The Nature of the Emergency (Evan 'Buck' Buckley X OC)

Fallout

It has been a couple of weeks since then and Athena was able to recommend a therapist for Gavin. He seems to be responding well to her. I just hope that it holds. Right now I am getting the inventory done. This time it is part of my routine, not a coping mechanism. To my surprise not much is actually missing. I suppose that it has to do with the past few shifts being quiet. Not that I'd say that out loud. The others would kill me if I did as it is worse than actually swearing. It is at that moment I feel someone wrap their arms around me.

"Buck not now. I'm busy," I say as I look up to find a familiar face. This time he is in blue. That can only mean one thing. Buck is now back to full duties. That explains why he was in a good mood this morning.

"I see you're back," I add.

"Yep," Buck says before flashing me a smile.

"That explains your good mood but I seriously have work to do," I respond as I clip my pen onto the clipboard which makes a loud enough noise to snap Buck back to reality. His reaction gets a small giggle from me.

"We'll continue this later," Buck counters as he plants a small peck on my hair. He is right but we will be continuing this much later. After a few minutes of writing notes I have completed the inventory. I am quick to join the others in the rec area. Honestly it is good to have Buck back.

"So Ella you must be glad that Buck's back," Howie remarks.

"Yes. He was driving me crazy," I joke. To be fair when you have a guy addicted to action living with you who is not getting his adrenaline fix it begins to feel like it. As soon as the thought crosses my mind the signal bell rings. I glance at Buck as we make our respective vehicles. Knowing Buck is back full time puts my mind at ease as we make our way to the scene. After a few minutes we made it to a tunnel fire. Bobby is quick to give us our orders. I will be with Eddie while we search for survivors on the left side of the tunnel. It is tense as we get our breathing apparatuses on. After a minute of looking we have found our first victim. I am checking him over when I notice something odd.

"Captain, did dispatch tell you what was in the truck?" I radio in.

"No, why?" He responds.

"Eddie and I are tending to a man with radiation burns," I say. That can only mean one thing.

"We have to go," I announced to Eddie. He glances at the patient then back to me. It is tense as we await the verdict.

"118 this is dispatch. Ella is correct. The truck is carrying radiation. You need to pull out," The dispatcher confirms. Eddie and I use that as our cue to leave. We get to work on carefully getting our patient out. After a minute we are back out with the patient. After a few minutes I treated the man's injuries to the best of my abilities. I look up from what I am doing to see Buck. He is panicking.

"It's Bobby. He's still in the tunnel. He wouldn't leave until he has the driver free," Buck announced as he rejoins the rest of the crew. I am not surprised.

"Captain, what are you doing in there? You have to get out," I use the radio to see if he is in any other danger.

"No. I've almost got him," Bobby responds.

"Well I'm coming to help," I say as I get the breathing apparatus back on. Before the others have the chance to intervene I grab some tools that may help then I head back into the tunnel. Buck is going to kill me. Well that is if the radiation doesn't. After what could be considered the longest hundred metre sprint I have made it to the truck where Bobby is struggling to break the driver free.

"Stand back. I've got this Bobby," I say as I lift one of my tools over my head. As soon as Bobby sees what I am doing he stands back. I bring the tool down aiming for the corner. With a crash the glass shatters. With that Bobby and I drag the driver out. I do the quickest possible assessment and I give Bobby the thumbs up to carry him to safety. After a minute we made it back to the fire trucks and ambulances. To no one's surprise they have set up a decontamination site. After what feels like an embarrassingly long time the decontamination is done. Now for the hard part. I gingerly clear my throat to catch Buck's attention.