Karma's a Bitch.

chapter seven , To New Beginnings

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The fire truck comes to a stop and everyone grabs their bags and hop out. Places her bag over her shoulder and her eyes skim across the land. Emery's skin starts to crawl. "Deja Vu, anyone?"

Hen slowly starts to nod her head. "We've been here before."

"When?"

"Before you joined us, kid." Bobby answers.

Emery closes her eyes and sighs. "Oh, the good 'ole days."

Buck rolls his eyes. "Have I told you how unfunny you are?" He looks at her.

Emery opens her eyes and smirks. She turns her head and pierces her dark brown eyes into Buck's bright blue ones. "And have I told you how much I hate your eyes?"

One year ago

"Emery you grab ahold of her legs and Chim, you go up there and cut her down."

As soon as Chimney and Hen saw the lady hanging from the tree, they both had the same thought enter their minds. They look at Emery and she swallows thickly.

"Em, you don't have to go up there." Hen says.

Emery wipes the rain from her eyes and scoffs. "Come on, Hen. This girl is dying. I'm going up there." She shakes her head. "I appreciate you guys—seriously, but I don't need you two babying me."

Emery grabs her knife from her work bag. She tosses her bag to the side and holds her knife out to Chimney. Chimney grabs the knife and gives Emery a comforting nod. He climbs up the ladder with Emery behind her. Chimney gets on the thick branch, and starts to cut at the rope that was wrapped around the woman's neck.

Emery wraps her arms around the woman's legs and picks her up, lessening the pressuring around her neck. The entire time Emery was holding up the woman, her hearing started going in and out.

"Okay, Chim! You're almost there!"

The ropes slowly start to give way and Chim looks at the girl.

"Em, it's almost done!"

Emery blinks and she opens her mouth. "Copy, just tell me when!" She shouts through the rain.

"Done!" Chimney finishes the last piece of rope. The woman slips from the rope and she falls on top of Emery's shoulder. Emery grabs the metal bar of the ladder, balancing herself.

"Sharpe, you got her?!" Bobby questions from below.

"Yes, Captain!" Emery huffs. She cautiously and steadily climbs down the ladder with the woman over her shoulder. Emery was always known as the strongest firefighter at the 118. She manages to work out every day no matter how mixed up her schedule gets. To other people, they would think that working out was like a drug to the girl. But to Emery, it was an activity that could distract her with ease.

Emery gets to the ground, Bobby and Hen grabs the woman from Emery's arms and lay her on the board.

"Starting compressions!" Bobby shouts, he starts to give the woman CPR.

"Why would she do something like this?!"

Emery looks at the husband and a lump forms in her throat. Her own situation was still raw. It would always hit Emery like a truck thinking about it. It would hurt her so bad, that it hurt to breathe. Sometimes, she couldn't even make it out of bed.

That's why she was grateful for Chim and Hen. At least one of them would always come over to her place and check on her. Motivating her to get out of bed and move forward.

"I'm sorry." Bobby says.

"Sometimes these things happen." Emery shrugs. "Maybe you..." she starts to speak, but she didn't want to get too in her head about her own issues, so she clears her mind. "...maybe there's a history of mental health issues?"

"Well, whatever it was, we could have talked about it." He says.

Hen lifts up the woman's wrist, examining the bruise. Emery looks at the bruise on the woman's wrist and her eyes widen.

"I could have helped her. I loved her."

Anger slowly starts to rise in Emery and she grinds her teeth.

"I imagine she wasn't eager to run into your loving arms." Hen voices.

"We had our differences."

"Differences?" Emery bites. "That's the word you use to describe difference of opinions!"

"My wife likes to use this tree for target practice." The man states, his eyes on the tree.

Emery looks at the trunk of the tree and see the bullet hole. A crease forms between her brows and tears blur her vision. This woman had to kill herself to get out of her abusive relationship...

That just made Emery more heartbroken about what that said about herself. Was I really that bad to love?

"Look. It's still standing."

"She's dead." Emery stands up. "You realize that, right?"

