No I'm not gone or anything, I'm alive and well... Anyways, let's continue here, shall we?

Ariel and the paramedic sat up the victim which was a mannequin who had a wig on. The two started laughing uncontrollably. Brian stood there, extremely shocked.

"Sorry about the mannequin. I heard you two were close." Grindle bursted into laughter with the rookie Tim, who was treating the real victim.

Brian walked away towards an isolated area as they were all laughing.

Brian was throwing up knowing he saved a pointless mannequin and minor smoke inhalation. His Lieutenant brother soon approached.

"You alright? You didn't get burned, did you?"

"Look, I'm a little busy right now…" Brian replied, annoyed. Stephen then laughed. "You got an awful short memory for direct orders. Told you to stay beside me."

"Forty-One, Twenty-Eight."

"Look, I thought I heard someone calling out for help!"

"I should put your ass on standby for that!"

"But-"

"I TOLD YOU TO STAY RIGHT BE-FUCKIN'-SIDE ME, BRIAN!"

Brian stood there for a moment before answering. "I was doing it… I was up there DOIN' IT! You don't know what I did…"

"What you did was drop the ball, Probie. You spit the team up… Get that part right, Brian." Bull then walked away and met up with Shadow.

Later

Axe was coughing as he smoked a cigarette inside the burnt building. Several firefighters were smoking cigarettes since they didn't give a shit.

"Aye, let me get one of those." Tim asked for a hit at a cigarette.

"The Lieutenant's lucky it didn't flash on us." Arnold complained to Rhonda. Most of them were checking the stability of the building. "Oh, cheer up, hun. At least we made it out, no?"

Arnold sighed. "I guess. At least we're still here for our daughter." Arnold then smiled at Rhonda. "You're right on that, sweetie."

"Thank goodness she wasn't in here. The amount of swearing, yeesh."

"Tell me about it." She chuckled.

Minutes Later

"Yo, Swayzak! You missed it, buddy!" Bull was outside as he climbed down from the stairs. Bull was talking in an extremely sarcastic manner. Swayzak was a middle-aged, blonde man who had wrinkles formed on his face and was rich. Well, not as rich as the Lloyd-Shortmans.

"You should've been in there, man! Really! It was fuckin' great. I mean, we almost lost the WHOLE Engine company along with a few of Shadow's team because, well, you know, since you shut down Thirty-Three. And well, there was no fuckin' backup. And we'll do it, we appreciate it, man. I mean, I don't know about the rest of the guys, but you got my vote for Mayor." Stephen went from a sarcastic attitude to a frustrated look.

Members from both Truck Forty-Six and Engine Seventeen approached and stood behind him. Arnold and most of the others approached as well. Sapphire flew down beside them.

Swayzak then started. "Look, Lieutenant, if you have a problem, why don't you work with my task force?" Swayzak grinned. Everyone gave an unsatisfied, frustrated, and annoyed look.

"Task force? It's thanks to those sons of bitches that three firefighters died within a week with the cuts made by your fuckin' task force!" Ariel exclaimed. "You better tighten yo shit up before somebody else fuckin' dies, Swayzak!" Gerald added as he nearly poked him with a pike pole. "Not to mention that's SEVEN FUCKIN' Firefighters dead with this year alone!" Spinelli mentioned.

"Man, I don't give a single shit about your fuckin' task force!" Bull replied.

Marty Swayzak then looked at Bull. "You know that glow that started to blink in the corner of your eye, that's your career dissipation light just went into overtime." Swayzak gave a suspicious grin. "Welp, thanks a lot, fellas! You lot did a great job today!" Swayzak then headed for his limousine.

"Please, no photos." He addressed the media. Most of the cameras shifted toward the firefighters and the Vigilantes.

"Fuckin, asshole… That asswipe thinks himself a big shot with all his money." Spinelli mocked him with Nadine as many of them started walking away. Arnold glared at Swayzak, he had a feeling he was hiding something.

"Hey, Arnold! Check this out!" Rhonda called him over. "What's up?"

"Read this." She then projected an article display from her wrist PCU.

Arnold came over and started reading a bunch of news about the Seattle Fire Department.

"Yeesh, what's up over there?

"Eh, probably a bunch of hectic shit over there. Who knows?"

Bull soon approached the two. "Hey uh, Shadow? Mind if I talk to you about handling rookies? And did you know us that quickly?"

Ariel then pulled Rhonda aside. "What's with you?" Rhonda asked. "I just picked up a nine-one-one call, it's just minutes away from here. We got a civilian impaled by a chandelier."

"Ariel, you're our best EMT on this team, and quite frankly our only one… How long is a hospital from that place?"

"Ten minutes. I-"

"Dispatch, we're en route towards the place. Over."

"Take Nadine and the UFRT, that's your guys' only shot. I know my best friend better than anyone, trust me, she's a great EMT. It was something she did way before she was recruited, glad she still carries those skills."

"Awesome, thanks! Nadine!" Ariel patted her shoulder and immediately went towards Nadine, who was rolling up the hoses with Gerald.

