Chapter 3
Vic checked her hair and makeup as she finished up in the restroom. She fluffed her hair and applied fresh lipgloss, smacking her lips together and then applying a final coat.
She did look hot but then it was probably a good thing they were at the hospital or Lucas might have followed her into the restroom. She blushed thinking back to a couple of months ago when he did just that and then regretted thinking about it. She was due on shift in less then an hour so couldn’t afford to have sexual thoughts about her gorgous boyfriend.
Well, fiancé actually, she smiled looking down and the beautiful engagement ring he’d got her. It was a double band flat Halo diamond and was perfect for work as there was no chance of snagging it on anything.
She had a happy smile on her face as she returned to the lobby which then turned to a frown as she couldn’t see Lucas anywhere. Had he been called in already and not waited for her. She glanced around and then spotted Dr Pierce. “Hi, Dr Pierce.” She greeted. “Has Lucas gone in with you already?”
Maggie Pierce shook her head. “No actually I came out to get him and can’t see him.”
“Oh, maybe he popped to the restroom then” Vic smiled. “He won’t be long.”
The pretty doctor nodded. “Ok, well come straight down to my office then. Its room 234. On the 1st floor.” Vic nodded and smiled as she walked away. She stood idly waiting for lucas to return. He’d better hurry because she had to leave in about 30 mins to get to work. She suspected his physical would take longer then that so she couldn’t keep him company for all of it anyway.
She glanced at her watch and frowned. It was 10 minutes past his appointment time. He didn’t like to be late for things and was always so punctual. She pulled out his phone and dialled his number.
It rang for ages before he finally answered. “Yes?”
“Um babe, I’m in the lobby waiting for you. Where are you?” She was a bit taken back by the blunt way he answered the phone.
“Um right. Er I’m a bit tied up with something so can you just head to work and I’ll catch up with you later.”
She pulled the phone away and stared at the screen like she may have dialled the wrong number. Why was he acting so strange. She put it back to her ear. “Babe is everything okay?”
“Yes Fine. I can’t talk right now, Victoria. I’ll call you later.” And the phone went dead. Again, she stared at the screen. What the hell. He’d never hung up on her before. What was going on. He wasn’t with Dr Pierce so where was he?
She was tempted to call him back and give him a piece of her mind but then thought better of it. She turned on her heal and started the short walk to the station. She didn’t know if she should be angry at how he behaved, treating her like a nothing or concerned that he behaved like that because something must be really wrong.
She arrived at the station the same time as Jack and he could see something was wrong but chose to ignore it and tried cheer her up instead. They were on Engine together today and he didn’t need a grumpy Vic with him. A grumpy Vic was worse than a horny bishop! He chuckled to himself at his own pun. Horny Bishop ha ha, he thought. His girlfriend certainly had a healthy appetite but nothing he struggled to keep up with. He just hoped she didn’t miss her bisexual side too much while she was in a hetro relationship with him.
They were in the locker room together and he tried some light hearted conversation with her as they changed into uniform but she only responded with mmm’s and ahh’s. He gave up after a while. He was in a good mood today and didn’t need her bringing him down. Maybe going to get a coffee would cheer her up.
“Hey guys,” He greeted the others as they entered the beanery. He watched Travis give Vic the once over and frown. He, too, sensed her grumpy mood.
“Everything okay, Vic?”
Vic jumped like she’d been in some kind of daydream and looked around like she didn’t know where she was, then she focused on Travis and nodded, giving a fake smile. “Yea sure. Just lost in thought.” She walked over to get a coffee and started talking to Andy about her wedding plans, which seemed to be a big mistake.
Andy had been acting strange lately. In the last couple of months she’d gone from being excited about marrying her childhood sweetheart Ryan to acting irritated every time his name was mentioned. They’d set a date and then pushed it back. Vic wondered if they were having problems. Maybe she and maya needed to have a girls night and talk to her about it.
Just then Captain Sullivan came in and Vic thought she was seeing things as he gave Andy a little smile before his serious face came back. She looked at Andy and sure enough she was no longer frowning but had a big wide smile on her face now. What the hell, Vic thought. Robert and Andy? There was no way! Lucas hadn’t said anything about it to her. She’d have to ask him if Robert had mentioned he was seeing anyone.
“15 minutes until line up people. Get your head in the game. The weathers warm and warm weather means lots of fires. Too many barbeques going wrong in the parks or just things catching fire that normally wouldn’t. Morning shift had 10% more calls then usual. Expect that to be triple for the afternoon shift.” He turned on his heal and left the beanery.
