Burning Flames (Chicago Fire Fan-fiction) - Under Editing

Chapter 63: Tiffany

"How have you already ate? Did you eat fruit or something?" Otis asks as we all sit down.
"Casey brought me lunch after he got out of the doctors." I say as Mouch turns the TV on to the Cubs playing the Giants.
"Damn, guys, look at the score." Mouch says his eyes widening.
We all look at the score and the Cubs were up by seven in the bottom of the ninth. After a few more minutes of gameplay the game ends with the Chicago Cubs up by six. The rooms silent until Herman starts cheering and shouting. The rest of us following. The crowd on the TV erupts into cheers as the sports reporter on the television shouts, "The Cubs made it! We're going to the World Series!!! Yesss!"
"The Goat worked its charm!!! The curse is no more!!!" Herman shouts as Squad and Chief Boden run in.
"The Cubs beat the Giants! We're going to the World Series!" Otis shouts.
Squad and Boden both start cheering, and it lasts for another five seconds because then the bells go off, "Squad 3 and 6, Truck 81 and 59, Ambo 61 and 79, and Battalian 25 and 52, crowd control at the Cubs stadium and recovery and removal of Giants players. Police and security on scene, but trying to control crowd."
"Let's go!" I say as we run out and pull on our gear.
"Damn, this might have gotten out of hand." Herman says as we pull off.
"Okay, we are going to be working alongside CPD and security. Our job will be to get to the Giants locker room, and get the crowd back so they can get the team out. I don't want any bias from ANYONE. Got it?" I ask looking at my guys.
"Got it, Lieutenant." Echoes through the Truck as we pull up, and are the first ones here.
"We have control of the scene. Let's go. No halligans." I order as Truck 59 pulls up.
"Whose lieutenant on Truck 81?" Lieutenant Brewer asks as he and his crew get out.
"I am. We have scene. No halligans, avoid brute force at all costs. Let's move people." I order as we all move to the stadium.
We are soon joined by Squad 3 and 6, Ambo 61 and 79, and both Battalian Chiefs. We move in to the stadium and both Chief Jones and Boden stay behind to get an assessment of the situation from the police officers outside.
"Alright, Dawson, the security and police inside have been taken over. So this is now a hostage situation. Proceed with caution, and the men are yours to work with since your company was first on scene." Chief Boden radios.
"Thanks, Chief." I radio back.
"Okay. Now, if it comes to it, use brute force. These guys aren't playing around." I say as we walk in to a hallway that leads to the players locker rooms. We hear the chanting and shouting as soon as we enter the hallway.
"How many lieutenants have their halligans on their waist strap?" I ask looking around.
Both Squad lieutenants raise their hands and so does Brewer. I nod my head, and pull my own from where it's swinging at my hip in the carrier.
"I want all four lieutenants up front, Ambo crews in the middle of the men. Mills take Shay back out." I say looking around.
"What?! Why?!" Shay asks.
"We both know why. Now get you're ass outta here before Severide pulls his hair out." I say.
She glances at the nervous Severide to my right and nods her head. She and Mills head out.
"We're sending Shay and Mills back out. Won't be good if something happens to Shay, too dangerous." I radio Chief Boden.
"Agreed. They are arriving out here now. Over and out." Boden says.
"Alright. Assume your position. Don't let that crowd get to Ambo. The last thing we need is them getting drugs." I say as we start moving forward, the shouting getting louder as we moved.
We finally reach the crowd and see several unconscious Police officers and several tied up, including Antonio who was struggling against the ropes. A few security guards were cowering in a corner while the fans were banging and pounding on the Giants locker room door.
"Move!" I order.
We press forward, and the crowd pushes against us.
"Out of our way! Now!" All four lieutenants shout out.
A lot of them move as we press forward relentlessly, but a few start trying to fight us. I push one down to the floor as we all jump in to action and say, "Stay down, or I'll make you stay down."
"I'm down! I'm down!" He says.
