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Chapter Nine
Gary
I was thinking about the kiss when the call came in. There was a fire. We had to roll.
In fact, I’d been thinking about the kiss nonstop since it happened. It was perfect. Shelly kissed me. She had actually put her sweet lips against mine right out of the blue. I took this to mean that she really loved my performance. And she was not kidding when she said she had strong feelings for me.
After I watched her drive away, I drove home and sat up writing and strumming my guitar. I was too buzzed on that kiss to sleep. I could think of nothing else except when I would get to taste those perfect lips again. We had to do this. We were just fooling ourselves if we thought we could keep these feelings under wraps for much longer. Of course no one at work suspected a thing. Hell, if Shelly and I had gone home together and spent the night, no one would have suspected a thing then either. It would be that simple. We could do this. We just had to be professional at work, which we’d have to be if we were an out couple anyway.
I didn’t think this would be an issue. We could handle this. I was sure of it. But clearly, Shelly needed more time. I was glad to give her all the time she needed. I wasn’t about to try to talk her into rushing this. That would only lead to resentment from her. That was the last thing I wanted.
After I quickly suited up, we grabbed our gear and headed to the truck. I thought I saw Shelly watching from the side but I was in too big of a rush to pay attention. I wondered if she was worried about me. I imagined she was worried about us all of course, but perhaps just a bit extra for me. I liked to think that the kiss meant she might have a bit of a bias when it came to me. And she gave me a bit of incentive to get back home safe and sound. But with a fire, you could never predict anything.
And this was one of those times.
We arrived on the scene to see a two story house fully engulfed in a blaze. This was going to be rough. We had no hope of salvaging the property. All we could do was make sure everyone was out and that the fire didn’t spread to any of the surrounding structures.
A woman ran up to the truck frantic as could be as we stepped out. “You have to help me! My daughter is still in there! She is only eight years old! Please!”
“Where was she last seen?” Alan, our foreman asked quickly.
The woman stuttered with her thoughts. “Upstairs! Her bedroom! Please save my baby! I couldn’t get to her!” The woman was bent over crying and sobbing now as a neighbor ran over to console her. This woman would have been totally broken if her daughter did not survive this. I was not going to let that happen. I just prayed we weren’t too late. The fire was a full on inferno and most people who perish in fires actually die of smoke inhalation before the fire ever gets to them.
Me and Max quickly rushed up the stairs to the door. He had the axe clenched tightly in his hand. He swung it hard, with all his might until the door splintered in front of us. The heat escaped from the house in one large swoosh that I felt even behind all the equipment and protective gear I was wearing.
This was going to be intense. It had been a while since we’d faced anything like this.
The moment we entered the house. I could see we were in trouble. The place was full of smoke and flames were eating through the entire structure climbing up the stairs. It was a gamble if we could make it up the steps and it was pretty much an uncertainty we were not coming back down them. There just wasn’t time.
“Go back out and tell them to get the ladder ready. Pull it up to the side window upstairs!” I yelled at Max.
He grabbed me. “Are you nuts? It’s too dangerous. We can’t get to her. She is probably gone already.”
“I have to try!”
I shook him off and I quickly ran up the stairs. I was not going to let this raging inferno defeat me today. I knew the odds of me making it out of this fire were very slim, but if that little girl was going to die today, I was going to make damn sure that she didn’t die alone.
I reached the stairs and looked to my left where the hallway was leading me. I saw the window at the end. I ran to the window and picked up a small stand holding a potted plant. I swung the stand and smashed the window to pieces. Through the window I could see the crew getting the ladder ready. This was going to be a trick. I wasn’t sure if there would be enough time.
I kicked open several doors until I found the right room. There was the little girl. She was curled up in a ball in the corner screaming and crying as loudly as she could. As far as I could tell she was miraculously ok. But the room was filling up with smoke. She didn’t have much time.
“I’m gonna get you out of here!” I yelled to her.
I scooped her up in my arms and carried her out of the room. I was at the window now waiting for the ladder to reach. But something was wrong. The ladder was only extended about halfway. It was a few feet shy of the roof over the porch below which was sloping down.
“What’s wrong?” I yelled.
Cody was there waving at me. “The damn thing is jammed!”
Shit. I was afraid of this. When something went wrong, it really went wrong.
I had to improvise and do something drastic or else we were both going to die. The girl was clinging to my chest, her face buried in my suit. This was the best thing for her because what I was about to attempt was going to terrify her.
I carefully climbed out the window onto the sloping overhang. The tiles beneath my feet were far more slippery than I had even realized. Shit. This was going to be quite the trick.
“Mommy! Mommy!” The little girl shrieked as she held on tightly.
“Your mommy is waiting for you! I know you’re scared, but you have to be brave,” I said.
