One Night Stand

Chapter 8

The shift may have started off slow, but for Gray and Cabello it was like the calm before the storm. Since the apartment fire they had been able to make it back to the house only a few times and those stays were short lived.
Half an hour after their shift ended they pulled into 51 to hand the ambo over to the next shift.
"Man I hate days like this," Gray grumbled as they headed towards the locker room.
Cabello nodded, "I like being kept busy but today was definitely overkill. I feel like I could sleep for twenty-four hours straight."
"Agreed!" Gray said as she looked around the locker room.
"Girl, I'll give you a ride home. I think Rafferty already left cause I didn't see his car." Cabello said figuring that was why Gray was looking around.
"Yeah, you're probably right. Thanks." Gray said while she opened her locker.
Cabello caught the distracted tone in Gray's voice and thought for a moment. Then the realization hit her. "You're not looking for Rafferty are you Gray?"
Gray quickly responded, almost too quickly with a slight defensive edge, "Who the hell else would I be looking for?"
Cabello smirked, "Oh I don't know. Maybe a very attractive brunette firefighter who joined our house today?"
"I don't know what you're talking about. I have no reason to be looking for Nicole." Gray said as dismissively as she could.
"I may be tired but I'm starting to connect the dots. A very attractive female firefighter that you knew was from Milwaukee before anyone else who happened to be named Nicole? I seem to remember a story from about six or seven months ago that co-starred someone sounding very similar to our newbie." Cabello responded.
Gray looked at her partner and sighed. She quickly looked away when she felt a blush creep up on her face.
"So our newbie is that Nicole you hooked up with isn't she?" Cabello asked.
Gray nodded since she had no idea what she wanted to say about the situation.
"Wow, that's a weird coincidence." Cabello commented when Gray remained silent.
"I know." Was Gray's only reply.
"Well, what's she doing here now?" Cabello asked.
"I don't know. I..."
"You don't think she sought you out, like tracked you down?"
"Cabello, no. I don't know what brought her to 51. All I know is she's here because she lives in Chicago now and we needed another person on truck. I was beyond surprised when I saw her up there with Bailey at the beginning of shift." Gray replied.
    "You mean you haven't talked to her?" Cabello asked then quickly said, "Of course you haven't, today was the marathon of nonstop calls for us."
    Gray sighed again, "I tried after lunch before the craziness but she seemed pissed at me. She said I should have talked to her and not sent Rafferty to gather the story."
    "Well I'd have to agree with her on that..."
    "But I didn't tell him to talk to her, that's what's frustrating. I have no idea what he said to her."
"Well let's get you home so you can find out what kind of damage your roommate did. If you want that second chance..."
"Cabello, who said anything about a second chance?"
"When you told me about this woman back then I told you if it's meant to be you'll get another shot sometime."
"You did?" Gray asked trying to remember the conversation.
"So let's get out of here so you can figure out how big your next move has to be." Cabello said with a huge smile.

