So I've recently gotten back into watching this show, which I love, and there are so many scenes in which I wish they would have showed the brothers' reactions to things. This is one of those times. This is also the first story I'm posting from my apartment in Dublin, so that's exciting!
So enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own 'Against the Wall', but I wish I did so that there would have been another season!
Richie sighed as he walked into the main headquarters to drop off some paperwork. Beside him, Brody chuckled.
"Who would have thought we'd ever feel okay about walking this close to IA, huh?" He joked.
Richie nodded. "Oh I know…before Abby we used to walk through here quickly. Now it's almost not that big of a deal." He paused. "Though I still don't think I ever want to go back there."
Brody nodded in agreement as they turned the corner. They were just about to enter the room they needed, when they heard hurried footsteps behind them.
"Kowalski!"
Turning, Richie's gut clenched as he saw his sister's boss running toward them at full speed. "Lieutenant."
Breathing heavily, Papadol sighed. "You need to get up to IA…we have a situation."
"What happened? Is Abby okay?" Richie asked hurriedly.
Papadol shrugged. "It didn't sound like it when I left, but who knows."
"Wait, what happened?" Brody asked, trying to keep everyone calm.
"Lina went into labor. Abby was trying to get her out of there and…well…they're stuck in the elevator up on our floor." The lieutenant said. "Now I've got to go find maintenance."
"Shit." Richie said and took off running, forgetting his earlier statement.
When he and Brody finally got up to IA, he spared a confused glance in Danny's direction, yet feeling happy that someone was helping her, before assessing his sister's condition.
"Abby! Hey, you okay?" He yelled through the doors.
"What do you think?" She shouted back and he could hear the edge of panic in her voice as she spoke.
"Just stay calm." He tried to tell her, hoping to God that someone would come soon and get them out of there before her panic attack heightened.
"Just get us out of here, Richie!"
The three men heard Lina scream and remembered that they had another situation to worry about as well. Danny and Brody glared at each other, and though Richie knew the attempt was futile, he tried prying the doors open anyway.
When that didn't work, he turned to the silently bickering men. "Anybody got a crowbar?"
Brody looked at his partner like he had two heads, with an expression that said, 'really?" Suddenly the door next to them opened and Richie saw Lina's husband run towards them.
"Hey, baby? Baby, you okay?" The expecting father said in a rushed voice, and Richie felt for the guy.
"Hey baby. I'm fine." Lina responded just before she screamed again.
They all looked helplessly at the door, just as a paramedic calmly turned the corner. "What's the situation?" Immediately, he and Carlos started talking.
"My sister Abby's in there; she's claustrophobic."
"My wife Lina's in there; she's in labor."
Richie knew that he should probably have let Carlos talk to the paramedic first, but he was worried about Abby. If she went into the full panic mode that she sounded close to, she could pass out or worse and not only would that be bad for her health, but it would leave Lina all alone.
The paramedic pointed at them. "Lina labor, Abby panic. Got it."
As he and Carlos moved aside, they both silently thank God that help had arrived. "How we doing in there?"
"Uh, we've been better."
Richie smirked as he heard the tone of Abby's voice. In all fairness, that was a pretty stupid question.
"Get us out of here." Lina groaned.
"Listen I can talk you through this." The paramedic stated and Richie's heart picked up a beat when he heard Abby's panicked, "What? No, no. No way. No…"
There was silence for a moment and Richie worried that maybe this had caused her to pass out from the panic, but then she was speaking again.
"Okay tell me what to do."
As the paramedic was talking her through the steps, Richie looked at the other men around him. It was a scary moment when they realized that even with all of their strength, training, and abilities to help people, they couldn't help the most important people in their lives.
He watched as Carlos tried to keep his wife calm and be a part of his child's birth even from outside the elevator doors. As he heard his sister's voice relaying what was happening, he knew that she was trying to swallow her fear for as long as possible in order to help her friend's baby into the world.
"You're doing great, Abby." He said, in hopes of keeping her calm, all the while thinking that he wasn't letting Laura anywhere near an elevator in the next few months.
Then, as her voice rang out announcing that the head was out, he realized what she was doing. She was actually delivering a baby in an elevator. He couldn't believe how strong she must be to be doing this, and he knew that this would change her for a while, though not necessarily in a bad way. He stood there, fidgeting, just praying they got out of there soon so he could hold her and give her the recognition she deserved, while also calming her down.
And then, just as he was ready to demand the whereabouts of maintenance, the elevator went quiet and her voice rang out again. "You have a little girl!"
Carlos leapt to his feet and Richie laughed as the man turned to them in excitement. He was happy for the man, and happy for his sister's new friend. And in that moment, he knew that he'd be doing the same thing with his siblings in just a few short months.
