"Sometimes the bad things that happen in our lives put us directly on the path to the best things that will ever happen to us."
"Someone fill me in! What's happening?!" Sullivan shouted through the station.
Everyone was already come from the barn to the entrance area where the radio was.
"Chief, AidCar was stolen while Andy and Jack were in there helping a patient." Travis said faster he could.
"Who is on the radio?"
"Jack."
Sullivan took the radio from Travis's hand.
"Gibson, what's going on?" Where is Herrera?!" The fear filled his voice.
"I escaped the second I could and I'm hiding but Andy couldn't escape." Jack said whispering.
"You telling me you left her alone?!" Sullivan shouted and everyone startled.
"Chief, I had to. She told me to go and find help. What am I supposed to do?" He said whispering again.
"Stayed and help her get out too. Huh!? You didn't think about that?!" Sullivan shouted loudly.
"Chief, chief." Ben tapped him on shoulder.
"This is not the way." Vic said.
"Right, right." He threw the radio and started pacing back and forth.
Ben took the radio and continued to talk to Jack. Police was called in already and the team couldn't do much. Sullivan suddenly disappeared and Vic went to find him. He was outside of the station sitting on the stairs. Vic slowly sat next to him.
"There is not much that we can do from this point." She patted his shoulder.
Sullivan's eyes got watery and he brushed a few tears that escaped.
"I... I just hate when I'm helpless especially... ugh..."
"When it's her?" Vic looked at him.
He just nodded, wasn't able to say anything.
"I gotta go!" Sullivan jumped and took the car.
He put station out of service. Called Ripley to meet him at the scene.
What he saw there got him shocked.
Two men lying down dead. Once police officer injured. The medic's helping Jack and the injured police office. Everyone stood there frozen trying to see where is Andy.
"Chief! Chief!" The police officer came.
"One firefighter is badly injured."
"Female?" Ripley asked because Sullivan was not moving.
"Yes." Police officer said and gave him more details.
"Let's go!" Ripley said and got Sullivan to the car.
On the way to the hospital Robert's mind was gone crazy. Thankfully he was alone and he didn't need to hide his tears and anger. What he was feeling for this woman was beyond friendship. He knew that the minute he spoke to her at the bar. He kept repeating that night in his head. Their dance and little convos they had after that night.
Arriving at the hospital they couldn't get more information. The whole team was already there including Jack.
Sullivan looked at him for a few seconds and when he wanted to say something he just waved with his hand.
"Nothing you say right now will excuse what you did." Sullivan said.
"She was already injured, and she begged me to get help." He said.
Ripley just showed shush him and shook his head.
"I'm battalion chief Robert Sullivan. Can we get some information about the firefighter that was brought in?"
"As I said to the others I can't tell you more." The nurse said.
Ripley took the phone and called Pruitt. He came minutes later and the nurse took him to the separate room from others.
Everyone waited for Pruitt to come back so they can have some information. But he stayed there at least 30 minutes and by the minute nervousness grew. Finally Pruitt came back...
"She suffered some very traumatic injuries..." Pruitt paused and took a deep breath before continuing. "She is coma and they don't know when or... will she wake up... Everything now depends on her."
He finished all crying. Robert immediately left the room. He was so angry he went out so he wouldn't do something he will regret later.
For the first few days no one could go to see her. She was in the ICU and visitors were forbidden.
Robert was spiraling. Ripley was visiting him almost every day, making sure his head is straight at least when he is working. And it was. At work he would be deep in his paperwork and who ever knock on the door he thought it was Andy.
"I have to see her. Just for a few second would be enough." Robert said to Ripley when he sat down.
"I've asked them this morning but she is too unstable."
"Unstable?" The surprised was evident in Robert's face. "I called them last night she was stable."
"You called them?"
"Every night. I can't go to sleep if I don't know how is she."
"Robert..." Luke gave him a comforting look.
"What? I can't stop thinking about her."
Knock interrupted their conversation.
"What now?" Sullivan said thinking is someone from the team.
"Uhh what do you want now?" He said annoyed.
"I'm just gonna go." Ripley said getting up and leaving.
"Thanks, man. Really." Robert said sarcastically.
"So what do you want now? I'm listening." He rolled his eyes in frustration.
"I see you didn't bring the papers, so what there is to talk about?"
"Us."
