Emery Begins Again.

chapter thirty five , ...The Worst Day of Her Life

a/n : at the end of the last chapter, I literally started bawling my eyes out for what I have planned this season...

Prepare to cry with me 🫶

Also, I put the two tsunami episodes in the same chapter, because it was kind of short.

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Then.

"You cannot marry her, Emerson!"

"Why not?! I love her!" Emery runs down the stairs, her bag slung onto her shoulder. "And why do you even care? I'm old enough to make my own decisions!"

Amara's eyes blow wide, "I am still your mother, I deserve respect—"

Emery stops at the bottom of the steps and turns to her mother. "So, do I!" She snaps. "You're my mother and you deserve my respect. But I am also your daughter. You can't just...tell me to respect you when you don't respect me."

"I do respect you." Amara says.

Emery's shoulders drop. "Yeah, sure, mom." She forces out a chuckle. "That's why whenever I don't get a B + or higher, you ignore me."

"That's why whenever I actually want to have an honest conversation—catching up with you, you ended up just asking me to focus on 'important things'. Like college applications."

Tears form in Emeey's eyes and her chest tightens. This was the first time that she actually spoke up. Emery could've gone her whole life not speaking up. She was fine with her mom not respecting her and she as fine with her mom pushing her past her boundaries in order for her to be perfect.

But what Emery didn't like was her mom talking about her fiancé.

Helena and Emery had dinner with their families last night. They announced their engagement. Emery and Helena knew that their parents would be hesitant about it, but then it just spun out of control for them to handle.

Amara's argument went from "you're too young" to "it's not morally acceptable".

It was something Emery never questioned about her mother. Because no matter what differences they had, she never thought in her mind that her own mother would never support her in the choice of who she wanted to love.

Helena's parents didn't like the way Amara was talking about their daughter. Let's just say it became a screaming match between the set of parents with Amaya, Emery, and Helena making their way into the living room until they were done.

After that, Emery had made a decision. A decision that would affect her family for the rest of her life. But it was a decision that would build her future family.

"Emerson Bailey Sharpe, you listen to me..." Amara points at her daughter. "If you leave. Do not come back." Emery's glassy eyes shifted to Amaya, who was standing at the top of the stairs. Her chest tightened and she felt like she couldn't breathe. Was she really going to leave Amaya? Alone?

The two sisters were so close.

There's nothing that Emery wouldn't do for her baby sister. But this...

Being in this house with her mom after what happened last night. She couldn't do it.

Emery just wished she said goodbye to Amaya before she left.

Now.

"Well, it seems like you've already made your decision. Why did you have to tell me about it?"

"Because you're like a part of me or whatever..."

"Yeah, yeah. I love you too, dummy."

"You're a good big sister, you know that?"

"Eh, I try to be."

"Emerson!"

Emery lifts her head above the water and lets out an audible gasp. She keeps her head afloat, despite the rushing waves pushing her. Her teeth were chattering together and her ears were ringing. "A-Amaya?!"

"Emery, where are you?!"

Emery looks around the water that had overtaken the boardwalk. Would you even still consider this the boardwalk? Her eyes landed on Amaya, she was holding onto a wooden pole. A small bit of relief rushes through her.

"I'm coming! Hold on, Maya!" Emery uses the strong current to her advantage and swims with it, towards her sister. "Maya, just hold on!" Her head slightly dips under the water, but she pulls herself back above water. Her eyes begin to blur, but she shakes it off.

When the tsunami first hit, Emery and Amaya barely had any time to run. Emery helped Amaya up onto one of the carnival stands, but the tsunami had already hit and Emery was 100% sure she broke her wrist.

But that didn't stop her from getting to her sister. Emery wraps her elbow around the pole and Amaya lets out a cry. "O-Oh my god, Emery—"

"Are you okay?" Emery asks. "Are you hurt?"

"N-No. I'm good. Just, y'know? Wet."

