‘Chicago’ Crossover: New Paramedic Emily Foster’s Backstory Revealed

The One Chicago crossover event took the time amid the chaos caused by a large apartment building fire to reveal the backstory of Chicago Fire‘s newest paramedic Emily Foster.

Since her debut on the season seven premiere as Ambulance 61’s replacement, Emily (Annie Ilonzeh) was blanketed by a veil of intrigue when after a call that showed her skills at treating wounds in the field left Brett (Kara Killmer) wondering where she learned her technique.

Brett’s and fans’ curiosities were also triggered when after the call, Emily walked away and one of the doctors at the hospital asked Brett if that was Emily Foster, and he responded with “how the mighty have fallen,” before walking away without revealing more details.

During Tuesday’s crossover event, the subject between the partner’s finally came up, when Brett asked her to be honest about what brought her to the Chicago Fire Department.

“If we’re going to be partners I need to know,” Brett says.

“Yeah, that’s fair,” Emily says before she reveals that the previous year she was a surgical intern at Lake Shore hospital.

Puzzled, Brett presses further: “You went to med school, got accepted into a highly prestigious residency and decided, forget that, I want be a CFD paramedic?”

“Not exactly,” Emily admits. “Working with you has been great so far… I hope it’s not about to go to hell.”

“I cheated on my boards and got kicked out,” she admits to her partner. “Some things went crazy in my personal life. Right before the boards, but I’m not trying to make excuses, I just want you to know it’s not who I am.”

Knowing the truth now, Brett tells Emily she doesn’t owe her an explanation and that it changes nothing between them. The pair grabs more supplies and heads back to help out with responding to the serious fire.

As previously reported Ilonzeh joined the cast of Chicago Fire in season seven amid Monica Raymund’s exit from the series. As the new paramedic, Emily was first introduced showing up late to a team meeting but has quickly found her place in the team.

Also during the crossover episode, Brett got a quick but heartwarming goodbye from her former partner Gabby Dawson, after Casey gave her a message from her telling Brett they would always be partners in her heart and that she loved her very much. Despite their fight in the season six finale, it was a pleasant moment for fans to know the pair would still be friends.

Will her reputation come back to haunt her later in the season? Tune in to Chicago Fire Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.