One Night Stand

Chapter 14

When Mathis heard Bailey order out of the building she took a quick glance around the scene. Though she didn't know everyone by name she had seen everyone at least a couple times. She looked around partially out of habit knowing there could be more severe injuries coming out of the building soon depending on how many people were still inside but she was also worried about Nicole. She had a scary realization while her and Gray were getting their gear, Nicole's brother died in a fire similar to this one.
"Everything okay?" Gray asked noticing Mathis seemed lost in her thoughts. Her and Mathis may have had their issues earlier in the shift but Gray certainly didn't need a flaky partner at the moment.
"Yeah." Mathis said nodding her head. "When I hear the all out call I start ticking off who I see out of habit but I realized I don't know everyone yet so it's kind of pointless to check."
Gray shrugged, "Makes sense." Then she looked around. "I see everyone but Davin and Morris but they're probably around here somewhere. I heard Thornely and Lotz were the last still in and they just came out."
"Thanks." Mathis replied sincerely before she went to check on a couple residents who appeared to be suffering from minor smoke inhalation.
A woman with a cell phone in hand walked up to Gray and asked, "Have you seen these three?" She held the phone out to Gray so she could see the picture.
Gray nodded and pointed towards a group of people who had come out of the building, "The woman is over there."
"What about the kids?" The woman quickly asked.
Gray shook her head, "I haven't seen them but maybe my partner has." Gray said pointing towards Mathis.
A few seconds after the same woman approached Mathis she walked up to Bailey and asked, "Sir, are Morris and Davin out? I ask because a woman just asked if I'd seen her kids who were in the front left apartment."
"Davin, Morris call out!" Bailey immediately said into the radio.
Everyone from 51 began to look around quickly to make sure the two weren't already out. Slowly gazes turned to the lower apartment in question which was now fully involved and a sick feeling began to pass over everyone.
The sound of glass shattering grabbed everyone's attention, then Nicole called out on the radio. "Can we get some help at the side window? Back left apartment."
Thornely and Lotz took off towards the back of the building. About a minute later all four firefighters appeared with two children, a boy walking on his own and a little girl clinging to Nicole.
As they approached the ambo Mathis joked, "Always got to make a flashy exit, hey Davin?"
"You know me." Nicole replied with a slight shrug and a laugh to accompany to cocky looking grin. She put the little girl on the gurney in front of her friend.
As Nicole started to back away the little girl cried out, "No!" And latched back onto her.
Nicole sat on the gurney next to the girl. Nicole kept her arm around the little girl and said, "It's okay sweetie. This nice lady's name is Jameson and she's a very good paramedic. She's gonna make sure you're okay while I go talk to my boss." She nodded towards Bailey who was talking to Morris.
"No, you stay Nic." The girl insisted. "You have a boo boo she should look at too."
Mathis raised an eyebrow and said, "You were told Davin, stay put." With that she quickly examined the little girl.
When Mathis finished with the girl she went over to Gray, who was examining the boy, and checked in with her. They decided to send the kids to the hospital as a precaution.
"Sweetie, I'm gonna have you go with Jones here. He's gonna take you and your brother to the hospital, okay?" Mathis said.
"Is Nic coming too?" The girl asked quietly as she leaned on Nicole.
Mathis shook her head, "Not yet. She's gotta stay here with me so I can check out her boo boo.
The girl looked up at Nicole who smiled then looked back at Mathis, "You'll make her boo boo all better?"
"I promise I will. Nic here is a very good friend of mine so I will take very good care of her." Mathis said confidently. Since Nicole had shown no signs of being in pain she figured the injury was minor.
The little girl nodded, gave Nicole a quick hug then went with Jones.
Once the kids were loaded into the other ambulance Mathis turned to Nicole and said with a smirk, "Alright tough guy, let's see this boo boo of yours."
Nicole gingerly got up and shrugged off her coat that was draped over her shoulders to reveal a mean looking wound on her shoulder. It was a huge gash and obviously a bit of a burn too.
"Jesus Nic, why didn't you say something?" Mathis said angrily. "That looks bad and pretty painful."
    "That little girl was so scared already I couldn't let her see this. All she knew was that this shoulder hurt so she latched onto the other one." Nicole explained, finally letting the pain she felt show in her face. "Why do you think I was trying to get away from her? I'm not normally the type to dump a scared kid on someone else."
    Mathis gave a sympathetic nod before asking. "What happened?" She then began to look through her bag for supplies.
    "The ceiling collapsed in the main room just after we found the kids. Morris and I wrapped our coats around the kids and us. Problem was the back of my coat slipped at some point before a very hot two by four dropped. Obviously you can see where it landed."
    "On your back." Mathis replied then asked, "How did that little girl escape without a scratch?"
    Nicole gave a flash of a cocky smile, "Come on Mathis, I'm just that good!" As she laughed then started to cough.
    "Given that cough I have to ask, where's your tank tough guy?" Mathis asked realizing it was no where in sight.
    "What do you think I broke the window out with?" Nicole replied simply.
    Mathis looked at Nicole's wound again then said, "Okay but your tank should have protected you from an injury to this part of your shoulder."
    Nicole shrugged, then grimaced because the movement hurt like hell.
    "Nicole?" Mathis pushed.
    She looked at the ground and admitted, "I was carrying the tank in one arm at the time."
    "And?"
    "I had my mask on the little girl."
    Mathis shook her head, "That was really dangerous Nic."
    Nicole got a defiant look in her eyes as she replied, "That little girl had to survive no matter what."
