Happy Sunday! Thank you so much for your love on the last chapter! I can't wait to share what I've been working on soon! Love Ya'll!


"You want to tell me what's going on with you?" Johanna asks Uriah as she walks in the employee lounge and sees the dark circles under his eyes.

After the bombing, a temporary emergency department was set up for Chicago Med while they worked to rebuild. They had limited services, but they were hopeful it was only going to take a few more months for the rebuild.

"Nothing just didn't sleep well," Uriah says not looking up.

"That's been happening a lot lately…" She knew something was going on with Uriah. He'd lost weight, his eyes were dull and lifeless, he moved like a robot most days. He kept to himself, mostly avoiding talking to anyone who he didn't have to. Johanna stands there and grabs Uriah by the hand.

"What are you doing?" Uriah complains.

"Hey Doris, Dr. Pedrad and I are taking a break, hold the phone," Johana tells one of the nurses as she passes off the phone that was connected to the ambulance dispatch.

Uriah follows along and he doesn't say anything. Johanna sits down on a bench; Uriah sits with her.

"Christina moved out," Uriah tells her quietly. It had only been a week, but he felt empty.

"What are you going to do about it?" Johanna asks pointedly.

Uriah shrugs, keeping his eyes on the ground.

"So, you are just giving up on you two? Just like you're giving up on competing for chief resident?"

"No one understands what I went through…It's not that easy to just get over it…" Uriah was frustrated. He felt like his mother, Zeke, everyone just saw it as a simple fix. But he had been carrying the weight of it on his shoulders for so many years.

"Uriah, is she asking you to get over it, or is she asking you to help yourself by finding someone to talk to?"

Uriah leans forward placing his elbows on his knees. Johanna gently places a hand on his back and rubs small comforting circles gently.

"You know my dad went to Vietnam. He was so tough, the things he saw ate him alive. He and my mom divorced when I was ten, we didn't reconnect until 30 years later. Right before he died, he told me about the things he saw. He regretted that he let his marriage crumble and his relationship with his kids deteriorate, because he didn't know how to deal with what happened to him. There is so much support for veterans now, more than ever. You don't have to do this alone."

Johanna doesn't say anything else; she gives Uriah's shoulder a squeeze and gets up to head back into the hospital. Christina was everything he ever wanted. His life felt so full and complete with her. He couldn't lose her but reliving his darkest moments terrified him.


Uriah: Chris. Please come home

Christina looks at the message and puts her phone back down as she sits on the edge of the bed. She missed him so much. She looks up with a knock on the door.

"Hey," Tris tells her leaning against the door.

She had to come home to get clothes for shift since she had been with Tobias the past two nights. She and Christina still hadn't talked, and they kept missing each other since Tris had been with Tobias. Yes, they had been hardly able to tear themselves away from each other, but she wanted to give Christina some space. She knew she would talk when she was ready.

"Hey," Christina says quietly.

"Want to grab donuts before shift starts?" Tris asks, knowing that donuts were Christina's favorite comfort food when she was feeling down.

Christina already had tears in her eyes, and she nodded her head.

"K. I'll be ready in 10"

Half an hour later Christina looked down at the glazed donut in front of her as she and Tris sat in the car, and she had no desire to eat it.

"So, you going to tell me what's going on with you and Uriah? It's got to be ruff for you not to even want your favorite donut" Tris probes.

"Ever since the bombing, Uriah started going down this dark hole, disengaging from everything. Having PTSD attacks."

"Wow" Tris whispers. "And he won't talk to you?"

"No, we barely talk, we have sex, that's about it but it's like he's a different person, there's no connection, he won't even look me in the eye," Christina lets out a sniffle, and Tris reaches over squeezes her knee to comfort her.

"Is there anything that could help him?"

"I found support groups at the VA, I found a therapist who was a Black man and a veteran, he wouldn't even look at the brochure"

Tris leans back in her seat. She can remember what it was like for her and Tobias after the fire that killed Will. They leaned on each other, and they had been leaning on each other again now. Even though the CFD had chaplains to help first responders through losing victims and other firefighters she only opened up to Tobias. She imagined for Uriah it was similar except he didn't have anyone from his unit.

"So, you told him you were leaving?"

Christina nods, placing her elbow on the edge of the car window and looking out as tears roll down her face.

"Have you talked to him since you left?"

"He text me this morning asking me to come home" Christina chokes out. "Tris, I can't watch him self-destruct, it's like watching my mom that last year all over again…"

Tris nodded in understanding, but she could tell Christina needed to get everything off her chest, so she kept quiet.

