CORA WAKES up to her roommates violent screams that echo through the whole apartment. She throws herself out of the bed calling for Lacy, "What's wrong!" She tumbles out of her messy room, falling on a pile of clothes but catching herself on the dressing table.
"Cora please it's an emergency!" She cries from another room followed by the sounds of a loud crash.
Cora's heart beats faster as she heard Lacey's shouts, she ran quickly across her apartment to her best friends room. She threw the door open, her eyes wide to find the source of the problem but there was no problem.
Well perhaps the state of the room was one problem but other than that there was no life threatening emergency that so abruptly woke her up.
Coraline groans out of anger, "I thought there was a real emergency Lace," She complains stepping over the masses of paint tubes that are spread all over the floor.
Lacey, auburn hair thrown into a bun to make it easier to paint, whipped her head around from out of a cupboard to look at Cora, "There is an emergency though," She panics pulling out a large wicker box of paint brushes.
"And that is?" She asks leaning on the wall with the only free space. Lacey Graves was a lover of all hobbies, mainly painting and baking, and so what was meant to be her bedroom had turned into a collective mess of paint supplies. Lacey owned a small bakery for her job but often was invited to art shows allowing her to sell her paintings as well.
"I have a painting that needs to be finished for an art show tomorrow and I can't find the right brush," She moans putting her face in her hands, luckily all the paint on her hands now dry.
"Come on Lace, you scared me to death! I almost fell over- at least then there would've been a real emergency," She mumbled the last part under her breathe but Lacey heard and she sent her friend a death glare as a response.
"This is a real emergency," She finally got off the floor and stopped frowning instead knitted her eyebrows. As Lacey turns her head Cora gets a view of the bun in her hair. Sitting in her hair is a paintbrush, "If that's the paintbrush you need in your hair i'm going to kill you," She seethed through her teeth.
Lacey pulls the paintbrush from her hair and smiles as she holds the right one in her hand, "I love you," The girl cheers and Cora closes the door on her.
It was her first day back after having to take a week for a family emergency which took her to a different state. It was her whole life and the past week off had been killing her.
✦
HER FINGERS drum on her legs as she walks into the one hundred and eighteenth firehouse where all her friends waited for her. Her bag sits on her shoulder with her uniform in and her phone in her jeans back pocket buzzes, reading it a message from Lacey comes up.
LACE:
have you seen my special spoon??
pls respond!
i cant cook without it :(
Cora shakes her head with a small smirk on her face reading the messages, she knows where her special spoon is. It's where she keeps her shoes because she thinks she'll remember it before leaving. Yet Lacey doesn't remember it because she puts her shoes next to the bin so she remembers to take out the trash. After a long list of trying to remember things, nothing is placed where it all originally was.
"Look who's back!" Chimney smiles shouting from the open second floor. She threw up her arms as she walked in between two firetrucks. "I'm back baby!" She shouts with the biggest grin as she quickly makes her way up the stairs to greet her friends.
Chimney is the first person to hug her and she greatly accepts it, "I've only been gone a week but it's felt like one year," She mumbles in his arms before letting go so she can say hello to the rest of them.
"How's the family?" Evan Buckley asked walking up to her and the rest of the group. His smile only tugs at one corner of his lips as he sees her. Evan Buckley and Coraline Reyes were not on the best of terms, Cora thought the boy was immature and childish and Buck thought that Cora was too uptight and never relaxed. They both had their reasons to dislike each other.
"You need to get changed," Bobby says although its more of a demand while patting on her arm. She nods and heads downstairs dragging Hen with her.
Her uniform was on a while ago but the two of them sat in the changing room talking about life and just enjoying each others company, "How's the wife?" Cora asks and Hen smiles thinking about Karen.
She opens her mouth to respond but the siren rings through the whole firehouse and they both jump and leave the room.
✦
HER FOOT bounces up and down shaking Bucks leg next to her as they drive quickly to the scene where they were wanted. Her eyes stare out of the window as the truck stopped by the beach.
"What's the accident?" She asks climbing out of the truck behind Buck and in front of Chimney.
"A plane crash," Hen mumbles looking out to the sea where half a plane floats making the water ripple.
Cora's eyes widen as she moves quickly towards it, she had been a firefighter for a few years yet this was only the second time that she had come across a plane crash.
The fire was scattered across the waters surface luckily it was the least of their problems. Two lifeguard boats were being pulled out to the water and Cora got in one with Bobby.
