AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He could see a strange grey glow ahead – and realized it was the front door.
“Oh, thank God…” Andy said openly, saying exactly what was on Kyle’s mind in that very moment, echoed wildly by Austin and several others.
“I see them!” Chase announced, and Kyle started to open his eyes, not realizing they had closed at some point.
He felt awful!
He had pain rolling up his arm that felt limp as a noodle, and everything was swimming in his head… as he collapsed weakly in the grass, struggling to pull off his helmet but his hands didn’t seem to work as everything went foggy around him.
“Medic… I need a medic!” Justin ordered – as Kyle closed his eyes.
* * *
Kyle hadno idea what was going on around him.
He saw Austin’s grimy face before him as he was being bumped around in an ambulance. He could hear the EMT and paramedic rattling off some code, calling out their findings, and heard them asking him questions, shining a pen light in his eyes, causing him to wince.
“Kyle, buddy… you all there, bro?” Austin asked, his eyes shining with fear and unshed tears as he looked at him.
Kyle nodded slowly, feeling lethargic.
“Call… my girl…” he asked.
“I will,” Austin promised, clenching his hand in his a few times as Kyle clung to his loosely. “I’ll get your phone and call her – I promise.”
“Bros… with hose…” Kyle whispered, but his voice sounded exceedingly gravelly and thick, almost to where it was unrecognizable as it echoed in the oxygen mask they had on his face – only to see his partner smile as the medics laughed around him.
“’Bros with the hose’, my friend,” Austin grinned tearfully, his sooty face making this strange dysmorphic mask as he succumbed again to exhaustion.
12
Reyna was with the plumber, who was installing a water line that would run to the automatic coffee maker and espresso machines she had bought. Originally, she was going to have different brew pots, but she wanted things to look exceedingly professional if she was going to charge a decent price for a cup of coffee.
This needed to be an experience, not just an ordinary thing… or else she would need to charge an ordinary price. Fifty cents for a cup of coffee wouldn’t pay the bills, but four dollars certainly would – plus if they had danishes, donuts, cakes, and other goodies?
Oh yes, she could certainly see a winning situation out of this little café to help cover her mother’s expenses, especially considering the house and the building were both paid off. It was only the cost of water, electricity, and taxes she would need to focus on – that and the nursing home.
“Miss Mattingly, I can run the line from here – and even install it to an icemaker for you.”
“You can?”
“Yep, if you want to pick one up at the store – it won’t take me but a few minutes and…”
Reyna’s phone rang and she quickly answered it, knowing Kyle was on duty at the fire station and wondering why he was calling. She assumed he would be doing ‘fire station-ey’ things, like sliding down a pole or washing the truck, lookin’ all handsome for anyone driving past.
“Is this ‘My blue-eyed goddess’?” a voice spoke, and she almost hung up – except the caller ID said it was Kyle… yet it wasn’t.
“Who is this?” she asked.
“Who is this?” he parroted back bluntly.
“I’m guessing thisisthe blue-eyed goddess that was the last number Kyle dialed yesterday?” the man’s voice began. “My name is Austin and I work with Kyle…”
“… At the station,” she whispered numbly, as everything suddenly snapped into place in her mind, grasping at a chair so she didn’t fall onto the floor. Kyle talked about Austin and the other guys quite a bit as he worked, making her feel like she should know them by now… and obviously didn’t.
“Is Kyle… o-okay?” she stammered, feeling panic seeping into her soul painfully as she laid a hand over her heart to keep it from leaping from her chest.
“He is,” Austin said gently. “He’s at the hospital and I’m with him. He asked me to give you a call, so you didn’t worry.”
