Chapter 6

Alex put clean sheets on the stretcher as she watched Jake speak to Nick's mother. She shook her head as the mother gave Jake a piece of paper and he pocketed it. Alex chuckled as she figured it was probably the woman's phone number. Jake waved goodbye and headed over towards Alex.

"Hot date?" she asked, rolling her eyes.

"No. She gave me her card. She's a lawyer," he shrugged. "I don't need one, but I figure it might come in handy."

"Lawyers never come in handy," she replied, pushing the stretcher down the hall. "Unless you're getting sued or divorced."

"Alex, let's not start. You filed for divorce, not me!" he growled, walking through the front door.

"You left me!" she yelled, stopping and opening the ambulance doors.

"I didn't leave you! Not really! We fought so I went to cool down!"

"For a week?!" she screamed.

Ty came wandering out from the other side of the bus. Seeing the look on Alex's face, he turned and went back to sitting in the passenger's seat.

"Okay, so I should have come back after a day or so," he replied. "I was mad! I didn't want to go home and screw things up more."

"You could have called. Told someone. Anyone where you were!"

"I know that! I realize that now," he replied, lifting the stretcher and slamming it into place.

"You screwed up, Jake. Not me. I moved on," replied Alex, heading for the driver's seat.

"I know," he mumbled, climbing into the back. He kicked the stretcher and sat down, putting his feet up and leaning back against the window of the bus.

* * *

"C'mon, Davis!" yelled Sully.

"Coming! I'm coming!" he replied, crawling out of the ambulance.

"Thanks, Ty! I appreciate it," said Alex.

"Me too," said Jake, climbing out and shaking Ty's hand.

"No problem. If you'll excuse me, I have to go tell my partner to chill out before he gives himself a coronary," he smirked, walking towards the police station.

Jake wandered off into the station and came back with another clipboard. He climbed into the back, checked off all his supplies and grabbed his duffle bag. Climbing out of the bus, he went back into the station and grabbed a cup of coffee. Sitting at the table, he waited for someone else to show up. Jake didn't wait long before Doc wandered in.

"What's up?" asked Doc. Realizing Jake didn't look too happy he sat down. "How'd your shift with Alex go?"

Jake smirked and shook his head, "It couldn't have gone worse."

"What happened?"

Jake explained the fight they'd had in the parking lot at the hospital and finished by laughing slightly. "Just what I needed to do. Air my dirty laundry in public."

"She's got a right, ya know?"

"I know, Doc! But that's just it. Her and I never belonged together. At the time, we thought we were perfect for each other, but really, we weren't."

Doc patted him on the shoulder and stood up. "Jake, we never know what happens till after we take the chance," he said, turning and walking away.

Jake sighed, threw out his coffee and headed for home.

* * *

Alex growled as her alarm clock went off. Reaching over she slapped the alarm off and rolled over. She hated getting up early but it was a ritual for her to get up early and start the day even though she worked late.

Sitting up, Alex ran a hand through her hair and looked around the room. She stood up and walked over to her dresser, pulling out her clothes for the day, she headed for the shower. Finishing up, she looked at herself in the mirror. She'd lost ten pounds since she became a firefighter and you could see it in her face.

Walking out to her living room, she glanced at the answering machine, watching the number three flicker on her machine. She made her way towards her front door to grab the paper when she figured she'd check and see who'd bothered calling her. Sitting on the arm of her couch, she pushed the 'play' button and listened.

"Alex? Its Mom. I never liked what you did for a living. I never condoned it but seeing your picture today made me realize how much you do. Call me later."

Alex looked at the machine confused. What picture? What was she talking about? She shook her head as the next message started.

"Alex. Its your father. Listen, I want the full story about yesterday and why that no good son of a bitch is there with you. If I ever find him near you, there'll be hell to pay. Call me as soon as you get this!"

Now Alex was getting worried and confused. Had someone told them her and Jake were back together? Was Jake talking to her parents now just to make her life a living hell? She listened to the last message:

"Taylor! Need you to work tonight. Doc says he can spare you and get Chris to cover. D.K. has a family function he can't cancel. When you report to work, I expect to see red letters, not white."