Adrenaline was already pumping through her veins as the boat quickly made its way through the water checking on the survivors. Many were gone, floating alone and cold with their faces in the water. She silently prayed for them in her head- Cora wasn't religious but she believed that possibly they would be alright if she hoped and wished with all her heart and soul.
"The planes sinking fast Cap," Cora says watching the half plane, "There's people still in there," She comments as the Captain helps pull a survivor onto the boat in exchange for his seat. Cora quickly does the same. A young woman, looking just older than she was, who thanked her graciously.
She swims quickly checking on the living and the dead, she had gotten so used to checking pulses it wasn't even a thought to her anymore. The water was freezing but she could barely feel it stinging her from all commotion around her.
She follows Bobby into the plane where they both immediately find two people still sat in their seats, "What's the issue Bobby?" She asks looking down the rest of the plane to see if there were any remaining people.
"I'm here!" Buckley says pulling himself towards them and ready to help them.
"Buck stay, Cora I need you to see if there are any people left in the plane, check everywhere," He orders and she pushes herself back through the water which is trying to hold her still and starts to move through the isle.
Her eyes scan over the seats, she sees bags of luggage that holds a small part of somebody's life, it could be owned by one of the dead people? She thought and shook her head trying not to fixate on the ones she couldn't save but the ones she could.
She hears something from further down the plane, she rushes as quickly as she possibly could despite the water fighting her back. She now realises how deep she is the water up to her just above her waist, "Hello!" She shouts listening for a response.
A large bang comes from the airplane bathroom which is followed by a few quieter ones, "In here!" Two people scream with obvious tears in their eyes.
"LAFD! I'm here okay," She shouts tugging at the door that refuses to move even with all the power she forces in.
"The water is filling up fast! We're gonna die!" A woman panics crying now while trying to keep her head above water.
"You're not okay!" She reassured them, "I'm going to be back in one second and you'll be free!" She shouted before turning around to be met with Hen.
"I have and idea, okay!" Hen nods, "I need you to get the blow up slide to give the survivors something and help them!" She orders and Cora follows them although she's hesitant, worrying about the two people still in the bathroom.
The water rises again and she now can't feel her toes, but she keeps going. She eventually finds the slide and pulls it letting it out.
Her hands used the seats to pull her through the water, Buck and Bobby still work on the woman but who Cora figured was her child was taken from the scene, "Need my help?" She asks and they shake their head and allow her to carry one.
Cora watches Hen pass her with a rope and hands it too the speedboat, "Go!" Hen shouts before swimming back to the sinking plane.
Cora's trousers get caught on something connecting to the plane. Her hands try to find it but her head cant stay above the water and find the problem at the same time. She looks around to the others in the plane who were busy. As she leans more in the water she see's something flying through the isle. Bobby and Buck both miss it but Cora doesn't have enough time until it's hitting her in the head before it falls in the water.
She groans her hand immediately coming up to her head as it throbs in agony. She tries to swim but she ends up lying in the water leaning on the plane where nobody see's her. Her vision blurs and her head goes under the water, the plane is fully sunk and every second she's getting pulled down further. Hen, the two people in the bathroom, Bobby, the woman and Buck are all out of the plane but Cora's stuck.
Panic strikes her, her hands pull on her leg frantically but the blow to her head was making her dizzy and her vision was blurry. She screams, the water filling her throat and burning her eyes.
Her leg finally pulled free she desperately tries to swim to the top, her fingers reach above the water and she frantically throws them around until her energy is gone and she finds herself drowning.
Her legs are weak, her body suddenly feel fifty pounds heavier and she finds her mind floating away from her body. Coraline had never almost drowned before and she was glad she hadn't.
She begins to lose all hope until she see's somebody swimming towards her with an outstretched arm. She opens her eyes wide enough to figure out its Buck. A small smile stretched along her face as her fingers interlock with his. Even though the cold is numbing her whole body the warmth his hand gives her is enough for days.
Cora's mind mixes and she doesn't realise she's out of the water until she can clearly hear everything again. "Cora!" Buck says with a worried face holding her. She throws her arms around his neck and takes a deep breathe as she feels his presence.
Buckley helps her get onto a speed boat before pulling himself up. He holds her close as he checks her pulse, her eyes close and she rests her head on his shoulders, "Thank you," She whispered so exhausted she couldn't think straight.
"Stay awake," He said shaking her awake and looking at her head. Cora felt differently towards Buck, whether it was just the blistering migraine that split her skull or the fact he just saved her life she didn't care.