"You really are not giving up, aren't you?" He got up run his hand over his face and sat back down.
"I don't want to have anything with you. The things you did are unforgivable. The humiliation I experienced in front of my whole team."
"But you transferred."
"OMG, tell me you are not that stupid. I transferred so I don't need to step foot into that station. So I won't see you face again on the street. So I can start a new life. And there is you who is stalking me for days when clearly there is nothing you can say or do that will ever change my mind." He got up and open the door for her to leave.
"I want that papers signed by tomorrow. If you don't do it you can reach me over my lawyer. I had enough of you."
As he closed the door the phone rang and it was Ripley.
"You can come see her. But just for a few minutes."
"I'm on my way."
He ran out of the office into the car and went to the hospital. Ripley was waiting for him in front of her room.
"She is not awake. But she is stable for now. Go in there and talk to her so you can have some peace."
Robert took a deep breath and slowly open the glass door and got close to her bed.
"Hey, you." He said whispering like he would wake her up if he says it louder.
"We all miss you... I miss you." He sat on the edge of her bed caressing her leg. "I miss your barging into my office to talk about non sense every day things. The other day I was in a grocery store and I bought a box of 'Lucky Charms' for you and then I remembered you are not coming. So you better get well soon..." He brushed his tears that appeared.
Doctor came inside to check her vitals. Robert got up and stood a little bit further.
"So doc, how is she? Any improvement?"
"Hard to tell, to be honest. She is the same no major improvement but we will try to remove her breathing tube and see if she can breath on her own. It's been almost a week."
"I know that's why I'm asking. It's been too long." You could sense concern in his voice.
"We will try that today so we will see how it goes."
Robert spent the whole day at the hospital, Ripley took over the station. The minutes seemed to pass so slow but the doctor and nurses came and Robert knew it was time.
They didn't let him in, he stayed outside. The doctor first examine her pupils to see if they were active. Thankfully they were. He slowly unplugged her breathing machine to test her breathing.
"If she breathes on her own for the next few minutes that's good."
So they waited. Those minutes were like eternity.
Andy did breath on her own but her blood pressure went up what cause the machine to beep. They gave her more sedation and put a breathing mask.
"So she is breathing on her own right now. Her blood pressure went up because the transition was shock for her heart..." Doctor said as he exited the room.
"Doctor!" Nurse yelled.
"She is seizing!" Other nurse yelled.
They all went in, including Robert. He was terrified. His hands were shaking. He just stood there frozen not able to move.
"Someone get him out of here!"
"No, no!" He snapped from his frozen state.
"Please, don't!" He said sobbing bit the nurse just closed the door and he went away.
After around 30 minutes they were able to stabilize her again.
"How is she?" Robert ran when the doctor exited the room.
"We managed to stabilize her but her brain is swollen. We gave her the medication to see if that will help..."
"If not?" Robert interrupted. "Sorry I didn't mean to interrupt." He apologized.
"If not she will need surgery. But let's not go there just yet."
"Okay. Thank you."
Several hours passed by. The team visited and brought the balloons and some flowers so her room doesn't look empty. Ripley managed to make Robert went to eat something while the team was there.
"Man I don't know what to do. Is it possible to care this much for someone you met 2 months ago." Robert said while holding his head in his hands.
"You like her. It's obvious since day 1. Nothing wrong with that."
"But I'm still married. That woman won't give me the divorce. Won't sign those damn papers. I don't know what to do."
"I know. I know. I'm sorry I wish I can help you."
Robert came back to the waiting room where Vic was sitting. Everyone else left.
"How do you holding up, chief?" Vic asked.
"You know. Like everyone else I guess." He sighed sitting next to her.
"She will be okay. It's Andy. She is strong. She survived a lot already." Vic patted him on the shoulder.
"What do you mean?" He looked at her.
"Well some bad things happen in the past. She was a mess for a long time. We were all here to help her and she came out stronger than ever."
"She didn't mention anything."
"She won't tell you. She is still scared that something like that will happen again." Vic said.
"What?"
"I can't tell you if she didn't tell you first. I can just say be honest with her. Don't hide anything."
"Uhm okay." Robert said unsure since he never mentioned he is married.
Several hours passed and Ripley came to the hospital so Robert could go and take a shower and maybe gets some sleep.
"Call me if anything changes!"