    Mathis knew where this was coming from so she put her hand on Nicole's good shoulder, looked her in the eye and said, "Well lucky for all of us you both survived. But with the few supplies in my bag I can't do enough for you." She turned towards Gray and yelled, "Hey Gray, can you come over here?"
    Gray nodded, grabbed her bag and headed towards them. The fact that Nicole was standing with her partner sent her brain into alarm mode.
    Mathis then walked over to the back of the ambo and opened the door, "Hop in here so we can have some privacy."
    Nicole smirked and raised an eyebrow, "You me and Gray?"
    Mathis laughed, "Get your mind out of the gutter woman. You're shoulder needs to be checked out before we transport you to the hospital. I mean you could take your shirt off out here but I figure you wouldn't want to advertise your injury in front of the whole house."
    "Good point. But you did say a few things that sounded kind of dirty." Nicole said with a nod.
    Gray had approached from the side so she hadn't seen Nicole's shoulder. She was amused but confused by the banter she walked into. "Okay what did I miss?"
    Mathis answered still smiling, "Tough guy here has one hell of a boo boo."
    Nicole blushed a little and turned so Gray could see her injured shoulder.
    "Holy shit Davin, how the hell are you still standing?" Gray said as she dropped her bag and took a couple steps towards Nicole to get a better look.
    Nicole shrugged and immediately regretted the movement, "Ah shit." She said painfully.
    "Yeah, don't do that again." Gray said and put a hand on Nicole's good shoulder. "Come on, let's get this taken care of."
    Nicole just nodded and started to walk towards the ambo with Gray.
    Mathis quietly watched the exchange between her friend and her new partner. She noticed a different side of Nicole when she was talking with Gray. Mathis had seen it before the call too. She was eager to talk to Nicole about her relationship with Gray, after her wound was cleaned and treated.
    When they got to the door Gray said, "Well I left my bag over there." She pointed behind her. "How convenient, hey?" She finished, laughing at herself.
    "I'll grab it and get our gurney." Mathis said quickly. "Just get her in the ambo and don't let her run away."
    "Got it." Gray said laughing then looked at Nicole with a raised eyebrow. "Are you a difficult patient Davin."
    "I'm not that bad." Nicole replied weakly.
    "I've had little kids squirm less than you do." Mathis answered with a laugh then turned to Gray, "Wanna give me a hand with the gurney Gray?"
    "I'll help." Nicole offered.
    "No!" Both women quickly said.
    "We got this Nic, just sit on the bench seat." Gray instructed.
    Nicole did what she was told without fight which made Mathis laugh. When the gurney was in the ambo she said, "Gray, do you want to start assessing and cleaning up her shoulder the best you can while I tell Bailey what's going on? At least she listens to you."
    "Sure." Gray said. She thought there was something more to Mathis' comment but it didn't seem harsh like some of her earlier comments.
    "You okay Gray?" Nicole asked quietly.
    She nodded her head then said, "Shouldn't I be asking you that question Nic?"
    "Maybe. But you looked lost in your thoughts so I figured I'd ask." Nicole offered.
    "Well enough about me. Let's get your shirt off so I can clean that shoulder. If you lay face down on the gurney it will probably be easiest." Gray said as she moved towards Nicole to help.
    "I can do it myself." Nicole said a bit harshly.
    Gray held her thanks up then started to gather some supplies.
    Nicole didn't mean to sound like a bitch but she was not the type of person who willingly accepted help, besides the fact that she felt slightly awkward about Gray helping her undress ironically. She tried a couple different ways of getting her shirt off but the movement caused her nothing but pain.
    Gray allowed Nicole to struggle and whimper in pain for about a minute then said, "Alright tough guy you tried, now will you let me help you?"
    The kindness in Gray's voice made Nicole stop struggling and nod.
    "Sit on the gurney." Gray instructed. When Nicole settled Gray stood in front of Nicole and grabbed the bottom of Nicole's shirt. She had gotten Nicole's good arm through the sleeve so Gray pulled that side up and over her head. Gray figured she could then pull the shirt off without Nicole having to move her other arm. When she tried Nicole cried out in pain.
    "I'm sorry Nic. Let me talk a closer look at your injured shoulder." Gray moved around the gurney and looked at Nicole's shoulder again realizing the problem. "You and your shirt are attached."
    "What?" Nicole asked looking at Gray.
    Gray grabbed and held up a pair of scissors, "Some of the fabric burned into your skin. I'll cut as much as I can away then I'll start cleaning the wound."
    Nicole nodded and Gray got to work. Even though she was in pain she felt oddly comfortable having Gray take care of her.
    "So how are we doing in here?" Mathis asked as she climbed into the ambo.
    "Some of Nic's shirt burned into her skin so shirt removal took longer than expected. I haven't gotten to cleaning the wound yet." Gray replied.
    "She insisted she could get her own shirt off didn't she?" Mathis asked.
    Gray nodded as Nicole replied, "There's nothing wrong with my hearing Mathis."
    Mathis sat on the seat in front of Nicole, "Come on Nic you know you're a pain in the ass. A lovable pain in the ass, I'll give you that, but a pain in the ass all the same."
    "Gee thanks Mathis." Nicole replied rolling her eyes, then she felt a hand on her good shoulder.
    "I know it will probably hurt but lay down on your stomach." Gray said quietly.
    Nicole nodded and followed instructions, with a little help from Gray.
    Mathis grabbed some gauze and other supplies while Gray helped Nicole get situated.
    When Nicole was settled Gray moved Nicole's bra strap away from the wound then said, "This is gonna hurt Nic, which I know is stating the obvious."
    Nicole looked at Gray and said, "Do what you gotta do."