The rain fell against the windows in the old firehouse. Walsh lay in his bunk and just listened to the rain. He couldn't sleep for some reason. A flash of lightning lit up the room and the rolling thunder covered up the sound of Tommy snoring. Walsh rolled over onto his side and propped his head on his hand. He just watched the window. The storm intensified and the wind picked up. A loud rumble of thunder rolled through the room and just then the alarm went off.
"Squad 55 Ladder 100 Adam 55-3 Boyd 55-3 Respond for Residential Fire 1243 Amsterdam Ave"
The squad jumped out of their bunks and headed for the truck. Everyone climbed aboard and Tommy guided the engine out of the bay. The rain furiously battled the windshield wipers of the engine. The siren fought the rumbles of thunder, and the lightning battled the lights. It was obvious that Mother Nature was trying to win this battle this night. They pulled up in front of the house. It was a bungalow, lightning had struck the house and flames were visible from the exterior. From a window on the second floor they saw a child trying to crawl out.
"Stay where you are! We're coming to get you!" Walsh yelled as the child climbed onto the roof.
The ladder was raised to the roof and Walsh quickly climbed up to the child.
"My momma and my sister are inside." The boy says
Walsh quickly passed the boy to DK who had followed him up. Soon enough DK was back behind Walsh as they entered the second story. Tommy Doyle and Joe Lombardo were taking a line in through the downstairs. Lombardo had just transferred onto the squad from Engine 24.
The medics from Boyd 55-3 took the boy. Bobby Caffey looked him over quickly. But the boy was crying, he wanted his mother and sister. Kim Zambrano was working to ease the boy's fears.
"The firefighters will find them and bring them out okay?" She asks
The little boy nods his head. Kim's voice was soothing to him. Bobby smiled as Kim put a Band-Aid on the boy's skinned up knee.
DK and Walsh carefully crawled into the room. The fire was growing with every inch they moved. The line downstairs was doing little to fight the fire upstairs. Walsh felt his hand hit something. He followed his hand to find the little girl.
"We have the little girl, we're bringing her to the window." DK radioed
"I got this, you keep searching." Walsh says
He knew that he was only about 6 feet from the window and that his partner wouldn't get very far before he was back with him. DK reaches the exit to the hallway. Walsh is soon right back with him. They creep out into the hallway and look around.
"Something's not right." DK says
Walsh looks up and watches as the fire dances. "We gotta get out of here!" He says as he and DK return to the room they had just exited. They both stand up and run for the window as the fire begins rolling over on the ceiling. They jump through the open window out onto the roof as the fire rolls out the window behind them.
Lieutenant Johnson orders everyone to back out of the building and conduct exterior operations. It was too dangerous to continue the search for the mother, all they could do was hope for the best. Soon relatives arrived and took the children as the firefighter's worked to extinguish the blaze. The rain was working to their advantage and the fire was controlled in about 45 minutes. They returned to the interior to search for the mother. They found her in a bedroom; she was next to her window. She couldn't get it open before she was overcome with smoke. The quickly carried her out to Doc and Jerry who began CPR and then rushed her off to Angel of Mercy hospital.
It was around 1 AM when they returned to the house. Walsh went upstairs to take a shower. He was more than happy to get the soot off of his face. He hoped that the shower would help to let him sleep better. He turned the water on and climbed in. He heard footsteps coming across the bunkroom.
"Walsh, you still in the shower?" Lt. Johnson asks
Walsh turns off the water and grabs his towel.
"Did ya need me Lieu?" He asks
"Get dressed, you need to get to St. Vincent's right away. Medics took your aunt in." Lt. Johnson said
"Okay." Walsh was confused
"Just go." Lt. Johnson urged
Walsh quickly dressed and grabbed his bag and left. He didn't even stop to say goodbye to his coworkers.
"He's in a hurry." Lombardo said
"Yeah, that's odd." DK replies
Lieutenant Johnson walks back into the room.
"Is Walsh sick or something?" DK asks, he hadn't seemed sick as they made the rescue of the little girl
"Family emergency." Lt. Johnson says
Walsh walks into the ER and up to the desk.
"I'm looking for Ellen Walsh." He asks the nurse
She looks quickly and picks up the phone. Walsh waits impatiently. "The doctor will be out to see you in a moment." She tells him, "If you can take a seat over there." She points him towards some chairs. He walks over and sits uneasily. A few minutes later a doctor walks out to meet him.
"Mr. Walsh?" He asks
"Yes sir." Walsh stands up
"Your aunt has suffered a heart attack. She needs to have surgery to try and minimize the damage to her heart." The doctor tells him.
"Okay." Walsh doesn't quite understand why they are having this conversation.
"Your aunt is not in very good condition Mr. Walsh." The doctor continues
Walsh then remembered that his aunt had listed him as the emergency contact because he still lived in the city. Ashley was the one who would be best suited for these decisions, but Walsh was the closest.
"We need you to give us the okay to perform the procedure." The doctor finishes
Walsh didn't understand why they waited for his permission. Was his aunt that bad that she couldn't okay it? Then he wondered why they hadn't already done it if it was an emergency situation. He nods his head. "Yes. Do it."
"Okay." The doctor says
"Can I see her before she goes?" Walsh asks
"Yes, but only for a moment." The doctor leads Walsh to his aunt's bed.
