Chapter Ten.
Dennie POV
I ran.
I opened my eyes to a room full of smoke that stung as I kept them open. I could hear yelling above me, the sound cut through my body and into my soul. Disoriented and not entirely sure where I was, I stumbled over to a faint outline of a door. I opened the door and got knocked back by a wall of heat. The hallway was overwhelmed by orange flames hugging the walls and climbing up to the ceilings. The yelling kept piercing my ears, waking me out of a fog. I ran to the stairs, but halfway up my foot broke through the wood, and as I tried to remove my leg the broken pieces sliced my skin.
I kept running, only hearing the rhythmic thumping of my feet hitting the pavement.
I pulled my leg out of the hole in the stair and continued up to the landing, the yelling getting louder with every step. I ran to the first door I saw and tried to get it open, turning the knob and hitting it any way I could to try and get it to budge. I saw another door and ran into that room looking for any signs of life. The room was empty, there was nothing on or under the bed and no one hiding in the closet, so I decided to go back to the stuck door. The yelling had turned to screaming and blocked out all the pain I was feeling. I hit the door again, but it still wouldn't open. I ran down the stairs and started searching for anything to help open the door. A scream so loud sent shivers down my spine, so I abandoned the search and started running back upstairs, but something grabbed me.
I fell over, hitting the ground hard. My knee throbbed, I turned over and shifted along to where the grass met the pavement. I looked down at my leg, a large rip let me see what damage had been done to my knee, but I had seen worse. Shouting broke me out of the trance that my injury had me in, but I couldn't really see much from where I was, so I got up and limped over to where the commotion was coming from. A crowd had gathered, and some lady made a point of telling them all that she had called the police. I still couldn't see what was really going on, so I got closer to the crowd, but as I did so I realised that the real problem wasn't the crowd, but the guy in the water struggling to keep his head above the surface. The crowd got louder, yelling about the guy in the lake but no one was doing anything else. The current got stronger in the wind and he looked like he was getting more tired. I stepped away from the crowd far enough off to the side that they didn't really notice me, but still with a view of the guy. I knew I had to do something, I could hear sirens, but he was really struggling in the water. I took off my socks and shoes and emptied my pockets into them. I took off the hoodie next and dropped it on top of my belongings. Just as I was re-doing my hair into some sort of bun I saw the person in the water submerge. I let go of my hair and ran, as best as I could, then jumped into the water.
The water was cold and took my breath away. I popped back up above the water and took the biggest breath I could. I swam over to where the guy should have been, his head still under the water. I dove down, feeling for him my hands hit something, so I grabbed onto it and tried to bring it up to the surface. I didn't know what the thing was until I got back above water. It was him, thankfully, but he was caught on something. I tried letting him go to find what he was stuck on, but when I did he slipped back under again. I held him up again, getting closer to him. I tried everything I could think of to get him to wake up, but the only thing that worked was slapping him on the cheek repeatedly. It took a couple of slaps, but his eyes opened with a jolt and he started coughing. When he stopped coughing for a moment, he looked right at me, his piercing grey eyes were familiar but filled with panic.
"Hey, what's your name?" I asked, looking right at him.
"Wha-, Eric. My name's Eric." He replied. "Who-"
"Eric," I said cutting him off. "I need you to try and keep your head up okay?" He nodded. "I'm going to try and get you unstuck from whatever has got a hold of you. You have to stay up, okay?" He nodded again, then coughed while I took a deep breath and followed his body down to where he was caught on something big and metal. I pulled at the material stuck on the metal, but it wouldn't tear where I needed it too. I ran my hand over the metal, hoping to find an end to it. I found the end and tore the material so there would be a bigger hole to get him unstuck. I freed the material and immediately felt Eric rising more, so I swam up to join him above water. Neither of us said anything, I just grabbed his hand and started swimming, pulling him along towards a ladder at the edge of the lake.
