“No skin off your back, though, right?” It wasn’t my intention to sound so bitter, but I knew damn well that Paisley’s acceptance onto the squad had infuriated Korbin and many of my other men. It was our fault if she felt like she wasn’t getting the support she needed. Primarily mine for letting it slide, but everyone’s fault.
“Too bad it wasn’t enough to keep her away,” Korbin muttered. As I opened my mouth to reprimand him, the kitchen doors opened, and Paisley appeared, a notepad in her hand and a pencil settled behind one ear. Her long, chestnut hair was down today, framing her freckled face in such a cute way that I had to do a double-take to ensure it was her. It was.
“Ah,” she said, spotting me. “You made it.”
“You’ve been here the whole time?”
“In the bay, just doing my job, Cap.”
I looked at Korbin, who shrugged and rolled his eyes. I think it surprised the entire table of men—me included—when he grabbed a plate for Paisley, dropped some eggs and toast, and handed it to her. She looked at it quizzically for a moment, then muttered, ‘Thanks’ under her breath.
“I wasn’t sure you’d be back,” I said, fighting to control the emotions in my voice. I was thrilled to see her here.
“Well, that’s a disappointment.” Paisley sat down between Jake and me at the table with a slight shrug. “I figured I’d clarified that this is where I wanted to be.” She smiled at me and then reached for the paper that Jake had taken from me earlier to spare me the ridiculous article.
“Nope.” Three different voices lifted in unison. Jake grappled for the newspaper in Paisley’s hand before tossing it to Korbin, who dropped it into the trash without missing a beat. Paisley stared at us, her mouth slightly agape, empty hand still raised in confusion.
“I don’t understand what just happened here.”
“Yesterday’s paper,” Jake explained, ripping apart some bacon with his teeth. Paisley frowned but said nothing, seemingly ready to accept this answer as she turned back to the table and took a bite of toast.
We all watched her eat in silence, every man’s eyes on her face, waiting for anything that would acknowledge the mayor’s speech last night. She said nothing to any of us, only continued to chew as she marked off supplies on the notepad, humming quietly to herself as if she were the only one in the room. Finally, after what seemed like ages, the silence in the room was broken by the alarm.
“Thank God,” Paisley said. “Now, you can focus on your jobs instead of me.”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Korbin said with a grumble, but Paisley ignored him.
“Ladder One, Ambulance One, Engine One, respond to 518 Park Avenue for reports of a motorized vehicle accident,” the dispatcher said over the intercom. “Multiple casualties reported, undetermined fatalities.”
“You’re with me today,” I said as Paisley stood from the table. Korbin, Jake, and Tanner were already on their way out, and Paisley was not far behind.
“Aye-aye, Captain.”
Chapter13
Paisley
I hopped into the driver’s seat of the ambo and started up the engine as Hansen crawled into the passenger’s seat beside me. The GPS already had the directions to the scene pulled up onto the screen, so I flipped on the lights and pulled out of the bay, right behind the truck and engine.
“Are you ready for this?” Hansen asked as I drove, skillfully maneuvering the ambulance around Eagle River traffic.
“Yes,” I said. “Why? Shouldn’t I be?”
“Have you ever responded to possible fatalities?”
“You mean people who have been killed?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“No,” I murmured. “I haven’t.”
Hansen nodded, eyes on the firetruck in front of us. “You’ll want to prepare yourself,” he said. “Everyone thinks it’ll be a piece of cake, but there’s no way to mentally prepare yourself for seeing it the first time. I wish there was because I would tell you how to do it.”
I said nothing to this because I knew that he probably wasn’t bullshitting me. As we drove, I kept my eyes on the road and ears strained towards the radio, waiting for any updates on the scene. The voice was garbled and filled with static, and I could barely hear anything over the pounding of my own heart.
“Here we are,” Hansen murmured as we pulled up to the scene. The police were already there, their cars encircling the accident as they stood by to keep peeping, prying eyes away from the victims. A crowd of terrified people stood around the vehicles, their eyes wide, hands fluttering over their lips every once in a while, in shock or horror.
“Let’s do this.” I grabbed the trauma bag and followed Hansen past the first officer, who nodded solemnly at us. I wasn’t sure what to expect as we rounded the car to get a better vision of the accident, but what we found was not it.
