𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗪𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗬 𝗧𝗪𝗢
"𝖡𝖱𝖮𝖪𝖤𝖭"
"𝗕uck, I'm fine."
Weeks passed since Adrienne and Maddie killed Doug. Buck was staying with Adrienne for the time being so he can help lessen the load on the housework and taking care of their daughter.
During those several weeks, they agreed not to talk about what happened. It was a time Adrienne would rather forget.
"A-Are you sure? It's only been three weeks and you're already jumping back into the field," Buck replied.
Buck watched from the doorframe as Adrienne got ready for work. He didn't want her to go because he believed she wasn't fully healed.
"Buck, I know I'm ready," Adrienne replied, putting on her work boots, "Bobby's probably going to have me do office work for him anyways."
Estelle waddled her way into the room. She squealed and headed straight to sit at her mom's legs. Chimney ran in after her.
"I'm sorry, she just slipped away so quickly," Chimney sighed, picked up Estelle, and rested her on his hip. He excused herself before leaving the room with Estelle.
"Remind me to pay Chim extra. Estelle's been a handful since you started taking care of her," Adrienne says.
"She's a Buckley. I can't help that!"
⁂
Adrienne's first shift just so happened to be when Bobby gave local elementary school kids a safety talk at the station. She and Hen were waiting for their cue to speak in the loft lounge.
An imitated sound of the station's bell went off, which was Adrienne and Hen's cue to speak.
"Station 118, Station 118, please dispatch a fire engine and an ambulance to the Meadowbrook School Library immediately. Harry Grant didn't do his homework!" Hen spoke into a megaphone. The kids erupted in laughter. Adrienne slides down the fire pole and joins Buck and Eddie.
"All right, guys, who wants to check out the trucks?" Bobby asked the group of kids. Their hands shoot up in the air followed by "Me!"
"All right. Follow Buck, Adrienne, and Eddie," Bobby instructed. Adrienne took a group of kids to check out the ambulance while Buck and Eddie showed them the ladder truck. Adrienne slips over to Buck, keeping an eye on the kids so they wouldn't mess anything up.
"You know, Ellie's going to have a trip like this soon," Adrienne smiled. She could just imagine her daughter bragging about how her mommy and daddy are both firefighters.
"Oh, I'll be looking forward to that," Buck replied.
⁂
"Okay, everybody, we are in Tactical Emergency Mode. That means we will not be at the station today. We will be driving all around the district to make sure that we are ready for anything that comes our way."
The sound of the actual bell rang through the station. By the calls of their walkies, the 911 dispatch center's CAD system went down, so they were doing things old school.
"Cap, you do realize we work here, right? We're trained professionals, not fifth graders," Hen added. She, Eddie, and Adrienne climbed into the back of the truck.
"Yeah, right?" Buck commented.
"Sorry," Bobby replied. Bobby climbed into the passenger seat of the truck.
Adrienne pulls out her phone to check on Chimney and Estelle while the truck pulled out of the station. Buck looked over her shoulder and reads a few of the text messages.
"Hey, they're gonna be okay," Buck reassured. Adrienne sighed, shutting off her phone, then slipped it in her pocket. She looks out the window as the truck drove through the streets.
"Hey, Cap. You ever seen a breakdown like this before?" Eddie asked.
"Once in St. Paul. Blizzard took out the power grid around the call center and backup generator," Bobby replied.
"I've been through, like, three of these. I'm surprised they don't happen more often, the way the city funds us. Department's held together by chewing gum and spit," Hen commented.
"Hey, come on, I like these old trucks," Buck argued.
"I like them when they run," Adrienne replied.
⁂
"118 Engine and Rescue, please report your location."
"We're on Granville, approaching Miracle Mile District from the west," Bobby replied through his radio.
"Please proceed to 9590 Hillcrest. Cross street is Meadows. Vehicle collided with a 58-year-old cyclist, male."
"Copy. 118, Battalion Seven en route."
But when they got there, another firehouse was already on the scene. Bobby radioed it in before rallying up the team to go back inside of the truck.
⁂
"Where the hell have you guys been?"
The 118 arrived at a high-rise hotel lobby where a woman had gone into labor. A man, who Adrienne figured was the woman's husband, was shouting at the 118.
