Trouble Don't (File Two of The First Responders Files)

Chapter Seven

Joan suddenly moaned lowly, her eyes fluttering open. "Joan?" Sylvie asked.

"Where . . . ?" Joan asked groggily.

"Joan," Greg put a hand under her shoulder, easing her off the ground. "I'm Greg Grainger, a certified EMT with the Chicago Fire Department. This is Paramedic Captain Sylvie Brett and Firefighter Randall McHolland."

"How . . . " Joan looked around in confusion. "How did I . . . ?"

"Did you take medication?" Greg asked.

"Yes," Joan nodded, looking towards the table. "From my, um . . . "

Sylvie held up the bottle Greg had discarded. "Joan, this is old medication for nerve damage," she explained. "It puts you to sleep, especially if you took it on an empty stomach."

Joan blinked in surprise. "I thought it was, um . . . for my, um . . . "

She tapped her head in explanation, and Greg nodded. "I get it, ma'am. How about we take you to Chicago Med and have a doctor look at you. Is that all right? No ambulance charge." Joan nodded in agreement, and Greg gave a sympathetic smile. "And throw away old medication after you stop using it."

Joan nodded with a bitter laugh. "I'm so embarrassed!"

"Hey," Mouch patted her shoulder comfortingly, "we're just glad we could be here."

"Score for Hawkins," Sylvie whispered to Greg.

He nodded and started packing away their supplies. "Oh!" Joan perked up. "Does my hair look OK?"

Mouch chuckled. "You look great, Joan," he nodded. "Now, let's get you healthy."

Sylvie grabbed their bags as Greg and Mouch helped Joan to her feet.

***

"So the first round of paramedicine was a success?" Chloe Cruz asked as she reclined in her living room, part of her attention on Sylvie.

"It was so successful," Sylvie nodded, giggling as she watched Chloe's other attention turn to the baby boy cradled in her arms. "Oh, he's so cute!"

"He arrived while Joe was on shift," Chloe leaned forward, and Sylvie scooted to the end of the couch to examine the newest candidate of Firehouse 51. "The house waited five hours in the lobby, and we had to convince the staff to let us out there so they wouldn't come charging down to the Maternity Ward."

"Oh, but I would've paid so much money to have that security cam footage," Sylvie grinned. "Brian Leon Cruz. Otis would've been a blubbering mess."

"That's what we're calling him," Chloe smiled as she stroked Brian's cheek with the tip of her finger. "Otis. We knew right away when we found out it would be a boy."

"Welcome to the family, Otis," Sylvie whispered, her smile splitting her face when the boy cooed. "You should meet your little cousin Charlie at some point."

"Joe said there was a new baby in Austin," Chloe brightened. "It was during the ice storm?"

"It was," Sylvie nodded. "Grace gave birth on a bus after her car got stuck in the snow. Owen, Kelly, and Tommy arrived just in time for Tommy to help deliver Charlie, and Judd really arrived just in time. Charlie is the sweetest, 51 would love her."

"Sounds like we all need to meet her at some point," Chloe laughed. "Just so she could meet her cousin."

Sylvie's heart melted at the sincere words. Even after she, Kelly, and Matt had moved to Austin, 51 still considered them family . . . and through them, they considered the 126 family, too. "We do have a firehouse reopening in the near future," she hinted.