Absolute Firefighter ~ Chapter 15

"What time are you gonna be home tonight?" Lieu asked.

"I don't know," Bridgette replied, slighty out of it. She walked through the living room, while putting her hair up into a bun, "Not until after midnight."

"Closing?" he asked.

"Yeah." She sighed, finishing her hair and picking her purse off the chair.

Lieu gave her a questioning look, "What's wrong?"

She rubbed her eye, "Nothing, just a little tired."

He frowned, "I keep telling you to stop doing so much."

"I'm fine dad." she snapped.

"So what am I supposed to do all day now? I can't drive you insane." He said, trying to make her feel better.

"Call DK, drive him insane." Bridgette answered.

"He's at work." Lieu replied.

Bridgette stopped what she was doing, and looked at him sympathetically, "Do you wanna go to the firehouse?"

He shrugged, "It would be nice."

"Ask once in awhile, it doesn't hurt," Bridgette said, pulling her cell phone out of her purse, and dialing a number. After a few seconds she started talking, "Hey, Lance? Hey this is Bridgette. Listen I'm supposed to be there at 4:30, I'm running a little late, but I'll be there by 5. Yeah, ok great thanks. Bye." She then pressed the 'end' button and dialed another number, "Hi mom. Uh huh. I'm gonna take dad to the firehouse, can you pick him up when you leave work? Uh huh, ok. Thank you, love you too. Bye." She then looked at her dad, "Let's go."

"Yes ma'am." he replied standing up.

"How much longer till you can drive again?" she asked as they walked out the door.

"Whenever the doctor says I can." he answered following her.

~*~

"Is there a Lieutenant here?!" Lieu shouted, as he climbed the last three steps into the firehouse.

"Hey!!" Walsh shouted back spotting him, "What's going on?"

"Nothing, I couldn't sit around the house anymore." he answered.

Jimmy came down the steps into the kitchen, "Hey Lieu, how's it going?"

"It's going." Lieu replied.

"Nothing new since yesterday." Walsh joked, walking out of the kitchen to get DK.

Jimmy walked back over to the steps and shouted up, "Hey Peyton get down here!"

"DK's not getting too comfortable in my office, is he?" Lieu asked.

"Nah." Jimmy replied, as a guy that stood about DK's height, athletically built with short blonde hair came down the steps.

"Ah, Zach Peyton this is Lieutenant Johnson." Jimmy said introducing the new firefighter.

"Nice to meet you." Zach replied, extending his hand.

"Same here." Lieu said shaking his hand.

"Oh man what do we do to deserve this honor?!" DK exclaimed, walking into the kitchen with Walsh and Logan.

"Dammit, now you're wearing my shirts!" Lieu exclaimed, seeing DK in a light blue shirt.

"Hey, it says MY name on it." DK replied, pointed to the embroidery that read "KITSON"

"Don't get too comfortable in my office man." Lieu smirked.

DK put his hands in the air, "I haven't touched anything, and I still sleep upstairs."

"Damn right." Lieu laughed, "Nah I'll take some of my stuff home when I leave.

"Bridgette came and got some of it," DK replied, "But it's cool."

"So how's Bridge and Ruth?" Jimmy asked.

"Driving me insane." Lieu replied.

"You mean you're driving them insane." Jimmy laughed, sitting down at the table.

Lieu thought for a minute, "Yeah you're probably right."

"Who brought you over here?" Logan asked.

"Bridgette did. She called in late for work so she could bring me over here actually." Lieu replied.

"If I ever have a daughter, she better be just like yours or I'm getting rid of her." DK laughed walking over to the fridge, "You want anything?"

Lieu shook his head, "I'm good."

"For real, she's like super girl." Walsh laughed sitting down.

Lieu replied, "You're telling me. There was a reason that I didn't ask her to bring me over here to begin with. She does everything, and works. So I felt bad asking her, but then she asked me, what was I gonna lie and say no?"

"I would have." Walsh answered.

"Bull shit." DK replied.

Walsh laughed, "Yeah."

"How's it going at the doctor's?" Jimmy asked.

"They're trying to kill me." Lieu replied.

"Still?" Walsh asked.

"You think they'd get the hint that if they didn't kill you yet, they're doing something wrong." DK smirked.

Lieu rolled his eyes, "Bend this, stretch that, squeeze this."

"Woah, that sounds interesting." Zach chimed in.

Lieu put his head down and laughed along with the others, he had walked right into that one.

"What's going on?" Carlos asked, as he walked into the kitchen with Kim.

