A/N: Looky…an Update. I didn't keep you guys waiting for long, so I hope you enjoy it!!

Also, many people asked this question so I figured all of you would want to know the answer also. What is a 5150? I tend to forget that not everyone knows this lingo like I do. A 5150 is a person deemed to have a mental disorder that makes them a danger to him or herself, and/or others and/or gravely disabled. Hope this helped answer any questions. If you have more, please feel free to PM me.

Thanks to my wonderful beta LittleLea05

"Walking, working, barely breathing
My thoughts, far away
Heart aching, mind racing
Sleep does not come easily, nor last long..."
~Peter Winstanley

Disclaimer: Plot mine, everything else, Stephenie Meyer

Fire and/or Medical scenes are present in this chapter. Please read at your own discretion.

Chapter 17 – I'll Never Forget!

Edward POV

The adrenaline was pumping through my system at an alarming rate. My breathing stuttered as my head rattled with the small explosion I could hear going on behind me, most likely a cave in. We had just rolled up on what could be one of the biggest, daunting, fires I have ever seen.

I turned my attention back to Carlisle as he continued giving us our orders. "And Jasper, you're going to take the probie and do search and rescue. Go in through the door closest to us here. Take a one inch line and keep a look out. I know this building is supposedly empty but we anticipate their being quite a few drifters in there." I quickly turned towards the engine and jumped up on the back bumper. I grabbed a hold of the nozzle attached to the two inch line and give it a hard pull, tugging it down from the engine's hose bed.

Emmett and I swiftly made our way over to the front door of the building. Standing next to the door were six other firefighters preparing to go in also.

"Emmett, hey!" One of the firefighters called to us as we approached.

"John." Emmett nodded back. "I'd like you to meet Edward Masen, Edward this is John Pine and Carl Cho. Engine 4." I quickly shook their hands as we began donning our SCBA gear.

"Em, we're paired with you. Capt said we are going in to the left; those four are going to the right. Good?" Firefighter Pine said. I could barely hear him as I put my mask on. The surrounding noise faded away and my focus on reality became a little clearer. With the fresh oxygen flowing in I could really smell the smoke in the air that leaked in through the sides of my mask. I should have shaved this morning so it would have fit more snug.

I grabbed a hold of the nozzle as we turned towards the door, preparing to pry the door open. I felt the hose line shudder in my hands as the water rushed to fill it. I tightened my grip just so I wouldn't accidently drop it.

One of the other four fighters standing on the opposite side of the door used a pike pole to pry the door open. Smoke billowed out it in dark thick columns. I could only imagine what nasty chemicals were burning that caused that color smoke. As promised we turned to the left as the other group branched off to the right. We snuck down a small corridor and came upon a larger room that looked like it was at one time a shipping and receiving cargo room. There were many smaller shipping containers haphazardly situated across the room. Luckily they were all empty and made of steel so they wouldn't get hot enough to cause too many issues; just as long as we stayed far enough away from touching them.

We advanced through the room quickly, knocking out all the smaller little fires we found hiding within the walls. Once on the other side we came to a fork in the road. On the left hand side was a set of double doors, one of which was open and you could see the fire licking its way out. On the opposite side of the hall was a door that was securely shut and had 'backdraft' written all over it. Chances are, when we opened it and introduced oxygen into that air, a small explosion would happen. That was not ideal.

The two other firefighters made the discussion for us and branched off towards the one lone closed door while Emmett and I turned the hose towards the fire coming out the double doors. I had just extinguished enough of the flame to see into the room when I heard it. I wasn't so much a deafening explosion like I would have thought of a backdraft, but more like a sizzle and loud pop, much like a firework. Emmett and I turned and hurried down the hall to our fellow men. Firefighter Cho was dragging Firefighter Pine out of the room, hose abandoned on the floor. He had several small shrapnel pieces of what looked to be spray can bottles sticking out of his chest, stomach and legs. None looked to be terribly deep or life threatening.

"Masen to Captain Cullen."

"Captain Cullen, go ahead."

"Small explosion on the south west side of the building. Zero dead, one injured. Found the paint can stock, sir. Over."

"Who is injured? Over."

"Firefighter Pine, Engine 4. Over"

"Medic on the way, over and out." Another voice called as I watched Firefighter Cho and Emmett pick up Firefighter Pine to carry him out. I gathered up both hoses and turned to trudge after them. I soon found that carrying both two inch hose lines charged to roughly 300 PSI was entirely too much to carry. Each one could have the potential to end up with a water weight close to 1000 pounds and without the proper support and help; you wouldn't be able to move it. So I dropped our engines hose to the ground. We would be coming back in so we could follow it. However, I knew these guys were out for now.