Nothing changed for the whole night. Eventually Ripley went home with Vic and Robert probably fell asleep so Andy was alone. The doctors decided to wait until morning to try to wake her up since her brain swelling improved.
First thing in the morning Robert stormed to the hospital because no one called him or anything.
He went inside and saw that the nurses were cheerful. Ripley and Vic came minutes after him.
"Uhm hello." Robert said not wanting to disturb them.
"Hello chief Sullivan. So today's plan is to try to wake her up. Sadly because you are not a family member her dad is only allowed in there. The soon we wake her you can get in."
"Oh okay. That's okay. Yeah."
Pruitt came within seconds later and got in. The trio stood in front of the window of the room. The doctors slowly turned off her sedation and she started to slowly move still not opening the eyes."
"Mr. Herrera she will probably be in pain and not able to speak because of the tube that was in her throat. We just need her to open her eyes so we can see there is no brain damage."
Pruitt nodded and took his daughter hand in his.
She opened her eyes minutes later not sure where she was. Looking around her she only recognized her dad. And hear him say...
"Hey Andy. Everything is okay. You are okay."
She slowly nodded and wanted to say something but she immediately started coughing.
Pruitt exited the room with the doctor and Robert was so impatient to enter the room so he didn't wait for doctor to give her approval or anything.
"Hey you." He whispered coming to her bed.
Andy slightly smiled. Happy to see the familiar face.
Robert took her hand in his.
"You scared me, you know." He said with her teary eyes. "We thought we lost you."
Andy tried to laugh but instead she started coughing and tears went down her cheeks.
"I'm not going anywhere any time soon." She managed to say whispering.
"You better." He smiled still with the tears in his eyes.
And they shared a hug. A long hug. Both of them buried their heads into each other.
"Hughes!"
"Yes, chief?"
"How is Andy?"
Vic just looked at him saying nothing. She entered his office and he followed.
"Physically she is doing okay giving the fact what she's been through but mentally is whole another story."
"Ho... what's going on?"
"Can we talk as friends?" He nodded.
"Okay, so... uhm... where the hell are you? You didn't visit her since she got home. She asked for you a couple of times."
"I texted."
"Not good enough, Robert. She is struggling. Like really struggling. She won't get out of her room. She kept having nightmares about that day and then cry herself to sleep."
"She said she was fine."
"Really Robert? Are you dumb? That dumb?"
He was acting confused.
"She was shot 2 times and had a brain swelling. Of course she is not doing fine." Vic rolled her eyes.
"Vic I can't get any more attached to her. I'll hurt her. The same as the guy before. I'm still married."
"The guy..." she mumbled. "Of course he told you." Vic throws her hands in the air.
"He didn't tell me the details, just that the guy hurt her because he lied to her about his relationship status. That was it. He didn't want to tell me the details."
"Good. Because I'm already mad at him." She said turning to exit the office.
"And by the way go visit her. Your and his situation is not the same. Talk to her and explain." She said and closed the door.
He spent the rest of the shift thinking what he should do. Should he go or not? What to tell her? How?
The phone call brought him back from his thoughts.
"Hey." Raspy voice said.
"Hey." He replayed.
"What happened to you?" Andy said and he could sense she was crying.
"Nothing. I'm sorry I didn't visit. There is just so much stuff..."
"What stuff?"
"That I didn't tell you because I didn't know how." He said hesitantly.
"Why don't you come and we can talk. I need distraction from all of this mess."
"I will. As soon as the shift is over. In about 2 hours?"
"Sounds good."
He could sense she was crying and she was not okay. The 2 hours passed really quickly so he changed and went to her favorite place and bought their favorite things.
It was so crazy how they liked the same things. Something that immediately attracted him was her way of being so easy to agree on things.
"So favorite food?"
"Oh well that's easy! Anything italian." Andy smiled.
"Okay, same."
"Favorite place to go when you want to be alone?"
"Beach."
"Really?" He asked surprised.
Andy nodded and he started laughing.
"Practically I don't need to say my answer anymore."
"We are that similar, huh?"
"I guess we are." He shrugged with a smile on his face.
That they spent mostly in his office talking about every day stuff. Half of the shift.
He remembered this day while he was driving to her place. The whole time he had a smile on his face. He decided she will be honest with her. He can't messed up.
He knocked and heard her saying it's open.
"You know this is not safe." He said closing the door.
