Chapter Text
This year the 118 is on shift for Valentine’s day. It takes a tiny bit of the fear and pressure of Maddie as she won’t even be with Doug for most of the day. A part of her is surprised that he didn’t take the day off.
She pays him as much attention as possible before his shift and makes sure to let him know how much she loves him. And the day actually goes smoothly. Valentine’s day almost never ends well for her so it is a surprise but a relief when she goes to bed with no more injuries than she started the day with.
____
For Valentine’s day Buck has Brooke, Robert, May and Harry over so that Bobby and Athena can have a night to themselves. Eddie is working so it is just Buck and all of the kids. They have heaps of fun and whilst Buck wishes he could spend Valentine’s day with Eddie it is still a good day.
At one stage Brooke does mention that she misses Genevieve. Which gets Chris and then all of the other kids agreeing. Which does lower the mood for a while, especially on Buck’s part as he is worried about Genevieve (and Maddie) living in that house. But then Harry sprays whipped cream at May which starts a food fight and soon there is so much laughter and happiness that his spirits are lifted.
_____
A week after Valentine’s day is Maddie’s birthday. The 118 is on shift again but Doug takes the shift off. Which puts Maddie on edge although it is also so sweet of him.
On the morning of her birthday she has an appointment to see how she is healing which stresses her out knowing this sort of thing can often set Doug off, especially if any of the medical staff give him suspicious looks.
Doug acts all charming and caring as he wheels her in, Maddie hating that she currently still can’t stand up due to her broken pelvis. After doing all the scans and asking her some questions it is decided that her arm has healed enough for her cast to come off. Which does feel kind of freeing. But her skull is still fractured, her ribs are still broken and her pelvis is still doing badly so it is clear she has a long way to go.
Maddie wants to burst into tears of frustration but with the way Doug is standing right behind her she doesn’t dare.
After the appointment Doug takes them to one of his favorite lunch places. Maddie doesn’t like it but she makes sure to smile and thank Doug heaps for bringing her there.
As they wait for their food to arrive Doug stares at her and smiles as he reaches forward and grabs a strand of her hair. She only just manages to not flinch.
“I love you so much my Maddie.”
She makes sure to smile as she echoes his words back to him.
When their food arrives it is clear Doug is in a good mood so Maddie tries to relax. It’s her birthday after all so she wants to enjoy it. After they have eaten Doug takes them back home. He spends the rest of the day right by her side. Maddie makes sure to echo how grateful she is for him and how much she loves him and the day ends with her falling asleep next to him as he holds her tightly. He went all day without hurting her so it was a good day.
_____
Doug feels angry as the 118 makes their way to the call. He is aware that right now Maddie is at a physical therapy appointment to start working on standing and walking again now that her pelvis is starting to heal. He hates that she is out of the house without him. That should never happen. She should be either home or at his side. There shouldn’t be any other options. But this is a requirement for her to begin to get back to work and he wants her back as soon as possible. He is fed up with being separated from her when he is at work.
Dispatch lets Doug know that the caller says she counted backwards and everyone is now dead. Which isn’t exactly helpful but he is able to gather that everyone is unconscious. Aware that it might be a gas leak Doug orders everyone to put on hazmat suits.
Once they pull up on scene Doug carries the monitor to check what is in the air and he orders everyone else to carry in the supplies.
It is silent as they enter the building. They hear a phone ringing in the distance but no signs of life.
“What are we thinking? Is it a gas leak?” Chimney asks.
“It could be some kind of pathogen,” Hen muses.
Doug looks at the monitor in front of him. “We are negative for combustibles as of now. Masks stay on for the duration.”
As they walk further into the building the silence feels kind of eerie.
“Where is everyone? It’s too quiet in here,” Ravi says.
Everyone apart from Eddie turns to stare at Ravi in horror. “What?” Ravi asks.
“You said the Q word,” Chimney says, his eyes wide in panic.
Eddie snorts. “Jinxes aren’t real.”
Doug rolls his eyes. Not this again. His old firehouse back in Hershey got all squirrely over the Q word and it appears that the 118 does as well. “Q word or no Q word, focus on that after this call.”
