A/N: time to find out what's going on with Whale ...
Also, 400 followers. Thank you so much each and every one of you. You make up for the occasional negative review (of which there was an influx yesterday for some unknown reason). Anyways ... Enough of my waffling. Let's get reading!
"Hey! Are you ok?" Emma asked as soon as she looked up and saw her girlfriend entering the break room.
Regina glanced around at the other firefighters hanging out in the room before answering. She noticed that Whale, who had stormed away from the ambulance as soon as he had parked it, wasn't there.
"I'm fine, thank you. What's the plan for dinner?"
Emma understood the brunette didn't want to talk in front of an audience and instead stepped around to the kitchen and opened the fridge. The two of them had become quite the team, both in the kitchen and in life, and soon they were standing side by side, chopping vegetables for the firehouse's evening meal.
"So, are you ok?" Emma asked again, keeping her voice low in case any of their colleagues could hear them.
"I'm fine. It was just a bump to the head. I've taken a painkiller and I'm feeling ok now. It was no big deal," Regina assured, looking warmly at her girlfriend and trying to alleviate some of the concern etched on the blonde's face.
"I'm sorry."
"You're sorry? Why?" Regina asked, confused.
"You fell over my firehose. I feel like it was my fault."
"Oh no, Emma. I was the idiot walking backwards. It was entirely my mistake. And I'm fine so even if you do continue to feel guilty, there's no need. My head feels great."
"Really?" Emma asked, craning around to peer at the back of her girlfriend's head. "Did you get a doctor to check you out?"
"They're far too busy for that at A and E. We'd just wheeled an almost dead man in there. They hardly had time to check out my bump," Regina said, finishing her chopping and moving over to the stove.
"What about Whale. Did he take a look?"
"No."
Emma raised her eyebrow at the cold tone her girlfriend replied in.
"Is everything ok with you two?" Emma asked, completing her own vegetables and crossing the kitchen to join Regina.
"Not really," Regina sighed. "But I'll tell you about it another time. We both know in-house gossip is a bad thing. Speaking of which, next time I fall over at work, please don't scream my first name. The others will get suspicious," she scolded lightly.
"Well I'm sorry if my immediate reaction was too passionate for our low-key relationship status but when I saw your legs waggling in the air, that was the first word which came to mind," Emma said, nudging Regina's shoulder lightly with her own.
"They were not waggling," Regina replied defensively.
"Oh I think they were, Mills," Emma teased. "Beautiful, toned, waggly legs."
Regina chuckled at her girlfriend's comment before she sobered at the memory of her partner's concern for her fall too. She needed to find Whale and talk to him before the end of their shift. She knew she shouldn't have said what she did in the ambulance but she also knew she needed to confront the man about the morphine.
Just as she was about to give Emma some instructions for the food preparation and go in search of Whale, the emergency alarm sounded and everyone in the room froze to listen to the announcement.
"Ambulance 67. Engine 17. Man trapped. Glen Street."
"Stir fry those vegetables, add some sweet chilli sauce and then leave them in the pan with a plate on the top. If we're not back by six, heat them up and chuck in those packets of egg noodles we have," Regina said quickly to Emma as she was jogging from the room.
"Gotcha. Stay safe," the blonde called after the retreating firefighters and her girlfriend before she turned back to the room and sighed.
"You're so whipped," Jones drawled from the couch as Emma walked back into the kitchen.
"At least I have someone whipping me," Emma teased. "I hear you fell rather flat last weekend, Casanova."
"What did Booth tell you?" Jones asked, getting up from the couch and swaggering his way into the kitchen.
"Just that the girls the two of you were hitting on didn't seem very impressed when you ended up sprawled at their feet," Emma chuckled.
Jones scowled as he leaned against the counter, watching Emma as she stirred the vegetables sizzling in the pan.
"It wasn't my fault," the man growled. "How was I supposed to see that stupid little dog. I mean, are they even dogs? It looked more like a bundle of fluff to me."
"Pretty sure a shitzu is a dog," Emma laughed again.
"The stupidest named dog in the world," Jones pointed out.
"Probably," Emma nodded. "But that doesn't mean they deserve to be kicked around by you."
"I didn't kick it. That was the point," Jones said. "Had I continued walking where I was, I wouldn't have fallen over. It was because I was avoiding the damn thing that I tripped."
"Over your own feet," Emma pointed out. "Women like partners who can remain upright on their own, just so you know."
"Why do you like Mills then?" Jones asked, watching Emma 's reaction carefully as he did so.
"What do you mean?" Emma said, continuing her task and not turning to face her colleague.
"Well Mills ended up on her back today and I didn't see that dampen your enthusiasm for her."
"I was a concerned friend," Emma replied.
"I'm sorry, what's that. A girlfriend," Jones teased.
"What?" Emma asked, spinning around and pointing her spatula at the man now sitting on the kitchen island.
"Woah! It was a joke. I didn't hear you over the sound of the pan," Jones said, holding his hands up and away from the threatening spatula.
"Oh, ok," Emma said, her face reddening as she turned back towards the food.
"Wait. Are you two -," Jones said slowly. "Are you and Mills together?"
"No! Why would you ask that?" Emma replied, keeping her back firmly to the other firefighter.
