And up. Running upstairs in full fire gear sucked. Ashley could feel the sweat pouring down his neck and back when he reached the top, pushing up against the wall as Keller pulled the door open. Fire roared out, engulfing the fresher cool air, smoke billowing into the stairwell.
It was worse than it looked outside. There must have been flammable insulation in the walls; the heat was almost unbearable even through the suit. A dog came sprinting through the flames down the hallway, on fire. Ashley made a grab for it but it was too fast and fled down the stairs. He could only hope someone caught it and put the flames out before it was too badly burned.
Keller moved forward and Ashley followed. They didn’t need to kick the doors in; half of them were left open when people fled, the other half were gone, broken and burning on the floor, which was unstable under their boots. Keller seemed to have picked out the structural pattern of the beams and Ashley made sure he followed immediately in the older man’s footsteps. He didn’t need to fall through the floor today.
A sound caught Keller’s attention and he charged into one of the apartments. When Ashley peeked in he saw a man wrapped in a wet blanket fall into Keller’s arms and he left them to it, moving on, running out of time. He wasn’t allowed to stay solo for long; he would be expected to leave once Keller was on the stairs down, disappearing from sight, so Ashley hurried down the hallway, checking in the rooms he passed as quickly as he could. The fire was getting worse the further down the hall he got. He was about to turn back, hearing Keller’s shout when movement caught his eye and he ducked into the apartment on his left.
It was a boring room, which said a lot considering it was on fire, and usually that was pretty exciting. But there wasn’t a lot in there to catch alight. A couch and a TV he was pretty sure still ran on UHF. Or it picked up alien channels, he wasn’t there to judge. There was a picture on the wall of some band he didn’t recognise, and a ratty wooden table with four chairs between the couch and a very small kitchenette.
Clearly, whoever lived there didn’t have a lot of money.
They did, however, have a duck. It waddled up to him, stood immediately in front of him and started quacking and waving its wings at him while Ashley blinked. It was not what he had expected.
‘Ash? Get a move on!’ Keller’s voice came through to him and he shook his head, as if it might shake the image of the duck. It didn’t. The duck turned and shat on his boot instead.
‘Uh … I … there’s a duck.’
‘Excuse me?’
The duck waddled off through a door and Ashley stumbled after it, surprised to find himself in the bathroom. The duck waddled up to a large creamish porcelain tub and jumped in to the full bath of water, where a little girl sat, submerged save her head and hands where she peeked over the rim.
Smart girl. Too bad she’d been left alone in an apartment when it caught fire, but very clever getting in the bath.
‘Hey there, sweetie. We have to go …’ He hurried over and went to grab her, saw some towels on the rack and grabbed them, tossing them in the bath to wet them and then wrapped her up in them. She was in Frozen pyjamas that reminded him a little too much of Emma.
‘Quacky!’ She started screaming and beating his shoulder and he turned quickly to stare at the duck. Sighing, he reached out and scooped up its legs, gripping them hard as it started to flap wildly at his hips where it hung in one hand while he gripped the girl tightly to his side with the other.
He raced back out of the apartment and spotted Keller disappearing into the stairwell and tried to catch up, but the duck kept getting in the way and the girl kept screaming at him not to hurt Quacky. Who the hell named their duck Quacky? He would have called it Jemima, like any self-respecting child raised on Play School.
The smoke was filling up the lower levels, making it hard to see. It was why Keller missed the last step and stumbled, twisting his ankle and going down hard, the man he was trying to rescue stumbling with him and slamming them both into the wall.
The little girl screamed, which made the duck panic and start trying to bite him as Ashley struggled to keep hold of them both and not fall over himself. He hurried to Keller’s side, waiting for the man to help his partner up, but it was obvious Keller couldn’t stand on his leg, so the man took one side and Ashley shoved his shoulder under Keller’s other pit, pinning the duck between them.
‘Is that … a duck?’ Keller gasped through the pain, staring down at the bird now beating them both up.
‘Yes, Sir,’ was all he could say, because hello, yes it was a duck! But the girl was screaming and pointing and the other guy reached down to pick up the elephant, shoving it at her like she was insane as they struggled to haul everyone out.
‘Sorry,’ Ashley apologised to the guy. ‘And thanks.’
‘No probs, happy to help,’ the man grunted. ‘I’m John.’
‘I’m Louisa!’ The little girl burst into tears suddenly, clutching her new toy elephant to her chest and wailing. Ashley sighed and tried to block it out, manoeuvring down a particularly tricky section of burning building.
