𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗥𝗧𝗬 𝗙𝗜𝗩𝗘
"𝖲𝖤𝖨𝖹𝖤 𝖳𝖧𝖤 𝖣𝖠𝖸"
"It looks like his parachute is snagged on something. He's caught underneath the airplane."
Adrienne hopped out of the firetruck while throwing on a pair of sunglasses to protect herself from LA's blazing sun. The 118 were called to help a parachute instructor, but the problem was that he was in the air. She walked over to stand in between Buck and Eddie.
"He hasn't said anything on the radio," Eddie said in response to Bobby, looking out in the direction he was looking at. Eddie continued, "Might not be conscious."
"Let's hope not for his sake. That's a memory he's not gonna wanna savor," Adrienne sighed.
"We got a concussion, possible spinal injury," Chimney nods.
"And he's getting buffeted by turbulence under the plane. We're gonna need to treat him for exposure," Hen explains.
"Yeah, we haven't talked about how we're getting him down," Adrienne commented. She took the binoculars off of Bobby and used them to see the man dangling off of the plane. Bobby turned to Buck, who looked at him with a confused look on his face.
"How's the leg?" Bobby asked Buck.
"Uh, screws are out. Feeling great," Buck replied.
"All right," Bobby clicked a button on his radio, continuing, "Dispatch this is Captain 118. Can you get me in that pilot's ear?"
⁂
Right now probably had to be the most serious-entertaining call she's ever been on. Adrienne and Buck (of course Bobby put them up there) were tasked with retrieving the instructor from the moving plane. Yes, a moving plane. A plan like this was something her old captain would've come up with. Adrienne finished securing herself and Buck as he spoke into his radio.
"All right, Cap, we got him. Coming in hot behind us," Buck says.
"Okay, hang tight and keep your hands ready."
Adrienne watched as the plane came closer to them, but it was too high for either of them to reach. Buck shouted into his radio for Bobby to get it to go lower but that plan didn't work as well. The plane was too high and too fast which caused them to miss their chance at getting the instructor.
A few moments later, Bobby's voice came through their radio, "Buck, Adri, we've got one more shot at this. Okay, Wild One, put her down."
Adrienne watched as the plane came approaching fast towards them. She motioned for the plane to go lower, while Buck verbally shouted for it to go lower. Soon, the plane came close enough for the two to grab the dangling man.
"We got him!" Adrienne cheered. The truck came to a stop near the now parked plane. Chimney and Hen rush over with the gurney and help Adrienne and Buck strap him on. After watching Hen and Chim load him into the ambulance, Adrienne and Buck join Eddie who sat on the front of the firetruck.
A woman approached the three and pointed at Buck and Eddie, "Are you boys single?"
The three each exchange glances and Adrienne tries her hardest not to laugh. She didn't know why the situation was funny, but it just was. It wasn't uncommon for people to ask if they were single, which sometimes made Adrienne a little jealous when it would be random girls, but she paid little mind to it. They watched as the woman was dragged away by a girl who they assumed was her daughter.
⁂
"So, you're good? You're clear?" Adrienne asked. The tapping of her feet stopped upon the sight of her boyfriend approaching her from the hospital waiting room. He had a bright smile on his face, one that Estelle was blessed with.
"All in the clear," Buck replied, smiling.
"Good. Let's go, shall we? Gotta make sure our kid didn't destroy Eddie's house," Adrienne says.
As Adrienne predicted, the Buckley-Strickland duo witnessed their daughter being chased by Eddie when they came to pick her up. Travis was the one to open the door and he looked tired.
Estelle, upon the sight of her parents, came running and screaming to them. Eddie came seconds later, clearly out of breath.
"Look, I don't know what genetics are in that kid, but that is not a baby. That's a Tasmanian Devil," He says.
Surprisingly, Eddie and Travis's house was completely tidy and clean. The two ended up taking her to the park where Eddie had to chase down Estelle because she tried running away.
"Estelle doesn't do that with us," Adrienne says.
"She probably just missed her parents," Travis sighed. Buck picked Estelle up and took her to the car. Her screams of protest could be heard when he closed the car door.
"Terrible twos," Both Adrienne and Buck sighed.
⁂
"Hey, Chim, you mind if I take home some of this birthday cake for Harry and May?" Bobby asks, flipping open the white cake box.
"Sure, knock yourself out," Chimney replied.
Adrienne walked over and took a seat right beside Buck. Bobby replied with a quick thank you and cut out pieces of cake for his step kids.
"How are they doing? How's Michael?" Buck asks.
"He's upbeat. He's fighting," Bobby replied, "Radiation was supposed to be his best shot. Now we're all grappling with our hope on his second best shot, surgery."
"How are the kids handling it?" Adrienne asked. From the time when she first arrived in LA and after telling Athena and Bobby about Estelle, Michael offered to take care of her when the others couldn't. Michael was as special to Estelle as he is to Adrienne.