"And it's not just about us and our relationship. I am legit worried about him even if we don't work out, I would never want to see him like this"

"You feel like checking in for shift or do you want to call out?"

Christina sighs and wipes her tears and shakes her head.

"No, I can't take lying in bed anymore. I think getting out there will distract me and hopefully, I won't feel like complete crap"

Christina was right, the day was so busy she barely had time to think about Uriah. She'd been thankful that they had been to Lakeshore three times that day so far and not Med but now as Shauna pulled up for them to unload a patient, she felt her heart racing.

"What we got?" Johanna calls as Christina and Shauna rush the gurney in.

"Girl fell through a skylight, Pulse is 160/90, administered 10 of versed in the field" Shauna rattles off.

"Pratt, Pedrad, you're going to Baghdad," Johanna tells Uriah and another doctor looking at the pane of glass protruding from the abdomen of the young woman on the gurney.

Christina stops as she passes the patient off. She tried not to look at Uriah, but she couldn't help herself. They lock eyes for a moment, but he pulls away to focus on the patient.

"You good?" Shauna asks as she looks over at Christina.

"Yeah, I'm going to go restock the gauze and towels," Christina tells her quietly.

She had no idea how she was going to get over Uriah, but right now the giant hole she felt in her chest was telling her she didn't think she would ever get over him.


"Ummm, I think this has been the best way to welcome me back to shift" Tobias mumbled as he presses his body closer to Tris, tightening his arms around her as she held his face in her hands as they kissed.

Tris smiles against his lips. They had talked about keeping a low profile at the firehouse but now they were hiding in the laundry room making out because making it through a full 24 hours without touching each other hand proved damn near impossible.

"Ambulance 61, Truck 81, Squad 3, Structure Fire 2349 Avery Circle"

"Ugh" Tris groans as she pulls away listening to the intercom.

"To be continued" Tobias grins and they rush out to the apparatus floor.

"This is where my father works," Tris says as they hop off the truck and she sees the sign for BRT Medical on the building. The smoke was already escaping through some of the windows as people in evening attire spilled out of the front entrance.

"What?" Marlene asks, looking concerned as they moved to wait for their orders from Zeke and Max.

She knew how Caleb and Tris struggled with their relationship with their father, but everyone had been making an effort, especially Andrew, since the bombing. Their new Sunday routine when Tris and Marlene weren't on shift and Caleb wasn't working a case was video chatting with Natalie and Ramon in the morning followed by an early dinner with Andrew, Jeanine, and Matthew. Andrew was really making an effort.

"What happened?" Max asks as a woman comes running toward them from the building.

"We were having a reception following our investor meeting. The fire started in the kitchen, and it spread to the mezzanine. There were people still in the room where there was a cocktail hour was being held and some folks in their offices working late"

"How many people were at the reception?" Max asks

"At least 100" she replies coughing.

"Okay, Engine 77 feed the sprinkler system, Engine 51 drop two lines and start to get that fire out. Trucks and Squad you are on search and rescue! 81 Fire floor, 77 top down office spaces, Squad 3, I want you to hit the mezzanine from the back, get the people out of there" Max commands.

"81 Let's Move, Prior and Vega head up to the mezzanine with Squad, Newhouse with me to clear the first floor," Zeke yells.

Tris takes a deep breath. This building was blazing, this one was going to be rough. She knew if investors were there, her father was in that building since he was a senior vice president.

Tris and the other firefighters head into the building pulling on their oxygen tanks and grabbing their tools. This was going to be a rough fire.

"Well find him," Marlene tells her confidently knowing what she was thinking.

Marlene and Tris take the stairs behind Squad 3, helping to direct people down the stairs.

"Take your time, slow down," Tris tells people as they pass her. When they get to the top of the mezzanine, she rushes over to a blonde woman coughing as she heads for the stairs.

"Jeanie, where is he? Was he with you?" Tris asks when she recognizes her stepmother, and she looks around and doesn't see her father after scanning the people passing her.

"Showing some of the investors his lab and the new drug he was working on" She coughs.

"Where is it?" Tris asks, trying to stay calm.

"The 3rd floor, It's a big clear window." She tells her.

"I'll find him don't worry, get out of here" Tris points to the stairway.

Tris points to the door marked for the nearest stairwell to Marlene. The smoke was already filling the stairwell as the fire alarm continued to sound as Tris and Marlene climbed the stairs to the third floor. She and Marlene went round the corner and saw the big window with several people coughing and banging on the window and jiggling the door handle that was stuck. Tris and Marlene rush over to the door trying it from the outside with no luck.

