Fight or Flight.

chapter twenty seven , It was All a Lie

a/n : y'all i've barely been able to keep my eyes open to write, so this chapter took me awhile 😭

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"It was Doug."

Emery lifts her eyes from her blood soaked hands and watches as Buck talks to Athena and Bobby. She pulls her brows together, her brain still jumbled. She wipes at her hands onto her jeans.

"Doug Kendall." Buck continues. "He told Maddie he would kill her if she left him."

"Wh-what?" Emery pushes herself off the wall. "Why are we still standing here?"

"We don't have all the information." The detective replies.

Emery squints her eyes, "Chimney was stabbed. Maddie was taken. Doug threatened to kill Maddie. Case closed—go find him now."

Athena and Bobby look at each other, feeling the anger coming off Buck and Emerson.

The detective brushes off the girl. "You said he lives in Pennsylvania. He knows she was here?"

"No, sh-she—"

"Maddie was filing for divorce." Emery says. "That could have put her back on his radar."

"Well, we'll take a look at him, but before your friend lost consciousness, he said he was attacked by a Jason Bailey." The detective states. "Any of you know who that is?"

"I don't think so." Bobby answers.

Emery swallows and shakes her head, "No."

The man sighs and walks into the house. Emery squints his eyes, "I should curbstomp him."

"Down girl." Bobby says.

Buck follows the detective into the house. Athena, Bobby, and Emery follow after Buck and the detective. Buck continues to tell the detective about the man that Chimney recently befriended. They walk out of the other exit of the house.

"He got close to Chimney so that he could get close to Maddie." Buck says.

The detective doesn't reply. He just continues walking. Emery's anger increases, "Do you even care about this right now?—About what he's saying?"

"I care, I just don't believe him." The man speaks.

"Chimney's phone is right there. Check for yourself!" Buck exclaims.

"Phone's locked." The detective states. "Can't open it without the victim's consent."

"They'll subpoena his phone records."

"S-Subpoena?—Athena, that's too long!" Emery exclaims. "We don't have time—Maddie doesn't have time."

"Emery—"

"Doug did this!" Buck raises his voice. "He almost killed Chimney and..." his voice begins to shake which causes Emery's chest to tighten.

"He could kill her next."

"But he didn't." Bobby says.

"Bobby..." Buck shakes his head and walks away. Emery inhales a shaky breath, "Buck, hang on!" She jogs after him. "Buck, hey, hey listen..." she gently wraps her hand around his forearm. Buck stops in his tracks and turns to the girl, tears in his eyes.

Emery slightly opens her mouth. "You're right—I know that you're right. It's Doug..." she sighs. "But, Maddie's not here right now. And if all Doug wanted to do was kill her—"

"Then we would have found her too." Buck finishes her sentence. Emery nods her head, a soft expression across her face. "Yes, exactly." She swipes her tongue across her lower lip. "I-I'm worried too. And I know that you want to find her..." Emery's eyes fill with tears, she wraps her arms around Buck's neck and presses her lips against his shoulder.

Buck raises his hands and wraps his arms around her waist. Emery inhales a shaky breath. "Tell them you need to go change your shirt, hide the phone in a jacket when you come back."

Buck pulls his brows together. Was Emery reading his mind? He hadn't thought of a full proof plan, but he did think about taking the phone.

"We'll go to Chimney's room after." Emery unwraps her arms from Buck and looks into his eyes. She then slightly motions her head over to Athena. Buck pulls his brows together. When did Emery become so...fearless? Buck walks over to Athena.

"Can I—can I change my shirt?" Buck asks. "It's covered in..." he trails off the sentence.

Emery zips her jacket up to hide the blood on her shirt. Buck goes back into the house to change his shirt. Once he came back, he saw Emery talking to Bobby, Athena, and the detective—away from the phone. Her eyes flit over to Buck and he nods his head. Buck grabs the phone and hides it under his jacket that was over his arms.

Emery inhales a breath as Buck walks over to them. "Hey, Captain, Buck and I, We should go to the hospital. We want to see how Chim's doing."

Bobby nods his head. "I'll drive you guys."

Emery gives Buck a small smile and she nods her head. Her and Buck exchange a look before following after Bobby.

☆

Once they got to the hospital, Emery and Buck walked down the hall. "Okay, so, you go in and get Chimney's phone open."

"Why do I have to do it?" Buck asks.

