The Next day, Penny had just been asleep on the sofa while Sam was in his bedroom. Ellie was still asleep after the day she was taken ill, she began to let out a big yawn, then she reached for the bucket as she needed to throw up in it. Sam and Penny heard it from where they were, it was nearly 8 in the morning. So, they decided that Penny could check on Ellie. She picked up the stethoscope which was sitting on the counter in the kitchen, then she went to see how Ellie was. "Morning, Ellie." Penny called as she walked in the door.
"Morning, Penny" replied Ellie.
"How are you feeling today?"
"I'm still in some pain, but it wasn't as bad as it was yesterday."
"Oh, that means you have been resting after you had that terrible dream."
"Really, Penny?"
"Yes, Ellie. Sam had his fever rise up only a little bit when he was ill."
"Oh, I see. I didn't know that."
"Yeah, it happened before you came here. Right, I just need to make sure that you're ok. It won't take long, though."
"Ok, Penny."
While Penny was checking over Ellie, Sam was in the kitchen working on some breakfast for them. He was planning to cook a Welsh breakfast for him and Penny while Ellie had a slice of toast since she was ill. He was just about to set the table and start cooking when he heard someone at the door from the garden which leads to the Fire Station. So, he went to see who it was until he saw it was Arnold. Sam was surprised to see his other friend outside the door. "Hi, Arnold. What's up?" Sam asked as he opened the door.
"Hello, Sam. I just came to see how Ellie was doing. I'm worried that it was something else."
Sam was surprised, he didn't know that Arnold had been worried about Ellie after he heard that she was ill. So, he decided to find out what made him worried. "I see, why don't you come inside? I'm cooking up some breakfast right now."
Arnold joined Sam in the house before he was back on duty at the Fire Station, He stood in front of the counter While Sam was putting the kettle on for some tea. Sam raised an eyebrow with his concern about Arnold who was worried about his best friend. So he decided to ask him how it all happened. "What makes you worry so much about Ellie?" he asked.
"Well, It was a long story, but I'll tell you how it happened."
"Ok, what is it?"
Arnold had started to tell his story to Sam about his days at the Newtown Academy. Sam began to hear what his new team member had to say from his days at the academy in Newtown.
Arnold's POV (before Pontypandy):
It was like a long time before we joined the fire service. We were still at Newtown Fire Academy and Ellie had been finishing up her training with the others. I was cleaning the vehicles with other firefighters when I noticed that she was exhausted. So, I went over to see what was wrong, the other firefighters had raised their concerns about her. "Ellie, are you ok?" I asked.
"No, Arnold. I think I'm going to go to the kitchen after I store the hoses away."
"Are you sure, you look like you're embarrassed. Is something bothering you?"
"Ok, I guess I'll admit it. One of the recruits has been bullying me because I don't know how to carry the hoses properly."
"Don't worry, Ellie. I'll talk to him, then I'll let Chief Fire Officer Boyce know about the situation."
Ellie went to the back of the station by the lockers while I looked around to find the recruit who has been hurting my best friends feelings when I saw him by the doors to the vehicle bay thinking this whole thing was a joke. It wasn't long until I heard Ellie fall to the ground fainting from exhaustion. I moved over to check to see if she was alright. "Ellie, can you hear me?" I called trying to be careful not making it worse.
"Can someone go find Chief Fire Officer Boyce?"
The firefighters looked around to see who was going to find Chief Fire Officer Boyce. I looked around and then I saw someone head out to find our Chief Fire Officer, it wasn't long until I heard the alarm to the station go off. "There's a fire at the Newtown Hotel, only 2 pumps needed for this job. Backup needed for South Wales Fire Service." said a voice from the control room.
I saw the other firefighters move to the uniform storage to get changed into their firefighting gear. I didn't go because I decided to stay with Ellie who was lying on the floor by the lockers. I then saw Chief Fire Officer Boyce come out of the control room, he saw that I was not with the others at the blaze out at the Hotel. "Firefighter, McKinley. Why aren't you out with them at the Hotel?" he asked.
"I'm sorry, sir. I was cleaning the vehicles before Ellie came in looking a little down. Someone from this class has been bullying her because she couldn't carry the hoses properly, and then I looked to find him by the bay doors. Now I found her like this, what can I do to help."
"Well, I think it's just that she fainted from stress, but I think she might also have hit her head on the floor. So, I'll call an ambulance to take her to Newtown Hospital. Can you stay here and keep an eye on her condition?"
"Yes, Sir."
I stayed with Ellie while Chief Fire Officer Boyce went to call for an ambulance while our sub-officer was at the fire at the Newtown Hotel. Some of the other recruits heard the commotion from the kitchen and they went to see what was wrong. They kept their distance because they found out that Ellie had fainted. I looked behind my back to find the other recruits looking at the scene, they had been concerned for her since she joined the academy. It wasn't long until Chief Fire Officer Boyce came back. "They said an ambulance is on the way, they won't be long." he said.
Ellie had then began to move and reach her hand out to me. I had then managed to grab hold of it to keep her calm. "What happened, Arnold?" she asked tiredly.
"You fainted from stress, and you hit your head as you fell to the ground."
"Really?"
"Yes, Firefighter Phillips. I heard from Firefighter McKinley that you had a bit of a problem with one of the other recruits." Chief Fire Officer Boyce added.
"Yes, sir. Will I be okay?" she asked trying to get up.
"Of course, Ellie. just try not to move or you'll make your injury worse." I replied.
"Thanks, Arnold."
It wasn't long until they heard the ambulance arrive. Ellie had soon felt like she was in a serious medical incident, Chief Fire Officer Boyce went to talk to the paramedics outside by the vehicle bay. I went to get Ellie a blanket to keep her warm while we were waiting for the paramedics. "Thanks, Arnold." Ellie said as I wrapped her up in the blanket.
