2 DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Hmm. The Fire Ace.

Nice name for a bar, considering it's near our Station.

Buck took me out for a drink.

He tried to ask everyone out, but Chim is going out on a date with Maddie, Hen and Cap are eating dinner at home, Michelle is still at home, recovering from her injuries.

"So that's both of us only for tonight... thanks, Jacky..." Buck said.

"It's alright, I'm free tonight anyways," I said.

We entered the bar, and the owner greeted us right away.

"Hey, Buck! And this is..."

"Jacky, Jacky Man. I'm a paramedic at Buck's station."

"Nice to meet ya, I'm Sam, the owner here. Oh and today there's live music over there if you are interested."

"Thanks, Sam."

I headed over to the stage in a corner of the bar.

"I'm not looking for somebody

With some superhuman gift

Some superheroes

Some Fairy-tale bliss

Just someone I can turn to

Somebody I can kiss

I want something just like this..."

"Thank you, everyone!" Michelle said. "Wait. Jack?"

"Yes, Michelle it's me. I never knew that you played the guitar."

"So you know now. I started playing guitar when I was around 14." Michelle said.

We sat at the bar area.

"This is Sam's guitar. We've been friends since I moved to LA. I couldn't own one, so I ended up borrowing Sam's. I express my feelings by singing and playing the guitar since *Grabs a drink* I couldn't do so when that bastard is around."

Well just like me who express my feelings by writing.

Oh. Hey. I'm.... the writer. Sorry for interrupting. Yeah. I should go. Bye.

"I see...."

Jackie

Hey I can play the guitar 22:30

let me join in! 22:30

Yes, I am having a nap. 22:30

Jackie

"Me too. I can play the guitar too." I said.

"Oh. Go on," Michelle said and handed me the guitar.

"Just.. don't break it," Sam added.

"Alright. Thanks." I said.

I looked up for the chords that I got on my phone.

The Nights... Alright, I choose you.

"I never know that you also played the guitar too."

"Now you know."

CHRISTMAS

Jacky

Yes. The usual motorcycle ride. The best solution for traffic jams.

Oh yes. My bag is on the cycle. How can I forget that?

Uh oh.

My cycle is on fire.

"Guys? I need help." I said. "GUYS? MY MOTORCYCLE IS ON FIRE."

Buck and Hen extinguished the fire with a fire extinguisher.

"Well. Merry Christmas." I said and grabbed my bag (which was lying next to the burnt bike, unharmed.)

"Merry... Christmas, jack." Buck said.

Jacky

Jackie remember to ask Michelle for a ride home. My motorcycle was on fire. 09:10

Jackie

"Michelle....?"

"Alright let me guess. Need a ride home?"

"You read my mind."

"Of course Jack I saw your bike on fire."

"Anyways thanks."

Cap called us from the ground floor.

"Everyone, here's our Christmas present: a new Aerial Ladder Truck!"

Remember like weeks ago when Michelle was kidnapped? The van she was on crashed into our ladder truck. The ladder truck was hit on the side, no one was hurt but the ladder truck was damaged. So we got a new one instead.

Oh, speaking of the Ladder truck, this is the first day of Michelle's work after the incident.. She stayed in the hospital for a week and stayed home for 3 weeks. So I made up a plan with Hen and Buck.

While cap is taking others (including Michelle) around the new Ladder Truck, I sneaked to the rescue with Buck and Hen.

"Ok. Be careful Buck..." I said while Buck transferred the cake to the stretcher.

"Ok.... here we go. Done." Buck said.

"Now open the door and I will push the stretcher out with Hen."

Pulling a stretcher with actual people on it is easy, but a cake... it's more challenging.

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"Easy... easy..." Hen said when she was moving the stretcher.

"Woah!" The cake is about to fall over...!

"Gotcha!" Buck jumped in just in time.

"Buck you saved the day," I said.

We pushed the stretcher to the back of the ladder truck.

"Welcome back Michelle!" We shouted.

"Oh, I thought no one remembered that. Thanks." Michelle smiled then said.

"Alright, you smiled," I said.

"Chris is out of LA. I am officially disengaging my shield." Michelle said.

09:45

- 911 What's your emergency?

- I FELL AND BROKE MY ARMS! HELP!

10:00

Christmas. A holiday! But there's something that kills the holiday mood - work. No one likes to work during a holiday.

A woman called 9-1-1 after she slipped in her toilet when she was dressing up for work.

"I hate work...and I think I found a worm...that came from my huge pimple." the caller said. "I can't believe that I have to go to work on a freaking holiday!"

"What worm... how big is it? And how does it look like?" Buck asked.

"It's.... erm... this (pinching hand) big."

"That's likely to be a maggot. Have you been to Africa recently?" Hen said.

"CDC said that some flies deposit eggs near wounds or sores, or they might get into you by mosquito bites. Those eggs that got inside grow into maggots." I said, after doing a google search.

"Yes... I returned from a backpacking trip last week... its for work. I think I got a mosquito bite there.. why these stuff keeps happening to me..."

"We are taking you to the hospital where they can fix your dislocated arms and remove any remaining eggs," Chim said.

"Now you don't have to work at Christmas," Michelle said.

"Yay, I guess."

ON THE RESCUE

"I think I should give myself a Christmas present..."

"What is it?" I asked.

"I'm thinking of switching jobs."

"That's great. Having a job that makes you feel happy is important." I said.

"Haven't decided that yet. I wanted to help people, but now I ended up being someone working in an office. I hate my job."

