Thank you all for waiting patiently! 51 is a strong house so they will get through this! Thanks for all the reviews Love ya'll!
Zeke feels like everything is moving in slow motion as he watches the fireball billow out of the building and Tobias fly off the side of the ladder.
"Eaton!" Amar yells as everyone rushes toward the ladder.
He couldn't see where Prior was but he knew Eaton hadn't hit the ground and Barnes and Carson were still trying to get the victim down.
Tris gasps as she tries to get her footing, she had fallen backward and reached for Tobias when he fell over. She was on her side, her arm wedged in the ladder rail. She couldn't pull herself while holding on to Tobias.
He had one hand locked with Tris holding on to her. The other he was holding on to the railing of the ladder. The more he tried to swing up the more he felt himself slip, his fire gloves not giving him enough traction.
"Don't you dare let go!" She screams at him.
"Hang on, Eaton!" Amar yells once he has a visual.
She could hear everyone yelling and scrambling below them but she was at an awkward angle and she couldn't move. She could hear the alarm from Will going off through the window.
"Foster, Talk to me!" She screams at him but she was struggling to hold Tobais' weight. She doesn't hear Will, and she tries to twist her head and she sees him hanging half out of the window but unresponsive.
"Tris I'm slipping" Tobias grunts as he feels his fingers on the railing barely holding on.
"No! No! " She could feel her fingers and her shoulder burning but she held on for dear life.
Marlene, Fernando, Bud, and Matthew run to help Harrison and Drew get the stretcher down while Zeke double-times it up the ladder, taking two rungs at a time, holding to rails but going as fast as he can.
"Hang on, Prior! " Zeke calls.
"Pedrad, he's slipping" Tris screams out in a panic.
Zeke lunges and grabs Tobias by his jacket.
"Come one, I got you" Zeke grunts and uses all his strength to pull until Tobias can get a leg over the rail of the ladder.
As soon as Tobias has a leg over, Tris lets go and rush back over to the window.
"Foster, Come on" She chokes out, her eyes burning with tears. She sobs when she gets a look at his limp body handing out of the window, one-half of his face was burned.
"Pedrad! We need help" Tris screams. She throws off her gloves and places her fingers on the side of his neck that wasn't burnt to check for a pulse. It was weak, but it was there.
"Stay with me Foster, Please" she begs. She didn't want to pull him out the window without help not knowing the extent of his injuries or risk him falling over if she couldn't hold his weight on the narrow ladder.
Zekes gets up the ladder the remainder of the way with Tobias hanging back, and Zeke helps pull Will out of the window. Tris holds his neck steady as much as she can. The three of them together help lay Will down as Marlene and Fernando slide another stretcher up the rungs to them.
Tris, Zeke, and Marlene all have tears streaming down their faces by the time they get Will down on the ground. Two other ambulances had been called to help out with the number of victims in the building and were tending to them as Christina and Shauna rushed over. Christina rips open his turnout gear and places her stethoscope over his chest to hear his breathing.
"We need to intubate," She says clearly. She had to remain calm and focused. The fact that this was her friend couldn't cloud her judgment right now. She saw all the looks on everyone's faces and she didn't have the heart to tell them this did not look good.
Shauna hands her the supplies and Christina gets to work. Even though Shauna was the paramedic in charge, she trusted Christina's skills and instincts in how to work in this situation. Christina has a hard time because of the burning. She focuses on the tools in her hands because she couldn't process that this was her friend right now. She lays flat on the ground so she can get the right angle to get the tube in.
"Bag him," She tells Shauna once she gets it in.
"Everybody lift" Max commands Zeke, Drew, Fernando, and Amar "I, 2, 3" and they lift him off the stretcher to get up on the gurney.
"I'm riding with him," Marlene says as she climbs in the back of the Ambulance with Shauna while Christina hops in the driver's seat.
There are few words as Bud, Gabriel and Matthew confirm the fire was now out.