Emery inhales a shaky breath and chuckles. "Okay, well when this is all over, we'll get some hot chocolate or something."

Amaya nods her head. "Are you okay?"

Emery slightly opens her mouth. "Yeah, yeah. I'm okay." She then looks around. "We need to get to higher ground."

Amaya's teeth chatter together. The waves were still rushing against their bodies. Emery could see that Amaya was growing tired. "All right, come on." She motions to her back.

Amaya pulls her brows together. "What?"

"Put your arms around me."

"No. I'm fine, Emerson."

"Amaya, I do this for a living," Emery says. "We don't have time for arguments. So, please, get on my back."

Amaya exhales sharply, but she wraps her arms around Emery's neck. The youngest Sharpe sister squints her eyes, spotting something in the distance. "Em, over there!" She points.

Emery follows Amaya's finger. She sees the black SUV that was stuck. Emery slowly moves herself to get in front of the pole. "Okay, that looks like a good place to go." She slightly turns her head and meets Amaya's eyes. "Hang on tight, all right?!"

Amaya tenses and she nods her head. Emery unwraps her arm from the pole and the water begins to take push them back. Amaya lets out a gasp and her grip on Emery tightens. "I've got you, Maya."

The waves pushed the two girls faster than Emery would have expected. But when they got closer to the SUV, Emery held her hand out and grabbed onto the side mirror. Pain rips through her wrist and she screams. Amaya's heart drops, "Emerson?!"

"I'm good!" Emery grunts. She pulls her and Amaya closer to the SUV. The girl keeps her feet pressed on the side of the car. "Okay, Amaya, get on top of the car."

Amaya nods her head. She climbs onto the car with Emery's help. Amaya lets out a huff and lays on her stomach. She leans over the edge of the car and holds her hand out to her sister. "Come on!"

Emery reaches out and grabs Amaya's hand. Amaya pulls Emery up and Emery helps to climb up the car. She gets to the top of the SUV and both sisters lay on the top, catching their breaths.

☆

Then.

"I love you..."

Emery's face gets hot, "Oh, my god—stop..." she looks to the side.

"No..." A soft hand cups Emery's face. She focuses back on the woman's face. "What, I can't tell my wife that I love her?"

Emery inhales a small breath and shifts her lips to Helena's. "You can..." her heart jumps into her throat. "...I just. Don't think I'll ever get used to it."

"You don't think you'll get used to me saying, 'I love you'?" Helena sits up, pulling the sheet over her chest.

Emery bites the inside of her cheek. "I don't think I'll get used to being married to you." She cups Helena's face. "I...love you so much."

Helena smiles, and she then looks away from Emery. "Oh, God. Stoooop—" she dramatically speaks with the back of her hand on her forehead.

Emery tilts her head back and laughs. "Okay, okay—"

"No, seriously. I'm shy from the 'I love you's'."

Emery rolls her eyes, a smile on her lips. "You're not funny."

"I think I'm very funny, actually." Helena looks back at Emery. The two women keep their eyes on each other's. Helena bites the inside of her cheek, "Can you promise me something?" She touches some of Emery's curly brown hair.

Emery raises her brows. "Anything." Her voice was barely a whisper.

"If I...were to ever meet the pearly gates early—"

"Oh, God, Helena..." Emery sits up and leans her back against the headboard of their shared bed.

"I want you to promise me, that you won't stop yourself from loving anyone,"  Helena speaks. "This is very important, Emerson."

"Why?" Emery looks at her wife. "It's not like you're going to..." she trails off, not even wanting to say the word. It hurt too much to even think about. Helena being gone. She couldn't imagine her better half not being in her life anymore. "...I don't want to talk about this."

"I know, it's hard to think about." Helena touches Emery's arm. "Thinking about me dying. It's hard for me thinking about you dying."

"But you know what's even harder?" Helena raises her brows.

Emery looks at Helena with teary eyes.