I stand up and help Mouch as he tied a hand cuff knot on one and holds another off.
"Stay away from my firefighters and get your ass on the ground." I order stepping in between the man and Mouch.
He swallows and gets down on his stomach.
"Hand cuff him, Mouch." I say.
Mouch nods and ties the man's hands behind his back in a handcuff knot.
Most of the crowd has moved away from the door now, but a few are refusing to move.
"Herman, get the conscious police officers untied, and then help Ambo get the few unconscious out." I order.
Herman nods and sets to work untying the police officers and detectives.
"Oooo. A little woman like you is running the show huh? How about we switch leaders. How bout it." A man says stepping in front of the crowd obviously in charge.
He presses a gun to my forehead and everyone in the room stops talking and moving.
"Continue working." I order.
"So confident I'm not going to shoot you huh?" He asks tilting his head.
"Shoot me. My brother has a gun aimed at the back of your head." I say as Antonio aims his pistol at the back of his head.
"Yeah right." He says rolling his eyes.
To prove my point Antonio presses his gun to the back of the guys head, and the man lowers the gun. I quickly pull the pistol from his hand and Antonio slams him into the wall, handcuffing him and reading him his rights.
"Everyone, sit down. Now." I order the rioters who look like they are about to shit there pants.
"Let's get these guys out, Squad 3, Truck 59, start taking them out. Everyone else stay here with me." I order.
After they get the players out police take over, and we leave them to it. We walk out and I shake Chief Jones hand as he says, "Good work in their, Dawson. It's obvious you're a good lieutenant, but I thought you were on Squad, not Truck."
"I am, but I'm filling in for Lieutenant Casey. He got sick." I say.
"Ah. Well, any how, good job." He tells me then walks away to where his men are putting up the little gear we had used.
"Good job, Dawson. You handled that well, but maybe a little too well. Chief Jones said something about talking to Chief Tiberus about making you a Battalion Chief in training." Boden tells me as we both walk over to where Antonio is sitting on the back of the Ambo getting checked out.
"Meaning my files would be reviewed including the seven years on ambulance, and if they are reviewed I could lose my job." I say rubbing my eyes.
"Yes. You might want to lay low on calls from now on until further notice." Chief Boden tells me.
"Yeah. Yeah, I will, Chief. Thanks." I say.
He nods and walks over to where Severide is standing. I walk over to where Shay is putting a butterfly bandage on Tonio's head.
"You look annoyed, Shay." I say with a smirk.
"I am. Ever since Mills found out I was pregnant he's protective of me. Antonio is the first patient I've worked with since he found out." Shay says.
"Wait, you're pregnant?" Tonio asks.
"Yep. I go to the OBGYN tomorrow afternoon." She tells him.
"That's great, Shay!" He says as she steps examining her handy work.
"Okay, you're good to go." I say.
"Thanks, Shay." Antonio says standing up. Then he tugs on my arm and says, "Come on. I need to talk to you."
I nod, and we walk away from ambulance as Shay and Mills load someone up and pull off.
"Did I hear something about you losing your job if you are reviewed for Battalion Chief position?" He asks.
"Yeah. If they review my files I might lose my job. I have to lay low on calls until they lose interest." I say then add as an after thought, "I might go talk to Chief Tiberus about it considering he has seen my files."
"Okay, well, be careful lil sis, and no more telling people to shoot you, you scared the shit out of me." He says hugging me.
"Yeah, second time I've had a gun aimed at my head today, so no promises." I tell him.
"I think you missed your calling. I'm the one whose supposed to have a gun aimed at my head." Antonio says.
I laugh and say, "Yeah, whatever. Hey, ummm... I don't want you to hear it from someone else so I'm going to tell you then I've got to leave. I'm dating Casey again. We can talk tomorrow sometime, love you Tonio. I'll see you after my shift."
I jog over to where Truck is waiting and get in.
