The One That Got Away.

CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE , NEVER WEAR A JACKET ON THE FIRST DATE

a/n : this gif is very much giving "I have an idea. It's a crazy idea, but hear me out."

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Emery genuinely thought today was going to be normal.

No shock factors. She just wanted to sit on the couch with her dad and have a normal night.

But, the young boy had other plans.

"Dylan?!"

The sand-blonde boy winces. Emery covers her mouth, "Sorry." She quickly speaks. Emery peaks her head out her door and looks up and down the hallway. "What is exactly happening right now?"

"Can I come in?"

Emery blinks. "Is this a test? Are your grandparents testing me?—"

"No, they're not—why would they be testing you?" Dylan tilts his head.

Emery frowns, "I dunno. To see if I'm a responsible adult and would call them."

"No need to call them. They know I'm here." Dylan walks into the apartment.

Emery nods her head. "Yeah—yeah. Come on in..." she murmurs and closes the door. Emery turns to the boy and watches him look around the living room.

"Dylan, what's going on?"

The boy grabs a picture off the shelf and sighs. "Like I said, my grandparents dropped me off—"

"Yeah, and I'm a gullible irresponsible adult." Emery playfully rolls her eyes. "Dylan."

The boy tenses. Emery had a soft yet worried expression across her face but her tone was stern.

Emery didn't want to sound angry at all, but she also wasn't stupid. Last time she saw Dylan she knew he was having trouble at school and with his grandparents. She wouldn't be surprised if he was still having trouble. Emery still was.

Dylan's hard expression stays hard. He didn't want to tell the truth, but he also knew that Emery was going to call his grandparents either way. So, he might as well tell the truth with Emery being the only adult to not hate him.

"I ran away." Dylan looks to the side.

Emery raises her brows and cranes her neck forward. "What?—I'm sorry?" She then looks around. "You ran away from your grandparents house and you came here?"

Dylan folds his arms and stays silent. Emery presses her palms against the counter and looks at the ground. Dylan looks at Emery and pulls his brows together as she mumbles to herself. "Emerson?"

"I'm thinking." Emery holds a finger up. "I'm not mad, just I'm thinking."

Dylan didn't know if Emery knew how much he appreciated her reassuring him. Emery sucks in a breath and holds it. She lifts her head and wipes her eyes. "Okay, okay. Dylan..." she presses her hands together. "First things first...are you okay?"

Dylan's hard expression drops. "Wh-what?"

Emery squints her eyes. "Your hand's bandaged."

Dylan looks down at his left knuckle wrapped in white bandages. "Yeah? Well...so is yours."

Emery looks down at the black brace around her right wrist. "It's in a brace, but I'll give you that."

"I'm fine." Dylan says. "Just had an accident."

"Okay..." Emery holds her hands up.

"Second, I have to call your grandparents to let them know you're here."

Dylan rolls his eyes. "Yeah, I figured."

"I'm sorry, Dylan. But they're probably worried sick. Especially, after..." Emery stops. Dylan's jaw clenches. "You're talking about my dad, right?"

Emery presses her lips together. "Yeah, I am, Dylan."

"All everyone does is talk about him." Dylan's eyes sting with tears. "It's either to talk about me not being good like him or me not making mistakes like him."

Dylan's tears of rage meet Emery's sad ones. "That's why I ran away."

"Your grandparents said that to you?" Emery scrunches her brows together.

"I wish they didn't have the balls to say it to my face." Dylan sits in the couch.

Emery huffs, "Whatever happened to people talking behind people's backs?"

Dylan holds his hands up. "Right?!"

Emery begins to laugh. She walks over to the boy and sits beside him—with enough space to keep both of them comfortable.

Dylan looks down at his bandaged hand. "I know my dad told you he wanted me to live with you."

Emery looks at Dylan with her sad eyes. "Yeah? Did he tell you that?"

Dylan bites the inside of his cheek. "It was obvious." He keeps his eyes on his hands. "My dad loved his parents but...he also knew that they wouldn't take my happiness into account for taking care of me. Just...keeping me alive."

"But he always talked about you. How kind you are and how much you fought to make yourself better." Dylan looks at the woman. "He was proud to have you as his mentor."

Emery's eyes were filled with unshed tears. "He really said that?" She whimpers.

Dylan tenses, "Don't cry. Please." He looks away from her.

Emery sniffles, "No, of course not. Why would I cry after that...heartwarming revelation?" She wipes her eyes. The woman sniffles once again, "Your dad never out it in writing." She exhales. "So, you're obligated to stay with your closest family members."

"I don't want that."

