It's Been A Long Day

Part 10 - Dawson's PoV

I am so so so so sorry 😱
I meant to update for aaages but I was honestly too lazy 🙊 I'm really really sorry 😕
I hope you like this part! It's not that spectacular but you might spot a new ship in it 😏😅
Leave me some comments to motivate me to keep writing 😘
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After finishing my phone call, I followed Sylvie and Jonah into the ER. Jonah was sitting on one of the beds, Sylvie sitting across from him in a chair. When I entered, she looked up to me, her eyes asking me where I had been.
"I called Antonio", I mouthed, making sure Jonah couldn't hear me. He'd find out soon enough.
While we waited, a young doctor checked out the boy's face. When she was done, she turned to me and Brett and asked: "Are you the paramedics who brought him and his mom in?"
We nodded and I pulled her aside. "How is his mother doing?"
"Well, I'm not working the case, so I can't confirm anything", she answered, "but they're still in the OR. I don't think it looks too good."
I had to swallow hard. „Okay. Thank you."
Just as she walked away, the doors to the ER opened and Antonio came in. "Hey, Gabby." He sized me up for longer than usual. That's when I realized I hadn't spoken to him ever since the phone call in New York. I left a note in the back of my brain to do that as soon as possible.
"Hey", I said and quickly hugged him. "Over here."
I led Antonio over to where Sylvie was waiting with Jonah. The little boy first looked at him with wide eyes, then at me.
"Antonio, this is Jonah.", I introduced them, "Jonah, this is my brother, Antonio. He is going to ask you a few questions, okay buddy? You don't have to be scared, Antonio is some sort of a... superhero. He's gonna help you."
Jonah's eyes grew even wider. „A superhero?"
Antonio laughed. „It is my job to help people, ya know." He grabbed a chair and sat down in front of the boy. "I have a few questions I need to ask you, so I can do my job, okay?"
Jonah hesitatingly nodded.
Antonio smiled at him. "Okay, great. First of all, can you tell me your last name?"
He asked him questions about his parents, about his father, if he would get mad often, and what he would do then. All of them packed into a conversation that would not disturb a child. It took about 30 minutes. After he was done, a social worker came to take care of Jonah.
"Why can't I stay with you?", he asked me and Sylvie, his blue eyes tearing up again.
Brett kneeled down in front of him. "You know, Gabby and I we have to go help other people, just like we helped you and your mom. But look, this lady right here", she pointed at the social worker, "is gonna take good care of you. She's gonna make sure you're alright, I promise. And if you need us, she can still call us, okay?"
Once again Jonah nodded his head. Then, out of nowhere, he threw his little arms around Sylvie's neck and hugged her.
"Oh", she exclaimed, and hugged him back.
After he let go and the social worker took over, Brett and I returned to the ambo and got in.
As Brett was starting the ambulance, I said: "I didn't know you were that good with kids."
"I have a little sister", she explained while driving away from the hospital, "she's 6 years old."
"I never knew that", I answered in surprise.
"She's great", Sylvie smiled, "her name's Elena. I really miss her." She sounded a little bit sad in the end of the sentence, so I decided to not discuss this any further.
"You know", she then said, "you weren't doing too bad yourself. You'll make a good mom."
I smiled to myself and rested one hand on my belly. "Thanks."
When we got back to the firehouse, we quickly reported about the call to chief, then returned to the rest of the crew.
It was a calm day, which I was really glad about. Even after only one call I was already tired and kind of exhausted.
Time passed quickly, we only had one more call that turned out to be a prank by some teenagers. After shift, we all head out to Molly's. I had offered Herrmann to work an extra shift behind the bar, but now I regretted it, I just wanted to go home and get some sleep.
As we entered the bar, I noticed a familiar face sitting at the bar. I tapped Herrmann's shoulder. "Look."
He let his eyes wander to the person I was pointing at. "Wow, she's back? How long has it been?"
"Ever since Shay died", I answered, feeling a knot in my throat and I tried to swallow it down. "She was at the funeral but I haven't seen her after that." Then I walked towards the bar.
"Allison!", I said when I got there, "Hey!"
Her head spun around and she stared at me for a second, until she fully realized I was talking to her. "Dawson!" Rafferty grinned and got up. Without any warning she pulled me in for a hug. "It's good to see you."
"Yes, it's good to see you, too!" I felt a bit weird, since Rafferty and I hadn't exactly been close, but I didn't let it show. "How've you been? We haven't heard anything from you ever since..." I didn't finish my sentence, but she knew what I meant.
Rafferty nodded her head. "Yeah, I left town for a while. I got back a week ago and I decided to pick my old job at Chicago Med back up."
"That's great", I said and walked behind the bar to start work. "I'm sure Shay would be happy for you."
A small smile spread across her face. "Maybe. How are you doing, you know, after all of this?"
I thought about an answer for one moment. "It's hard sometimes. People keep saying it gets better with time, but I think you just get used to the pain."
"I know that feeling", she took a sip of her drink. "I heard you're back on ambo."
"Wow", I said ironically, "it's insane how fast rumors go around these day. Yes, I'm back on ambo."
She luckily didn't ask me any questions about my decision and I was really thankful for that. We talked for a while until she got involved in a conversation with some other people, including some of the men from 51.
The rest of the evening I avoided talking to anyone as much as I could, which was hard since I was working at the bar.
At some point Sylvie came walking up to me. "Hey, who's the girl over there everyone's talking to?" She pointed at Rafferty with a grin on her face. I could tell she already had more than one drink.
"Allison Rafferty, she was the PIC on 61 while I was in the fire academy."
Brett leaned over the bar and whispered pretty loud: "I just had an idea!"
I quickly grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back when she seemed to be leaning a bit too far. "What kind of an idea would that be?"
"Peter and Mills."
"Uh what?"
"What?", Sylvie looked confused, "Oh, no wait, my bad. Peter and the new girl. Allison. Wouldn't they be cute?"
"Sylvie, how much did you drink?" I laughed.
She raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms. "Dawson, I'm not drunk. A little tipsy, maybe, but I'm serious here", she assured me, not able to speak all properly, "I don't remember ever seeing Mills with a girl, and I've known him for a year."
"You got a point there", I laughed again, "okay, go ahead, do what you want, but keep me out of this."
"Promise." She took off and I saw her walking straight towards Mills. I couldn't help but laugh again, then continued pouring drinks.
I stayed for a little longer until I grabbed my stuff and made Herrmann promise me to get a taxi for Brett.
Before I went home, I caught an eye on Rafferty and Mills who were sitting at the bar together, their faces remarkably close to each other.
I grinned to myself and went outside to my car.