It feels like an eternity later when a firefighter carries out another man in uniform. He's limp, missing some of his gear, and there’s a shock of red hair barely visible beneath a layer of soot. I collapse to my knees. Violent sobs rack my body.
“Liam.” His name is a whisper on my lips. There’s a stinging in my knees from where I hit the pavement, and I can hardly see through the tears as a pair of strong arms lifts me off the ground.
“I’ve got you, sis.”
“Wilder?”
“I’m here. Rosie told me where to find you.”
I wrap my arms around his waist and hold on tight, watching as they load the man I love onto a gurney. The moment they wheel him toward the ambulance, I shove out of Wilder’s hold and barrel toward the truck, coughing against the onslaught of smoke.
“Please! That’s my…” I shake my head. “I just… I need to go with him.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am. We can’t?—”
A powerful voice interrupts their dismissal. “Let her go.”
I turn to face the concerned gaze of Liam’s boss, Chief Grant, and he nods for me to climb inside the rig.
“Thank you,” I say, the words broken by my quiet sobs as the doors close.
During the short drive to the hospital, Liam’s clothes are cut open, and they attach various monitors to his body. He’s covered in soot and ash. There's a large gash over his forehead. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was asleep.
“Can I hold his hand?” I ask.
One of the paramedics nods as she hangs an IV bag. I clasp his hand between both of mine and rest my forehead on the side of the gurney. “Please, please be ok. I can’t live without you.”
Before long, the engine stops, and the doors are flung open. “We need you to let go now. You can find somewhere to sit in the waiting room, and someone will update you when they can.”
“Is he going to be ok?”
“We’re doing everything we can, ma’am. Your husband is a hero.”
“He’s not my—”Husband.“He is.”
Liam
“HELP! SOMEBODY HELP US!”
That voice. I know that voice. “Dean? Cara? Are you in here?”
The flames lick higher as I climb the rickety stairs. The entire historical building is covered in wood trims and wallpaper, and it’s all going up in flames like tinder. The smoke is so thick that I can’t see a foot in front of my face. I head up another flight of stairs toward Dean’s apartment, climbing over a beam that’s blocking a portion of the landing.
In the distance, I hear the other team members clearingthe rest of the building, but I’m too focused to care. Lying in the hallway near the elevator doors are Cara and Dean, holding washcloths over their mouths. Dean is pinned beneath a partially collapsed ceiling, and Cara is clinging to his hand, unconscious.
“Get her out of here, man.” He coughs, and in a scratchy voice, he says, “Please.”
These are my friends, but I have a job to do. I speak calmly and clearly over the comms. “Engine 7241 to Command. We have located two victims in the third-floor corridor. Victim number one is unconscious but breathing. Victim number two is awake and speaking, pinned beneath fallen debris. Heavy smoke in the area, flames are nearing my location.”
I glance back at Dean. “I’ll come back for you.”
He coughs again, tears streaming down his cheeks.
A lump forms in my throat, but I can’t afford to get emotional right now. I need to get Cara out of here and come back for Dean. “Initiating rescue efforts on the unconscious victim.”
I drag her toward the stairs, but I can’t get her past the fallen beam, so I hoist her up my body into a fireman’s hold and carry her down. Seconds before we reach the door, there’s a loud crash. I don’t stop to see what’s happening. My sole focus is getting Cara to safety.
Once we’re outside, I pass her off to triage.