"And have you told them that?" Emery asks. "Because, if you tell me that you did right now, then when they come to pick you up; I will talk to them about you staying with me."

"But, if not...then there's not a lot I can do."

Dylan sinks into the couch. "I've talked to them about it, they just never care." He huffs. "They always brush me off like I'm too young to know what I'm talking about."

"But I know what I'm talking about and I know what I want." Dylan seethes. "I love my grandparents—of course I do. But they don't know what's best for me."

"And you think I do?"

"Don't you?"

Emery slightly opens her mouth. She closes it and swallows. "I only know how to do better than what my parents wanted for me."

Emery's phone then rings and she curses. "I-I'm sorry." She looks at her phone and sees the notification about a burning building. "Shit. Dylan—I've got to go." She looks at him. "I'm really sorry."

Dylan rubs his knuckle and looks away from her. "It's whatever. I can get out of your hair—"

"No!"

Dylan pulls his brows together and looks at Emery. The curly-haired woman gnaws on her lower lip. "I will call them after my shift, all right?" She stands up. "Just get some rest." She runs to her linen closet and grabs a sheet, pillow, and blanket.

Emery runs back over to Dylan. The boy stands up and Emery gently places the sheet over the couch. She then sets the pillow and blanket on the couch. "Okay!" She claps her hands. "Fridge has pie in it. I made it—probably won't be any good; but it's good." She snaps her fingers. "There is some dinner in there but I made it for Moira, my dad's health caretaker."

Dylan pulls his brows together. "Is your dad okay?"

Emery waves a hand, "Yeah, for now." She slips her phone in her pocket and grabs her bag. "She's gonna come by to take care of my dad until I come back from my shift."

Dylan listens to the woman intently. "Okay, so, should I help your dad with anything?"

"No, you're not obligated to. Moira will be here in a little bit." Emery gives him a small smile. "But thank you. That's very kind of you, Dylan."

Dylan tenses. "It's not. I was just being a decent human being."

Emery frowns, "And he's humble!" She clicks a tongue. "Why do your grandparents hate you again?"

"Same reason why your parents hate you."

Emery's mouth hangs open and she laughs. "Holy shit! This is what it feels like to have a taste of my own medicine..." she then wrinkles her nose and shakes her head. "I don't think I like it."

☆

There was an apartment building fire that the firefighter's rushed into. Emery and Hen stayed outside in the med area to help the civilians that were safely out of the building.

Soon the group rolled a man out with Buck holding a cat in his hands. "Second and third degree burns, smoke inhalation, possibly airway burns."

"We found him on the bathroom floor. He must've slipped and hit his head." Buck informs them.

Eddie and Buck set him on the cot. Emery cracks open the smelling salts and holds it under his nose. The man jolts awake and coughs. "Sir, can you hear me?"

"Did you get her? Please, tell me..."

Emery pulls her brows together, she turns her head and her eyes land in the cat in Buck's arms. She dramatically gasps, "Oh my god!"

Emery grabs the cat and pouts. "Oh, aren't you just the cutest thing?" She scratches the cat behind its ear. "What's its name?"

"Gladys."

Emery frowns, "Well, all right. It's a bit of an odd name for a cat, but hey. Your cuteness overlooks it, Gladys."

"That's not Gladys." The man says. "That's Hoover."

Sinultaneously, Emery and Buck speak. "Ohhhhh"

They look at each other. "You know what? I was saying that Gladys wasn't a name fit for a cat."

"Hoover is so much better." Buck nods.

"It is." Emery squints her eyes. "So, why did you think the cat's name was Gladys?"

Buck opens his mouth, "I still don't know who Gladys is—"

The window on the top floor busts open and a woman holds her hands out. Buck opens his mouth, "Gladys."

"Atwater Street Incident, this is Metro Fire Command."

"Go for Captain Nash." Bobby speaks into his radio.

"I have a deaf woman trapped in apartment 10G."

Emery keeps her eyes on the 10th floor. "The ladder won't reach up there, not from down here."

"The end of her hallway is engulfed." Bobby says.

"Frazier just told me there's no access to the stairwell, either." Eddie informs.

Buck points at the building beside the one on fire. "Hey, the building next door's not on fire."

"Get to her on the roof?" Bobby questions.

"Rappelling kit's got 150 feet of rope. That'll get me down to the street with her."

Emery chuckles and nods her head. She wasn't even surprised Buck volunteered to do the rope rescue.

"You want to do a rope rescue?" Eddie looks at Buck. Emery shifts her gaze to Eddie. "Are you really surprised?"

