Lights and Sirens

Dealing With The Present

"Gabriella Dawson?" The woman asked again.

Gabby pushed her way through the crowd around her so that she could get a better look at the lady.

"I'm Gabby Dawson. Can I help you?" She asked a little unsure.

"Is there somewhere we can talk in private?" she asked.

Gabby nodded her head and began to walk out of the room. "Follow me." She said as she walked past her and began to make her way down to the hall towards the conference room. Gabby stopped at the door and pushed it open, gesturing for the woman to enter. They both walked over and took a seat at the long table in front of them.

The woman was the first to talk. "I am Detective Jessica Nolan; I work for the CPD in Homicide." She held out her hand and Dawson grasped it. "I'm here about the call that you had last shift. I'm sorry about what you went through."

Dawson gave a light smile. "It's fine. It's my job."

The woman just kept looking at her. Then she broke the gaze and looked down at the case file that was on the table in front of her. "This is the case for the woman. Miss Dawson, I wanted to talk to you especially because you had a connection to the little girl that was pulled out."

'We need a paramedic over here!'

'What we got?'

'Young girl pulled out of the fire. She's conscious and aware. She saw her father kill her mother right in front of her.'

'Hey sweetie, it's going to be ok I promise.'

'But...But...my mum...she...'

'I know...I know...it's going to be ok!'

"Whatever I can do to help." Gabby said sharply as the call ran through her head, all the firefighters running around; smoke everywhere; sirens flashing.

"The girls name is Elizabeth Jacobs. She is 6 years old. Her mother is dead and her father in the wind. We're not even sure that he was her father, he was using an alias. She has no family that we can find so she is going to have to go into foster care. I..."

"We can look after her." Dawson blurted out, and then paused to think about what she had just said. Jamie. He needed her. How would he cope with more then just her and Matt?

"I understand that you have a young son around the same age."

"Yeah..." Thinking about him made her feel emotional.

"Was he out the front with his father?" Jessica asked.

"Yep..." Gabby suddenly didn't feel very talkative.

"He looks a lot like his father." She could tell that something was up. "Is everything ok Gabby?"

"To be honest, not really."

"May I ask why?" Jessica asked understandingly.

"Yesterday my son, Jamie, got diagnosed with leukaemia." Gabby said slowly, trying to push the tears from her eyes.

"Oh my, I'm so sorry, I had no idea i..."

"Hey don't worry it fine honestly..." She whipped the tear away that had just fallen and sniffed. "Let's carry on with the case. It should take my mind of it." She forced a smile onto her face and tried to look cheerful.

"Ok." Jessica stared as she handed the file over to Gabby. "In there you will find the Arson report and the basic injuries of the woman. The ME's report will come later. Her body has just got to the morgue."

"Ok. Did you have the firefighter's reports as well as the paramedics?" Gabby suggested not looking up form the report.

Detective Nolan smiled. "No, I haven't. You've done this before haven't you?"