We just got back from a call about twenty minutes ago. A small kitchen fire that was easily contained. But now I'm sitting at a table in the kitchen/living area of the firehouse, reading the Chicago Times, when I hear someone call my name.
"Westermore!" A guy with a goatee shouts my name, waving me over.
I get up, tucking my shirt into my pants. "What's up?" I ask as I walk over to the guy.
He puts his hands in his pockets. "There's some people here that want to talk to you. They're out by 81." He informs me, referring to our truck. I think this guy's name is Ottis. He's on Truck 81 with me, that's all I know.
I nod at him gratefully. "Thanks." I say to him then walk around him out to the apparatus floor. I emerge through the doors and dart my eyes to my right. I see "The Squad Table" that is occupied by Kelly Severide and a couple of other guys. I can't help but turn away and roll my eyes when I see a couple of the guys eyeing me down.
Finally, I reach Truck 81. There's no one standing in front of it, so I walk around to the opposite side and can't help the huge smile that explodes across my face when I see my dad, Scotty and Emily standing there waiting for me.
"Hey guys!" I kneel down and extend my arms for my kids to run into them. "I didn't think you'd be coming out to see me today!"
"We wouldn't miss your first day of work for the world, mom!" Scotty shouts as he wraps his tiny arms around my neck.
"Yeah!" Emily agrees enthusiastically and wraps her arms around my torso.
We hug quickly then Scotty lets go. "Can we see the firehouse?" He asks, practically bouncing from excitement.
I stand up and pick Emily up in my arms. She clings to my neck. "Of course you can see the firehouse." I tell my son and ruffle his hair. "Let's go." I say then look at my dad. "Thank you so much for coming by. It means a lot."
"No problem, kiddo." He smiles, crinkles form at the corners of his bright eyes. "It's good to be back."
"I bet." I agree and we walk around the truck towards the doors back into the house. "Hey, guys." I say as we get closer to the squad table.
They all look up from their papers and cells phones to see me, my dad and my kids. "These are my kids: Emily and Scotty. They couldn't wait one shift to get a tour of the house." I smile down at Scotty who's in awe of the fire fighters. "Who do you think I should ask?"
Kelly Severide is the first to speak up. "Hey guys." He stands up and walks slowly from his seat over to us, kneeling in front of Scotty. "I'm Kelly."
"Hello, Kelly." Scotty says in a formal tone that makes me giggle.
Kelly smiles too at the seriousness of Scotty's voice. "We're gonna let you take a look inside then how does getting in the fire truck sound?"
"That sounds awesome!" Scotty agrees, bouncing up and down.
"Alright, cool." Kelly chuckles then raises his hand for Scotty to high-five it. He does right away. After this, he stands up and looks at me then my dad. "Hi, Dave," Kelly extends his hand to my father. "It's nice to see you again."
"You too, son." My dad says, obviously confused because he hasn't seen Kelly since he was a teen. He has no idea he's shaking the hand of Kelly Severide.
"Dad, this is Kelly Severide." I inform him, grinning widely as I watch a flicker of realization cross my father's features. "Benny Severide's son." I continue, making sure that my dad truly knows.
"Kelly Severide!" My dad chuckles and pulls Kelly into a quick hug. "I haven't see you since you were a boy!" He exclaims. "How's your old man doing?"
Kelly's smile fades at the mention of his father. "He's alright. I haven't seen him for awhile though. Next time I do I'll tell him you said hi."
"That'd be great, son." My dad agrees then looks at me. It's apparent that he caught Kelly's change of tone from the comment about Benny. "Would you take me in to Wally's office?"
"Of course." Kelly nods his head in the direction to the house. He stuffs his hands in his pockets and walks beside my dad to the door. Kelly opens the door for my dad and I feel myself blush when his eyes connect with mine for a brief moment, especially when Kelly smiles a small smile at me.
Once they get inside, I look down at Scotty who is waiting patiently for me to take him in too. "Let's go in so you can meet everybody."
"Okay!" Scotty exclaims and runs to the door he saw my father and Kelly go through. "I'll hold the door, mom!" He beams with great enthusiasm.
"Thank you so much, sweetie." I reply to my son as I carry Emily through the threshold, into the fire house. "You're quite the gentleman."
"You like when I'm a gentleman?" Scotty questions while he follows me inside and lets the door shut behind him.
I grin down at him. "Everyone loves a gentleman."
He smiles up at me. "I'll be the best gentleman all the time."
"That sounds wonderful." I giggle and ruffle my son's hair.
Holding Emily with one arm, I extend my free hand to Scotty. He takes it and we walk into the kitchen hand-in-hand.
"Hey!" Herrmann jumps up from his chair to greet us as soon as we are in sight. "Who are these little buggers?"
"I'm not a bugger, I'm a gentleman!" Scotty objects from my side.
I laugh and give his hand a squeeze so he knows to stand down. "These are my kids, Scotty and Emily. They wanted a tour of the fire house."
"Well you're in luck guys!" Herrmann says to my kids. This makes Emily pull her face out of my neck and look at him. "Because I'm the best fire house tour guide here!"
"Really?" Scotty asks, curiosity laced in his voice, his head tilt to the side.
