One thing Alicia didn't expect one day before her first shift in the new fire department in Chicago, were gun shots. She kept on driving until she realized, they were coming closer. Quickly she drove her Nissan to the side of the road and waited. She wasn't some wannabe cop who threw herself into every dangerous scenario possible – she was a paramedic, trying to save lives throwing herself into every dangerous scenario she came across. Without any further hesitation, she got her emergency bag from the back of her car – it contained the minimum of things paramedics had to have when they needed to help someone off duty – and ran towards the situation, her arms in the air. She saw a woman and a man armed with guns, the man kneeling over another person laying in front of an old, crumbled ) house. As soon as she saw her, the woman yelled "hey, get away!", but before she could continue, Alicia said loud and clear "I'm a paramedic off duty, Alicia Barnes, can I help? Did that man get hurt?"
The man looked up to her – Alicia noticed short brown hair and a concerned look, until she focused on the victim – and told her: "He jumped out the second-floor window, full speed, I told him not to move."
"Good." Alicia got down on her knees next to them, "what's your name? I'm gonna put this collar around your neck to stabilize you. If your spine is injured, you need to move as little as possible, okay?"br /
"Halstead", the woman behind her said, making the man's head turn towards her. "Ambulance is on the way, Burgess and Roman should be here soon. I'll go in." As soon as she said it, two men come out the door of the building fast, guns in their hands. Checking the victim's eyes to get an idea of his injuries, Alicia only pays little attention to what they say: "He's gone, we didn't find him! Inform patrol to look out for him on the streets. I want that guy in the cage, now. Atwater, Ruzek, go pay his friend a visit. Rest stays here to search the house. I wanna know who the guy is who jumped out the window when he saw us. And who is this?"
"She's a paramedic who saw us and wanted to help."
Done with what she could do until ambo arrives, Alicia got back up to introduce herself. The second she got a look on the face of the man who just asked about her, let's her freeze. Something about him seemed so weirdly familiar, the way he was standing in front of her, starring at her waiting to talk to him. "Um", she stuttered, "I'm Alicia Barnes, I drove by when I heard gun shots."
"So, how is he?" – "He's gonna live, but he needs to be moved to the hospital and checked for internal injuries and head trauma. They probably can tell you more."
The man nodded, putting his gun into his holster. "Can he talk?" – "He didn't tell me his name. But I can't tell if it's because he can't actually speak or because he didn't want to say it."
Sirens are heard in the background and Alicia was wondering if she was about to meet her new co-workers, or other paramedics from the city. Which was more likely since her first shift is starting the next day. Two men got out the ambo, and after the victim was loaded into the vehicle, both thanked her and write her name down for the paperwork. When she turned around to leave, the other police were already back inside, except for the man who helped the wounded guys first, who now nodded at her. "Thank you for your help. Were do you work at as a paramedic?"
She gave him a smile. "Well, my first shift starts tomorrow at Firehouse 51. I got transferred to Ambo 61. What's your name again?"
"Jay Halstead. We're the Intelligence Unit in the 21rst District. So, I guess I'll see you around then." He gave her one last smile until he enters the building, and Alicia was left alone, rattled from the adrenaline slowly leaving her system.