and get deeper into the water.

"The water's on fire."

"It's Jet Fuel." Emery states.

"I count 12 to 15 victims on the wing, at least 30 in the water." Henrietta states. "How long before that thing sinks?"

"Based on the timing of the swells, I don't think that plane can take more than four or five sets before going down." Bobby informs.

The boat gets to the plane that was cut in half. Everyone gets into the plane.

"Where the hell are we gonna evacuate all these people to?" Buck asks.

"We have to get these people out of here and to the beach. This thing is going down in four minutes."

Emery helps people onto the empty boat.

"Help! Help!"

Her eyes snap over to the woman struggling to keep her head afloat. Emery's eyes widen, she looks around the plane and finds the lever to the inflatable slide. She lunges for the string and yanks it back, forcing the raft open.

"Swim to the raft! Swim to the raft!" Henrietta directs to the slide in the water. "The plane is sinking!"

"Sharpe, help us out over here!"

Emery turns to Buck and Bobby. A small smile spreads across her lips watching them struggle to lift something. "What's wrong, boys? Need a big strong woman to help you pick something up?" She walks over to them and hooks her hands underneath the thick metal panel.

"Not all of us can lift 200." Buck murmurs.

Emery shrugs a shoulder but smiles confidently.

"On three?"

"Yeah, I can do three." Emery frowns.

"One...two...three."

They all lift the panel off the man. Hen makes her way over to the man.

"I can't get my seatbelt off."

The seatbelt was embedded into his stomach. "Stay with me, sir." Hen gently speaks. "I'm gonna pull this thing right off."

Emery crouches down, her knees and grabs the man's hand. "This is definitely going to hurt, sir. But we need you to stay awake."

Henrietta starts to count to three.

"One..." she yanks the seatbelt off the man. A scream erupts from his mouth and he squeezes Emerson's hand. She inhales a deep breath and exhales through her nose. Her head slowly turns to Hen, "You couldn't do it on three?" She squeaks.

"Sorry." Hen winces. "Bobby?"

"All right, let's get him up." Bobby says.

They all help the screaming man up. "We're getting you out of the plane.
"Help! Someone help me!"

Emery stops in her tracks and turns around. She looks back at Hen. "There's someone else in here. I have to go get them." She starts running back towards the plane.

"Em!"

Emery stops and looks back at Henrietta.

"Be careful."

The curly-haired girl softly smiles. "I'm always careful."

Hen raises her brows. Emery had a point. The girl quickly walks through the plane, following the screams. The plane starts to shake, Emery grips the seats, trying to balance herself. The water begins to rise faster to the point it was now at her thighs.

She gets to the bathroom and hears the screaming and banging become louder. "Help us! We're trapped in here!"

"Hang on!" Emery calls out. She looks at the giant crate wedged against the door. Emery grabs the edge of the metal crate and tried to pull it back, but her hands kept slipping. "Shit—"

"It's filling up fast. I don't wanna drown!" The girl cries from the bathroom.

"You're not gonna drown, all right?" Emery reassures.

Emery places a hand on her head. She looks around the plane and her eyes land on the boat speeding away. Emery her brows, an idea coming to her head. The only way for this idea to work is if she could find a specific object. The girl falls to her knees and moves her hands through the water. She feels something and picks up the thick wire. She turns her walkie on. "Hold the boat!"

Emery ties the wire to the handle of the cart. She closes her eyes and speed walks through the water, despite the feeling of her legs becoming heavy. Emery gets to the edge of the plane and holds it out to the man on the boat driver. "Here, tie this rope to the boat."

"But...it's a wire."

"Okay—just tie it, please!" Emery snaps. "Thank you." She watches the man tie it. "Everyone get out of the way or get down!" She shouts.

Emery looks at the boat driver. "Go, go, go!"

The driver speeds away from the plane. The crate is yanked from the door and Emery ducks as the crate flies into the water. She exhales a sharp breath before inhaling a deep one. Emery runs back over to the bathroom and pulls the door open. "Okay, let's get you guys out of here!" She motions them out of the bathroom.

"Thank you, Thank you!" The girl softly cries while shivering violently.