Everyone is quick to nod. Eddie then spots something. “We’ve got one over here,” he yells as he runs to a person who is lying unconscious on the ground. He is quick to check her vitals and he reports to them that she has a pulse and her pupillary response is normal. Meaning she is stable, which is good.
They then hear a person calling for help from another room so Doug orders Eddie to stay with the patient he found whilst he gets everyone else to follow him as they make their way to where they heard the person calling from.
They enter the room and see a woman on a bed with a person on her.
“Help me, they’re crushing me,” the woman says.
As they get closer they see that her neck is all exposed and cut open, probably because they’re at a plastic surgeons. Doug gets Ravi to help him lift the person off the woman whilst instructing Chimney to check on the woman on the bed. The woman asks what’s wrong and tries to move her hand to her face. All of them are quick to tell her to stop and to not touch her face.
Sensing the woman’s confusion Hen steps in. “Ma’am, it looks like the staff here just weren’t 100% done before they lost consciousness. You’re still under the effects of the general anaesthesia which is good. We’re going to keep you nice and numb, but I’m gonna need to put a cold compress on your face, okay?”
The woman is clearly still confused and asks if there is a stitch loose, not aware that her entire face is loose. She tries sitting up which results in gravity allowing her face to flop down over her eyes. She starts panicking a bit so Hen helps her get her face back in place and helps calm her down.
Whilst Hen is focusing on that woman, Chimney lets Doug know that their other patient is stable.
Ravi looks at the wall. “They run the anaesthesia lines through the walls in these places don’t they?”
Doug nods. “Yes they do. Ravi, Lucy, Max, check for any leaks or ruptures.”
Ravi and Lucy are quick to obey. Max stares at the woman for a few more seconds. “Why isn’t she also out?”
Which is a good question. Doug then realises the answer. “It looks like she’s receiving oxygen from the nasal cannula.”
Doug then asks Eddie if he copies and for a status update. When Eddie reports back that he has found several more patients, all stable but unconscious, Doug sends Max who is still in the room to help Eddie rather than searching for the source of the gas leak with Lucy and Ravi.
Doug then speaks into the radio telling Lucy and Ravi to see if they can locate the tank supply room and to turn off anything they see in the building that has a knob or a valve. Both Ravi and Lucy radio to confirm that they will.
The woman still on the bed mentions something about hearing construction workers so whilst Hen stays working on her Doug makes his way to see how the construction people are doing, getting Chimney to come with him.
They soon find more unconscious people and then Doug locates the leak. He lets everyone know that the leak has been located. He has just started plugging it when Chimney says he found someone with a saw stuck in them that is bleeding. So Doug radios the rest of them in to help whilst also calling for more ambulances.
Eventually they get both patients into ambulances and then they are heading back to the station.
They don’t even get fully back in before they are being sent on another call.
For the rest of their shift they get an insane amount of calls and everyone gets annoyed with Ravi, blaming him for jinxing them. Doug doesn’t know if he believes in jinxes, however everyone else is mad at Ravi and is blaming him so Doug is happy to join in with that.
When their shift is over and Doug finally gets home he is exhausted. When Genevieve runs at him full of energy he is not in the mood so he yells at her to go to Cassandra’s. She runs there, tears streaming down her face.
Doug then stomps upstairs, needing his Maddie. There is fear in her eyes that she tries to disguise with a smile when she sees him. But it is too late. Her automatic reaction wasn’t to smile at him and considering the shift he has just had that is the last thing he needs.
He feels his rage build. All he wants to do is rest but now Maddie is forcing him to have to punish her. She should know better.
_____
The 132 pull up on scene. To find a shark attached to a guy's arm. And they are on land.
The call goes smoothly and it feels awesome when they release the shark into the water and watch it swim away. On the ride back to the station Buck enthusiastically lists shark facts. Everyone listens attentively and Sam and Emily join in with the facts.
Their next call is at the aquarium where one of the tanks burst causing injuries from the broken glass as well as people slipping in the water. For the rest of the day after that Buck is very happy listing off facts. When they are at the station Buck ends up putting on a sea creatures documentary which most of them watch.
When Buck gets home he tells Eddie and Chris about the two calls. Both of them think it is cool that he had two ocean life related calls on the same day. Chris starts pleading to go to the aquarium. They go there a lot but considering the call Buck was sent on Buck reluctantly says no, or at least not until they have fixed it and checked that the glass in all the other tanks is strong enough that it won’t happen again.
