Naia's POV
In about twenty minutes, the pasta was ready to eat. Shay handed me the plates and I set the table.
"Dinner's ready!" Shay called out, bringing the pot of pasta to the table and serving everybody.
Gabby and Matt took seats next to each other and so did Shay and Kelly. I took the last seat which was in between Matt and Kelly.
"It smells amazing." Kelly complimented Shay who smiled. "Naia helped, that's why."
I shook my head, "Naw, I just cut the bread. Shay did all of the actual cooking."
"She's just being modest," Shay said.
"I am not." I protested.
Shay laughed, "That's exactly what a modest person would say."
I opened my mouth but didn't have anything to say.
"Got you there." Shay pointed at me and we all laughed.
Not only did the pasta smell amazing but it also smelled amazing. Shay was a really good cook. I probably would have burnt the noodles because I on the other hand was not a very good cook.
"Did you hear that Anders is transferring to 46 east a little bit?" Shay asked everybody while we were eating.
Gabby looked shocked, "Really? She practically just came!"
"I don't know why but her first shift is tomorrow." Shay shrugged as she used her fork to spiral the spaghetti.
Matt nodded, "Looks like we're getting somebody new tomorrow then."
"I never got to meet her," I said, a little disappointed.
"Neither did we really. She kept to herself and wasn't really with us for a long time." Kelly told me, trying to make me feel better.
I nodded and went back to eating. Beside me, Kelly and Matt were talking about the last Bears game. I knew that the Chicago Bears was a football team because Mr. Samual used to watch them all the time along with the Blackhawks and the Cubs.
"Did they win?" I asked.
Matt and Kelly both shook their heads. "Lost pretty badly too. 49 to 7."
"Who were they playing?"
"Green Bay Packers," Kelly said with disgust and I laughed at him.
Matt shook his head, "Well, they better win tonight against the Lions or we'll be the laughing stock."
"We still haven't figured anything out about tomorrow," Gabby said, pulling us away from the topic of football.
"What do you mean?" Matt asked. Kelly and Shay seemed to have no idea what Gabby was talking about either.
Gabby looked at Matt as if he was dumb for not knowing what she was talking about.
"It's about me. Where do I go tomorrow while you guys are on shift?" I clarified what Gabby was talking about to everybody else.
There was an "Ah" when everybody finally understood followed by an "Oh" when they realized we didn't have a plan.
"Maybe Chief will let Naia stay again. She didn't get in the way at all last time and we all enjoyed her company." Kelly suggested hopefully. We all knew this idea probably wasn't going to work.
"I don't know if I want to ask Boden for that favour. He barely agreed last time." Gabby pointed out.
Matt shrugged, "He likes Naia, I mean, who doesn't, maybe he was just acting tough."
"It doesn't hurt to try," Shay added.
"What about Antonio? Could he maybe look after Naia just for tomorrow?" Kelly asked.
Gabby shook her head, "He's working tomorrow."
"Then I guess we don't really have a choice." Matt said and picked up his phone, "I'll call him now and ask that way if he says no, we still have time to find something."
I crossed my fingers underneath the table while Matt left to go and call Boden. Minutes later, Matt came back with a smile on his face.
"He said yes," Matt announced as he sat back down.
We cheered and clinked glasses of water together.
"I knew he'd say yes," Shay said and Gabby gave her friend a playful punch on the shoulder.
"Yeah right," Gabby laughed.
The next morning, everybody woke up around the same time. Matt and Gabby slept in the guest room together and I slept on the couch. They offered but I told them the couch was perfect for me.
"What kind of shift do you think we'll have today?" Shay asked as we all piled into her car.
Kelly laughed, "Hopefully an easy one."
"Yeah right," Gabby said, "You've jinxed us now."
When we got to the firehouse, Sylvie was already there along with everybody else.
"Is the new paramedic here?" Shay asked Sylvie as we walked in.
"No, I mean, I didn't know we were getting a new paramedic until Chief told me this morning," Sylvie said. "What happened to Anders?"
Shay shrugged, "She didn't really talk to me. You know, outside of calls."
