Madison (Maddy) Briggs is from Manhattan, New York. She was in 3rd grade, just 8 years old, when the World Trade Centers fell on September 11th, 2001. Her dad was a firefighter, and his station was one of the first on scene that day.
Her dad, Larry...
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Maddy woke up and was surprised to see TK sleeping next to her; she rolled over and cuddled with him. "TK, what're you doing here?" She whispered.
He stretched, and made the cutest little noise before he wrapped an arm around her, "you were crying a little in your sleep last night.. heard you as I walked by to go piss. I check on you sometimes.. and I heard you crying this time, so I climbed in." He said.
Maddy shifted her body so she was looking at him, "holy shit I love you. And I love that you're gay.. but sometimes, I wish you were bi so I could kiss you and mean it!" She laughed.
He rubbed her back, "I just wanted to make sure you were okay.. and I ended up falling asleep. But you know you can always kiss me," he winked. She leaned up to kiss his cheek with a chuckle.
The two climbed out of bed, and headed toward the living room. Tex was sitting on the kitchen counter and Maddy walked up to pet her. It was a Saturday, and Maddy and Tyler had a nice day planned— hiking, movie marathon, and dinner with Carlos. Maddy loved spending time with her two favorite guys, and she loved hiking with TK.
If Tex was in a good mood, she could sometimes hook her up to a leash and take her along— she was sleeping when they left, and Maddy didn't dare wake her, so they were going to stop to pick up Buttercup instead.
"Don't forget to pack your lunch this time babe!" Maddy yelled to TK, who was down the hall.
"Can you do it for me? Pleaseeeee!"
"You're lucky...." Maddy laughed. ——————————————————————— "Look at that cloud!" Maddy exclaimed as she looked up at the sky when they arrived at the top of the peak. TK stopped walking with Buttercup and stared at his beautiful best friend. The longer tuffs of her short hair blew in the breeze, and her brown eyes glistened in the warm morning sunlight. TK loved the way she looked at things— nature, animals, him and Carlos.
"Lion?" TK asked after a moment. Maddy looked back at him with a smile, "yes! Nice!" Maddy continued to stare at the sky for a moment, her hand shielding her eyes from the bright sun. She looked back down to earth, and walked to meet TK and Buttercup so they could finish their hike. ——————————————————————— "Hey Mads! Wanna run to the station before our movies?"
"We can forgo the movies today actually.. it is nice out, so sure I'll run.. hopefully not literally.. to the station with you!" Maddy laughed.
"Oh good! The guys are gonna meet us there too!"
"Yay!" The two friends got in TK's car and headed to the 126.
When they arrived at the station, the rest of the squad was already there and Maddy was excited to see them. She said her hellos and gave her hugs, and let Buttercup off his leash to run around.
She ran into the every other weekend crew, or B-Shift, and said hello to them too— Marcus Reminson, Kristi Dolton, Bart Hardy, Mike Allen, George Flackery, Judith Moore, Doug Turner, and James Huntington.
"Okay Mads, can you hangout in here for a little?" TK asked as he pointed to couch. Maddy rolled her eyes before she responded, "sure Teek.. I come all this way just to sit on the couch."
Tyler smiled, "well at least you're with us! And I promise to walk by without my shirt on a few times!" He winked. Maddy smirked in return before she was distracted by the other guys moving ambulance 3 out of the bay. "Deal.."
TK laughed, "it's a surprise!" He said when he noticed Maddy watching the crew move the ambulance. "It'll be great.. I'll come get you when it's done!" He kissed her cheek and jogged away.
Maddy looked around for something to do before deciding to just sit down and see if these sorry excuses for adults still had the station PS4 hooked up. "Hey assholes! Y'all still got that PS4?!"
"Hey now Briggs, that's not very nice." A deep, raspy voice from behind her said. It was the voice of Mike Allen. Maddy looked back and rolled her eyes. Her figure was dwarfed in size by Mike's 6'4" frame, his large hands meeting his hips. His blue eyes shined brightly in the fluorescent light of the station— while he may have seemed attractive, he wasn't Maddy's type. She's made that known many times before, but Mike still didn't seem to understand.
He approached her near the couch, "yeah sweetheart we do. It's under the shelf with the DVD player."
Maddy just smiled, "thanks. Don't call me sweetheart." She walked to the tv stand and opened the doors, locating the game system.
Mike stood and scowled at Maddy before walking away, as Maddy called Buttercup over to her, so she would have company while she played. ——————————————————————— "Okay Mads!" TK called as he walked up to her. She held up one finger and took a final kill shot at a zombie before turning around. TK was laughing at her. Maddy finally spoke. "It was the last one of the bastard's! What's up?"
"Follow me," he said as he reached out his hand. Maddy grabbed his hand and followed him until he stopped. "Close your eyes.."
"Oh god.." Maddy laughed as she closed her eyes.
TK grabbed her hand again and led her through the station. Maddy could tell they eventually stepped outside— TK grabbed both of her hands, "okay Mads.. open your eyes!"
Maddy opened her eyes and was blinded by the bright sunlight for a moment before she was able to focus, and shield her eyes with her hand. She saw the rest of her 126 friends, standing at the side of Tim's ambulance. "Guys?" She asked. Her voice was curious and anxious.
The crew stepped aside, exposing the side of the bus, and it took Maddy a moment to realize what she was looking at. She remained puzzled before she finally noticed the new addition to the bus, "oh my god. You guys.." she clasped her hands to her mouth and walked toward the ambulance— it was now adorned with the words: 'In Loving Memory of Tim M. Rosewater, 1-25-2021.'
Maddy reached out and touched the newly added paint, "y'all..." she burst into tears as she was overcome with emotion. "Nancy is gonna love it! Why isn't his name painted though?"
"Well that's Nancy's contribution.." Paul said.
"Oh my god.. that's.... guys." She turned around and motioned them all in for a group hug.
"She should be here soon!" TK said as he broke the hug. ——————————————————————— TK and Nancy began their walk towards the group, who were again standing in front of the ambulance— Maddy was off to the side, smiling from ear to ear, while also wiping tears from her cheeks.
Nancy looked at Maddy suspiciously as she continued to follow TK to the others, who were standing next to the bus.
"Hey girl!" Marjan said.
Nancy walked closer still. The crew moved aside, exposing the newly painted addition to her ambulance. Her eyes filled with tears as she approached. She sniffed, "you guys came in on your day off.. to do.. this?" Nancy asked.
"No where else we'd rather be." Marjan replied.
Nancy looked back at the crew, "the dates?" Paul answered, "his last call." Nancy sniffed again and said, "his name?" The gang approached her, "well you couldn't expect us to do ALL the work?!"
"Maddy?!" Nancy looked towards her.
Maddy smiled in return, "no Nanc. Please... all you."
"Now Tim is always with us," TK added as Nancy grabbed the paintbrush and started to fill in Tim's name.
TK walked over to Maddy who was shedding happy tears, "Tyler Kennedy Strand.. you're an amazing human being."
Tyler wrapped her in a hug. "Thanks Maddy.. learned it from you and your mom."
"And your father!" Maddy laughed as TK kissed her cheek.