"You closing yourself off because of me," Helena whispers, her voice shaking. Emery deadpans, "Glad to know that me dying isn't at the top of your list of things that would be tough to go through." Her voice was filled with sarcasm. Helena laughs softly and kisses Emery's lips.

Emery's heart jumps. Even from a small quick kiss, she couldn't control her nerves. She was crazy about Helena. Emery couldn't imagine being this head over heels for anyone else. Why would she promise something like this? She was going to say "no". She was going to say "I can't promise something like that". But then she saw the look in her wife's eyes.

The fear and burden she would carry. Emery slumps her shoulders, "Yeah..."

"I promise." Emery presses her forehead against Helena's. "But, only if you promise me too." Her nose brushes against her wife's.

Helena giggles softly, but she sniffles. "I promise."

Emery leans back and wipes the tears from Helena's eyes. "Jeez, you said that kind of fast."

Helena laughs.

"Ohhhh, I know what this is about now..." she points at Helena. "You just wanted permission to move on. Next thing I know, I'm gonna be locked in a basement with my hands tied up, huh?"

"Oh, my god—Shut. Up!" Helena lightly shoves Emery.

Now.

"Any word on how Operation 'Buck Up Buck' is going?"

Tom holds up his pointer finger. "Amazing operation name, by the way."

"Em came up with it," Eddie says.

"That girl loves her titles." Hen chuckles.

Eddie pulls his phone out, "This was this morning."

Chimney, Tom, and Hen gather around Eddie and look at the picture of Christopher and Buck.

"Full stack. Then I think of the movies." Eddie says.

Tom raises his brows and laughs. "See, now, if Dylan were to eat something like that...I'd be dealing with a gremlin."

Eddie chuckles, "Yeah, right now. Christopher should be coming down from a serious sugar high, and Buck is regretting his life choices."

"Hey, did someone leave a hydrant open?" Bobby asks.

Eddie's phone begins to vibrate and ring. "I don't think it's a hydrant, Cap."

Tom's breathing falters when he sees the Tsunami notification on Eddie's phone. "Today's going to be one of those long days, isn't it?"

Eddie laughs and looks at Tom. "Aren't they always?"

Tom notices Hen tense out of the corner of her eye. He turns and pulls his brows together. "You okay, Hen?"

Hen looks at Tom then everyone else. "Emerson. She said she was taking Amaya to the pier today."

Tom's jaw goes slack and an iron rod straightens his spine. And as he looked at each member of the team, he saw the same look of fear for the Sharpe sisters that he had.

...

Emery would've never thought that she would be stuck in a natural disaster with her little sister. But of course, her luck had other plans. Emery keeps her eyes on the rushing water around them. Every now and then, the SUV they were on top of would shake. Amaya would be lying down, but she would sit up and brace for any form of impact.

Emery would have to reassure her by gently grabbing her hand. Both girls were freezing, but there was nothing they could do about that. They just needed to find a way to much higher ground than the SUV. Or even a way to get away from the destroyed pier. If not, these two wouldn't last long. Hypothermia would come for them faster than the tsunami.

"So...what do you think Tori's doing, right now?"

Amaya pulls her brows together and looks at her sister. "Are you serious?"

Emery slightly turns her head, meeting her sister's wide eyes.

Then they both begin to laugh. Emery looks back into the water. "Did that distract you?"

Amaya arches a brow, "For a moment." She lays back on the car, her eyes on the clouds.

"I'm sorry, I brought you here." Emery arches a brow. "Sleeping in doesn't sound too bad right now."

Amaya hums, "Today was fun, though." She admits. "Before the whole...tsunami thing."

Emery's chest tightens. "Yeah..." she gnaws on her lower lip. "I'm gonna be honest with you, Amaya."

"That first wave..." she keeps her eyes across the rushing water, hoping to find anyone to help or even someone to help them. "It was only that. The first wave—a surge."

