"Coop, come grab some lunch." Bobby called out. I turned away from my paperwork and gave him an awkward smile.
"I'm okay thanks- still full from breakfast." I admitted. They turned to me with surprised faces and I openly rolled my eyes. Since living with Buck and Eddie, they had both been adamant about getting me to eat breakfast.
Apparently having three meals a day was important. Who knew?
Eddie walked behind the sofa and drifted a hand over my curls as he went, making something warm shift in my chest. "Maybe just a small portion, yeah?" He offered.
The pair had been a lot more affectionate than before as if something in our dynamic had changed. I wasn't exactly sure how I felt about it yet, but I hadn't told them to stop. It wasn't so bad, I guess.
As Eddie requested, mainly because he was a mother hen when he wanted to be, I grabbed a small portion of pasta and joined the others at the table.
"How's it been?" Hen asked kindly, directing her question to me. I gave her a small smile, ignoring the guys grinning at me.
"I guess they're okay." I teased, laughing when Buck flicked a bit of pasta in my direction. Bobby quickly scolded him, insisting that he was a grown man who shouldn't play with his food.
The atmosphere continued to grow livelier and I took great fun in messing around with Chim beside me. "Don't forget Carla's picking you up soon with Chris. She's got to go grab some things before she'll drop you both home." Buck explained and I huffed.
"She doesn't have to. I told you guys I'm perfectly fine by myself." I argued. They didn't like the idea of me walking back to the house alone because my shift ended before theirs. What they couldn't understand is that I'd done it a million times before.
Unfortunately, it was two against one. They were lucky I liked Carla.
The siren went off halfway through the meal and I refrained from laughing when they complained. I finished up my food, realising that I was hungrier than I thought, and started clearing up some of the dishes.
Some of the paperwork I had been working on was harder than I thought, which made me a lot happier than I thought it would. It meant that Bobby was giving me tricker stuff to do. Which meant he trusted me and that was something I never imaged happening.
"Cooper!" A familiar voice called.
Quickly, I scooped up the paperwork and dumped it into my backpack. "Hey guys." I greeted, jogging down the stairs. They greeted me with wide smiles and Chris leaned forward to give me a hug.
Since living with him, Chris and I had gotten to know each other a lot more. He was a great kid and his bubbly personality was hard to dislike, and we seemed to click really well. It felt like I was getting the little brother I always wanted. Not that I'd tell anyone that, though.
We got into Carla's car and I listened to Chris talk about his day. I chimed in a couple times when he asked me a question about the firehouse, but I was pretty happy to let him talk.
"Are you boys still okay if I grab something before I get you home?" Carla checked and we both voiced our agreement.
I noticed her smiling in her mirror, watching us with a fond look. Chris seemed oblivious, so I did my best to avert my eyes.
A car honked nearby and I peered out the window, assuming it was typical city drivers. Then, a few more horns sounded and my brow furrowed in confusion.
We were on the middle of the bridge, but the cars seemed to be stuck in a standstill. I glanced down, noting the quiet motorway below. It wasn't often that the motorway was quiet, but I guess it wasn't rush hour just yet.
I got slightly nervous when I saw Carla poke her head out her window, trying to get a better eye. All the cars seemed to be in a standstill and nobody knew what was going on. It was rather unsettling.
A few people walked past the car, heading towards the front of the queue and Carla clicked her seatbelt.
"I'm just going to see if everything's okay. You boys sit tight." She stated. I nodded, assuring her I'd keep Chris safe in the meantime.
Speaking of the boy, he had gone oddly quiet when Carla left the car. It seemed my uneasiness had rubbed off on him too. I sent him a calming smile, attempting to assure him that everything was okay. I couldn't see Carla anymore, meaning she had walked off pretty far.
People began shouting from behind us and I looked back. I couldn't see anything, so what was happening?
A loud grumble echoed from the ground beneath us and I tensed instinctively. More shouting echoed from in front of us now and soon we were surrounded by worried people.
Another noise echoed through the street and the car shook unsteadily.
"It's collapsing!"
"Someone help!"
The voices barely registered before I pulled Chris towards me. His head crashed into my chest as I felt the weight of the car being forced downwards by gravity.
Bits of road work crumbled around us and I couldn't do anything but watch as the road disappeared from all around us.
I squeezed the boy in my arms, anticipating the hard impact of the motorway below. Our bodies were catapulted forwards upon impact, but the seatbelts kept us from going too far. My body groaned at the whiplash. I had a good enough grip and cover on Chris that he didn't suffer as much of the impact.
But it was still painful.
Large pieces of debris rained down from above, smashing the windows and caving the roof of the car inwards. Screams echoed from outside and I sucked in my first breath of air, trying to understand what just happened.
The bridge collapsed.
Judging from the view outside, we were trapped under some rubble too. In fact, a car had landed on the hood of our car- only adding more damage. There wasn't anyone inside, so the driver must've walked away to see what was going on.
My mind flicked to Carla, knowing she wasn't in the car. Did she go down like us? Or was she okay?
"Cooper?" A shaky voice whispered and my eyes snapped down to Chris.
Focus on the situation now. I could worry about Carla once we got out of here alive.
I softly rubbed his arm, "Are you okay?" I asked, feeling a small nod against my chest. He was a little sore, which was understandable. We had already began to bruise from the impact and I saw a cut on Chris' head, knowing I had a similar one on mine.
The rubble left a small gap that would be big enough to stand in. A larger piece of debris creaked from above us, clearly weighing heavily on the car roof.
"Okay Chris, we're going to get out of the car. I'm not sure if this roof is going to hold." I mumbled, slightly uncertain.
I pushed my body weight against the car door, feeling the heavy metal push back against me. With my entire body weight behind me, I forced the door open and helped Chris out first.
The roof groaned again and I quickly scrambled out. Somehow, my foot got caught in the seatbelt as I tried to climb out. I glanced up at the large piece of rubble, shouting in shock when it came crashing down on the roof.
My leg flared in agony and a scream tore through my throat. Chris shuffled forward, saying something I couldn't understand. The pain interrupted all my thoughts and I fought to stay conscious.
"Cooper please- Are you awake? Cooper!" Chris cried.
Despite the pain, I reached my hand over and gently grasped his. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm okay. It's going to be okay." I rambled, forcing the words past my gritted teeth.
A jagged rock fell from above, catching Chris on the shoulder. He hissed in pain and my eyes flashed with worry. It sliced through his shirt and left a bloody cut in its wake.
He shuffled forward more, trying to curl into me. I tried to move, crying out when it tugged at the pain in my leg. Still, I spent the next few minutes manoeuvring Chris so he was mostly hidden by my own body.
The rubble seemed to stable itself above us, letting me have some relief that nothing else was going to fall on us for now.
"I want Dad and Buck. We need help." Chris yelled.
My head throbbed and it felt like the pain from my leg was spreading through my entire body. I was still aware that this pain was only bearable because I was likely in shock. I fished through my pockets, feeling relieved when I felt my phone inside.
It was very cracked, making me slightly nervous until the screen flashed.
"I'm calling them Chris. It's okay, I swear we're going to be okay." I promised.
I ignored the blood dripping from my fingers as it was sliced by the glass, instead choosing to pick the first contact I saw. Somehow I managed to have a single bar of service, which made me think someone out there was trying to help me.
The phone began ringing and I clutched Chris close, shivering at the rumble of rubble around us. It carried on ringing. The noise became insufferable and I gave up on the previous hope I had. Then, the device clicked in my hand.
"Cooper?" Buck answered.