Emery bunches her shoulders. "You have his phone also, I have a feeling that someone's gonna—"

"Emery!"

Emery and Buck stop in their tracks from the frantic voice. The curly-haired girl's body tenses. She inhales a breath, trying to keep her anger at bay. "—talk to me." She finishes. Emery turns to the rookie officer.

"Officer Marshall, what do I owe the pleasure?"

"How are you?" Wren asks. "As soon as Athena heard about Chim, she called me to come over to the hospital."

Emery looks at Wren's outfit. "You're off duty?"

Wren nods her head. She looks over at Buck. "I-Im sorry about Maddie. I'm sure whoever's on this case will find her."

Buck gives her a small smile. Emery looks at Buck, "I'll see you later?" She raises her brows. Buck slightly opens his mouth, understanding. He nods his head and walks down the hall. Emery turns back to Wren with a sigh. Wren pulls her brows together. "They'll find Maddie."

Emery nods her head, "I know they will—thanks."

Wren bite the inside of her cheek, sensing the cold distance Emery was still sending her. "Can I ask you...what you were doing at Maddie's place, when you found Chim?"

Emery slides her hands into her jacket pockets. "I just dropped Buck off." She shrugs. "He needed a ride and, sadly, I was the only person available."

Wren tilts her head, "Well that's...kind of you."

Emery shrugs, "I know. I'm a kind person." She then arches a brow. "Why did you need to know?"

Wren shrugs, "It's just weird seeing you and Buck..." she interlocks her fingers. "...together."

Emery quirks a brow and scoffs. "Right, because that's such an important thing to focus on right now."

Wren slightly opens her mouth. "I...I'm sorry, you're right—"

"Of course I'm right." Emery squints her eyes. "I've gotta go to the bathroom."

Wren nods her head, "Of course." She presses her lips into a firm line. "I'm sorry, Em."

Emery inhales a breath, she doesn't reply. She just turns on her heel and walks down the hall. Emery makes it into Chimney's room and sees a nurse ushering him out. She turns and sees Emery standing there. Emery sheepishly smiles and the nurse lets out a stressed sigh. "Both of you out!"

Emery holds her hands up, "Okay, I'm going—I thought this was the bathroom."

The nurse leads Buck and Emery out. Emery looks over at Buck, "Did you do it?"

Buck turns to the girl with a smirk. "What do you think?" He shows the opened phone. Emery's eyes light up, she wraps her arms around Buck's neck. Buck's heart jumps into his throat and he lets out a bashful chuckle as he touches the small of her back.

"You know, Detective Marks didn't believe me..."

Emery's heart drops at the authoritative voice. "Shit."

Simultaneously, Emery and Buck turn to see Athena standing there with a pointed expression.

"...he said no one could be that stupid."

Emery noticed that her arms were still wrapped around Buck and her face was pressed against his. She quickly takes her hands from his and straightens her jacket.

"I said "you don't know Buck"." Athena then shifts her gaze to Emery. "And you..."

Emery's back straightens.

"I'm shocked by you." Athena says and shakes her head. "You're usually the logical one."

"I...was logical." Emery blows air out of her mouth. "Just a bit more emotional today."

Athena curls her finger, telling the two to approach her. Buck walks over to Athena but Emery hesitates. She swallows and a small whine leaves her lips. She hangs her head low and walks over to the two.

Athena leads them to some chairs and makes them sit down. Athena walks away and Buck slightly opens his mouth. "Wait, I still have the phone." He digs in his pocket and Emery's eyes widen.

"Don't—"

As soon as he took the phone from his pocket, Athena came back and snatched it from him. Emery sags her shoulders, "—take it out yet."

Athena looks at the two and looks at them with a disappointed expression and sighs. She walks away and Emery glares at him. Buck opens and closes his mouth. "I...I didn't think she'd come back."

Emery sinks in her seat, "Okay, okay. We're totally screwed."

"Ah, it's not that big of a deal."

"Buck, we took evidence from a crime scene." Emery seethes. "We are fucked—I am fucked. I may as well say goodbye to being Lieutenant."

"You're gonna be fine, Emi." Buck softly chuckles.

Emery looks at Buck and her eyes soften. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't even be talking about that right now." She wipes her eyes. "God, Maddie was taken and I'm talking about becoming Lieutenant. How selfish am I?"

Buck shakes your head, "You're not selfish, you're worried about your future that you've worked so hard for." He shrugs. "There's nothing wrong with that."