"Anytime, Ellie."
Just as I was finished helping Ellie, the paramedics came in with a stretcher so they can take her to Newtown Hospital. Chief Fire Officer Boyce came with them, he was surprised that I had been very helpful to his fellow recruit. I left Ellie in safe hands with the paramedics while we walked over out of the vehicle bay by the ambulance. "I'm surprised you have been worried about her since it happened. I'm impressed with the response when she passed out, but I think I would have to inform the recruit behind all this trouble about the situation we've been put in." Said Chief Fire Officer Boyce
"Thank you, sir. I will be joining her as soon as they come back here. I'll update you with any information."
"Right, thanks for telling me. I'll re-sort the duty roster and arrange some special Firefighter training for you and Firefighter Phillips under my supervision."
"No problem, sir."
Just then, Ellie was on a stretcher which was being moved to the ambulance by the paramedics as they arrived to the ambulance. I decided to join her on the journey to Newtown Hospital, I was worried about her since she fainted in the vehicle bay. "Right, is there anyone going with her?" one of the paramedics asked.
"Yes, I'm going with her." I replied.
The paramedics agreed and I hopped aboard the ambulance and sat in the open seat beside where Ellie was. She was strapped in with the blanket on top of her and under the safety belts. Once the doors in the back of the ambulance were closed, we were off to the hospital. Ellie was lucky it wasn't serious when she fainted. She had then reached out for my hand again, I raised an eyebrow thinking is she trying to thank me for helping her. So, I accepted it and held it tight. Ellie moved her head to the right a tiny bit and looked at me. "Thank you for helping me, Arnold. I'm sorry if I didn't tell you earlier." She said
"That's ok, Ellie. Chief Fire Officer Boyce will work with us to achieve our goals."
She smiled at me and I smiled back, it was like we have became best friends in school. we then let go and Ellie went back to rest while I did my research on all the Vehicles in all fire services. I came up to a page about a 4-Wheel drive, longitudinal front-engine 6 cylinder high-compression turbo diesel (Jupiter). I read about the facts of all vehicles I use in the fire service, sometimes I even don't realize that they have names like the vehicles in the Pontypandy Fire Service.
Author's POV (Sam's house)
Sam was just finished setting up the supplies to cook breakfast for everyone when Arnold had told him his story. He was surprised at how Arnold had told him about how he was worried about Ellie. So, he set the ingredients down on the counter in the kitchen and had placed a slice of bread in the toaster so he can make some toast for her, then he turned to Arnold and gave him an idea. "Don't worry, Arnold. I'm sure Penny will update you about Ellie, I'll talk to her later." he said
"Thanks, Sam. I better get going, I don't want to be late."
"See you later, Arnold."
Arnold soon walked out the door closing it behind him and went back to the Fire Station. He was soon beginning to think about what Ellie would think about the time he helped her at the academy.
Meanwhile,
Penny was still checking over Ellie, she had only been there since 7:50 in the morning. Ellie looked like she was a bit hungry, Penny looked at the alarm clock sitting on the table beside the bed and noticed it was only 8:20 early in the morning. So, she asked her if she was ready for some food. "Ellie, Sam is cooking breakfast right now. I was wondering if you were hungry for anything." She said
"Yes, Penny. Maybe a slice of toast would work."
"Ok, I'll bring some soup for you as well. You need to make sure you have something to eat or drink, ok?"
"Not a problem, Penny. I'll be more careful now."
"Ok, Ellie. I like the way you planned it."
Penny went to find some soup that Bronwyn had made for Ellie yesterday, she checked in the kitchen to find it sitting by the cooker. It was still warm when Penny picked it up, she remembered that Bronwyn dropped it off in a flask. Just as Penny was about to leave the kitchen, Sam came by in his station uniform. He noticed that the toast popped out after he set the timer correctly. So, he picked it up and moved it over to a plate and passed it to Penny so she can bring it to Ellie. "Here you go, Penny. I made a slice of toast for Ellie, and I'm about to cook us a traditional English breakfast. What do you think?" he said
"It looks like a wonderful idea, Sam. I'll help you if you need it."
"Thanks, Penny. I can't do this on my own sometimes."
"Anytime, Sam. Right, I'm going to drop these off where Ellie is, then I'll come and help."
Sam nodded in agreement and Penny went back to where Ellie was resting. She was catching up on crossword puzzles, when she saw Penny come back with some soup and a slice of plain toast. "Thanks, Penny. I know I could count on you." she said.
"Anytime, Ellie. I hope it doesn't come back up, Sam had that problem when he found it out the hard way."
"Really, Penny?"
"Yeah, It took me a long time to find that out before I was licensed by the NHS when I was in the fire service before you came along."
"Oh, I never knew that."
"Me neither, Anyway, I have to go help Sam cook some breakfast. You can enjoy your breakfast and I managed to pour some nice warm soup for you which is on the table stand right next to you."
"Thank you, Penny. I'll let you know if I need anything."
"Ok, Ellie."
Penny soon left Ellie to enjoy her small breakfast while she went to find Sam in the kitchen. He was just finishing up with the mushrooms when he saw that he needed to do the Sausages. So, he asked Penny if she could help with the sausages. "Penny, can you help me cook the sausages? I'll work on the eggs." he asked.
"Sure, Sam. I'll start getting ready, I won't be long."
Soon, Sam and Penny went to work cooking their Welsh breakfast. He remembered when he had something like this when he was still a little boy in 1974, his mother cooked it every morning for everyone in his home one the Newtown road before he moved to 3 Vale road (his current home). Now, he always enjoys it when he arrives at the Fire Station with Elvis and the other crew members.
