Author: Kate Anderson
Email: [email protected]
Disclaimer: The characters used in this story aren't mine. They belong to Ed Bernero and bunch of other people that I don't know. Please don't sue - or else I will sic my rat on you! Go get 'em Maisy!
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Up through Season four's "Firestarter"
Summary: Can Ty and Alex give it another shot?
Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far! It means a lot to me.
Again, not very comfortable with these characters. So, if they're acting out of character, it's not intentional simply accidental.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Ma'am, could you please hold still?" Kim exhaled slowly through her nose and tried to remain patient with the woman. "We can't help you unless you keep still!"
The woman struggled for a few more seconds and then finally calmed down. "You have to help me!" she cried out. "I can't get my hand out of this thing!" She held up her hand which was stuck in mayonnaise jar.
Alex nodded and brushed back a tendril of hair from her face. "We know that ma'am, and we're going to help you."
"Do you have any liquid dish detergent?" Kim asked the woman. "That will help us get your hand free."
The woman nodded tearfully. "There's some in the cupboard under my sink. It's green though, is that okay?"
"Green is fine." Alex replied and went into the kitchen. She opened the cupboard and pulled out a bottle of green dish detergent. Alex went back into the dining room and handed the bottle of Kim.
"Okay ma'am, I'm going to pour this around your hand and then hopefully it will just pop right out. It might hurt a bit, but there shouldn't be any permanent damage. Alex, do you want hold her other hand?"
Alex moved around to the woman's side and grasped her free hand. Kim looked to Alex and Alex nodded. "Okay, I'm ready. On three." Kim said and then counted to three. As she began tugging on the woman's hand, Alex felt her hand go numb as the woman squeezed it and began screaming. "Almost there." Kim said, gritting her teeth.
After much pulling and cursing, the hand popped free from the jar. The jar rolled across the table and landed on the floor. "Let's take a look at that hand now." Alex said and trying to ignore the pain in her own hand, began to examine the woman's hand.
______________
"I don't think that woman was all there." Alex commented as she folded the stretcher up and pushed into the back of the ambulance.
"You got that impression too?" Kim laughed. "Her hand was fine, she didn't even need to go to the hospital and besides, who freaks out that much over getting their hand caught in a mayonnaise jar?"
"At least she's not our problem any more. Nurse Proctor can deal with her now."
Kim nodded. "You ready for supper? I was thinking we could head back to the house for a while. DK's cooking tonight."
"Chilli?" Alex looked hopeful as she climbed into the bus. DK's chilli was something worth living for.
"I hope so! By the way, I've been meaning to ask you, how did your little date with Ty go this morning?"
Alex nodded her head slightly and put on her seatbelt. "Fine, I guess. He was late getting there, blamed it on a fight with Sully and then missing the bus. We talked about a few things, mostly about him not coming to see me in the hospital and about Tatiana."
"You seeing him again?"
"Probably for lunch or something."
"So nothing happened?"
Alex gave Kim a look of disbelief. "We talked Kim. We didn't rip off our clothes and make wild, passionate love on the table in the coffee house!"
"Just asking."
______________
"You didn't go to counselling today did you." Ty wasn't asking Sully a question. He already knew that Sully hadn't left the apartment.
"I told you that I don't need to see a shrink." Sully grumbled.
"I called your shrink today, she says that you haven't kept an appointment since your first meeting. You need to go Sully, they aren't going to let you back on the job without it."
"Maybe I don't want to go back."
"You aren't serious are you Sul?" Ty frowned and looked at the lump on the sofa. "What are you going to do then? You aren't going to sit around here for the rest of your life feeling sorry for yourself."
"Do you want me to leave?" Sully asked. "Because I will. There are other places that I can go."
Ty sat down on a chair and picked up a pillow. He put it on his lap and began picking at some loose stitching. "I didn't say that I wanted to you leave. I want you to see the bereavement counsellor. You need help Sully."
Sully pressed a few buttons on the remote and the volume on the tv increased. "I don't need help. I need her to come back."
"She's not coming back."
"I know." Sully turned up the volume another notch.
"Hey man, are you deaf now or something?? Turn down the tv!" Carlos called from the other room. "I'm tryin' to talk to my girl!"
Sully rolled his eyes and turned the volume back down a few notches. "His girl, yeah right."
Ty smiled. "Probably some chick that he just met today while at a call."
"Speaking of girls, how did your date with Taylor go?" Sully seemed genuinely interested.
"It went well. We talked and then decided that we'd meet up sometime for lunch or something."
"You two getting back together then? I always liked her. She was good for you." Sully said almost paternally.
Ty shrugged. "We have a lot to work through before that will ever happen I think."
"Well then work through it." Sully suggested. "Work through it before you lose her forever."
_______________
Alex sat in her darkened apartment staring at the phone. It was like the phone was speaking to her, telling her to pick it up and call Ty. "You're sad Taylor, you know that?" Alex muttered to herself and reached for the phone.
She dialled Ty's familiar number and frowned when she heard the beeping that indicated the line was busy. "Probably Carlos on the phone with a girl." Alex said and hung up the phone. As she did that, she wondered who she was talking to.
Alex grabbed the remote control, which was actually sitting on the coffee table where it belonged for a change, and turned on the tv. "Nothing...boring...stupid...hmmm, maybe..." Alex whispered as she flipped through the channels.
_______________
Jimmy leaned over to Kim and poked her. "Hey Kimmy," he said, looking around. "The latest on the grapevine is that Taylor and Davis are getting back together. You know anything 'bout that?"
Kim slid open the door to the fridge and took out a bottle of water. "Even if I did, I wouldn't say anything to you. Who did you hear that from?"
Jimmy shrugged. "Just a friend of a friend. So it's true?"
