Here's the next instalment, I hope it was worth the wait. It's a bit heavy, I'm sorry. The next chapter will be lighter, I promise. I think we're all going to need it if the finale promo is anything to go by…

Chapter 10

"Hey, look who's back!"

Casey leaned out of the engine's cab with a big grin on his face as Sylvie walked into the firehouse. She'd done her time in retraining and was more than ready to see actual patients instead of practice mannequins. Today was her first day back in the field in what felt like forever, but on the other hand, it was like she'd never left.

"Hey. It's great to be back." Casey jumped down and gave her a hug. Soon all the guys had gathered around to welcome her back, even Chief Boden had come down.

"Brett" he said, smiling. "Or should I say Dawson?"

Sylvie grinned. "Still Brett. At work anyway. It would get way too confusing otherwise."

Boden nodded, and led the way around to the back of the ambulance. "Meet your new partner. This is Emily Kent."

Inside the rig, a tall muscular woman with curly dark hair and tan skin looked up from her inventory sheet and offered Sylvie a broad smile. "Call me Em, please." She put down the clipboard and hopped out of the ambulance. She shook Sylvie's hand.

"I'll leave you to it."

Left alone with the woman who she would probably be spending more time with than anyone else in the next couple of days, Sylvie was suddenly lost for words. She stood there, a wide-eyed eager grin on her face, the grin that Antonio and Gabby both teased her about, comparing her to an enthusiastic puppy.

"Can I, er, help with that?" Sylvie asked, stifling a giggle at the thought. She didn't want to start the day with her knew partner thinking she was crazy.

Em looked down at the clipboard. "Almost done. I came in early to get a head start, I wanted to make your first day back as easy as possible."

"You didn't have to do that" Sylvie said, touched.

"Don't get used to it" Em replied, but she was smiling. "Let's grab a coffee. Before the madness begins."

She jinxed it. No sooner had Sylvie poured the coffee into her mug, they were called to action. Although 'action' was probably the wrong word to use when Sylvie heard the address and description of their first call of the day. She smiled to herself none the less. Now pushing open the door to a property she'd entered many a time before, it felt to Sylvie like she had never been away.

"Mr Jenkins" she called, manoeuvring round a precariously balanced stack of newspapers in the hallway. "Long time no see."

The old man, a frequent flyer Sylvie and Gabby had treated many times in the past, was hunched on the sofa, struggling to catch his breath. But when he saw Sylvie his face lit up. "Hello" he said brightly, although the coughing that came next was not so cheery.

Em put the oxygen tank on the floor and took out the mask. "Let me just put this on you Mr Jenkins."

He waved away the mask. "I keep telling you all to call me Arty."

Sylvie and Em shared a look, then Sylvie crouched down in front of the man. "Come on Arty, you know you need the oxygen." Begrudgingly, he took the mask from Em, but only held it to his face, the elastic strap hanging free. He wasn't going to let the inability to breathe stop him from talking to his favourite paramedic.

"I thought you'd left me" he said to Sylvie, sounding surprised.

She laughed. "I know my colleagues have been taking great care of you" she said, listening to his chest with her stethoscope. "Sit back for me please." After a minute of listening to his lungs, she sat on the sofa next to Arty. "I can hear a lot of fluid in there. You haven't been taking your medication, have you?" His silence was all the answer Sylvie needed.

"Where have you been anyway?"

Sylvie smiled. "I'll tell you if you promise to take your medication." She raised an eyebrow at the sweet but stubborn old man, knowing that for whatever reason, he usually listened to every word she said. Em stood back, amused. Arty nodded and Sylvie took out her phone. She found a recent picture of Gabriel and Matteo at soft play, sitting in a brightly coloured ball pool.

"This is where I've been" Sylvie said, turning the screen towards him. Arty took the phone and even through the oxygen mask Sylvie could see he was smiling.

"Handsome kids" he said. Already his breathing had improved.

"Of course" she said. "Come on, let's get you to hospital."

"How do you do that?" Em asked when they had dropped Mr Jenkins off at Med and were driving back to the firehouse. "That's the third time I've been called to his place in the last month and definitely the quickest the stubborn old sod has done what he's told."

Sylvie turned the corner a couple of blocks from the hospital. "He's alright really, you've just got to know how to handle him." Sylvie smiled, already she felt like she was getting back into the swing of things. "So, are you from Chicago?"

"No, I moved here about four months ago from Philadelphia. I've been working on the other side of town, filling in for someone out on leave, but I put in for a permanent transfer and here I am." She paused. "I had a bad break up back in Philly, needed a change of scene."