Emery inhales a breath and a smile twitches onto her lips. Normally, Emery's eyes would shift to Buck's lips. But this time she just kept her eyes on his. A crease forms between her brows, confused by her own actions. She then exhales a breath through her nose and her eyes soften. "I know you're just saying that to make me feel better." She looks away from him. Buck's gaze saddens and he looks at his hands. He knows that they didn't get along very well. But they've been 'together' for almost four months now. She should know that he means what he's saying, right?

"But...I'm thankful for it."

His brows raise out of surprise and he looks back at the girl, her eyes already on his. She softly smiles, "Thanks, Buck."

Buck's face heats up and he looks off to the side, a bashful laugh leaving his lips.

"And what are you two laughing at?"

Emery turns just in time to see Eddie sit next to her. He huffs, "That was a bold move."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. "What were you two thinking?"" Buck sighs. "We already got that from Athena."

"I know what you were thinking. I've got two sisters." Eddie chuckles. "Still not sure how you thought you were getting away with it."

"It was Em's idea." Buck says.

Eddie's mouth drops, "What?" He looks at the girl.

Emery slightly opens her mouth. "Look, this idea would've worked if someone were more discreet."

"Buck? Discreet?"

Emery sinks in her chair, "I know, I was doomed from the start."

"I am right here."

"Yeah, I forget sometimes." Emery clicks her tongue.

Buck rolls his eyes. Athena and Bobby walk over to the three firefighter sitting down.

"Okay—"

"It was all Buck's idea." Emery points at the boy.

"What?!" Buck exclaims.

Emery throws her hands up, "Okay, fine—it was my idea! But can you blame me? I want to save my best friend." She inhales a breath and slaps a hand over her mouth. She turns to Eddie. "I didn't want you to find out this way, but...Maddie's my best friend, Eddie."

Emery presses her lips together, "I know that I've been going back and forth with Buck for your best friendship, but Maddie is my one and only."

Eddie already knew that—everyone already knew this. But he presses his lips together and saddens his gaze. "This is...going to be hard to get over." He touches her shoulder. "I'll need some time. Can you give me that?"

Emery pouts her lower lip, "Of course, dude. You're my friend."

"I mean, we can have more than one best friend, right?"

Emery snorts, she then raises her brows. "Oh, you're serious?"

Eddie's smile drops and Emery pats the side of his face. "Sure."

"Why—why did you say it like that?"

"Nothing—no reason."

Eddie frowns and knits his brows together.

"I only came over here to tell you and Buck that Detective Marks isn't happy with the two of you." Athena crosses her arms.

Emery inhales a breath, "Yeah, I figured that. Listen, I am so sorry. Nothing like this will ever happen—"

"Justice for Emerson Sharpe!"

Emery closes her eyes, "Oh God..."

Everyone turns to the soon to be high school graduate. "She did nothing wrong!" Amaya holds up a sign that reads. "Justice for Emerson Sharpe" and in the small left hand corner you can read "Oh and Buck...yuck."

"Justice for Emerson—"

"We're not doing that anymore." Emery quickly says. As soon as she heard those words, Amaya drops the sign and kicks it to the side. She places her hands behind her back and smiles innocently. "Hey, guys! It's nice seeing you tonight. Obviously not here and under these circumstances."

"What were you gonna do, start a riot?" Eddie questions.

"Yeah, so Buck and I could slip away." Emery shrugs. "No biggie."

Buck raises his brows and stares at the girl in awe.

"Oh My—who are you, right now?" Eddie pulls his face back.

Athena points at Buck, "Lets go."

Emery's mouth hangs open, "Wait, he's free to go and I'm not?"

"No, you're free to go, you're just not going with us." Athena says.

Emery frowns as Buck follows Athena and Bobby.

"Uh, where are we goin?" Buck asks.

"To find your sister." Athena says. "If Doug is Jason, this phone is how we find him."

"But we gonna need a little help." Athena says. "Coffee shirt!"

"Ma'am's yes ma'am!" Wren jogs over to them. Athena rolls her eyes, "I told you to stop saying that."

Wren nods, "Yes ma'am, sorry ma'am." She looks at Buck and scoffs.

"Wait—she's the help?"

"Uh—please don't call me 'the help'."

Buck slightly opens his mouth. "I'm sorry." He looks at Athena. "I thought you said we couldn't use the phone?"