Amaya doesn't move, she just keeps her eyes on the clouds that are moving. Amaya always enjoyed cloudwatching. It wasn't star-watching, like Emery enjoyed; it still excited the younger sister. Sometimes Amaya just wished she could be up there, among the clouds. Things would probably be easier that way...

Her heart was pounding through her ears, but she still heard Emery talking about the second surge. It made a pit of hopelessness form in her stomach. Could they really survive a second one of these?

Amaya opens her mouth to speak, but her voice gets caught in her throat. She pulls her brows together and softly exhales a cry. A fear creeps through her chest, makes her way up her throat, and out of her mouth. Emery quickly turns back to her sister. "Maya, what's going on?"

Amaya sits up and shakes her head. "I don't...I don't want to die, Emerson."

Emery scrunches her brows, "What?—No, hey..." she crawls over to Amaya and sits in front of her. "You're not gonna die." She lets out a chuckle. Emery wipes Amaya's tears from her face.

"You can't promise that."

Emery's chest tightens, "You're right. I can't promise something like that." She exhales a breath. "But, I'm gonna promise you that I will do everything I can to get you out of here." Emery keeps eye contact with her little sister. Amaya's lips quiver and she wraps her arms around Emery. The eldest Sharpe touches the back of Amaya's head. Emery blinks away her tears.

"I love you, kiddo," Emery whispers.

"I love you too, Em."

☆

The firefighters made it to a small Grady white boat. The people on it were having a wedding ceremony when the tsunami hit. The bride's fiancé and son were impaled together.

"They're skewered together from the shoulder...through the abdomen..." Hen lifts up the fabric, revealing where they were being impaled from. "...to the bottom of the boat."

"And this boat is taking on water."

Tom inhales a nervous breath. "We need a plan, Cap, and we need it fast."

They make their way out of the lower deck of the boat.

"Normally, we travel them both with the object intact and let the ER sort it out." Hen voices.

"Except for this case, the object is a radio station antenna and a boat." Bobby takes his pack off. "We need to separate them. Can we do that?"

"It seems to have missed the kid's heart and lungs. I'm sure about the stepdad." Hen says. "He's got about a half dozen vital organs it could've hit. So, as long as we keep both pieces in them. Maybe..."

"Well, that's not a no."

Bobby walks back to the lower deck. Hen follows after him.

"It's okay, mom. Just go."

"He's right, ma'am," Tom speaks. "The best thing to do now is just let us work."

The bride stares at her injured fiancée and son. She then whimpers, "I love the both of you so much." Tom gently grabs the woman's hand and helps her out of the lower deck.

Tom comes back down the stairs, in time to hear Chuck speak.

"She is the love of my life. He is the love of hers." Chuck's hand begins to shake. "Save...save him."

"Our job is to save you both, so that is what we're gonna do," Bobby says. "Cover him up, Eddie."

Eddie covers the two with the blanket and Bobby. It's the antenna with a saw. Once the antenna was cut off, Bobby lifted it up, passing it to Chimney.

"Eddie, Tom, I need you to lift him up," Bobby instructs. "And Jason, if you can get on your knees at all I need you to try, okay?"

"Careful, it's gonna hurt," Hen says.

"Turn your head away." Tom gently speaks.

Bobby starts the saw again, cutting into the antenna in between the two men. Jason lets out a rack of screams. But once the antenna was cut off, they gently got Jason up. "Okay, easy..."

They put Jason on a backboard with him on his side. Hen examines Chuck and her breathing hitches. "I'm pretty sure his spleen's ruptured." She informs them. "He'll probably lose too much blood if we pull him off this."

"We'll have to cut from underneath," Bobby states.

"Underneath what?" Eddie asks.

Tom raises his brows, "The boat." He looks at Bobby.

Bobby nods his head and Tom stands up. "Let me go."

Bobby opens his mouth, "Tom—"

"I can do this, Captain." Tom urges.