"We are are fighting a system outage, sir. We apologize for the delay," Adrienne replied to the man.
"Hen, you're up. Eddie, start fluids," Bobby instructed. The husband started to freak out.
"We can't just have the baby here in the lobby. That's not how this is supposed to happen," He says.
"Roger, this is pretty much the way it's happened throughout human his-," The woman pushed through a contraction, "-tory."
"Hi. I'm Hen. What's your name?" Hen asked, bending down beside her.
"Sonia. 39 weeks pregnant. 38 years old, which makes me a geriatric pregnancy," She replied, "God, I hate that word."
"Word doesn't matter, Sonia. You're still getting a baby in the end," Bobby says. Hen moved to Sonia's legs while Adrienne moved to side Hen once occupied.
"Now, on this next contraction, we're gonna push, okay, Sonia?" Hen instructed. Sonia's face turned from calm to worry. Hen looked up at her, "Sonia? Sonia?"
"There's something wrong with the baby," Sonia says.
"No, no, no, no, no, no. Your baby's fine," Hen replied, "You'll be able to see for yourself in just a minute."
"No! No, this was a mistake. All of it. Roger was right to panic. Look, we can't do this. I can't... I can't do this. I shouldn't have this child," Sonia cries.
"No, no, no. No, no, no, no. Sonia, look at me.
Sonia, look at me," Hen says as Sonia lowers her head. Hen continued to shout at her, "Look at me, look at me. Look at me, look at me. All you got to do is push. All you need to do, push."
"Push," Hen instructed. Roger held onto Sonia's hand as Hen urged Sonia to push. Soon enough, Sonia and Roger's baby was brought into the world.
"Baby's got a set of pipes," Eddie comments. Hen was just about to set the baby on Sonia's chest, until she looked down at Sonia, and her face turned blank. Adrienne looked down to see what was going on.
"Hen. Hen, I got the baby," Adrienne says, taking the baby from Hen's arms. Roger started to panic. Adrienne and Buck leads him away from the situation.
"Your wife is in good hands. Okay? Right now, your son needs yours," Buck says. Adrienne hands the baby off to Roger.
"I lost her pulse," Eddie calls out.
"Okay, let's get her transported to L.A. General now," Bobby shouts.
"Hey, Cap, we're gonna need another ambulance for the baby," Buck says.
"Dispatch, this is Engine 118."
"Stand by, 118."
"No more standing by. Guys, let's get her on the gurney. Let's go!" Bobby shouts, motioning for the team to head to the truck.
⁂
Adrienne rode with Eddie, Roger, and Buck in the engine truck to the hospital. Her leg was bouncing up and down. She was scared and nervous for Sonia.
As soon as they arrived at the hospital, Adrienne flew out the truck and towards the ambulance. Hen was inside performing CPR on the woman.
That must mean...
"Okay. Call it," A doctor says. Sonia had sadly passed away. Roger came over with their baby.
"How is she?" He asked. Adrienne looked up at him with a sadden look on her face. "What's wrong?" He questioned.
The faint noise of the machine flatlining came to a stop. Adrienne slipped behind Bobby and Roger to stand by Buck and Eddie. Bobby unfortunately had to break the news to Roger.
"You were right. He's perfect. I wish you could see him," Roger whispered to Sonia, taking a few steps towards where she laid on the gurney.
"I know I was scared and worried that we weren't ready for this, and I am damn sure not ready to do this without you, but I will. I'm gonna figure it out," He continued.
Tears shed down Roger's face as he placed the baby on Sonia's chest. Seeing how Adrienne was doing, Buck laced his fingers with her's, and gave her hand a gentle squeeze.
The heart monitor started to beep.
"She's got a pulse!" Eddie calls out.
"Go, go! Get her inside! Let's go."
Roger mouthed a "thank you" to the team before heading inside of the hospital after his wife. Adrienne felt a wave of relief.
⁂
"Can I talk to you, Buck?" Adrienne asked.
The 118 arrived back at the station to refuel and restock the trucks. While Buck was restocking the ambulance with Eddie, Adrienne walked over to them. Buck handed off a roll of bandages to Eddie before following Adrienne to the locker room.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"I can count on you, right?"