At the door was a medic team waiting for us. As soon as they put firefighter Pine on the stretcher Emmett and I turned to hurry back inside. The smoke had got thicker in our brief absence so we had to drop to our hands and knees to crawl along the hose to find the nozzle again. Being in a burning building without your water on hand is not the smartest move but we honestly had no other choice.

As soon as I felt the nozzle on the floor I pulled it up into my arms and cranked it open, spraying the fire in front of us that had claimed the hall in our leave. The hose gave a lurch in my hands and the water pressure dipped. My heart jumped at the thought that we could run out of water. It quickly went back up to pressure and I gave a small thanks in my mind to Bella being on top of things. Ha ha, on top of things. Shit. Even in the middle of a crisis moment my mind can't help but conjure up dirty things involving Bella.

Emmett and I moved through the room constantly putting out the fire that was eating up everything in a blink of an eye. I was glad to be working with Emmett. He seemed a lot more sure of himself in the fire than Jacob ever did. It would be great working with him.

"Medic needed, Engine 17, North west side of the building." Jasper's voice sounded demanding and I had to wonder what else they had run across. I heard Jasper's voice flitter out over the radio earlier when they brought out two rescued too. A minute or so later I heard his voice again, this time more subdued. "Whitlock to Captain Cullen, come in."

"Captain Cullen, go ahead."

"Change of plans. Engineer Swan is now in with firefighter Clearwater. Small confinement search and rescue. I have the engine. Over." Wait, what the hell? Bella went in?

"Thanks for the update Whitlock. Swan – keep a level head."

"Yes, Captain. Over and out." Her voice sounded so controlled and confident. I couldn't help but smile. My girlfriend and my love - the hero. I was so proud.

Emmett and I started making our way back out the way we came. What we had been able to reach had been extinguished and now we were going to move on. I just made it to the hall leading to the front door when I heard it. My heart was breaking at the sound of Bella's obviously painful scream.

"Bella!"

"Bella?"

"Bells?"

"Babe?" I called out over the radio among everybody else's frantic shouting. I froze at the door with Emmett behind me. I had to hear her voice, I needed to hear her voice and know that she was okay.

"Captain Cullen to Engineer Swan, report." There was silence all around us. The fire even seemed to die down and hold its breath to see if she would answer. I was sure that in that moment, every firefighter, captain, medic and battalion here was holding their breath too. "Captain Cullen to Engineer Swan, report now." Shit.

I tore out the front of the building, not really caring to look behind me to see if Emmett was following or not. I dropped the hose as soon as I made it out front of the building. I ignored everyone as I started ripping off my helmet and BA mask as I ran full out the best I could in all of my gear.

"Clearwater to Captain Cullen, come in?" I heard Seth's voice over the radio in my helmet.

"Captain Cullen, go ahead."

"Bella is pinned sir. Collapse on the North West side of the building. I think she is still alive, sir. I can barely hear a muffled yell through the concrete. I assume her radio is not working."

"Help is on the way. Stay put, over and out."

The bell on my SCBA tank started to ding at me to let me know that it was nearly empty. "Shit" I cursed out loud and stopped next to the engine. I quickly started to pull the tank off to replace it with another. Jasper was standing at the side of the engine looking pale.

"Jasper! What the fuck man?" I asked, frantic and the anger taking over me.

"What?" He asked, looking down at me. It took a few seconds for his eyes to even really focus on me like I wasn't even there.

"Why'd you let Bella go in with a fucking fire virgin, huh?"

"Edward, it's not the first time she has been in a fire you know? She's a big girl but this shit could have happened to any of us." He was screaming back at me now and I knew that we were getting some rather unwanted attention from it.

I hooked up the tank and swung the BA unit back onto my back and started to pull my mask up towards my face. "Yeah, any of us, but it's not. It's Bella and so help me if she is hurt…" My voice was cut off by the pal device on my shoulder letting out the distinct BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP of her device signaling to us that she wasn't moving.

"BELLA!" I screamed for her as I turned and took off towards the building. Out of my peripheral I could make out pretty much every one of the other firefighters heading over towards this side of the building, tools in hand. "Bella, can you hear me? Use your radio please!" But there was no response.

When I reached the door I could see their hose line of the floor snaking in. I quickly darted around it and followed it up the stairs, thankful that the smoke wasn't as thick on this end of the building as the other. But I knew that wouldn't last long. We were on a serious time constraint now. The fire attack being mostly abandoned to rescue one of our own would cause this place to go up like a matchbox.