"Alright, gotcha. Thanks, Shadow!" Stephen patted Shadows' shoulder and left.

"So what's going on here, hmm?" Arnold smirked as he leaned onto Rhonda. "Oh, nothing much… Just sent Ariel and Nadine to respond to a near emergency actually. Civilian impaled by a chandelier… Wonder how that happened though."

"What?"

"Don't ask me. You alright?"

"Don't mind me, I'm just admiring your hair." Arnold smirked. Rhonda only giggled as she looked away.

Minutes Later

"Well, what do you expect? Private EMT or something?"

"Look, I don't know, alright? We'll just have to think of something…"

The truck soon arrived at the house, a pretty fancy one too.

The two got out and got the necessary equipment.

Ariel soon knocked on the door, but the door was unlocked and it creaked open.

"Hello? Anybody here?" Her voice echoed slightly. "UP HERE." The civilian yelled. "Quick!" Ariel and Nadine raced upstairs.

They soon found the room where the person was. He was laying there as the chandelier was right on his chest. Sirens from the responding ambulance was then heard.

"Yo, who's fancy and overpriced fire truck is that?" The driver asked. "No idea, but it looks like they know what they're doing. Get the stretcher, I'll go and see what's up."

"Nice to meet you, Nate. Don't worry, you're in very good hands, we'll have you stabilized and get you to a hospital soon."

"Up here!"

"Think of this chandelier as a good thing, it's stopping the bleeding, applying pressure, you know?"

"S- So, this is a good start, right?"

"You can think of it that way." Ariel replied as she checked his pulse. She immediately put an oxygen mask on Nate and hooked him up to a cardiac monitor.

"Nadine! We don't have a second to waste! Get this part of the chandelier cut off, get him on the stretcher, and straight to the hospital!"

Nadine immediately kneeled down as she got the necessary tool to cut the pole of the chandelier. "Are- are we taking it out or- or what?" Nate asked, extremely nervously. "As I said, it's blocking an artery so it's best to keep that in there. But we're getting the majority of it off." Ariel told Nate as she put on safety eyeglasses on both her and Nate, Nadine as well.

Nadine soon started cutting through the chandelier. "Get that backboard ready!" The paramedics immediately followed her order as they got the backboard off the stretcher.

"Done!" Nadine removed the chandelier part off Nate as the pole was still impaling him, keeping him from bleeding out. "Help me out here!"

Nadine and Ariel immediately got Nate on the backboard. "Am… Am I gonna be alright? I'm starting to feel cold and sweaty…" Nate's eyes soon started closing. "Oh no…!" Ariel looked at Nate as the cardiac monitor.

The cardiac monitor started beeping.

"Keep an eye on his BP, just give me a sec on the IV!" Ariel said as she immediately got a syringe and reached for his IV.

"Blood pressure is starting to get back to normal."

The cardiac monitor went back to normal.

"Ugh… Am I at the hospital?" Nate asked, hopeful. "Not quite, you just temporarily went to sleep, that's all." Nadine replied, not wanting to tell Nate what really happened. "I'm starting to feel colder and colder… And- and I feel a lot of sweat on my forehead… I also feel weird…"

"Your brain was just deprived of oxygen, it's totally normal, especially with what just happened." Nadine told Nate. He was soon lifted onto the stretcher. His eyes closed again as his blood pressure dropped again.

"No, no, no, no! Not again! Get the bag valve! You two, get to that ambulance and be ready to get him to the emergency room, now!" Ariel ordered.

The two paramedics only looked at each other. "Now! Hurry!" Ariel gave a stern look as she worked on Nate's IV.

"Anything on the Militia, Pheebs?" Arnold asked through his earpiece. "Wish I could say, though I think I saw you guys having fun down there." Phoebe lightly smirked. "Oh, very funny, no?"

"Say, don't you feel a little lonely back home?" Arnold soon asked. "Eh, not too much, thankfully. I have Swoops beside me." Swoops then screeched and flapped his wings.

"You can't lie, Arnold. It was pretty fun to switch it up a little. Feels great doing stuff like this." Rhonda rested her head on Arnold's shoulder. "You're so right, darling."

"C'mon…!" Ariel and Nadine were finally outside as Nate was stabilized once more.

Nadine opened the rear ambulance doors when the cardiac monitor went off again.

"BP's dropping…!" Ariel soon checked his pulse. "Has a pulse but he isn't responding to the bag alone…!"

"Then we're gonna have to intubate him! And I prefer right here than having to do it sixty miles an hour…!" Nadine said as she grabbed the tube.

Nadine removed the bag valve mask as Ariel checked his vitals. "At this rate, we're getting him to the hospital in about a month!"

"Almost there…" Nadine started. "Done! Get him inside!"

The stretcher's legs rose as Ariel stepped in and got Nate inside. "Nadine, you go with the truck, I'll stay with Nate!"

"No, you'll need me here! I know it sounds like a gamble leaving the truck, trust me!" Ariel didn't hesitate as Nate's life was in the balance. "Get in. Get this truck moving now!" Nadine closed the doors and immediately sat beside him. The driver immediately raced off to the nearest hospital.

