Malia Ryland has just arrived in Chicago and is starting her first shift as a nurse at the Chicago Medical Center while waiting for a vacancy in one of Chicago's firehouses as a paramedic.
Warning : some chapters contain scenes with sexual content.
...
In the middle of my shift, Maggie asks to talk to me.
"You're a paramedic, too, Malia, right?" she asks me. "Yes, that's right, I was for a few months before I moved to Chicago" I say.
"Okay. For your next few shifts, you won't be at Chicago Med. The fire department has decided that you'll be shadowing paramedics for a few shifts to get you back on your feet if you have to do a replacement. You're lucky, you're assigned to ambulance 61 with Brett and Dawson" Maggie informs me by handing me papers.
"That's great! Thank you Maggie" I say as I pick up the papers. I go put them in my locker and continue my shift.
At the end of my shift, on Friday at 4 a.m., I go straight home to sleep.
The next morning, I go straight to the firehouse. I go a little earlier than my shift so that the firefighters I know won't recognize me. I go straight up to the chief's office. He tells me how my shifts are going to happen and gives me the schedule and my uniform. Then we go to the conference room.
I notice Kel standing along the wall. When he sees me, he looks at me in surprise and raises an eyebrow to ask me what I'm doing there. I just smile and wait a little behind Boden. The chief starts his early shift briefing. Then he waves me off to move forward. I stand next to him.
"Attention please, for a few shifts we'll have a new medic on ambulance 61. She's here to get back in the game if she has to be brought in for replacements. She starts today. I'm asking you to give her the best possible welcome, even though I know there shouldn't be a problem, since everyone knows her" says the chief, placing his hand on my shoulder.
Gabriella and Sylvie jump with joy and take me in their arms. All the firefighters welcome me. Then it's time for Kelly to approach.
He takes me in his arms and kisses me on the forehead " little secretive girl". I give him a wink "you won't be able to do without me Kel" and we kiss. Then he accompanies me to my locker and I go to put on my uniform.
I'm talking to Kelly when the alarm goes off "Rescue 3, Ambulance 61". I get in the back of the ambulance while Gabriella and Sylvie go to the front.
On the scene we find a private ambulance with the back stuck, the girls seem to know the driver, Greg. Gaby asks him if he's okay.
"The guy didn't see us, I had to swerve to avoid him" Greg answers. "Do you have a patient?" asks Gaby. Greg says "A bee sting was nothing serious but Gini was shaken up".
With Sylvie, I'm taking the driver down. Gaby gets in the front of the ambulance to ask if it's okay back there. Kelly goes to the passenger side, "ok apparently Gini broke her wrist" informs Gaby.
Kelly says to her "the side door is blocked, you'd have to move back a little to open the back door". At that moment, Greg announces "I already tried, I think the steering is screwed up".
Kel decides to ask Cruz to open the door. But Greg shows up and says "no no wait, you're not going to cut the door open, just tow us, I'm in charge of the vehicle". I look at him stunned. I look at Sylvie in amazement and she informs me that in the private sector they are really into money.
Kelly had told Cruz to pull out the winch to move the ambulance when Gaby says "hey we can't wait, we have to get him out of there". Cruz and Tony are opening the door and Gaby informs us that the patient's IV has had to be disconnected and he needs to be intubated.
I get into the ambulance with Sylvie, I hold the patient while Sylvie intubates him. The patient is unconscious. Once Sylvie has intubated him, I listen to his lungs, "you're in". Then we move him to the gurney.
The girls talk for a few seconds with the other two paramedics while I put the patient in the ambulance with Capp. We drop the patient off at the hospital and then we go back to the firehouse. Along the way the girls are pretty quiet. I think it has something to do with the other EMTs about their big boss changing.
At the fire station, I get out of the ambulance and go directly to the common room where the other firemen are. Stetton's departure is on everyone's lips. Mouch talks on the phone when Rescue 3 comes back "Stetton would have given his resignation. Deputy Director Nelson is being considered for the job". Sylvie asks who Nelson is.
"He's from the administration, he's never seen a fire in his life" says Kelly. "And his big thing is to do more with less" adds Casey. "Like one less person per truck and forced retirements," says Stella. "Breathless equipment" says Hermann. "Or downright outdated" Cruz adds.
The chief is coming "ok I think the best thing is for everyone to calm down. I've heard the same rumors as you, but so far they're just rumors. So instead of getting on your nerves when there's nothing we can do about it, let's focus on the job".
Everybody agrees with what Boden just said.
I'm going with Kelly to his office. I try to reassure him as best I can that the mayor would not choose someone who doesn't know anything about it. He grabs me by the waist and pulls me into his lap and we kiss passionately for several minutes.
I'm outside with Tony and Capp working on their truck's equipment. A woman comes into the station and Capp says "Oh, it's going to be an interesting day".
"Who's this?" I ask Gabriella who's passing by, "Her name is Renee".
I see her approaching Kelly who is at the rescue table. I observe them interacting from afar but I do not feel her at all. I decide to go inside to find Gabriella. I slam the door just to remind Kelly that I am there.
"Who exactly is this Renée?" I ask Gaby. "It was his girlfriend. I wasn't a fan when they went out together but after their break-up, she came back to see him to tell him that she was carrying his baby whereas it wasn't his" Gaby announces to me. I'm completely shocked, he hasn't told me about it since I came back to Chicago. Come to think of it, it's not the kind of thing you want to talk about.
At the end of the shift, on Sunday morning, I join Kelly "do you have any other exes I should worry about?".
Kelly grabs my face in her hands "hey listen to me Lia, this girl Renee, the only reason she came by is because she needs me for a legal matter".
"You do what you want, you can help her, there's no problem Kel. I trust you, it's her I'm more suspicious of. I just don't want us to drift apart. The few shifts I have here, it's a chance for us to spend more time together, I just don't want the opposite to happen" I say.
"I only love you Lia" Kel tells me. I kiss him and say "I love you Kel".
We kiss each other and then we walk to his car. On the way, he lets his hand rest on my thigh. We spend the evening together at his apartment.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
