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Chimney’s leg bounced as he looked out the window of the police cruiser. They’d spent the last couple of hours responding to a horrific call, a pileup on the interstate caused by a car that was driving in the wrong direction.
They’d helped to save a lot of lives, gotten people out of the wreckage and on their way to the hospital, but there had been too many victims that were beyond help when they arrived, killed by the impact of a reckless accident.
Not more than an hour ago he’d been hunched over a fellow firefighter with the 118, Renfro, helping to patch him up and get him on the way to the hospital.
Until they’d been standing there and received a call from dispatch about a woman in labor and then everything all seemed to blur together. Somehow Chim had ended up in Athena’s cruiser. On more than one occasion he wouldn’t have put it past her to toss him into the back of the car and take him in—usually for his poor taste in humor and penchant for pranks.
“You alright?” Athena asked, the red lights of the ambulance reflecting off of the hood of the car, the sound of sirens breaking through the night.
“Yeah, I’m okay.” Chim answered, a forced laugh barely slipping past his lips as he glanced over at Athena. They’d been acquaintances for a long time. First, because Athena and Hen had been good friends and since Hen was his best friend their paths crossed regularly, and later on, because of Bobby. Even so, he was used to having some sort of buffer between the two of them.
The way their professional lives bled into their personal ones felt especially wrong tonight, the overlap was almost jarring after seeing so much loss, all the while preparing himself to welcome his child into the world.
“Maybe even great,” he adds after a minute, “and it’s probably terrible to say when…”
“When there are so many terrible things happening out there in the world? So many terrible things that we witnessed tonight?”
“Yeah, I guess.” Chim had always been pretty good at keeping his emotions out of calls, but there were times like tonight when they’d weigh on his heart. His mind kept going back to the boy who had called 911 in the first place, Jacob, and he really hoped that if anyone could pull through the tragedy tonight that it would be him.
“It just feels wrong,” he adds.
“It’s not,” Athena reminds him. “What happened today was horrific and traumatic for a lot of people, but being excited for your first child coming into the world? That’s what it’s all about.” Athena’s focus on the road ahead didn’t falter as she spoke. “If you lose all of your excitement for your life and family… you’ve given too much of yourself to the job.”
Chim nodded with a small jerk, still bouncing his leg anxiously in his seat.
“If you don’t stop bouncing your leg, we’re gonna have a problem,” she warned. Chim felt completely incapable of reading her, no matter the circumstance, so his leg quickly came to a halt with a muttered apology. “I remember how I felt with May. Hold on to that feeling for as long as you can.”
Athena pulled into the hospital and they moved swiftly toward the entrance, weaving through First Presbyterian in a way that only those who frequented the hospital could. Chim and Maddie had visited with enough false alarms that he knew exactly where he was headed. It was hard to believe, even after 42 weeks, that this was finally it.
Chim walked beside Athena, excitement and anxiety thrumming through his veins. He’d helped deliver babies in a pinch, had seen his share of deliveries, and he knew what to expect. This was different, it was Maddie upstairs, preparing to deliver their baby. Chim managed to press the button for the elevator, despite how unsteady he felt, and he turned to look at Athena.
“Okay, wish me luck.”
“Good luck,” Athena said as he stepped into the elevator. “Word of advice? If she tells you to shut up, shut up.”
“Copy that.” Chim drew in a deep breath as the elevator doors closed in front of him, Athena disappearing from view.
Most people were lucky to experience or witness a miracle once in a lifetime, if they were lucky. In his time with the 118, Chim had been witness to several unlikely miracles, victims pulling through when the odds, and sometimes even science, were against them. He’d somehow experienced two miracles, surviving rebar through his skull and then being stabbed by Doug.
Not to mention what he’d seen the rest of the firehouse, particularly Buck, endure and survive.
Despite all of the miracles that he’d personally been witness to, nothing felt as monumental as what he was experiencing now. Sitting in the chair beside Maddie’s hospital bed, dabbing the sweat from her brow with a towel, and holding her hand as he tried to help her manage the pain through the contractions.
Maddie grasped his hand tightly as the next one pulsed through her, Dr Heller coaching her through it. “You’re almost there. On the next contraction I need you to push for 10.”
Maddie nodded her head jerkily and Chim swept her hair back out of her face, unable to stop the swell of emotion around his heart as he watched her. He’d never met anyone as strong as Maddie before, able to conquer every challenge that life threw her way.
“You’ve got this, Maddie. Let’s meet our daughter.”
Maddie looked at him with tear filled eyes, somehow managing a smile despite the pain she was feeling, having planned all along to not get an epidural to help her with the pain. As it turned out, she wouldn’t have had time for one even if she wanted it.
The wave of the next contraction hit, and Chim counted her through it until a cry sounded in the hospital room.
“Sounds like someone’s got a healthy set of lungs on her,” Dr Heller said with a smile, looking at both Chim and Maddie.
She was a warrior, and Chim was completely in awe of her. He dipped his head down, kissing the side of her head as Dr Heller and the nurses checked the baby’s vitals, and he allowed himself a few moments to focus on this incredible thing that Maddie had just done.
Chim’s vision blurred as he looked down at her and blinked a few times to clear the tears. “I can’t believe you did it. I’m so proud of you.”
“I really did it,” Maddie gasped a breath as she held Chim’s gaze, disbelief obvious in her tone.
Within moments their baby was in Maddie’s arms, and Chim couldn’t tame the warmth that spread through his chest like wildfire. The love that he felt for Maddie—and now their daughter—was all consuming, and he didn’t want anything to ever dampen that.
“She’s perfect,” Chim whispered, sweeping away a tear as he watched Maddie’s first moments of motherhood, their baby swaddled in her arms. Maddie gently cradled her, bending forward and pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head.
They were both perfect, and somehow Chim was lucky enough to call them his.