So then Chris asks if they can go to the zoo. So the following day they do.
____
“Try harder Maddie!” Doug snaps.
Maddie works hard to not cry as she puts as much effort as possible into taking a few steps forward. Her pelvis still hurts when she tries to put weight on it but she has been told that she can. So now she is at her physical therapy appointment with Doug hovering right over her making everything worse. Her physical therapist tried to get Doug to move but when Doug gave Maddie a death stare, Maddie quickly said she would prefer it if Doug stayed there. She was lying.
It hurts so much but she does make some progress. Of course on the car ride home Doug spends the whole time telling her how pathetic and useless she was. She tries to hold back the tears but she can’t and by the time they arrive home tears are streaming down her face. When they enter the house Doug gives her a look of disgust. “Make me dinner,” he snaps before storming off to the living room where Maddie then hears him turning on the tv.
____
Chris smiles. Buck and his dad won’t know what hit them.
It is almost April fools so he is currently at the store with Buck, buying prank supplies. He asked Buck if the two of them could team up against his dad and Buck was super excited by the idea. What Buck doesn’t know is that two days ago Chris went to the store with his dad and brought prank supplies, telling his dad it would be the two of them versus Buck. And what neither of them know is that a week ago he purchased prank supplies with Bobby and Athena. He doesn’t dare prank Athena but he is going to have a great time pranking everyone else.
____
Maddie is on the bed in the guest room. Genevieve, Claribelle and Cassandra are with her. She knows she is close to being healed so knows Doug will have her back at work soon. She doesn’t feel quite ready for that but Doug has spent hours berating her for being off and forcing them to be apart during his shifts. So she knows he will be shoving her back to work as soon as he can, not caring if she is ready.
Physically this healing period has been harder than normal but mentally it has gone better than she expected. Doug does keep her chained to the bed when he goes to work, however he lets her have the company of Genevieve, Claribelle and Cassandra. Not being alone makes all the difference.
They hear the front door slam shut and all of them jump. Cassandra and Claribelle are quick to get up, knowing Doug will want them gone as soon as possible. Genevieve is also on alert, all of them not knowing whether she will be sent off with Cassandra and Claribelle or if Doug will want her to stay here.
His footsteps get louder and all of them are on edge as he approaches. When he enters the room he flicks a dismissive hand at Cassandra and Claribelle. The two of them hurry off. Doug then pushes Genevieve at Maddie who only just catches Genevieve before Genevieve would have fallen over. Doug then leaves the room, shutting and locking the door behind him.
When he is gone Genevieve shakes in Maddie’s arms and Maddie feels helpless to reassure her as she doesn’t know what is going to happen. Both of them hug each other, feeling very on edge.
Eventually Doug reopens the door. “Genevieve, go toilet if you need to pee and then get in the car and put on your seat belt.”
Genevieve runs out of the room.
Doug then turns to Maddie. “I took a few days off work. We’re going on a vacation. And you don’t need your walker. You’ve had enough physical therapy, you need to stop being weak and using crutches. You’re basically healed now, act like it. I’ve already cleared it that when we return from our vacation you will come back to work with me. So don’t let me down.”
Maddie trembles slightly. “I won’t,” she whispers.
Doug just sighs. “You’d better not.”
Without giving her any warning he then picks her up, filling her with a bit of fear which she tries to push away. He is being sweet, he’s surprising her with a vacation. She needs to stop being so distrusting all the time.
Once they are in the car Doug starts driving. Maddie wonders if he has packed any luggage but she doesn’t dare ask. Genevieve asks where they are going, causing Doug to yell that it is a surprise and they should be grateful. For the rest of the drive neither Maddie or Genevieve dare to say a word.
Eventually Maddie figures out where they are going, once they get close enough to see the signs.
They are in Big Bear.
Doug goes to the manager of the cabin rentals and soon they are then making their way to a cabin.
Considering it is the end of March, Maddie is slightly surprised by the fact that there is still quite a lot of snow. The cabin’s scenery is quite pretty. There are lots of trees and snow as well as a frozen over lake with a curved bridge going across it.