Nicole had been home for half an hour and hadn't stopped bitching about Driver. She told Rachel about each of the six runs they had been on. The first being dismissed to help the girls and the other five being reduced to an overdressed bystander.
When Nicole seemed to slow down a little Rachel said, "You've dealt with difficult guys before sis. Just relax a bit, he's only a temp."
"That doesn't make it any less frustrating!" Nicole spat back.
"I know sis but Bailey's behind you right?" Rachel asked.
Nicole shrugged, "Seems to be but we'll see."
"So besides the temporary lieutenants how's the rest of the people on your shift?" Rachel asked hoping there was some positives from her sister's first day.
Nicole laughed, "You'll love this one sis. One of the paramedics on my shift is a woman I hooked up with when I came down here to visit you guys."
Rachel wasn't sure how Nicole wanted her to react so she decided to ask a logical question. "Is that going to be an issue?"
"Maybe," Nicole shrugged. "Too early to tell."
"How so Nic?"
"Her roommate laid into me about why I was at their house like I was a stalker or something which pissed me off. If she had questions she should have asked me herself." Nicole replied.
Rachel laughed because it finally dawned on her who they were talking about, "Shit my brain is slow this morning. You hooked up with Amber Gray?"
"Yeah, why?" Nicole replied defensively.
"At least you have good taste in women even if it's just a hook up. Hell if I had known I could have warned you was at 51." Rachel said smiling, she couldn't deny she found the situation amusing.
"Gee that would have been good to know yesterday morning." Nicole said sarcastically.
Rachel answered back with the same sarcasm, "Well yesterday I didn't know you hooked up with Gray."
"Valid point." Nicole shrugged. "But why did it take you so long to realize I was talking about Gray? How many lesbian paramedics do you guys have in Chicago?"
"You'd be surprised how many female medics would hook up with another woman." Rachel said with a laugh then answered the bigger question. "It's my first cup of coffee Nic and you've been bitching my ear off. Give me a break, my brain hasn't completely woken up yet."
"Anyways, how do you know Gray?" Nicole asked.
"My old patrol was in 51's area, I knew the people in that house pretty well at the time." Rachel informed her.
"I didn't know that. If you knew these people so well, why didn't you give me a heads up before I walked in there?" Nicole asked.
"You never asked me if I knew people at 51 til now." Rachel replied with a shrug then added, "And again I didn't know you hooked up with Gray."
"Whatever." Nicole said slightly frustrated.
"Back to the point, have you talked to Gray?" Rachel asked though she thought she knew the answer.
    "Not really. After Rafferty laid into me I wasn't' too eager for round two." Nicole admitted.
    "I figured." Rachel said as she walked towards the stairs to get ready for work. "Look I got to know Rafferty and Gray a bit so I can actually give a little insight in this instance. My advice, whether you want it or not, talk to Gray. Rafferty is overly protective of her but she definitely has her own mind and will fight her own battles. Find out what's going on in her mind from her before you pass judgement sis!"

    When Gray got home she found Rafferty in the kitchen. "Just in time for breakfast Gray!" He said with a smile.
    She couldn't match his smile. "I'm not hungry."
    "Look I'm sorry I didn't wait around for you and Cabello to get back but I didn't know how long you'd be, you weren't answering your phone. I figured Cabello would give you a ride home." Rafferty said apologetically.
    Gray shook her head, "That's not why I'm mad Kyle."
    Rafferty looked confused, "Okay, then what happened? I know you had a busy shift but that doesn't usually make you pissed."
    "It didn't. Are you telling me you really have no idea why I'm mad?"
    Rafferty just shrugged, he was lost.
    She walked up to him, looked him in the eyes and asked in a serious tone, "What did you say to Nicole at work?"
    "Not much." He said with a shrug. "Why, what did she say?"
    "Really Kyle? Just not much." Gray rolled her eyes then locked on him with an angry stare. "She told me to talk to my buddy."
    "I just questioned why she was at 51 where you and I work." He quickly admitted
    "And you didn't think I was capable of asking that question myself?" Gray asked angrily.
    Rafferty shrugged again, "I wasn't sure you would."
    Gray took a few deep breaths to compose herself. She knew Rafferty was just looking out for her but she was tired of being viewed as defenseless. "I'm capable of speaking for myself Kyle. I know the whole Kelly relationship thing a few months ago was a cluster fuck disaster but give me a little leeway, Nicole was a one night thing.
    "But Nicole is here now. Doesn't that concern you?" Rafferty asked calmly.
    Gray nodded, "A little but I'd like to hear her reason for myself before I pass judgement, not hear the information second hand." Gray said as nicely as she could manage.
    "Fair enough." Rafferty responded. "I'm just trying to look out for you Gray."
    "I know but you can't fight all my battles Kyle. And don't forget I'm pretty scrappy when I need to be." She said with a smile.