"I said Marks can't use it." Athena says. "This isn't my case. I'm just a concerned friend of the victim."

Wren winks, "Wink Wink."

"Yeah, we get it." Buck pulls his brows together. "But, thank you guys."

Wren nods her head, "Maddie's cool. I would've done this either way."

The three start to walk away. "Buck."

Buck stops and turns to Bobby. "Here are the ground rules..." Bobby starts. "...you don't leave her sight, you don't lie, you don't withhold any information from he, you don't break the law, and you don't do anything that's gonna force her into early retirement. You got it?"

Wren rolls her lips into her mouth to keep her laughter in.

"You got it, Cap?"

They all start to walk away. Wren looks at Buck, "He's kind of like you're dad, huh?"

Buck raises his brows, "You have no idea..."

☆

"I'm not sure how we can help, Sergeant, but whatever you need."

"Athena, please, I'm off duty."

Wren holds a hand up, "And I'm off duty too, so you don't have to call me coffee shirt—"

"I will always call you coffee shirt." Athena says.

Wren nods her head, "Right, of course, ma'am."

Buck pulls his brows together, "You're kind of submissive, don't you think?"

"Suck my dick." Wren seethes.

"And I stand corrected." Buck scoffs. "No wonder Emery stopped being friends with you."

A twinge of pain flutters through Wren's chest. She stops in her tracks and turns to him. Buck stops and pulls his face back from the death glare being thrown his way. "You don't know what happened, all right? So, stop pretending like you do."

Wren continues walking and Buck scoffs. "Now, I know why they were friends in the first place...they're both assholes."

Buck walks over to Athena and Wren. "They were both standing next to Josh."

"When people dial 911, you can see where they're calling from, right?" Wren asks.

"If they're calling from a landline, absolutely." Josh answers. "Cell phones are trickier. We don't get an automatic address."

"Our system has to digitally request the phone's location from the cellular network." Susan states.

"Okay, well this is Chimney's phone." Athena holds it out to Josh. "We think he was in contact with his attacker."

"Maddie's husband."

"Chimney didn't know it was him." Buck states. "He thought his name was Jason."

"Now, I'm wondering hypothetically, if this number called 911 and hung up; is your system able to request location state after the call was disconnected?" Athena inquires.

"Hypothetically, sure. But we'd—"

"Of course we could." Josh quickly answers. He grabs the phone. "You know, it's funny, this number definitely seems familiar and in fact, I think I might've taken a call from it earlier. An emergency call." He sits back at his desk.

Susan folds her arms, "Josh, are you sure?"

Josh gives her a nod, "I'm sure."

"Okay, let's make a manual request."

...

Emery and Amaya were sitting in the waiting room, along with other firefighters. Hoping for more news about Chimney's well being. Not only was Chimney's health on her mind, but Emery was also wondering about the location of Maddie. Was she even alive?

"Hey."

Emery turns her head and looks at Eddie. She raises her brows, "Yeah, what's up?"

Eddie tilts his head, "Maddie's going to be okay."

The girl chuckles and looks away from him. "How do you know that?"

"Because Maddie's strong." Eddie bunches his shoulders.

Emery nods her head, "She is strong." She softly speaks. "She's not the same person Doug was married to."

"That's right."

Emery covers her face and inhales a small breath. "I need them to be okay." She takes her hands off her face.

"If anyone can fight...it's Chimney and Maddie." Eddie touches her knee.

Hen notices everyone's small and defeated expressions. What other way to lift everyone's spirits, by telling embarrassing stories about their friend?

"Did I ever tell you guys about when Chim and Em first babysat Denny?"

Emery slightly opens her mouth. She covers her face and shakes her head. "Oh, God—no," she then begins to chuckle.

"No, and I need to hear this." Amaya leans forward and presses her hands together. "Tell us."

Emery takes her hands from her face but she sinks in her seat with her arms folded.

"One thing you have to remember is," Emery speaks. "Danny, was a crier."

Hen laughs and nods her head. "Yes, yes. He was a crier." She points at Emery. "And something you also need to remember is, Chimney freaks out while Emery is a control-freak."

Emery purses her lips and nods her head. "I-I can agree with that."

"While Denny is screaming his head off. Emery goes online to one of those internet forms for new mothers." Hen explains. "'And they all give her advice. Skin-to-skin contact works best'. 'No, the sound of a-a vacuum cleaner'. 'A cool breeze is soothing'."

