Gabby's POV

The whole time Brett and I showed Mya around the firehouse, she stayed completely silent. It wasn't that she wasn't interested in what we were showing and what we were saying, because the way her eyes lit up and gave off a twinkle showed that she was interested.

She just didn't vocally express it.

That was okay though.

Once we finished up the tour of the firehouse, we went back out to the apparatus floor, where Matt and Severide were just finishing up.

"And that is Firehouse 51," Brett said, clapping her hands together. "So Mya, do you live in the neighbourhood?"

Mya nodded, her eyes staring at the concrete floor.

"Well, you're welcome anytime you feel like dropping by," Severide said, obviously trying to continue the conversation.

Nothing.

"Is there anywhere you have to be? Maybe we can take you on a ride on one of the trucks," Matt added but as soon as he asked if Mya had anywhere she had to be, the girl gave a little jump and took off.

"I guess not then," Matt commented as we watched Mya run down the block before taking a left.

We stayed there and watched for a moment, nobody saying anything.

"Shyness?" Brett suggested, breaking the silence.

Nobody replied right away and Severide and I started picking up the buckets of dirty water.

"Yeah right," I snorted and the four of us started heading back into the firehouse.

"What do you think then?" Brett asked me, "Should we call the cops?"

I bit my lip, "Because of what? A hunch?"

I got them there.

Everyone knew that we didn't have any real evidence. Mya was a kid, and the bruises could be because of anything ranging from sports to fights with siblings. What were we going to do? Call the police because we thought something was going on?

It was possible there wasn't even anything wrong.

"Well, we have to dump these buckets," Severide held up one of the buckets.

He didn't really have to announce it but Brett and I nodded anyway and watched as the boys walked away.

"What are you thinking?" Brett asked me as we both took a seat at the table.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, "I don't know. Something just seems off, it's not just me right?"

"Not just you," Brett confirmed.

"Something about her just makes me uneasy," I went on, "My brain is telling me that there isn't any real reason for me to be worried, but I still am."

Brett nodded, "I know what you mean. So what do we do?"

"Maybe hope that she stops by again?" I shrugged, "I mean, what else can we really do?"

Brett sighed, "Wait and see."

"Yup," I agreed, "Wait and see."

Ambo 61, man down from unknown causes

A little over a week had passed since Mya had run away rather suddenly from the firehouse and she hadn't returned since, making the worry in my stomach grow larger.

"Does anybody want any more pancakes?" Mills asked, spatula in hand.

"Eh, those are some pretty good pancakes," Herrmann raised his hand.

Mills raised an eyebrow, "What did you expect? My family owns a restaurant."

A ripple of laughs went around the room at Mills' comment and I took a bite into my pancake.

Ambo 61, child unconscious at 134 Chestnut Street

"That's nearby," Brett commented as we jumped up from our seats.

"If anybody touches my pancakes I will rip your head off when I get back," I warned, pointing a finger at Capp who was already making some advancements.

Brett and I hopped into the ambo and she started the engine before pulling out of the apparatus floor.

"Any guesses what it'll be?" Brett asked as she took a left.

I shrugged, "I don't know, it could be a lot of things with kids. Hey, it's on this street, look for the number."

"There," Brett pointed to a house and I stopped the ambo beside the sidewalk in front of it.

"Pretty nice house," Brett commented as we jumped out of the ambo.

I grabbed the jump bag and we walked up the steps and onto the porch. I knocked three times before calling out.

"Did anybody call for an ambulance?"

Silence.

I knocked again, wondering if it was just some kids playing around before the door creaked open to reveal a little boy, maybe around seven or eight.

"Did you call for an ambulance?" Brett asked the boy.

He shook his head, "It wasn't me, I swear. It was Ellie."

"Thomas let them in!" I heard a voice call from inside the house, "It's okay, you can let them in!"

The boy still looked hesitant but he opened the door wider and let us in before shutting it behind us.

"What's wrong?" I asked and we followed him into the living room where an unconscious girl laid on the floor with another boy and a girl, who I guessed was Ellie, next to her.

I immediately bent down to check for a pulse.

"Strong pulse," I reported to Brett.

"She hit her head," Ellie told us, she bit her lip and moved back to let us get to the unconscious girl.

"How?" Brett asked, dropping onto the floor on the other side of the girl, across from me.

Nobody said anything, all of them carrying terrified faces.

"It's okay," I told them, "You can tell us."

"It was Mr. Samual," Ellie finally blurted out.

Brett and I exchanged looks, both knowing what this was looking like. I reached over the unconscious girl's face and pushed her brown hair away so we could take a closer look.

I recognized her immediately.

"Mya?" I whispered.

She had a gash on the side of her forehead that was bleeding a little bit so Brett reached over to the jump bag and grabbed some gauze, starting to attend to that.

"Okay, you guys did a good job calling us," I told the other kids, "What are your names?"

"I'm Ellie," Ellie replied.

I had guessed right.

"And that's Thomas," Ellie then pointed to the boy who opened the door, "And that's Shane."

The other boy gave a shy wave before quickly grabbing onto Ellie's arm with both hands.

"So what did Mr. Samual do exactly to Mya?" I asked, looking back at the girl's unconscious body.

"Mya?" Ellie had a quizzical look on her face, "You mean Naia right?"