14. Cal
Cal
T hree days of suffering fevers and blisters on my damn hands and feet later, I arrive at the station. I’m officially out of sick leave. Otherwise, I would’ve called in again.
But calling out would mean taking another day without pay. And the way I’ve been bleeding money lately, I can’t afford an even shorter paycheck.
I stow my overnight bag and start making up the bunk I’m assigned to for the shift. I’ve still got hand, foot and mouth spots here and there, but I’m ignoring them.
I was only able to do minimal work on the coffee shop, but the guy I called to help me with the plumbing was able to finish his part.
The electrician, a guy Nate uses from time to time, is scheduled to show up today.
And then it’s just a small list of things to be completed.
A workstation, a counter bar top, and framing in the bathroom.
We should be ready to at least make a soft open for the festival.
After that, I’m not sure what I’m going to do about childcare .
“Looks like they decided to move you over here permanently, pretty boy.”
I glance up at the lieutenant on this side of the county, who’s propped in the doorway. He runs the rescue pickup truck and has a wider zone to cover, while one other person and I man the engine. Having fewer firefighters in the station was only one thing I had to get used to coming from the city.
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah, you and Jackson got stationed here permanently, according to Deputy Chief Collins. He called this morning.”
“Sweet. Jackson’s a solid dude. I’ve worked with him a couple times.”
“Good. We’ll still have a bus that runs out of here. So two medics will be coming in today. But otherwise, it’s the three of us running fire rescue.”
“I think this is a good thing. Can’t hurt to have a regular station and be able to build those partnerships,” I say.
He agrees with a deep rumble.
I haven’t worked with the lieutenant much, but he seems like a nice enough guy. And being able to get to know my partners seems like a good thing. Having to blindly trust guys I don’t know has been one of the hardest parts of the new job.
Our station is fairly new, built to service a growing community in one of the more rural parts of the county. Though we have minimal staff now, there’s room to grow and eventually house enough personnel to run multiple trucks from this station.
“So how’d we get so lucky to be here?” I ask as we make our way into the well-furnished kitchen. We’ve got everything we need, plus lockers for each shift to store supplies. Not that we’ll actually have time to utilize the kitchen until we get more personnel to help run calls.
“Not sure, but I’m not complaining. Beats the hell out of being at one of the outlying stations.” He grabs a clipboard and leaves to do the morning shift-change inspection. I follow and sort my bunker gear by the engine as Jackson walks into the bay.
We go through radio checks and do our morning chores. The medic crew has a similar check-off system, with the added duties of checking off medical supplies.
We’re all working cohesively, helping each other out. It’s a nice change of pace to not be irritated within the first hour of work.
That afternoon, my official new partner and I return to the station after taking the truck to fuel up when I notice something wrong with the flagpole. A familiar-looking backpack is flapping in the wind.
“Well, what have we here. Looks like our new medics are pranksters,” Jackson says.
I jump out of the engine chuckling because, even though it’s a pain in the ass, that shit’s funny.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got retaliation supplies,” I murmur, retrieving my bag and raising the flag again.
Inside the dayroom, the medics are acting normal—one’s watching TV, and one’s working out.
The TV’s so loud I doubt they even know we are back. Still, I creep to my room and fish out the black electrical tape I’ve been carrying with me since day one.
A shit-eating grin passes over Jackson’s face when I flash it at him later. Yeah, this new partnership won’t be a bad thing at all.
Blue sky stretches for miles as we roll down Main Street, taking the scenic route through town. I slow to see if I can catch a glimpse of Jules in her shop, when Jackson rolls down his window and wolf whistles to a lady on the sidewalk outside of the Sticky Sweet Bakery.
Her arm shoots up to wave at him with a massive grin on her face. She blows him a kiss as we pass.
“Girlfriend?” I ask, scanning and not seeing Jules in sight.
“Nah, no way. Me and Maggie are just buddies. We’ve been friends since high school. She’s just a goofball sometimes and is always doing crazy shit like that.”
“Oh, that’s cool. I live just above the coffee shop across the street. I’m helping with the finishing so Jules can open.”
“Maggie’s told me about it. She’s looking forward to meeting the new owner. She’s gonna get a kick out of the fact that my new partner is her across-the-street neighbor.”
An idea hits me as we stop at the bottom of Main. “You got ten minutes to help me with a project?” I ask.
I’ve been thinking for days that the divider between our apartment balconies needs to come down, but I haven’t been able to manage it by myself.
But with me being back at work, I’m suddenly aware of how inconvenient it is that Jules lives next door but has to literally go around the building to get from my place to hers.
It would be so much easier with it gone.
Jackson is all in, and within a few minutes, we’ve turned around, parked, and I’ve pulled the Jaws of Life from the engine compartment.
It’s the work of a minute to rip the thing down with the saw and Jackson’s help.
“Is this okay?” he asks, eyeing the stack of wood skeptically .
“Sure.” I’m not sure, but I’m not telling him that. I’ll deal with whatever the landlord has to say.
We carry the slabs of wood down to the alley and head back to the engine, then back to the station, to find that our bunks have been covered in shaving cream.
Jackson’s eyes grow sinister as he takes in the destruction, and a wide grin spreads across his face. “Let the reindeer games begin.”