Eddie exhales, "I honestly don't know why I was."

"Well, he's not going alone." Bobby says. "Em."

The woman turns her head to Bobby with furrowed brows. It took her a moment to understand what he was trying to get out. The last thing she expected was Bobby to ask her to go into that building.

Emery could feel a wave of nausea wash over her. Her hand tightens around the medical bag she's become comfortable with. She couldn't go in that building. Emery wanted to help them speak to Gladys. But not in there.

"C-Cap...I can't." Emery chokes out.

"You're the only person on the team that knows sign language." Bobby says. "I wouldn't ask you if it wasn't important."

Emery couldn't unclench. She felt sick.

Buck saw the fear in Emery's eyes. He takes a step forward, his hand on Emery's back. She slightly jumps and looks at him. "I can still get Gladys out of there, Cap." He looks at Emery, whose body hadn't relaxed yet.

Bobby looks away from Emery and at Buck. "All right." He looks at Emery. "I'm sorry, for overwhelming you."

Emery doesn't reply, she just swallows and looks at the ground with embarrassment. How could she not have the courage to help someone in need? Emery wasn't the same person, who would jump to save someone first and ask questions later. She still couldn't recognize who she was. Emery reaches a hand up and grasps at her chest—her breathing quick.

"Hey." Eddie grabs her wrist and lowers it from her chest. "Buck and I are on our way up there. Do not worry about anything."

"I'n a coward—"

"No, hey. Stop it—you're a paramedic." Eddie says. "You shouldn't have been asked to do anything other than take care of people."

Emery's glassy eyes meet Eddie's soft ones. "Okay, you're right." She inhales. "Go save Gladys."

Eddie gives Emery a small smile before running with Buck to the next building.

"Emery."

The woman turns to Hen—who had a sympathetic look. "I need your help."

Emery wipes her eyes. "Yeah, of course." She swallows and walks back over to Hen and Chimney.

"Hey, you're doing good." Chimney says.

Emery presses her lips into a small smile. "You don't have to do that guys." She exhales. "It's fine."

Emery turns back to the man and continues to help him. Chimney and Hen exchange a look of worry for their friend.

☆

"That was something, huh?!"

Emery cracks a small smile as she slips her shirt on.

"A fire that big, and no fatalities." An idea pops into Buck's head. "We have to celebrate."

"We should hit up that bar on Pico, you know, the one with the loaded fries." Buck suggests. "First round's on me."

Eddie was the first to speak. "Wish I could man. Christopher's hosting his first sleepover tonight." He turns on his heel and points at Buck. "Hey, you're more than welcome to come and celebrate with a bunch of nine-year-olds."

Buck laughs, "The rest of us will toast your absence."

Eddie waves at Emery before leaving the locker room.

"You're gonna have to toast mine, too." Hen says. "Tonight's date night with Karen." She stands with her bag.

"She can come." Buck offers.

Hen winces, "I don't think that's her idea of a date, but have fun."

"Yeah, and I'm sorry, Buck, but, uh, Athena and I have a date night, too," Bobby smirks. "so you guys have a good time. Good job."

Buck exhales, "Yeah, sure. See ya, Cap."

Chimney closes his locker. "No offense, but you are not the Buckley I was looking forward to spending my night with."

"I get it, Chim. Go wine and dine my sister."

Emery snorts, "See ya." She softly speaks.

Chimney presses his hands together. "Have fun, you two." He sings and walks out of the locker room.

Buck watches as Chimney leaves. He lets out a small breath. Then his eyes shift to Emery, who quickly looks away from him.

"So..." Buck drags out while rocking back and forth on his heels. His heart begins to race and his face gets hot. Emery closes her locker with her bag already in her hand.

Buck slumps his shoulders and exhales. "Oh no. Not you too."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Emery holds her hands up and sheepishly laughs.

Buck pulls his brows together. "Wait, do you have a date too?" Fear creeps into him.

Emery's eyes slightly widens and her face heats up. "Oh, no, no." She inhales. "Dylan showed up at my house earlier today."

Buck's eyes widen, "Wait y-you're serious? How did that happen?"

"He ran away from his grandparents." Emery sighs. "I told him I would call them after my shift and...here we are, end of shift."

"You're still gonna call them?" Buck asks.

Emery presses her lips together. "I kind of have to. I'm not his guardian."

Buck watches as her eyelids slightly lower. "From the looks of it, it doesn't look like you want to."

Emery sighs, "I don't." She admits. "He really seems unheard and I don't want him to end up...like me."

Buck looks across Emery's face with his brows furrowed. "Okay...what's wrong with you?"

