“Yeah! All clear,” he announced.
I helped Corey with the woman, carrying her legs while he had her upper body. We went back down the stairs, the same way we came up. It took us mere minutes to get back down to the first floor and then out the same entrance we entered. Corey and I carried the woman across the street, taking her to the awaiting paramedics. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Don run to the rig and begin helping the rookie who stayed back with the captain with the hose. By now the other two rigs had their hoses turned toward the fire and were now putting it out. In Williamsport, firefighters were required to put out every fire we encountered. While in many cities around the country, firefighters were allowed to let the fire burn, in our city, the houses were too close together to let that happen. The fire could quickly jump from one house or building to the next, and before we knew it an entire block could be up in flames.
Once paramedics took over CPR on the young woman, Corey and I grabbed a second hose off our rigs and connected it to another hydrant and joined the other guys to battle the flames. We fought that fire for the better part of two hours. It made its way down to the third and second floors, much of the inside collapsing under the melting power of the fire. By the time we turned our hoses off, and the last ember burned, my throat was sore and voice hoarse from yelling so many directions at the rest of my guys or following our captain’s instructions.
Once assured the fire was completely out, we were given the all clear to go in and check the first and some of the second floors. The third and fourth floors were destroyed, and there was no safe way anyone could enter let alone walk on those floors. For the next half an hour we made our way through the first two floors, ensuring that no one had been left behind. I had a feeling, however, that not everyone had made it out of this fire alive.
“She’s going to be okay,” one of the paramedics came over to Corey and me to let us know. The woman we pulled out was taken to the nearest hospital after she regained consciousness still at the scene. The ‘medics just got a report from the hospital that she suffered smoke inhalation and some first-degree burns, but after a day or two in the hospital, she’d be okay.
“Hell of a job,” I said, clapping Corey on the back.
“Thanks for the help, bro,” he returned.
We did the customary fist bump when we made a save, then headed to the rig to load our gear back on. By the time we returned to the station, my body felt the weight of the physical and mental exertion it just exercised. You would think I’d be tired, but these were the times where my mind was still racing, going over and over what I’d just done. While it was close to four in the morning, none of the men were going back to sleep anytime soon. So we did what we always did. We parked ourselves in the kitchen, at the table, and ordered some food. There were a couple of twenty-four-hour food places within blocks of our station. We ordered breakfast food, as no one felt like cooking. We’d leave that for the next shift that was scheduled to relieve us at nine a.m.
“Good job out there today.”
I lifted my eyes to see Captain Waverly standing at the head of our table, sincerity in his eyes as he looked pointedly at all of us.
“They pull anyone out of there yet?” Don asked after a few heartbeats of silence. We all knew there’d be at least one body coming out of that building in the morning. Fires that started in the middle of the night, when people were asleep, often had the most casualties.
“Not yet. Fire investigators are going to be scoping it out in the morning.”
“I’ll head over there in the morning also,” Don commented.
The captain gave no argument, just nodded and pulled out his chair to eat with us. A silent respect had begun to form between the new captain and Rescue Four. He’d done a hell of a job taking over and commanding us and the other rigs that showed up at the scene. While he still had a ways to go to prove himself, on his first day in action, Captain Waverly was looking like he just might make it at Rescue Four.
Chapter Seven
Eric
I felt refreshed, sitting up from my six-hour nap. It was just after six o’clock. After my shift, I ran some errands, went home, and passed out after taking a shower. Now that I was up, I figured I’d hit the gym for a strength training workout. Although I was going to Angela’s spin class every Tuesday and Thursday I had off for the last few weeks, that wasn’t nearly enough of a workout to keep me in the condition I needed to be in to do my job. I figured I could grab something for dinner after the gym, but I somehow found myself atCharlie’sonce I finished my workout. I haven’t seen Angela in two days, and although we’ve spoken over the phone and via texts, it wasn’t enough interaction for me.
It was a Thursday night, and the music was blaring as soon as I walked into the bar. There were even a few people dancing in between the tables. My eyes scanned the room, first to see if anyone from Rescue Four was there. I tossed my head in a nod, acknowledging two Rescue Four guys who were talking with some firefighters from a different squad. One of them gestured for me to join them, but I gave them an “in a minute” signal before I turned my attention toward the bar. The edges of my lips curled upwards when I saw what was taking place behind the bar. That moment I realized Ed Sheeran's “Shape of You” was playing out of the jukebox, and my girl was behind the bar giving a show.
I moved in closer but still kept my distance so she couldn’t see me over the crowd standing around the bar. Angela wore a sleeveless, floral, flowy top and a pair of skinny blue jeans. Her hair was styled in its usual cut, short strands falling over her forehead on one side. She was holding up a steel shaker, shaking it over her shoulders to the beat of the music. Effortlessly, she moved her hips in time to the beat and then did a spin before pouring the shaker mix into two margarita glasses and passing them over the counter to two female patrons. Tossing the shaker somewhere under the counter, she and the blonde bartender turned to one another and did a shimmying shoulder move, moving in and out from one another. The crowd of patrons clapped and whistled at the show.
“Who’s next?” Angela called, still dancing.
A customer called out a drink order, and Angela danced her way over to the glasses and used a tap on her side of the bar to fill the glass with one of the specialty beers she served, then placed a paper coaster on the bar and the glass on top.
“I’m in love with the shape of you!” she sang along with the music. She, along with the other bartender, kept the show up for the remainder of the song, raising their hands to clap over their heads.
“Thank you, thank you!” They both clasped each other’s hands and bowed to the applauding patrons.
“Don’t forget to tip your bartenders!” she joked.
I moved in closer to the bar as more patrons moved away, making their way back to their tables, drinks in hand.
“Nice show.”
I heard a slight gasp as Angela spun around, her lips parting into a wide smile when her eyes landed on me.
“When can I get one of those in private?”Preferably with you wearing nothing but my scent.I left that last part out when I bent over the bar and whispered the question in her ear. I leaned back to see her dip her head, a shy smile forming on her lips and a slight blush in her cheeks.
“I thought you were resting?”
I grinned at her ignoring my question. “I did. Then went to the gym and was going to pick up something to eat but ended up here instead.”