"Sharpe, stand down."

The man just smiles and walks away. Emery shakes her head. She takes a step forward, but Bobby grabs her arm. "Emerson—"

"No. Captain, he can't just get away with—"

"There's no proof." Bobby says, his voice soft. "We can't do anything for her now. She's gone."

Emery looks back at the woman's body and her breathing quickens. "Son of a bitch!" She takes her helmet off and slams it into the ground. Emery stalks away from the group while hyperventilating.

Bobby looks at Emery then at Hen and Chimney, hoping for some kind of explanation. He's never seen Emery snap like that. Not because she's known as this kind-hearted calm person (even though she was kind-hearted). But because she was a 'by the books' person. She follows the rules and regulations of being a firefighter.

"She's...been through a lot, Cap." Hen states, trying not to reveal a lot.

Today

"The bullet she fired at him..."

"It flew out of the tree when he blew it up." Emery says, arching a brow.

A small laugh escapes Emery's lips and she quickly slaps a hand over her mouth. Everyone looks at the girl and she holds her hands up.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's just..." she looks at the man and chuckles softly.

"Karma is a such a bitch." Emery sighs. "And I happen to love her."

☆

"So, I want to thank everybody for donating today."

Emery looks at the ceiling. "Out of everyone I could've sat next to..." she rolls her head to the side and looks at the dirty blonde. "...why did it have to be you?"

Buck rolls his eyes, "Would you like to play the silent game, Sharpe?"

"You read my mind, Bu—"

"Emery, Buck! Is there something you'd like to share with the class?"

Emery and Buck look at Chim, who was arching a brow.

"Oh. Uh—n-no...?" Buck stammers.

"I told him to stop talking to me." Emery points.

Buck's mouth hangs open, "What?!—I, she is lying!"

"Well, I don't know if you heard me talking, but 90% of all the blood given to patients in the Los Angeles area comes from volunteers." Chim renounces. "I know that we all put our asses on the line in the field everyday to save people, but today, you're saving people, and all it's taking is a tiny prick of a needle. So simple, even Mr. Buckley can't mess that up."

Buck salutes Chim and Emery rolls her eyes.

"Knowing Buck, he'd still find a way to screw it up." Emery laughs and so does Hen.

Buck rolls his eyes, "Hardy Har Har."

Emery flicks Buck's earlobe. "Oh, come on, it was funny."

"Still at it, huh? How'd you do?" Bobby asks.

"Incredible." Chimney answers. "Everyone donated. Some people even came in on their day off."

"That's great." Bobby says. "All right, well, let's wrap it up. We got to start our shift." He starts to walk away.

Chimney looks through his clipboard and pulls his brows together. "Uh, hold up."

Emery makes an 'oh' with her mouth. "Someone's in trouble..." she sings.

Emery finishes giving blood and she places gauzes over her puncture.

"Looks here like I am two pints shy of my goal for the day."

Bobby blinks, "Well, that'll give you something to work towards next time."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Chimney stops Bobby from walking away once again. "You're the Captain of this house, and you're the only one who didn't participate."

"I don't like needles, end of story." Bobby starts to walk away from the group.

"Oh, come on. Captain, come on!" Hen calls out.

Bobby lets out a sigh and looks at the firefighters.

"You've got to donate, Cap." Emery bunches her shoulders.

Bobby tenses, "I don't give blood." He says. "All right? I never give blood. When I was a kid, they tried to take my blood, and I bit the doctor."

Buck starts to laugh. "It's not funny." Bobby point at Buck.

Buck's smile drops and a smile forms on Emerson's lips.

"And the one time someone tried to take my blood as an adult...didn't go well." Bobby trails off his sentence.

Emery raises her brows and slightly tilts her chin up. He totally passed out.

Bobby walks away from the group and they all start to laugh softly. Chimney jogs after Bobby, while the three firefighters continue laughing. "Wait, hold on! Hold on..."

"All right, listen, I get it." Chimney says.

Bobby sighs and looks at Chimney.

