─────❝5| THE UNLUCKY CANDIDATE❞─────
Having a day of no accidents was not uncommon, but it certainly was a blessing for firefighters. It meant that everyone in the city was safe and there was no need for their assistance. It was that relief that no danger was lurking in the shadows waiting to happen. Tonight was one of those blessings, or it was supposed to be until a certain candidate had to open his mouth.
Jo entered the common room to get herself some coffee, being awake and alert was something she always vowed to be during shift, when Mills entered too. "Two hours left in the shift and no calls yet. That happen very often?"
The mug came to a stop a couple of inches away from her lips as Jo's eyes widened. "He did not just say that," Herrmann whispered. There was a pregnant pause that was interrupted by the alarm blaring,
"Accident, truck eighty-one, squad three."
Jo's eyes twitched as she placed the cup down and ran past the candidate. "I hate you," she whispered to Mills as she left the room and climbed to the truck.
Cruz drove the truck, the sirens deafening as the cars made way for the firefighters to pass. "Mills. Pitcher's got a no-hitter going in the eighth inning. Do you go up to him and say, looks like you got a no-hitter going?" Casey asked as he adjusts his gloves.
"No, but-"
Before Mills could say more, Casey spoke again. "Don't do it at the damn firehouse either."
"Yeah, I got it." Jo stifled a laugh at Mills' defeated expression.
The scene of the accident was heartbreaking. A van was dangling upside down over the railing and a black car was what seemed to cause the accident by the way it was stationed.
Casey exited the truck and took a halligan tool. "Stabilize the van," he ordered as he went to take care of the black car. The rest of truck eighty-one, led by Herrmann, went to the can as their lieutenant's request.
"Anybody got ejected?" No response, but it seemed like everything was good and the passengers were inside the vehicle. "Vargas, see if we got a pulse over there," Herrmann said as he saw there were two people inside.
"Got one here!" was the answer.
They tried to stabilize the van, but it started shaking and moving back and forth, making their jobs harder. Jos took a hold of the bumper in an attempt to keep it from propelling down the highway. "She's going!"
"Hold it!" Jo yelled as she was pulled up and now just touching the floor with her tiptoes. "Hold it until squad gets here!" Hands started appearing from around her and she was finally able to touch the ground with her whole feet, meaning squad was here and the stabilization process was going to be easier.
"Give us ten more seconds, boys." Jo groaned. "And girl."
Herrmann chuckled through the straining. "You got eight!"
The pressure of their hold lowered, but they still held on just in case, while Severide worked with the jaws to get the passengers out. Someone announced that the vehicle was completely stabilized, and it was safe for them to let go and help properly.
Severide and Capp worked together to take the windshield out when Matt patted Jo's shoulder. "I'll be right back." She nodded her head, her eyes not leaving the accident in front of her.
"Okay, careful," Dawson exclaimed as they lowered the father onto the stretcher. Jo helped her roll the stretcher to the ambulance and load it up. The brunette hit the back of the ambulance to signal Shay that it was all good for her to start driving the patient to the hospital.
———
Jo was tired. After an unintentional long shift at the shop, she rushed home to get some sleep before her shift at the firehouse, but it took her about two hours until she could finally zone out but then her alarm went off.
She got ready and prepared her coffee in her reusable cup before grabbing her stuff and walking to her car. The drive was fast and peaceful, just like she liked. She hurried to the firehouse to get changed and properly start the shift, which was beginning with some drills and revisions ordered by Casey.
Six minutes into the shift and they were checking their air tanks when Mills came running, sweating and late. "Oh, good afternoon, candidate."
Mills panted. "Sorry."
"First, he blows a no-hitter. Now he's coming in five minutes late," Otis said. "So much for employee of the week."
Mills inhaled and scratched the back of this neck. "It won't happen again. I promise." He looked at Casey when he said the words.
Casey stared at him in doubt. "Get changed out. Let's go." Mills nodded and left to get into his work clothes. And a minute later, Casey got up and followed after Dawson and Shay, which made Jo furrow her eyebrows.
"You know, you were candidate up until two weeks ago," Cruz started, and it brought Jo back to the conversation. "Why are you riding him so hard?"
"The abused abuse, Cruz," Otis answered nonchalantly.
Jo rolled her eyes, men. "Oh my god. Grow up," Jo said, as she took her air tank and stood up to put it away.
Sometime later, Jo received a call from Frank Polo, and she was aggravated. She was properly mad, and she can't be angry while being a firefighter. She paced around the bunk room having a bit of a screaming match with Frank about a client.
"Look, Frank, I just can't do it in the time she wants. Okay, we need the parts and they arrive tomorrow, late, and I just can't keep staying there over time," she said. She heard a sigh from the other side of the line. "No, no. You don't get to sigh; I get to sigh. Last night I stayed way past my usual shift and I had no sleep, and you know I can't do that while having a twenty-four-hour shift."