A couple Minutes Later

"His vitals are stable for now… How much longer until we reach the hospital?"

"We're just five minutes out, keep him stable and we'll take it from there!"

The blood pressure dropped yet again, and so did his heart rate, and fast. Nate soon flatlined.

"No, no, no, no, no! Not again! He's slipped into cardiac arrest! Ariel, bag him! I'll start CPR! Starting the defibrillator!" Nadine pressed on the cardiac monitor. A shock was charged up and given to Nate, but he was still unresponsive as he was still flatlined.

"What's going on back there?!"

"Oh, nothing… Nate just fell into cardiac arrest! Keep your eyes on the road and get to the hospital now!" Ariel exclaimed.

As Nadine kept pushing on his chest, Ariel then noticed blood was also coming out from the wound. "Nadine, the chest compressions are only making this worse! Blood is starting to pump out of his chest! And we can't keep this up for five or six minutes, he'll most likely bleed out by the time he gets to the hospital!"

"So-"

"Nadine, we have no choice! Time isn't a factor here, we have to take this pole out of his chest! Our only option is to keep it compressed!"

"I'm with you all the way."

"Whatever you do, do NOT stop the chest compressions." Ariel said sternly as she got scissors to cut off the bloodied bandages.

"Four minutes out, you two!"

Ariel took off some of the padding and she immediately removed the chandelier tube. "Just give me a sec…!" She immediately started putting on pads and bandages on the area. Nadine kept pressing on Nate's chest. The flatline sound kept going as they were working against the clock. "All done!" Ariel said as she compressed the area where the pole was.

"C'mon, Nate!" Ariel said, in hopefulness.

The flatline soon went away as his heartbeat and blood pressure was restored.

"You did it, Ariel!" Nadine looked at her colleague. "No. We did it. A team effort." Ariel panted as she felt out of breath and sweaty. "You sure you can keep pressuring that area 'till we get there?" Nadine asked. Ariel only nodded as she kept regaining her breath.

"Two minutes out."

Two Minutes Later

Nate was immediately rushed into emergency surgery as the two paramedics took him in along with the ER doctors.

"Patient's name is Nate Bennet. Around his early thirties, impaled by a chandelier. Passed out on us like three or four times but we managed to keep him stable all the way, including resuscitating him when he flatlined on route to here." Ariel gave the necessary information to the nurse. "Okay… Sign here, please."

Ariel soon signed the form. The nurse thanked her and smiled.

"Phew! Now that… was a wake-up call. Haven't felt that much of an adrenaline rush in a while." Nadine said. Ariel lightly chuckled. "Yeah well, that was too many close calls. But phew! That's as close as you'll EVER get! Think Arnold should start giving us more medical training? 'Cause I feel like it could help." Ariel replied.

"Hm. Not a bad idea. I mean, it's never too overkill to learn anything. And let me guess, you're gonna suggest having a personalized ambulance for emergencies like that?" Nadine lightly smirked. Ariel lightly blushed. "Maybe…? I mean, we can't wait around for an ambulance either when patients like Nate have their lives in the balance."

"Hmm… I guess you do have a valid point on that."

Ariel soon reached for her chest radio on her suit. "Arnold, you read?"

"I read you. How'd it go?"

"Boy, would you like to hear the story of what happened? It's a long one so we'll save it for later."

"Is the patient alright?"

"After passing out on us three or four times, he made it and was taken to emergency surgery. No idea whether he'll make it."

"Hey, we should drop by and give him our good wishes." Arnold suggested. "You're so smart, you know that?" Ariel said, almost in a flirty tone. "Someone appears to be in love." Nadine held her laughter as she looked away.

"Nadine! Sorry if you heard that, Arnold."

"Hear what? I seriously didn't hear anything from her." Arnold then gave a confused look. "Well actually… She wants me to make a recommendation for the team… Specifically when we get medical callouts."

"I'd love to hear what you have in mind!" Arnold replied. "Arnold, this is urgent! Get back here to Hillwood! NOW!" Phoebe soon got on the radio.

"Pheebs, what's wrong?!"

"You're not gonna believe it but… An RV crashed through the mansion…"

"What?! Where is it at?!"

"The garage area. And thankfully we have a spacious area there."

"Phoebe, listen to me, this is vital. Do everything you can up there, check if there are any injuries, and be careful, the structure could be compromised. But most importantly, shut down every access point towards the lair, we can NOT risk anyone finding out who we are!"

"Already on it!"

"Ariel, meet us back at where we were, we got more trouble. And Phoebe could use an extra pair of hands."

"Uh, Arnold? I forgot to mention we left behind the truck… It was my choice to have Nadine tag along!" Ariel said in a worried tone. "That doesn't matter now, I'm sending Spinelli over in the Hyperjet to pick up the truck and you two. Rest of us are headed back to Hillwood in the QR Jet. We'll inform you on the way."

"Copy." Ariel soon looked at Nadine, rather worried.

Alright, this and next chapter aren't gonna be too related to the Chicago adventure, but we'll be back at it!