"Well, let's hope that the new paramedic shows up before the first call," Kelly said, looking at his watch.
Firetruck 81, Squad 3, Ambo 61, Ambo 23, multiple vehicle car crash on the corner of Jordan Drive and Cleve Road
"You've got to stop jinxing us!" Gabby said running off. "Just lounge around while you wait for us Naia, don't get into any trouble."
I saluted her, "I'll try my best."
"Where's the new paramedic!" Shay said frantically as she ran off to her ambulance. As soon as she left, a woman I had never seen before ran in.
"I'm the new paramedic, Emily Foster," She said, "I'm also looking for Shay."
I pointed in the direction that Shay had run off, "They just got a call."
"Oh no! Thanks!" Emily said and took off.
Deciding that I would make myself comfortable, I went over to the couch and turned on the television. The news was what was on at the moment so I thought I'd tune in.
"There has been a multiple vehicle accident just at the corner of Jordan Drive and Cleve Road so I'd try to avoid the area." The person was saying, "It looks like the driver of the blue Toyota lost control and spun out of his lane, hitting the other drivers."
I would have changed the channel to something more interesting but I realized that this was the accident that everybody would be responding to and I might see them on T.V. which would be cool.
The person talking yapped on about how this would impact the traffic around the area and which detours would be easiest depending on where you were going. I stopped listening and kind of dazed off.
"You can now see first responders showing up. We have units from the Chicago Fire Department here getting the cars apart and the victims treated." The person kept on talking. I saw figures in the background but couldn't quite make out who was who. They had their names on the back of their coats but the camera was too far away for me to read them.
Feeling bored, I turned off the T.V. and went to the kitchen. I searched through all of the cupboards and the fridge to see what I could maybe whip up before everybody go back. When I came across a bag of chocolate chips, I knew I had to make cookies with them.
Once I had the dough ready, I put it in the fridge to chill for a while and went back to the couch. I had the remote in my hand but didn't feel like watching any T.V. so I just kind of sat there.
I'm not sure how long I sat there but after a while, I decided that the dough should be chilled enough and took it out. I found a flat tray and put a piece of cooking parchment on it so that the whole thing was covered.
I then washed my hands and made little balls out of the dough and put those on the sheet. Realizing that I hadn't preheated the oven, I did that now and waited patiently until I heard the beeping. Then I slid the tray in and let the cookies bake.
"We're back!" Matt said as he walked in.
I smiled at him, "See, the firehouse is still here."
"That's a good sign," Gabby said, walking in behind Matt. I ran over and gave her a hug.
"I saw you guys on T.V.," I told her as we embraced.
Herrmann walked in followed by practically everybody else in the firehouse.
"You hear that? We're celebrities!" Otis joked as they took their seats at the tables and Mouch claiming his spot on the couch.
Chief Boden walked in and everybody turned to look at him. "Before you guys get comfortable, I would like to introduce our newest member of Firehouse 51."
He said and everybody's attention turned to Emily Foster.
"Our newest paramedic to Ambo 23, Emily Foster," Boden announced and everybody clapped, including me.
Emily looked kind of embarrassed which I found confusing. "Hi everybody, sorry I was late."
"You weren't late, the call was just early," Shay said smiling at the new member. Gabby and Sylvie nodded their agreement. "You didn't come too much later than us. It was Kelly who jinxed us into having a heck of a start." Gabby said, smirking at Kelly.
"What's that smell?" Herrmann asked, breaking the awkward tension that was starting to form. Everybody then started sniffing the air after Herrmann's comment along with me. I then realized that the smell was actually my cookies.
"Oh, I made cookies while you guys were out. There baking right now." I said, looking at my hands.
Matt laughed, "That's why it smelled so good in here."
"I thought I was supposed to do all the cooking," Jimmy said, though I knew he was just joking around with me.
I shrugged my shoulders.
"You weren't here when I started so I think that's fair game." I pointed out.
Chief Boden nodded, "It is fair game. Those cookies smell pretty darn good."
"Then it's a good thing that they're almost ready," I said happily taking a seat in between Gabby and Sylvie.