Eddie brings his brows together. "A vacuum to stop a baby crying. I missed out on all this. Which one did you guys go with?"

Emery purses her lips and raises her brows, her eyes also widening. "Uh...well..."

"All of them."

Laughter erupts in the waiting room and Emery pinches the bridge of her nose, laughing softly. Amaya laughs, "You did that?"

Emery slightly opens her mouth. "I-I mean, it was me and Chim."

"But it seemed like you were the leader throwing ideas out." Hen points at her. Emery rolls her eyes with a small smile on her lips. "Please continue the story."

"Anyway, we come home and find Chim asleep—shirtless—on the floor with Denny on top of him. A fan blowing at them and the vacuum cleaner running in the corner." Hen's begins to laugh. "Then, we don't see, we hear Emery coming out of the kitchen, singing 'wheels on the bus' in Spanish. While she was missing a shoe, her mouth stuffed with olives, and a bowl of those Gerber cereal puffs." She inhales a breath and pats Emery's knee. "Tell them who the cereal was for!"

Emery's face heats up as everyone continues to laugh. She snorts, "You are having too much fun laughing at this—"

"Tell them." Hen shakes Emery's knee.

"All right, all right—it was for me!" Emery brushes Hen's hand away from her knee. She then scoffs, "I was hungry and the olives weren't enough."

Everyone's laughter grows and Emery soon begins to laugh with them. She then holds her hands up, "Okay, okay! I'll admit it, we kind of went all out." She then clears her throat and looks at her hands.

"You always do, Em." Hen sighs. Emery scratches the side of her nose. "Chimney was the one who convinced me to go and help look after Denny, y'know?" She sighs. "That was months after Helena had died and I was...so lost."

Emery chuckles, "Taking care of Denny was one of those small steps to healing." She presses her lips into a small smile and her eyes begin to burn with tears. "Chimney has a big heart. A heart he puts everything into."

Amaya gently grabs Emery's hand and gives it a light squeeze.

"Hey, hey."

Emery turns to see Michael and Harry walking towards the waiting room with brown bags in their hands.

"Hey, what are you guys doing here?" Hen asks.

"Harry and I were out. I needed to get some coffee..."

Emery stands up and she's immediately greeted with Henry hugging her. She stumbles back a bit and chuckles. "Hey, bud. Thanks for coming."

"...then we thought, you guys probably need some, too."

"Ah, we haven't met, but I love you." Eddie introduces himself to Michael.

Harry steps out of the hug. He digs in the bag and holds out a container to the girl. "I got these for you."

Emery pulls her brows together and grabs the container. She opens the container, revealing the mixture of green and black olives. Emery raises her brows, "Harry, you're too sweet, little man."

Harry smiles softly, "I was worried about you and Bobby. I needed to know you guys were okay."

Emery presses her lips into a small smile. She pulls Harry into another warm embrace.

☆

"You're awfully quiet over there, Buckaroo."

Wren shifts her eyes to the rearview mirror and she looks at Buck in the backseat. Buck slightly opens his mouth, "Uh, when we get there...wh-what do you think we're going to find?"

"I mean, h-he threatened to kill her, you know, almost did kill Chimney. What if he—"

"No." Wren quickly speaks. "My gut is telling me not to count your sister out."

Athena looks over at Wren and nods her head. "That's right, Maddie didn't just rebuild her life. She rebuilt herself." Athena states. "Doug may have her, but I don't think he has any idea who he's dealing with now."

Buck looks at Wren, "You don't like me."

Wren raises her brows, "Correct."

"Then, why are you making me feel...better?"

Wren pulls her brows together. "You—you're serious?" She slightly turns to him with an incredulous expression. Buck shrugs his shoulders, confused why she was looking at him like he said the craziest shit in the world.

"Buck, just because you and I don't see eye to eye, doesn't mean I'm going to let your worry eat away at you." Wren waves a hand. "I'm a very nice person."

Buck raises his brows, still not buying it. Athena catches Buck's hesitance and she chuckles. "Trust me, she's a nice person. And a clumsy person."

Wren sheepishly laughs. "I am still so sorry about that, Ma'am. I was in a hurry. My car broke down and—"

"Save it, coffee shirt." Athena holds a hand up. "That was my favorite shirt and the coffee would t come out."

Wren frowns, "Maybe, you should also be called coffee shirt."