"Damn adrenaline Squad junkie, I swear." Herman says smirking at me.
"You guys don't realize you all used to be like this too. You just lost the drive to act like this." I say as we pull off.
"Whatever. We're just more level headed." Otis says.
I point at him and say, "You are that."
They all laugh as we turn a corner, and Cruz slams on the brakes.
A semi runs a red light and right in to a blue car.
"Light 'em up, and page Squad, Ambo, and Boden." I order.
Cruz flips the lights on, and we get out as Herman pages everyone. I grab a halligan, and run over to where the car is stuck under the semi.
I look in to the drivers side and see a face I recognize all too well. Tiffany's mother. She had finally started paying some attention to her daughter when she slowly started getting better.
"Where the hell is that ambulance?!" I shout into my radio as I check Tiffany's moms pulse, which was very weak.
"We're three minutes out, Dawson." Mills says.
"I need you now." I say as I start looking through the windows for Tiff.
"Tiffany! Tiffany, honey, where are you?" I call in to the car.
"Gabby?! Gabby, I can't feel my legs, and I can't see anything but metal!" She cries out from the other side of the car in the passenger seat.
"Don't move, okay. We're going to get you and your mom out, okay? Don't worry." I say as Squad and Ambo pull up, and Herman hands me a metal saw for the door.
"Okay, Tiffany, we're going to get you guys outta there, okay? Keep talking so I know you're there." I tell her as I start cutting the door.
"We were on our way back from the hospital. I still have the bracelet on. I don't want to die, Gabby." She says.
"You're not. Dawson is going to get you outta there, Tiffany. Remember me, Chief Wallis Boden, from where Dawson works." Chief Boden says as he moves to the passenger side.
They continue talking as I cut the hinges and Severide pops the door off. He pulls it away, and we put a c-collar on her then pull her out on to a back board.
We load her up, and Shay and Mills pull off.
"Truck 81 to main." I radio.
"Go ahead, 81." Dispatch says.
"We need another ambulance at the car crash on the intersection of North Damen, West Irving, and North Lincoln." I say.
"There's no reported car crash at that intersection 81." Dispatcher tells me.
"Yeah, we came around the corner from the Cubs/Giants call just as it happened." I say.
"Okay. Ambulance 79 being dispatched." The dispatcher tells me as I move around to where they are starting to cut Tiffany's door open.
"Thanks. Over and out." I say.
As they pop the door off I say, "Tiffany, we still can't see you. Where are you, Tiff?"
"In the front middle. I was sitting beside my mom." She calls out. That's when I see her silver sneaker.
"Chief we need to pull the car out and get the top off." I say pointing to her sneakers.
Boden nods and I shout out, "Truck, let's get the hook attached to this car and get it pulled out."
Cruz and Mouch grab a chain and hook it to the rear of the car, and use the truck to slowly start pulling the car backwards.
Tiffany screams and I wave my hand for them to stop shouting, "Hold up!"
They stop and I ask, "Are you alright?"
"Something's being pulled out of my leg. It's wet and hurts really bad, Gabby." She says.
"Dammit... hold on." I get in the car, and run my hand up her leg. I reach just above her knee and feel a piece of metal jutting out of her leg.
I pull my hand out and call over my shoulder, "She's got a piece of metal stuck in her lower thigh. I don't know how deep."
"Can we get a sa-saw in?" Severide asks leaning his head in as I pull my hand out. My glove smeared with a dark liquid that could only be blood.
I shake my head and say, "No. I can hardly get my hand in there."
"We're going to have to pull her out, and that's going to have to either be cut or get pulled out." Severide says.
"Get me a load of gauze. Now." I say.
He jogs over to where Ambo 79 is pulling up and they give him a handful of gauze pads. He jogs back over, and hands them to me. I tear them open and form them in to a thick sheet of gauze. I put my hand back up to where the metal is sticking in her leg and say, "Okay, Tiffany, you need to be strong for me. We can't get a saw up to that metal, so we are going to pull you out, and that metal is going to pull itself out. As soon as it's out I'm going to press this gauze to your leg, okay?"