Genevieve looks out the window, eyes wide with awe. “It’s like the Poconos!” she exclaims happily.
Doug nods, a smile on his face. “You’re right. It’s exactly like that.”
Maddie shudders. She is glad Genevieve doesn’t remember how bad that vacation was. But Maddie does remember and the fact that this place is similar causes her to shudder. But she forces that down and puts a massive smile on her face as she gives Doug a hug.
“This was a perfect surprise! I love it so much. Thanks Doug!”
Doug wraps his arm around Maddie as they head inside the cabin. “Anything for my two girls,” he says.
Doug starts working on the fire before telling Maddie to get their bags in from the trunk of the car. Maddie does so. She never packed anything so she just hopes Doug packed everything they need as she knows he will blame her if they don’t have everything they need.
Once the fire is going and the cabin has started to warm up Doug turns on the tv and puts it on a kids channel. He gives Genevieve strict instructions to only leave the room if she needs the bathroom and to stay far away from the fire. Genevieve nods seriously.
Doug then pulls Maddie away to the cabin's master bedroom. Maddie hates that they are leaving their 6 year old alone in a room with a fire. She just hopes Genevieve is sensible enough to stay far away from it.
As soon as the bedroom door is closed behind them Doug pulls Maddie’s clothes off and pushes her onto the bed. She tries to be into it, to tell herself that Doug is her husband and she loves him. He surprised them with this trip which is super sweet.
But she feels repulsed and it takes all of her strength to make Doug believe she is as into it as he is. Thankfully he somehow believes her act and once he is done he is in a very good mood. He goes to one of the bags and pulls out a dress for Maddie. She doesn’t like the dress but she doesn’t dare protest.
Once Maddie is dressed he then pulls out a dress for Genevieve. Soon all of them are dressed up and then they head to one of the restaurants in the area. The food is a bit too fancy for Genevieve. Maddie can tell that Genevieve hates it but thankfully Genevieve manages to eat it anyway, preventing Doug from calling her ungrateful and then getting mad.
Genevieve is yawning when they get back to the cabin so Doug is quick to announce that it is her bed time. Soon Genevieve is in bed. As soon as she is Doug turns to Maddie and Maddie’s heart sinks when she sees the look in his eyes. She is tired and they have already had sex today. She really doesn’t want to have it again. But she doesn’t dare protest.
It lasts too long but eventually it is over and then Doug lets them go to bed. He holds onto her all night causing Maddie to be so conflicted which just fills her mind with confusion. She loves him, he is her husband and he loves her and sometimes like today he can be so sweet. But he also terrifies her and hurts her so badly and now even when he is being sweet her body is often uncomfortable when she is around him.
Even though she is tired she is also so confused and puzzled about how to feel about Doug that her thoughts go all over the place and it takes her a long long time to fall asleep.
____
Eddie is dreaming of being at the zoo with Chris and Buck. Suddenly a massive barbie appears. Eddie blinks awake and sits up in shock. Why can he hear barbie music? He is awake now, not asleep so his dream should have ended.
Suddenly he hears giggling from outside of the room and then the door is opening and Chris and Buck have entered the room, both of them laughing and Buck carrying a phone currently playing the barbie girl song.
Eddie groans. “Really?”
“Happy April fools!” Chris and Buck chorus in unison with massive smiles on their faces.
Buck then heads out to the kitchen to start making breakfast. Eddie angles an eyebrow at Chris. “I thought we were working together to prank Buck?”
Chris just smiles. “We are.”
Then they hear different to normal sounds from the kitchen and Chris just smirks. “See!”
Eddie just sighs. Seconds later Buck is back in the bedroom. “Which one of you rearranged everything in the kitchen? The forks are where the spoons live, the cups are in the fridge, the bowls are in the oven. Seriously?”
Chris laughs and Eddie can’t hold back a smile. “April fools!” This time it is Chris and Eddie speaking in unison.
Buck gives them an indulgent eyeroll before looking at Chris. “I thought you were working with me.”
Chris starts laughing. “I’m working with both of you and pranking both of you. Because I am going to win April fools day.”
Neither Buck nor Eddie know if April fools day is something you can even win but Buck just grins in excitement and Eddie decides to just roll with it. It’s only one morning after all.