"Well, I think Harry's okay. I'm worried about May," Bobby replied, continuing, "She's got a better understanding of what's going on."
"That's 'cause older siblings don't have the luxury of blissful ignorance. They understand the truth even if they don't want to," Chimney sighed. Buck, Adrienne, and Bobby exchanged confusing looks.
"Guessing it's not going too well with Albert," Buck replied. Adrienne tried not to smack Buck upside his head. Maddie mentioned Albert when she came over to visit Estelle. Maddie didn't verbally say it, but it was meant to be kept a secret. Buck clearly didn't get the hint.
"Maddie told you?" Chimney questioned.
"Ooh, sorry. Was she not supposed to?" Buck asked. He shared a look with Adrienne, who held a "Obviously!" look on her face.
"Who's Albert?" Eddie asks.
"He's my younger half-brother from Korea. He showed up at my doorstep. Not quite the birthday surprise I was expecting," Chimney replied.
"That's awesome. I didn't even know you had a kid brother," Eddie commented.
"Yeah, when do we get to meet him?" Bobby asks.
"Well, that doesn't seem necessary. He's gonna be leaving soon anyways. My dad insisted on it," Chimney replies.
"Come on, you finally have a chance to get to know your brother," Buck continued. Adrienne got up from her seat and walked over to the cabinet to grab a bag of pre popped popcorn. She dumps it in a bowl and sits back down next to Buck.
"I don't know. It just feels weird to me," Chimney says. Hen walks over to Adrienne and hands her a stapled stack of papers. Chimney continued, "Sure, we share some of the same DNA, but he's still practically a stranger to me."
"I keep telling you. Family comes to us in different ways, Chim," Hen says. She makes her way to everyone while handing them each sheet of paper. Adrienne didn't get a chance to look at the paper she was handed until now. It read...
"Talking points regarding Henrietta and Karen?" Bobby questioned.
"Social services is vetting Karen and me to become foster parents. We listed each and every one of you as references so when they call, I need you all to sing our praises," Hen explained.
"You mean these specific 26 praises?" Eddie asks.
Hen chuckled, "Karen made the list. She's very thorough."
"Hen, we know you. We don't need some piece of paper to remind us of your many wonderful qualities," Bobby says, "I appreciate that, Cap, but I'd rather you didn't improvise. The stakes are very high."
Buck walked over to Adrienne and scanned through the papers with her. When he found something that sparked his curiosity, he decided to question Hen about it.
"I didn't know you played a musical instrument," Buck says.
"Bassoon. First chair. And I was damn good," She replied, walking away, "Memorize, people!"
As Hen walked down the stairs, Buck looked over at his girlfriend. He leaned in close to her and asked, "What's a bassoon?"
⁂
Adrienne followed the team as a man led them through the front yard of his home. He was stuttering nearly the whole time while he tried to explain the situation at hand.
The man had accidently crushed another man with a bulldozer. Chimney bent down to check the man's pulse. Adrienne, to keep the man talking, asked for his name.
"Harrison," He replied. Eddie placed a collar around Harrison's neck while Adrienne looked underneath the bulldozer.
She couldn't determine it yet, but she just had a hunch that Harrison's current state wasn't going to be good.
"Chim, Adrienne, can you see if he's impaled down there?" Bobby asks. Maybe Chim got a slightly better view than her. The two share a glance before turning to their Captain.
"Can't tell yet, Cap," Adrienne replied.
"Okay, we need to get this thing off of him."
"I've got this, Cap," Hen replied. She climbed inside of the machine and lifted it up slowly. Once there was enough wiggle room, Adrienne, Eddie, and Chimney dragged Harrison out of the way. Chimney reached down to feel Harrion's back.
"Cap, I'm feeling something here. We gotta turn him," Chimney explained.
"How's his spine?" Bobby asks.
"Lower extremities appear to be moving," Eddie replied.
"Upper extremities, too. Collar's in place. Pupils are good," Hen continued.
"Let's flip him. One, two, three," Adrienne joined Chimney at his side as they flipped Harrion over. She knew her hunch was right.
Sections of Harrison's intestines were exposed and outside of his body. Adrienne wasn't very squeamish, but she wanted to throw up.
"I'm pretty sure all of this is supposed to be inside of his body," Chimney commented.
"He's been eviscerated," Hen says.
"Seen these before. We need to clean and irrigate," Eddie explained as he rushed to start cleaning.
"And morphine. Lots of morphine," Hen added.
"All right, let's double dose. Three mils. Opening can't be any bigger than the size of a fist. We gotta keep him on his side," Chimney instructed.
"Bring the backboard in," Hen called out.