This was the woman who had raised him. It didn't look like her though. There was a fragile woman in the bed fighting for her life. She was really a strong woman. Walsh took her hand.
"I'm here. You're going to be okay." He assured her. "I'll be here when you wake up."
The nurse looked at him and he knew that was his cue.
"I love you." He leaned in and kissed her forehead. "Ashley loves you too." He said as they wheeled her towards the elevator. He watched the door close and he went back out to the waiting room. He looked at his watch, it said 2 AM. They had brought her in 2 hours ago and now she was upstairs. He had called Ashley right before he left work. She would be here soon. He knew that.
The door opened and in ran Ashley followed by Andrew.
"We got here as fast as we could." Ashley says
"How is she?" Andrew asked
"She's in surgery. Doctor says that it doesn't look very good." Walsh is honest with Ashley. He didn't want to try to sugar coat it. He had seen his aunt, and it didn't look good.
"What are they doing?" Ashley asked
"They are trying to do a bypass to get a good blood supply back." Walsh didn't totally understand what was going to happen. He was worried and wanted to make sure that she had gotten the care she needed.
They sat down in the chairs in the surgical waiting area. He was tired but there was absolutely no way that he was going to sleep. Ashley rested her head on Andrew's shoulder.
It was nearly 5 AM before the doors to the Operating Room opened. A female surgeon dressed in blue walked out and sat across from them.
"I'm Dr. Wolff. I was the operating surgeon on your aunt." She says
"How is she?" Walsh asks as he sits up
"It was a difficult operation." Dr. Wolff continues, "The damage was too severe. I'm sorry but there was nothing we could do."
Ashley turned away as tears trickled down her cheeks. Walsh wasn't satisfied, he was actually angry.
"You mean to tell me that you operated on her for 3 hours and there was nothing that you could do?" Walsh was upset
"She went into cardiac arrest and we tried to bring her back. We worked for 45 minutes trying to bring her back. I am sorry." Dr. Wolff got a page as she finished that. "I'm sorry, I have to go to the ER. I'm sorry for your loss."
She walked out of the room and Walsh stood up. It had just sunken in. He felt the warm tear trickle down his cheek. He turned to Ashley. She was watching him. He stretched out his arms and Ashley stood up and went to her brother. She was sobbing loudly.
"I'm sorry Ashley." Walsh cried. "I'm sorry."
Andrew sat back and watched.
"It's not fair Billy, it's not fair." Ashley sobbed.
"I know, I know." He tried to ease her pain. He couldn't help but think of the words everyone told him when he was a kid.
"She's in a better place now." He said
The funeral was 3 days later. The church was small, but it had been where she had attended church all of her life. There were white lilies by the casket. A picture of her had been placed on top of it amongst more flowers. Lt. Johnson took a seat in the back of the church. DK and Tommy Doyle sat beside him. James Sweet was there too as were Doc and Jerry. Joe Lombardo was there as well. Walsh saw them just before he was seated beside his sister. The Pastor began his service.
"We are not here to mourn the death of Ellen Walsh, but rather to honor her life. She was a wonderful woman. Strong of heart and mind. When her niece and nephew needed her the most she stepped in and raised them to be the wonderful people they are today." He continued on with the service. "God comforts us and his words of comfort extend to us in Psalm 23.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters;
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For Thou art with me;
Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me;
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
Thou anointest my head with oil,
My cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Amen"
The pastor continues, "Jesus said… I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day… Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.This is the bread that came down from heaven, not as the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever." He pauses for a moment and then finishes; "Ellen Walsh has left this life to enter life with Christ our Lord. May we find comfort in knowing that she is with the Lord. She has entered the house of the Lord and there will dwell with him forever."
Walsh adjusts his tie before he addresses those gathered to celebrate the life of his aunt.
"Aunt Ellen was a beautiful woman. I only wish I had half the strength that she had. She would be honored to know that so many people have come forth to celebrate her life. Thank you for the love and support that you have showed to me and my family through this difficult time. I know that somewhere up there, Aunt Ellen is watching us, smiling down upon us. Thank you and God Bless."
The service concludes with the burial. Afterwards Walsh found Lt. Johnson.
"Thank you for coming." Walsh said
"It was the least that I could do." Lt. Johnson replied
"It means a lot." Walsh adds as Ashley walks up to him. "Ashley, this is Lieutenant Johnson."
"Thank you for all that you have done for my brother." She says as she hugs him.
"Anything your brother has earned, his has done all on his own. I am just there to make sure that he does it right." Lt. Johnson smiles
"Thank you." Ashley says again.
Lt. Johnson looks at the rest of the Squad. They all waited patiently to make sure they got to see Walsh. One by one they walked up to Billy and Ashley.
"I'm sorry man." DK says
"Thanks." Walsh replies
"It's not quite fair is it? One minute you're in a great mood and the next tragedy can strike. It's not fair." DK wanted to make sure that Walsh knew that he was there for him.
"No it's not a fair world, but we gotta do what we gotta do. There's good and there's bad. You just have to take it all and work with it. It makes you a stronger person in the end." Walsh replies, "It's all in what you make it."
Slowly everyone paid their respects and left. It was time to move on. Life is always changing and Walsh was right, you have to take the good with the bad. Somewhere along the lines you'll come out even in the end.