Embers

~19~ Potatoes

Taylor's POV

We're all just sitting around quietly; It's been a hard day. As far as calls go, we've only had the one...But today has taken a toll on everybody. Ellie has already gone to bed; It's only 9, but today's events have worn her down.

I'm still silently seething. She didn't deserve any of this. But what does it matter? That's not going to change this.

Diego and Heff are sitting watching Dateline, the background noise giving a little comfort to the otherwise quiet house.

"You know what, we need to do something for that kid," Keegan says, all of a sudden.

"What can we do?" Greene asks, hopelessly. "This goes up the chain too high."

"I don't mean that," he continues. "What about we all pitch in, and see if we can come up with the funds to pay her bills this month?"

Diego shuts off the TV, and turns around. "I'm in" he says as he goes to grab his wallet.  Murmurs of agreement flow through the room.

Suddenly, Megan stands up and says "I have the best idea."

~*~

The next morning I wake up early; I couldn't really sleep. The hurt of her rejecting my embrace hasn't worn off—I felt that down to my soul. That was one of the greatest moments in my life, and she wanted nothing to do with it once she knew it was me. This must be the karma I've been told I deserve.

I've always been the one turning down the girls. I'm the one who won't call them back. I'm the one who loses interest quickly. I've never had the shoe on the other foot, so to speak. The girl who literally could be "the one" wants nothing to do with me.

Karma.

I go into the common room, and am surprised by how many people are awake at this hour. Megan is one of them. She's hanging a few balloons and streamers. What is this? A damn party? I go out to get a few last minute things done before shift is over.

About an hour later, Keegan comes up to me with a bowl. "You're the only one left who hasn't donated, sir."

I totally forgot! I go and grab my wallet. "It's all I've got," I say as I shrug. I wish I had more. It was so last minute, all I had was $130.

Moments later, Ellie walks out. It's the first I've seen of her all morning.

"SURPRISE!!" Everyone yells together.

Shock washes over her face.

"This is your Happy Suspension Party!" Megan says as she goes over and gives her a hug. She then gives Ellie the cake she had ordered, rushed delivery. She opens the box and Ellie reads the writing. Suddenly Ellie laughs loudly and gives Megan another hug.

I walk over to see the cake. It's just a plain, white sheet cake with the words "Sorry I Suck" written in the center. I chuckle softly. Leave it to Megan to apologize with a cake.

Keegan comes over then. "Listen," he begins as he hands over the bowl of cash. "We all pitched in and scraped together some money. Hopefully this is enough to pay for your bills. If it isn't, you let me know. We take care of our own here," he says as he touches her shoulder.

She's completely silent. Stunned. She's so used to being on the giving end of things, that she doesn't know what to do being on the receiving end. She clears her throat...twice... and simply says "Thank You."

The emotion behind her voice, however, says so much more. She didn't need to say anything else. We know how much that meant to her.

~*~

It's been a long month without Ellie. The replacement they got for her is horrible. Anytime she walks in the room, we all find something else to do. She doesn't want to do anything and she complains about everything. Megan is about to lose her mind. We're all anxiously ticking down the minutes for the shift to be over. Ellie gets to come back next shift, and all of us are ready.

Unfortunately, I haven't seen much of Ellie this month. I saw her one time at the gym, but she didn't see me. I also ran into her once in the hall. Liam was helping her carry groceries. He dropped one of the bags, spilling a bag of potatoes down the entire hallway.

"Liam!" She says with a sigh. "I told you not to carry so many bags."

She starts picking up the potatoes, trying to figure out how she's going to carry them all.

"Yeah, well if we didn't live three flights up, then I wouldn't have. I'm sorry I don't feel like making a million trips." He snaps.

"Excuse me?" She asks, not appreciating his tone.

They just stand there for a moment, staring at each other. I think I need to intervene. She looks about ready to smack him.

I go up to them and start chuckling "looks like you have a little mess here. Can I help?"

"Yeah that would be great!" Liam answers immediately.

She still hasn't looked at me; She's glaring at Liam.

"No thanks, Liam was just about to go inside and grab a bowl. He's going to go hunt potatoes in a moment," she says. She's completely calm, yet completely serious.

"If you think that I'm gonna go up and down this damn hallway, picking up all these potatoes by myself, you're drunk," he says, crossing his arms.

Before I can think about what I'm doing, I interrupt. I may not have any actual authority over him, but I'm so tired of standing by while people disrespect her all the damn time.

"You know what? I'm gonna give you a chance to change your mind, and your attitude with your mom, before I go and help you find a bowl. You better hope I don't have to do that," I say, letting my threat hang.

Could I actually touch him? No. He's not my kid. However, he doesn't know that. I could scare him a little at least.

They both turn and stare at me. Liam immediately starts shifting uncomfortably. He looks to his mom, expecting her to start telling me where I can shove one of these potatoes—But she doesn't. She just turns her gaze back to Liam and raises her eyebrows.

"Well?" She asks him.

He sighs, rolls his eyes, and goes in to do what was asked. Once he was down the hall picking up the potatoes Ellie turns to me.

"Thanks," she says. "You didn't need to do that."

"I know I didn't," I say with a soft smile. "How're you doing? We miss you at the firehouse."

"I'm ok...I'm ready to get back. I'm starting to get a little stir crazy," she smiles softly.

"I bet," I laugh. "The house isn't the same without you."

She's trying to read my expression. I said that with more emotion then I had intended.

Liam walks up then, after collecting all the potatoes.

"Got em' are you happy?" He asks, obvious that his attitude still hasn't improved.

"No, actually I'm not," she replies, really getting agitated.

"You're not going to be in a minute either, young man. Get to your room." She says.

His face changes from defiance to chagrin in a matter of seconds. He knows he pushed her too far. He knows what's coming. He goes in silently and shuts the door. She turns back to me before she goes inside "I'll see ya." She says with a smile. The smile is warm this time; It's not the forced one I usually get.

~*~

That was two weeks ago. I haven't seen her since. As I sit here, watching the replacement paramedic complain about the last call that tweaked her back, I realize how big of a hole has been missing.

One more shift, and that hole will be filled.