I found Seth down the hall kneeling in front of a huge pile of rubble and rebar. I was so pissed that he was just sitting there but Carlisle was just standing over his shoulder, doing nothing also.

I spoke through the radio, I didn't care who was listening or how much trouble I could get in now, I didn't care. "What the hell are you doing just sitting and standing there? Come on. Let's get in there."

"Edward, wait." Carlisle stopped me as I begun to dig at the pile. "We need the proper tools and such so we can get in there stably and get her out alive." Behind me I could hear the foot falls of about ten other firefighters coming up behind us. "Okay, this is how we are going to do this…" Carlisle began. I droned him out as I started testing the pile seeing what was easy to move and what wasn't.

Seconds later I saw a couple of the firefighters start to walk off with their hoses to protect the perimeter as the rest of us started grabbing tools and moving concrete. I was emotional wreck and probably wasn't of much help. I had to wonder why Carlisle let me stay and help when I could be detrimental to the rescue. But I could have kissed his feet for letting me stay.

We methodically started to move the concrete, cut the rebar, position supports and prepare an opening for one of us to fit through. I'd be damned if it was anyone but me at this point. As soon as there was a wide enough gap in the collapsed building I started to pull off my tank. Carlisle put his hand on my shoulder to stop me. I looked up at him and saw him nod his head grimly at me. In an unspoken bond, he told me that I would be the only one allowed to go in. I turned around and started to crawl in feet first while Seth held on to my tank to help me ease through the space. As soon as I was through the rubble I was in a small little crawl space, but it was easily big enough that someone else could get in here and help me.

I saw Bella lying in the corner, eyes closed and mask off. I hurried over to her and tried my damnedest to wake her. "Bella, babe, can you hear me? Wake up sweetie we need to get out of here." I pressed my fingers to her neck looking for a pulse. It was there but it was so weak.

That's when I noticed that tucked in Bella's gear was a small boy. I pulled open her coat to find him even stuffed into her pants. She was trying to protect him. I quickly checked his pulse and was relieved to find it there too if not weaker than Bella's. I also noticed the large piece of concrete wedged on top of Bella's right leg. "Fuck".

I pulled my tank off my back and set it down. I knew it wasn't smart exposing myself to the smoke but there was no way I'd be able to maneuver properly in this confined space in order to rescue these two. I gently pulled the boy from Bella's gear and carefully started to crawl through the little opening we had made. One of the firefighters I hadn't gotten the name of before quickly scooped the little boy into his arms and hurried down the hall and out towards the medics.

"Carlisle." I called. He looked down at me. "I need someone to come in there and help me. Bella's leg is pinned underneath a slab of concrete." I was trying to stay as calm as possible but I knew at any point the dam would break, my walls would come tumbling down and I wouldn't be able to hold back anymore. I turned back to crawl into the room again without waiting for an answer from him. I sat next to Bella and started re-latching her jacket back up. I checked her over real fast to see if there were other injuries but I couldn't see any. I started coughing just as I saw Emmett fully crawl through the hole. I was surprised someone as big as him could fit through. I coughed again and knew we needed to get out of here fast. The oxygen in the air was falling quickly.

Emmett had taken his BA mask and tank off too before he had crawled through, making it easier to move around. He positioned himself on one side of the concrete with me on the other. A crush injury, which is what Bella had, was not a good scenario for us right now. The second we lift this slab up all the blood will let go and flow and release any built up toxins into her system. We literally had minutes if we were lucky. "On the count of three…" I heard him say, barely loud enough for me to hear. "One…two…three…" We heaved with all of our strength to lift the awkward piece up. It had to weigh about a hundred pounds, which wasn't much, but considering it needed to be just left straight up and away, I needed Em's help.

As soon as she was free I grabbed her and started tugging her towards the exit. On the other side Carlisle started reaching through to pull her out. By the time I was able to pull myself all the way through the hole they had started to carry her away. I jumped up and immediately followed after them. I didn't pay attention to any other people there. I didn't care about the state of the fire or if there were any other survivors. The only thing that mattered was Bella. I ran out the front door to see them loading her up on a stretcher and heading towards the back of one of the ambulances. I bolted over intent on getting in with her.

One of the medics dared to stop me. "I'm sorry son. The Captain rides with her unless you're family."

"I'm her mother fucking boyfriend." I growled at him.

"I'm sorry but you aren't her husband and you aren't the captain." I was just about to rip his head off his shoulders when Carlisle came up next to me.