Emery deadpans, "You're joking, right?" She rolls her eyes with a smile on her lips.

"Em, you're an amazing, considerate, and hardworking person."

Emery hums, "Today you say hardworking, a couple years ago you would've said—"

"I was an ass." Buck immediately cuts in. Emery shakes her head. "You still kind of are an ass." She admits. Buck laughs and looks at the ground.

"An ass who speaks the truth." Emery frowns.

Buck looks at the girl. "You know, I would say things just to get on your nerves, right?"

"Yeah? Why?"

Buck shrugs, "You know why."

Emery softly hums and shakes her head cluelessly. "No, I don't. You're gonna have to spell it out for me."

Buck's face was beat red at this point. It took everything out of Emery not to laugh.

"I had a crush on you." Buck murmurs.

"Seriously?"

"You knew that."

Emery giggles. "No, I didn't. You asked me out on your first day, but I never knew you had a crush on me after." She then shakes her head. "Bugging me because you have a crush on me—how old are you?"

"Hey." Buck points at her with a smile. "I was an immature asshole."

Emery presses her lips together and nods her head. "Yeah...but then again, so was I." She quirks a brow. "Still kind of am."

"Me too." Buck frowns. "Kind of."

"Suuuure. Kind of—"

"You know what? Go home and talk to Dylan." Buck points out of the locker room.

Emery laughs which causes Buck's stomach to flutter. "Fine, I'll let you breathe." She waves a hand. "I have to deal with stuff back home. Are you sure you're good to go to the bar by your—"

"I will be fine." Buck assured her. "Scouts honor."

Emery keeps her eyes on Buck's. "Well, if it's scouts honor. I can't not believe it."

"I'm sorry, I can't join but then again..." Emery walks backwards toward the exit. "...you and I have never had good luck with bars."

Buck could feel his stomach drop into his stomach from the playful smirk across her lips. He bashfully laughs and looks to the side with a small nod. "Well, I wouldn't say it's a bad thing." Buck looks back at Emery.

The girl's eyes widen, caught off guard. Her back then lightly hits the glass window and she grunts. Emery quickly turns to the glass pane and lightly touches it. "Uh, okay. Well, thanks for letting me know that."

Buck softly smiles from Emery's sudden nervous state.  Emery swallows, "I-I should go now. I will see you, y'know...later." She then hurries away, leaving Buck to smile triumphantly.

...

Emery quickly came back to her apartment. She pulls open the door only to see Dylan and her father sitting on the couch laughing. Emery didn't know what she was expecting. But the last thing she was expecting was her father sitting on the couch—okay.

It caused a smile to form on her lips. The door closed behind her and the click caused both people on the couch to turn.

"Oh, hey, sweetheart." Elijah smiles.

Dylan waves a hand, "Hi."

Emery hangs her purse up. "Hey. What's going on?"

"Dylan was just showing me some funny fail compilation videos."

"Dad? You're feeling okay?"

Elijah raises his brows. "I'm feeling great, actually."

"Really?" Emery walks over to her father. "Where's Moira?"

"Getting us some food."

Emery chuckles, "What? But, there's food in the fridge."

"Yeah, but..." Elijah hums and looks at Dylan. The 12-year-old smirks. "You made it." He finishes.

Emery's mouth opens. "Excuse me?!"

"Sweetheart, we all know you're cooking isn't...the best." Elijah grabs her hands.

Emery sighs. "Has my cooking not gotten better?"

"It has. But, Moira got sick last time." Elijah whispers.

"Mrs. Moira got sick?" Dylan throws his head back and laughs. "Oh, jeez Emerson!" He touches his stomach. Emery snaps her eyes over to the kid as he laughs. She squints her eyes and a small smile forms on his lips.

"Yeah, I'm glad you're laughing right now. But I don't know if I like that's it's at my expense." Emery points at him. "After Moira comes back with the food and we eat. I will call your grandparents."

Dylan clears his throat and wipes his eyes. "Yeah, that's fair."

"Really?" Emery raises her brows.

Dylan looks at Elijah and gives him a small smile. "Yeah, really."

Emery frowns, "Okay...?" She tilts her head. "I don't like that little exchange you guys did there, but we're all happy right now. So, I won't question it."

Emery sits in between Dylan and her father. "What's Moira picking up?"

☆

"Well, from the way you described him it sounds like he's okay with that."

Buck huffs, "Well, I'm not okay with it."

"So, it's all about you." Chimney raises his brows.

"You know that's not what he's trying to say." Emery says. She then frowns and looks at Buck. "That's not what you're implying, is it?"

