Page 22 of Crusher

“Go home, Blaze,” I snap as I get halfway to my colleagues, causing him to growl when our radio blares, “All crew, all crew, shooter at Rose Hill Elementary, I repeat, shooter at Rose Hill Elementary, the school is on lockdown.”

“Shit!” I snap and sprint towards the fire truck along with my colleagues as Blaze shouts, “I’ll follow on my bike!” and fuck, I hate to admit it, but I’m glad the fucker is here.

“Smith, behind the wheel!” I hear my captain demand, and I do as instructed, climbing in. Instantly, I put the sirens on before I floor it as quickly as the rig will go.

“Be on high alert, Smith. You will be the only one medically trained when we hit the sight, the ambulances are stuck at a five-car up pile-up.”

“No fucking pressure, right” I mutter, and he snorts as I weave in and out of traffic, Blaze right behind us.

“What kind of sicko brings a gun and shoots up a fucking elementary school?” I hear Marty demand, “A scorned wife,” Cap says and my jaw tenses.

I pull up outside the school to chaos within minutes, people everywhere, police trying to hold off scared parents, and I climb out before ordering, “Marty, Cammers, help the feds, and someone inform their chief I won’t be going by protocol, and I’ll see if Trick can access the cameras!”

He nods, and everyone listens just as my phone rings and Blaze walks over to me and says, “I’ve called Trick, he’s on it, and several brothers are on their way just in case, including some Dark Angels.”

I nod so he knows I heard him, and I grab my phone and answer, “Yeah?” as I look around the chaos, thinking maybe it’s Trick if Blaze has already updated him, but I freeze as my wife, my fucking heart chokes, “Hayes!”

“Freckles?” I choke, causing Blaze to look at me sharply, and I look towards the school again, feeling so fucking torn but knowing what I have to do, I rasp, “I don’t want to hang up, but I-I…”

“Miss, you can’t go in there!” I hear snapped and I frown before Alexiana screams, “No, my son is in there,” and everything fucking slows down as I look up and lock on an officer trying to hold back someone I haven’t seen in eight years, my wife. My wife, who is trying to get into the school, trying to jump over the frustrated man, and I swear I feel like I’m breaking.

Son, she has a son, she has…

Fuck, I feel like I can’t breathe.

“Let me through!” she screams as she tries to shove past the man, and Blaze chokes, “Fuck is that…”, but I don’t let him finish his words.

I slam my phone into his stomach, and I sprint to my wife, who I haven’t seen in eight years, my wife who has a child with someone else.

I hurt her that much, she moved on…

Fuck, fuck, fuck…

Is that why she keeps sending divorce papers?

“Miss, please, I don’t want to arrest you,” the man rasps as he tries to stop my wife from jumping over him again. I quickly grab her by the waist and pull her back, the man looking relieved to see me, and he quickly rushes to another parent trying to get through.

“No,” she screams, trying to fight me, “let me go!”

She jolts my arm, but instead of letting her go despite the shooting pain, I hold her tighter.

“Freckles, it’s me, it’s me,” I say into her ear, but she fights harder, and I say louder, “Freckles, it’s me, baby, it’s me!”

She instantly relaxes into me as she looks up at me, and she lets out a sob as our eyes connect for the first time in eight years.

“My-My, Hayes, my son…” She sobs, and I squeeze her to me and press my lips to her head, and she cries, “The shooter is in his hallway, Hayes, p-please let me get to my baby, let me get to Kayden, our boy…”

I freeze… Fuck, our what?

My legs nearly give out at her words, her truth fucking suffocating me.

My, she, I have…

A gunshot echoes, and I snap my head up with fear as parents shout and scream, but my wife’s piercing scream, that will forever fucking stay with me. She tries to fight against me again, and I choke, “Blaze!”

He comes in front of us just as Alexiana’s legs give out and I catch her at the same time as him and I don’t think, I sprint away from them seeing he has her and he shouts, “Crusher!” but I ignore him and jump over the barriers, shouts and screams echoing but my heartbeat is louder, the fear for my son taking over.

Son, I have a son, my…