Dakota
“Awesome job, y’all. Go on back to bed. I’ll get her back in service,” I gestured to the engine.
“I’ll help, Lieu,” Dedric volunteered.
“Thanks, Rook.”
We worked in exhausted silence to get the truck back in service.
We were nearly finished when I caught him yawning. “Go back to bed, D, I’ll get the rest.”
“Thanks, Lieutenant.”
“You did a great job today. Keep up the good work,” I told him.
He fist bumped me. “Learned from the best. G’night, buddy.”
“Goodnight.”
I walked around the apparatus, inspecting her to make sure she was locked and loaded for when the next tone dropped.
Three structure fires in one day is a sure sign that it’s space heater season.
I hung up the used hoses so they could dry.
Finally. She’s ready to go again.
Walking across the bay, I glanced up at the analog clock.
Only an hour and a half left. Please, Lord, keep it calm.
I stepped into my office.
“Too late to go back to sleep. May as well organize this crap,” I groaned, staring at my desk. I gathered the stacks of paperwork, making sure they were in correct order, and put them in the file cabinet.
Finishing quicker than I thought I would, I pulled my phone from my desk drawer.
No texts from Lena, two video messages from Cassie, and two missed calls from my dad.
She and Jace must have made up. Nothin’ but the cold shoulder or radio silence all day.
Jace’s words replayed in my mind.
“Lena came by the house.”
“That’s why she wanted her car!” I shouted out into my dimly lit office.
Bile rose in my throat.
Why would she stay with him knowin’ the type of person he is?
I made a plan to go to her house to talk some sense into her the second that my shift ended.
“Burnin’ the midnight… or 5AM oil?” Chief Hennessy interrupted my thoughts.
“I figured I’d get these reports finished and filed,” I lied. “Why are you awake?”
He leaned against my doorframe. “Worried about my Lieutenant.”
“I’m good, Chief.”
“Quit all that lyin’.”
I sighed. “I just… I realized today that I’ve lost someone that was like a brother to me… and it stings a little.”
“Everyone in your life is either a blessin’ or a lesson.”
“That’s what I’ve heard.”
“It’ll get better, . Not tomorrow, probably not next week, maybe not even next month… but it will get better. One day at a time.”
“Yes, sir. Thanks, Chief.”
We walked out of the office, leaving me to my own devices. One of which I picked up and used to type a text out to Lena. I read it and reread it, and before I could talk myself out of it, I pressed send.
This will either be the lesson or the blessin’.
Jolene
I stared at ’s text on my phone screen.
Me, him and the whiskey in the hot tub… where’s his fiancé in this scenario? Passin’ out towels?
Pissed off, I locked my phone and sat it on the nightstand.
I wanted to text him back but knowing that he was about to go home to Cassie was stopping me.
I’m sure she would jump at the chance to get naked, especially in the hot tub.
Grabbing my Roku remote, I switched on my tv. With Christmas only a little over a week away, it would be easy to find a good movie to watch. After a minute of scrolling, I settled on Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
A classic.
Kevin was just starting to explore Duncan’s Toy Chest when my phone started to vibrate. Picking it up, I read the name on the screen.
.
Curiosity got the best of me.
“Hello?”
“Are you awake?”
“Obviously.”
Silence…
“You didn’t answer my text.”
“Three’s a crowd,” I told him, trying to keep the bitterness out of my voice.
“What?”
“Nevermind, Dak.”
“No, explain what you are ta ? riiiiiiiiingggg! – fuck!”
Duty calls.
“Be safe.”
“Talk later.”
He hung up.
That was completely pointless.
Hearing from him and trying to play it cool made me feel exhausted. Like, can’t hold my eyes open, gotta go to sleep now, exhausted. Unfortunately, I couldn’t go to sleep after hearing the tones drop until I knew all the guys were safe, back at the station. I opened the Follow 911 app on my phone.
“Battalion 1, engine 11 on scene.”
Damn, must have been pretty close to headquarters.
“Battalion 1, Engine 11, be advised – working structure fire – heavy smoke showing.”
“Battalion 1 – Command copies. Working structure fire – smoke showing.”
Fuck…
The fear that overtakes my veins whenever I learn that Jace, , or any of the guys have a working structure fire has been there since Jace and started at Creek’s Edge Fire Department, and it’s only grown over time. Once I got to know the other guys on the team and their families, I started worrying about them all.
Okay, give me some radio traffic so I can breathe.
“Battalion 1 to Command, be advised 1211, 1302, 1317, starting primary search.”
He’s going in after someone.
“Battlation 1 – 1211 - Command copies.”
“1211 to Command, fire showing on back side of first floor.”
I watched Kevin roam with the pigeon lady, trying to convince myself I wasn’t on pins and needles.
Honestly, I like the pigeon lady. She stays mindin’ her birds and her business.
“Command, Battalion 1 – 1211 – be advised – primary search terminated. 1211 requesting coroner.”
Oh no…
“Command to Battalion 1 – 1211 – coroner is en route.”
I said a silent prayer for the family.
Suddenly my problems seemed very, very small.