Athena shoots a glare at Wren and the brunette's smile drops. She looks put the window.

...

"Eddie, hey, relax."

Eddie lets out a quick breath and stops in the hospital hallway. Emery looks down the hall and places a finger over her lips. She motions for him to follow her and she walks down the hall with him. Eddie was quick paced behind Emery, his panic rising. He went to go grab more coffee for himself and Emery. And when he came back, Christopher was gone.

He immediately went to go in search for him with Emery by his side.

Emery stops at the doorway and peaks into the room. She slightly opens her mouth and a small chuckle leaves her lips. Emery turns to Eddie and points in the room. Eddie peaks inside and lets out a breath when he sees his son sitting beside Chimney's bed. Emery sees that Bobby was in the room as well.

"Christopher." Eddie whispers and walks into the room. Emery follows with a smile when she sees Chimney awake.

"Welcome back, man." Eddie speaks.

"How you feeling, Chim?" Emery moves her curly hair behind her ear.

"Oh, you know," he murmurs. "I've been better."

Emery gives him a sad smile.

"We were worried about you." Eddie says.

"I wasn't worried."

Emery pinches her pointer and thumb together. "I was a little worried."

"I'm starting to think that he has superpowers." Bobby adds.

"Like a superhero?" Christopher asks, a smile on his lips.

Emery smiles and she nods her head. "Exactly like a superhero." She watches as Chimney's closes his eyes in pain. Someone needed to tell Chimney what happened to Maddie. And the only person who seemed like they could do that was Bobby.

"Hey, guys. Maybe we should let Chimney rest."

"Don't eat the meat loaf." Christopher advises.

"No?"

"That's how I lost a tooth." Christopher says.

Emery raises her brows and points at Christopher. "Yes: the meatloaf is atrocious, my advice is to just stick to the pudding and Jell-O."

"Thanks for the tips, guys."

Emery gives him a small wink. "I'll be back to see you later." She holds Chimney's hand and gives it a comforting squeeze.

☆

"Somebody's been here and they left in a hurry."

Wren inspects the cabin door and she runs her fingers over the splint wood in the door frame. "They were here, right?" She looks at Athena.

Athena nods her head, "The question now is, which way did they go..."

Wren and Buck follow Athena out of the cabin. The brunette's voice catches in her throat, finally noticing how much ground that needed to be covered.

"If she's out there and she's hurt..." Buck lets out a shaky breath.

"They're sending more officers." The detective approaches them. "Search and rescue's on its way. Choppers, dogs. It's gonna be a full-court press."

"I've got blood out here!"

That snaps Buck into action. He sprints away from the cabin. He shouts for his sister, hoping she replies. Wren runs after him with Athena and the detective by her side. They all trudge through the snow, in search for the Buckley Woman.

Buck gains speed and runs deeper into the snow coated woods. "Maddie!"

Wren and Athena follow after Buck and see a figure in the distance. Buck runs toward the figure. He falls to the floor and wraps her in a hug, despite being in the snow. Wren stops running and lets out a breath of relief, seeing the siblings reunite. She softly chuckles and looks at Athena, who had the same look of relief on her face. Wren digs in her pocket, she pulls out her phone and calls someone.

"Wren, what's going on?"

Wren slightly opens her mouth and nods her head. "We found her." She says.

Over the phone, you can hear Emery let out the biggest sigh in her life. "Oh, Thank God." She stays silent for a moment. "She's okay?"

"She's hurt. But she's okay."

"And everyone else is okay too?"

Wren nods her head, "Yeah, well, except for Doug. He's dead."

"Good."

Wren raises her brows in agreement. A long silence is heard over the phone.

"And you..."

"...are you okay?"

Wren's throat tightens, "Y-Yeah. Yeah I'm good. We all are."

"Except for Doug."

Wren chuckles, "Except for Doug." She inhales. "You can tell everyone that Maddie's alive and that she fought. Hard."

Emery swipes her tongue across her lower lip. Wren pulls her brows together. Even though it's been awhile since Wren and Emery have seen eachother, Wren knows when Emery was forcing herself to keep her mouth shut.

"Buck's okay, Em."

Emery inhales a small breath and holds it. She looks at her shoes and wipes her brow. "I...I wasn't wondering about him."

Wren slowly nods her head, "Okay."

Emery then exhales a breath. No point in lying.

"Thank you, Wren."