Sylvie understood that. It was part of the reason for her own move to the city all those years ago. "I'm from out of town too. Indiana. That's reason I came here too. Best decision I ever made."

Kent had been looking out of the window, but turned to Sylvie. "So I hear. Congratulations." She was silent a moment, then decided something and sighed. "You know, I was apprehensive about coming to 51. Your house has quite the reputation."

"All good I hope" Sylvie said, not taking her eyes off the road.

"Depends who you ask" Em said, but smiled. "Everyone in CFD likes to talk about how their house is a family, but in this case, it is literally true. I have to confess that I've been quizzing the guys about you before today, I wanted to be prepared. I was nervous."

Sylvie stole a glance across at the paramedic in the passenger seat. "You were nervous? Why?" Sylvie didn't mean to laugh, but she was partly amused and partly relieved at this revelation. She had also been nervous about meeting Kent and had asked Casey what she was like.

"Wouldn't you be? I replaced Gabriela Dawson. Not only had she been your partner for years, she's your sister-in-law, not to mention Lieutenant Casey's wife."

Sylvie nodded. She had a point. "When you put it like that…"

"Right?! Anything else you want to tell me to make me feel even more intimidated?"

They stopped at traffic lights and Sylvie turned with a sheepish look on her face. "The guys didn't happen to tell you the names of my sons, did they?"

Em raised an eyebrow. That would be a no then. "I almost don't want to tell you. But the thing about 51 is that they'll welcome anyone with open arms, you'll fit right in in no time."

"Out with it" Em said, as the lights turned green and the traffic eased away.

Sylvie sighed. "It's a long story…"

"I was an army brat. Me and my Mom and three brothers followed my Dad form base to base whenever he got reassigned. That was my childhood." Em stopped her tale momentarily in order to concentrate on turning a corner in the ambulance. Sylvie watched her intently, waiting.

They were on their way to another call. They hadn't stopped all day, Sylvie was beginning to lose count of how many patients they had seen. Although, strangely, she felt full of energy. Once you've looked after twin babies 24/7 for almost a year, she supposed, anything else was a breeze.

Em turned down a quieter side street, nearing the address of their next patient, and continued her story. "When I was 17 my Mom got sick. Cancer. My Dad was discharged on compassionate grounds and we moved to Philadelphia, where Mom grew up and her family still lived."

"I'm sorry" Sylvie said. "Did she…" She was almost afraid to ask.

Em exhaled. "No, she beat it. She's still alive. But my Dad didn't go back to the army. He works construction now, him and my brothers have their own company."

After half a shift, the women already felt like they knew a fair amount about each other's pasts. The amount of time they'd be spending together from now on they were going to learn everything anyway. Why wait?

"Do you have any siblings?" Em asked.

Sylvie shook her head. "No, it's just me."

"You have no idea the amount of times I wished I was an only child growing up."

"The grass is always greener" Sylvie replied. "It was lonely. I'm so happy my kids will not grow up alone."

Em shook her head, smiling slightly. "Twins. Wow. I can't imagine having one, let alone two."

"Neither could I, but it happened. I've also got two step children. It took some adjusting, but I wouldn't have it any other way now." Sylvie studied Em for a moment. "You don't want kids?"

"No. It's pretty much the reason my relationship ended actually. I love kids, I love my nieces and nephews to bits, but it's not for me. You're lucky you and your husband wanted the same things in life."

Sylvie smiled to herself. Em made it all sound so simple. If only the path she and Antonio had taken to get here was that straight forward. "I probably wouldn't have a husband right now it I hadn't gotten pregnant. It wasn't exactly planned." Sylvie blushed, looking down at her lap. She touched her wedding ring. "But it doesn't matter really, how any of us get where we are." She smiled to herself. "Me an Antonio, we couldn't be happier. The past isn't important."

"This is it" Em said, looking from the GPS screen to the building in front of them. She pulled over to the curb behind Squad 3 and both girls followed Severide and his guys into the building.

Inside, it was immediately clear what the problem was. What looked like a lighting rig had fallen and a boy no older than 16 was trapped beneath. Leaving Kelly to deal with lifting the metal structure safely, Sylvie and Em's only concern was the patient.

"His name's Bobby" a frantic girl with long red hair appeared beside them. "He says he can't breathe."

"Hey Bobby, how are you doing?" Em kneeled down by his head and fixed a C-collar on him while she talked.

Bobby grimaced. "I've been better."

"Where does it hurt?"