"No, come on. That's not what I'm saying." Buck states. "It does seem like his situation is bothering you more than it bothers him."

Buck blinks, "Yeah." He holds his hands up. "I mean, it does bother me. Look, Red has no friends, no family. All the guys from the 134, they don't talk anymore. It's like they just left him behind."

"I'm sure they didn't mean to, Buck." Hen speaks. "Life gets busy. It's easy for people to lose touch, especially when you don't work in the same firehouse anymore."

"That doesn't make sense to me." Buck shakes his head.

Emery grabs the pool cue from Eddie and his mouth hangs open. "Dude—"

"What? Turns." Emery squints her eyes. "You know what taking turns is, right?"

Eddie rolls his eyes and waves a hand.

"Nice shot, Hen."

"I mean, that would never happen to us." Buck says.

Emery stops before she could hit the billiards and snaps her eyes over to Buck.

"Of course not. We're family."

"Yeah, that's never gonna change." Eddie agrees.

Buck nods his head, "Like if Bobby retired."

Bobby pulls his brows together. "You know something I don't?"

Emery laughs and hits the striped ball into the corner pocket. She stands up and blinks. "Wait...which one was I hitting for?"

"Oh, Em, c'mon." Eddie throws his arms up.

Emery giggles, "Kidding. I hit a striped one."

Eddie deadpans which causes Emery's smile to drops. "I was solids?"

"You were solids."

Emery looks at the pool table. "Dammit..."

"Or one of us got moved to another house—or Emery becomes captain of another house."

Emery snorts. "That ship has sailed." She hands the cue back to Eddie. "But a girl can dream."

"We would still all stay in touch though, right?" Buck questions.

Eddie nods, "Exactly. Like you three." He motions to Emery, Hen, and Chimney.

The three all look over at Eddie.

"You still keep in touch with the guys that used to be here, right?"

Emery snorts and she tosses an olive into her mouth. "I sure as hell don't."

Hen looks to the side. "Um, I don't know if we'd call some of them friends."

"I call none of them friends." Emery raises her hands.

Chimney shrugs, "Yeah, I spoke with Tommy last year." He then shifts. "I was calling to ask for a favor, but..."

Emery points at Chimney. "Well, he will be giving us unlimited favors until our last days in this earth."

The three watch as Buck, Eddie, and Bobby nervously shift. Emery opens her mouth, "But, our old firehouse and old captain are terrible examples!" She sputters. "They were a bunch of bigoted pricks! None of us are bigoted or pricks, so we're good!"

Chimney nudges her arm, "Nice save."

Emery winks, "Thanks."

"Anyways, that won't happen to us." Eddie interjects.

"Better not."

Emery shudders, "Uh-oh. Buck's gonna punish us if it does happen everyone."

Buck deadpans, "Only you."

Emery squints her eyes, "Yeah, I'd like to see you try—"

"Hey, no flirting." Bobby holds his hands up. "HR's gonna be hassling all of us."

Emery rolls her eyes, "Okay." She then points at Buck. "I suggest, you don't meddle. Leave Red alone."

...

"Sir, can you move in there?"

The man stuck in the hedge groans. "I think I broke my arm!"

Emery winces, "Well, at least that's the only thing you broke...probably." Her eyes shift to the scooter. "You should really think about wearing helmets." Emery then hums. "Actually—scratch that. Wear helmets, especially with your son on board."

"Which I will definitely be writing him a ticket for." Athena says.

Athena looks at the drone in Wren's hands. "This thing definitely didn't help."

"You're lucky they didn't crash into oncoming traffic." Athena walks over to the man.

"Where's Bryce?" The man stuck in the hedges asks.

"Your son is fine. Just some cuts and bruises." Bobby answers.

The man with the drone looks at both officers. "I feel terrible."

"Well, you should be. You almost killed them." The woman folds her arms.

"I am so sorry. I don't even know how this happened." The man with the drone says. "It just—it got away from me—I think it was the wind."

"What were you doing flying a drone over my house in the first place?" The woman questions.

Wren points at the woman. "That's what I want to know."

"It's illegal to fly a drone over private property. That's trespassing." Athena states.

The man's mouth opens. "Wh-no, this is just a big misunderstanding. I'm a realtor. I was getting aerial footage of the neighborhood for new listing. Helps sell the full experience."

"I know almost every neighbor on the street, and I haven't heard about any of them selling—"

"Hasn't gone up on the MLS yet."

Wren squints her eyes, "You wanna lower your tone?"

The man looks at the brunette and she quirks a brow.