"He is to ride with Miss Swan. I can't. She is my lieutenant and I don't have anyone else to watch over my crew." He turned to me and looked me in the eyes. "She would have wanted you there anyhow. Go with her. We'll finish up here and meet you over there."

I turned and was just about to crawl in the back of the bus when I turned back and looked at Carlisle. "Call her dad please? I don't think...I don't…"

"Go Edward, I'll take care of everything else." I crawled up next to her and took a hold of her hand. She was in her fire uniform t-shirt now, they had taken here jacket off her. They had already attached an IV to her to administer fluids and put an oxygen mask over her face. She was breathing really shallow breathes. Her skin had a light pink tint to it, well, the parts of her skin you could see. She was covered in soot and reeked of smoke. I just sat there and stared at her as the ambulance flew down the road towards the hospital. I couldn't let those walls come down just yet; we had to make it there safe and sound before I could feel in the least bit confident.

Minutes later we were pulling up in to the ER receiving bay. I quickly got out and out of the way as they pulled her from the ambulance and off to the doors. There were already several nurses and doctors standing there waiting for us to arrive. I wanted to follow her but some little nurse put her hand against my chest to stop me. "Sir, I'm sorry but I am going to have to take you to the waiting room. I can't let you in there right now." I nodded knowing that I couldn't fight my way around this one. I followed the nurse quietly has she lead me down a hall and out through an entrance and into the packed waiting room. Every person in the rooms head snapped over to the door as I walked out. Several had looks of pain on their face but all of them had that look of horror at seeing a dirty soot and ash covered firefighter step out into the waiting room. "What's your name? I'll come find you as soon as I can."

"Edward…" I croaked out in barely a whisper. She nodded her head towards the waiting room and turned to leave me without so much as another word. I stumbled over to one of the three empty chairs by the far wall. I took my jacket off and slumped down into a chair. I didn't pay attention to all the hushed whispers going on around me or anything. I sat forward and dropped my head into my hands. I felt the tears come, but I couldn't stop them if I wanted to. This whole situation made me think of my mom and what I had lost. I couldn't lose Bella too. I wouldn't survive this time if I did.

I don't know how long it had been when I felt a hand on my back rubbing my shoulders and a tissue being pushed into my hand. I looked to my right to see Alice suddenly sitting next to me, trying to comfort me. I looked up and saw everyone standing there with me, all still in their turnouts just like me. Alice and Rose had even showed up. Jasper had his kid in his arms asleep on his shoulder and so did Rose and Emmett with their kids. I felt the chair next to me shift and I looked over to see Charlie sitting down next to me. "H-how…" He cleared his throat and begun again. "How is she?"

"I dunno. They haven't come to tell me anything. On the ride over they had already started an IV and oxygen, but as soon as we got here they rushed her away from me and pushed me out here." My voice was so quiet I wondered how any of them heard me. I shook my head and looked down at my feet. We were an entire station standing and sitting in this little waiting room with our friends and family still clad in our gear, just hoping and praying that she would live. I started to feel tears well up in my eyes again. "E-excuse me….I need some fresh air." I quickly got up and strode out towards the front doors.

As I passed the crew I stopped next to Jasper. "Listen…Jazz…I'm sorry for what I said back…"

"Don't even Edward. I understand. No apology needed." He interrupted me.

"Are we good?"

"We're good." He put one hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze. I nodded once at him and continued on my way outside.

The air was crisp and refreshing. I took in a large lung full of air and started to walk off to my right to take a seat on the little concrete wall. I almost wished I had smoked or something right now so I would have that stress relief. I glanced up and out over the dark parking lot and saw some people milling about the fire engine. It wasn't until I got a closer look that I realized it was one of the local news station reporters and a camera crew. And…they were headed right for me.

I got up and started to hurry back towards the entrance hoping they wouldn't catch me. I didn't want to talk to them right now…if ever.

"Excuse me! Excuse me sir may I please have a word with you?" I stopped and turned around, completely ready to give her a piece of my mind but she didn't even give me a chance to get a word in edge wise. "Sir, are you on the same crew as engineer Miss Isabella Swan who, reports are saying, was trapped in a fire early this evening?"

I cleared my throat and quietly answered. "Yes, but please excuse me."

"Sir, please…is she going to be okay?" She asked this question without any real hint of concern in her voice.

I turned and laced a menacing glare at her. "You know, right now I'd really like to just say "No comment" and walk away but you aren't making that easy. She is alive, but we don't know anything more than that. Now, I'd like to get back inside if you please."