Kim took a sip of the water. "Maybe." she said finally. "They just had coffee. It's not like he proposed marriage."
Jimmy grinned at her, his dimples making an engaging appearance. "So if there's hope for those two then maybe..."
"Dream on Jimmy." Kim said and twisted the cap back on her bottle of water.
"You know that Joey would love it." Jimmy said, smiling at Kim again.
"What happened with him the other night anyway?" Kim asked. "My mom said something about a large bruise on his leg? I had to tell her that I had no idea what had happened."
"It's nothing Kim, don't worry about it. He was playing soccer with some of his friends and he got kicked in the shin, that's all."
"That's why you had to leave work early?"
"The babysitter was freaking out!" Jimmy protested. "She just overreacted."
The sound of soft footsteps came up the stairs. Alex appeared and took off her hat. "Hey Kim, hey Jimmy. You guys are here early."
"I had to catch up on some of the run sheets from yesterday." Kim said and put her bottle of water down on the table. "Can I talk to you upstairs?"
Alex nodded. "I'm going up there now."
Kim followed Alex up the stairs and into the bunk room. Alex threw down her bag and opened her locker. Kim sat down on a bunk. "People are talking about you and Ty."
"Already? We only had the coffee two days ago! Don't these people have lives of their own?"
"Apparently not. Jimmy asked me if you two were back together."
"Great, if Jimmy knows then everyone must know. I should talk to Yokas, see if she knows yet." Alex took off her shirt and pulled on her uniform blouse and began to button it up. "Then Yokas can tell Bosco, if he doesn't already know...Know what? Maybe I should just announce it over the radio!"
Kim blinked a few times. "I think you're getting a little carried away now." she said. "It's just a rumour anyway, isn't it? I mean, you and Ty haven't decided anything yet, have you?"
Alex sighed and shook her head. "Not yet. I tried to call him last night, but the line was busy and then this morning I had lunch with my mom."
"How's she doing?"
"Good. She's good." Alex replied, not wanting to say anything more.
"Good afternoon ladies." Carlos said as he walked into the room.
"Hey Carlos." Alex replied and slammed her locker shut. Kim just rolled her eyes at Alex and stood up.
_________________
Ty brought the car to a halt and Hancock jumped out. "What's going on here!" Hancock yelled over to the firechief.
The firechief waved a hand, motioning for Hancock to move closer. "The buildings totally engulfed! I've still got a few men inside with hoses but I'm going to be pulling them out soon! I need your officers directing traffic and keeping the civilians back!"
Hancock nodded and went over to a group of police officers that included Bosco and Faith. "Everyone, I need you to get your asses in gear and keep these people back!"
Ty went over to Hancock. "Where do you need me?" he asked, wanting to help out.
"You stay with the car." Hancock said and then turned away. "You, the short cop and your lady partner, I want you two out on the street directing traffic!"
Bosco shot Hancock a disgusted look but went off into the road with Faith. Ty stood by the car, looking out at the scene. An apartment building was burning, flames were licking out from the windows and Ty could feel the heat from where he was standing. He looked over at the various ambulances and then he saw Alex helping a young child wrapped in a blanket.
A group of firefighters emerged from the building, covered in soot, carrying a hose. Ty couldn't recognize them with their masks on. "All units, out of the building! I repeat all units, we are pulling out!" the firechief yelled into his radio.
"There's still people in there!" one of the firefighters called over. "I'm going back in!"
"Like hell you are!" the chief yelled back.
The firefighter, whom Ty still didn't recognize waved a hand and then went back through the smoke and into the building. The chief shook his head and yelled, "DK! Walsh! Doherty went back in! Go in there and pull him out!"
DK and Walsh nodded and went into the building. "Of course it had to be Jimmy." Ty muttered under his breath. Not that anyone would have heard him even if he had said it out loud.
"Can someone give me a hand over here?" Ty recognized the voice calling for help as Alex's. No one seemed to have heard her, so Ty left the car and went over to her.
"Can I help?" Ty asked.
"Ty?" Alex looked up from the patient she was attending to. "Uh, yeah. You'll do. Can you just hold onto him while I inject this?" Alex held up a syringe filled with clear liquid. "He may start seizing."
Ty nodded and put his arms around the patient. Alex swabbed a small patch of skin with alcohol and then plunged the needle. Ty winced as it pierced the skin. Once the medication made its way into the man's bloodstream, he began jerking a bit and Ty held on.
Alex tossed the used needle in a bio-hazard container. "Thanks." she said.
"No problem." Ty replied. "Big fire huh?"
Alex nodded. "Big fire. Plenty of vics to keep us busy."
"Jimmy went back into the building to look for more." Ty said.
Alex looked up at the flames leaping from a third floor window. "I should be in there with him." she said softly.
"The chief sent DK and Walsh in after him." Ty looked at the doorway. "They haven't come out yet."
"They will." Alex said, nodding her head. "Those three are surprisingly difficult to kill. Especially Jimmy."
Alex wrapped a bandage around her patient's arm and tightened it with a yank. "This probably isn't the best time to be asking you this." Ty said, watching Alex bandage the man. "But I was wondering if you'd like to have lunch tomorrow?"
Alex tied the bandage in a knot. "Lunch sounds good." she said and grunted as tried to move the man herself. Ty stepped forward and took the man's legs. "Thanks." Alex said, hefting the man onto a stretcher.
"How does 11:30 sound? I thought we could go to that Thai place that you like."
"Thai sounds great." Alex replied and Ty smiled.
"There's DK, Jimmy and Walsh." Alex said, staring past Ty. "Safe and sound as usual."
"That's good." Ty said and put a hand on Alex's shoulder. "Uh oh, I think Hancock's looking for me. I'd better go. I'll see you tomorrow then?"
Alex nodded. "Tomorrow."