Tom was normally the quiet, go-with-the-flow teammate. So, to hear him speak up was surprising. Bobby exhales through his nose and nods his head. "Okay, then let's get you down there."

Tom nods his head, "Yes, sir."

...

"Isn't it weird that we haven't seen other people?"

Emery rubs her eyes and sniffles. "Uh...I mean, yeah, actually."

"Do you think...they're...y'know?"

Emery tenses, her eyes on the sky. Both of the sisters were lying on top of the SUV. "Dead?" She raises her brows. "I know that with a wave this big, it's bound to happen. But...I just hope we didn't lose a lot of people."

"Your teams on the scene." Amaya voices. "And so are other stations. I'm sure, they're going to save as many people as they can."

Emery sighs, "Yeah, they will..."

"You think Mom and Dad are on their way as we speak?"

Emery lets out a small laugh, "Oh, hell yeah."

Amaya begins to laugh too. "God, Dad's probably talking Mom down from flying here."

Emery giggles. "Dad's always been the calm one. He's probably making her do breathing exercises all the way here."

"Can you imagine the traffic, right now?"

"Shiiit." Emery gasps. "They probably won't get here until tomorrow. Maybe even the next day."

The SUV begins to shake again and Amaya tenses. Emery quickly grabs her sister's hand. "It's okay, it's okay."

Amaya exhales a small breath. "How long do we have to keep this up?"

"I don't—"

The SUV shakes more than before, causing Emery to sit up. Her eyes shift to the water and her breathing practically stops. Amaya pulls her brows together, watching Emery's entire body tense. "Em, what's going on...?" She sits up and follows her sister's eyes.

Amaya's eyes widen, seeing the water below them gone. "Emery—"

"Amaya, come on." Emery grabs her hand and slides down the SUV. Amaya follows after her. Emery looks back behind them, seeing the water pulling back into a larger wave.

"Emerson—"

"Amaya, don't look back!" Emery grabs her little sister's hand and sprints down the street.

Amaya keeps her eyes glued to the back of Emery's head. She always looked up to her sister (literally)—wanting to follow in her footsteps. Whenever Emery told her it was going to be okay, she believed it. But today, was one of those days she couldn't believe it. Because she knew that things like this were unforeseeable. Just like loss.

Amaya never realized how much loss one person could take until this moment.

Until she felt the vicious wave hit her and her sister.

Until she felt her hand slip out of her big sister's.

☆

Then.

"A...a firefighter?"

Emery nods her head and softly hums. Helena stares at Emery for a moment. Helena was sitting on the couch while Emery was standing up with a metal pointer in her hand and a PowerPoint on their projector named, 'Becoming a Firefighter...'

Emery thought the title was so cute. It sounded like a documentary or something.

"Okay, sweetie—baby." Helena chuckles. She then licks her lips. "What happened to photography? Isn't that what you went to school for?"

"It is. Yes." Emery nods. "But then, I saw how much of a difference first responders make. And you know how I feel about cops..."

"ACAB." The married couple speaks in unison.

Helena then purses her lips, "Does this have to do with what the doctor told us? About you getting pregnant?"

Emery's back straightens and her chest constricts. Helena and Emery have had conversations about growing their family. They both have talked about kids and wanting to carry.

Emery sets the pointer down. "I just want to do something important. Something that'll help other people." She sighs. "Photography will always hold a special place in my heart. But being a firefighter..." she slowly nods her head and inhales a breath. "That's what I want to do."

A small smile forms on Helena's lips. She then nods her head. "Okay."

Emery raises her brows, "Yeah?"

"I was never going to say no, Em." Helena stands up and giggles. "I just wanted to see if you knew why you wanted to become a firefighter and you do." She walks over to her wife and wraps her arms around her neck.

Like first instinct, Emery grips Helena's waist, her eyes never leaving hers. Helena searches her wife's eyes. "Are you okay? Like with the baby?"

Emery exhales, her body relaxing. "Are you asking me if I'm happy with having a kid with you?"