⁂
Adrienne worked with Chim on Harrison while Hen drove the ambulance to the hospital. She was in charge of keeping track of his heartbeat and blood pressure while Chimney worked on cleaning out his intestines.
"I can't believe he did that. Am I a terrible person?" Harrison asked. He continued, "I throw people out of their homes."
"Eh, you were just doing your job, Harrison," Chimney replied.
"I hate my job. I need to change my life. Carpe diem of whatever the hell."
"I think that's the morphine talking," Adrienne whispered, but loud enough for them to hear.
"Hey, as long as he's talking, he's fighting," Chim sighed. Adrienne took off her stethoscope and draped it over her shoulder.
"BP is falling, but it's still in the safe zone," Adrienne explained.
"Gotta keep him talking," Chimney says, "Hey, Harrison, buddy, you still with us?"
"Yeah."
"So, uh, tell me. If you weren't a bank guy, what do you think you'd be doing?"
"I wanted, uh, to be a firefighter as a kid," Harrison says, his voice sounding a little muffled through the breathing mask. He took a second to continue.
"But now I don't think I have the guts."
Adrienne looked at Hen through the tiny ambulance window to try to keep herself from laughing. It was a huge mistake since a few chuckles escaped their lips.
⁂
Adrienne decided to stay home and relax with her daughter while the others went out to enjoy a nice time out for Chimney's birthday. Estelle and Adrienne enjoyed several Disney movies together, until a knock came from the front door. Adrienne pauses the movie and walks with a sleepy Estelle to the front door.
The door clicked and opened to reveal Buck and...
"Albert?" Adrienne questioned. Without another word spoken, Albert walked straight into the house. Buck stood in the doorway with a guilty look on his face.
"Why is he here?" Adrienne asks.
"He and Chim had a bit of a.. misunderstanding. I told him it's okay if he stays with us for the night," Buck sighed. Yes, it was a nice gesture for Buck to do, but he should've given Adrienne a warning before they came. Estelle yawned and rested her head in the crook of Adrienne's neck.
"You could've told me. The house isn't that clean," Adrienne says.
What Adrienne classified as "dirty" is at least one article of something out of place. Buck offered to take Estelle to bed while Adrienne set up the guest bedroom for Albert.
Adrienne only spoke with Albert very briefly and that was when Maddie called her over to Chimney's place while Chimney was away.
"Bathroom is down the hall. Towels are in the drawers as well as a change of clothes," Adrienne explained to Albert as she led him inside of the room. He set the small bag he had with him beside the bed and smiled.
"All set?" Albert nodded a "yes".
"Good. Now, I have a hot shower to take before I sleep. Any questions?" Adrienne asked.
"Nope," Albert replied. But before Adrienne left the room, Albert stopped her.
"I just wanted to say.. thanks. For letting me stay. I really appreciate it," Albert says.
"You're welcome."
⁂
"You ever think it's weird we spend 50-something hours a week together and still hangout?" Chimney asked.
Just two days later, Albert and Chimney settled their differences. Eddie invited Albert, Chimney, and the Buckleys over to his house for a hangout. Adrienne watched as Albert and Buck played with Estelle and Christopher.
"No. What's that saying? You got the family you were born into and the one you choose?" Eddie questioned, "Well, that's what the 118 is. The family we chose."
Adrienne slips away from them and joins Maddie in the kitchen. Just a few seconds later, Buck enters, and reaches out for a cracker from a board Maddie made.
"No," Maddie scolds, smacking away his hand.
"Uh, you're not going to put out the cookies I brought?" Buck questions. He looked over at the counter where an unopened box of cookies sat. Adrienne rushed over to stand in front of them.
"It's not time for dessert, and why are you acting like you made them yourself?" Maddie asks.
"Warned you at the store, babe. Homemade is better than store bought," Adrienne teased.
"I drove myself to go buy them. Look, I don't get why I had to bring something anyway. You two practically shamed me into it," Buck replied.
"Because it's what you do, Buck. When someone invites you to their house, you don't show up empty handed," Adrienne explained.
"Uh, this is Eddie's house. I'm not really a guest."
"We were just trying to save you from yourself, like always."
"Well, thanks. You are a good sister," He turns to Adrienne with a smile, "And you are a good girlfriend. I'm lucky to have you."
"We're lucky to have each other," Maddie replied. Buck leaned in to kiss Adrienne, but Maddie cleared her throat to interrupt them.
"Later, lovebirds. Now help me carry this," Maddie says.
"Yes, ma'am," Buck replied.
After setting the food down on the dining table, everyone came to grab their share. Adrienne grabbed a couple of sliders and took Estelle to sit down next to her. Buck joined them a few moments later
"This is nice," Adrienne smiled.
"I love it. Just like how I love you," Buck says. Adrienne looks up at Buck with a smile.
"I love you too, Buck."
⁂
𝗮/𝗻:
Travis begins?