"Okay." She tells me.
"Okay, Cruz, let's go. Very slowly." I radio Cruz.
"Roger that. Moving." Cruz radios back. Then, we slowly start moving backward and I feel the metal being pulled out as Tiffany cries out in pain and says, "I don't wanna die yet."
"You aren't going to." I say.
I feel the metal leave her leg completely and press the three inch thick gauze pad to the wound.
"We're clear. Let's get her out of here." I call over the radio.
Tiffany is quiet as they start cutting the roof off.
"Tiffany, talk to me so I know you're there." I say.
No response.
"Tiffany. Tiffany, talk to me. Now!" I say pressing into the wound.
Again no response.
"Get the damn top off! Now!" I shout.
The roof is pulled back, and then I see Tiffany's dark brown hair.
"Tiffany. Tiffany, talk to me. Let me know you're there." I say pressing the gauze in to the wound.
"Get a pulse on her!" I order.
Anna reaches in and presses her hand to Tiffany's throat.
She moves her hand to the other side, and then pulls back. She says something to Boden and his face falls.
"No! She can't be dead! No! No no." I say as I pull my hand out and check her pulse myself. For a split second I lose it. Then, everything stops. I pull back, and get out of the car. I look at my gloves and pull them off. They drop to the ground and I walk over and get in the Truck rig as they recover her body. I pull my helmet off and lean my head back against the head rest.
My vision blurs and I see Jordan Jones standing in front of me with her hand on Tiffany's shoulder. They are both smiling at me. Then, my eyes snap back in to focus as a depressed Truck 81 gets in, and we pull off.
Everyone at House 51 had loved Tiffany, and she had came by tons since they day she got out of the hospital. We all had became very aquatinted in the time since we all had met her. In fact we had been planning on taking her for a ride along in a couple shifts, but I guess that wasn't happening now. The doctors had said that she might recover enough from her cancer to become a firefighter, but that wasn't going to happen now either.
We get to the station and I get out without a word. I pull my gear off and walk to my office. I shut the door and sit down in the chair at the desk. I put my head in my hands.
After awhile someone knocks on my door.
"Come in." I say sitting back in my chair.
Severide walks in and sits down on the couch.
"What can I do for you, Severide?" I ask rubbing my temples.
"You alright?" He asks.
"Not really." I say.
"You heard anything about Tiffany's mom?"
I shake my head and he says, "She survived."
"I guess that's good." I say.
"Yeah. Shay's not so sure we should have the bachelor and bachelorette parties tomorrow." He says.
"What?! No way! You guys have to have them. We can't cancel a day before." I say sitting up straight.
"Well first off she's pregnant and second she's upset." Severide says.
"Well I'm going to go talk some sense in to her ass." I say standing up.
Severide nods and we walk out to the commons where everyone is sitting solemnly quiet.
Shay is sitting on the couch with her head on Herman's shoulder. I walk over and kneel in front of her as Chief walks in.
"Everyone go home. Take some time, and be back your next shift." Boden tells us.
We all nod and I help Shay to her feet. Everyone walks to the locker rooms with Shay, Severide, and I at the back.
"We're still having the bachelor and bachelorette parties tomorrow. We aren't canceling. Besides its just going to be you, Cindy, and me for the bachelorette party meaning we can stay at one of our places and watch movies and eat popcorn. The guys are all having their party at Otis and Cruz's place, so we won't have to worry." I tell Shay as I hug her shoulders.
"Yeah, and we are now missing one person from my bachelorette party and one brides maid." Shay says as we walk in to the locker room.
"Yes, and Tiff wouldn't want you to post pone everything just for her." I say.
"Yeah, I guess not. Hey where are we staying?" Shay asks as we both quickly change out and walk out to mine and Severide's car.