"I'm asking if you're happy that I'm the one carrying?" Helena tilts her head.

Emery cups Helena's neck and traces her jawline. She takes a moment to look across Helena's glowing face and a smile forms on her lips. "Helena, I don't care if it was you or me..." she raises her brows. "But I would prefer our kid to have your emerald green eyes..."

Helena snorts and looks away from Emery. "Oh my god..." her face starts to get hot.

"I want," Emery lightly moves Helena's face, so they can look at each other again. "our child to have your nose." she exhales, her dark brown gaze filled with awe. Helena raises her pointer finger and lightly taps Emery's nose three times. I. Love. You.

Emery scrunches her nose. She then taps Helena's nose four times. I. Love. You. Too.

"I'm so proud of you, Emery." Helena then chuckles. "And you are going to make a great Captain."

"I'm not even a firefighter yet, baby." Emery laughs and looks to the side.

Helena snorts, "Who said we can't dream big? Fire Chief." She whispers in Emery's ear. A chill rushes down Emery's spine and her grip on Helena's waist tightens. Helena softly hums, "Wanna go to the room?"

Emery swallows, "Uh, yes. I would like that—very much. Let's go." She turns Helena around and guides her to the room. Helena tilts her head back and laughs.

"Right now."

Present.

"Oh, my god..."

"Is that...?"

"Yeah, guys. I need hands."

"Starting compressions."

"Oh, my god--It's not working."

"C'mon, Emery. Stay with us!"

"You gotta get up!"

Emery feels a jolt of energy enter her body and her head jerks forward with water spewing from her throat and out of her mouth. A hand grips her shoulders and forces her onto her side, so the water can have better access to come out.

"It's okay, Em. Let it out."

Emery inhales a breath and it comes out as a wheeze. She coughs and her hearing still sounds like she is still underwater. She closes her eyes and pinches her nose before popping her ears. As soon as she got her hearing back she heard...

"We got another one, Captain Nash."

Emery quickly opens her eyes, "Amaya?"

"Okay, let's get her down! Come on! Come on!"

Emery turns to see her sister being laid on her back. Her eyes travel across her sister's pale wet skin. Emery tried her best to hold onto her sister in the under the water but after hitting that pole, everything went black for her. She was surprised they even managed to stay so close.

"Maya?"

Emery felt her breathing quicken when she didn't see Amaya's chest rushing and falling. This was supposed to be a good day at the boardwalk...

"Sh-She's not breathing..." Emery begins to shiver from the wind hitting her wet body. She watched as Tom gave the girl CPR.

Emery crawls over to her sister, she shoves Tom to the side. Emery presses her hands against Amaya's chest and begins to rhythmically resuscitate her. "Come on..."

A big little sister day...

What kind of stupid fucking name was that?

"Amaya, don't do this..." Emery pinches Amaya's nose and breathes air into her mouth.

"Maya, I promise you. This is going to be the best day ever!"

"Emerson—"

"Sh-Shut up." Emery snaps. "Don't." She goes back to giving Amaya CPR. "Get the Lifepak ready."

"Emery—"

"Now, Chimney! Please!" Emerson turns to him with her eyes practically vibrating. She then looks at Bobby with pleading eyes and desperately tries to get some backup at this moment. She saw everyone's reaction and she knew what they were thinking. But she didn't fucking care. If they wouldn't help Amaya, she would do it herself.

Bobby knew that the results wouldn't have changed. But he also knew that Emery needed to do this. So, she could understand that it was too late. So, he nods his head. "Get the Lifepak ready."

Chimney grabs the Lifepak and hands it to the desperate big sister. She presses it against her little sister's chest. "Okay, Amaya, stay with me, all right?" She manages a smile. "You're gonna be fine—you hear me?!"

The firefighters around Emery exchange a look of sympathy for the girl in denial. Emery presses the sticky pads against Amaya's stone-cold skin. She pulls her hands away from her sister. "Clear!"