"I'm sure you can find one. Ever considered being a paramedic? There are private providers out there if you aren't interested in being a firefighter." I said.

"Hmm. Sounds interesting. I will check on it... after the doctors fix my broken arm."

12:15

- 911 What's your emergency?

- Help... I need help... Someone fell from the roof.

12:30

It's Christmas, a great time for Christmas presents, but not so great if you have to take care of decorations, on the roof.

A man fell from the roof, and his neighbor was hurt while trying to help him.

"Mr. Parker fell from the roof when he was installing the inflated Santa Claus."

"Ok. Let us take care of him. Jack? Michelle?" Hen said. I followed Hen to the patient. But Michelle is taking care of the boy who called 9-1-1.

I performed an examination on Mr. Parker with Hen. He isn't seriously injured like he only suffered a bone fracture on his leg. The Santa fell with him and broke his fall.

Michelle is still taking care of the caller.

"Need any help?" I asked.

"No. Just a cut. I manage." Michelle replied. "He's Noah, by the way."

Michelle finished bandaging Noah's wound. He gave Michelle a post-it.

"Hmm... that looks like a serious problem. I think I need to take you to the hospital to have a look."

"What's wrong...?" I asked.

That's odd.

She passed me Noah's post-it.

"I NEED HELP,"

"Oh. Ok. I'll talk to Hen. Seems serious." I said.

"Hen, we got a problem on our hands," I said and gave the post-it to Hen.

"That's serious. Bring her to the rescue, quickly. I will notify dispatch." Hen said.

"Michelle? Bring the patient to the rescue. Quick." I said.

"Alright Noah, let's go," Michelle said.

ON THE RESCUE

"Noah, you're on safe hands," Michelle said. "Can you tell us what happened?"

"My dad... she brought back a kid someday.... and I saw his face on the news. The boy looks scared."

"Okay. I see." Michelle said.

"I was involved in a similar case before... I will call Dispatch, and see what can we do about this." Hen said.

13:00

Athena met us at the hospital.

"Thena, here's the kid. He gave us this memo so we called it in." Hen said.

"Thanks, Hen. What's his name?"

"Noah. Noah Miller. That's what he told us." Michelle said.

"Ok. Is he injured?"

"Yes, but just a small cut," I said. "Noah, this is Athena. She is going to help you."

"Thank you, Jackie, Michelle, and Hen," Noah said.

"You're welcome."

16:30

"Rescue 118? This is dispatch. We need your help." That came from the radio.

"Michelle, Jack, look outside. Dispatch wants us to look for a red scooter. Caller called 911 for help but have no idea where she is." Hen said.

"Ok," Michelle said.

"Wilco," I said.

We both looked out of the window- I sat near the rear door, and Michelle is looking out of the side door window.

A FEW MOMENTS LATER

"Hen? I saw the scooter!" Michelle said.

"Dispatch? We found the location that you're looking for."

"Rescue 118, Location confirmed. Thanks for your help. We will need you to pull up somewhere nearby, to get the caller."

"Roger that dispatch."

"Wait. Is this... the house next to Mr. Parker's house? Noah's House?" I asked.

"I think I saw this house before," Michelle said.

"Yes. This is Noah's house. Dispatch received a call from here, looks like a child." Hen said.

"Hen? Can you tell dispatch to get the girl out?" Michelle asked.

"Dispatch, can you tell the child to leave the house?"

"No, the girl seems too frightened. You will have to break in."

Jacky

Let the expert take care of the job. 16:05

We broke into the house.

Michelle found the girl in the living room.

"I'm here to help. Follow me." Michelle said. The girl ran towards her, and she picked her up.

We left the house. I saw a man running towards us.

"RUN, MICHELLE RUN!"

Right after Michelle and the girl safely boarded the rescue, I got strangled by someone behind me.

I... can't breathe.

And I think I am seeing flashbacks, in between reality and memories. The nightmare.

"JACK?" "JACKIE?"

I saw a firefighter and Michelle, running towards me.

That's it. I have to fight back.

I bit the man and stepped on his foot. He shouted in pain and released me.

"Jack? Here, I got you." Michelle said while holding my arms. She helped me to walk back to the rescue.

"Jack? You alright?" Michelle asked.

I didn't say anything, and I cried on Michelle's shoulders.

Michelle put her arms around me.

17:30

"Both of them were on the AMBER alert. We called their parents and they are on their way. The boy comes from Orange Country, and the girl was recently taken away from Santa Clarita." said Athena. "You guys did a great job today."

"Thanks, thena." Hen said.

"No. Thank you. And I mean all of you."

Someone ran towards us.

"Where's my daughter?" He asked.

"What is your name?" I asked

"James Holmes. Father of Ellie Holmes."

"There. Bay 2."

"Thank you...."

"You're welcome."

I joined Michelle at the nurse station and watched the 2 kids reunited with their parents.

"Feeling better?" She asked.

"Yes. That was my nightmare. But thank you." I said.

"You're welcome."

"This is a Christmas miracle, right?"

"Yes, I guess."

"Merry Christmas."

"You too. Merry Christmas."

"You up for dinner tonight?"

"Sure thanks. How about Sam's place?"

"Hell yeah."

THE FIRE ACE

"Hey, Michelle and Jack. Welcome!"

"Sam Merry Christmas!"

"Thank you! Here's your guitar. Enjoy."

"Thanks, Sam!"

AT THE STAGE

"Guys? Merry Christmas! Alright. Let's begin with Last Christmas."