When You Least Expect It - 9-1-1 - Evan "Buck" Buckley

Chapter 2

I sat staring into my cabinet looking at the two boxes inside staring back at me.

"Hmmm blueberry or banana?" I asked out loud to no one but myself.

As much as I wanted to be a jerk and go with banana, I thought taking the high route would be the best way to go.

I whipped up the muffins and threw them in the oven, making sure to set a timer so I didn't burn them and have the fire alarm wake up the entire block. Me waking everyone up, how ironic would that be?

I went in search for a basket, finding one in my coat closet just as the timer went off to take the muffins out of the oven. I set them out to cool and got the basket set for when the muffins had cooled enough.

I grabbed a piece of paper and a pen from the drawer. I giggled slightly to myself as I wrote out what I thought was the perfect note to go along with the muffins.

'Welcome to the neighborhood,  jerk.
❤️- Jenna'

I scribbled the message down and started to assemble the basket, leaving two muffins out for myself. When I decided I was satisfied with it, I went to grab it to make a delivery when my phone chimed.

It was a text stating to call the hospital as soon as I could. I was nervous as the phone rang, I had no idea how the phone call was going to go. After a few minutes of conversation I had agreed to go into work the next night for a trade even though it was my day off. The only upside is that I would have Sunday night off instead of Saturday night to relax and decompress.

I'm not sure why I agreed to it, it wasn't even a regular twelve hour shift. I had agreed to a sixteen hour midnight shift. I either thought I needed the extra money, was too nice to say no or might actually be going crazy.

I threw my phone on the counter and grabbed the basket. I walked to the new neighbors door and placed the basket where I knew it wouldn't get stepped on. As I walked back into my apartment I had made the decision that I was going to just stay awake so I could sleep during the day tomorrow to be ready for the giant shift I picked up.

I settled on the couch with my favorite snacks and drinks...and the two muffins, searching for a show to binge watch. After I finally settled on one I got comfortable and started it. A good few hours into the show, while the sun took its place in the sky, I heard a rustling at my door.

I tilted my head curiously wondering who could be outside my door and what they were doing to cause so much noise. Letting my curiosity get the better of me, I pulled myself off the couch and swung open my door.

I had to stifle a laugh when I spotted my neighbor, muffin in hand, frantically trying to set the basket I had left at his door earlier that night back straight and failing miserably.

"What are you doing, besides waking people up again?" I questioned with a slight giggle.

"I was bringing your basket back. I didn't think you'd be awake this early, I was trying to look for a pen to write a thank you note...it didn't go as planned." He explained with a light laugh. "I'm Evan, by the way. Evan Buckley" he extended his free hand.

Maybe this was a turning point for us, maybe we didn't have to constantly fight whenever we saw each other. I accepted and returned his handshake.

"Jenna" and before I could say anything else he spoke.

"I kinda got that from your note. Jerk? That's a bit harsh." He laughed.

"You were a jerk to me" I defended.

He gasped his hand over his chest in a playful manner.

"I would never" he laughed.

"Mhmm" I rolled my eyes.

"Well thanks for the muffins...even though they were dry" he smirked holding up the piece of muffin left in his hand.

"They were not dry! I had two of them they were delicious" I started to get angry again.

"You stole two of my muffins?" He eyed me.

"They were my muffins first!" I exclaimed with a little laugh. This was the dumbest argument I've ever had.

"Well, thanks again for the dry muffins" he smirked walking away while shoving the last piece of muffin in his mouth. "Jerk" he said over his shoulder with a mouth full of muffin.

"You shouldn't talk to yourself, people in this neighborhood might think you need to be committed" I bit back while grabbing the basket before heading back inside.

'Well that took a turn' I thought putting the basket back on my kitchen counter. It had started so well, why did he have to be such a jerk sometimes? It was obvious we were capable of being friends, it couldn't just be me hoping.

I finished another few episodes of my show and decided to call it and just go to sleep so I was well rested for my shift.

I was thankful to not have any run in's with the new neighbor, who I now knew to be Evan, since I was already running late and I needed to hurry. I made it to the hospital and changed with only a few minutes to spare.

"You're right on time, that's odd" Annabel rose an eyebrow at me.

"I got a late start, what are you doing here?" I questioned her.

"I'm covering for Lydia, she had something to do" she shrugged. "What are you doing here?"

"I traded with Abigail"

"They're best friends, what are the odds their 'something to do' was go clubbing?" She laughed.

"I'd put money on it" I lightly hit her shoulder with my charts and walked past her.

Our shift got a little crazy for a few hours then took a slow down. For a few hours it was nothing but doing rounds and playing random games with Annabel trying to pass the time.

It was early the next morning and Annabel only had about an hour left. It started picking up due to a pile up car accident on the highway. Annabel offered to stay if they needed her longer. I was grateful, work was always better with her.

A few hours later we were going through charts and heard a loud bang outside. It sounded like a car accident not far from the hospital.

"Not a good day for car accidents" Annabel joked closing her file.

"Tell me about it" I laughed leaving to check on a patient who was being prepped for surgery.

After my patient was wheeled away into surgery, I took my seat at the computer again next to Annabel. I was just about to login when someone came busting through the Emergency Room doors.

"Help, we need help" was all I heard before I jumped up and ran to meet whoever was calling for help.

The first thing I noticed was the person had what appeared to be a baby in their arms. The second thing I noticed made my blood go cold and my chest tighten.

"Evan?"