As we got close to the ladder, I noticed people running to meet us. There were people in wetsuits, and some with life vests on, but Eric pulled at me making me look back. He slipped back under, and immediately I pulled him to me and held his head up. A rope dropped into the water with strict instructions from above to wrap it around him but not too tight. I did as I was told, making sure it was under his armpits, and knotting it as they said. I held onto the ladder as they hoisted Eric out and onto a backboard, then followed, climbing my way out of the water. The majority of people surrounding the ladder walked off with Eric, putting him into an ambulance. One of the men in wetsuits tried to offer his hand to pull me up onto the concrete.
"I'm fine, thanks," I said, just wanting to be left alone.
"Hey, just come over to the ambulance and let them check you over, okay?" The man with blue eyes said. I shook my head and walked past him over to my things. I started going through them looking to see if everything was still where I left it. Everything was in its place, but I was dripping all over my things. I stepped to the side slightly, took off the T-shirt I had on, tried wringing it out and tousling my hair to get rid of some of the water. "Hey, you have to get checked out." The sound of his voice made me turn around.
"Really, I'm okay." I said. I looked right at him, he had unzipped the wetsuit and put on a shirt and jacket and was stood in front of me holding a blanket. I bent down and picked up my hoodie, putting it on so I was no longer topless in front of him.
"Look," he said as I started putting my things back into my pockets, and socks back on my feet. "You can refuse treatment, but do it after the paramedics have seen you, they just want to know you're okay. And that leg doesn't look so hot." I put my shoes back on and looked at him, noticing bugles in red circles on his collar.
"I'm okay, Lieutenant." I said, before turning around and walking away, sending a text as I did so.
Matt Casey POV
I walked down the hall into the kitchen, where the majority of the house were congregated.
"81," I started. "Let's go for a ride." I walked straight through the common area out to the apparatus floor and got the bottom half of the gear on and hopped in the truck with the rest. "Otis, we're going to my old place." I kept checking my phone as we drove, seeing if there was any change but nothing happened. The app on my phone told me that the alarm was activated, but it didn't tell me how. On the approach to the house everything seemed fine, nothing looked out of the ordinary apart from the man outside the neighbour's place. I jumped out of the truck, leaving everyone else inside as I got out of the street to see what was going on.
As I approached the house, I got a better look at the man outside of Dennie's. He looked distracted and frustrated and kept fumbling with the keys in his hands, trying them in the door and letting out an annoyed sigh when it didn't work. I got my own keys out of my pocket and stopped before I put them in the lock, turning towards the strange man.
"Hey, look," I started. The man lifted his head revealing a sour look on his face. "I haven't seen you around here before. You know who lives here?"
"Yeah," he replied coldly. "I do." The tone in his voice didn't sit right with me.
"For someone who lives here, you seem to be having a bit of trouble." I put bluntly, trying to get a reaction from him. I knew that Dennie hadn't moved out, the dogs were barking inside. He kept the sour look on his face and went back to messing with the keys in his hands.
"Damn keys," he mumbled. "I just can't find the right one, it's been a while." Nothing about this man was making any sense.
"Look," I started. "I know the person who lives here, an-"
"So do I," he said sharply. He held the keys tightly in his hand and looked me straight in the eyes. "I paid for this house. Neil Cooper. I'm Dennie's dad, and I'm only here for a few hours before I have to fly out again. So, if you wouldn't mind, I have things to do." I shook my head slightly and turned away, letting him get on with whatever he was doing. I unlocked the door and disarmed the alarm in the entry way. I did a lap of the house looking for anything and anyone out of the ordinary before re-setting the alarm and locking up again. When I went to walk back to the Truck I noticed he was still having a hard time with the keys and getting more agitated by it all.
"She had to change the locks a couple of weeks ago," I told him. "Her keys were stolen, so she asked me to change it." His expression went from cold to concerned, he went to say something, but I cut him off as I started walking back to the truck before he had a chance to say anything. "She keeps a spare taped under the mat." I was putting my trust in him, hoping it wouldn't bite me later. I was at the edge of the sidewalk when I turned back to see him holding the key with a thankful expression. I smiled slightly but wasn't sure why. Sure, I helped him get a way into the house, but I had no idea if he was genuine in his actions. I turned away again walking to the Truck and the firefighters surrounding it.