Alex stood up and looked around. Okay, so out of three messages on her machine, she understood one. Not very good odds. Making her way to the front door, she unlocked the door and unhooked the security chain and opened the door. Reaching down for the paper, she rolled her eyes. There, on the front page, were Doc and Carlos, walking towards their stretcher with their four year old patient and on the ground next to them was her, holding little Nick, and Jake tending to them. Now her parent's messages made perfect sense. Walking back inside, she threw the paper on the table and called her mother.

After she worked out all the problems with her parents, she sighed and looked at the time. Only ten o'clock and she had nothing to do. Grabbing her keys, she headed out the door and to the park for a walk.

* * *

"Jake? You see the paper?" asked Bobby, coming up behind him.

"Nope. Haven't started work yet," he replied, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"Check it out," he said, tossing it on the table.

"Oh, no. Alex don't work tonight does she?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, she's not doing a paramedic shift though," replied Doc, sitting down with a paper of his own.

"She's gonna flip out!" said Jake, looking at the picture.

"Don't worry about it," said Bobby, smirking.

"Easy for you to say. You've never felt the wrath of Alex Taylor!"

* * *

"Hey, if it ain't the front page crew!" exclaimed Jimmy, looking down from the top of the fire truck as Carlos, Doc and Jake came wandering in. Alex turned away and kept handing Jimmy hose.

"Jealous, Doherty?" asked Carlos, grinning.

"Of what? The only thing you can see of you is your ass. Not a very flattering picture," he retorted, laughing.

"I'll catch you guys later," said Jake, heading back towards his bus. "I'm gonna go make sure everything's ready for today. Send Chris out here when he comes."

"No problem, Jake," said Doc, watching him go.

"Alex, work a shift for me tomorrow?" asked Carlos. "I've got a huge test at two and I don't think I'll make it here by three."

"I suppose I could. I could use the extra money," said Alex, nodding. "I'll take over, but you owe me."

"Thanks."

"Come on, Carlos. Time to get ready for our shift."

* * *

A cold, hard rain had been falling on the city for hours. Jake watched out the passenger window as they drove around the city, waiting for a call. He glanced over at his partner, Chris, as they weaved in and out of traffic. His heart leaped in his chest as a car pulled out in front of them. Chris swerved and barely missed the car, letting Jake relax a little and lean back into his seat.

"Think we'll have a medical call tonight or what?" asked Chris.

"More likely for more accidents than anything," replied Jake.

They both jumped and looked at each other as the radio blared out a call to a two car motor vehicle accident. Chris flipped on the lights and Jake acknowledged the call. Setting the microphone back into its cradle, he flicked on the siren. Jake held on as Chris slowed to allow a motorist to pull over more and headed towards the intersection, they sped towards it, seeing the light was green, Chris didn't stop and went through it.

"Look out!" screamed Jake, as he saw headlights coming towards them on his side of the bus.

The sound of tires squeeling and breaking glass is all Jake heard as everything went dark.

* * *

"Boy-55. Squad 55. Reported auto accident. Car versus ambulance. Intersection King and West Nile Streets."

"Ambulance?" asked Kim, jumping up and running towards the bay.

Alex and Jimmy ran for the squad truck, throwing on their gear as they jumped in. They held on as the truck took off into the night, lights and siren's blaring. Jimmy sighed as they pulled up on scene. There was Charlie-55 flipped on its top, crushed from the back of the cab, all the way to the back.

"Jimmy, tell me it isn't ours," said Alex, making to go out the door.

"Alex.." he started.

"That's all I needed to hear," she said, jumping out the door.

Jimmy and the other guys started grabbing extrication equipment and setting it up as Kim, Bobby, Doc and Carlos walked over to the ambulance.

"Bobby! Take Kim and go check on the driver of the car," said Doc, steering Carlos towards the ambulance.

"Got it," replied Bobby. "Yell if you need help!"

