Nebulous || Evan Buckley [1]

chapter twenty five

"How's Chimney?"

Josephine asked Hen after bidding their goodbyes to the children reporting back to school after their trip to the firehouse. They were stripping off their turnout gear and hanging on the hooks of their assigned shelves.

"Considering he's determining if his shirts spark joy before folding them into little index cards, guess you could say he's doing fine." Hen casually said, slipping out of her boots and pants.

A bewildering expression contorted on the brunette's face to the latter's humor. Her lips parted before pressing together and proceeding to fold her pants. "Well, he's been on furlough in recovery for weeks now. I'm sure Chim is eager to come back on the field."

"That and resuming his first official date with Maddie."

The brunette faced her, "You don't sound enthusiastic about for him." Both women began to stalk away together and towards the staircase.

Hen lets out a sigh, "Don't get me wrong, I like Maddie and it's not her. But how could they act everything is fine after all they've been through. It's not exactly something to move forward quickly and create dinner small talk." She vented out of concern for her best friend who got stabbed.

"Fair enough. I guess they're both trying to put the pieces of their life together after that unfortunate situation." They made to the top of the staircase. "It'll always live with them, but our best bet is to move forward." Josephine truthfully stated, furthering to the counter to grab a snack.

The bell rang throughout the 118 firehouse when an announcement followed the CAD system struck a power outage. Without the reliable resource for first responders, they went to follow protocol in this scenario where they'll be driving around the streets of the city all shift.

"Hey Cap, you ever see a breakdown like this before?" Eddie wondered from the backseat of the truck.

Bobby turned to face him, "Once in St. Paul. Blizzard took out the power grid around the call center and backup generator."

"I've been through, like, three of these." Hen cited to the team. "I'm surprised they don't happen more often, the way the city funds us. Department's held together by chewing gum and spit."

Buck chimed in, frowning. "Hey, come on, I like these old trucks."

A scoff left Josephine's lips, sitting beside him. "Uh huh. I like them when they run."

The 118 firetruck retreated to the firehouse after the last few hectic hours out in the city. From clashing with first responders at the same dispatch sites to witnessing a miracle that swelled their hearts. When they exited out of the firetruck, Bobby voiced instructions to his team. "Okay, let's refuel." He came around the vehicle. "We're back on in five minutes."

After using the bathroom, Josephine traveled inside the locker room where Buck sat on the bench with his eyes glued to the phone. She hovered his shoulder, "Ooh, are we finally moving out of your sister's living room?" She teased, circling around, and leaning her body against the lockers.

"I thought Maddie would want to move with me, but I guess I'm riding solo." He informed, lifting his gaze from his phone. "I've checked out a few units. They're all unique from each other." He handed the device to Josephine.

She raised her brow while scrolling through then hummed. "Not bad." She passed the device back. "How about I do you a favor? I can make a call to my Nana, that'll give you a good deal at one of her properties."

His eyes lit up at the sudden opportunity. "Really?"

"Of course, anything to help a friend. It's not easy finding a place in this city." She shrugged merely wanting to help a friend out. "After shift I'll make a call and get you in touch with a realtor."