Chapter 27 Piper
The pounding on my door pulled me out of sleep.
The pounding came again, harder this time.
"Piper! Open up!"
Maya.
I stumbled out of bed, still in the clothes I'd worn to dinner. I'd come home, collapsed onto the mattress, and apparently passed out. The breakup, the weight of everything… it had all caught up with me.
I unlocked the door and Maya burst in, face flushed, breathing hard.
"Why aren't you answering your phone?" she demanded.
"I—what?" I looked around for my phone. Found it on the counter, dead. "Battery died. What's wrong?"
"There was a fire. A big one. East side, residential." She grabbed my shoulders. "Daniel was there."
My stomach dropped. "What?"
"He's okay… I mean, I think he's okay. Josh texted me—I know, I know, we're not seeing each other anymore, we're just texting and…” She stopped mid-sentence and shook her head.
“Whatever, that’s not the point. He heard it from his crew.
Off-duty EMT went into a burning building, got trapped.
They got him out but… Piper, you need to go. "
"We—" My throat tightened. "We broke up."
Maya's mouth opened. Closed. "You… what?"
"Tonight. At dinner." The words felt heavy, unreal. "He's moving to Portland."
"Oh." She hesitated. "Oh shit. But… you still need to go. He almost died, Piper."
She was right. Breakup or not, I needed to know he was okay.
"Where?" I asked, already grabbing my keys.
"Maple Street. 2847. There's still fire trucks everywhere."
I was out the door before she finished the sentence.
The smoke was visible four blocks away.
I parked behind a line of emergency vehicles. The street looked like a war zone: fire trucks and ambulances stacked bumper to bumper, lights strobing red and white. Police tape fluttered in the wind. Neighbors stood on the sidewalks, phones raised, faces lit by the glow.
The house itself was a black skeleton. Still smoking, collapsed in on itself. Firefighters were hosing down hot spots, the water hissing as it hit the rubble.
I got out of my car and started toward the chaos, looking for Daniel among the uniforms. There were so many people—paramedics, firefighters in turnout gear, police officers directing traffic.
My eyes scanned the crowd, looking for him. For Daniel.
But part of me—some traitorous, unwanted part—was also looking for Liam.
He was Captain at Station 47 now. This was his jurisdiction. He'd be here, commanding his crew, coordinating the response. I'd see him, and it would be awkward, and I'd have to pretend I wasn't rattled by his presence.
I pushed the thought away. I needed to focus and find Daniel.
A paramedic was loading equipment into an ambulance. I approached her. "Excuse me… I’m looking for Daniel Collins. He's an EMT, he was—"
“Collins?” She glanced up. "He's over there. Getting checked out."
She pointed toward another ambulance, rear doors open. I saw him then, sitting on the bumper, oxygen mask over his face, another paramedic taking his blood pressure. He was covered in soot, his uniform filthy, but he was conscious.
Relief hit me so hard my knees almost buckled.
I walked over, and he looked up. His eyes widened slightly behind the mask.
The paramedic working on him glanced between us. "You family?"
“I…” I hesitated. "Friend. I'm a friend."
Daniel pulled the mask away from his face. "It's okay. She can stay."
The paramedic nodded and went back to checking his vitals.
I stood there, not sure what to say. We'd broken up hours ago. And now he was sitting here, covered in ash, looking like he'd barely escaped with his life.
"You came," he said. His voice was hoarse, raw. Then, with a slight smile: "Guess breaking up doesn’t cancel emergency calls.”
"Idiot." I couldn’t help but laugh. "Maya told me. Are you… are you okay?"
"Yeah. Smoke inhalation, some burns too, especially in my hands.” He held them up, his palms wrapped in gauze. "Could've been worse. Would've been worse if—" He coughed, hard, and the paramedic put the oxygen mask back on his face.
"Don't talk," she said firmly. "Just breathe."
He nodded but kept looking at me.
"What happened?" I asked quietly.
He pulled the mask down again. "Kid trapped upstairs. I heard him screaming. I just… I went in. I know it was stupid." Another cough. "Got pinned under a beam. Thought that was it."
My chest tightened.
"But someone came in. The Captain from 47." He paused, looking at me. "Sullivan."
My stomach dropped.
He kept watching my face, reading my reaction. "He pulled me out. Got the kid too. Went in alone when everyone else said it was too dangerous."
Liam had gone in.
Liam had saved him.
"Where is he?" The question came out before I could stop it.
Daniel's expression shifted into something I couldn't quite read. "Hospital. He got hit pretty bad getting us out. Beam came down, he—" He stopped. "He made sure I got clear. Took the hit himself."
The world tilted.
"Is he okay?"
"I don't know. They loaded him up about ten minutes ago. He was unconscious."
Ten minutes ago.
I looked past Daniel toward the chaos outside—sirens, flashing lights, crews still working. Somewhere out there, an ambulance was already gone, carrying him away.
"Piper?" Daniel's voice, concerned.
I looked back at him. He was watching me, that expression I still couldn't read on his face.
"You should go," he said quietly. "To the hospital. Check on him."
"I—" I didn't know what to say. "You're—"
"I'm fine. They're taking me in for observation, but I'm fine." He reached out, squeezed my hand with his bandaged one. "Go."
I stood there for another second, torn.
Then I turned and ran back to my car.