F is For Falling (and other complications)

Ch. 6

Karen woke up with a start, the room dark. She looked at the clock. Eight o'clock? Can that be right? I've been asleep for over six hours! Oh crap, I need to take my medicine, she thought to herself as she turned the lamp on, placed her book to the side and grabbed her medicine off the night stand. She opened the container and shook out the correct dosage, before tossing them to the back of her throat and taking a drink of water. Ugh. I hate pills, she grimaced, setting the glass back down.

She tossed the covers off, and slid her legs to the edge of the bed. Her stomach grumbling loudly reminded her that she had not eaten since early that morning, before she had been discharged from the hospital. She stood up, inwardly pleased that her leg was not hurting very much. As she made her way to the kitchen, she hoped that she still had some TV dinners in the freezer so she could just heat one up instead of trying to cook a full meal.

She turned the light on in the room and headed for her fridge. She opened the door to the freezer, surprise written on her face. Where did all this food come from? she thought as she started pulling a few of the labeled containers out and read them. Tamales? Mamma Lopez has been over here. Wait, is that lasagna? So that means Joanne has too. Oh, you've got to be kidding me, so has Emily. There's a container of her roast chicken and all the trimmings.

Karen took the container of tamales and heated it up in her microwave for three minutes, taking the opportunity to sit down while she waited. She began looking around and noticed that there was something different about the room. They've cleaned my kitchen! Who let them in? Oh I bet it was Cap, he's the only one with a copy of my key. She shook her head, partly in disbelief and partly because she was touched that they had been thinking of her. The timer on her microwave dinged, and she stood up and checked her food, feeling that is was still not hot enough, popped it back in for two more minutes.

She pulled a coke from her fridge and took a fork out of the drawer while she waited. She was leaning against the counter, arms crossed, watching the timer. How did I get so lucky, to find friends like them? she wondered, not really sure how to answer that question.

The timer went off and she pulled the now bubbling tamales out of the microwave, sitting down at the table to eat. "Oh my God, these are so good! Mamma makes the best," Karen mumbled aloud, enjoying every bite of the authentic Mexican food. Fifteen minutes later, she had polished off the whole container. She washed the dishes, making sure to set Mrs. Lopez' container aside to return to her, turned the lights off and headed back for her bedroom.

Karen straightened the pillows and sheets on the bed before she climbed back in. She debated whether to read or lay back down, sleep finally winning. She turned the light off and leaned back into her pillows. Ahh, this feels so good. Better than Rampart any day, she thought to herself as she drifted off to sleep.

E!E!E!E!E!E!E!E!E!E!E!E!E!E!E!E!E!E!E!E!E!E!E!E!E!E!E!E!E!E!E!

The guys weren't as lucky as Karen. Cap had called for lights out at ten. Just as the men had started to drift off, the alarms went off, turning the lights on in the dorm.

"Station 51, Station 127, Station 8. Structure fire. 19417 Northwood Avenue. Cross street East Turmont Street. One-nine-four-one-seven Northwood Avenue. Time out 2025."

Cap scribbled the address down twice before he acknowledged the call from the radio near his bed. "Station 51 KMG 365." He grabbed the two slips, handing one to Johnny before he jogged to his normal spot in the engine. Mike had Big Red already started and pulled out behind Roy and Johnny in the squad as they raced through the quiet streets of Carson to their destination.

Station 51 was the first on the scene, the house fully involved. "Chet, Marco, pull two inch and a halves!" Cap ordered as a man ran over, covered in soot and coughing. "I don't know what happened. We were in the living room when we smelled the smoke. By then the upstairs was on fire."