Danger Zone (File One of The First Responders Files)

Chapter Fifty-Six

Miss me? XD I hope everyone had wonderful holidays, no matter what you celebrate, and that your new year is off to a decent start! I started my internship at the very end of October, so that has contributed to a lot of my absence. I've also been on an unapologetic Law & Order binge, so it took a bit for me to get back on this track. The upcoming S4 premiere of Lone Star has helped for sure . . . and the fact that the winter storm that hit my state means that I have no idea what the hell my internship will be like when we go back to work. I think I took my frustrations out in this 8.6K chapter of lots of angst.

Olivia gets the green light for war, the police teams get to work, the heat firefighters face don't come from a fire, and there is some good news from the hospital.

Welcome to the next installment of "Survivors!"

***

How did this happen?

The thought ran rings in Olivia's head as the police captain walked down the halls of the hospital, doctors and nurses scrambling to stay out of the way of the woman clad in blackout gear, her hair tied back in a severe ponytail. There wasn't a member of medical personnel who didn't know what the blackout gear meant: all police in the gear were heading to war. And every member of medical personnel knew exactly who the police were hunting.

Olivia paused in the doorway of Eddie's room, smiling softly when she saw Buck murmur something before kissing Eddie on the top of his head. He then turned to the only other occupant of the room, a dark-haired woman in a soft blue sweater and black jeans, and he said something to her before she gave him a hug. That had to be Ana Flores, Christopher's former teacher and one of two friends Maddie made before she left Los Angeles. Athena had vouched for the woman to stay in the room with Eddie in case any updates arrived while everyone was on shift, and the first things Ana had done when she arrived were to ask how Buck was doing, an update on Eddie's condition, and how Christopher was handling everything. The concern she demonstrated in ten seconds alone solidified Olivia's respect for her.

She quietly stepped away to give the pair more time, and she continued down the hallway, deeper into the ICU. She had expected Peter to be the one volunteering to stay with Sylvie, but when Matt and Kelly had returned from the back of the hospital, the stunned shock on their faces had originally made Olivia fear the worst. All they had done was pull Peter to the side and have a whispered conversation with him. Peter's expression went from relieved to shellshocked in less than a second, and he had nodded shakily before departing to make a call. That . . . had really left only one person Olivia could think of who would sit with the paramedic captain.

And sure enough, when she stepped into the doorway of Sylvie's room, she found Nolan sitting by Sylvie's side, his exhaustion evident in his slouch and bloodshot eyes. He was the only one of all of them who hadn't changed his clothes, and whatever product he had used in his hair was now useless as the dark curls showed signs of having fingers continually run through them.

It made Olivia hesitate to enter the room. To see Jack McCoy's hand-picked righthand man, normally so poised and put together, look ready to break into pieces at any moment was enough to tie her tongue.

"You know, that morning she nearly passed out on me in the coffee shop, I had no idea she would become so important." Nolan's voice, hoarse from dryness and little use, jerked her to attention, and Olivia stepped fully into the room, watching Nolan not take his eyes off Sylvie. "And I never expected to see her again. And before she left New York, she let me unload the worst day of my career on her shoulders, and then I was getting the job of a lifetime from Jack. One woman, and she changed my life around for the better."