"Well, if you were flying for your realty company then this is a commercial drone." Athena states.

"And it should be registered with the FAA." Wren adds with a tilt of her head. "Can we take a look at your remote pilot's license?"

The man then chuckles. "I don't have one. Company's too cheap to pay for it."

Simultaneously, Wren and Athena look at each other. Athena gives the woman a nod. Wren pulls her handcuffs out and walks over to the man.

"Then in guessing they're too cheap to bail you out of jail."

Wren latched the cuffs onto his wrists.

"You're arresting me? For what?" The man scoffs.

"Operating a drone without a license, trespassing, and destruction of private property." Athena lists.

Wren leads him to her squad car.

"Is this really necessary? Can't I just pay a fine or something?"

Wren hums, "Think of it as getting the full experience." She tucks his head down and puts him in the back of her car. The brunette turns to Athena, "Meet you at the station

Athena nods her head, "We can inform the Feds about him later together. I didn't trust a single word that came from his mouth."

"Yeah...he makes my skin crawl."

☆

"Maurice, can you hear me?"

Emery presses her stethoscope against his chest. "His breathing is really shallow, guys." She looks at Hen and Chimney. "And his pulse is dropping in real time."

"Superficial wounds to the head and the face." Chimney states. "I got blunt force trauma to the chest, possibly a few broken ribs."

Hen cuts open his shirt, careful not to touch the shrapnel. Emery slightly opens her mouth, "Captain."

Bobby makes his way over to the paramedics and examines the wound. "How deep is that shrapnel?"

"Can't say." Chimney answers. "Difference between life or death this close to the heart is millimeters, not inches."

"Mercy Hospital, this is Captain Nash, 118. We have a patient with a penetration chest wound. Have surgeons standing by." Bobby looks at the three EMT's. "All right, I'll leave the rest to you."

Emery sucks in a small breath. The three place a neck brace around the man and slip a backboard under him. They lift him up and lead him to the ambulance. Once they get the patient onto the stretcher they shut the doors and the ambulance immediately starts moving.

"His BP's bottoming out." Hen clicks her tongue.

Emery nods her head, "All right, I'll bilis another liter of saline—"

"That's not gonna cut it."

Emery slightly opens her mouth. "O...kay...?"

"We're still seven minutes out by my watch. He's got half of that." Hen states. "His torso's filling up with blood. That shrapnel probably clipped his aorta."

Emery and Chimney exchange a look.

"Hen, you have no way of knowing that." Chimney replies.

Without even registering Chimney's words, Hen speaks. "I could do a thoracotomy."

Emery blinks and her brows shoot up. "Uh, you will do no such thing, Henrietta."

"Em—"

"You want to cut open our patient in a moving ambulance?" Emery hisses. "Listen, I know I'm new to this whole Paramedic thing, but I know that this isn't right!"

"I could just widen the opening that's already there." Hen says.

"That's a job for a surgeon, Hen." Chimney retorts.

"I'll manually pinch the aorta just above the injury—"

"Hen, will you listen to us." Emery grabs Hen's arm. Hen looks at the woman. "What you're talking about doing is a job for a surgeon. And you. Are not a surgeon."

"And even if you're lucky enough to find it, what then?" Chimney asks. "You're gonna cut off circulation in his lower limbs?"

"I'll preserve blood flow to the heart, lung, and brain."

Emery pulls her hand off of Hen's hand and covers her eyes.

"Hen, no."

"He's circling the drain, guys!"

"You want to send him down it?!"

The machine begins to rapidly beep, catching all the paramedics attention.

"He's in VTAC. He's about to code."

Emery slightly opens her mouth. "I'll give him some presents to stabilize BP—"

"You know what, you do what you want, I'm doing this."

Chimney and Emery knew what this was about. Hen's intentions were pure, but they knew that there would still be consequences if she did this. Whether she saved his life or not.

"Just because you lost that guy at the fire does not mean you have to do this." Chimney assures her.

"Hen, don't."

"I did not lose Anton," Hen cuts the scalpel into the man. Emery's eyes widen. "the hospital did."

"Damn it."

Hen sticks her hand into the incision and Emery exhales. "Oh, god. I just became a paramedic, Henrietta."

"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" Hen says. "But, did you just want me to let him die?" She digs her hand further into the man. "Almost."

"I think I got it."

Almost simultaneously, the monitor begins to beep steadily. Emery looks at the monitor and she lets out a small breath. "BP's holding."

Chimney and Emery look at each other before looking back at Hen. "Don't let go."

Hen deadpans, "Yeah—thanks."

