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I dated this guy in Greensboro who thought I could get him a job as an EMT if he dated me. Broke my little twenty-year-old heart, but I learned a valuable lesson. Don’t fall head over heels for someone without knowing their true intentions.
And if I’m not falling head over fucking heels for Carter, then I don’t know what I’m doing. What’s even stranger is I’m not scared out of my mind about it either. I’m not sure what that means, but I’m not going to question it.
The minute I pull the lasagna out of the oven, the fire alarm blares. At least I didn’t have to take it out before it was done.
“Engine 15, Truck 20, Ambo 6, house fire at 821 West 6th Street.”
The team comes spilling out into the bay as we all suit up and jump into the trucks in minutes. The siren blares as we make our way to the house. Once we pull up to find the structure with smoke billowing out of the lower windows, Tucker starts issuing orders.
“Sam, Charlie, and Brody, do a sweep. The fire was called in by a neighbor, so we need to make sure everyone is out of the house. Rodney and Rick, you guys are on the pipe. I want the spread minimized as quickly as possible. Daniel, be ready for a ladder rescue if we need it. That second story may be our only way in or out soon.”
Charlie, Brody, and I get our masks and air tanks on and make our way to the front door. Brody uses our swipe tool to gently open the door with minimal damage, and we clamber in, each of us shouting, “Fire department, call out!”
The smoke is thick on the main level. It’s overwhelming even through my gear. The three of us split up, Brody going upstairs, Charlie going down a hallway, while I head toward the back of the house. The heat is intense the further back I go until I find the epicenter of the flames. I click on my radio. “Cap, the fire is localized to the kitchen. Need the lines back here if we have any hope of keeping the second story from going up soon.”
“Copy that,” Tucker responds.
I lower myself down to see if I can find anyone trapped in here. The smoke is so thick, it’s hard to see anything until I catch a small form out of the corner of my eye. In the dining room, under the table, is a small body.
I take in my surroundings to decide how I can best get to them without endangering myself. “I’ve got a body in the dining room. Farthest room at the back of the house,” I report.
Deciding to crawl my way toward the victim, I get on my belly and use my elbows to pull myself across the floor. I move as quickly as my gear will allow me until I get up right next to them to find that they’re just a teenager.
I rub their arm to see if they’re responsive, but they don’t even react. Fuck.
“Cap, is there a way out from the dining room? I can’t see shit from here.”
“Affirmative. On the east wall is a window. Daniel is coming to get it open for you. Sit tight.”
“Make it quick. I don’t think our vic has very long.” I adjust my position to pick up what I can now see is a young girl.
What feels like minutes but was likely only seconds later, I hear Daniel over the comms. “Clear the area, Sam. I’m coming in.”
“You’re clear.” The tinkle of glass shattering gets me moving, and with the girl in my arms, I step up to the window. Daniel is on the other side with his gear on, and I hand the girl to him through the window. Then I step through the window, as well, helping Daniel get our vic to the ambo.
Taylor and Jason start to work on the girl while I report to Tucker. “Want me back in?”
“No. Charlie has cleared the rest of the main floor. Brody’s just about finished.”
Just as Cap finishes saying the words, Brody and Charlie come striding out of the house. Rodney and Rick have the water on the flames, and we all work to get the fire down to embers. The house is a mess and will likely need to be completely gutted.
“Were we able to get a hold of the homeowners?” I ask Tucker.
“Yeah, Chief made the call. They’re on their way to the hospital to be with the kid. He’s going to meet them there to give them an update once we have a handle on the fire.”
“I hope she didn’t have too much smoke damage. She was completely passed out under the table.”
“I’ll see if he can get an update on her condition when gets back to the hospital.”
After Chief James heads to the hospital, the rest of us work on getting the scene clear. Tucker gives us the all-clear a little while later, and we load up the trucks to head back to the house.
We run through inventory and get cleaned up so everything is ready to go for the next call. By the time we finish, it’s dinner time, and I pop the lasagnas back into the oven to warm up before showering off the smoke and sweat.
My body is still buzzing from the call, and I attempt to go for a run to expel the energy still in my system. After only a few minutes on the treadmill, I shut it off as exhaustion threatens to make my legs buckle. I guess that’s not what I need right now either.
I grab my phone and sit at the kitchen table while I wait for the lasagna to warm up. There’s a text from Carter that I open immediately.
Carter
