Empty Spaces

Eggs

Once arriving back to the fire house, Emily who was driving the ambulance pulled into their designated spot. Sylvie had held the small child the entire ride back, Bella was reluctant to get off the paramedic and it showed. Even upon arrival to the firehouse and the ambulance being switched off she made no move to allow them to get out.

"Hey, Bella? You think it'd be okay if we got out yet?" Sylvie asked, not wanting to frighten the girl more and allowing her control over the situation. With how much Bella had been through and the raging storm the last thing she wanted to do was frighten the girl more and have her shell close back up. Sylvie felt Bella's head shake, no.

"You know, everyone here is super nice. They're all my friends and I've known them for a really long time. And you know what? None of them would ever hurt you okay?" She made sure her words spoke volume, to tell the child she wasn't lying or misleading her. Sylvie was hoping to help Bella form a trust with firehouse 51 and to hopefully bring back some of that happy energy she knew kids had.

Sylvie noticed Bella pull back, before she looked up at Sylvie's face. It was the first time Sylvie noticed how beautiful the child's brown eyes were. She couldn't help but think about what may have happened to this precious and sweet child, to make her so timid and afraid.

For the first time since being at the scene of the accident Sylvie heard Bella speak, it was a small "Ok" but it was more then she had gotten on the whole ride over. It caused Sylvie to smile before tapping on the window, allowing Emily to know it was okay to open the doors.

Once the doors were opened Emily helped Bella get out before Sylvie climbed out herself. All the fire trucks were back, and she noticed squad at their usual table even though it was cold. She felt a small hand in her own and she gave it a small squeeze, looking down to see Bella smile up at her.
"Come on. Let's go find you some food, shall we?" Sylvie asked, more just thinking out loud and wanting the child to know what they were doing.

They began to walk towards the doors that lead to the common room when a clad of thunder erupted throughout the house, causing Bella to scream and latch herself onto Sylvie's leg. Sylvie herself jumped before she reached down and picked up the small child, holding her close. To be honest, Sylvie had completely forgotten about the storm. She had been so focused on Bella that her mind must have blocked it out.

"Hey, you guys alright?" Kelly called out from the table and Bella notably held tighter to Sylvie's neck. With a quick note from Sylvie, her, Bella and Emily made their way through the door.

Once in the common room Sylvie felt Bella head shift, so she was now looking around and could see all the people in the room. "Okay everyone, this is Bella. Bella, these are all my friends. This is Mouch and Herrmann." Sylvie spoke, pointing to the men who were sitting on the couch. She then turned to the table and pointed at each member individually introducing them all. "There is Casey who pulled you out of the house. Then there's Capp, Tony, Ridder, Joe and our favourite girl Stella Kidd." The last bit was said with oomph as Sylvie pointed at Stella. Stella's smile was all that was needed for Bella to open up a little and wave to her.

"Hey! What about us? We're cool!" The boys all had there small say but stopped once Matt Casey gave them a firm look, seeing how Bella tightened up at the sound of the men's voices.

Sylvie smiled at Matt and mouthed thank you before walking over to the bench and placing Bella on top. Emily and Stella made their way over to Sylvie, all of them now standing in front of Bella who had a small smile on her face.

Stella was the first to make a move, opening the steel cupboards surrounding them and the fridge before listing off food options. "Okay Miss Bella, what would you like to eat? We have Captain crunch, popcorn, ham sandwiches, tomato soup..." She trailed off as she looked back, seeing the disinterest for the foods she had listed.

They watched as Bella bit her lip before bringing her hand up and using it to signal, she wanted Stella to come closer. She leaned into the firefighter and whispered softly in her ear.

Stella looked back at the child with a quizzed expression before nodding her hand and bringing her own hands together. "Okay, eggs it is." She nodded as she looked at the other girls, Sylvie sending a shrug her way.

They all sat around while Stella cooked the young girl some eggs. Bella began opening up more to the girls, telling them her full name (which was Isabella Taylor Prince) and what kind of foods she liked. She was yet to tell them what happened with her parents and why she was alone at the house but each of the adults silently agreed to let her settle in first and ease into it later.

Once the eggs were done Sylvie picked up Bella and placed her back on the ground, walking her over to the table while Stella dished her eggs up and brought them over. This was when Sylvie spoke up, noticing that Bella hadn't made a move to sit down anywhere. "You can sit wherever you like Bella, any chair at the table." As soon as she finished speaking Bella shocked all of them when she walked over to Matt and raised her arms, wanting to sit on his lap while she ate. Matt looked at the small girl and then at each of the girls, his eyes locking onto Sylvie's before he pushed his seat back and placed Bella on his lap. Stella placed the plate and fork down in front of them and Sylvie sat in the chair next to Matt's.

"I think she likes you." Sylvie spoke softly to Matt as they both watched in awe at Bella trying to use the fork to eat her eggs, it was adorable to the both of them.

"Yeah, I think she does. Which is good because I like her too." Matt said as he reached up and tickled the young girls side, she giggled and squirmed putting a big smile on both Matt and Sylvie's face. He stopped tickling her and allowed her the chance to get back to eating.

"That's the first time I've heard her laugh since you brought her out of the house." Sylvie whispered, unable to look away from Matt. She loved when he smiled, when he was carefree and just enjoying himself. It was a rare thing to see when he was working, she'd often see it at Molly's bar when the crew would be drinking together, and it always made her heart flutter.

When Matt looked back at her they locked eyes, he smiled at her and she smiled back. They stayed looking at each other for a few moments before Sylvie looked down at Bella, her cheeks instantly warming up. It was the then that she noticed that Bella had finished her eggs and was now laying back against Casey's chest, her eyes closed and her chest rising and falling in slowly.

Casey looked down when he noticed the way Sylvie was looked at them both. He was shocked to see how Bella had fallen asleep. It made his heart melt to know this little girl trusted him enough to fall asleep on him. "I think all those tickles wore her out, come on. We'll put her in my office."

And with a nod they both stood up, Casey manoeuvring Bella so he could carry her comfortably. It wasn't hard, she was so tiny against him and it saddened him to the thought of how this child got so thin.

Once they arrived at his office Sylvie pulled back the blanket on his bed and Matt laid the small girl down gently, not wanting to wake her. "You can stay with her if you want, catch some sleep."

Sylvie smiled at him and nodded as she moved to stand in front of him, her hand coming up and resting on his arm. She had always admired him, the way he treated everyone equally and with respect. How he handled families and young children. She knew her crush for it was becoming obvious, maybe not to him but to her friends at 51 it was. "You're a good man, Matt Casey."

Matt stared at her for a second, his heart pounding as he thought back to earlier in the day when he had hugged her. He wanted to hug her, kiss her but he didn't. He knew as Lieutenant it wasn't appropriate. He didn't want to mislead her and make things awkward for them, especially when they were out on the floor.  He finally spoke up, coughing slightly at first when his words came out choked and hoarse.

"I can do my paperwork in the blue room instead if you'd like?" He took a step back, breaking himself out of his chain of thought and turned to grab his files that he had been working on earlier that day. "I don't want to bother you two."

"Actually, could you stay?" Sylvie asked hesitantly, she didn't want to see overly clingy and annoying but with the storm still raging on outside she didn't want to be alone, even if Bella was here. She knew she'd feel much safer if Matt was there too.

It was like he had sensed that she needed him here because Matt smiled, gave her a small nod and placed his files back down before pulling out his chair.

"Of course."