"Everywhere. But mostly my chest."

"Not surprising" Em said, surveying the large amount of metal that was pressing down on his chest. "What happened?"

"The rope slipped when we were trying to fix the rig in place." The jittery girl was back. "We're setting up for our theatre group production. I'm so sorry Bobby, I don't know what happened."

"Penny, stop" Bobby said, though it was a struggle. "It's no one's fault, I should have been looking."

"I called your Dad."

Bobby looked as though that thought pained him more than his injuries. "Great."

"I'm just going to put this mask on you Bobby, ok? As soon as these guys have you free we'll get going."

Sylvie stood back with the backboard, waiting for Em to ask for her help. She watched Severide and Tony ready the cutters to begin their rescue. There was a screeching of tyres from the street and the loud angry voice of Bobby's father could be heard before the man had even come inside.

"You bloody idiot" he yelled at his son, storming across the hall looking furious. "I told you not to have anything to do with this stupid play, and now look what's happened."

Cruz stopped the man from coming any closer by putting a hand on his chest. "Stay back."

"Is this going to take long? I'm missing work right now."

Joe raised his eyebrow, sharing a look with Sylvie. "Your son's pretty badly hurt" Cruz said, "shouldn't you be worrying about that right now?"

"This is typical" he replied, then loudly shouted to be heard by his son over the din of the machinery. "Have you any idea how much money I'm losing because of your stupidity?"

Sylvie left Cruz to deal with Bobby's father and was helping Em stabilise Bobby. His pressure was falling and they'd had to put a line in to give him fluids and pain relief. His breathing had got even worse and he was still not free.

"Almost there" Kelly said, and in a second the last piece of scaffolding was off.

"Backboard" Em said, but Sylvie already had it standing by. "Careful" she said, "there's a good chance there's some spinal damage." The two women began to ease Bobby onto the board.

"Can't you go any faster?"

Great, thought Sylvie. The angry father was beside them looking like he was going to punch something. Sylvie paused and looked up. "Sir, back off and let us work."

Em took her stethoscope out of her ears and shook her head. "I don't like the sound of his breathing, I think he has a broken rib that's in danger of puncturing his lung. If we move him it might make him worse."

"What do you want to do?"

Em thought for a second. She opened her mouth to tell Sylvie her plan but before she could say a word she was interrupted.

The man sighed loudly and theatrically, and folded his arms. "I should have stayed in the damn office" he muttered, and then louder. "Are we ready to go or what?"

Sylvie took a deep breath, a tactic she had to employ more often than she'd like to save her from saying or doing something she'd regret. Sylvie liked to think she was quite a tolerant person, but she had a suspicion that working with Gabby so long had made her far less accepting of assholes getting in the way of her doing her job.

"Listen sweetheart, I've got more important things to be doing than waiting for you girls to stop gossiping."

Sylvie stood up slowly and turned around. On the outside, she hoped she appeared calm and rational but inside she was fuming. "First of all" she said, looking Bobby's father straight in the eye, "If you want to leave, you're more than welcome." The man towered over her by a good foot but she didn't let that deter her. "Secondly, stay back when I tell you to or there are four guys over there who will make you stay back. And lastly, only one man gets to call me sweetheart, and it sure as hell isn't you."

Sylvie surprised herself with the annoyance in her voice, but secretly got a thrill from watching the way this man, who was probably used to throwing his weight around and getting what he wanted, wilt under her steely gaze. Satisfied he would shut up, Sylvie turned back to the patient. She caught Em's eye, the other paramedic looked impressed and nodded with a smirk.

"How's he doing?"

"I think we should be ok to move him. But slowly."

The Squad 3 guys helped them slide Bobby onto the backboard and lift him onto the trolley. Outside on the street, Bobby removed the mask from his face. "That was awesome" he whispered, smiling despite the pain he was in.

Sylvie winked at him. "I just don't like bullies."

Sylvie didn't notice Antonio's SUV pull up until she heard the sound of the door being slammed shut. She looked around the side of the ambulance to see him walking through the open bay doors of the firehouse.

"Hey babe" he said, a big smile on his face. "How's your first day back?" Sylvie was so pleased to see him it caught her a little by surprise. She stopped what she was doing and walked to greet him, gladly falling into his embrace. She didn't say a word, relishing being in his arms for a moment. He kissed the top of her head. "Everything ok?"

She nodded, then pulled away enough to answer without letting go of his waist. "Long day" was all Sylvie said. "What are you doing here?"

"I was in the neighbourhood trying to track down a witness Stone wanted me to talk to and I thought I'd swing by. Are you sure you're okay?"