Zeke goes to hop in his usual spot on Truck 81 but stops when he realizes that Will isn't there to drive. Tris gets in the front passenger side after she places a hand on Zeke's arm.
They don't talk on the ride all the way to Chicago Med. Zeke parks the truck and the Squad Truck pulls up right behind them.
"I shouldn't have kept going, you called over the radio and told us to get out but I thought I heard something. We would have never got caught when the ceiling came down" Tris tells him in a quiet wobbly voice as they sit there not getting out of the truck.
"Prior, you pulled that girl out because you trusted your instincts. Don't do this to yourself"
She had never experienced losing a fellow firefighter. Sure she had lost victims before but this was a weight on her chest she had never experienced.
"He saved me, he pushed me out right before the backdraft" Tris wipes a few tears away. She was trying so hard to stay calm but her emotions were all over the place.
Zeke nods and wipes a few tears of his own and feels his stomach twist. Will Foster was one of the purest hearts he had ever met and he knew he would have done the same thing for anyone else.
The air is thick as 51 crowds in the waiting area of the Emergency Department. Tris stands nervously in the corner as everyone crowds in, sweaty and full of soot from the fire. Normally everyone on 2nd watch was jovial and full of smiles. It was an odd feeling to see everyone solemn and quiet. She kept seeing Will's face right before pushing her.
The sound of Max's voice draws Tris out of her thoughts.
"How are you holding up Prior? Do you have any injuries that need to be looked at? Eaton is in the back now"
"I'm fine Chief," She practically whispers, shaking her head.
"Prior, we need to get that burn dressed," Max says softly seeing the burn on her neck.
She furrowed her eyebrows not realizing that she had been burned but nodded, still feeling numb.
Marlene gets up and walks to the door as Will's fiancee Myra, who had a sweater wrapped around her and her eyes filled with tears, comes into the waiting area of the emergency room. Marlene immediately wraps her arms around her.
Tris met Myra not long after she started at 51 and they had chatted a few times at Dauntless or when she would drop lunch off for everyone at the firehouse. Tris had insisted that she didn't need to attend the wedding that was the following week but Will and Myra had insisted that she come, especially since Tris was on 81. Tris feels her chest tighten now at the thought of how Myra must be feeling.
"Can I see him?" Myra asks in a shaky voice.
"The docs are working on him, hopefully, they'll come and tell us something soon," Zeke tells Myra as he and Max get up to console her.
Tris can't take watching Myra and Marlene crying, she goes inside to get her burn looked at and she finds Tobias in an exam room getting a cut over his eye stitched up by Uriah.
"Hey Tris, you okay?" Uriah asks when he finishes.
"Ummm, I didn't realize I got burned, Chief said to have someone take a look at it"
Tobias holds out his hand for her and she places her hand in his, moving closer. He notices she was holding her left arm, probably because it was the one that had been supporting him when he fell and got caught in the ladder.
"Can you take a look at her shoulder too? She was twisted up in the ladder"
"Sure, Let me find Johanna and get you into an exam room"
"Here is fine, I can stay with Eaton," Tris says. She couldn't explain it but the thought of being alone was causing her to panic.
Uriah nods, sensing the anxiety in her voice. He closes the curtain and Tobias gets up so Tris can sit on the exam table. She winces as she takes off her suspenders and pulls off her long sleeve t-shirt. Tobias tries to keep his face even as she takes her shirt off revealing her bra and that she was injured worse than he thought.
"I'm so sorry Tris" he whispers with his jaw tight. He can see the bruising on her shoulder and arm as soon as her shirt is off. It made his stomach twist in knots to see her in pain.
"I'm not, so don't you be" She replies in a snippy tone.
"Does this hurt?" Uriah asks as he moves her arm in an upward motion.
She hadn't felt anything until then, the adrenaline running through her but now she felt the sting on her neck and the throbbing in her arm. She hisses in response and he lets it back down. She grunts when he touches a few spots on her shoulder.