Once the ambulance parked the door is pulled open. The nurses grab the stretcher and begin to pull the man out of ambulance.

"Okay, okay, everybody steady!" Hen orders. "Lower him down gently."

"Be careful, be careful"

Emery and Chimney follow the stretcher into the hospital. "Chim, this is bad. This is really really bad..."

"I know." Chimney touches his stomach. "I think I might throw up."

"I think I'm gonna shit my pants." Emery exhales.

As soon as they rolled the man into the hospital, one of the nurses ran over to the stretcher. "What the hell happened?"

"He started crashing. Too much blood loss." Hen states. "Did a thoracotomy to stabilize him."

"Are you kidding me?" He scoffs which causes Emery to pull her brows together. "That's a surgeon's job."

"Well, it's a job she's done and done well." Chimney snaps at the man.

"You don't understand—"

"No, you don't understand." Emery snaps. "Hen saved this man's life despite everyone's doubts. So, you might as well tell us where we're headed."

"Hold on."

The stretcher stops.

"Type and cross for six units. Page Dr. Royce." He grabs the air bag from Chimney and practically pushes him and Emery out of the way. "We got this, medic."

"No, I got it." Hen snaps. "I let got for half a second, he coded before we make the ER. I'm on this train til the end. Now which way?"

Emery raises her brows and a smile of pride finds her Lopez

The doctor's jaw tightens and he huffs. "Go." He motions his head forward.

Hen quickly walks through the surgery doors with the doctor and patient. Emery lets out a sharp breath and her stomach grumbles. "Oh god...this almost killed me."

"Yeah, but she did it." Chimney nudges her. Emery groans, "Don't move me too much—something might come out."

Chimney wrinkles his nose. "I don't even want to know which end..."

Silence settles between the two. Emery then smirks and her brows quirks.

"Honestly? Both ends."

☆

Hen couldn't take her eyes off the white doctor coat hanging in her locker. It brought a warm feeling to her face. She could get used to seeing this thing.

Suddenly, she hears cheers that cause her to jump. The entire team makes their way over to her applauding. Hen laughs.

"And they call me the show off." Buck laughs.

"Next thing you know she'll be doing field transplants." Eddie quips.

"That's why she needs the coat."

Hen nods her head, "I know, you two were right. It could've gone the other way."

Emery and Chimney look at each other with a small smile.

"But it didn't, so we put that in the win column. We take 'em whenever we can get 'em." Chimney says.

Emery nods her head, "We should've never doubted your skills, Hen." She sucks in a breath. "We should've trusted that you had the patients best intentions at heart."

"Let's commemorate the first strategy." Eddie claps his hands.

Emery's face lights up. "Put it on her—put it on her!" She hits Chimney's shoulders.

"All right! All right!" Chimney smacks Emery's hands away and walks over to the white coat. He slips it on Hen's arms and she adjusts it.

Emery pulls her phone, ready to take photos. The entire team 'oohs' and 'ahhs'.

"It's niiiice!"

"Dr. Wilson." Hen pops the collar. "I do like the sound of that."

Emery claps her hands and snaps a couple more photos. "I am sending these to you later!"

"Hey, send them to me too!" Chimney says.

"Me too, please!"

Emery snorts, "I'll just send them to the group chat, okay?" She slips the phone in her pocket. "Now, let's walk away before we hear Bobby lightly reprimand Hen."

"No reprimanding." Bobby says.

Emery looks at Eddie, "He's totally gonna reprimand her."

"Totally."

☆

"Hey."

Buck's heart jumps. "E-Em, hey." He pulls his brows together with a small smile on his lips. "What are you doing here?"

Emery shrugs a shoulder. "I just wanted to see how you were doing. I heard about Firefighter's Delacroix's passing."

Buck's smile lessens. "Yeah, it was earlier this morning."

"I'm sorry, Evan." Emery's eyes sadden. "But what you did for him."

"What you did for Firefighter Delacroix..." Emery tilts her head and a warm smile graces her lips. "That was really amazing, Evan."

Buck slightly opens his mouth. The look of awe in her eyes made his face hot. "He's given so much to being a firefighter. I just...wanted him to get something back for once."

Emery nods her head. "Yeah. And that's really amazing." She looks down the street. "Do you wan to go for a walk and talk?"

Buck's eyes widen. Oh, my god. Oh, my god—

"Uh, yeah." Buck chokes out. "I would like that. A lot."

"Yeah, and I'll just be here."

Emery looks into the apartment and raises her brows. "Maddie, hey!" She walks into the apartment and wraps her arms around her.