Sylvie smiled sadly. "I'm missing the boys. It's difficult. I'm happy to be back, but…"

Antonio stroked Sylvie's hair. "I know. But I talked with the sitter, everything's fine at home, you don't need to worry." He understood, it was hard enough when he had to go back to work, he imagined it was twice as hard for Sylvie.

Em reappeared with two mugs of coffee and approached with a smile when she saw Antonio. Sylvie reluctantly released her grip on Antonio and took one of the mugs from Em. "This is my husband Antonio Dawson" she said, smiling.

"Emily Kent, nice to meet you." Em offered her free hand. "Here, take my coffee, I can make another."

"Thank you, but I can't stick around." Antonio nodded graciously. "I've got to get back to work" he said, turning back to Sylvie, "I just wanted to come and check up on you."

Sylvie looked at him sternly but with a smile on her face. "I'm fine. But I'm always happy to see you."

"Shall I come by to pick you up when you're shift ends?"

"Yes please." Sylvie pecked Antonio on the cheek. "Now get out of here so we can gossip about you."

Antonio turned to leave with a wave, but half way out the door he turned back and called "like you haven't already been gossiping." Sylvie couldn't help but laugh because it was true.

When he was safely out of earshot, Em nodded approvingly. "He's hot."

A sense of foreboding hung heavily in the air as Sylvie climbed out of the ambulance at their next call. Although dispatch had given them some warning of what they were to find, no one was every fully prepared for what they encountered.

"My baby is dead."

The woman they met when they entered the house was not sobbing or screaming, she stood perfectly still and when she spoke she sounded a numb. She was as white as paper and clearly in shock.

Sylvie felt a wave of adrenaline surge through her but she too froze. This was exactly the call she'd been dreading, for it to happen on her first day back was too much. But she'd have to handle it. That was the job.

"Where is the baby?" Em took charge, knowing this would be a hard call on Sylvie. Without speaking, the woman pointed up the stairs.

"I'll stay here" Sylvie said, pleading to Em with her eyes to let her. Em nodded, understanding, and rushed up the stairs two at a time.

Sylvie took the woman by the arms and lead her to a chair in the living room. She was like a rag doll, Sylvie had to practically push her forward. When she was sitting, Sylvie crouched in front of her and gently took her hand. "What happened?"

"I put Hannah down for a nap. I was in the kitchen cooking. The baby monitor was on." As if the reality had only just hit her, the woman's face began to contort and hit tears rose to her eyes. "I remember being thankful that she was sleeping soundly. I checked on her and hour later and she wasn't breathing." She slumped forward on her chair, her face in her hands. When she spoke again, her words were muffled. "She was blue."

Sylvie took a deep breath, now struggling to keep her own tears in check. "What's your name? Is there anyone I can call for you?"

But the woman didn't answer. It was as if something broke inside her and her grief came flooding out in a torrent. Sylvie looked on, helpless. She looked up when she heard Em descend the stairs. Her equipment bag was slung over her shoulder and a bundle of blankets was cradled in her arms. Em caught Sylvie's eye and shook her head sadly. Sylvie looked away, tears stinging her eyes.

The first thing that happened when they returned to the firehouse was that Casey wrapped his arms around Sylvie in a hug. Word had got back about their last call and the guys were all waiting for them when they came back.

Sylvie returned the hug, taking a deep breath. "Thanks Matt" she said. "That was a hard one."

Casey pulled away and looked at her, concerned. "I can't imagine."

Chief Boden stepped up and placed a hand on Sylvia's shoulder. "Go home Brett" he said. "Stella can fill in for you for the rest of the shift. Go home and be with your boys." A father himself, Boden understood what she must be feeling right now. She nodded gratefully. That's all she wanted to do.

In the locker room, Em gave Sylvie a hug. "Hell of a shift." Sylvie only nodded. "If you need to talk tonight just call me."

Sylvie closed her locker door. "I will."

"I know I joked earlier about 51 being literally a family, but seeing the guys and Chief Boden gather around you to offer their support, I can see why you wanted to come back here."

Sylvie smiled, thinking fondly of her colleagues. She had missed them. "They'll be there for you too. Let them. Calls involving kids are hard on all of us."

Em smiled. "I'll be fine. I'll see you tomorrow."

Sylvie sobbed as she sat in her car, she wanted to get it out of her system while she was alone. She sat in her car in front of her house for a few minutes, checking her makeup in the rear view mirror and collecting herself before going inside. She hadn't called Antonio yet and she felt bad about that but the truth was she wanted some time just her and the twins before having any adult company.

