Chapter Two

"Oh, God," Ross said, in shock seeing the shape the captain was in. She covered Andy's mouth and nose with the oxygen mask and then she grabbed a pair of scissors and cut Andy's shirt while Vic grabbed the heart monitor and connected it to Andy.

"Shit! She doesn't have a pulse!"

It was two weeks after the Space Needle call. Andy was still admitted in the hospital and the station 19 firefighters were rotating on visiting her. No one knew when she would wake up. Doctors were confident that she would be okay. 19 hung onto that but they were still concerned for their friend.

Meredith, Amelia, and Teddy had been trying to reassure everyone, but they knew there was still some doubt floating in their minds. Andy was their co-worker, sure. But she was more than that. She was their friend. She was their family. She was the glue of the house, and everyone could feel that loss at the firehouse. Moral was down. Everyone missed having Andy as their captain. To stop any wars from happening, it was Ross who took the lead on calls.

Everyone, besides Ross and Maya, were in the beanery eating dinner when Vic's phone rang on the beanery island.

Vic jumped up to answer it and saw that it was Maya.

"Any update?" Vic asked, not caring to do pleasantries right now.

"There is. Andy is starting to show signs of waking up. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind coming?" Maya asked.

"Yeah, of course I will." Vic started to walk out of the room but turned back when she heard questions being yelled at her, "Andy is showing signs of waking up. Bishop asked if I could join her at the hospital." Everyone nodded and watched her leave. Everyone looked at each other.

"This is so unfair," Travis spoke up and everyone looked at him confused. "Yeah, sure, she's waking up. But now she's going to be told her husband is dead, guys." Travis reminded them all and their faces dropped. "We all know that Andy isn't going to take this well but at least Bishop and Hughes will be there for her," Travis said, and everyone just nodded and looked down.

At the hospital, Maya was waiting outside Andy's room, looking into the room while Amelia and Teddy were checking Andy's vitals

"Maya!" Vic called and she turned around.

"Vic," Maya breathed out. "Thank god."

"So, what's going on?" Vic asked.

"Andy is awake." Amelia and Teddy came out of the room and told them, not wanting to keep them from seeing their friend any longer. Amelia looked at them. "Tread lightly when telling her what happened to her husband, please," Amelia warns. "She's awake and stable. It's her head injury that was concerning us the most but now that she is awake, we're hopeful she can be let out in a few days. And before you ask, I've done a neuro exam. Andy remembers everything." Amelia told them. The two women nod and rush past the two doctors.

"Maya, Vic." Andy breathed out.

"Hey, Cap." Vic smiled.

Maya didn't say anything, she just moved over to hold Andy's hand. They were silent for a few minutes before Andy gained the courage to ask a question, she knew would change her life, once again.

"Be honest." Vic and Maya look at each other and then back at Andy. "What happened to Ben and Robert?" Andy asked and they didn't know how to answer. "Please, Meredith and Amelia wouldn't tell me anything. I need one of you to tell me."

"Andy, it wasn't good." Vic started.

"Ben was able to walk out, minor injuries." Maya continued.

Vic looked at Maya before looking Andy in the eye. "Robert..."

"Is he al-alive?" Andy asked, voice breaking when Vic paused.

"Andy, He didn't make it." Vic watched Andy's eyes close and when they opened, they were glazed over. "When we found him, he didn't have a pulse and he wasn't breathing." Vic and Maya watched Andy try to hold in a sob, but it didn't work, and tears just began to rain down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry, Andy," Vic said while she held Andy close to her.

Maya continued to hold Andy's hand, rubbing circles over it and Vic rubbed her back. They tried to keep her calm, but they didn't know how to fix this.

Andy thought back to the talk she and Vic had in the concrete truck back when they were trying to get people out of Joe's bar when a car crashed through it.

"I just- I don't get how you did it," Andy said.

"Did what?"

"Moved on."

"Oh, you want to know the secret? Um, I don't know. You feel it all the way. You cry, you wail, you write bad poems, and sob so hard you puke. You rage at the gods, and you scream into your pillow, and you cry so hard your knees buckle under you, and you cry so hard that you think your lungs are gonna collapse and then something reminds you of how funny he could be, so you start to laugh, and then you laugh so hard you need to cry some more." Vic turned to look at Andy for a second, but Andy wasn't looking at her. "The secret is to let it out for as long and as often as you feel like it. It's when you fight grief. That's when it lingers." Vic finished.

Andy's tears stopped a few minutes later and Andy pulled back to wipe her cheeks and then looked at Vic. "So how bad will the poems be?" Andy tried to joke.

Vic looked confused for a moment before it clicked, and she gave Andy a sad smile. "Oh, they'll probably be horrible." Vic chuckled, also remembering that conversation they had. "On a more serious note, though, Andy. We're here for you, okay? We're all going to be here for you."

Andy nodded as some more tears fell. "Is everyone else okay?"

"Yeah," Maya answered. "It was just you, Sullivan and Warren that were down there when the explosions happened," Maya told her. Andy nodded again and looked down. "I know nothing we do right now could make any of this any better, but I'd be a shit friend if I didn't ask." Andy looked up at Maya. "Where do you want to go from here?"

There was a long pause. "Well, I've shared that house with Robert for four years. Any good memories will probably outweigh the bad ones but now that Robert isn't alive anymore" Andy choked up. "I-I don't kn-know if I'll be able to be there alone but all my stuff, our stuff, is there."

"I'm sure you still have some clothes at my place," Maya told her.

"While I appreciate you guys being here, I really don't want to try and figure everything out right now when I have a pounding headache. Please. I think I should rest some more."

"I agree with that," Amelia said, walking into the room. "You should get some rest, Herrera."

Andy nods. "I know."

Amelia gives Andy a gentle smile. "Ladies, visiting hours are over in half an hour." Amelia looked at Vic and then Maya. "I think it would be best if you say your goodbyes now, though." Amelia walked over to Andy's IV line and got ready to give Andy some morphine. She watches as Andy furrows her eyebrows when she's getting hugged by Maya and then Vic. Amelia watches them leave, then looks back to Andy and sees Andy looking back. "Pain. Rate it." Amelia said simply.

"Eight," Andy told her, no humor laced in her voice like it normally is when she's in the hospital. Amelia nods and injects the morphine into her IV line. She rests a hand on Andy's shoulder, squeezes it and then walks out after seeing that Andy has fallen asleep. Amelia went to the nurse's desk.

"I want her checked on hourly. If there are any changes I want to be notified personally." Amelia told the nurse and they nodded. Writing a note down. "Thank you," Amelia said and then rushed off.

I can't believe he's gone.