A/N: I'm sorry for less updates lately! I'm trying to get as many up as possible but I've been so busy. I'm going to try and gift you with this chapter, though. I think this one's a good one.
"Antonio, I feel like I could take on the world today, you know that?" Sylvie grins, placing the empty plate that once held blueberry pancakes into the sink. "I feel great, my side is barely hurting anymore, and in half an hour I have my final checkup with Rhodes."
Antonio grinned and placed his own plate on top of hers in the sink. "Well, you look great too. I mean, if that means anything right now," He chuckled at her.
Truthfully, Antonio was excited for Sylvie to get back to work. She'd been working on recovering so much lately and he knew that she deserved to get a good result from Rhodes today and head back to work tomorrow morning. While that meant Antonio wouldn't see her as much because she'd be moving out soon, he was still happy that she was happy to be heading back to work.
Antonio hadn't been called in today, and he was glad that he'd been able to spend the whole day with Sylvie. It was obviously her idea to have blueberry pancakes for dinner, and Antonio hadn't argued with her. They'd had an early meal so that they could head to Med afterwards.
Sylvie grinned at him and shrugged. "Hmm, maybe a little bit," she chuckled, pecking his lips softly and moving out of the kitchen to go and get ready to head to Med. It had been a long week and Sylvie was ready to head back to work.
The time flew by quickly and in no time, Antonio was pulling up to Med and opening the car door for Sylvie. He kept his hand on her back as they walked through Med and found Rhodes, who smiled happily at them as he saw them and sent them into one of the spare rooms while he finished up with a patient.
Luckily, the hospital wasn't too busy which meant that there was plenty of free time for them to wait. Sylvie didn't feel like she was hogging a bed for someone else, and as soon as Rhodes was finished, he'd joined Sylvie and Antonio, still smiling and friendly.
"How are you feeling today?" Rhodes asked, rubbing his hands together with the sanitizer. "You definitely look healthier."
Sylvie nodded at him. "I feel it, too. It's good, I'm feeling really good," she spoke, completely truthfully.
"Let's take a look, then," Rhodes smiled, stepping towards Sylvie. She'd worn a loose shirt again today so that it was easier for Rhodes to look at her side. After lifting it up a little, she sent a reassuring smile to Antonio before focusing on Rhodes again.
After a few moments, Rhodes stood back up. "Everything looks in order. Has it been painful lately?" He asked, crossing his arms across his chest.
She shook her head. "No, it hasn't. I've still been on painkillers, but it's bearable even when they're wearing off before bed."
Rhodes smiled at her and nodded again. "Well, everything's looking good then. You're cleared for work again tomorrow. But don't do too much to aggravate it just in case. Try and steer clear of anything too straining for at least another week."
Sylvie couldn't keep the smile off of her face as Rhodes spoke. "I've been waiting for those words ever since I got shot," she laughed, the smile taking over her whole face. "Thank you so much, Dr. Rhodes. Really, you've been a great doctor."
He shrugged at her. "No worries, Sylvie. If you have any problems, don't hesitate to call. I've just got to fill in this paperwork but enjoy yourself back at work tomorrow. You've earned it."
"SYLVIE BRETT!" Cruz yelled, jumping up from his chair in the kitchen and running to Sylvie, wrapping his arms around her and picking her up in a gentle hug.
Sylvie couldn't help but laugh as he did so, wrapping her arms around him as well. "Don't break me yet, Cruz! Let me at least go on one call!"
He grinned as he set her down again. "Ah, okay. One call is good, I suppose. But what do you want for breakfast? I mean, I'm not a chef but I do make a mean scrambled eggs."
"Whip some up for me, then, huh?" She chuckled, following him into the kitchen and taking a seat at one of the tables. Antonio had been called in before Sylvie went to work with the case they were working on, so he hadn't been able to cook her pancakes again and she didn't feel right eating them without him now anyway.
The firehouse was quiet but Sylvie had missed it anyway. Everyone was still turning up on shift and she'd been a bit early because Antonio wasn't home anymore. But she smiled as she watched Cruz working in the kitchen, working on her scrambled eggs. She'd eaten them before when they were dating, and Cruz was right. They were really, really good. Not quite blueberry pancake good, but good none the less.
Sylvie grabbed the newspaper on the table in front of her and flipped it open, scanning to see if she found anything interesting. She paused and frowned as she read the title of one article.
Chicago paramedics attempted murderers sentenced to jail.
She continued to read, intrigued.
Only two and a half weeks ago, news of Firehouse 51's Sylvie Brett's shooting hit news stations all over Chicago. Now, two and a half weeks later, two of those involved in her shooting have been sentenced to jail. Tony Wilson, a victim of a house fire almost two months ago, and an accomplice in her shooting was, on Saturday, sentenced to ten years in prison. Following this sentencing, a second accomplice, Kyle Martin, was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. This Thursday, a third trial will take place to determine the fate of the third and most prominent accomplice. -
Sylvie frowned as she read the words and closed the paper, immediately wishing she'd remembered to ask Antonio about it all on Sunday, and cursing herself that she'd forgotten. Whenever she had a spare moment, she'd call him and ask him about it, she decided.
"Sylvie, hey!' Gabby's voice rang through the firehouse and Sylvie looked up and smiled to see Gabby hurrying towards her. She wrapped her arms around her quickly and took a seat across from her. "How you feeling?"
