Secret Sister (Station 19)

A Disappointment at Best

It had been two weeks since Elle started working at Station 19, and Travis and Vic were still the only ones that really talked to her. She honestly wasn't sure if Andy had said a single word to her since her first shift. Maya only spoke to her to give orders, but at least she was actually being given jobs to do. She did everything in her power to do each task perfectly; she couldn't give the team any more reasons to hate her.

20 minutes into the new shift, they got called out to a house fire. When they arrived the porch and entire front of the house were engulfed in flames. Elle quickly hopped out of the ladder truck and turned to Maya awaiting instruction. "Herrera, Hughes, Miller, Warren, hit the fire from out front. Be careful not to let it jump to those trees on the bravo side. Gibson, take Montgomery and Walsh and head to the back of the house. See if you can help gain control from the inside" Maya barked out. They all ran off and started to assess the situation. Luckily everyone had already made it out of the house, so they only needed to worry about trying to preserve the structure of the home.

Gibson took the lead and, opening the back door, told Montgomery to follow him in with the hose line.

"Walsh, you can stay here and... watch. Let us know if anything changes" Jack said dismissively.

Elle sighed but did as she was told. She monitored the smoke coming from the front of the house and watched through the open door as Jack started putting the fire out from the inside. As she watched, she noticed that smoke was starting to pour out of the open second floor window just above them.

"Gibson, there's smoke upstairs, you guys should probably get out" she radioed in. Gibson didn't respond, so she said it again.
"Seriously guys, the smoke is really dark, you shouldn't be in there. I think we need to hit it from the outside."

Gibson heard her voice over the radio but didn't think much of it. He didn't really believe that she would know what she was talking about. Even still, he sent Montgomery to check out what she had seen. Travis took one look and realized that she was right; it wasn't safe to be inside.
"Gibson, Walsh is right. You need to get out" he stated.

Jack emerged a minute later and looked up to see the smoke billowing out of the window. "Walsh, go get Bishop" he barked, but Elle was already halfway around the house.

They got the fire out and found that the flames had melted some toxic plastic furniture in an upstairs bedroom. That's what was making the smoke so dark. As they headed back to the station, Jack finally admitted that Elle had been right.
"Walsh," he called out before she climbed back into the ladder truck. "That was a good call back there. Not many rookies would've caught that" he said nodding at her. Elle smiled, glad that she was able to help the team and have someone actually acknowledge her worth.

Back at the station, Elle was sitting alone in the beanery when Vic came up and opened the fridge. "Heard you made a nice call back there" she said, turning back to shoot Elle a smile.

"Haha, thanks. I just reported what I saw" Elle responded.

"Ya know, Andy's usually the one reading smoke. I'm impressed you caught that before she did" Vic said trying to give her a compliment, but it only put Elle on edge.

She hadn't realized that reading smoke was Andy's thing. And while it's just a part of the job, she didn't want Andy to think she was stepping into her territory. God knows she didn't need to give her another reason to hate her.

"Thanks," she said, trying to smile back at Vic; she really did appreciate that Vic was always nice to her.

Later on, the team got called out to an MVC. The fact that they called for Aid Car, Engine, and Ladder made them all nervous; it must have been a really bad accident. When they arrived on the scene, they saw that three cars had been involved. One car was flipped over and the other two had collided so hard that the crushed shells of what once were cars almost looked like one piece of metal. Elle felt her chest tighten and she paused for a moment; she'd never seen anything that bad. They called for more aid cars and started to treat victims. One woman had been thrown from her car and was barely breathing when they got there. Her injuries were massive and Elle worked quickly to assess just how bad the situation was. As she checked her vitals, the woman's heart stopped. Elle immediately started CPR, but she could already see the woman turning blue. She knew there was nothing that could be done to save her. Travis came to check on how she was doing, and his look confirmed her fears.

She took her hands off the woman's chest, but Bishop quickly came over to tell her to keep going. "This patient is your responsibility, probie. I want her alive when we get her to the hospital" Maya ordered.

Elle was confused, but started CPR again, desperately trying to keep blood moving through the woman's body.

As Maya walked away, Travis pulled her aside. "Captain, you and I both know there's no saving that woman. Why are you making her try?"

"It's my call, Montgomery" Maya snapped back, as she headed off to check in with the rest of the team. She knew full well that the patient wouldn't survive, but Elle prided herself on being a good paramedic; she wanted to show her that there are some patients you just can't save.

Elle did her best, but the second they unloaded the patient at Grey Sloan, Dr. Altman took one look at her and told Elle to stop compressions. She couldn't believe that Elle had kept it up for so long, there was no point. The woman was dead. Elle felt so defeated. She knew the woman wouldn't make it, so she didn't understand why Maya had made her try so hard to save her. The whole way back to the station she was dreading facing her captain, knowing that she would only be disappointed.

Sure enough, Bishop asked for an update on the patient as soon as Elle stepped out of the aid car. "So, how's our patient?" She asked, though she sounded like she already knew the answer.

"I'm sorry captain, but we lost her. I really don't think there was anything I could have done." Elle tried to explain.

"You're probably right," Maya said as she turned and went back to her office to finish paperwork before the shift ended.

Elle was changing out of her uniform, getting ready to head home when Travis and Vic appeared on either side of her. "Come on probie," Vic said as she closed Elle's locker and turned toward the door.

"Where are we going?" Elle asked, confused that they would want her to go anywhere with them.

"Joe's" Travis said.

"We're day drinking," Vic told her. "And after that shift, we think you deserve to join us."

Elle followed them out and down the block to the bar. With every step she hoped that the bar wouldn't card at the door, but at 8am she figured she'd be able to get in. Once they got there, Elle followed Vic up to the bar. "Three beers," Vic called out to the bartender. Elle could tell he was sizing her up and interjected, "just a club soda for me, thanks."

Vic looked over at her confused. "Are you seriously not drinking after that shift?"

"I can't," Elle admitted. "I'm only 20."

Vic burst out laughing, she knew Elle was young but didn't realize she was that young.

They walked back to the table and as they sat down Vic started to chuckle again.

"Did you know probie is literally a baby?" she asked Travis.

He laughed, "What do you mean?"

Vic turned to Elle, "Go ahead." She said, "Tell him how old you are."

"20," Elle said as she slid down in the booth and hid behind her club soda.

They all laughed about it for a few minutes before they started talking about the shift, and particularly their last call. Travis admitted that it was a really rough thing for Bishop to do; Elle just nodded. Vic tried to reassure her, saying that things would get better.

Elle shook her head, saying that she wasn't sure that was true. She went on to say that Maya, and everyone at the station except for the two of them apparently, hated her. Elle admitted Maya was her hero growing up, as an athlete and a firefighter; she wanted to be just like her when she grew up. It really sucked to know that the person you looked up to all your life, deeply hated your guts and resented your presence. Travis nodded, but Elle saw Vic's eyes widen.
What Elle didn't realize was that while she was talking, Maya had walked in and was standing right behind her.