"I really do, okay?" Chimney raises his brows. "But I really need you to do this for me, all right? Look...I'm alive because that rebar hit my head at just the right angle, and because I had the best damn fire and rescue team to get me to the hospital and the best surgeons in the world once I got there."

"But I got ten pints of blood, donated blood, given by the very generous people of this city. Now, I told you, I just...I wanted to do this blood drive cause I wanted to give a little something back of what I was given."

"And expressing my gratitude like this—it balances me out with the universe."

"Now, you..." Chimney points at Bobby. Then he points at Buck, Emery, and Hen. "...and everybody else here asked me how they could help with my recovery. Well, this is how."

Emery grabs a granola bar off the table and unwraps it. She walks over to Chimney and Bobby with Hen and Buck. Bobby looks at the four firefighters.

Emery takes a bite out of her granola bar. "He's great with speeches." She says. "Also, you get unlimited granola bars after you give blood! Who doesn't love granola bars?"

Bobby slowly shakes his head, seeing the smug smirks across their lips. "I hate all of you."

Emery holds her hands up, "Just for that. I'm going to eat all of the granola bars. Leaving you with none."

"You love us." Hen cheekily smiles.

"Here, you're gonna need this." Buck tosses Bobby the stress ball. "Just squeeze it."

"All right, let's stick him!" Chimney announces and points at Bobby.

"Stick the Cap, Stick the Cap!" Buck starts to chant.

Emery looks at Buck with squinted eyes. She wanted to roll her eyes and insult his terrible chant. But she just softly chuckles and shakes her head.

☆

"Okay, so I came in early to turn in my keys and pick up my paycheck."

They all follow after the panicking girl. "He actually fired me yesterday. It's a whole story."

"Bet you it's an interesting story." Buck murmurs.

"I, um, I smelled something burning."

They enter the tanning room and see a man covered in red hot blisters.

"Shit..." Emery winces. She enters the room and sets her bag down. Emery looks around the tanning booth and touches the knob, trying to turn it off; but it wouldn't budge.

"We all kept trying to tell him to get it fixed."

Emery moves behind the tanning booth and unplugs it.

"Oh, my God. I didn't think to do that."

"How long has he been in there?" Hen asks.

"I don't know. He's the owner, so sometimes he comes in before we even open, so two hours, maybe three?" The woman explains.

"What do you think, Chim?" Bobby asks. "Is he dead?"

"Worse. I think he's alive." Chimney answers.

Emery winces as Chimney takes the goggles off the man's eyes.

"Why the hell didn't he just get out?" Buck asks.

"Might've had a stroke." Chimney suggests.

"He's 32."

Bobby looks at the woman. "What was he on? We need to know."

"I don't know..."

Emery arches a brow, "You don't have to lie ma'am."

"I-I'm not—"

"32, may have had a stroke; drugs could be an underlying cause." Bobby cuts the woman off. "What was he on?"

The lady lets out a soft breath. "Everything, okay? He was stacking."

"Steroids?"

Hen and Chimney try to resuscitate the man back. The man's body tenses and he starts to shake.

"He's in V-Tach."

Hen starts compressions. She tries to lift her hands up from the man's chest, his skin peels off, and sticks to her gloves. Emery frowns and wrinkles her nose. The EKG starts to flatline and the man's body goes limp.

"No. He's gone."

"Oh My God."

"Whoa, whoa, easy." Buck assures the woman.

"Don't get all handsy, Probie." Emery raises her brows. "You've got yourself a girlfriend now."

Buck rolls his eyes, "I'm just comforting her. She lost someone important to her."

"What? Important? No, he was a jackass." The woman states. "It's just...this is too freaky. I mean, after what happened with Mindy. I told him. I said, "Barry, what goes around comes around"."

Emery pulls her brows together. "Who's Mindy?"

The woman rubs her forehead. "She's Barry's dog!" She exclaims. "Yesterday he left her in his car with the windows barely cracked."