"Hey!" He shouted. "Th-"
"Truck 81, Squad 3, Ambulance 61," a voice over the radio started, stopping me in my tracks. "Possible drowning, Solidarity Drive." I ran over to the Truck and jumped in. Before I knew it, we were making our way through streets with lights flashing and sirens wailing. We rushed past buildings and cars, trying to make our way through the maze that is Chicago. As we got closer to the location of the call, traffic got denser slowing us down. We approached an intersection, fighting through the traffic, the light was in our favour, so we should have been able to go through with ease. A car sped through the intersection narrowly avoiding the fire truck, but lost control and drove off the road hitting a pole and a concrete wall. We followed the car over and blocked a lane of the road.
"Why do these idiots always think they can chance a Truck!" Herrmann groaned, jumping out of the Truck.
"Truck 81 to main, we've just witnessed a traffic accident at the corner of Clinton and Jackson," I shouted into the radio, running to the car. "Requesting another Truck Company to assist Squad 3 while we remain on the scene."
"Copy that Truck 81, another company will be dispatched." The voice on the radio replied.
"Truck 81 to main, we're going to need Police and an ambulance to our location." I said as we reached the car.
"Copy Truck 81, units en route." The voice said. We started assessing the damage and trying to get any of the doors open.
I began barking out orders, trying to get the situation under control and the man out of the car. Traffic was building up and people were gathering on the street to watch what was going on. There were people all over the place. Otis was trying to control traffic, while Mouch was trying to do the same with the crowds. Dawson was in the back of the car holding the driver's head still, as Kidd and Herrmann were running back and forth gathering tools and equipment to help keep the driver stable and finding a way to get him out of the car. We used the jaws to open the front door and the ram to move the dashboard away from his legs, so he wasn't pinned into the car anymore. Once the ambulance and the police had arrived we moved him safely out of the car and started clearing up the mess that his bad decision had made. After all was clear and traffic started moving again we packed everything away and got back into the truck. My phone buzzed in the centre console as we started driving back to 51. I replied to the new message and held onto the phone expecting a text back almost instantly, but nothing came. We got back to the firehouse and I still hadn't received a reply, so I filled up a mug with coffee and sat down listening to Cruz's story of the topless girl at the lake. The story seemed to go on for ages until my phone vibrated on the table in front of me.
I'm outside. The text said. I grabbed my phone and headed out to the apron where Dennie was standing.
"Hey, I met your dad today," I said getting closer to her, she turned to face me but looked confused. "Neil? Tall guy, brown hair, angry look on his face? He was trying to get into your place while you were out." Her brow wrinkled, and I got the feeling I had made a mistake letting him in. "He couldn't find the right key, so I told him about the one under the mat. He said he was only around for a few hours. I thought he would have told you." Her expression dropped, and she closed her eyes. She looked like she was about to cry. "Dennie, what's wrong?"
"That man at the park," she let out. "The man under the gazeebo, I could have helped him. There were kids on there, but I didn't see him. Why didn't I see him? If I had stayed even just a moment longer when I chased those kids off, I could have helped." She rubbed her face hard with both hands and bit her bottom lip.
"Hey, it's not your fault," I said. "You got those kids off safe, that's what matters."
"I can't stop thinking about it." She said quickly and loudly. "It was months ago, but I just can't get it out of my head Mr. Casey. I could have- I should have done something, anything." She was getting more upset. I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around her. She was cold, freezing almost. She tensed up as I hugged her.
"No." I said firmly. "You couldn't have. You can't save everyone, Dennie. You definitely can't save the ones you can't see. Things like that happen every single day." She tried to say something, but I wouldn't let her. "No, listen. You did everything you could, and if you weren't there, there'd be four more people getting buried. Four kids. They have a future because of you. You have a future too, and there'll be days where you feel like you don't, but you've got to keep going Dennie. You've got to keep pushing through." She relaxed a little bit and wrapped her arms around me, finally allowing herself to be embraced.