____
Cold water drenches her, ripping her from her sleep. Maddie sits up, gasping from shock. Doug looms over her, a massive smile on his face as he holds a now empty bucket.
“Happy April fools day!”
Maddie’s stomach sinks. Doug loves April fools day but his pranks are always really mean and make her even more on edge than normal. She reluctantly gets up and goes and makes them breakfast, knowing she is in for an even longer day than normal.
_____
Eddie walks into the fire station and instantly senses the energy is different. He groans. Doug isn’t here so can’t they just make the most of that? Looking around Eddie’s sees that Chimney looks very nervous. Eddie sighs and walks over to Hen. “What’s up?”
Hen sighs, clearly already over it before she points. “Someone wrote a sign saying Happy April Fools Day. Chimney saw it and freaked out and now he is convinced someone is going to pull a prank on him.”
Eddie snorts. “Imagine if that was the prank, just freaking everyone out with nothing actually happening.”
Hen laughs. “If that’s the case then I would give that person a medal. Although I’m going to be the one dealing with Chimney today so that does mean it’s going to be a long day for me.”
Eddie gives her a sympathetic smile. “It’s currently 8:00 am, meaning it’s only for a few hours. How bad can it be?”
Hen takes a few steps away from him and looks at Eddie with horror on her face. “You did not just say that.”
Eddie just looks at her. “I just said a comment, what’s the big deal?”
Hen gives him a death stare. “You jinxed us Eddie.”
Hen gives him another look before walking over to Max who is interim captain whilst Doug is away. Seconds later Max is gathering them all, to talk through their upcoming shift. “Today Chimney and Eddie will be partnered together in the ambulance and Hen will be partnered with Ravi.”
Hen gives Eddie a triumphant smirk. Eddie sighs in defeat. Chimney makes his way over to Eddie, Chimney looking all paranoid and jumping at shadows. Eddie groans. The bells go off and soon they are in the ambulance. Chimney talks the whole way, wondering who left the note and scaring himself wondering what pranks could be coming his way. Eddie sends himself a mental reminder to murder Hen. Or whoever put that note there. Either works.
_____
Maddie feels tense as she makes them breakfast. She doesn’t know what is coming, just that something is and that she will hate it but if she doesn’t react right then things will be even worse.
Once she has breakfast made she puts it on a tray in order to take it to the dining table. She turns around and Doug jumps out at her yelling loudly. She can’t control the scream that flies from her mouth or the way she jumps and the tray flies from her hand. Terror fills her. Panic takes over and she scrambles wildly, trying to catch the tray before it falls onto the ground. She sees it nearing the ground and dives for it, painfully colliding with the ground. Somehow she manages to catch the tray. She has no clue how but she does. Once the tray is in her hands she starts trembling, all sprawled out on the floor with her hands in front of her outstretched, tray in them, Maddie staring up at Doug, wide eyed with fear.
“April fools!” Doug yells triumphantly. He then gives her a kick. Maddie swallows her yelp of pain. “Get up Maddie, stop being so lazy.”
“Sorry,” Maddie says as she hurriedly gets up.
She carries the food over to the table and the three of them eat in silence.
____
It has only been a few hours and Eddie can’t cope with this. Chimney is driving him crazy. Eddie isn’t that concerned about the sign saying Happy April Fools. But Chimney is and he will not let it go.
When they get back to the station Hen disappears straight away. Chimney looks for her but when he doesn’t find her he just returns to Eddie and starts spiralling. When others start to eat Chimney refuses to, speculating that it is probably a trick and that they shouldn’t trust anything.
Eddie messages Hen, asking where she is, saying he needs her as Chimney is driving him crazy. Hen doesn’t respond.
Realising that Hen isn’t going to be of any use Eddie stands up. “Alright, who put the piece of paper saying Happy April Fool’s Day there?”
Silence.
He stares them down. “Come on guys! You’ve had your fun. We’ve all seen Chimney spiral. I can’t deal with it anymore.”
“Hey!” Chimney protests.
Eddie turns to him. “Don’t you want to know who put the sign there so you can relax?”
Chimney is quick to nod in agreement.
They spend a few minutes trying to get the culprit to admit to it. But no one does and soon they are being sent on another call.