Buck turns to his sister and blinks. He totally forgot she was here. "Yeah, Maddie is here."

"You forgot I was here." Maddie deadpans.

Buck sputters, "No! No, I was just talking with my old friend, Emerson here and we were just gonna invite you to walk with us."

Emery smiles, "Would you like to take a walk with us?"

Maddie looks between Emery and Buck. After Buck telling her about his feelings for Emery, there was no way she was going to get in the way of these two finding a way back to each other. She chuckles, "I'm not gonna intrude, so by all means. Walk all night." Maddie grabs her bag. "I'm gonna head home."

Emery pulls her brows together. "I didn't mean to—"

"Emery, stop." Maddie walks over to her friend. "I was planning on leaving soon anyway. You guys talk."

Maddie shifts her eyes to Buck and gives him a teasing smirk. Buck rolls his eyes and he pulls the door open for Emery. He shifts his gaze back to her and his eyes soften. "Uh, you can go."

"A gentleman." Emery hums. "You might just win me over, Buck."

Buck sucks in a sharp breath as Emery walks out of the apartment. That's all I want. He turns to Maddie and his sister quickly makes her way over to him. Maddie begins to hit his arms, unexpectedly hard. "Tell her! Tell her! Tell her! Tell her!—"

"Ow! Ow! Ow! All right—I will!" He lightly smacks Maddie's hands back. "Just stop hitting me."

Maddie rolls her lips into her mouth and sets her arms to her side. "Okay, sorry."

Buck grabs his jacket and walks out of the apartment.

...

The walk was silent for a few minutes. Neither of them minded though, it was comforting. Both firefighters had so much weighing on their shoulders and minds, just being in each other's presence was enough for them.

"So, Paramedic Sharpe."

Emery looks over at Buck and notices the small smile tugging on his lips. The woman raises her brows, "Yeah. It's weird..." she then chuckles. "But it's what I needed."

"I'm proud you were able to find what you needed." Buck truthfully admits.

Emery quirks a brow. "Yeah. I'm...proud of me too." She frowns. They both begin to stop walking and sit on the bench together.

"Everything else is okay?" Buck asks. "I mean, is everything okay with your dad?"

Emery smiles, "He's actually been feeling good." She then holds her hands up. "Or in his words 'great'."

"Emery, that's amazing." Buck exclaims.

"Yeah, he and Dylan were sitting on the couch watching compilations and my dad was laughing!"Emery says with a large smile. "God, it was the best thing to happen recently."

Emery looks back at the water they were in front of.

Buck then shifts his gaze to the side of Emery's face and his heart begins to beat faster than before. He couldn't stop thinking about what Red told him.

"You can be the hero, save lives, but don't neglect having your own. Last thing you want is to be at the end holding nothing but regrets."

"Emi..."

Emery turns her head and meets Buck's eyes. She pulls her brows together. There was a look across Buck's face she couldn't explain, but she could tell he had something weighing heavy on him. "Everything okay?"

Buck sucks in a breath, hoping to control his pounding heart. He had to tell her. He wanted to tell her. "I...it's just." He looks down at her bare arms. "You have goosebumps."

Emery looks down at her arms and hums. "Oh, I didn't notice."

"Did you...do you want my jacket?"

Emery watched as Buck stands up and he takes his jacket off. He places it over Emery's shoulders and she chuckles. "Thanks, Buck."

A memory enters Emery's mind and her chuckle grows into laughter.

"You know, Maya..." Emery giggles and covers her mouth. "She taught me this trick that on a first date, never wear your jacket."

Buck pulls his brows together. "Uh, why?"

"So, you can find out who's a real lady or gentleman." She presses her lips together. "See if anyone gives you their jacket if you're cold."

Buck slowly nods his head, he looks at Emery and purses his lips. "You weren't wearing a jacket."

"I wasn't."

He looks to the side and purses his lips. "Hold on—Was this a date and I just didn't know it?"

Emery bumps her arm into his and laughs once again. "No." She snorts. "I didn't think it was going to be this chilly out."

Emery then frowns, "Besides, I already know you're a good guy, Buck. I don't need a jacket test to tell me that."

Buck's face heats up and he looks away from her. "Well...shit." He laughs. "I bet, the you from a few years ago would've never said that."

Emery nods her head and chuckles, "Yeah, there are a lot of things me from a few years ago would've never done with you." She shrugs. "But, you know, I've changed for the better."

"Yeah...me too."

━━━━━━━━━━

author's note.

we're almost done with season threeeeee

Walker Scobell

As

Dylan Fletcher

words : 6845