Amaya's body jolts and her chest rises. But she falls limp to the ground. Emery bites her lower lip. "C-Clear!"

Amaya's body jolts up, but she ends up falling limp.

"Clear!"

"Emerson—"

Amaya's body rises again just for it to fall still. Emery hits the machine again.

"Emery, listen to me—"

"No, screw you, Bobby." Emery snaps.

Emery didn't even notice that she called him by his first name.

"Amaya has school Next week—she's..." She trails off her words and looks back at her little sister. Her baby sister.

Emery resumes CPR. Her lips begin to quiver from the grief rising in her throat. Hen slowly approaches Emery and sits beside her with tears in her eyes. "Emery..."

Emery shakes her head, not wanting to listen. She didn't want to hear it. A part of her knew the truth. But she wanted to stay in denial. That's all she wanted. Just like Helena.

"...Amaya hasn't been breathing since you last saw her." Hen's voice was soft and shaky. "How long ago do you think that was?"

Emery shakes her head, "I-I don't...I don't know. But—"

"30 minutes ago," Hen says. "Even if Amaya's heart started up again. Sweetheart..."

"No, not my sister," Emery says. "Not my baby sister. I can't—I'm not losing her." She continues CPR.

Hen inhales a small breath and takes one of Emery's hands. Emery flinches, "Don't." She snaps. "Don't, please don't..." she chokes on her words. "Don't say it..."

Hen's eyes begin to tear up from the shaking and panicked breaths leaving Emery's lips. She has done this before. Told people that their loved one had died. But Hen doing it for the second time to someone she saw as her sister...

It fucking hurt her.

"Em, I need you to look at me."

Emery stops and looks at Hen, barely being able to see through her tears. She tries to focus her eyes on Hen's teary and sympathetic one's.

"Even if you got Amaya's heart to start beating again, she would be brain dead." Hen's voice was soft yet stern. She needed Emery to hear and understand her. But she also needed Emery to know that she was there for her.

Emery slightly opens her mouth and it's like the rose-colored glasses were pulled off her eyes. Amaya's cold skin made perfect sense now. When did she get so cold?

Amaya Louise Sharpe was...

Emery lets out a devastating breath and then inhales a small one. She continues to do that with her eyes on her sister's lifeless body. "Amaya..." Emery lets out a small cry. She covers her mouth and squeezes her eyes shut. Emery's body begins to violently shake with sobs. She leans forward, laying her head against her sister's body.

"Not my sister—no my baby sister, p-please."

Bring her back to me.

Tom glances away from Emery, tears running down his face. Eddie inhales a shaky breath for the grieving sister. He walks over to Emery. He falls to his knees and wraps his arms around her.

Emery's entire body was shaking with cries for her sister. Her body felt so cold.

Then her sobs became harsher than before because she knew that her body wasn't as cold as Amaya's.

☆

Then.

Emery looks up at the fire station, the feeling of excitement rushing through her veins. "This is it..." she inhales and smiles. "Don't fuck it up."

She walks into the station with some pep. As soon as she entered, she was greeted with no one. Emery hums and looks at her watch. She takes her time walking through her new work environment. It wasn't long until the fire engine rolled its way back into the station. Emery was in the locker room getting dressed when she heard people talking. Her heart drops into her stomach and her excitement turns into nerves. She debated on hiding in the hamper.

Emery shakes her nerves out of his body. She sucks in a sharp breath and holds it. Emery exhales sharply and walks out of the locker room. She sees a group of firefighters talking and laughing together. Emery bites the inside of her cheek, she then opens her mouth to say something but someone speaks.

"Probie!"

Emery jumps and focuses on the group. She chuckles nervously and walks over to them. "Hey—Hi, I'm Emerson Bailey Sharpe. Born September 20th, 1996. I'm a Virgo—"

"We don't need your whole life in one go, Sharpe."

Emery slams her mouth shut. "Yeah, of course. Sorry, just nervous."