"Look, Jo. I can tell Greg to take this one off your hands." Jo threw her head back. Not Greg, anyone but Greg. "I know you don't like him, but he's the only one not swamped with work."
Jo paced and walked out of the room and to the common room. "Don't even think about it. Olga is my client, and has always been." She entered the common room, where they were listening to Mills' ideas for a new television. "I'll do it, okay. Just, tell her it will be done the day after tomorrow at like three-thirty. That's the best I can do."
"I'll see if she agrees, if she doesn't, then it's Greg's, okay?"
"No," Jo said. Matt looked at her and raised an eyebrow. She waved him off and continued talking with Frank. "If she wants the best, she'll accept. Just tell her and call me back with the answer."
Frank chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. I will."
"You owe me, big time. This is the fifth time this month I've done over time, reward me the way it should be." Jo hated asking Papa Frank for a raise—this was her uncle's best friend and the man that offered her a job after he died, but she deserved to be paid for the work she's done. "Sorry, you know I didn't mean it-"
Before she could continue, Frank interrupted her. "No, it's okay. You're right. I will call Olga and get back to you." Jo smiled. "We'll talk about a raise tomorrow during your shift."
"Thank you, Papa, sorry for screaming at you. Love you and see you tomorrow." He responded and she hang up the phone and let out a silent groan.
"Coffee? Looks like you need it." Matt offered her a cup and laughed. Jo gladly accepted the beverage and took a big sip of it. "What was all that about?"
"You know, old ladies and their cars. She wanted me to have it done by tomorrow at like four, but the parts get there at five and it was a whole mess." She took another sip of the coffee. "There was a lot of screaming, but it's okay."
"Jo, you've been staying overtime there, that's not good," Matt said in concern. He's been noticing she's been a little more tired than usual and they've talked less and less because of work.
"I know, but I got it handled." She put the cup down and looked at the group in front of her. "What are these guys talking about?"
Matt looked up from his phone. "Mills ideas for a campaign for a new T.V." Jo laughed and knows that was going to go as good as Olga's idea of having her car by tomorrow. Matt sends her a pointed look but laugh with her.
"So, what do you think, Casey? T-shirt stand?" Cruz asked the lieutenant.
"Or," Otis started, "should we have Mills here run a few laps around the block and think about some alternatives?"
Casey just stared at him and at Mills before his face went blank. "Everybody on the floor. We're gonna do a drill." Jo scowled at Otis, knowing his comment was the one that prompted this new drill they were going to run.
"Mill, listen up," Casey announced as they walked to the apparatus floor with the equipment. "This is a Downed Firefighter Assessment." He puts the bag down and looks at his crew. "Fellow firefighter's gonna be on the floor, full gear with his or her PASS alarm going off."
Mills nodded at everything he said. "You crawl in from ten feet away, deactivate his or her alarm, check for airflow, call in a mayday on your radio and drag the victim to the extraction point, which will be the north gate." He points where the location is.
"Okay." Mills smiles, this is easy.
Matt crouches and takes out a particular mask from the bag. "All with a blacked-out face mask to simulate zero visibility."
The look on Mills' face sent Otis on a fit of laughter. "No showing up late to this one, candidate."
Matt then stands up and slams a mask on Otis' chest. "I got two masks." Jo ohed and laughed out loud at the sudden change of events. "Slowest time has to mop the apparatus floor."
Jo notices Hallie coming, and she waves and nudges Matt on the side. "Time them," Matt says and hands her the timer, walking away.
"This is going to be amazing, let's go!" She shouts and claps her hands.
She timed them and almost fell over laughing when Mills completed the test before Otis. Oh, the sweet smell and taste of revenge and justice. She congratulated Mills on setting a new house record and sent a smirk to Otis mocking him.
She was seating on the desk looking through her and smiling in triumph when Frank messaged her that Olga accepted the offer. Of course she would, she thought. Then a commotion outside made her stand up and leave her cup on the table.
Two men were carrying out a flatscreen from a red truck, brand new. "Wow," she breathed. That looked so fancy and perfect for them.
"Who's it from?" Matt asked.
"Detective Voight," the man answered. Jo's never really heard of Voight, but he seemed like a nice dude if he gave them that T.V. "He saw your sign."
"Is that a forty-inch?" Otis questioned.
"A forty-three," the man corrected.
Jo saw how troubled Casey looked and it confirmed her suspicions when he spoke again. "Take it back." Her eyes widened at the thought that he was sending back such a masterpiece.
"No, no. Don't worry. Voight went through all the channels. Said to donate it to the city, but specified it come here so the Bureau bitches aren't gonna freak out."
Matt repeated himself, more sternly this time. "Send it back." Eyes were on him after the weird interaction.
"Sure. You got it."
Jo stared as Matt, Kelly, and Chief walked away to speak. She got worried for a second, because Matt never hid something from her, and if this was something big, she was sure he would've told her. But, she's been kind of busy with her job that she's been neglecting her social life.
She had no more time to think when the alarm sounded, and they go to work.