The Past In The Present

Chap 3 "Conflicted"

Vee's POV

A couple days has passed. Arzola was behind bars within eight hours, and Hondo was finally free the day after. "Hey Hondo," I stated as I watch into the kitchen. "Are you ready for another day?"

"Yeah," Hondo smiled. "Do you need me to take you to work?"

"No," I nodded. "I'll drive myself." I went to work and Eddie stopped me. "Hey."

"Hey, what time do you get off?" Eddie asked.

"I slept in for today," I smiled. "My shift ends at eleven."

"You wanna grab breakfast when we get off?" Eddie asked. "There's a nice diner down the street from your place."

"Sure, Eddie," I nodded. "I'll see you then." Eddie gave me a hug and went to his office. I saw May and Claudette leaving with Sue. "That's never good." Evening hit pretty quickly and I had taken so many calls. I stood up. "Josh, can I take a break?"

"I wish I can say yes, Victoria," Josh walked up to me. "Can you work twice as fast since Sue has two of our dispatchers?"

"May and Claudette still aren't back yet?" I asked as I sat down. "I'll keep working if you can bring me a snack."

"Mayday, mayday, mayday. This is Firefighter Eddie Diaz on a department-wide channel," Eddie's voice came through the speakers. I stood up. "We have a fire at Metro Dispatch downtown. Point of origin appears to be on the second floor records room. All non-essentials personnel begin evacuation procedures." I walked over to Josh. "Repeat. This is Firefighter Eddie Diaz. Metro Dispatch is on fire."

"I'm going to look for him," I stated.

"We have to evacuate," Josh stated.

"I'm not leaving without him," I nodded. I went to the second floor and I found Eddie. "Eddie."

"Let's get out of here," Eddie stated as he was carrying Terry out. We got outside and he handed off Terry to Hen. "Come here." He gave me a hug. "That was a rush."

"You miss it, don't you?" I looked at him.

"Yeah," Eddie replied.

"Eddie, I need you to suit up," Bobby stated.

"Vee," Eddie sighed.

"Go," I nodded. I gave him a kiss. "Go and be careful." Eddie went and suited up and went inside. I met Sue in the parking garage. "Hey, Sue. I can work."

"No. I don't want you on the phones," Sue looked at me. "I see the way you look at Eddie. You go and wait for him."

"Okay," I sighed. I walked out to the waiting center. "Please be okay." I saw Eddie walk out. I ran up to him and hugged him. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Can I talk to you about something?" Eddie asked.

"Can we talk about it later?" I asked.

"Yeah," Eddie chuckled as I tightened my hug a bit. "Do you still want that breakfast?"

"No, I want you to go home and be with Christopher," I replied. "We can reschedule our meal for some other time." I let go of him. "You belong to the one eighteen, Eddie. That's your calling." I went home. I took a shower and got into my pajamas. Hondo came into my room and gave me a hug. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I'm glad you're okay. I heard Metro Dispatch was on fire and then a dispatcher and a firefighter got pinned under a ceiling," Hondo looked at me. "I thought it was you and Eddie. I'm just glad it wasn't you."

"We're all okay, but it was my friend May and her step-dad Captain Bobby Nash that got pinned," I replied. "I'm fine." My phone rang and I looked at it. "I gotta take this." I picked up. "Hey, Christopher."