Wren bites the inside of her cheek to contain her smile. "No problem."

☆

Emery sprints through the hospital. She pivots the corner, her shoes squeaking against the white linoleum floor. Her breathing was quick and her vision was focused on spotting a certain room number.

126

Emery continues down the hall. As soon as she heard the call of Maddie being evacuated to a different hospital, she immediately made her way to the hospital.

135.

Emery's heart begins to pound through her ears. She didn't know how badly Maddie was hurt. And it was killing her not knowing. Emery spots a certain boy sitting in a chair in the hall.

"Buck!"

The boy lifts his head up and looks down the hall, seeing Emery. A small breath leaves his lips. Emery runs down the hall and wraps her arms around his neck. Buck wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her close to him. His body relaxes in Emery's arms and the same thing goes for Emery.

"How's she doing?" Emery speaks.

A chill rushes down Buck's spine from her breath hitting his skin. "Good. Resting right now. But she's awake."

Emery pulls away from the hug and looks up at him. "And you? How are you doing?"

Buck inhales a breath and holds it. "I didn't know what I was gonna do if she..." he trails off her sentence. Emery's eyes soften, "But she's here." She says. "In that room. Resting. Maddie's going to be okay."

"Yeah, physically. But mentally..." Buck shakes his head.

"Maddie is strong." Emery grabs his hand. "She's going to get through this. She's got an amazing brother to get her through it."

Buck keeps his eyes on Emery's and a smile twitches onto his lips. "Yeah? Well, she's got an amazing best friend to help her too."

Emery presses her lips into a small smile. She looks down at her hand still interlocked with Buck's. Emery pulls her hand from his and clears her throat. "Why are you out here anyway? Shouldn't you be in there?"

"Maddie wanted a second alone." Buck says. "So, I waited for you out here."

Emery sighs, "Such a caring boy."

Buck pulls his face back, "Boy? I'm a man."

Emery's eyes slightly widen and she slowly nods her head. "Uh-huh. Riiight." She motions her head to Maddie's hospital room. "I'm gonna go see her."

"I-I am a man!"

Emery waves a hand and lightly knocks on the door before entering. She steps into the room and her voice gets caught in her throat when she sees the state Maddie was in. But as soon as Maddie saw Emery, she smiled. Which caused Emery to let out a breath of relief. "Oh, Maddie." She quickly walks over to the brunette's bedside. Emery sits beside her and grabs her hand. "How are you?"

Maddie opens her mouth to speak, but Emery speaks again. "The truth would be nice."

Maddie's small smile drops and she inhales a breath. "I almost died with him." She bites her lower lip and shakes her head. Emery presses her lips into a small line and slightly slumps her shoulders.

"But I...I fought." Maddie exhales. "I fought so hard, so I could be here."

The end of Emery's mouth curves into a smile. Tears burn in her eyes and she squeezes Maddie's hand. "Yeah, you did." She nods her head. "You and Chimney fought. And now you guys are both here."

Maddie smiles as a tear slips out of her eye. Emery sniffles, "Did you hear that I was breaking rules for you?"

Maddie laughs, "Oh, yeah. Buck told me. You came up with an idea to steal Chimney's phone from a crime scene?"

Emery nods her head. Maddie chuckles, "Isn't that breaking the law?"

"I mean, yeah—but it was to help find you." Emery shrugs. "And I don't know if you know this, but...you're my best friend."

Maddie blinks, "Oh, Em, I know."

Emery pulls her brows together. "You know?"

"I know."

"But how do you know?" Emery asks. "I just found out."

"You were so busy trying to compete with Buck for Eddie's best friendship that I was kind of in the background." Maddie explains. Emery shakes her head, "I'm sorry—"

"Don't apologize." Maddie squeezes Emery's hand. "I've been patient. Now I'm just glad that you finally realized it."

Emery presses her lips into a smile and she inhales. "Okay, now...wanna bust out of here?"

Maddie's eyes slightly widen, "Uh, I'm sorry?"

"Let's get out of here." Emery stands up from her seat.

"Em, no. It's...it's a hospital and I almost died!"

"You'll get to see Chimney."

Maddie freezes and she closes her mouth. Emery wiggles her brows and Maddie runs her tongue over her teeth. "All right, fuck it—let's get out of here."

Emery snickers, "Knew that would work."