_____
After breakfast Doug gives Genevieve an i-pad and tells her to stay in the room she was sleeping in. Maddie doesn’t like Genevieve getting unsupervised or unlimited screen time. Yes the i-pad has parental controls, but she doesn’t fully trust it. However she knows it is safer for Genevieve to be away from Doug, especially on April fools day.
Once Genevieve is shut away Doug drags Maddie back to the master bedroom. When he pulls her clothes off she just wants to cry. But she doesn’t dare to. Instead she disgusts herself by responding to Doug and doing exactly what she knows he requires of her. She hates that she has to do this but even more she hates herself for going along with it and just letting him do what he wants even when every fiber of her is screaming to get as far away from him as possible. Yes, she knows that if she resisted then he would hurt her. But she feels like by not resisting she is betraying herself.
Once it is done she needs to pee so she hurries there. Doug refuses to give her back her clothes which she hates but tries to accept. She is barely aware of what is happening when suddenly Doug is standing over her, yelling at her and yanking her from the toilet. She looks down and sees that pee is everywhere. Doug then lifts the lid and peels of cling film. He is too angry with her to say April Fools. She tries to back away so he slams her into the wall and then uses his body to press her into it.
“How dare you Maddie,” he says. He isn’t yelling but somehow that is even scarier.
He then releases her and she drops to the ground.
“I’ll give you a minute head start.”
Maddie looks up at him in confusion.
“You made a mess. I’m sick of that Maddie. You’re always making a mess, you’re always ruining things. So I’ll give you a minute’s head start. If I catch you within the next hour then I will kill you, if it takes me longer then I’ll let you live.”
Maddie stares up at him in disbelief. He just starts counting. He gets to 5 and stares at her incredulously. “Do you want me to kill you? Run!”
“What about my clothes?” she somehow whispers. She doesn’t know why that matters when he is threatening to kill her. But it does.
Doug just laughs harshly and continues to count. Her brain catches up to what is happening when he is at 10. She scrambles up from the ground. When she reaches the door of the cabin she hears that he is at 15.
Pure terror fills her. She may be naked and it may be freezing outside but she needs to live. Shivering almost instantly she bolts out the cabin. She doesn’t even let herself think of where she is going, she just runs.
She has barely managed to heal enough to start walking properly again and there is no way she would be cleared by the doctor to run right now. But she doesn’t have a choice. She feels the pain and knows she really shouldn’t be running. But she has to.
The icy snow is painful to her bare feet but it doesn’t matter. She races across the bridge over the frozen lake, running so fast she almost pukes. But she doesn’t stop, she can’t stop. Soon she hears Doug yelling that he will find her and she starts shaking. She can’t stop running.
But soon she can’t breathe. She tries to keep running. After all, she is running for her life. But her body won’t listen so she gets behind some trees and stands there, panting for breath.
As she does she looks around. There are some trees, but not enough, they don’t give her enough cover. This whole area is way too exposed. It will be easy for Doug to find her. And then she looks down at the snow. She has left footprints. Leading Doug right to her.
However, because it is now April the snow isn’t as thick as it would be if it was still winter. The snow is in patches. So she jumps from non snowy patch to non snowy patch, making sure not to leave any footprints.
She hears Doug calling out taunts and she starts crying. This is impossible. She isn’t going to be able to evade him for one hour. He’s going to find her and then he’s going to kill her.
She won’t be able to outrun him for an hour, especially with a still healing broken pelvis. She needs to find somewhere to hide. She looks up at the trees, wondering if it is possible to climb any of them. But for all of them the lowest branches are far too high for her to get to.
And there aren’t any hiding places. The only thing in sight is trees and snow. And the trees won’t work. Yes she can stand behind a tree, but Doug can cover so much distance so quickly and if he gets in sight of the tree she is behind she won’t be able to get away in time.
She hears Doug getting closer and she starts shaking. She needs to be there for Genevieve. This can’t be it!
Her entire body is freezing and horror fills her when she comes up with a hiding place. Looking around she sees the snow that the sun hasn’t reached. The snow that is the thickest.
Checking that the coast is clear she hurries over to the pile of snow. Hating what she is about to do she lies on the ground and then quickly scoops snow on top of her. Soon she is buried in the snow. She instantly starts shivering violently, her lack of clothes making the cold even worse, the snow’s contact with her skin causing her so much pain.
