It is the day after I went out with Tim and I am watching Tyler. Why? Well, he is freaking out because his date wanted to do something romantic. Of course, Tyler is not ready to commit to another serious relationship yet. I can't blame him after what Alex triggered in him. I'm just annoyed that he won't let himself be vulnerable. Based on what he says Carlos won't do anything stupid.

"I'm telling you, Piper. I made a mistake," Tyler complains as he paces back and forth.

"You didn't make a mistake, you are afraid of letting yourself love again. I'm sure it will work itself out," I get to work on reassuring Tyler. It is proving to be a difficult task. He is acting like it is the end of the world.

"I just don't think it is going to work out in the way that Carlos wants. The thing is I want to make it work for the both of us," Tyler responds.

"Well the first step is to let yourself love again," I reply. After a few minutes of back and forth, Tyler finally calms down enough to get ready for work. After a few minutes, Tyler is finally ready. After what feels like an eternity we made it to the fire station. Since Tyler and I travelled together I am early. Not that it matters as I can get the inventory done while I wait for Michelle and Tim. After a minute I join the B shift crew as they finalise a few things on their end. After ten minutes the B shift crew leave as Tim and Michelle have arrived.

"Morning," I greet the pair.

"Good morning. You're here early," Michelle observes.

"Yeah don't tell TK I told you but I had to drop him off after a rough date last night," I explain whilst being vague as I don't want to expose the fact that I am worried about him. Despite his best reassurances, I will worry as the last time he spiralled like this it didn't end well.

"At least he has a sister like you," Michelle responds before turning her attention to getting herself ready for the day. As I sought the ambulance I found myself wondering what she meant by a sister like me. I guess I will have to ask her. Before I have the chance she turns her attention to making sure the inventory is sorted. After a few hours of relative quiet the signal bell rings. It is an all-hands-on-deck call. After a scramble to the ambulance, we are underway.

"Call me stupid but what injuries are we expecting?" I tentatively ask as I have the feeling that we will be attending to one of the weirder calls that could happen in Texas. A part of me wonders what is going through my dad's mind as the person who has to coordinate the rescue.

"Since someone is trapped in a grain silo I'd say crush injuries or drowning," Tim replies. I can tell that he has a smirk on his face. Well, I knew coming to Texas was going to be different but this takes it to a whole new level. After what feels like an eternity we finally make it to the silo in question. As soon as our boots hit the ground my dad gets to work on delivering his orders.

"Everybody with high-angle training goes up. We've got to get this kid out of here," Dad barks his orders. With that, everyone gets to work on following his orders. After a minute the ladder is finally in place. Now for the hard part. Watching as my brother goes in for a risky rescue.

"Alright Listen up, y'all this is what we are going to do. You get in there, you put your platform down then you stay put," Judd takes over. After confirming Judd's orders the others go up. I watch on with nervous anticipation.

"You're not used to watching are you?" Tim observes.

"No. In New York, depending on the level of difficulty of the rescue, my crew would be right behind," I confirm. The thing is it is something that I will have to get used to as there is no way that Michelle would let me do something this crazy. In all honesty, I wouldn't want to go up in a grain silo anyway.

"Judd knows what he is doing," Michelle tries to reassure me that everything is going to be ok. The thing is, as far as I am aware, Judd is the only one that has experience with grain silo emergencies. After what feels like an eternity disaster strikes. I notice one of the rescue cables slacken. After a few seconds, our radios crackle to life.

"Captain Strand they went down," It's Judd and he is panicking.

"Who's going down?" My dad asks to get his head around the situation.

"TK and Marjan. Cut it open now," Judd responds. My heart sinks as Dad and one of the other firefighters gets to work on opening a hole in the silo. My breath catches on my throat as time ticks away. Luckily for me my dad and the other firefighter are quick. The grain comes pouring out. As soon as I spot Tyler a sigh falls from my mouth. With that, my team makes our move.

"TK are you good?" Dad beats me to check on Tyler.

"Yeah, I'm good. Where is Marjan?" Tyler asks just as Marjan surfaces. There is just one problem. She is missing her hijab. With that, I dash to the ambulance to get a blanket. As the others move to block her from view I return with the blanket. With a few swift movements, Marjan uses it to cover her hair. I just pray that there are no consequences. Something tells me that there will be. Luckily for us, the cleanup was quick and no one got hurt. As we make our way back to the fire station I find myself staring out of the window. Of course, I am worried about Marjan. She was a

"You should check on Marjan when we get back," Michelle remarks.

