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"I'M NOT HUNGRY."
LYNN NIBBLED on a piece of the perfectly cooked chicken Bobby had just prepared a few minutes ago, and glanced up to the depressed looking Buck. He had just lost his first person, a young boy that was too scared to grab ahold of Buck's hand while on a roller coaster ride that went all wrong. Lynn felt incredibly bad, knowing the feeling all too well.
"This is America, Buckaroo," Chimney responded to the sad statement of the golden retriever. "Eating has nothing to do with being hungry."
Lynn saw Buck's gaze drop to the food, but he looked completely uninterested in the tasty barbecue chicken nor the salty asparagus.
"Man, I was right there," Buck shook his head, fiddling with an empty coffee mug he had in one hand. "You know, all he had to do was reach up and grab my hand."
"People do funny things at times like that, sometimes they just freeze up."
Lynn started to bite into the side of her cheek, another small tick she has whenever she gets nervous. She hoped, prayed really, even though she doesn't believe in the big guy, that she wouldn't have to go into great detail about potentially losing someone.
"I've never lost anyone before," Buck murmured, and Lynn glanced over to the sad expression riddled on his face. "Does it get any easier?"
"No."
Everyone seemed to glance over to Lynn as she firmly stated, and after realizing she replied to the question much quicker than anyone else, she mentally facepalmed.
"You lost someone?" Buck asked, his tone still sounding a bit sad, and Lynn cleared her throat as if a piece of food was stuck.
"Uh, yeah," Lynn answered simply, digging her silver fork into a piece of asparagus, mostly so she would avoid anyone's eye contact. "You do realize I was a paramedic for two years, right? I lost my fair share of people."
"Look, people die, and that's part of the gig, right? See, your problem is, you're looking at every job like it's a long-term relationship," Chimney spoke up, and Lynn silently thanked him for helping change the spotlight form her. "They're one-night stands, man. In that moment, they mean everything to you, but once the morning comes...it's on to the next one."
"I feel like there was a better way to phrase that," Lynn chuckled, pointing her fork over towards Chimney, who was sitting across from her.
"Hey!"
Everyone glanced over to Hen, who the voice had belonged too, and spotted Athena trailing softly behind the paramedic. Lynn sent the woman a small smile, which she happily returned. But when Buck's eyes landed on the police officer, he rolled his blue eyes and let out a soft sigh.
