a jinx or a curse
A hand brushed back the sleeping figure's hair past their bare shoulder. Next a soft kiss on the temple. Another one on the cheek. Soon a relaxed smile graced the sleeping figure's lips in return by the touch.
"Babe."
No response.
"Babe."
Again, no response.
"I know you can hear me."
After receiving nothing, he reached for a coffee cup on the tray sitting on top of the nightstand.
"I got you coffee."
Victory at last when a pair of eyes shot open. Josephine saw Buck at her bedside holding her drink that he stated to have in his grasp. He didn't lie once she spotted it. She straightened herself on the bed and accepted the morning refresher from him.
He smirked at his girlfriend. "Knew that'll get you up." Josephine sent him an eye roll and sipped her drink.
"What time is it?"
"Don't worry, we have enough time to eat this delicious breakfast I bought and get ready for shift." Buck lessened her worries about the timeframe. "I got up extra early to grab my stuff at my apartment for work."
"You didn't have to sleepover if it was going to be a hassle for you in the morning."
Buck hummed in disagreement, "It wasn't a hassle. Besides, I like waking up to this beautiful face." He attempted to use his finger to pull underneath Josephine's chin for a kiss.
However, she moved swiftly before his lips could collide into hers.
"I have morning breath."
"I could care less."
She thrusted her coffee into his hands. "Unfortunately, I care." She threw the comforter from her body and strolled into the bathroom.
Buck was in the kitchen laying out their meals from the takeout containers. Josephine arrived in the room, paving her way towards her boyfriend. His body was already facing her by the time she approached him. Her hand slid to the back of his neck, bringing his head down for a short blissful kiss to start their morning.
"Happy?"
"Ecstatic."
"Since you met Buck's parents, is he going to meet your family anytime soon?"
Hen inquired to Josephine on the apparatus floor. They were walking around with Chimney who was chomping on his apple.
Josephine nodded shortly, tucking her arms into her body. "Yeah. He's already met Vanessa and Calvin before. My mom, abuela, abuelo, and the rest of my family are eager to meet him, of course. We're going to wait a bit after the recent Buckley family reunion." She humored lightly to the duo.
"Completely understandable." Chimney agreed with his mouth full.
Hen swatted his arm for the lack of manners. She turned to Josephine. "Makes sense. You need a breather from family."
The trio continued furthering the apparatus floor intercepting the return of clipboard Buck standing between the trucks.
"Oh no, who gave that guy a clipboard?" Hen spoke up, clearly displeased at the sight along with Josephine and Chimney.
Buck held his hands up, eliciting an innocent grin. "Don't worry. It's a kinder, gentler clipboard, as is the man who holds it. Meet Buck 3.0." He declared to the group with pride.
Josephine quirked her brow at her boyfriend in amusement. She wasn't aware of her boyfriend's sudden software update. Nor really understood the whole "Buck 2.0" persona. Hen, Eddie, and Chimney shared questionable expressions at the announcement.
Eddie and Chimney flickered their eyes on the brunette firefighter. Her face scrunched up at their burning gaze. "Don't look at me. I'm just learning about the news right now."
"Wait, 3? What happened to 2.0?" Hen asked curiously.
"His leg was crushed by a ladder truck and his girlfriend broke up with him." Chimney quipped, taking another bite of his apple.
Eddie chimed in, "Still not sure what inspired the software update."
"I'm just ready to let go of the past."
"Your parents lied to you your entire life and you're just going to let that go? What's your secret?" Hen was intrigued to hear more from the blond.
"Therapy as in my parents agreed to come to a few sessions with me. Work out stuff out." Buck explained further. "Look, they're trying, I figure I should try too, right?"
Hen looked at him in awe. "Very mature of you, Buck."
"Very Buck 3.0."
"Ok, I'm not calling you that." Hen deadpanned then looked over at her best friend. "Are you going to be taking part in these family sessions too?"
Chimney shook his head immediately, "Uh-uh. Key word, "family," which I am not, technically."
"You're allowed to give yourself some time, you know, to process." Eddie suggested it to his best friend out of concern.