"I will," I reply. After all, Marjan looked shell-shocked at the fact that her hijab came off during a rescue. After a few minutes, we made it back to the fire station. As soon as I leave the ambulance my attention is grabbed by the sound of grunting. I round the corner to find Judd and Tyler locked in what amounts to a schoolyard fight. The next thing I know Paul and I are trying to pry the pair apart. Luckily for both of us, it is an easy job.

"What the hell is going on?" I ask as there is no way that two grown men should be fighting in the way that they were.

"We were having a conversation," Judd counters as he makes himself look bigger to intimidate Tyler.

"With a bunch of exclamation points. Are you good?" Paul jumps in.

"We're great," I can hear the poison in Tyler's voice. He gives Judd the stink eye as he leaves. I will have to talk to Tyler about what happened but first I have to make sure Marjan is ok. After a minute, I found her in the bathroom.

"I'm sure you're sick of people asking but are you ok?" I open the conversation as I join her.

"Honestly I don't know. I'm worried about how people will think. Islam values modesty and this is the first time my hijab has come off during a rescue," Marjan explains the situation.

"Look if it is any consolation if you need someone to vent your frustration I'm happy to listen," I offer.

"You've got problems of your own," Marjan retorts as she makes some adjustments to her hijab.

"It doesn't matter. Who hasn't got problems," I counter. The thing is I know that Marjan will need some kind of ally at some point.

"Thank you," Marjan gives in. After a few minutes, I rejoin Tim and Michelle. The good thing is since no medical attention was given there is not much that I can do. It has been hours since then and night has fallen. Right now I am reading. I am sitting on the gurney while I do so as I don't want to be in the way of the others as they unwind. A lot has happened and I want some alone time hence why I am in the ambulance. My alone time is soon shattered by the sound of the signal bell. Thankfully it is a medical call. After a few minutes, we made it to a Texas steakhouse. As soon as we walk through the door we are greeted by a concerned woman.

"I'm Teri. She's right through here," The woman introduces herself as we head to the victim.

"Did anyone see what she was doing before she collapsed?" Michelle asks.

"Eating a ninety-six ounce steak," Teri confirms.

"That's what six pounds of meat?" Tim asks as we glance at each other in horror.

"Why the hell would anyone eat that much steak?" I ask. The thing is I know food-eating contests are intense but they normally involve some kind of soft food like hotdogs. With that, we make it to a small stage. The first thing that I notice is the wall of fame.

"To get on my wall, of course," Teri responds in a slightly obnoxious way.

"Pride is a powerful thing," Michelle counters. She is not wrong. I can't judge even if I wanted to. With that, we get to work.

"Sonya, we are here to help you. I'm a paramedic," Michelle makes the required introductions. Before we can do anything Sonya curls over in pain.

"I have to go," She cries as Michelle and I move to help her.

"You just need to stay here for a moment. We are going to get you out of here as soon as possible. Is there any chance you might be pregnant?" Michelle gets to work on ruling out the obvious things as I get to work on checking her vita

"No," another cry from Sonya.

"BP is ninety over sixty," I announce.

"But her heart rate is one hundred and sixteen. I don't think it's a heart attack," Tim's response only adds to the confusion. After some back and forth we end up with an interesting conclusion.

"This is hyponatremia," Michelle blurts out. Now it makes sense. She is suffering from water intoxication. To put it in simple terms she drank too much water in one go.

"We need to reposition her," Michelle orders before we reposition her. After a few seconds, I pass Michelle to the necessary equipment. After some back and forth between Michelle and Tim, we are finally ready.

"You're going to feel a little pressure," Michelle warns our patient before getting to work. After a few seconds, things start to go wrong. It turns out we may have underestimated how much fluid has built up. After making some adjustments the floodgates open so to speak. I recoil at the amount of fluid. Of course, most of it lands on Teri's wall of fame. I glance at Teri as she watches on in horror at the situation unfolding. Sonya releases a sigh of relief signalling the end of the drama.

"What a mess," I remark as I glance at Tim.

"Pride makes people stupid," Tim confirms what I already know. I find myself inwardly giggling as we prepare Sonya for transport.

It is the day after my shift and I am staring at my dad. Why? Well, I am waiting for something to go wrong. The thing is I know for a fact that the chances of something going wrong during the first treatment are slim to non-existent. My dad returns the favour with an annoyed look. We haven't exchanged a word since the treatment started. I put it down to the fact that the reality of the situation has gotten to Dad.

"You're worrying too much kid," The patient next to my dad speaks up.

"I can't help it. My dad's been through a lot lately," I retort. We both have. I also know what the consequences of the treatment not working are.