"It doesn't appear to be anything broken, just a bad sprain. I want you to get an MRI to be sure nothing's torn if you're still having pain in a few days. I'm going to give you some pain meds right now and a sling just to take it easy for a week"
Tris nods and Tobias leans in to kiss her forehead. She lets herself lean against him.
Uriah comes back a few minutes later and places some ointment and a waterproof bandage on the burn on her neck. He works in silence but he notices how Tobias doesn't stray far from Tris. Whatever they had gone through, it was like neither one of them wanted to be apart from the other.
"How is he?" She asks when Uriah finishes.
Uriah could see how anxious everyone was. There had been 6 total victims including Will brought in from the fire. As soon as Christina came through the door, Uriah could see the look in her eyes. She already knew he wasn't going to make it even though they had gotten him to Chicago Med as fast as they could.
"He's in with the surgeon in the ICU now, he has 3rd-degree burns on 70 percent of his body, they needed to try and repair some damage"
"What about the girl? The one we pulled out," Tobias asks, squeezing Tris's hand.
"She going to be alright, she had a few 2nd-degree burns on her legs but her head wound wasn't that bad"
Tris pulls her lips in between her teeth and nods feeling tears threaten to spill over. Tris puts her shirt back on and Uriah comes back with pain meds and helps her adjust the sling for her arm.
Tris and Tobias go back out to the waiting room. Marlene was holding Myra's hand while Shauna had her arm around her. Harrison was pacing as Zeke was sitting with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. Fernando and Drew looked like they were in a daze. Amar gets up and comes to stand next to Tobias.
It was another hour before Uriah and his attending Dr. Rhodes come out to the waiting room and Tris can feel her stomach drop as she sees the look on their faces. Max and Zeke move to stand near Marlene, Shauna, and Myra.
"I'm very sorry, we weren't able to save him," Dr. Rhodes says solemnly.
"Noooooo!" Myra wails as she falls against Marlene.
Tris doesn't even register that she moves to lean into Tobias and he instinctively wraps his arms around her. She buries her face in his chest and tries to fight off a sob.
The next 10 minutes are a blur and Tris isn't really sure what happened or didn't happen or how long she stands there with Tobias. After a while, she sits down in a chair and Christina's voice pulls her back to the present.
"Marlene and Shauna are going to stay with Myra tonight, she's barely keeping it together so I'm going to go with them, see how I can help out," Christina tells Tris.
Myra and Will were getting married in two weeks, Tris can't even wrap her head around going from finalizing wedding plans to planning a funeral.
"Go, I'll check in tomorrow" Tris promises. She wanted to help, she just needed some space for a little while.
"Do you want to come with us? I know it's been a long night. Chief is pulling the house out of service for the rest of the night" Christina was worried about Tris being alone, but she could understand that she wanted some space.
Tris shakes her head. "No, I just want to lay down for a little while"
She wished they didn't have to go back to the firehouse but her keys and phone were there.
Christina goes over to Uriah who wipes her tears and kisses her on the forehead before pulling her to him.
"51, is going to be out of service for the rest of shift, we will get through this together," Max says, putting his hands on his hips as he tries to find the right words.
"The loss of one of our own is…" He pauses and Zeke swallows hard, fighting back tears. He'd never seen Max choked up before. He looked around the room and there were tears in everyone's eyes, not just his.
"Will Foster was the best of us and we are going to remember him that way. CFD Chaplin's are going to be available if any of you need to talk but remember we are a strong house, we will be there to lift each other up"
Max and Zeke go to Myra to see what they could do right now. They weren't going to leave her to go through this alone but Marlene, Shauna, and Christina assure them that they have it.
"Squad, Let's clear out and we will be on hand tomorrow to help out" Tobias instructs, and Harrison, Fernando and Drew head out back to the Squad truck.
"Engine 51, same goes for you" Amar calls out as Gabe, Bud, and Matthew nod in understanding.