Eventually, she climbed the steps up to her porch and turned her key in the door. She found the sitter, Grace, on the couch reading a magazine and Matteo and Gabriel playing happily in their playpen.

Grace looked up when she heard Sylvie enter and put down her magazine. "Hello. I wasn't expecting anyone for a few hours."

Sylvie offered her a weak smile. "I finished work early. You can go home." Grace hesitated and Sylvie, misunderstanding, spoke again. "I'll still pay you for the whole day, don't worry about that."

Grace shook her head. "It's not that, it's just..." she paused, not wanting to cause offence. "You look exhausted. Is everything ok? Can I make you some tea or something?"

Sylvie was touched by her concern but really, she wished the woman would just leave. She didn't want to be rude, but didn't have the energy for small talk. "Thank you, but I promise I'm ok. It was just a hard day at work that's all. I'll see you tomorrow morning?"

Grace smiled, understanding. "Absolutely. Have a good evening Mrs Dawson." A minute later Sylvie heard the front door close.

Sylvie watched her boys, her two perfect, beautiful boys, marvelling at the mere fact they existed and they were hers. Matteo looked up when he heard her walk towards them and his face lit up. Soon Gabe too had noticed his Mom and they both bounced happily, clamouring for attention. This is it, Sylvie thought to herself. This is what life is for.

Sylvie bent down and scooped Matteo into her arms. She placed him on the soft rug and soon his brother sat beside him. Sylvie lay down on the rug too and hugged both babies to her body. If she stayed here like this forever, she would be content. Ever since she had first set eyes on the woman at the house, she had tried not to think 'what if that was me' but her efforts had been in vain. Somewhere else in the city one mother was having the worst day of her life and the thought was unimaginable.

Your kids come into your life and all of a sudden they are the centre of your world and you can't remember a time when they weren't there. What her life would be without her family Sylvie didn't want to imagine, if anything happened to take them away from her she wasn't sure she could go on.

Antonio unlocked the door cautiously, careful not to make a sound. When he entered the living room, the sight that greeted him made him smile but the knowledge of what had prompted it tainted his pleasure.

Sylvie lay on her back with her eyes closed, with Gabriel asleep on her chest and Matteo huddled in a ball by her side. Antonio had thought she was asleep, but her eyes drifted open before he had a chance to rouse her. Antonio crouched down by her head and stroked her cheek by way of greeting.

Sylvie looked alarmed and struggled to sit up, having to hold Gabriel tight to prevent him falling to the floor. "What time is it?" She asked, searching around for her phone. "I'm sorry, you said you'd pick me up from my shift, I should have called."

Antonio took Gabriel from her and sat down on the floor, holding his son against his shoulder. Sylvie checked on Matty, leaving her hand resting on his shoulder as he continued to sleep on the rug.

"Relax" Antonio said. "Casey called me and told me you'd left early. But you're right, you should have called me. I want to be there for you when you have a tough day, like I know you'd be there for me."

Sylvie looked away. "I know, I'm sorry. I just needed some time."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Antonio reached out his free arm and gripped Sylvie's hand. He rubbed his thumb soothingly over the back of her hand, waiting.

"It was awful" Sylvie said, her voice quiet. "I rode in the back of the ambulance all the way to the hospital with that woman. She clutched her dead child the whole way there. Her cries, Antonio, I've never heard anything like it. It's not something I'm ever going to forget."

Antonio stood up, shifting Gabriel's weight so he was more secure. He helped Sylvie to her feet without a word and led her to the couch. She sat down and he placed Gabriel on her lap. A minute later he was sitting by her side with Matteo on his own lap. "Come here" he said, and gently guided Sylvie's head to his shoulder.

"I'm so lucky" Sylvie said, relishing the feel of the soft warmth of his shirt on her cheek. She wrapped one arm lovingly around Gabriel and reached out to stroke Matteo's soft hair. "Don't ever let me take it for granted."

Antonio placed his arm around her shoulders and squeezed her tight. "We're both lucky. From now on, no matter how busy our lives get or whatever else is going on, we'll make sure we take a minute every day to be together like this and thank God for what we have."

The way she was feeling in that moment, Sylvie would have been happy if every moment of every day for the rest of her life was like this, but even as she thought this she knew that she'd wake up tomorrow and go back to work, pushing through whatever personal feelings each patient might bring out in her. That was the job. But right now there was no one else in her world but her husband and children and no other time but here and now.

"That sounds perfect."