"I know. I'm just tired of looking behind me. I'm ready to start thinking about the future." Buck snuck a glimpse at Josephine, sending a wink when he said the last part. Josephine blushed, diverting her gaze from him. Eddie stifled a chuckle noticing the tiny interaction between the latter.
Buck spotted one of the young probation firefighters. "Speaking of which, hey, Probie!" He shouted, scaring Ravi where he dropped his books. Grimacing, he rushed to pick up the fallen books. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. You're the new B-shift? Probie, right?"
"Yeah. I mean, yes, sir. I just finished my first shift."
"How was it?"
"Oh, pretty quiet."
Shouts of protest came out of the mouths of the group minus Eddie lingering back at one of the trucks. While the four were trying to find a resolution, the brunette only grew confused of the occurrence in front of him. Even when Buck explained to Ravi the cursed "Q" word, Eddie still had no understanding.
Abruptly, the ringing alarm in the firehouse caused the four firefighters' faces to deflate.
"We've been jinxed." Chimney hissed.
Josephine groaned and pivoted to the firetruck along with the team. "I say we make a stop to a church and find a priest on the way back!"
"Jinxed." Eddie was audibly in disbelief by the team's explanation. "You guys sound like my abuela's neighbor's curandera."
"Well, does she happen to know how to reverse it? Because if not, you're about to experience the shift from hell." Buck said in a dreadful tone.
Josephine pipped beside him, "Non-stop calls, all day long." She shut her eyes briefly after recalling the last shift where she experienced it.
"Stupid calls." Hen emphasized.
"Probably tempted fate and now the EMS gods are gonna make us pay." Chimney frowned deeply up in a dramatic matter.
Eddie scoffed at their complaints. "Come on, you guys don't really believe that."
Hen let out a bemused laugh, "So, Buck never told you about the last time somebody used that word?"
Buck interjected, correcting the woman. "The gods took it out of context." He and the team recalled that memory when he used the "Q" word about the dishwasher, thus, igniting the curse in which everyone except Buck believed.
"36 calls."
"36 in one shift?"
Bobby spoke up from the passenger seat. "Yeah, it was a house record." He affirmed.
"It was 37." Buck clarified.
Josephine snapped her head at him. "That one doesn't count."
"That wasn't even a call." Bobby added.
"Then what was it?"
"Divine retribution."
"So, who triggered the fire suppression system?" Bobby interrogated the trio standing beside them. They watched Buck trapped in the foam filled inside the locker room.
"I don't know but if I did, I'd kiss them on the lips." Hen omitted, gracing a smile at the blond struggling.
Josephine enveloped a smirk, "Bet he regrets talking about the dishwasher now."
Buck's muffled shouts for help were heard through the glass.
"Should we go help him?" Chimney asked.
"No, let's give him a minute."
Trapped in their own engine truck due to a power line falling on the truck was the last thing the members of the 118 had expected. Except with the way their day has been sending them on an endless rollercoaster of calls, they couldn't be less surprised by this development.
While everyone dreaded the anticipated rescue. Chimney proceeded to do a deep dive in the web to relieve them from this horrid curse.
"Ah ha! It is a real thing." Chimney exclaimed, gravitating everyone's attention. "Okay, so we have to move our hands this kind of motion and ring the bells—nine times." He told though sounded uncertain.
Buck furrowed, "Nine in total? Or nine- nine for each of us?"
"It's unclear. I think maybe we should all do it. Just to make sure we lift the curse completely."
Hen interjected, "Well, is it actually a curse? I know we called that, but technically, I think it's a jinx."
"What's the difference?"
"Mm...a curse implies that a person put a hex on you and a jinx is more like a general angering of the gods." Josephine stated from the driver's seat.
Meanwhile, Buck slipped out his phone from his pocket. "All right, I got it." He clicked on the Google search engine. "Here we go, 'how to appease the gods?'."
"Hey, wait, so does the hex and the curse mean the same thing?" Chimney questioned despite listening to Josephine's explanation.
Eddie interrupted, "By that you mean both are totally made up and not real? Yes."
"What more proof do you need, Eddie?" Chimney flailed his arms in the truck. "We are trapped in a death box! Thousands of volts of electricity coursing through every nook and cranny any one of us could literally get fried like that."