"We're having a party." Lieu replied.

"Hey!" Carlos exclaimed, "How ya doing?"

"I'm alright Nieto, how's it going?" Lieu replied.

"Not bad." Carlos replied.

Kim walked over and gave Lieu a small hug, "When do you get to come back and over throw Lieutentant DK?"

He sighed, "Eh, a year."

Kim gave him a reasurring grin, "Better than not at all."

Lieu smiled back, "yeah."

"So, are we ready for Monday?" DK asked.

"What's Monday?" Logan asked.

"Labor Day." Walsh replied, looking at Logan like he was insane.

"Right." Logan replied, feeling stupid that he forgot.

"I'm definately ready." Jimmy smiled, as the alarm rang out.

"Later!" Lieu smiled at them, as the squad jumped up and headed out.

"Guess you're stuck here with us now." Kim smiled.

"Not too long, Ruth should be here soon." Lieu said standing up, and walking out of the kitchen. He stopped in front of his office, which was technically now DK's office. Walking in, he looked around, everything was the same. DK didn't lie, he really hadn't touched anything. Lieu walked over to the desk, and looked at what still sat on top of it. Behind the abundance of paperwork, sat 2 framed pictures. One of him and Bridgette and another of him and Ruth. He smiled picking them both up and folding the backs in.

"DK wanted to keep them there," Kim said, from where she stood in the doorway, "So you won't have to bring too much back with you later."

Lieu nodded, then unfolded the backs, and set them back up on the desk where they were. He smiled seeing 2 new pictures on the desk. One was DK and Brianne on their wedding day. The other was a group picture, of everyone out in front of the firehouse. It included Brianne, Walsh's wife and son, Bridgette, Ruth, Bobby, Taylor, Joey and Lombardo. He grinned, "This one's old."

Kim walked over and picked up the framed photo and smiled, "Yeah."

Lieu opened up one of the desk drawers. After digging through it for a few seconds he pulled out a folded piece of paper. As he carefully unfolded it, the crinkles and faded colors became visible, showing it's age. A tiny piece flaked off as he opened it completely. Kim smiled seeing a drawing of a firetruck obviously made by a young child. It read, "I love you daddy."

"She made this on her first day of 1st grade. I hung it in my locker, and it stayed there until I passed the Lieutenant's test. Then it found it's way in here." Lieu explained.

"It's cute." Kim smiled.

A knock came from the door, "You ready to go?" Ruth asked.

Lieu looked up and smiled, "Yes ma'am."

"Hey Ruth, how are you?" Kim smiled, while Lieu put the picture back and closed the drawer.

"Great, how are you?" Ruth replied.

Kim replied, "I'm pretty good."

"How's Joey?" Ruth asked.

"Getting bigger." Kim replied.

"Enjoy it now. Next thing you know they're driving, going to college and bossing you around." Lieu laughed, "Stay outta trouble Kimmy."

"Yes sir." Kim smiled. Lieu walked out of the office, then headed home with Ruth.

~*~

12:47am

Bridgette dragged her feet through the house, as she headed upstairs. Entering her bedroom she flipped on the light and walked towards her dresser. The reflection in the mirror showed and extremely burnt out human being. She could barely stand up straight, and her make up was wearing off, revealing the dark circles under her eyes.

Yawning, she quietly said to herself, "Just a quick shower." Pulling out a pair of boxers and a FDNY shirt, she turned back and headed out of the room. Halfway there she turned back around, and walked over to the dresser. "Underwear is good too." she said said grabbing a pair, and then heading back towards the bathroom.

When she was done her shower, she felt ten times more tired then she had to begin with.

"Damn." she said to herself, as she began to feel dizzy. Bridgette quickly finished getting dressed, then opened the bathroom door, and turned off the light. She made her way across the hallway to her bedroom, but had to grab onto the wall to keep her balance. Closing her eyes for a minute, she tried to shake off the dizziness.

"Hey." Lieu yawned, as he came out of his room, heading for the bathroom. Seeing her leaning against the wall he stopped, "You ok, Bridge?"

Bridgette swallowed hard, before answering. Trying not to cry she very quiety said, "Daddy, I don't feel so good."

His face fell and he walked over, "What's wrong?"

She looked up at him, with tears in her eyes, "I don't know. I just don't feel good."

He raised his eyebrow, "Time of the month?"

"No!" Bridgette answered, now crying, "I'm really tired and I feel dizzy."

