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Blood.
In the nightmare I could see the crunched metal of what had once been a car but was utterly unrecognizable. I could hear the screams, my own screams, as I fought against the men and women I’d worked beside for years as they held me back. I could still feel the icy rain pelting against my skin, mixing with the salt of my tears as they ran down my face.
In the nightmare, I was getting closer to the car, I could nearly see through the shattered window when the tones started going off, ripping me from a terrorizing sleep.
The lights came on, and everyone around me started moving. I let the dump of adrenaline into my bloodstream carry me through as I moved on autopilot. We rushed down the stairs in a single line, moving to our gear and making quick work of dressing out in seconds as the chief came out of his office, barking orders.
I moved to the pumper and climbed into my designated spot, and a second later, the bay door opened, and we were off.
“What do we got?” I called to Crawford across from me as Palmer hit the airhorn and steered the rig away from the station.
“Looks like a structure fire. Fully involved with flammable materials inside.”
Palmer slowed as we reached a red light, giving any oncoming traffic a chance to break, but it was the middle of the night, and this was a small town, so the roads were practically empty.
I mentally prepared myself for what was to come just as we turned into a residential neighborhood that I was all-too familiar with.
I felt my mouth dry up, a thick ball of cotton swelling in my throat, making it difficult to pull in a full breath. My heart plummeted as we turned onto a street I knew by heart. “What’s the address of the call?”
Crawford rattled it off, and it felt like the world had just fallen out from beneath me. “You know who lives there?”
I did. And this couldn’t be happening. Not again.
“That’s Hardin Shields’s house.”
* * *
Hardin
I stood at the sidewalk, the flames coming from the backyard painting the black night sky an eerie orange and yellow. It almost looked like the sun was cresting behind my house, but I knew better. It was barely after midnight when Hazel had come racing into my room to tell me the shed out back was on fire.
Her bedroom faced the backyard, and the brightness of the flames had woken her up. Thank God they had, because I hated to think what would have happened if I hadn’t called for help when I did. The shed was a good bit from the house, but we’d been suffering a drought lately, and it wouldn’t have taken much for the yard to catch and the flames to eventually spread to the house.
“Mommy, I’m scared,” Hazel said as she clung to my neck, her legs locked around my waist. She’d gotten too heavy for me to hold for any long period of time about a year ago, but given the current circumstances, I pushed through the strain and held her tight.
“I know, baby. But it’s all going to be okay. I promise.” I heard the sirens in the distance, and my whole body sagged in relief. “You hear that? That’s the firefighters coming to help. They’ll put out the fire in no time, then we won’t have to deal with that ugly shed in the backyard anymore, right?”
The joke was lame, no doubt about that, but it worked to put a smile on her face.
Then her eyes lit up like she just realized something exciting. “You think Ford’s gonna be one of the firefighters that show up?”
“I think he might be. I know he was on shift tonight, but he has to get to work as soon as he gets here, okay? He’s not going to be able to chat with you.”
“Yeah, I know. I just wanna see him.”
I knew the feeling all too well. I just wished the circumstances were a whole hell of a lot different.
Just then, the huge firetruck came into view, and my girl and I watched as it parked, and firefighters came pouring out. A second later, I heard a familiar voice shouting my name.
Even decked out in full bunker gear, I would have known Ford anywhere. My heart recognizing him above all else.
He raced up to Hazel and me, his hands cupping her face first, then mine as he panted like he’d just run a marathon. Even with his helmet casting shadows in the light brought on by the emergency vehicles, I could see the change in his blue eyes. There was something in them I’d never seen before. A fear so stark, so paralyzing, it made the breath in my lungs freeze.
“Jesus Christ,” he grunted as his hands moved all over Hazel and me. “Jesus. Are you guys okay? Are you all right? You aren’t hurt, are you?”
“Ford,” I said, desperate to get his attention and put his mind at ease. “Ford,” I snapped louder, finally breaking him out of whatever panic he was lost in. “We’re okay, I swear. We’re fine. It’s the shed out back that caught fire. We haven’t been anywhere near it.” I lifted my hand and pressed it to his cheek. “We’re perfectly safe. I swear.”
His whole body sank, like the weight of his relief was so heavy it was a struggle for him to stay standing.