"Or we just don't touch any doors or windows until help arrives, and nobody gets fried with or without a curse- jinx whatever." Bobby calmly spoke.
Buck grimaced at his phone, "All I can find is some kind of human or animal sacrifice. I'm not really down with that."
"Do you guys not hear yourselves right now?" Eddie asked in an incredulous tone.
"Do you? It's like the universe is screaming at you and you refuse to listen." Buck argued.
"The universe does not scream."
Oddly on cue, sparks of electricity erupted from the power box silencing the firefighters in the engine truck.
Chimney stared up at the ceiling, "Oh, there are clearly forces at work here. Forces beyond my control and your control—"
"That's it. That's the difference between you and me. I don't worry about things that I can't control." Eddie proclaimed strongly in his argument.
"Sure, you can say you don't worry about things you can't control but can you at least acknowledge that something is controlling the things that you can't control." Buck pointed out to his best friend.
"Like what? Gremlins? Boogeyman? Santa Marta?" Eddie taunted then sighed out. "Look we've had a crappy day, it happens. It didn't happen because of a curse or a hex or because someone said that word—"
Bobby's shout cut the brunette off. "Ah don't!"
Eddie whipped his head back, "Come on, Bobby. You really can't believe in all this?"
"You know, Cap. You have been pretty silent today about all this jinx stuff." Hen instigated.
"Yeah, suspiciously silent." Chimney added.
Buck hummed in agreement with the latter. "Yeah, Cap. Come on, where do you stand? Jinx or no jinx?"
"Can't play peacemaker on this one, Cap." Josephine sang out, peering over at him.
"Aren't we all a little superstitious? People don't like to walk under ladders. Some buildings don't have a 13th floor. We bless people after they sneeze. Some of us even wear a good luck charm on their neck." Bobby nodded off to Eddie and his St. Christopher necklace causing the others to eye at him.
"That's not the same thing." Eddie defended.
"To you." Bobby retorted. "But wearing that metal reminds you of your son. Helps you feel better about the day so if Chimney wants to ring some bells so he can feel better. What's wrong with that?"
A beat passed when Josephine narrowed at him. "You never actually answered the question though, Cap."
Eddie scrunched his face up, straightening in his seat. "Yeah."
Fortunately for Bobby, a honk dismissed the conversation when all eyes were on the engine truck rolling up to the lot.
"Ah, the help has arrived look at that." Bobby announced, ready to return to the firehouse. However, their rescue seems to be delayed by the firefighters laughing at them and retrieving their phones. "And help is stopping to take pictures of us trapped in our own engine. Great. This is great."
"And the jinx continues."
Silence within the walls of the firehouse came as a blessing to the 118 later that evening. Between the rush and alarms going off the minute they would return from a dispatch call had drained them. And Bobby's delicious lasagna took the brunt of the curse as well. Now that the waves of calls died down, the team took the opportunity to relish in their leisure time for now.
"Am I interrupting book club?" Eddie found Buck, Hen, and Chimney lounging all over the second floor merely engrossed with their books.
"Medical, babies, romance." Hen answered without bothering to remove her eyes on the page of the textbook.
Eddie hummed amusingly, "I was wondering why Buck had a book in his hand. But now it all makes sense."
Buck pulled the book down from his face. He cocked a brow at the brunette. "Eddie, what would you say Ana's love language?" His devilish smirk earned him an immediate glare.
"Ana who?" Hen perked her head up, now interested with the turn of the conversation.
Josephine crossed the room from the kitchen carrying two waters and a bowl of pretzels. "Oh, we're finally going to talk about Ana?" She passed her boyfriend a water before settling on the couch adjacent to him. She glanced over her shoulder. "You know, I'm quite offended you kept this from me, Edmundo."
"Traitor." Eddie scowled at Buck.
"Wait, are you dating someone?"
Closing his book, Chimney lifted his gaze. "Baby's not here yet. Who's Ana?"
Knowing there was no way to escape this conversation, Eddie sighed in defeat. "She was Christopher's old teacher last year, I bumped into her at the billboard call this morning. I haven't seen her in a while because she's got a new job."
"Is this the teacher that you yelled at?" Hen quipped.
