Stand By Me

One

It was a burning inferno. The blazing hot flames engulfed everything in its path, making it hard for Taylor to move through the apartment complex and search for victims.

'Taylor, report,' came Chief Boden's deep voice over her radio.

'The second floor is clear so far, chief,' Taylor replied, scanning her surroundings and listening closely as she made her presence known, "Fire department... call out."

"Here," she heard a muffled voice respond as she entered another apartment.

Taylor headed towards the voice she had heard, quickly locating a woman and a small child huddled together in the corner of the room. Taking the little boy into her arms, she positioned him on her hip and helped, who she assumed was the mother, to her feet.

"Let's get you both out of here," Taylor told them, wrapping her arm around the woman's waist to support her and leading them towards the stairs.

The paramedics were waiting as she led them out to the safety of the street, handing them over and removing her mask to get some fresh air before heading back inside to finish the search. The heat was intense, but Taylor finally got the last door open and stepped inside.

The sound of someone groaning quickly caught her attention and she made her way into a small, smoke-filled room, looking for the source of the noise. It didn't take her long to spot someone on the ground and she immediately crouched down at the man's side, rolling him over.

Carefully lifting the man's blood-soaked shirt to see what she was dealing with; Taylor didn't notice the guys fist and fell back on her butt as it connected with her mask. The man struggled to his feet with wild panic clear in his eyes and Taylor calmly did the same, instantly regretting the decision as a foot hit her in the stomach.

"Stay away from me," the man shouted, shoving her back to the ground and towering over her threateningly.

"I'm trying to help you," Taylor told him, growling in frustration as the guy took off and disappeared, "Damn it."

Back on her feet, Taylor stumbled towards the main door of the building and stepped outside. She had just removed her mask again, when she spotted the guy being shown to an ambulance and rested her hands on her knees to catch her breath.

"Are you okay?" came Shay's voice as Taylor leaned against the fire truck.

"Yeah," Taylor replied, pressing her hand to her now stinging lip and looking at it to find blood, "Just an uncooperative victim."

Taylor was silent on the way back to the firehouse, jumping from the truck and heading to the bathroom to get cleaned up. Running her tongue over her split lip as she looked in the mirror, she took note of the soon to be bruise on her cheek and made her way to the rec room to grab a coffee.

Sat up on the counter, she listened as Otis told one of his many stories and chuckled lightly as Cruz threw a skittle at his head to shut him up. Retrieving her phone from her pocket as it vibrated, Taylor instantly rejected the incoming call from her ex-boyfriend and went to track down Shay

."Hey," Shay greeted with a smile, "What's up?"

"Are you and Kelly still looking for another roommate?"

"We are," Shay said with a slight frown, "I thought you already had a place."

"I do, but you were right..." Taylor mumbled, "I need a permanent change of scenery."

"Then the room is yours," Shay added with a grin as she pulled Taylor into a hug, "This is going to be fun."

With a smile, Taylor nodded in agreement and felt a weight lift from her shoulders.