Tobias turns to Tris. He felt like he didn't want to leave her and he was sensing she was feeling the same way.
"I can ride back with you and Pedrad if you want" he offers. "Did you drive to the firehouse? Do you want me to take me home?"
"Yeah I rode with Chris, but I don't want to be alone," Tris tells Tobias honestly. "Chris and Marlene are going with Myra and I just don't think I can handle…
"I'm right here Tris, I'm not going anywhere" He reassures her and she lets out a sigh of relief giving him a grateful but weak smile.
It's close to 3 am by the time the truck gets back to 51. Zeke feels a tightness in his chest when he steps off the truck onto the apparatus floor. Will's boots are next to his. He puts his hands on his hips and he feels his breathing pick up.
Tris comes around and pulls him into a hug with her free arm. They don't speak for a while as they stand there and Tris eventually pulls away. They both pull out their turnout gear and pick up their own boots but Will's, they leave, exactly where he left them before the call on the apparatus floor.
After Tris grabs her things, she walks out and Tobias is leaning against his car. She had ridden with Christina that morning. So she throws her bag in the backseat of his mustang. It's another silent ride to he and Shauna's apartment and Tris looks out the passenger side window watching the houses pass in a blur.
"You want to take a shower?" Tobias asks once they get inside his room.
She nods as she looks around. The last time she had been here, had been the night they met. It felt strange now, but the feeling of being here comforted her. They both smelled like smoke, she wanted to wash away everything she was feeling from head to toe. He grabs some things from Shauna's bathroom for her that she asks for.
Silently, They both undress and Tobias starts the water. Once they step in the shower, Tobias grabs a washcloth and lathers it up with the soap. He carefully washes her body taking extra care with her arm and shoulder. Her hair had been pulled back in a curly bun, low on her head. He took out the hair tie and added the shampoo he borrowed from Shauna going slow and massaging her scalp. She stands under the stream of water letting it rinse away. He puts conditioner in and she instructs him to use the wide-tooth comb from Shauna.
Tris smiled a little at how gentle he was, his movements unsure. When he's done she takes the rag, scrubbing the soot from the fire from his body while he washes his hair. It was a quiet intimate moment, with few words needed.
After Tris rinses the conditioner from her hair and Tobias rinses the soap from his body, He takes care to dry her off first, helping towel dry her hair. He grabs Shauna's lotion and rubs it over her legs and thighs and then her arms and she instructs him on how to pull her hair up into a curly bun.
It was strange, he had thought so often about what it would be like to have her naked like this on his bed again but sex was the furthest thing from his mind. He grabs a shirt from his drawer and helps her slide it over her head. The bruising was deeper now on her shoulder. He touches it lightly making sure he didn't hurt her and gives her a soft kiss on the area before he gets up to grab a pair of boxers and pulls them on while Tris pulls back the covers and crawls into his bed.
He cuts off the lamp and settles next to her. His body was exhausted but his mind was still all over the place. As much as he wanted to sleep, he kept replaying everything that took place in his head.
Tris lays there looking at the wall with his arms wrapped around her. After a few minutes she starts to cry, Tobias lets his own tears fall as he continues to hold her. When she finally settles down and her sobs become a few sniffles, he loosens how tight he was holding her.
"Do you want to talk about it?" He asks in almost a whisper, rolling over.
He wipes the tears from her cheeks. He wasn't sure if he was ready to talk but he would push past his own uncomfortableness for her. Tris sniffles again and takes a few deep breaths while gathering her thoughts.
"He pushed me out that window, and I grabbed for you when I saw you fall. Why didn't he jump out behind me?" Tris sobs as she rolls into Tobias burying her face in his chest.
"I don't know Tris" Tobias replies quietly, almost in a whisper as he strokes her still wet hair.
"The entire time I was holding on to you, praying that you didn't fall all I could think was I was glad it wasn't me" She sobs out and then lets out an anguished cry.