Emery smiles softly, "No need to thank me." She shakes her head. "There's a boat outside of the plane and we're gonna get on, okay?"

"Em, let's go!" Hen calls out from the boat.

Emery looks around the area and sees Buck. "Buck! We've gotta go!"

"Bobby's still inside!"

Emery inhales a deep breath and curses. She looks at the two survivors and sighs. Everything inside Emery was screaming for her to go back into the plane and get Bobby out. But Emery had a job to do. And she always did her job no matter what. She couldn't go in there blindsided, not like last time.

"Let's go, let's go, let's get you out of here." Emery jumps into the water with the two and they swim to the boat. Emery helps the couple into the boat and looks back at the plane.

"Emerson!"

Emery looks at Hen, she was holding her hand out to the girl. The girl presses her lips into a firm line and grips Hen's forearm. She pulls Emery onto the speedboat and she falls into it.

Emery lays on her back and stares at the sky. She inhales a deep breath and gets up.

"No, Bobby!"

Emery quickly sits up and looks over the boat. She spots Buck in the water screaming after Bobby. "Probie!"

Buck looks at Emery with panic across his face. Her eyes widen, seeing the distraught look. She snaps her eyes over to the plane and see it's already sunken in the water. "No..." her throat tightens. Buck swims over to the boat and Emery pulls him in. Hen hands the both of them shock blankets. Emery's eyes were glued to the plane.

"Why was he still in there?" Emery asks as a cold thread runs down her spine.

"There was a woman still in there." Buck answers, clutching the blanket around him.

A helicopter hovers over the water and a fire guard with a harness holding him over the water. He gets into the water and pulls Bobby above water. Emery lets out a chuckle of relief. The helicopter rises and Bobby was holding the woman's hand, both of them okay.

☆

Emery finishes bandaging someone's arm. "That should do it." She places her hands on her knees and stands up. Emery stands up and walks away from the medbay area. She touches her necklace as her eyes ski
across the bodies that were covered in black tarps. It was never easy seeing dead bodies. No matter how long you've been a first responder.

She stops when she sees Bobby standing at the shore of the ocean. Emery gnaws on the inside of her cheek and walks over to him. "Sir?"

Bobby turns to Emery and she sees the emptiness across his face. "We're ready to head out."

Bobby inhales a deep breath and nods. "All right, let's get everything together." He walks back over to the fire truck. Emery fidgets with her hands, quietly trying to hype herself up.

"I'm sorry, for not going back into the plane for you." Emery blurts out. "Are you mad?" she walks beside The Captain.

Bobby looks at Emery and her worried eyes her on him. "I'm not mad, Emery. You were just following orders."

"I can follow orders and you can still be mad that I followed those orders without heavy turmoil." Emery states.

"Emerson." Bobby stops and turns to her. Emery stops and looks at him with her eyes slightly wide. "Yes, sir?"

"I am not mad." Bobby reassured her. "You did your job and I'm not mad at that."

Emerson exhales a soft breath. But a crease forms between her brows when she observes Bobby's dull eyes. "But, there is something bothering you."

"That is personal." Bobby's answer was curt.

Emery swallows and nods. "Yes, sir."

The two continued back to the fire truck with an uncomfortable silence between them.

...

Everyone was at the firehouse, except for Bobby. Emerson felt like she was gonna go insane. She knew something was wrong with him at the call last night, but she chose to leave it alone. Dammit, she regretted it so bad.

"We have to go to his house." Emery says, mopping the floor. "I-I mean, what if we get a call without him?"

Hen and Buck look at each other, then back at the girl that was stress cleaning. "So, she cleans all the time, huh?" Buck asks.

"You're just now noticing?" Hen raises her brows.

"What if we get a call?!" Emery raises her voice.

"Okay, Em! Chill out!" Buck chuckles, standing up.

Emery stops mopping and looks at him. Henrietta presses her lips together and shakes her head. "Chill out?" Emery lets out an unstable chuckle. "Chill out?!"

"If we get a call, without our Captain by our side. Who are we supposed to listen to?! There are rules and regulations and Captain Nash is going against all of the R & R's. Is he trying to kill me?!"

