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Prologue
Battalion chief of Station #34, Charlie Saint, was on a mission he’d never wanted to make. His beloved nephew, fellow firefighter Mike Saint, had been killed in a wildfire the day before. Now it was Chief Saint’s duty to visit Mike’s best friend, Devon Lyon.
Devon had carried Mike out of the fire on his back. No one had yet mentioned that the fire chief, George McGrew, had been left behind. Devon couldn’t carry both men, and Mike had still been alive when George went down.
Steeling himself for the visit, Charlie wasn’t good at emotional things, and this was emotional. He fumbled around, putting on the isolation gown and other paraphernalia supposedly necessary to keep Devon safe.
“Knock, knock.” A masked face appeared through a crack in the door of Devon’s hospital room. “It’s Charlie Saint.”
“Come in,” Devon called, heartsick.
Lila Conner, Devon’s friend and neighbor, was inside the room, standing at the bedside, looking frail and forlorn. She smiled at Charlie, but he could see the tracks of her tears and felt her pain. In spite of the sorrow in the room, something about Lila made Charlie respond, a male-female thing he’d thought he’d never feel again; something he’d never really had with his own wife. Ex-wife.
Devon introduced Lila and Charlie, and they made a minute of small talk, clearly a spark between them igniting before she excused herself, winking at Devon as she left the room.
After he recovered from the presence of Lila, an emotional Charlie, seeing Devon in bed with oxygen and IVs and pumps surrounding his bed, wiped his eyes on his sleeves. “Can I shake hands with you?”
“Of course,” Devon answered, emotionally exhausted. “Can you tell me about George? The guys were in here last night, and they claimed not to know anything.”
“I’m sorry, Devon. George had a heart attack. They got him out, as you know, and started CPR, but the smoke inhalation was too much. The doctors told me you might have lung damage, too. It was an awful fire.”
“What about Mike? What was the final verdict about cause of death?” Devon heard his own voice asking, sounding cold and clinical. What did his best friend, his buddy since kindergarten, the guy he loved like a brother, what did he die of?
“That last flash you told us about must have been horrific. You’re lucky to be alive, Devon. Mike had burns over fifty percent of his body, but it was the smoke inhalation, burns to his airway, that’s listed as the cause of death.”
Devon felt weighted to the pillow, like he couldn’t move. His doctors had told him his burns were extensive to his face, neck, chest and arms. Now here he was, hearing that Mike’s burns had covered over fifty percent of his body.
“You’re more than lucky to be alive, Devon,” Chief Saint said softly.
“Am I?” Devon asked, wishing he were dead.
“One of the reasons you’re alive is because of your strength. You were in the same place as Mike and George, yet they succumbed. That must mean you still have something special to do. I’m honored to have you on my team, Devon.”
Wiping the sleeve of the isolation gown across his face again, Charlie was angry at himself for giving way to tears, but he was trying to get Devon to understand it wasn’t his fault the men had died.
Not believing any of what Charlie had said, Devon didn’t respond right away. The fear of his self-pity being exposed was enough to keep him silent.
“I guess that means I’ll be coming back to work when this is taken care of,” he finally said, circling his bandages with a finger. “I’m not sure about that.”
Survivor’s guilt and guilt about leaving George on the ground had started to haunt Devon.
“It will be different with Mike gone, I realize that,” Charlie said. “You two signed up together. He was my nephew and I’ll really miss the guy, too. But you’re an integral part of our team on your own. Besides that, I want you to lead the honor guard at his funeral.”
“I’ll think about it,” Devon said, beaten. “Right now I just want to get home to my dog.”
“Where is Tilly?”
“Lila, the woman who just left, is keeping her for me.”
“Is she a girlfriend?” Charlie asked.
“No, she’s just a friend. Probably my best friend now that Mike is gone. My neighbor. And she’s single,” he added, perking up. “Why? You interested?”
“Yes,” Charlie said emphatically. “Leave it at that. When you get around to it, I’ll take a more extensive introduction.”
“It hurts when you make me laugh,” Devon replied, trying to control his facial muscles and losing the battle.
Charlie sidled up to the side rail on Devon’s bed, worried. “You think she’s too young for me?”