"Oh, Tris" Tobias sighs, his own tears falling now. He leans over her, and carefully pulls her closer to him so he could run his hands up her thigh and torso in a gentle motion. He places a kiss on her forehead, letting his lips linger when he feels her resting her hand on his forearm.
"Baby that's nothing to be ashamed about"
They sit quietly for a few more moments before Tobias decides he needs to let out his feelings because the only person who would ever understand that moment was her.
"I…I…" He stammers finally realizing what had been going through his own mind that he hadn't been able to name before now.
"What is it?" She asks. Even though it was dark, there was some light from the moon coming through the window and she could see the conflict on his face.
"When we got to the hospital, I just kept thinking I was hanging on for you, I didn't want you in that building, I didn't want Foster in there but the thought of you not being here, It scared the shit out of me Tris"
She wraps her good hand around his neck and pulls him down for a kiss. It was passionate and emotional but comforting.
When they break apart, Tobias rearranges them so he could pull her close but allow her to not lay on her injured shoulder. After a while, her breathing evens out as she falls asleep and Tobias feels himself slowly start to drift off too. He was falling in love with her, he knew it, but now wasn't the right time to figure things out.
Zeke stands in front of the door to Tori's apartment. He'd sent her a text after he saw he had a string of missed calls from his mother and Tori. The news had gotten a hold of the story and reported a firefighter had died in the line of duty.
Zeke had taken a shower at the firehouse, he called Hana to let her know he was okay and what happened but he wanted to see Dallas. It was something about when he saw a victim die, it made him want to hold his son close, even if he was asleep. Losing Will, there were no words to describe how he was feeling.
Tori opens the door and launches herself into Zeke's arms.
"Please tell me you're okay…" She whispers in his ear as he wraps his arms around her. In the five she had known him, it was still hard for her to grasp that every day when he went to work, he might not come home.
"I'm fine…but Will…" Zeke chokes out
Tori is glad Zeke has his arms around her because he feels his knees go weak. Will and Myra were like family. Tori, Marlene, and Shauna had been helping her with wedding plans. She had been pacing around the apartment when she saw the story on Twitter after she put Dallas to bed. Hana called her when she heard from Zeke and she had felt her knees go weak when she heard Will was the one who died in the fire.
"Oh, God...I'm so sorry"
Zeke hugs her back tightly feeling the tears form in his eyes again. When he pulls back Tori pulls him into the apartment as he wipes his eyes.
"I'm sorry, I know it's late but I just needed to see him"
"I know" Tori nods her head toward the hallway. She places her hand across her chest and lets her own tears fall. She had never seen Zeke this emotional.
She quietly follows him and she feels her heart break when she sees him kneeling next to their son's bed. He kisses Dallas on the forehead and Tori can see him crying again.
She walks back to the kitchen and takes a drink of water. Zeke was an amazing father. When they first started dating it was hard for her to wrap her head around how close he was to death on every fire he ran into. She recognizes now that she got comfortable, taking for granted that he would come home after every shift.
Ten minutes later, she hears Zeke shut the bedroom door and he comes out and Tori sees how exhausted he looks.
"Thanks, Tori, I appreciate this"
"Of course," She says and he stands there not sure what to do. "How's Myra?"
"A mess, Vega, Dawson, and Preston went to spend the night with her. The rest of us are going to head over tomorrow, help sort out everything"
"Oh God, the wedding" Tori gasps tears filling her eyes again and Zeke wipes his hand over his face.
Tori gets up off the couch overcome with emotion and moves to face Zeke. She kisses him, softly but passionately. He cups her face with both his hands as he kisses her back. It wasn't that he needed a distraction but he needed comfort, he needed to know he could make it through the night without the grief swallowing him.
"I need you," He whispers against her lips.
"I need you too," She whispers back.
He bends down and picks her up underneath her knees. She wraps her arms around his neck and places another kiss on his lips as he carries them to her bedroom.
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