Naia's POV

I had almost finished the rest of my homework when everybody got back. I looked up to make sure nobody was injured from the house.

"Everybody's okay. The house, not so much." Matt told me as he took the seat next to me. "You should eat those apples, they're turning brown." I looked over at the plate Kelly had brought me before his left. I took Matt's suggestion and ate an apple before offering the plate to him.

"Naw, I'm okay." He said and then looked over at the math worksheet I was doing.

He smiled. "Looks nightmarish." I glanced down at the sheet. There were approximately 100 questions but they weren't the long word problems that always ended with the word 'explain'. They were equations. We were currently learning the unit integers.

"Just because you aren't the smartest cookie in the box, doesn't mean we all are!" Herrmann said, overhearing our conversation.

Matt pretended to be offended. "I think I'm quite smart, thank you very much." Herrmann looked over at me and shook his head.

"He also thinks he's handsome." Herrmann whispered to me and I laughed. Matt shot Herrmann a look, "I heard that." I laughed again. These two were so silly.

"Is anybody hungry?" Somebody I didn't know asked as he walked in.

"I am!" Herrmann and Matt said at the same time.

Gabby walked in after the man and came over to me. She gave me a quick kiss on the head and nodded over at the man. "That's Jimmy Borrelli, he's the candidate. Candidate's always do all the cooking in a firehouse."

Jimmy looked over at me and smiled. "Whatever Dawson says about me, it's all lies." Gabby gives Jimmy a playful punch on the shoulder and shakes her head at me.

"Yeah, I'm hungry, I think Naia here is too." Gabby said and I nodded. As if on cue, my stomach let's out a mean growl.

Jimmy laughs, "Dinner, coming right up!"

For dinner, Jimmy made chili which seemed like a classic thing for firefighters to eat. It was really good, and everybody had at least two bowls of it. Once everybody was done, I helped collect the bowls and set them on the counter.

"I got it from here, thanks for the help Naia." Jimmy said and I gave him a smile. Jimmy seemed like a nice person. I also noticed that his last name ended with Ellie. My heart hurt for Ellie, Shane, and Thomas. As I thought about it, I realized that I never even got to say good-bye. Things just seemed to happen so fast.

I resumed my homework, but I didn't really feel like doing it. However, I knew that it had to be done and pushed myself. By 7:00, I had everything ready in my bag. I wish out teachers gave us less homework.

Just as I had set down my backpack, Chief Boden walked in. This was my first time meeting him but this morning, Gabby and Matt had described him to me.

"Naia." He nodded and me and I smiled back. "You're still here?"

I was wondering the same thing.

"Where's Gabby?" He asked, looking around the room.

Herrmann spoke up. "She's with Brett at the ambo." Chief Boden nodded his thanks at Herrmann and walked out to where the ambulance was parked.

I watched as he walked away. I knew he wasn't happy about me being here and I immediately felt guilty.

"Don't worry about it. The Chief loves kids. He's just overworked right now. Has way too much paperwork." Herrmann said, watching my face.

I looked up and nodded but then felt extremely tired. Homework was draining.

"You look tired kiddo," Herrmann said, "Why don't you take a nap while we wait for what's happening." Herrmann get's up from his seat across from me and motions to the couch. Too tired to object, I went over to the couch and curled up in a corner. Herrmann draped a blanket on top of me and I fall asleep instantly.

Truck 81, Squad 3, Ambo 61, Car Crash on Vineyard Avenue

I wake up with a start to find everybody hurrying.

"We'll be back, just keep sleeping." Gabby says as she runs out. I wait until everybody leaves until I lay back down but I can't sleep. I try to just close my eyes but I feel too awake.

The clock says that it is now 8:30. I wasn't sure at all what was happening but I was guessing that I was staying until Matt and Gabby's shift was over.

Since sleeping felt like a hopeless cause, I got up and decided to take a walk around the firehouse. I knew somewhat where I was going since Sylvie and Gabby gave me a tour a while back.

Bored out of my mind, I went back to the couch, pulled out a book and started reading about Independence Day.