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“Hi, Noah. My name is Tucker. Do you remember me?” I walk a little farther into the room but don’t approach his bed until he’s at least comfortable with me. The nurse said he was agitated earlier, so I don’t want to upset him any more.
He takes in my face and then his eyes get wide. “Are you the firefighter who saved me?”
I nod my head. “I am. You have a good memory.”
“You look different. You don’t have that thing on your face.”
I chuckle at his observation. “I only wear it during a fire. Can I sit down?”
He shrugs his shoulders like he couldn’t care less, so I grab one of the chairs in the room and pull it close to his bed. It’s then I take in all of the bandages up and down his arms. He’s under the blanket, so I can’t see his legs, but I’d imagine they look the same.
“The nurse told me you weren’t feeling too good earlier. How are you doing now?”
“I don’t like hospitals.” He looks down at his blanket.
“I don’t like them either. I had to be here earlier but the doctors fixed me up.” His little blond head whips up to look at me like he can’t believe I would have to be in the hospital. I lift up my shirt to show him the bandage on my side so he can see the proof.
“How come you don’t have to still be here?”
“Well, I listened to my doctors, and they got me fixed up so I could go home. Do you think you can listen to your doctors so they can get you all fixed up?”
“I guess.” He shrugs again. “Do you like dinosaurs?”
My eyebrows wing up at the quick change in subject. I don’t normally hang out with kids, so I’m a little out of my element. It doesn’t seem like Noah is a normal kid, though, so maybe I can figure it out.
“Uh… yeah, I like dinosaurs.”
“They’re my favorite. I like T-rexes the most. They’re big and scary and not afraid.”
It feels like he might be having a different conversation than the words he’s actually saying. “They are pretty big and scary, but everybody gets scared sometimes.”
He looks at me like he doesn’t believe me. “I bet you don’t. You fight fires.”
“I still get scared sometimes. You know, I was a little scared during the fire earlier,” I tell him, and it’s true. Fear was coursing through me after we fell to the first floor. There was a minute when I didn’t think I was going to get us out.
His eyes grow wide at my confession, and his little mouth drops open. “You were?” I just nod my head in confirmation.
“I was scared when I was in the closet. I was also scared with my mom,” he says quietly. My chest tightens at his words. I may not know his story but I do know a little about being afraid of your parents.
I hold my hand out to him, and his little hand is dwarfed by mine as he sets it down on my open palm. “Well, now you have me, and I’ll make sure you’re never scared again.”
Conviction rings through my voice. No kid should have to be afraid of their life like I was, and I’m going to do everything I can to make sure this kid is never put into a similar situation again.
He smiles at me, and it pierces deep into my heart. I don’t know what’s going to happen next but what I do know is that Noah is going to be a part of the next chapter of my life.
I’ll make sure of it.