☆

After getting Maddie transferred to the hospital Chimney was at, Emery and Amaya made their way back home. Just in time to see her parents sitting on the ground, playing Monopoly. They both stare at their parents for a moment. Elijah stops laughing and turns to his daughters. "Oh, hey you two!" He stands up. Amara quickly grabs his hand, almost like she was helping him up. Elijah walks over to the girls and engulfs them in a hug.

"How are Chimney and Maddie doing?" Amara asks.

Emery touches her dad's back and smiles softly. "Uh, banged up."

"Really banged up." Amaya adds.

"But they're alive" Emery presses her lips into a small smile.

Amara let's out a sigh of relief. "That's all we can ask for, right?"

Emery bites the inside of her cheek and slowly nods her head. "Yeah, I guess so."

"So..." Amaya starts. "...Monopoly. Really?"

"Yeah, it's fun."

"No, it's competitive." Emery adds. "Especially with all four of us playing."

"Okay, then how about we do something else." Elijah holds his hands up. "Cook some food, watch some movies."

"Have a dance party."

Everyone looks at Amaya. The youngest Sharpe blinks, she then bunches her shoulders. "What? We could all use a little break to dance it out."

Emery snorts and puts Amaya in a headlock. Amaya groans, "Aw, dude! Get off!" She thrashes around. Emery gives Amaya a noogie. "Oh, come on, you wanna dance party—that's so cute!"

"I'm gonna kick you in the crotch." Amaya growls.

Amara sighs, "Very mature, you two."

"All right, break it up." Elijah claps his hands.

Emery laughs and unlatches her arm from Amaya's neck. Amaya rams her elbow into Emery's arm. Emery giggles, "That tickled."

Amaya's gaze hardens and her young sibling syndrome kicks in. Do her hits always not hurt?

...

Music was playing in the apartment. Amaya and Amara were dancing in the kitchen. They were both laughing and having a good time.

Emery and her father were sitting in the couch, watching Amaya and Amara dance. Elijah looks at his eldest daughter. She was smiling, watching her sister and mother dancing. A small smile finds his lips, but it quickly saddens. "I'm sorry."

Emery turns to him and snorts. "What?"

"I'm sorry, for all the times I didn't stand up for you." Elijah says. "With your mom. With anyone, actually."

Emery's back straightens. "Dad, you don't have to apologize—"

"If I don't now, there might not be another time for me to say this."

Emery pulls her brows together, "What?—"

"I lied." He says. "About everything. With the cancer."

Emery freezes and her jaw goes slack. She slowly curls her hands into fists and keeps them on her thighs. "Wh-what—what are you..." she closes her eyes, trying to keep her head from rattling.

Elijah grabs ahold of Emery's hand, trying his best to get her to calm down. Emery opens her eyes and reads his soft expression. Her breathing heavies and she looks back at her mom and sister, she then inhales a breath. "Does mom know?"

"Yes, she does."

"A-And are you gonna tell Amaya?" Emery asks, her voice soft.

"Yes, of course I am." Elijah nods his head. "I'm planning on telling her soon. I promise."

Emery's eyes begin to grow misty. "I...I don't—so is this closure or something? Why are you apologizing?"

"Because whatever time I have left with you, I want it to be genuine and true."

Emery's jaw goes slack, "Time you have left...? But, there's chemo, you're going to—"

"Hey!"

Emery's heart jumps and she turns to see Amaya walking over to the couch. "What are you two doing just sitting around? Mom and I can't have all the fun!"

Emery scratches the inner corner of her eye and clears her throat.

"Yeah, right!" Elijah laughs. "You two better save some of those moves for me!" He slowly stands up. Emery watches as her dad walks to Amaya and Amara. For a moment, Amara catches sight of Emery's shaken expression. Amara inhales a breath, knowing that Elijah just told her the truth. She motions her head over to them. Emery slowly shakes her head. She couldn't just pretend that everything was fine.

Amara raises her brows, urging her daughter to join them. Emery's heartbeat pounds through her ears. What should she do? What could she do?

Her dad was...

Emery swipes her tongue across her lower lip and looks down at her shaky hands. She squeezes her hands tight and inhales a deep breath. She holds it and rises to her feet. There was nothing else she could think of right now. Her brain was too jumbled. So, all she could do was walk over to her family and dance.

━━━━━━━━━━

author's note.

We getting to the emotional parts of the story y'all 🤭

It's all downhill from here...

words : 6566