Doc and Carlos approached the flipped ambulance and peered at the cab. Carlos turned and swore as he spotted Chris halfway through the windshield. Alex came over and felt Chris for a pulse, turning her head in revulsion as she did.

"He's gone, Doc."

"Alex! Go help Kim and send Bobby over here!" yelled Doc, trying to get Alex away from the wreck. Alex nodded and took off, realizing she was no help there.

"Jake? Jake can you hear me?!" asked Doc, peering into the cab. Jake was laying on the hood of the bus, crumpled like a rag doll.

"Jimmy! We need this thing stabilized and the doors open. Now!" yelled Carlos.

"On it, guys!"

Doc looked around and grabbed a firefighter's axe right out of his hand. Looking around, he decided to break the passenger side window. Stepping back, he lightly smacked the passenger window with the axe head, watching it spider. He found a hole and started pulling the glass out away from Jake. He grabbed tarp and put it over the busted glass and climbed into the cab.

"Carlos, get me a collar. Jake's unresponsive. We have to get him out of here. Tell them to hurry it up!" said Doc, stabilizing Jake's head.

Carlos took off in a dead run towards the bus, yelling at Jimmy as he went flying by. Doc watched out the smashed windows and spoke to Jake, hoping he could hear him and hoping he was alright.

* * *

"Alex, I got it. Go on back to the trucks," said Kim, putting the stretcher into the bus.

"Kim, I...." Alex started, watching Kim climb into the back of the ambulance.

"Alex, go!" yelled Kim, as she slammed the door.

Alex numbly walked back over to the wreck and watched as Doc yelled frantically, trying to get Jake out. A tear fell silently down her face as she watched Jimmy slam his fist into the side of the rig, swearing as the men ran from truck to truck, looking for more cribbing. She watched Carlos toss medical bags on the bottom of the rig, peering down into the cab as Doc tried to get firefighters to help pull Jake out.

Alex crumpled to the ground as they finally pulled Jake out of the rig and placed his backboard on the stretcher. Alex leaned on her helmet as Carlos jumped up and ran along beside the stretcher towards the rig.

"Alex? Come on. We'll head to the hospital," said Bobby, coming over to her and putting his arms around her.

* * *

"Too long," said Alex, shaking her head.

"Alex, he was stable when Doc brought him in. The longer the time the more apt it is to be good news," said Kim, putting an arm around her shoulders.

Alex shook her head and stood, pacing the small waiting room and tapping her fingers on her coffee cup. She stood still each time someone walked by the room, hoping it was the doctor coming to tell them news. Bobby stood and offered to go find out what he could, when the doctor came in. The blood on his scrubs made Alex's heart sink and she had to find the couch before he knees gave out.

"You're Mr. Taylor's co-workers?" asked the doctor, grabbing a chair and sitting in front of Alex.

"I'm his ex-wife," stuttered Alex, wringing her hands.

"Ms. Taylor? Your ex-husband has sustained some injuries we're a little concerned about," he said, glancing around the room. "He has a concussion, some broken ribs, and a broken clavicle. What really concerns us right now is that his kidneys are bruised. So far, he's stable, but we don't know how he'll be through the night. There's always concern with concussions and internal injuries. We've placed him in I.C.U and we'll go from there."

Alex nodded as Kim thanked the doctor. Alex put her face in her hands as Kim put a hand on her arm.

"See? Things aren't as bad as you thought"

"Still bad. I can't believe this," said Alex, looking around. "Thanks for sticking around, you guys."

"No problem," said Doc. "He's one of us. We're here for you guys."

Carlos, Bobby and Kim nodded in agreement. Alex shook her head and stood. "I think I should head for home."

"You sure?" asked Bobby, handing her her coat.

"Yeah. I just wanted to make sure he was alright," she nodded, heading towards the door.

"Alex...." started Doc.

"Doc, please. I just needed to know," she said, walking out.

They all watched in shock as she walked briskly out of the waiting room and down the hall towards the exit.

To Be Continued.....

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