Jimmy stood at his locker looking at a picture of Taylor, him, and DK after a fire. He smiled slightly. He didn't hear DK walk up behind him.
"That's a good picture." He said
"Yeah, it was." Jimmy replied
"Listen." DK said, "About yesterday."
"DK, I know what you're going to say, but you don't have to." Jimmy paused. "I blame myself for this as much as anyone. I could barely sleep last night half because of the excitement that Taylor woke up and half with the fear that SHE blames me for putting her in that hospital bed."
"But it wasn't your fault." DK replied, "We all know that, and YOU know that. It's just easier to deal with a situation when you can put the blame on someone." DK said
"Thanks." Jimmy replied
Their shift was over but none of them seemed to want to leave the firehouse. It was a sanctuary of sorts to them.
"It's too early for a beer, but does anyone want to go grab some breakfast?" Lombardo asked
Jimmy shrugged, "Sure, I wouldn't mind that."
"Where we going?" Walsh asked
"That little diner on 48th has good food." Lombardo suggested
"Sounds good to me." DK said
The four of them all went to their cars and put their bags away.
"Alright, meet you there." Jimmy said
Lombardo was the first to leave. Jimmy stared at Taylor's Mustang Convertible. She had bought it just a few weeks ago. No one had come to the firehouse to pick it up. Jimmy felt weird seeing the car parked in the same spot, yet Taylor was no where around.
"Who's that?" DK asked as he noticed a brand new Mustang turn the corner
"I don't know." Lombardo said
They saw the black convertible pull into the lot.
"No way." Jimmy and Walsh said as they watched
Slowly the door opened and Taylor stood next to the car.
"Holy shit! Taylor got a Mustang!" Lombardo said
"Like the new ride?" Taylor asked as she took off her sunglasses
"Like it?" Jimmy asked, "It's a 'stang!"
"You bought this?" Walsh asked
"Yeah you can't see me in a sports car?" Taylor questioned
"Well, no actually." Walsh replied
"You got LEATHER?" Jimmy asked
"Careful Jimmy, you drool any harder and Taylor's gonna have water spots on her car." DK teased
"I never figured you for a sports car, let alone a mustang." Walsh said
"Whoa, who's new ride is that?" Carlos asked
"Taylor's." DK said
"Taylor got a mustang?" Carlos asked in surprise
"Yeah that was pretty much my reaction too." Walsh laughed
Jimmy couldn't help but stare at the car. He then got in his Dodge Ram and drove off.
Taylor was in a special wheel chair. The nurse was pushing her down the hall. Taylor was frustrated by the situation. She hated being in the chair already.
"So where are we going?" Taylor asked
"Therapy." The nurse replied
"I told you that it's worthless." Taylor argued
"And that's the exact attitude that will keep you in the chair for the rest of what pitiful life you choose to live." The nurse snapped
Taylor sat like a chastised little child in the chair. She watched as people walked up the hall around her. They were staring at her. It was bad enough to sulk in her room, but now people could see that she couldn't do anything on her own. That cut through her like a knife.
She saw the opening to the room. And she saw equipment inside the room.
"Surely they don't expect me to be able to do that." She thought to herself
Then she saw a familiar face in the room.
"Lt. Johnson." She said
He turned to her.
"Taylor." He said calmly
"What are you doing here?" She asked
"I figured that I'd come to help give you a little support and encouragement." He replied
"Yeah, or watch as I fail miserably." Taylor quipped
Immediately his face turned sour.
"You've gone through far too much to give up now." He started, "But if you want to quit, then I'll go home. You'd be turning your back on everyone who loves and cares about you. Do you know how painful it is for me to see you in that chair? Do you?"
"No." She replied
"Taylor, after 9/11 YOU were my rock. Your father saved all of us that day, whether we knew it then or not. Watching you day in and day out until he was found- I admired you… hell we all admired you. Because you wouldn't give up. The Alex Taylor I know is not a quitter. But apparently the one in that chair is." He scolded
Tears welled up in her eyes. He was right, she had never given up. She fought to wake up from the coma after fighting to stay alive.
"Have they told you what you went through to get here?" Lt. Johnson asked
"Not exactly." Taylor replied
"You had fractured your femur, pelvis, multiple ribs, and you broke your back. You suffered a seizure while you were in the coma, and you almost died just from the surgeries. You had a collapsed lung, a lacerated liver, and you ruptured your spleen." He admitted, "The reason that no one told you is because your mother had to make the difficult choice to sign a "Do not resuscitate order" rather than make you suffer through the beating that you would have gotten if you coded."
The tears were now streaming down Taylor's cheeks.
"So what do I have to do?" She asked the trainer
Lt. Johnson just smiled.
"That's my girl." He said…