24
Damon
Tessa stays nuzzledinto me, and instead of letting her know I’m awake, my eyes remain closed as I just enjoy our time together. We don’t get many moments of alone time with having a child in the house, not that I’m complaining, but this is nice. Hours upon hours of just cuddling and breathing in the lavender scent coming off her hair. Quite exquisite.
The doctor should come by to assess me and see how long until I can go home, but right now, I hope he takes his time so I can enjoy this a little longer.
Being a firefighter comes with its consequences, and both Tess and I are aware of them since losing our fathers to the job. The fear in her eyes, and the way her voice raised when I woke up, tells me she is not second-guessing being with me. I never want to put her in the position of losing me, but sometimes in the heat of the moment, I don’t think properly, like today.
When pulling up to the fire, the first thing I notice is no one is outside but the cops and an ambulance, but no one else. My first thought is the people must still be inside. A flash of Tess takes over, and the only thing that crosses my mind is saving whoever is inside. The crumbling structure and cloud of smoke doesn’t deter me from running inside without hesitation. I can hear Liam yelling at me, telling me to stop, but I block it out. Maybe I have a hero’s complex where I feel the need to save everyone, even at my expense.
Inside, the roof is collapsing, and I can hear screams from inside the front door. There are people still in here, trapped somewhere. I do the only thing I know; I yell. “Grapevine Fire Department. Can you guide me to where you are?”
In response, all I can hear is a child sobbing, and my eyes close to block out all the other noise and focus on just her. Debris is falling all around me, and I try my damndest to follow the sound to a door. The smoke is roaring out of the crack at the bottom, and inside is where the sobbing is coming from. I touch the doorknob and the pinch of scalding hot metal hits me. Fuck. How am I going to get in there? I glance down at my suit and unzip it, taking my t-shirt I have on underneath and using it to protect my hand.
“I’m here. Everyone’s going to be okay,” I say, rushing over to the little girl hovering over her mother, who has clearly taken in too much smoke. “Take this shirt and put it over your nose and mouth. Run to the front door without stopping. Go!”
My eyes run over the woman’s body, assessing for any injuries that could be worsened by moving her, but none appear. “I’ve got to get you outta here.”
I scoop her up in my arms and cross the doorframe when the roof collapses right on top of me, but my body is used as a shield for the poor woman in my arms. The slicing of the debris hitting my back causes me to wince, but I know not to move until it’s done. I glance toward the front door which is still flung open, leaving me a perfect view of Liam heading toward the house in full gear.
My hands grip the woman, and I try to make a break for it, but just as I get to the door, the entire roof collapses on top of me, and everything goes black.
Yes, it was stupid of me to go inside, but if I hadn’t, both the little girl and the mother would have died from smoke inhalation or worse. Do I regret it? No. Sometimes as a trained first responder and firefighter we have to make a quick assessment of the situation and go with our gut. That’s just what I did.
I can feel Tessa slightly sliding off the bed, and I place my hand on her butt to help hoist her back in place. “Where do you think you’re going?”
She sits up and places her feet on the ground away from me. “This bed hates me, and my stomach is growling. Cafeteria food sucks, but it’s my only option. Do you want anything?”
Now that she mentions it, a slice of pizza sounds pretty epic right now. So I tell her, and she goes on her merry way. I watch her as she leaves, and there’s nothing better.
A couple minutes later, a knock sounds at my door, and then a man slips in wearing some scrubs and a white jacket. “Mr. Jackson, my name is Dr. Ward. I’m glad to see you’re awake. How are you feeling?”
He doesn’t even look up from the chart he’s holding, so I give him a generic answer. “Fine. When can I go home?”
He takes a minute and writes something down and then finally makes eye contact. “Well, that depends. Do you feel dizzy or light-headed at all?”
“No, sir. Just sore.”
“That’s to be expected. The nurse will come and examine you and then after she writes her report, we will decide if you can go home today. For now, make sure you are drinking plenty of water and getting rest,” he says before slipping back out of the room.
I never understood why doctors and nurses say that. Isn’t sleeping about the only thing you can do while in the hospital? At some point, you sleep too much and then just lie awake for hours. It’s not like they get any good channels on the TV for me to watch to pass the time.
“So, they didn’t have pizza,” Tess says, shutting the door behind her, “but they did have pasta. So I got you some spaghetti. Or do you want something else?”
“No, that’s fine. Just something to put in my stomach,” I say, waving my hand for her to come closer. “I’m glad you’re here instead of Liam. I’m saving his lecture for when I get home.”
“Oh, believe me, it’s coming. Just you wait.”
The last thing I remember is Liam coming toward the house before my blackout. I’m hoping the woman is okay and my body took the brunt of it.
A nurse walks in and begins to mess with the machines, and at first I think it will be weird for me to ask, but what the hell. “Ma’am. Can you tell me if there is a woman here from the same fire as me? I just want to know if she’s okay. And the little girl.”
She looks up from her writing and replies. “I’m sorry, the mother didn’t make it. The little girl is waiting to be picked up by a social worker,” she says before exiting the room.
My chest gets tight, and it feels like all my air has been sucked out of my body. Didn’t make it? I didn’t have time to fully examine her, but she seemed to be only unconscious when I picked her up. What happened?
“Baby, I’m so sorry. You did everything you could,” Tess says, grabbing my hand. “Is there anything I can do?”