"Papi" Tris exclaims as she sees her father and three other men banging on the glass. A part of the ceiling had fallen, blocking the doorway.

"Vega and I need help on the 3rd floor, multiple victims trapped in the lab, there's debris blocking the door" Tris calls into her radio.

"Copy that Prior, Barnes, and I are on our way," Tobias answers back.

Tris motions for the men to back away from the glass. She swings her Halligan, and the glass doesn't break. She and Marlene both try but the glass doesn't budge. She searches up, her eyes scanning the glass wall from top to bottom.

"Tris…" Andrew says looking from inside the lab, the smoke burning his lungs as he recognizes his daughter and his son's fiancée in their firefighter gear. He'd been near the area where the ceiling had come down when they were trying to get the door open. His arm was throbbing. He looked at the five other men with him and the flames that were in the corner of the room getting hotter and hotter. If he was going to die, he didn't want his daughter to witness this.

"I can't get in, it's like reinforced or something, it's not breaking," Tris tells Tobias as soon as he and Harrison run up.

Tris looks back in a panic to the room and she motions for her father to cover his face with his jacket. Andrew nods understanding and tells the other men to do the same. One had already passed out on the ground and Andrew bends down to check his pulse. Another groan came from the building, and it sounded as if another part of the ceiling was going to collapse.

Tobias looked around, they were running low on time, the flames in the room had turned blue and green meaning they had mixed with some chemicals. The building was going to burn faster now.

"Here, let's use this," he tells everyone seeing a large tank around the corner with a big steel structure around it to help it stand up.

Harrison, Tris, and Marlene all move to pick it up and ram it into the glass. It takes 4 times before it breaks. As soon as they drop the tank Malene uses her Halligan to break away the glass to make a path. She helps three of the men out and to the stairs.

Andrew was still kneeling next to the man that passed out.

"Come on we have to hurry," Tris tells him as Tobias puts the other man over his shoulder to carry out.

Tris puts her arm around them as they step out into the hallway. When they get to the bottom floor Andrew feels weak in the knees.

"Papi, hang on" Tris tells him. "Medic!"

Christina rushes over as fast as she can, and they get Andrew onto a gurney. Tobias pulls Tris close after dropping off the other victim with the paramedics.


Andrew blinks his eyes and takes a breath. He's unsure where he was but he feels something in his nose. His surroundings come into focus, and he feels a slight burn in his chest. He looked down at his arm and there was an IV line running out. His left arm was wrapped in a bandage.

He looked around the hospital room and there was his daughter, face full of soot, hair messy still in her CFD shirt, and her fire-resistant pants with red suspenders asleep in the chair in the corner of the room. Andrew groans as he starts to regain more feeling, and the events of the fire start to come back to him.

Tris wakes with a start and sees her father trying to sit up.

"Hey Papi, take it easy," she says with her eyebrows furrowed.

"I'm fine" he grunts still trying to sit up and then a pain shoots through his side causing him to lie back down.

"You are not fine. You took in a hell of a lot of smoke and have a second-degree burn on your arm and leg. Don't try and sit up. I guess I see where I get my stubbornness from" Tris says with a half-smile as she moves from her chair to stand by his bedside.

Andrew blinks and doesn't say anything else.

"Where's Jeanine? Is she okay?"

"Yes, she's fine. Just a little smoke inhalation but she was pretty shaken up. I called Caleb and he drove her home so she could shower and get Matty from the babysitter. They should be back here soon"

"How long have I been unconscious?"

"About an hour."

"Do you remember what happened?" Tris asks, looking him over.

"I was giving a group of investors a tour of the research lab, when all of a sudden, we heard a loud bang, like an explosion. We tried to get to the door, but it was blocked and then there were flames and smoke everywhere"

Tris furrows her eyebrows as she listens, the chemicals they used in the lab had accelerated the fire when it expanded from the kitchen.

"You saved me, Baby Girl, I… I thank you," Andrew chokes out, tears flowing from his eyes.

Tris places her hand in his and squeezes it. She sniffles, her own tears starting to fall thinking about the panic that she felt when she realized he was trapped inside that room. She had kept her cool, but the truth was she had been scared.

"I'm just glad I was there and able to pull you out" she smiles. Things weren't perfect with her father, but they had come a long way in the months since the bombing.

"Daddy!" Matthew calls as he comes running into the hospital room with Jeanine, Marlene, and Caleb right behind him.

"Thank you, Beatrice, Marlene. He wouldn't be here if it weren't for you," Jeanine says gratefully as she hugs Tris while Andrew rubs Matthew's head.