They were all use to Sullivan’s strict manner now. He came across as hard but had actually softened over the months. He was loyal to his team and appreciated their hard work and dedication. they now had a great camaderie as a team. Even when Captain Herrera came over for a visit he had commented how much the newer captain had changed and how much he had worked to be a part of them.
Vic suspected a lot of it was to do with the rekindling of his friendship with Lucas. They had been best friends after meeting on the first day at the academy and were inseparable until that fateful day when Robert’s wife had died. “Hey Andy?” Vic leaned over to her friend keeping her voice low. “Did you ever ask your dad about Sullivan and Ripley from back in the day when they were at 88?”
Andy nodded. “Yeah, he said they were a great team. 19 and 88 were the best back then. He said he knew Ripley would get ahead, but, he thought Robert would be right there with him but then his wife died and he more or less gave up and then left Seattle shortly after. It crushed Ripley losing his two best friends.”
Vic’s eyes widened. “Ripley was friends was both of them?” Andy nodded. “Hmm he doesn’t really talk about it.” She explained. “I think it was a hard time for him too.”
“Well, from what my dad said, he thought Ripley would give up too but instead he used the emotion as fuel to do his job even better.”
As they walked into the barn, Vic eyed the captain’s relaxed demeanour. He certainly wasn’t the drill sergent he use to be. She turned to Andy one last time. “So what’s going on with you and Sullivan then.” She watched her friend blush.
“Nothing.”
Vic laughed and then stopped as Sullivan’s gaze fell on her. “You are talking to the queen of secrets remember. I know all the signs baby.”
They got into line and she and Andy tried not to giggle because then they would see the full force of Sullivan’s temper. As long as they took their job, and respect for it seriously, he was fine. He didn’t like anyone making a mockery out of his station.
“We’re going for drinks after shift tomorrow. I like him and I hope he likes me back.” Andy whispered knowing that Vic wouldn’t be able to react without getting in trouble.
“This is not the end of this conversation missy! You wait till lineup is over.” Vic hissed out the corner of her mouth.
Sullivan was walking down the line doing his usual uniform inspection. It was very rare that someone messed up nowadays and he usually had no complaints.
“Right, I have a couple of updates for you. Firstly we will have a new rookie joining us later today. His name is Emmett Dixon, you will be nice to him and teach him. You all remember what it’s like being a rookie!” He glanced over at Warren, who had been the last rookie to join. “Also I’ve been informed by the chief that we will be getting a new assistant chief, who ironically is called Michael Dixon. He will be assisting the chief where needed and Battalion Chief Frankel will report to him due to the conflict that we have at this station.” Vic felt herself blush. Maybe this was what Lucas was upset about earlier. She turned her attention back to the Captain “Lastly, as I said earlier. Be prepared for multiple calls today. You’ll go from one fire to another without returning home. So, make sure you have double, triple of everything so that you don’t run out and end up costing someone their house or their life. Right Break.” He clapped his hands, and everyone split up to start checking their stock and adding extra equipment to the rig they were working on that day.
Andy was on Aid car with Bishop, away from Vic, so they couldn’t continue the conversation but Vic kept watching her, and every time Andy saw her, she was reminded that it would continue.
Briefly, Vic thought back to Lucas. Her anger had dissipated and turned into concern. She hoped everything was ok. He’d probably call her later to tell her all about it.
“A new Rookie.” Ben said with a big toothy grin. “I remember when I was the new guy.” Vic smirked at him. As she had been the one who trained him up he had been a pain in the ass always going on about how they did things in the hospital. He came across as arrogant but was niave and impulsive. It was easy to make mistakes and cost lives which she’d heard he had done a few times while a surgical intern. “You know that paybacks a bitch right, warren.” Ben looked at her curiously. “You have to train the rookie like I trained you.” She chuckled watching his mouth drop open before turning her back loading some canisters onto the rig. Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she took it out to see a text message from Lucas.
“Sorry about earlier. Something important has come up.
I may be indisposed for a while. Don’t worry if you can’t get me.
I’ll call as soon as I can. Be safe. I love you.”
Vic frowned. What was going on. She typed a quick reply “I love you too” and put her phone back in her pocket. She needed to focus on work so that she didn’t start to obsess about what was going on with him. As long as he was home tomorrow when she finished her shift she wouldn’t worry until then.