Andy was in the kitchen taking her meds. She was in her pijamas, messy bun on the top of her head.
"You look like hell." He chuckled.
"Not funny. At all."
"Sorry I was trying to make this less awkward."
"Failed." She said and sat on the bar stool near the kitchen island.
"Hi." Robert said placing the bag on countertop.
"That's better. Hi" she smiled.
"How are you feeling."
"Like hell?" She shrugged.
Robert tried to contain the laugh but a few chuckles escaped.
"I brought you your favorite. Our favorite. And after we eat you gonna dress up and I'm taking you somewhere."
"But..."
"No buts!" He interrupted.
"Where have you been for the last I don't... since I woke up in the hospital?" Andy said with anger in her voice.
"Can we eat and the talk?" He said quietly.
She nodded and sat back. They ate for a good half an hour then Robert waited for her to get ready. Of course there were some revolting against the idea of going out which Robert ignored successfully.
"Where are we going?"
"Remember our conversation about places we go when we wanna be alone?"
"Yes. The beach."
"So because I wanna talk to you we are going there..."
"But the beach is for spending time alone with the ocean..." She added.
"It is but it's also the place which calm you down. Right?"
She nodded in confirmation.
"You are scaring me with all this secrecy." Andy said looking at Robert who just parked the car near the beach.
"C'mon." He said ignoring her last sentence.
As they were going closer to the water, Andy was a little bit behind him when her phone rang. Robert didn't hear the phone because of the waves hitting so loud.
When he noticed she wasn't so close to him he turned and saw her just standing with her phone in her hand.
He ran fastest that he could.
"What's wrong?" He shouted. "Is it the wounds?" He started looking on her stomach like something will appear all of a sudden.
"Andy! Hey!" Robert yelled.
"It was the hospital. My dad is in hospital." She managed to say very quietly.
"Okay, let's go!" Robert said and took her hand to help her get faster to the car.
A couple of times she stopped needing to catch a breath but refusing to listen to him to stop running. It won't do any good at this point but her stubbornness was doing all the doing.
"Andy stop running for God's sake. You are not healed." Robert yelled through the halls of the hospital.
She didn't listen. It was only important for her to find the room where her dad was. When she finally found it she finally stopped in front of the door and Robert was able to approach her.
"Calm down. You are not doing any good to any of you two. Please!" He said giving her a bottle of water.
After a few sips and deep breaths she gave him back the water and entered the room.
Robert wasn't going to stand there and watch so he decided to sit near the door so he is close when she exit the room.
A few minutes passed and Robert heard the door open and Andy ran out of there. Having a panic attack.
This time he ran after her and he was able to catch her before she fell on her knees in the middle of hall way.
"What happen Andy?" He asked carrying her to the nearest chair that was there. Andy sat on it still trying to catch her breath.
"He... is... sick." She managed to said between breaths.
"Cancer?" He squatted in front of her placing his hand on her knees.
She nodded and started sobbing and shaking even more than before. Robert got up and sat next to her offering her a shoulder to cry. Which she accepted. Placing her head on his chest and him petting her hair and removing a hair strands that fell on her face gave her comfort and after some time calmed her down.
It's been 3 weeks since Andy was released from the hospital. The dad situation was under control so she decided to visit the station one shift before she comes back.
For the last two weeks, since she found out about her father cancer, Robert was non stop with her. Helped her anyway he could what made them even closer. Andy needed someone to be there and by someone she meant Robert. They didn't have that conversation they needed to have but Robert decided they will talk her first day back. No need to avoid it anymore.
"Whoa whoa, whose voice is that?" Robert said entering the beanery and hearing Andy's talk with the team.
Andy smiled at him and gave him a hug. Everyone else stepped aside watching.
"We missed that voice here!" He whispered to her ear what caused shivers down her spine.
"Can we talk in private?" She said quietly.
"Of course. I'm going to my office so when you finish here, come."
After a few minutes she was heading to his office. Getting closer she heard some voices. It looked like Robert was yelling but she wasn't sure. As she got closer she saw a woman in his office and him being pissed.
As she puts her hand on the doorknob, Robert saw her and stopped talking but the woman didn't realize someone is there...
"But I'm still your wife!" She yelled.
As she said that Robert saw Andy's shocked face and with a few steps he tried to catch her but she was already outside of the station running towards her car. Barely seeing anything because of the tears streaming down her face.