Page 34 of Hearts & Embers

Even after twelve years, saying her name still carried a weight that never entirely disappeared.

I gathered my thoughts before continuing.

"Rachel and I met during our training. We spent the first six months arguing about almost everything."

Aurora smiled.

"Really?"

I nodded.

"Really."

"Somehow that wasn't the story I was expecting."

A laugh escaped me.

"Most people wouldn't have predicted we'd end up married."

"Eventually we stopped arguing long enough to realise we actually liked each other. We dated for a couple of years and got married when we were both twenty-one."

Aurora listened quietly.

"Rachel worked out of Station 101 assigned to Ambulance 91. Her regular partner was Matt Delaney. They'd worked together for three years and trusted each other completely."

I paused briefly before continuing.

"Twelve years ago, when Rachel was twenty-four and Matt was twenty-seven, they were dispatched to an apartment complex on the south side. A woman was screaming that her six-year-old son had been shot and was dying. Dispatch recognised the address immediately because the area had a history of violent incidents. Rachel and Matt were instructed to stage nearby and wait for police backup before entering."

"The dispatcher repeated the instruction several times, but Rachel and Matt believed a child was dying and they decided not to wait. When police eventually entered the building, they found Rachel and Matt on the landing outside the apartment. The father had already shot his wife and son before barricading himself inside. When Rachel and Matt arrived, he shot both of them before fleeing the apartment."

I drew a slow breath.

"The mother and child were already dead and the father was killed during a shootout with police several blocks away."

Eventually Aurora reached across the table and covered my hand with hers.

"I was twenty-four at the time, the same as Rachel."

I scrubbed a hand over my face and swallowed hard. My voice remained steady.

"The medical examiner discovered she was three months pregnant…I didn't know."

"No."

I looked down at our joined hands.

"I didn’t know until I received the medical examiner’s report."

Nothing either of us could say would change what had happened.

"I spent a long time just existing after that."

Aurora squeezed my hand gently.

"I can’t begin to imagine how you must have felt."

I shook my head.