"Look, it's going to be a long journey. Anyway, what are you in for?" The guy turns his attention to my dad.

"Cancer," My dad replies sarcastically. I can't blame him as it is the obvious answer. Besides, he would be talking to me if he was in the mood. The man scoffs at my dad's answer.

"Stage one, two, three or four? Prostate, pancreas, Lymphoma? I'm sorry I'm a stats guy," The man apologises for some reason.

"Lung cancer. Stage 1B," As the conversation goes on I find myself being glad that my dad is opening up little by little. Of course, I wish he would tell Tyler about it but there is nothing that I can do about it. It is not my story to tell.

"You're lucky Owen. You know what the worst part is? It's breaking the news to your team. I dreaded telling my boys. I was the head football coach at Baxter High for thirty years," The man remarks.

"How did they take it, your boys?" My dad asks so that he knows what to expect when he inevitably has to tell Tyler and the rest of the crew.

"Bawled like babies," The man responds. After what feels like an eternity my dad's first treatment is finally finished. Thankfully the only issue was the fact that my dad was slightly annoyed when the nurse removed the cannula. I can't blame him.

It is the day after and I am fighting the urge to tell Tyler about my dad's cancer. It is weighing on my mind which is a problem as I am currently at work and it is a surprisingly quiet day.

"What's wrong? You seem like you swallowed a bitter pill," Tim checks on me. I sigh.

"Well, you know how I told you that I got some bad news? Well, it has gone from bad to worse," I reply as I glance over at the fire trucks to make sure that Tyler is busy with his chores. Thankfully he is.

"Promise me that you won't tell Dad I told you this but...He has lung cancer and he refuses to tell TK about it. I am fighting the urge to tell Tyler about Dad's diagnosis because he deserves to hear it from him," I find myself venting. Tim's eyes go wide.

"Before you can ask, I don't need your pity. Dad has the best chance of pulling through," I add for good measure. I just want to make sure Dad is safe instead of being pitied.

"If I pity anyone it should be Owen. Anyway, I'm sure cancer is far from the worst thing that he has had to deal with," Tim replies as he double-checks that everything is in its place.

"I guess...," I trail off as he is right. He had to rebuild our fire station after 9/11.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to ruin the mood," I find myself apologising.

"Don't worry about it. Sometimes it helps if you have someone that will listen," Tim counters. He is right. Before I can say anything the signal bell goes. After a few minutes, we made it to the scene. Luckily for us, the firefighters have made our lives easy.

"Piper make sure her leg has circulation. Tim make sure the rest of her vitals are good," Michelle orders. It doesn't take long for us to get her ready for transport. A part of me wishes someone would use the dreaded Q word. I need some action to keep myself from spilling the news to Tyler. At least this job is simple enough.

It has been a few hours since then and I am doing some exercise as I act as a spotter for my dad. The annoying thing is Tyler is watching on as well. Disaster soon strikes. Both Judd and I jumped in to help him. As soon as we free him Tyler turns his attention to us.

"Dad, are you ok?" He tentatively asks. The concern is plastered all over his face.

"Yeah, I'm good," Dad just shrugs it off. I bite my lip as now would be the perfect time for me to dob in with the fact that Dad is struggling with cancer.

"Two-twenty-five? You normally crush this in your sleep," Tyler is shocked.

"I'm just having an off day," My dad reassures Tyler. He is not convinced. The reason why dad won't admit his weakness is beyond me. With that I turn my attention back to my workout.

It is the night after the incident and I am watching over Tyler who is having drinks with Carlos. It turns out he is the police officer who has been helping us out. To be honest I don't know why Tyler was freaking out. There is just one problem. He is staring daggers at Judd. I know Judd pissed him off but he shouldn't let that ruin his date. As soon as Carlos is finished his turn he passes the darts to Tyler. After some back and forth between Tyler and Carlos I finally decided to give my thoughts.

"Look TK if it is really bothering you that much you should talk to Judd. Right now you are supposed to be enjoying yourself with Carlos," I remark as I take my turn. To my surprise I am able to get the closest to the middle of the board

"Thank you Piper," Carlos responds as I pass him the darts.

"Ok fine. I'll talk to him at some point during the next shift," Tyler basically promises. With that we turn our attention to enjoying our night. Thankfully Carlos and I are able to distract Tyler from the drama of the day. In all honesty I can't blame Tyler for being mad as Judd was out of line but from where I was standing it looked like Tyler initiated the fight. I shrug it off as there is nothing that I can do. I'm just going to enjoy my night because something tells me that the peace is not going to last that long.