Suddenly, Papadol appeared, hurrying around the stretcher. "Maintenance is working on it. They should be out momentarily."
"Hey is someone going to get us out of here?" Lina shouted. "Abby doesn't look so good…"
"You'll be out in a few minutes, Abs. Just stay calm." Richie shouted and stepped closer to the doors.
Inside, he could hear Lina trying to get Abby to focus on her and the baby, but he had a feeling that now that the shock and adrenaline was wearing off from the birth, she wasn't going to stay as calm.
Almost instantaneously, the sound of gears moving could be heard and the elevator doors opened, revealing the two ragged looking women.
The paramedic spoke again with a calm voice. "Okay Abby, why don't you step out of there and go to your brother, so we can help your partner. Does that sound okay?"
She nodded and immediately Richie had her in his arm, pulling her away from the area. He could feel her shaking in his embrace and he held her tighter. Pulling away, he put his hands on her face.
"Abs, you're okay. You're out of there and everything's fine. Just breathe slowly." He told her, trying to ward off her panic attack.
She nodded but her breathing still came out erratically, so he tried a different tactic. "Just wait until Steve and Donnie hear about this. You'll have bragging rights forever." She let out a laugh and he could tell her breathing was starting to come down. "Here, let's sit for a second."
She slumped down against the wall and he held both of her hands in his own, trying to subtly take her pulse, which was going way too fast for his liking. "You're okay." He told her again. "That was some act of bravery in there, Abs. You delivered a baby. Can you believe that?"
Finally, she smiled, and his heart started beating normally again. "I did and I can't. It was…incredible."
He smiled at her and kissed her head. "You're incredible."
They both looked up as Carlos exited the elevator, followed by the paramedics and the stretcher. Helping Abby to her feet, Richie watched her walk over and talk to her friend.
"Abby…" Lina smiled at her. "We want you to be her godmother."
"Me?" Abby asked breathlessly. "Why?"
"Because you've had my back and you're my friend." Lina said. "Plus, you did deliver her."
Abby smiled. "Of course I will."
"Okay we need to get everyone to the hospital." The paramedic said and turned to Abby. "You should probably get checked out too, just to make sure. You still look pretty pale."
She nodded and Richie stepped forward. "We'll take her."
…
"Why are these things so hard to get off?" Abby complained as Richie tried to cut the hospital bracelet off of her wrist.
She was dressed in scrubs now, as she had given up her shirt to wrap the baby in, and they had forced her to wear the stupid bracelet once they decided to check her out.
"Because they don't want patients being able to take them off and get out if they haven't signed out yet." He told her as he successfully snipped it off and returned the scissors to the nurse's station. As he turned to throw out the bracelet, he sighed. "Incoming."
"What the hell is this?" Donnie's voice sounded.
Richie had seen them turn the corner and recognized their faster movements at the second they saw Abby.
"Why are you wearing scrubs? And the bracelet? What happened?" Steve asked, trying to sound calm.
"It's nothing, I'm fine." She said, trying to brush it off as Donnie rested a hand on her shoulder. "What are you guys even doing here?"
"We're visiting Carolyn." Steve said quietly. "We heard that she was awake and that Paul was out, so everyone's meeting up here."
"Again, what happened?" Donnie asked.
Abby opened her mouth to speak again, but Richie shook his head. "It's not nothing. Abby and Lina got stuck in the elevator today."
"Oh my God, are you okay?" Steve asked, shaking his head. "Why were even in there in the first place? I thought you avoided elevators like the plague?"
She nodded. "I do, but Lina went into labor and in the confusion of trying to get her to the hospital we got shoved in there. Then I sort of…pressed all the buttons and broke it."
"Nice going, Abs." Donnie teased. "How long did it take for them to get you out?"
"Long enough for Lina to give birth in there." Richie smiled and looked at his sister proudly.
"What?" Both of the eldest Kowalskis turned to their sister, who shrugged.
"I delivered a baby today." She smiled and they each hugged her.
"That's amazing, Abs." Donnie told her.
"I just did what I had to do and now I have little goddaughter." She grinned and they chuckled.
"Well, congratulations." Steve said as he held her hand. "That's not an easy thing to do, especially for someone in the middle of a panic attack."
"Nah, she did great." Richie said and sighed. "Do we want to head over and see Carolyn?"
They nodded, but a nurse walked over. "Detective Kowalski? Your partner was asking for you."
They saw Abby smile unconsciously and they noticed how happy she was. They were proud of her. She turned to them and they nodded. "We'll see you when you're done talking to Lina. Give her our best."
She nodded and they walked in opposite directions. The fear of the day's events was totally gone from her mind. Now she was just happy. And she wasn't going to let anything change that.