"Then I apologized for that."
Chimney stared at him, bewildered. "You still didn't ask her out?"
"She's Christopher's teacher."
"I thought she said she had a new job?" Bobby intervened, joining the group conversation.
"From what I recall, you did call her Christopher's pretty teacher." Josephine sent a sly smirk.
To his relief, the bells rang out to which reeled the group of firefighters' attention where they began heading out to the trucks.
A frantic caller on the line with a dispatcher proclaimed one of the workers at Jim's Burgers had gone manic. The reason being the worker received a call from this "chief" from the fire department about a gas leak occurring inside the fast-food restaurant. Unfortunately, there was no trace of any gas leak according to Bobby and Buck who popped in during Athena's interview with the worker. When Athena mentioned about this "fire chief," Bobby became intrigued since Eddie's run in with someone pretending to be a firefighter.
He concluded when his eyes scanned the crowd of civilians from afar and locking eyes with a brunette man spooked. Buck chased after him around the building to losing the guy after hijacking the 118's engine truck...
Josephine was inside the building with Chimney and Hen who managed to snatch some burgers and fries due to their hunger for a cooked meal. They raced out after hearing the blaring of sirens going off and cars speeding on the street.
"Okay, what we'd missed?" Chimney asked with a mouthful of fries.
Buck's deflated face turned to the trio. "Still jinxed."
The 118 stood stranded at Jim's Burgers while Athena and several officers were on a speed chase after their engine truck.
"When did you guys last refill that gas tank?" Bobby inquired to Buck.
A rough sigh escaped his mouth, "I just topped it off. He's got like four hours, give or take."
"Yeah, unless he crashes it first." Josephine mused in monotone.
All available units, report to 539 North Hill Street. Five alarm fire. I repeat, all available units, report to 539 North Hill Street. Five alarm fire.
Buck shot a look at his Fire Captain after listening to dispatch on the line. "What do we do?"
A second surpassed for Bobby to conjure an idea as the one leading the team. He snapped his head at the one vehicle they still possessed. "Everybody in the ambulance now!" He shouted where everyone scrambled inside the back of the ambulance.
Obviously, it wasn't built to fit more than three people as the 118 were squished together. Both Josephine and Buck got the short end of the stick in having to share the gurney.
"This is a terrible idea." Buck grunted.
"Well, we're already jinxed. So, we may as well embrace it." Hen proposed to somewhat seek the smidge positive sight of this shift.
He huffed, "Yeah, to steal the engine. Couldn't have taken the ambulance instead."
Grown irritated, Josephine hissed at him. "Hey, bite your tongue."
"Yeah, we're on route to a fire without any of our gear." Buck deadpanned to his girlfriend.
Bobby spoke up, "It's a five alarm. Other units are going to respond, and we will assist any way we can." The odds had been against them all day but that didn't mean it opposed them to lend a hand to an urgent call.
"Cap, we don't even have our helmets. Without our equipment on scene—" Chimney tried to argue before Eddie cut in the conversation.
"Maybe there's a way to get it there."
Eddie slid his mask down and gripped onto his radio. "Brian, it's Eddie Diaz. You there?" He called out yet no response. He pressed down on the radio, once again. "Hey Brian, if you're there, key the radio so I know you're listening."
Nothing.
He deeply exhaled, making another attempt at reaching out to him. "I just wanted to say thank you for helping us out at the garage fire. I needed your help. We needed your help. You were there."
"That's it. All I ever wanted was to help people." Brian replied in a genuine tone.
"I know that's what you had planned when you put on that uniform. Things don't always turn out the way we plan. Sucks, you know." Eddie shared, recalling his past conversation with Bobby at the firehouse. "Can't let yourself get stuck. All you can do is let go. Move on. Sounds scary, I know you can do it."
"No, I'm not brave. I want to be but I'm not a hero like you."
"You want to be a hero? There's a five-alarm fire right now. We need your help. People's lives depend on you."
Everyone in the ambulance held onto a breakthrough between the two.
"No one's ever given me a chance!"
"Here's your chance."
Eddie was nearly talking down Brian.
"I know you want to do the right thing, Brian. You're so close."
