Quarter Life Crisis: a 9-1-1 buddie fic

My fingers are clenched, my stomach's in knots

"No, Cap. I am going in. That's my daughter in there." I watch Buck push past Cap.

"There's no way, you're going in, Buck. Stay and help Hen with triage. Eddie, let's go." I hear Cap say as I put my mask and helmet on.

In the building, I can feel the heat rising.

I cover my mouth with the oxygen mask and turn my radio volume on so that I can hear Chim in case we need to leave the building ASAP.

I follow Cap down the colorful elementary school halls until we find the art room.

It's on the right-hand side of the school in a far corner.

From the door, it doesn't look like there is a fire, but once Cap has opened the door, we can see the flames rising throughout the room.

There's a room connected to the art room and it must be a bathroom for students to use.

The door is locked and I can tell that Cap is curious about it.

We have to be quick because the fire is spreading and it's getting warmer.

I am not even sure why Chimney hasn't put out the fire yet, it must be chemicals that caused it to arise.

I watch Cap as he knocks on the door and behind us, the fire is spreading.

We need to get out very quickly.

"Help me remove the door off the hinges." I hear Cap say through his mask.

The smoke starts to get foggy as I help Cap get the door off its hinge with a tool we were trained to use.

I cough a few times but I am okay.

I was trained to do stuff like this.

"Eddie!" We look down and see two kids. Amelia is sitting under a sink coughing and crying.

I don't even have to say a word to Cap before I help Amelia up and place my mask on her face while Cap carries the other kid out safely.

Amelia is crying over my shoulder.

And for a 10-year-old, she's pretty light.

The walk to the exit of the school isn't far but we have to get past a few columns that have fallen since the fire spread to the back doors and halls while we were trying to get the bathroom door open.

Once we've exited the school doors, I walk past Chimney and another firefighter who are still using the hose to put out the rest of the fire.

Amelia is clinging to my back and is handing me my oxygen mask back.

I notice that she is silent and still crying.

I have to take her to Hen for triage.

She's been coughing a lot more than I have and who knows how long she's been in that building.

"Amelia! Are you okay? What happened? You scared me half to death." I watch Buck run up to her as I place her on a stretcher for Hen to check out.

I watch Amelia start coughing loudly and notice that she has a major burn from the fire on the back of her hand that travels up to her elbow.

There's also a big blue bruise on her leg but that's the least of Buck's worries right now. She needs oxygen and a bandage.

She must have touched something and it caught on fire.

She was just trying to protect herself.

"Everyone, step back for a moment. Give her a moment to breathe. Here try using this, Amelia." I watch as Hen hands her a kid oxygen mask and holds onto a bottle of water for her.

Buck is still as a pole.

I can't tell if he's speechless or scared or both.

"I don't like this." I watch Amelia start crying some more while I watch Buck sit on the stretcher beside her to help her sit up.

"I know. It's going to be okay, babygirl. Just a few more breaths in and out. It will help clear your lungs." I watch Buck help her with the oxygen mask while she's hyperventilating.

"I want to go home." I can hear her sniffling and trying to breathe in the mask while sobbing.

This breaks my heart.

"I know. It's going to be okay." I watch Buck adjust the strap over her oxygen mask.

I can't imagine how he feels right now.

"Sorry to ruin the reunion, Buckaroo. I need to wrap up the burn wound on her hand before it gets worse." I step aside to watch Amelia calm down and breathe into the mask while she moves to sit on Buck's lap.

I can tell that she is also very clingy after that traumatic experience.

"It hurts. Make it stop." I hear her cries to Buck and watch her try to raise her hand to wipe her tears away from her face then she quickly realizes the burn is on her hand.

"Mils, Hen is going to wrap it and a doctor will treat the burn. He will make you feel better. You've been so brave." I watch Buck speak to her and move her hair out of her face.

"Buckaroo, can you hold her leg for a moment? I can't wrap the wound properly if she keeps shaking." I overheard Hen say to Buck while I watched her from afar.

I just met the kid and now here I am watching her being treated after I saved her in a fire.

I can hear Amelia's sobs and can tell that this journey has been really hard for her.

Not only does her dad fight fires every day, but she also just survived one.

"We should probably get her in the ambulance so she can be treated at a hospital. I did the best I could do. I hope you feel better soon, love." I hear Hen while I am walking over to where she's sitting with her dad.

I watch Buck look up at me with a half-smile.

"Dad, Eddie saved me." I overhear Amelia talking to Buck when she takes the oxygen mask off her face as her stretcher is being moved to the ambulance that is waiting.

Buck looks over at me and pauses for a moment.

"Thank you for everything." I listen to Buck and then watch him join her in the ambulance.

I give him a half-smile back and smile at Amelia who seems to be staring at my face which is covered in soot and dirt.