The Nature of the Emergency (Evan 'Buck' Buckley X OC)

It was supposed to be Christmas (Part 2)

It has been a couple of hours since Buck and I arrived at work and I am making sure the gifts for the annual Christmas toy drive are good to go. It is proving to be an interesting endeavour as there is a lot to be handed out which means there is going to be a process loading the truck. Something is telling me that Eddie and I are going to be interrupted. Not that it matters so long as it is not one of the Christmas idiots. As soon as the thought crosses my mind the signal bell rings. With that, we get our gear on

"Ella duty calls," Howie remarks as I join him in the ambulance.

"I wonder what it is going to be this time," I remarked as I got comfortable.

"That is a good question that I don't have a good answer to," Howie responds. After five minutes of travel, we made it to the scene to find utter chaos. As a leap out of the ambulance, my eyes land on what can only be described as the worst injured Santa I have ever seen.

"Can you tell me what happened?" I get to work on doing my job.

"It was a last-minute stampede," A distraught woman explains as I get to work. She must think that it is her fault. I'll have to reassure her later. Right now I have a Santa to worry about.

"That explains the concussion," I say.

"Cap, we're gonna need the backboard just in case our Santa has back injuries," I say. A moan can be heard from the Santa's mouth. That is a good sign.

"Can you hear me?" Howie asks.

"Yes but my head feels like it has split into a million pieces," He complains. Well luckily for him he only has a concussion and a few cracked ribs.

"Is he ok?" The woman from before asks.

"Yes he is going to be fine," I beat Howie to reply. The woman seems to relax with that answer. She must have been the one that caused it. After a minute of triple-checking Santa, whose name is Jack, we load him into the ambulance. After ten minutes we are finally back at the firehouse. It seems as if the rest of the crew has gotten into the festive swing.

"You started without us?" Howie remarks as we join them.

"It's not our fault you got stuck with Santa," Buck retorts. It is at that moment that I notice Bobby cooking. As per usual it smells good. Hopefully, nothing will ruin it. I just want it to be quiet so that we can enjoy the food in peace. I am of course not going to say what I am thinking out loud as using the Q word will get me killed for sure. Besides, the only racket I want is when the charity people come to pick up the donations for the toy drive. Speaking of, I glance over the balcony to find a familiar face standing with the volunteers.

"Hey, Bobby the guys from the toy drive are here. I'm going to help them," I leap out of my seat. I hope there are no calls while I do.

"I'm coming as well," Buck remarks. I think he is just using it as an excuse to spend time with his fiance. The thought makes me giggle. After thirty seconds of walking we join Gavin and the others. With a few instructions, we get to work on making sure everything is loaded.

"Hey, Ella. How is it going?" Gavin asks as I pass him the inventory list.

"Surprisingly not busy. We've only had one call today," I skirt around using the Q word. With a few swift movements, Buck and I have the heavy stuff ready for Gavin and his partner. After what feels like an eternity we have everything ready. It is at that moment my nose is hit by the smell of Christmas lunch.

"Hey, are you two staying for lunch?" Bobby calls out from the balcony.

"Sure we might as well. It smells good," Gavin's co-worker responds.