Emery cranes her neck forward. "But, it was like—70 degrees out yesterday and PETA says—"

"Temperatures inside a parked car can reach a hundred." Carrie finishes Emery's sentences. "I told Barry exactly that yesterday."

"And he didn't listen?" Emery questions.

"He didn't listen." Carrie confirms with a nod. "So, I broke his window and got Mindy out."

"Which is why you got fired." Hen says, understanding.

Carrie nods her head and Emery arches a brow. Emery looks at Buck, "Guess you were right. It was an interesting story."

The firefighters take Barry out of the building in a body bag. They stroll him into the ambulance. Emery places her hands on her hips and sighs while shaking her head. "Karma is such a—"

"Do not." Chimney holds a pointer finger out to Emery. "...say it."

Emery purses her lips, she exhales through her nose, and her shoulders sag. "It's true though." She looks at him.

Chimney nods, "Yeah, which is why I might be terrified."

"I-I don't understand why you can't just tell me..."

The four firefighters look at their Captain, who was on the phone. The phone call ends and Bobby looks at his friend.

"What's up, Cap?"

"That was Cedars." Bobby says.

"Is someone sick?" Buck asks.

Bobby shakes his head, "The blood I donated—they sent it to a lab and had it tested, so..."

"Well, it's the first time you donated; they have to do that before they release it to the blood supply." Chimney explains.

"They found something in it."

Emery pulls her brows together.

"What do you mean, 'found something'?" Hen questions.

"They wouldn't tell me over the phone." Bobby states. "They said they'd rather do it in person."

All the firefighters could think of is the worse possible explanation. Emery inhales a breath, "Shit..."

Everyone looks at the girl and Buck nudges her arm. Emery looks at each person with wide eyes. "We were all thinking it!" She holds her hands up. Emery looks at Bobby. "Sorry, Captain. I'm sure everything's okay."

Bobby presses his lips into a small smile, then he walks away. Emery bites the inside of her cheek and scratches the side of her neck.

"Nice going..." Hen grips Emery's shoulder.

Buck chuckles, "Who would've thought that you would be the one to say something insensitive?" She straightens her belt and inhales. "It feels good. Honestly."

Emery rolls her eyes, "I'm sorry, it just slipped, all right?"

...

"How did the tiger escape in the first place?"

"Apparently, he was able to jump to the top of the wall and gain enough leverage to pull himself out." The zookeeper explains.

Emery raises her brows, "What made him even want to do that?"

Athena makes her way over to the firefighters. "Tiger's trainer tried to wrangle him after he got loose. This ain't pretty."

They walk over to the trainer, who's arm was wrapped in gauze with blood soaking it. "It's, uh...it's called degloving."

"The cat actually peels the skin back with his claws."

Emery slips her blue latex gloves on and walks over to the man. She slowly pulls the gauze off the man's arm and he groans. Emery looks at the wound, "Saline?"

Hen grabs the syringe of saline and Emery looks at the man.

"Okay, sir, we have to disinfect this wound." Emery gives the trainer a heads up.

"How come it didn't just kill you?" Buck asks.

"I've know Kobe since he was a cub." The trainer states. Hen starts to spray the saline on his arm and he groans. "He didn't want to hurt me. He was just...he was just confused."

Emery starts to clean up the wound, gaining more groans from the man.

"Okay, if we're careful we can preserve the skin." Hen states.

Emery shrugs a shoulder, "A little plastic surgery and you're good as new." She chuckles.

Athena's walkie clicks. "All units responding to Barnsalde Zoo. I have an adult male in distress, east side of the park."

"He identified himself as Sean Coopertino, 47, of Riverside. Says he's hiding near the giraffe enclosure."

Emery raises her brows, "No way..."

"Show 727-L-30 responding."

"Can't be the same guy, can it? That'll just be too weird." Hen looks at Emery.

Emery looks at Hen, the same thought in her head.

"Same guy as what?" Bobby asks.

Emery looks at Bobby, "The dentist from Riverside? He paid the illegal poachers to kill the Ellie the lion." She scoffs. "As soon as Amaya heard about it, she stopped going to him."

