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And she did immediately, lowering her hands. She blinked her eyes, turning her head to look for him. "I'm right here, baby. Dutch, too."
The man stood on the other side of Eva, looking as rattled as Jake had ever seen him.
"You're safe. You did good, Eva," Jake smoothed her hair back, making a shushing sound.
Manny shoved Dutch back and eyeballed Jake. "Let us do our job, guys."
"Check her airway. Look for blistering and edema. She might need to be intubated,” Jake said, ignoring Manny. He'd had training in this. Knew the dangerous toxins that had entered Eva's lungs. They had to combat the CO2poisoning asap.
Manny turned to Dutch. "Get him out of here. I don't run his show, he don't run mine."
Jake did as Manny said... only because Manny was the best EMT Jake had ever encountered. Dutch grabbed him by the neck. "Come on. Let them work. You can follow them in."
He didn't want to leave Eva, but he knew that he'd distract Manny and his team if he stayed. And Eva needed to get the best care at that moment.
Dutch looked about as tired as a man could look. When he got to the engine, he sat on the back, taking huge gulps of air. "Shit.”
Dutch rarely cussed.
"How bad?" Jake asked, swallowing the ache in his throat, watching the stretcher where the medics worked on the woman he loved. The adrenaline still pumped, making his heart thump and his legs shake.
"Don't know if Jimbo will make it. He was in there a while. Eva should be okay; Her mask got knocked off and I got to her within a minute. She was under part of the collapsed roof. Luckily I could move it. And dang if she hadn't dragged Jimbo to the door using webbing. That Eva, she's something."
A truer statement had never been made.
"She dragged Jimbo to the door? He's more than double her weight."
Dutch managed a laugh. "She used that stair drag we practiced over the summer. Had the dang webbing tied over her and must have crawled to the door using her legs."
Jake shook his head, keeping an eye on the paramedics. The other team had intubated Jimbo and were doing CPR. Frannie stood beside the ambulance, a study in grief. Over at the other unit, Manny and Mary were still working on Eva. They had oxygen on her but the paramedics hadn't intubated. Five seconds after he noted all this, they started loading her in the back of the ambulance.
Behind him the Magnolia Bend Fire Department was moving the fan in to draw out smoke and reveal any hot spots. The snorkel truck had stopped pumping, and the units were in the process of clearing the building.
"What about you?" Jake asked Dutch, fishing his keys from his pocket, preparing to follow the ambulance to the hospital in Baton Rouge.
"I'm good."
"You should get checked out."
''Nah. Nothing to check. I did my job."
Jake set a hand on Dutch's shoulder. "You saved Eva and Jimbo. You did more than your job."
Dutch looked up at Jake. ''Nah. This is what we do, man. Saving peopleisour job. How many people can say that in their job description?"
Clasping his friend's shoulder, Jake gave a squeeze. Damn if he didn't want to hug Dutch, but he knew that would embarrass him. Plus, Jeff Wheeler from the paper was headed toward Dutch, no doubt wanting a statement. Jake jerked his head toward the ambulance. "I'm following. I'll call you once I know more about Eva and Jimbo."
Dutch nodded, leaning over to clasp his knees once again, and Jake jogged toward the truck he'd left parked in the funeral home lot. On his way, he passed Chase and Cole, who leaned against their police cruiser. Chase pushed off and met him in the street.
"How is she?" Chase asked, his face etched with worry.
"She's alive and conscious. They're taking her to General.”
Chase nodded. "Okay. Let me know if you need anything. She's important to me."
Jake didn't exactly enjoy hearing that out of Chase's mouth, but he understood. Eva, in only three years, had become a big part of their community, and even though she and Chase had called it quits, she was one of them. Friendly firefighter and police officer competition aside, Magnolia Bend's emergency rescue personnel were a team.
Jake ran to his truck, hopping in and firing it, shifting fast to catch up with the ambulance that had already turned the corner toward Main Street. Hitting Bluetooth, Jake dialed his mother.