Herrmann puts his hands on his knees and bend down so that he's closer to Scotty's height. "You're darn right. Come on, I'll show you guys around."
"Awesome!" Scotty agrees happily and we follow Herrmann as he gives us the 'grand tour' of fire house 51.
After fifteen minutes of touring the firehouse, Herrmann takes the kids out to sit in the fire truck. As I stand back and watch my kids enjoy their time, a voice from behind me startles me.
"It is really great to see you again." Kelly's deep voice surprises me. "I always wondered what happened to you." He admits. "Why don't you meet me after shift to get a few drinks?"
Is he hitting on me? I can't tell if he's flirting or just being friendly. But when I look at him and he smiles at me, I can't help my response. "Sure." I tell him with a small smile. "My kids love it here." I comment as I look between them and back to Kelly.
"Is their dad involved with them at all?" Kelly asks out of the blue.
I shake my head and cross my arms. "Not at all. I divorced him and he wants nothing to do with his kids." I lie because I don't want Kelly to know the real reason why their father isn't around.
Kelly shakes his head and shoves his hands in his pockets. "He's really missing out. My old man was the same way."
"Really?" I ask, finding it hard to believe that Benny walked out on Kelly.
Kelly nods slowly. "He ditched when I was 14 then came back into my life a couple of years ago. Maybe someday your ex will wise up and realize how much he's missed."
I snort awkwardly. "I doubt that." I admit.
Truck 81. Ambulance 61. Squad 3. House Fire. 1245 East Foster Avenue.
At the sounds of the alarm, Herrmann tells my kids to get out of the truck and into the house. They climb out of it as I get to the side and throw on my gear.
"Mommy!" Emily shrieks and looks up at me. "What's going on?"
"Mommy is going out to help some people." I explain. "Go inside and wait. There's a couch and a tv you can watch. Grandpa is talking to his friend in there."
"Okay!" Emily nods and walks towards the door that leads inside.
"Be careful, mom!" Scotty shouts as I climb in the truck and we roll out.
I can't hide the smile that spreads across my face as I watch my kids wave goodbye when we pull out of the bay doors.
"You've got some amazing kiddos." Herrmann comments while we speed down the road.
"Thanks." I say with a huge smile. "They always wanted to go to my old fire house in Missouri, but their father refused to bring them."
"Well it's nice that Dave brought them. They loved it." He adds while looking out the window. "They're good kids."
"Thanks, Herrmann." I thank him then feel my stomach start to drop as I realize I'm going into my first big fire since I was burned.
I take in a deep breath, trying to relax some. Flashbacks of Robert from that night start to replay in my head. Closing my eyes, I lean my head back against my seat.
"Are you alright, Chanel?" Matt Casey, my lieutenant asks from the front passenger seat.
I open my eyes and lift my head up. Our eyes connect and I nod my head. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's been awhile since I've been in a fire, that's all."
"Stay on my hip and you'll be fine." Matt assures me.
I nod obediently and close my eyes again. Before I know it, we're at the scene. We all jump out and I get behind Matt right away. I follow him as he barks orders and coordinates with Kelly and Chief Boden.
"Westermore, we're going in to do a primary." Matt speaks, his words seem slowed down because of the adrenaline rush I suddenly get. I look up at the house that is engulfed, but before I can let myself think about it, I put my mask on and follow Matt into the house.
As we go through the smoky doorway, I hear a person yell "help" with barely any force behind their voice.
"There's someone this way!" I yell to Casey then pat his arm and point to the right of me where the voice came from. "Fire Department, call out!" I shout into the thick smoke.
"Here." Is the only word that's uttered from that direction. I drop to my hands and knees to feel for the victim. After a few moments that feel like forever, I grab onto someone's arm.
"I got him!" I shout to Casey who helps me pull the victim out from the bathroom that he took cover in. We get him to his feet and stagger out of the house.
"My daughter." He groans as we sit him on the stretcher.
I look down and pull my mask off quickly. "You're daughter?"
He nods as Shay puts the oxygen mask on his face. He pulls it off immediently and says, "she was in her room sleeping. You have to get her!"
"We will." I assure him, throw my mask back on and race into the house. Casey follows me this time. We sprint up the stairs and search each room. "Where's squad?" I ask Matt as we travel down the houses narrow hallway to the last room.
"They went into the basement to do a search." He informs me.
I open the last door and walk in to a room filled with flames and smoke. "I see her!" I yell and grab the girl. She doesn't stir. She's about 12 years old with tanned skin, dark hair and a thin body. I scoop the girl up in my arms and we dart back out of the bedroom, down the stairs, to the outside.
I put her on a stretcher that's waiting outside. Shay and Gabby have already gone to the hospital. The paramedic feels for a pulse, palpating the artery in her neck.
"No pulse." He says as the other paramedic cuts her shirt open and they load her into the ambulance.
I watch all the events unfold in front of me. The girl doesn't respond to anything that I see them do. Then they drive off to the hospital. As I watch the ambulance go, my heart sinks. I doubt she is going to come back.
"Come on, Westermore." Kelly puts his hand on my shoulder as I stand there in shock. "We gotta put this fire out."
I come out of my daze. "Um, yeah." I agree and turn away to go back to help out station put out this fire.
Meanwhile my mind won't stop me from thinking about my kids.