"Well, these two are tougher than most of the men at the CFD, you were in good hands" Caleb admonishes winking at his sister and smiling.

"Yes, thank you," Andrew tells them, his voice thick with emotion.

Tris looks up and Caleb stands next to her giving her a side hug. Suddenly Matthew throws his arms around her waist.

"You and Marlene saved Daddy," he says. "I knew if you were here in Chicago, you would keep us safe"

Tris squeezes him tightly and she smiles at how her little brother believed she could have superhero qualities. A few tears fell down her cheeks as she was overcome with emotion.

"All of 51 is out in the waiting room, but I don't think they are going anywhere until they know Papi is okay," Caleb tells Tris.

"Yeah, Chief took us out of service so we could all be here" Marlene smiles.

"I'll come back and check on you later now that your family is here," Tris says quietly wiping her tears.

"You are my family, all of you…" Andrew tells her.

Tris grabs his hand again and he squeezes it tight. As soon as Tris walks into the lobby she's overcome with emotion, there was everyone on 2nd shift at 51, still in their gear from the call.

"He's awake now, I think he's going to be okay," she tells them with a smile when she walks into the waiting room seeing all the anxious faces looking back at her.

"Let's pack it up," Zeke says with a smile, and everyone heads out to head back to 51.

Tobias comes up, he has a bandage on over his right eye, he pulls her in and kisses her forehead and she lets herself relax in his arms. She feels other people get up and give her a pat on the shoulder. Christina and then Marlene give their own hugs.

"Good work today Prior, I'm glad your father is going to be fine," Max tells her as he pats her on the shoulder.

Tris glanced at the clock on the wall. Thankfully, it was already 2 am and shift would be over soon.

"How are you feeling?" Tobias asks as they walk out of 51 at 8 am and Tobias wraps his arm around her.

"Exhausted" She replies honestly with a yawn. The emotional up and down with her father in the fire wore her out more than normal when battling a fire.

"Let's get you home so you can get some rest" Tobias whispers and she gives him a grateful smile.

An hour later Tris and Tobias are cuddled in her bed after they have both showered and Tobias plays with her curls, massaging her scalp as she lays against his chest. Her body was tired, but she couldn't seem to turn her mind off.

"You want to talk about it?" Tobias asks and she feels his chest rumble.

"I spent so much of my life having this awkward relationship with my father, of him not approving of my career. And what are the chances that he ends up needing to be rescued by me from a burning building"

Tobias rubs her back.

"I bet he's really glad you didn't quit being a firefighter to do research now"

Tris snorts with laughter and smiles against his chest.

"I have you, I have this new relationship with my dad, it's like everything is right in the world"

"Yeah, it is" Tobias grins and gives her another kiss on the forehead.


"I have to say I'm kinda feeling like we're the new dynamic duo at 51 this week. I'm going to request you be my floater anytime Preston is out." Christina says as she checks off the last things on the run sheet for the patient, she and Tris had just dropped off at Chicago Med.

It had been 2 months since Christina moved back into the apartment with Tris. She and Uriah exchanged awkward hellos whenever she dropped off a patient at Chicago Med. He stayed clear of Dauntless, so they hadn't really seen each other. She missed him so much, but she was sticking to her guns.

"Not gonna lie, I've had so much fun the past two shifts flexing my paramedic skills," Tris tells her dramatically interlocking her fingers and then stretching her arms forward.

Christina cackles as they walk out of the newly finished entrance to Chicago Med's emergency room. Shauna had taken furlough to visit her family in Texas. Her brother and his wife had just welcomed a new baby and her mother and stepfather were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary with a big party. Tris had been excited when Max asked her to sub on ambo and Christina was relieved since the paramedic floater pool wasn't that great.

"Christina" A voice calls as Christina and Tris go to hop back in the ambulance.

"Dr. Fields!" Christina says surprised, turning around and seeing a familiar face waving after her.

She looks like she wants to talk so Tris takes the hint.

"I'll just go check our supplies before we head out," Tris tells them and then heads back into the ER.

"Listen, I'm glad I ran into you. I don't normally work at Chicago Med" Dr. Fields tells her as Christina shifts a little uncomfortable. She thought that after all this time of running into people from her former medical school life she would not be embarrassed anymore. Dr. Fields had been one of her teachers during her ER rotation. She'd been kind and helpful when her mother was killed and was not happy to see Christina be expelled from the program.

"You're at Lakeshore" Christina nods wondering where this conversation was going.