"Because I've never seen anyone be so defensive over what was supposed to be a joke," Jones said slowly. "Seriously Swanny? After everything that happened with Cassidy. You'd think you'd know better by now than to have another in-house relationship."
Emma sighed and put down her spatula, turned off the stove and faced Jones at last.
"Don't tell anyone," she said quietly. "We know we're not supposed to be together but so far our work hasn't been affected and we think we can keep it that way."
"So far? How long have you guys been together?" Jones asked.
"Three months," Emma admitted.
"Shit!" Jones breathed out. "OK, I have to give you guys credit for that. I found out about you and Cassidy in less than a week."
"Because you walked in on us in the shower," Emma reminded him.
"Oh I know," the man said, a slightly glazed over look in his eyes as he remembered the moment from several years previously.
"Stop it," Emma said, throwing a discarded tea towel at him.
"Hey! Is that any way to treat a man whom you now owe a big favour to?" Jones asked, opening his arms.
"What do you want?" Emma said, folding her arms and looking stonily at the man.
"You both have to be my wing women next weekend. Everyone knows it's easier to pull beautiful girls if you're surrounded by them too."
"We can't. Zelena is down next weekend," Emma said.
"Excellent. Bring her too," Jones grinned. "Then I'll have a blonde, brunette and redhead. Perfect."
Emma rolled her eyes but nodded. "Fine. But in return you can't say anything about this to anyone. Particularly people at House 7. Deal?"
"Deal," Jones grinned, holding out his hand for Emma to shake.
Regina had to commend Whale in some ways. He might not be speaking to her on a personal level but when they arrived at the scene he worked professionally alongside her and they were able to help Engine 17 release the man who had become trapped in a revolving door quickly and safely. Regina decided it was best not to ask how the man had got trapped in the first place and instead the two of them left the hospital as soon as he was admitted, conscious and talking normally. The drive back to the firehouse was as silent as the one to the call out however.
"Whale, can you come to my office for a moment please," Regina said as they were parking the ambulance.
"Now?"
"Now," Regina nodded. "It won't take long because I have to help Swan in the kitchen but I think we need to clear the air, don't you?"
Whale nodded and climbed out of the now stationary vehicle. He waited for Regina to walk around and then they made their way together to her small office down the corridor by the break room. As soon as the door was closed, Whale sat down in the spare chair and Regina moved towards her desk.
"Firstly, I'm sorry for what I said in the ambulance this morning," Regina began. "I was wrong to throw that in your face and I apologise."
"Thanks," Whale said, avoiding eye contact.
"But," Regina continued, "we do need to talk about it. Chief has raised some concerns to me and frankly I've had them too. I wanted to give you a chance to explain yourself though, as a friend and a colleague."
Whale remained silent, still looking at the floor. Regina waited for him to speak but when nothing happened, she sighed.
"Look, it's come to the hospital's attention that our ambulance is using more morphine than we should be. Now I've spoken to you about this in the past and I'm doing so again now. We need to stick to the advised amount. Even if the victim says they're in pain, we cannot be administering a dangerous level of the drug. As the professionals, we have to be the ones making the decisions, not the patients. I can't work with someone who is over-administering a drug as powerful as morphine."
Whale reacted at last. He laughed. Regina raised her eyebrow in surprise.
"You think this is funny?" she asked, narrowing her eyes. "You're putting people's lives at risk here, Whale. And both of our jobs on top of that. If you're not conforming to medical regulations, I will have no choice but to suggest you are removed from Ambulance 67."
"You have no idea what you're talking about do you," Whale spat at her, sitting up in his chair and glaring at her. "You're sitting there acting like you've got me sussed out when in reality you haven't got a fucking clue."
Regina balked at the crass language but moved on. "Then enlighten me," she offered him. "Tell me what's been going on. Tell me why our ambulance is under investigation. What is it that I don't know, Whale?"
"I can't tell you," the man said, suddenly deflating. The anger and the defensive stance from moments before vanishing as he slumped back in his seat. "All you need to know is that I'm not endangering patients. I'm doing my job and I'm not putting anyone at risk."
"Then why is our morphine use so high?" Regina implored, leaning forwards and trying to catch the man's eyes which were darting around the small office nervously. "Please, Whale. Talk to me. Maybe I can help."
"You can't," Whale said, shakily. "I can't tell you."
Regina sighed and stood up. "Empty your pockets," she demanded.
"What?"
"You heard me. Empty them all. Now."
Whale got to his feet very slowly. He knew there was no hiding now. Sliding his right hand into his trouser pockets, he withdrew a small vial and handed it to Regina.
"Why?" Regina asked, looking down at the morphine and then up at her partner. "Why are you stealing morphine from the ambulance. Are you in pain? Do you have some injury you need to deal with? You can go to the doctor, Whale. Our jobs come with good insurance. You don't have …,"
"Can I go?" Whale asked, cutting Regina off.
"Go?"
"Back to work. The rig needs cleaning," Whale replied, looking his partner straight in the eye.
Regina hesitated, looking from the vial in her hand to the man before her.
"Can you promise me this will never happen again? I mean it, Whale. No more chances."
"Understood," the man said as he rose from the chair and left the office, leaving a confused and worried Regina behind him.
A/N: ... ok, almost find out. I promise it's coming up very soon.