"I'm good, really. Just happy to be back at work. It's been too long away from here, you know?" She meant every word she said. Just as Gabby was about to speak, Cruz appeared from beside her, placing the plate of scrambled eggs in front of her.
"For you, my lady," he grinned. Sylvie thanked him and began to eat. She'd been right. These eggs were incredible. Gabby chuckled as Cruz walked away and sat down on another table. She turned and raised her eyes at Sylvie.
"Hey, he offered, and I accepted. What else am I supposed to do?"
The day had been going slowly until they finally got their first call of the shift just after 12:00pm. Sylvie and Gabby had ran to the ambo, and Gabby hadn't gotten up Sylvie for being a little slower than usual, as she didn't want to run so fast she hurt her side again. She was not going to get put off work again barely a few hours into her first shift back.
They'd been called to a house in the middle of Chicago where there was a small kitchen fire. It wasn't too intense, and Sylvie was grateful. Just as she went to pull open the ambulance door to leave the scene, a voice behind her yelled.
"HELP! Over here, please help! My daughter, she's sick!" Sylvie frowned and turned around to see a man, in his late thirties, blood covering his hands.
She, without thinking, hurried after him, a hand holding her side. "Gabby, grab the gurney!" She called behind her, running into the man's house and gasping as she saw his daughter lying at the bottom of the stairs, blood covering her face.
"What happened, sir?" Sylvie asked, falling to her knees beside the girl and checking for a pulse. "She fall down the stairs?"
Gabby rolled in the gurney beside her and pulled the backboard down. "We need to get her to hospital right now, sir. Tell us what happened."
"I don't know! I was watching TV and I heard a crash and I ran in and she was bleeding down here at the stairs. Please, help her! She's only eleven." He pleaded.
"Follow us, sir," Sylvie nodded, helping Gabby place the girl onto the gurney and moving to wheel her out of the house and to the ambo. The guys on Truck were still at the house, and a few ran over to help Sylvie and Gabby place her into the ambo.
"You wanna drive?" Gabby asked Sylvie, who only nodded at her as she hurried to the front of the ambo and hopped in. She didn't think she'd be able to cope just yet riding along in the back. If she fell or lost balance while Gabby was driving, she didn't know what would happen.
As soon as Gabby let her know they were good to go, Sylvie hurried to Med, desperately wanting to save this little girl. As her father had said, she was only eleven.
She pulled up outside the emergency bay and moved to get out of the ambo, pulling open the doors and helping the emergency workers and Gabby get her out of the ambo.
Sylvie held onto the bed as she pushed the gurney inside, seeing Will and Ethan on the other side. "Eleven-year old girl, she's fallen down the stairs, possible internal bleeding," Sylvie spoke, moving toward the doors.
Just as she was about to push the girl inside, Sylvie felt a stab of pain in her side as she brushed up against the door. In shock, she let go of the bed and gasped, her hand going to her side. Gabby hurried up to her.
"Shit, Sylvie? You okay?" Gabby asked, a hand on Sylvie's shoulder as she led her further inside.
Sylvie nodded at her. "Yeah, I'm good," she spoke, standing up straighter and removing her hand from her side. "Just ran into the door a little, but I'm okay. It's nothing!" She assured her.
Gabby frowned at her. "You, come with me. Maggie, we'll fill in the report in a minute. I'm taking her to Rhodes."
"I should have known that you should have stayed off a few more days," Antonio spoke, the anger clear in his voice as he slammed the beer down on the counter. "You could have been hurt even more, Sylvie. If you'd hit that door any harder..."
Sylvie frowned at him, her head in her hands as she leant on the table. "Gabby shouldn't have told you. I'm fine, Antonio. Honestly. Rhodes checked it out and he found nothing wrong. It was just the shock of hitting the door and reacting too quickly. I'm fine. Rhodes still cleared me for duty."
He moved over to sit on the chair beside her, his eyebrows furrowed as he spoke. "Sylvie, baby. I don't want you going back to work if you're going to get hurt again," he cringed as he realised how he sounded. "I don't mean it like that. I mean, I want you to wait a few more days, just until you're properly recovered. I don't want another call from Gabby saying you got hurt on the job again. I really don't like those calls."
"No, Antonio. I'm not doing that, okay?" She sighed. "I don't want to just run when things get hard. Not anymore."
Antonio stood up and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. He didn't want to come off as that guy. But he knew that he wanted her to stay safe. He still didn't think she was completely ready for such hard work yet.
Sylvie stood up, pouting as she did so, annoyed at how Antonio was acting. She didn't want him to become another Harrison. "Listen to me, Antonio. Listen to me. You don't think I'm fit enough to work yet? Let me prove to you that I am."
Without thinking, Sylvie leant up and pressed her lips to his. Even if she'd imagined this moment to be more romantic than it was right now, Sylvie knew she wanted this.
Antonio kissed her back instantly, his hands finding her waist as he gently pulled her toward him. He pulled away reluctantly for a moment. "Are you sure, baby?" He muttered. At her nod, he pressed his lips to hers once more.
Sylvie couldn't keep the smile off of her face as he walked them to his bedroom without breaking the kiss. Even if she hadn't imagined it this way, it didn't matter to her anymore.
Her hands found the bottom of Antonio's shirt and she broke the kiss for only a moment to pull it up and over his head. Just before they fell back onto the bed, hers joined his own on the floor, their kiss barely breaking as they took their relationship to the next step.