"Always. I know I messed up, but you can always count on me," Buck replied. Adrienne wiped a tear from her face. Buck's expression changed from confused to worry.
"Why are you asking me this?"
"I just needed to know that Estelle will be in good hands. Just in case if... if I die... because anything can happen," Adrienne replied.
"Hey. Don't think like that. Don't ever think like that. Nothing will happen, okay?" Buck reassured, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, "I'll make sure of it."
⁂
The 118 were back en route to their next potential call. Adrienne sat in the back with Buck and Eddie. After hanging up on his phone call with Chimney, Buck throws on his headphones
"Hey, Cap! Uh, Stone Valley Horse Ranch is going up in flames! Chim says it's a huge bonfire gone wrong. We're close, right?" Buck asked.
"Close enough. Let's do it."
The 118 arrived at the ranch to find who they assumed was the owner in a panic. A small crowd was formed. Adrienne spotted the stable in the distance in flames.
"You gotta help them! Johnny and Butterscotch are still in there!" A man shouts. He explained to Bobby how he'd kept a headcount of all of his horses, but the two were missing. Johnny and Butterscotch were inseparable and he'd never seen them apart... ever.
"Please help them," He cried.
"We will, sir. That's what we're here for," Adrienne reassured. Hen took the man to be checked out for injuries. Bobby walks over to Buck, Adrienne, and Eddie.
"I need you three to get down there and hose down the flames so we can go and get the horses," Buck instructed. Adrienne was already getting dressed in her turnout gear. Buck and Eddie followed her with the hose.
Everything was going smoothly. The fire eventually went down. A white and brown horse runs out past them.
"Thank God!" The man cheered. The 118 follows him to the other horses. He had a smile on his face, but then it changed into an expression of rising panic.
"Sunny's not here," He says, "She's not here!"
While the others were straying to comfort the man, Adrienne stared out at the barn's ruins.
She slipped away from their sight and headed straight for it.
⁂
The 118 managed to get the man to sit down. He was in tears because of his missing horse. Bobby gathered the team in a circle to form a plan.
But.. there was someone missing.
"Anyone seen Strickland?"
Inside of the ruins, Adrienne tried her hardest not to cause any debris to fall. She soon came upon a horse who she assumed was Sunny. Sunny was laying on her side and had a few pieces of wood on top of her.
"Hey, Sunny, I'm Adrienne," Adrienne says. She took very careful steps towards her. When Adrienne tries to pet Sunny, she was a little spooked.
"Calm down, okay? I'm going to get these wood pieces off of you, okay?" Adrienne says. The wood debris was easy to get off of her. After throwing the final piece off, Sunny slowly started to get up.
"We did it, girl!" Adrienne cheered, "You mind giving me a ride to my team?"
⁂
Buck was ready to run into the ruins after Adrienne. Bobby had to place Eddie on Buck watch so he wouldn't do anything stupid.
"Why do I have a feeling you wouldn't be put in this position if it were you?" Buck questioned, "I should be in there helping Adrienne."
"And risk you both getting hurt? No. Cap wouldn't have that," Eddie says.
The sound of cheering filled their ears. Buck and Eddie walk over to find...
...Adrienne riding towards them on a horse. She stopped right in front of the other horses.
"That's how you do it!" She cheered. Adrienne dismounted the horse and joins Bobby and Hen in the crowd.
"I'm not in trouble, right Cap?" She asked.
"We'll handle that later," He replied.
⁂
May and Harry were at Adrienne's house the moment she arrived. The Grant children wanted to have dinner with Adrienne's over at her house to spend time with her and Estelle. Adrienne, however, could tell it was a facade just by Harry's face.
Harry volunteered to cook dinner for everyone. Adrienne was in the kitchen supervising him.
"Alright, give it up," Adrienne says. Harry, who was currently plating waffles, stopped and looked up at Adrienne.
"What do you mean?" He asked. Athena suddenly walks into the kitchen.
"Surprise! I'm making dinner for you," Harry smiled.
"I see," Athena replied.
"Waffles, your favorite."
Adrienne and Athena shared a look of disapproval. Harry presented the waffles to Athena.
"What did you do?"