Hen stands up and walks over to Buck. "Regret telling her to chill out yet?"

"Oh, yeah. Definitely." Buck sighs.

Emery sets the mop against the wall and speed walks toward the sink. She washes her hands. "We need to check on him."

"As much as your worrying gives me a migraine..." Buck groans. Emery rolls her eyes and dries her hands. She walks around the counter and leans against it with her arms crossed.

"...you're right."

Emery's jaw goes slack. Hen shakes her head, "You two are the total definition of The Twilight Zone." She sighs.

Emery's face of disbelief quickly changes to a confident look. She shrugs a shoulder and smirks. "Of course I'm right, Probie. I always am." She pushes herself off the counter and walks over to the stairs with Buck and Henrietta following.

As soon as they got to Bobby's apartment, Emery was knocking on it nonstop. "Captain?"

"Bobby, open up!" Hen calls out.

Buck sighs when no one answers. "He ever gone MIA like this before?"

"No. Honestly, I don't-I don't know much about his story before he took over the house." Henrietta states.

"He's in recovery." Emery adds, she taps her fingers on her thigh four times. "That's all we know."

Emery goes to knock on the door again, but Buck gently grabs her shoulder. She turns to him and pulls her brows together.

"You hear that?" Buck asks, his phone against his ear. They all remain quiet and hear a phone ringing through the door.

"I'm gonna kick it down." Buck takes a step back.

"Like hell you are." Emery seethes.

"But—"

"Em's right. You're not." Hen holds a key up. "Bobby and I gave each other spare keys just in case one of us couldn't make it home one day."

Emery raises her brows. "I didn't know that..." she then frowns. "...and now I'm a little jealous."

Buck nudges her, "Hey, you and I could exchange keys if you want."

Emery looks at him. "Right, the two people that live alone...how thrilling."

Henrietta unlocks the door and opens it. "Bobby?" She enters the house with Emery and Buck behind her. Emery's eyes shift to the four plates on the table, then she looks around the small apartment. There's absolutely no way that four people could live here. Henrietta lightly taps Emery's arm. Emery looks at Hen then into the room. She raises her brows, seeing Bobby sleeping in the other room.

The three firefighters make their way into the room. "Shit..." Emery whispers, seeing the empty bottle of whiskey.

"Bobby?" Henrietta calls out.

Buck taps Bobby, but he doesn't wake up. Emery presses her lips into a firm line. "Let's get him in the shower." She nervously taps each finger against her thumb four times.

They get Bobby to the shower and turn on the cold water, allowing it to hit him in the face. Bobby slowly wakes up and sees his three cadets staring at him with blank expressions, but each person had either worry, disappointment, or relief in their eyes. Bobby hangs his head to the side, shame rising though him.

After Bobby got dry, he sat on his couch and everyone looks at him, silence drowning in the room.

"How long has it been?" Buck asks.

"546 days...45 and a half if we're being picky." Bobby states. He lets out a deep sigh. "Days. 18 months."

"That crash was hard-core." Buck says.

Henrietta hands Bobby a cup of tea. "We all have our breaking point."

Bobby stays silent but nods. Emery looks back at the table of four plates. "Captain, who were you cooking dinner for?"

Emery looks back at Bobby and her heart sinks into her stomach. She recognized that look in his eyes. Grief. Pain. Loss. He was relieving his worst memories as soon as she asked that question.

"I don't know. I was drunk." Bobby brushes off the question. Bobby looks at everyone, seeing that they knew there was more to the story. "I am gonna be fine. This is a one-time thing, I promise, okay? I'm good."

"I'm sorry I put you guys through this."

"You know why redwoods can grow so high?" Hen questions. "They move and bend with the wind. If you stay rigid, eventually you'll break."

"You calling me uptight? She's calling me uptight, isn't she?" Bobby tries to lighten the mood.

"Sir..." Emery softly speaks.

The light expression across Bobby's face lessens, from hearing the pain in her voice.

"Maybe ask for help once in a while?" Buck suggests.

Tears fill Bobby's eyes and Emery's chest tightens.

"Help."

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author's note.

This might be the shortest chapter yet.

words : 3700