"Ok, ok. Calm down." Lieu said, wrapping his arm around her, "Come on, try and lay down and see if that makes you feel better." he said, slowly walking her over to her bed. "Did you hit your head on anything?"

"No." she cried quietly.

"Bridgette, calm down ok?" Lieu said soothingly, while she climbed under the covers and continued to cry.

Her head sunk into the pillows while tears flooded down her face. "Daddy I'm so tired. Everything hurts."

It didn't take Lieu very long to figure out what was going on. He sat down on the bed next to her and wiped her tears, "Bridge, you gotta stop doing so much. Look what you're doing to yourself."

She closed her eyes, and began to cry harder, "I'm not going to work tomorrow."

"Ok, that's fine. Just take tomorrow and sleep and relax. You need to relax you're doing too much." Lieu said, as he rubbed the side of her face with this thumb.

She nodded slowly and sniffled, trying to calm herself down.

"Do you work on Sunday?" Lieu asked.

"No." She answered.

"So you have the whole weekend to just relax ok?" He said.

She nodded, as her swollen eyes began to fall heavy.

"Just try and sleep." he said.

She quietly mumbled, "Will you rub my back please?"

He chuckled, "Yeah."

She slowly rolled over, so that she was laying on her stomach. He sat gently rubbing her back, like he always did whenever she was sick. He waited until he knew she was fast asleep, before he stopped. "Night Princess." he whispered. He leaned in and kissed her cheek before leaving the room.

~*~

Bridgette stayed in her room for most of the day on Saturday. If she wasn't asleep, she was laying down watching TV or a movie.

"How are you feeling?" Ruth asked walking in and sitting down next to her.

"Just really tired." Bridgette yawned.

"What's on TV?" Ruth asked.

Bridgette looked at the screen, not even completely sure what she was even watching. "Uh, I don't know."

Ruth smiled, "Go back to sleep, ok?"

"Mmmm hmmm." Bridgette replied, "Where's dad?"

"Therapy. I'm going to get him in a half hour." Ruth answered.

"Ok. Bridgette said, as she closed her eyes.

Ruth smiled, then stood up and left the room.

~*~

Bridgette woke up for good around 7:00. She climbed out of her bed, and down the steps into the living room. Both of her parents looked up from the Yankees Game when they heard her.

"Morning sunshine." Ruth laughed to her daughter.

"Morning." Bridgette yawned, as she walked over and sat down on the couch in between them.

"Cabin fever?" Lieu asked.

"Yeah." Bridgette answered, giving him a small smile.

"Feel better?" he asked, putting his arm around her.

"Mmm hmmm." She replied, leaning her head in and resting it on his chest.

"Good." he said, running his hand through her hair.

"Brianne called, she wants you to call her back whenever you feel like it." Ruth said.

"Ok." Bridgette replied, sitting up, and grabbing the cordless phone from the table. She dialed the number to DK and Brianne's house, and waited for an answer.

"Hello?" Brianne asked.

"Hey Bri."

"Hey sweetie, how are you?"

"I'm good." Bridgette replied, "How are you?"

"I'm running around like a maniac trying to get things ready."

Bridgette laughed, "Where the hell is that husband of yours?"

"Don't worry, I put him to work."

Bridgette could hear DK in the backround shouting playfully, "Get off the phone! You're wasting time!"

"Tell him I said to take a chill pill." Bridgette giggled.

"I should," Brianne laughed. "So you ok for Monday? Your mom said you weren't feeling too good."

"And miss your husband getting drunk and singing Garth Brooks?! No way! You couldn't pay me to miss that!"

"Just making sure I'm still going to have my pool buddy."

"Definately. I'm not going to be there until 3, because I have work. But I'll be there."

"That's my girl," Brianne replied, "So I'll see you Monday ok?"

"Yup yup."

"Alright. See ya."

"Bye." Bridgette said, clicking off the cordless phone. She put it back on the table and leaned back into her dad's shoulder.

"You hungry?" he asked.

"Not really." she replied.

"You sure?" Ruth asked.

"I'll get something in a little bit, I don't feel like moving." She answered.

Lieu leaned his head down and kissed her on the forehead, "So I was thinking."

"Uh oh." Bridgette smirked.

"Funny," he smiled, poking at her sides which made her giggle. "I was thinking maybe we should go to breakfast tomorrow morning?"

Bridgette smiled, "Sounds good."

"Where to?" Lieu asked.

She shrugged, "I don't care, somewhere with pancakes."

He laughed, "Alright, somewhere with pancakes it is."