Emery and Hen finish wrapping the trainer's arm. "Karma strikes again, but guess what? They're probably going to put him down after this."

"Well, I mean—who are people going to have sympathy for? Kobe or Sean?" Hen looks at Emery.

Emery frowns and raises her brows. "So, who knows? Maybe luck will be on Kobe's side after all."

Emery stands up and sighs, "Have I told you all today how much I love karma?" She holds her arms out.

"Maybe about a dozen thousand times." Sarcasm was leaking in Buck's voice. "And it annoys the hell out of me every single time."

Emery smiles, "Then I must be doing something right."

☆

After Emery's shift, she took a shower, and got dressed in her casual clothes. She walks over to the calendar and looks at the current day. Her eyes fall into the hamper that was filled with dirty towels and dirty work clothes. She looks back at the calendar and scoffs, "Fucking Probie..."

Out of the corner of her eye, Emery sees Buck making his way out of the firehouse.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Emery jogs after him.

Buck stops in his tracks and closes his eyes, instantly recognizing the voice he has grown to be annoyed by. "Yes, Emerson?" He turns to her.

Emery places her hands on her hips and tilts her chin up at Buck. "Today's your day to wash the towels and clothes."

"I did."

"No, you didn't! I just looked in the hamper!" Emery points into the locker room.

Buck follows Emery's finger and sees the clothes-filled hamper. He hangs his head low and curses.

"Oh, My God—what are you, 9?" Emery scoffs. "I can't believe you were just going to lie like that to my face."

"Whatever, I'll do it tomorrow." Buck waves a dismissive hand.

"There is a schedule, Probie." Emery's tone is firm. "A schedule that the Captain and I—mostly I worked very hard to make." She crosses her arms in a stuck-up manner. "And you're going to follow it."

Buck raises a brow, "Oh, is that right?"

"Yeah, that's right." Emery takes a step toward him.

"Em, if I leave right now. That laundry is going to be done when I get back tomorrow." Buck says.

"And what makes you say that?" Emery squints her eyes.

Buck tilts his head, "Because I know you, Sharpe." He chuckles. "You're just going to do them if I don't. Hell—you probably would wash them again after I do. Because you don't trust me."

Emery runs her tongue across her teeth. "At work, I can trust you with my life, all right?" Her tone was soft but stern. "But when it comes to anything but work. I don't need to trust you."

Buck didn't need to hear Emery say it, because he always knew that was true. The same went for him too.

Emery lets out a huff, "You know what? Forget it, go have phone sex with your girlfriend. I'll clean up, like always."

"Admit it, you love cleaning!" Buck holds his arms out. "I'm doing you a favor, leaving it all to you!" He then heads out of the firehouse.

Emery does love cleaning—of course she does. But she loves routine more. And Evan Buckley was screwing up that routine.

After the laundry and freshening up the locker, Emery made her way to her apartment complex. As she got closer to her apartment building, she saw her younger sister sitting on the steps of to the building.

Emery pulls her brows together. "Amaya?"

Amaya looks at her sister and tenses. She rubs her hands against her jeans and stands up. "Hey, Em."

"What's up? Need another parental break?" Emery wraps her arms around her sister.

Amaya hugs Emery back and sputters her lips. "Uh, no, actually..."

Emery pulls out of the hug, noticing Amaya's hesitancy. "Maya...? What's going on?"

Amaya inhales a deep breath. "Mom and dad wanna talk to you."

Emery's jaw clenches and she shakes her head. "I already told you—"

"I didn't make them do this, Em—I swear." Amaya holds her hands up. "They just wanna talk to you and just you. They just wanted me to tell you, just in case you didn't want to see them."

Emery gnaws on her lower lip and wipes at her brow. She points at her sister, "You better not be lying to me."

Amaya crosses her heart. "Swear."

A twinge of hope spreads in Emery's body. She hated being optimistic, especially when she knew that something was most likely going to go wrong. But, hearing that her parents wanted to meet with her and clear the air; Emery couldn't help but feel like there was hope for a better future with them.

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