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I wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but I had sat in my car one day and waited all day hoping to see Rory. When a cab had pulled up and she’d emerged from it, my breath caught. She looked tired. I could see the same sadness on her face that I saw on mine every single morning. Before she’d walked into her building she’d stopped and looked around.
“Nah. I’m not in the mood.”
“Jesus, Finn. You’ve got to snap out of it. Either talk to her, or move on.”
I sat up and stared at him. “You still dating Melissa?”
His face dropped. “No. She broke things off a few weeks back.”
“Why?”
He shrugged. “I wouldn’t commit to the relationship.”
Frowning, I replied, “I’m sorry about that, dude.”
With a short, empty chuckle, he said, “It was my fault.”
Nodding, I asked, “You want to go out tonight?”
He grinned. “Are you going to sulk or try and enjoy yourself?”
I smiled. “I guess the only way to move on is to enjoy myself.”
“And is moving on what you want to do, Finn?”
Before I had a chance to answer, an alarm sounded and we both started hustling. The last fucking thing I wanted to do was go out. But if it meant forgetting the pain in my chest for a while, I was willing to give it a shot. I pulled my pants on, then my jacket. Grabbing my helmet, I slipped it on and went to get into the truck. Cap’s gaze caught mine. It was hard not to notice the sadness in his eyes.
“You got your head in the game, Finn?”
I wasn’t sure how to respond. Was he asking because he thought I couldn’t do my job? Or because he knew he was the reason his daughter and I were miserable?
“Always, sir. Always.”
He nodded. “Good.”
—
There was chaos at the scene. Residents of the building were all over the place, yelling at us to get the fire out. They were losing everything. A lady screamed that her dog was still in the house and begged Colton and me to go in and get him. Captain Adams nodded for us to enter the brownstone.
Before going in, I hit my helmet three times. Colton walked slightly ahead of me.
“I can’t see a thing in here,” Colton said.
“Engine 33,” I called into the mic.
“Fire alarm answering Engine 33.”
“We have smoke filling the entire building, making it difficult to see.”
“Copy that, Engine 33 states a lot of smoke in the building making seeing difficult.”
I heard a cracking sound and reached out for Colton. “Stop! Something’s about to go.”
“I hear it!” Colton replied.
A bark came from the right. I pointed and said, “Over here—I hear it over here.”
“Engine 33, we are heading into the first-floor main living, we hear barking.”
“Fire alarm to Engine 33, you are entering the main-floor living.”
Making our way into another room, I caught the silhouette of a young girl holding a dog.
“Holy shit,” I whispered. “There’s a kid in here with the dog!”
“Engine 33, repeat please.”
“There’s a young girl in here. Still conscious…though possibly only barely.”
“Copy that, Engine 33 has found a young girl still alive in the building.”
Captain Adams’s voice filled my helmet. “Engine 33, I need all members to vacate the building immediately. It’s about to go. Finn, Colton, I need you to get out of the building. Now! I repeat, get out of the building. There is a fire in the basement and one working under the roof.”
Fuck. Two different fires; two different places most likely meant the fire was arson.
“Grab her, Finn. I’ll get the dog.”
I went to reach for the dog, and the girl screamed, then started coughing. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I’m not going to hurt you or the dog, but we have to go or you’re both going to be hurt really bad. Do you understand?”
She nodded and handed me the dog, which I then handed to Colton. Reaching down, I picked up the little girl and shouted to Colton, “Get moving—the ceiling above and below is about to go; I feel the heat!”
I was just barely able to see Colton give me a thumbs-up, and we headed back the way we’d come in. The creaking and cracking sounds of the floors grew louder as we moved across it.
“You gotta move faster, Colton! Move it!”
“I’m trying to find the goddamn way out, Finn. I can’t even see my hand in front of my face.”
My heart was racing. We needed to get this kid out of here before she breathed in any more smoke.
“Engine 33. We’re going to need an ambulance.”
“Fire alarm answering Engine 33. Copy that, ambulance in front of rescue two.”
Colton must have pulled ahead, or the smoke was getting much thicker, because I lost sight of him. I heard a loud crash from the direction of the floor behind me as I ran.