"It's all right to be nervous." The woman in glasses smiles. "Believe me. I was a wreck my first day."

"No, you weren't." The man says beside her. The woman shushes him.

"All right, let me start over." Emery clears her throat. She then straightens her back. "Uh...I'm Emerson. You can call me, Emery or Em." She presses her lips into a small smile.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Emery." The woman with glasses holds her hand out. "I'm Hen."

Emery shakes the woman's hand and smiles. "It's nice to meet you, Hen."

"And I'm Chimney."

Emery shakes the man's hand with her brows pulled together. "Oh? Is that a nickname or something?"

The group of firefighters laugh and Emery just blinks. Hen slowly nods her head, "Or something..."

Chin throws his arms over Emery's shoulders and she grunts. "And I can tell you all about it."

Emery smiles and sucks in a sharp breath. "Can't wait."

Now.

"We need to get away from here. Right now."

"No. They need to." Bobby motions to Bosko and Emery. Eddie tenses, "But, Cap—"

"Eddie, there are still other people out there that need saving," Bobby says. "I know you want to stay with her, but right now, we need you."

Eddie shifts his eyes over to Emery. Emery now had a splint supporting her broken wrist. She had a blanket around her shoulders and she was holding Amaya's hand, while a white sheet draped over her sister's body. Eddie's eyes soften and he exhales a breath. If he were to stay with Emery instead of going with the team, he would never hear the end of it.

"Okay, can I just talk to her?"

Bobby nods his head, "Of course."

"Wait, I wanna talk to her too." Hen starts to follow after Eddie.

Eddie turns to Hen and raises his brows. "You can't go over to her." he holds a hand out to her. Hen stops and pulls her brows together, "Wh-What?" she whimpers.

"Not until you've stopped crying," Eddie speaks softly.

Hen slightly opens her mouth. She wipes at her tears, "O-Okay..." she begins to cry harder.

Eddie's eyes soften. Amaya was an important part of everyone's lives. She didn't hesitate to volunteer to watch after their kids. God, Christopher loves it when Amaya came over. It was like just two friends catching up.

Eddie makes his way over to Emery and as he gets closer to her; he can feel the thick feeling of grief in the air. It caused him to slow his walking towards her. Chimney and Tom were sitting next to Emery, hoping their presences could bring some comfort. Nobody spoke to the girl, they hadn't said a word to her since they draped Amaya's body with the sheet. What could they possibly say to her that would bring her comfort?

It would all still hurt the same.

Emery had stopped crying an hour ago. But her body was still shaking. She didn't know if it was from her soaked clothes or if it was because of what she just
went through. What she had just experienced.

What she had lost.

Emery looks down at her hand in Amaya's. Her lip begins to quiver and her breathing heavies. Before she could break down again, she heard a soft voice.

"Hey, Em?"

The muffle and distortion from her hearing clears. She keeps her shaky brown eyes on her and Amaya's hands interlocked. Even though she didn't reply, Eddie knew she was listening. He sits beside her, his eyes on Amaya's covered body. Emery has tried to be there for Eddie through his loss of Shannon. Because she knew what it was like to go through that.

But he would always brush her off and tell her he was fine. Eddie couldn't help but feel guilt knowing that he pushed one of his best friends away. He had to at least try and help her through this.

"There are still people out there that need our help." Eddie gently speaks. "So, we're gonna go."

Eddie and Chimney exchange a look when Emery doesn't react. "Bosko is going to be here with you."

"We'll meet you back at the rendezvous point," Thomas says.

The three men stand up and start to walk back over to the team.

"Please..."

Both stop when they hear the small hoarse voice come from the girl. They look over at her. Her eyes were still on Amaya.

"...just be careful."

━━━━━━━━━━

author's note.

When I tell you I was crying writing this chapter...

I WAS CRYING WRITING THIS CHAPTER

If you think this chapter is sad...wait until the next one 🙄

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