"Uhhh... Your place. I might bring Violet if you don't mind." I say tossing my stuff in the back seat of my car.
"That's fine. I'll see you tomorrow at nine for the OBGYN." Shay tells me.
I nod and get in my car as she and Severide get in his.
I pull out and head in the direction of Matt's house. I feel the tears start rolling down my cheeks as I park my car, and lean my head against the steering wheel. I wipe my eyes which doesn't help much and grab my bag out of my car. I walk inside and drop my stuff as I walk through the door.
"Whose here?" Matt asks as he and Violet walk out of the living room.
"Hey, baby, why are you home so early?" He asks walking over to me and noticing the tears rolling down my cheeks.
"Matt... Tiffany's dead. Truck turned the corner just as the semi ran the red light. We worked the call. We almost had her out, but she died from a loss of blood." I say as he wraps me in a hug.
"Violet, can you go get Gabby a cup of tea?" Matt asks as he holds me in his arms and let's me cry.
"Yeah... I'll be right back with a cup of hot green tea." Violet says.
"Baby, I'm so sorry. Come on, come sit down." Matt says guiding me in to the living room.
I sink down on to the sofa as Violet walks back in with a steaming cup of green tea. I take it from her and she leaves the room. Matt sits down beside me, and wraps an arm around my shoulders as I take a sip of the tea.
"I saved her mother." I state.
"It's not your fault." He says as he takes the cup of tea from me and sets it down.
He pulls me in to his lap, and I take a deep breath. I lean my head on his chest and say, "We turned the corner just in time to see a semi run a red light, and their car ran right in to it. I went to the drivers side and her mom was barely alive. We got the door off and pulled her out. When I called out for Tiff... when I called out for Tiff she said all she could see was metal. I went over to the passengers side, and we got that door off. We still couldn't get to her, so I had Cruz start pulling the car out from the semi with the truck. Tiffany cried out in pain and said she could feel something sticking in to her leg and pulling out as we moved the car, and that it was wet. So when I got in and checked sure enough a price of metal that was still attached to the semi was in her leg. I got a lot of gauze pads and made about a three inch thick pad out of them, and told Cruz to start moving the car again. Once the metal was out I placed the gauze over it. As soon as they started taking the top off she stopped talking, stopped moving. Once they got it off, Anna, from Ambo 79, checked her pulse and there was none. I checked and nothing. Then I got out of the car as they pulled her body out and went over to the truck. I pulled my gloves off and dropped them. They were covered in blood...
Matt... the last words she said to me were, 'I don't wanna die yet.' I told her she wasn't going to."
"It's alright, baby girl. It's not your fault." Matt soothes as Violet walks in tears streaming down her face.
She had obviously heard the details of what had happened. I open my arms to her and she comes and sits down in between us, crying.
"It's alright, Vi. We're here." I soothe her smoothing down her hair.
Matt wraps us both in his arms.
"I'm sorry you had to hear that, Vi." Matt says kissing the top of her head.
"Uncle Matt? What would have happened if that was me?" She asks shocking booth Matt and I in to silence.
"Why do you ask that, Violet?" I ask brushing her hair out of her eyes.
For a thirteen year old she was pretty damn smart.
"Would you have rescued me?" She asks.
"Of course we would have. We always rescue people who are in trouble. We try our hardest to save the people in trouble every time. It just doesn't work sometimes, but it wasn't you." Matt says.
"Oh. Can I go to my room?" She asks.
"Yeah. Go on, kiddo." Matt says.
She stands up and walks off as I go back to sitting in Matt's lap with my head on his chest.
"I know that you tried your damnedest to save Tiffany, Gabby. It's not your fault that she died." Matt says looking down at me.
"I know. I'm just sad." I say.
"Come on. Let's go upstairs, and go to bed. It's already eleven o'clock." Matt says after a while.
"Okay. Let's go I'm tired." I say standing up.
We both walk upstairs and quickly change in to our sleeping clothes, and get in bed...