As I turned to walk back inside I could hear her finishing up whatever report she was making. "You heard it right here folks. Tensions are high among the department as they sit by and wait patiently to see if one of their own will survive after tonight's tragic…" I quickly hurried back inside so I wouldn't have to hear the rest.

I had just taken my seat next to Charlie once again when I heard "Edward?" I bolted out of my chair, dodged around a standing Carlisle and came face to face with the nurse from earlier. "Edward, is any of her family here?" She glanced around to look at everyone sitting there.

"We are all her family." I said with conviction.

"Right, well, I know that you firefighters see your whole crew as one big happy family, however I need a direct family member who can sign paperwork." Charlie walked up next to me and reached his hands out for the paperwork.

"I'm her father." She handed him the paperwork as I started rambling off questions.

"How is she? Can we go see here? What's the extent of her injuries?"

"Sir, slow down." Carlisle and Emmett had walked up behind me as we stood there with the nurse. "Miss Swan is in surgery right now to fix the damage on her ankle. The crush injury from the collapse broke her ankle in three spots and her lower tib-fib in two places. She lost a lot of blood but luckily we just had a blood drive here a few days ago. She will need a cast for several weeks and then physical therapy afterwards to help her walk on it again. Now I'm not a doctor but that's all I can tell you for now. I'll come get you when she is out of surgery and in recovery."

I followed Charlie back over to the seats and slumped down again. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes trying to block out everything going on around me. I needed to just clear my head and try to regain control over my emotions and everything going on. But I was so exhausted. I must have fallen asleep shortly after I closed my eyes because the next thing I knew Charlie was shaking my shoulder.

"Come on, we can go see her now." I popped up out of the seat and was immediately in front of the nurse waiting for her to show us the way. Charlie was really the only one they were going to let back there but he insisted that I had to come too. We were directed into an ICU room to find a frail looking Bella in a bed. She had a tube stuck down her throat to help her breathe; her right leg was exposed and had a cast on it and her IV bag had been changed and three smaller bags hung there instead. I immediately sat in one on the chairs on one side of her as Charlie took the other side. We had each grabbed one of her hands. "Doctor will be here in a few moments." I had forgotten that the nurse was even here.

Charlie and I both sat their silently watching her. We didn't say anything; we didn't even look at each other. But the silence was broken as the door opened. "Good evening gentlemen, I'm Dr. Anderson." I shook his hand quickly and so did Charlie.

"So…what's the prognosis?" Charlie asked as my eyes returned to Bella.

"Well, the nurse said she told you about her ankle and leg?" We both nodded. "She will be in a cast for a while and then physical therapy to help her walk on it again. I'd say she'll be out of work from that for a good two or three months." I blanched. That was not good. "Also, she has severe smoke inhalation. Her throat is swollen and took a bit of damage from the amount of smoke she did inhale. We have her sedated right now until the swelling comes down. She'll be in a fair bit of pain and won't be able to speak for a few days. The longest I've seen it last is about a week before they fully speak again without too much pain." He paused for a moment and cleared his throat. It felt like the worst was yet to come. "Also, because of the amount of smoke she did inhale, she is a likely candidate for lung cancer in the future so I would like to start monitoring her yearly especially given the job she has."

"Is that it?" I asked with trepidation. I was afraid of what more could be wrong.

"With her, yes. She faired pretty well. The young boy that she was rescuing?" I nodded my head. "He is alive and well too. Similar injuries minus the broken leg. But his father didn't make it." I glanced back up at him with questions in my eyes. "A man was brought in early, a 5150 from that same fire. Found out his name was Neil Vanda, the young boy's father. His broken leg and smoke inhalation was too much for his body to handle. He passed about an hour ago." I sighed and looked down. I remembered hearing Jazz call for an ambulance for him earlier. Poor boy doesn't have a father now…and he is homeless. I heard the doctors pager go off, he mumbled an "excuse me" and left the room quickly.

I glanced up to look over at Charlie. His stress worn face had relaxed some with the knowledge that his daughter would be alright. "Um…" He cleared his throat. "Why don't you stay here tonight Edward?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm too old to be sleeping in a chair anyhow. Besides, you can call me and keep me updated on her."

"Thank you Charlie." He nodded once and got up to leave. I pulled the chair closer to her bed and propped my feet up on it, trying to get somewhat comfortable for the long night. My hand never left hers. I leaned over and let my head rest against the side of her bed, as close as I could get to her head. I closed my eyes and let the exhaustion take over from the day.

A/N: Wow…so…yeah that was a hard one to write. Hit a little too close to home on some parts. Thoughts?