"Now that I'm Dean of the Medical school at Northwestern, they want me to expand my scope"

"Dean!" Christina replies shocked. "That's amazing! Congratulations"

"I just wanted to tell you that I was heartened to see you in a paramedic's uniform. Many men and women in your situation would have run away from medicine"

"Caring for patients is what I love doing. That never changed" Christina tells her honestly feeling a bit emotional.

Dr. Fields nods and takes a pause before she decides to speak.

"I was the dissenting vote in your expulsion. I recognized then, as I do now, you were traumatized by the murder of your mother and the stress she caused when she showed up in your life. You were burning a candle at both ends. The board failed to take those circumstances into account"

"Thank you for saying so," Christina says trying to find the right words "But I have put all of that behind me now. I'm great now"

Dr. Fields gives her a look. She knew how good a doctor Christina had been and how much potential she had.

"I would like for you to consider re-enrolling in the program. We need more doctors with your kind of passion"

Christina feels her stomach flip as she listens. How could that even be a possibility?

"Think about it, then come see me in my office"

She gives Christina's arm a squeeze and a smile before turning and heading back into the ER.

Tris comes around the corner with a smile and Christina looks like she wants to cry.

"You heard that?"

"Yeah, I did," Tris says in a light airy voice.

"Well…" Christina asks, waving her hand.

"I think you have a lot to consider. You didn't think finishing med school was an option for you, but I know how much you love this job. It's not just a backup for you now. Think about it, all of it." Tris tells her before walking to jump into the driver's seat of the ambulance.

Christina stands there for a moment and takes a deep breath through her nose. She loved the CFD, but she wouldn't lie, being able to finish her residency program and become a doctor, maybe it wasn't behind her after all.


Hana hesitates for a second but then knocks on the door to Tris and Christina's apartment. She had gone back and forth about this, but she was worried about her baby boy. She never interfered with her sons' relationships, but she needed Christina's help.

"Hi Sweetheart, I hope you don't mind me stopping by," Hana says when Christina opens the door and looks stunned to find out who was on the other side.

"Ummm yeah, come on in" Christina stands aside so Hana can enter, and they both make their way to the couch.

Christina quickly moves the blankets that she had been curled up with to make room for Hana and picks up the mug of tea she had been drinking along with snacks she had and carries them to the kitchen.

"Can I get you something?" Christina asks, setting her mug in the kitchen sink.

"Oh no, I'm fine. Is this that Tyler Perry show about the lady who works as a maid?" Hana chuckles looking at the television.

"Yeah, I usually need something to decompress after a tough shift. Uriah and I started this, and we only got through like three seasons" Christina chuckles. The acting was over the top, but it had been fun with both of them having a rough day sitting on the couch and speculating about what was going to happen next while laughing. She found herself turning it on when she was missing him, especially since Tris was wrapped up in Tobias and Marlene with Caleb., When she wasn't a Dauntless, she was lonely.

"I don't want to overstep my boundaries; I don't know what happened between the two of you, but I have an idea," Hana says taking a breath, leaning forward, and putting her elbows on her knees.

"Yeah, we ummm, weren't seeing eye to eye and I needed some space," Christina says awkwardly.

"I know you know he's been different since the explosion, and I know he needs help. Zeke and I just don't know what else to do to help him. He won't open up to us."

Christina nods, feeling the tears well up in her eyes.

"I ummm don't think I'll be much help. That's why I moved out. He shut down on me too. I went to the VA and found info on support groups and therapists he could see, people who had been in combat to understand what he was going through. He wouldn't hear me out. I just couldn't stand there and watch him go down that dark hole"

Hana felt herself getting emotional as she listened to Christina talk. It was clear how much she loved Uriah. When Christina launches into the story of her growing up in foster care, Stephanie showing up and starting to use again, what happened when she was kicked out of medical school after she spiraled when Stephanie was murdered, Hana moves to sit closer to her on the couch and wraps her arms around her.

"I can't do it again Ms. Hana, but I miss him so much. He's not my Uriah now, it's like I don't even recognize him anymore" Christina sobs.

"We're going to get through to him, I know we are," Hana tells her soothingly while stroking her hair, her own tears falling now.

Hana rocks her gently and Christina cries harder realizing she'd never been held in a motherly embrace like this. It made the weight of the entire situation even heavier for her.

"You are not alone anymore, sweetheart, I don't care what happens between you and my son, you are not alone anymore"

Christina sits up and wipes her face while Hana in turn wipes hers.

"Thanks, Ms. Hana" Christina reaches down and gives Hana's hand a squeeze after taking a deep breath.

Hana smiles as she squeezes Christina's hand in return. She had no idea what to do now but she felt like she needed a miracle to reach her son.