Brian hesitated, "I can't. I can't do it. I'm not a hero!"
"We need you, Brian. We need you."
The one last shove of encouragement worked as Brian changed his route towards the location of the fire.
Exhausted, Josephine clung onto Buck's arm and leaned on him as they exited the locker room with Hen and Chimney. This shift was guaranteed to be the one for the books. Perhaps topping the record-breaking shift after the night they've experienced such as chasing their own engine truck stolen by a man pretending to play off as a firefighter.
"I've never been so glad to get to the end of a shift." Buck expressed tiredly.
"And hopefully the end of that jinx. I mean, that's it right? Next shift is back to normal?" Hen pondered.
Josephine groaned, "Please because last night's stunt seemed like the perfect end of it."
"I might call in sick just in case." Chimney remarked because he couldn't endure another torturous shift like this one.
The group came to a stop when Bobby started to approach them on the apparatus floor. Eddie had breached them from the side still in his uniform.
He surrendered his hands, "Hey, I know you guys are eager to get the hell out of here, but I'd like to buy you breakfast."
"Has it ever gotten to that point where you haven't eaten in so long you stopped being hungry?" Buck's ramble caused everyone to share a quizzical look darting at him rather than uttering a response. He shrugged, "Yeah, no me neither. Still hungry. Let's go!"
"All right, let's go."
Bobby began leading the group until he turned to find Eddie staying back in his place. "Eddie, you're gonna meet us there?" He presumed by his uniform attire.
"Sorry guys, I already have plans." He elicited a sheepish grin earning curious looks. The talk with Bobby encouraged him to move forward with his life.
Outside the restaurant, a group of five sat at a table debriefing about the civilian or "firefighter" who stole their engine truck last night while waiting for the meals.
"This guy Brian was never actually a firefighter." Buck questioned.
Bobby simply shook his head, "Never. Couldn't pass the training."
Josephine's palm supported her head as she sent him a perplexed look. "Well, where'd he get the gear? Everything he had looked pretty legit."
"Uh House 147 was in the debris field of that mudslide. Been out of commission ever since. He stole some gear looked legit—just like one of us."
"Right into the mix."
"Without anyone even noticing."
Chimney and Hen commented.
"He bought a scanner. Hear our calls. Respond to emergencies." Buck gathered.
"Blending with us is bad enough but who knows how many times he's struck out on his own trying to save the day when it didn't need saving." Chimney wondered despite the man's good intentions to lend a helping hand.
"Like that's the part I don't get. He said he wants to help people. So why call in a fake gas leak?" Hen expressed her confusion.
Bobby answered, "Because he thought it was real."
"He wasn't a fake firefighter. He was a terrible one." Buck declared as the waitresses appeared with their plates.
The group expressed their gratitude merely starving to be able to devour a fulfilling meal at the table.
"Think I've died and gone to heaven." Chimney cried out.
Bobby raised his fork, "Hold on, here's to the hardest hungriest working crew I know. Let's eat!" The team cheered by toasting their forks before sinking into their food.
However, their breakfast had to wait when one of the customers at the restaurant started to choke on their food. The team dispersed from the table to aid the civilian like clockwork.
"I'm ready to be in my cocoon and sleep for the rest of the day."
Josephine and Buck burst into Josephine's penthouse and dragged themselves inside after an eventful breakfast with the team. They dropped their bags on the floor where they'll unpack later.
Buck chuckled lightly, locking the door behind them. "You and me both."
"There's something I wanted to talk to you about." Josephine pivoted, gnawing her bottom lip.
"Uh oh, it's not bad. Is it?" He raised his brow, closing the gap between them.
Josephine pursed her lips together, "Remember when the fire suppression system imploded while you were in the locker room?" She stared as he nodded slowly. "That was me."
Registering this confession, Buck's mouth parted then curved into a vengeful smirk. "You're gonna get it." He whispered, causing Josephine to run away from him.
"We dealt with 36 calls because of you!" She yelled, climbing up the staircase.
"The gods took it out of context!"
-Hope you like it! Tell me what you think! Don't forget to vote and comment! Stay tuned!-
WRITTEN: 8/24/23
PUBLISHED: 8/25/23