She tries to control her shivering. She cannot move. If she shivers then the movement will give her away.
But soon she is so cold she can’t stop herself from shivering. She can still hear Doug and when he gets even closer she manages to be still for a little bit until his sounds get further away.
She feels herself start to get tired and panic fills her. She wonders if it is better to die of hypothermia or to let Doug kill her.
She hears Doug let out a rage filled scream which quickly makes her decision for her. She may be unbearably cold but that is way better than whatever Doug will do to her if he catches her.
She hears his footsteps get closer but this time she is shivering too much to stop herself. She feels slightly confused and so so so cold.
Suddenly there is a foot on her stomach. She yelps in pain. Seconds later her arm is jerked upwards and she is standing, although swaying on her feet.
“Well, well, well. I found you.” Doug makes a show of looking at his watch but Maddie barely notices. She is cold, so cold.
“It took me 13 minutes to find you. Really Maddie, I’m disappointed.” He shakes his head softly.
“Well, I am a man of my promises.”
He pulls out a knife and Maddie starts shaking even more. She isn’t sure whether it is the cold or her fear that is making her shaking so intense but either way it is the worst she has ever been shaking in her entire life.
“Please Doug, I’m so sorry.”
He slams her into a tree and presses her against it. Maddie starts crying and the tears freeze on her face. When she risks a look down she sees she is slightly blue.
He puts the knife against her neck and Maddie tenses at the feel of the cold metal. He presses it slightly and she feels a few drops of blood fall. There is such glee in his face and she refuses to watch his joy as he kills her. Shaking even harder she closes her eyes and flinches, hoping he gets it over quickly.
Suddenly he is laughing and he pulls the knife away. She risks opening her eyes.
“April fools!” He yells enthusiastically.
She stares at him, pain in her eyes, before collapsing to the ground in tears. She hears Doug scoffing above her.
“Really Maddie? It’s just a prank. Stop being so sensitive. Grow up.”
Maddie sobs even harder.
Doug picks her up and starts carrying her back to the cabin, Maddie crying the entire time.
When they get back to the cabin he gives her back her clothes and gets her in front of the fire. Maddie is so stiff from the cold that she is unable to get her clothes back on so Doug ends up doing it for her, shaking his head, a look of disappointment on his face, as he does so.
“You should have picked a better hiding place, you almost gave yourself hypothermia Maddie. Why are you so stupid?”
Maddie gulps as she hangs her head. “I don’t know. I’m sorry. I’ll do better.”
Doug just sighs softly before pulling her into his arms and kissing her on the head. “I love you Maddie.”
“I love you too,” she echoes numbly.
______
At midday the Happy April Fools sign disappears but no one owns up. Chimney gets a bit less paranoid but he still manages to drive Eddie crazy for the rest of the shift, coming up with elaborate theories as to who left the sign and why.
By the time their shift is over Eddie is fed up with Chimney and more than ready to get out of the firehouse and home to Buck.
Max gathers them round for the shift debrief. He mentions a few things from the calls they had before looking serious. “Ok, who put out the sign and was that the full prank?”
Ravi grins. “It was me.”
Eddie glares at him.
“Was that the prank?” Chimney asks.
Ravi nods as he starts laughing. “I figured it would be funny to watch everyone unravel. And it was.”
Annoyance fills Eddie. “Well you weren’t the one who had to deal with Chimney all shift!”
Ravi just gives a casual shrug. “It’s just a bit of fun. Besides I have a double shift, you all get to leave but I’m still on with the B shift. So because my shift is so long I wanted to do something to make the time go a bit faster.”
Eddie gives an evil smirk. He sees Hen’s eyes widen as she realises what he is about to do just before he does it.
“Quiet,” Eddie says.
Ravi stares at Eddie in horror. The bells go and Ravi and all of B shift hurry out of the firehouse. All of A shift laugh and give Eddie pats on the back as they then leave. Hen looks at Eddie quizzically. “You don’t believe in jinxes.”
Eddie shrugs. “But they do.”
Soon all of Eddie, Chimney and Hen are laughing as they then all say bye to each other and make their way home.