‘Why the hell are you bringing the duck?’ John asked when it pecked his knee, sending him to the floor momentarily, and almost pulling them all with him.
‘Don’t leave Quacky!’ Louisa bellowed at them and Ashley didn’t bother trying to explain further. Technically, the duck was alive, so he was mandated to save it if possible. Only he wasn’t so sure it was possible. But he was trying.
The building’s front doors came into view and Ashley charged through them, relieved when two more firefighters hurried over and took Keller off his hands, and two paramedics rushed in to take John away. Ashley found himself standing under the waterfall of the hose, a soggy girl on one hip and a furious duck in his fist, searching the grounds for the second ambulance he knew had to be there.
Hayley stood a few metres from the ambulance, gaping at him. Of course. Of all the paramedics in Sydney, the one who had to find him holding a little girl and her stupid duck was his sister. With a heavy sigh he trudged over and handed the little girl off to Hayley’s partner, not at all surprised when Louisa started screaming for her duck. Ashley grinned as he held it out, watching Hayley dubiously push its wings in against its sides, turn it up the right way and hug it to her chest, talking to it as if it were a real patient.
He didn’t wait any longer, turning and hurrying to the firetruck where Keller was sitting, another member of the crew peeling off his boot to get a better look at his ankle. Not that they needed to.
‘Oh, that’s broken!’ Keller stared at it, blinking as if he weren’t sure how that were possible, when his foot was twice its normal size and his ankle was purple, bone bulging out the side. Thankfully, it hadn’t broken the skin. It was still gross.
‘Yeah …’ Ashley winced and looked away, but not so far away that Keller thought he wasn’t there. The fire was finally smouldering out, but the damage to the building was too extensive. There would be no saving it. The police were arriving on scene, but thankfully Ashley didn’t recognise any of them. He sat on the side of the truck and worked his hat off, putting it back on the rack and wishing he could go back to the station and shower. He stank, and not in a good way.
‘Come on,’ Hayley appeared, taking Keller’s arm and helping him over to the ambulance. Ashley made to follow behind but the rest of his crew held him back. The ambulance was full, and they would all head to the hospital anyway to check on Keller once they took the truck back to the station and handed over to the other crew.
‘Okay,’ Ashley still couldn’t help himself from watching the ambulance pack up and leave. He sat on the truck bumper and looked around at the chaos and felt a sudden wave of loneliness. He couldn’t begin to explain why. His comrades were there, he’d even had his sister there for a moment; he was surrounded by familiar faces. But when he looked down at his hands he saw the nicks and scratches left by Quacky and he wondered where Louisa’s parents were, and why they bought her a pet du
ck, of all things, and why their living room was so sparse but they still fed a pet. He wondered what Keller’s wife would say when she got the call, and if she would blame him, or if she’d thank John. And was John married? Did he have family nearby? He had all these unanswered questions about other’s lives, mostly because he wanted to talk to someone but he was sitting on a fire truck bumper, alone, watching the flames die on a building that would soon be demolished due to its injuries. He wondered if anyone would even remember those apartments in a year.
‘Hey, Jameson, you gonna come out on Conquistador this weekend?’ Zhao appeared in front of him out of nowhere. Ashley blinked at him, taking a minute to register the question.
‘What?’ Was he hearing things or had that really made no sense.
‘My yacht. Come sailing with me.’ Pretentious dick. Ashley scowled at him and shooed him away. They both had jobs to do, and he wanted to be left alone. Zhao seemed to get the message and disappeared once more.
‘Oi, Jameson. Why so glum?’ Scotty McFarrell was looking down at him like he’d done something crazy, and Ashley forced himself to shake it off, shrugging and getting up to help pack the gear back into the truck. Max Ridley was the other man on his crew for the day, already up front and ready to drive them home, but he didn’t say much. He rarely did. He had a slight stutter, and while no one would dream of giving him a hard time about it when they knew he was so self-conscious about it, Max still didn’t say a lot to anyone.
Ashley climbed into his seat and belted himself in, but he couldn’t stop staring at his hands and the various injuries he’d sustained even through his gloves. He wondered how Taylor and Clay managed to do their jobs and stay sane, but he knew … they had each other. Sure, the family was always there, but they also weren’t. Family were only there to a point, so were friends, and mates and the people you worked with. But when you went home, it was the person you shared a bed with that made things better, and no one shared that with Ashley.
Forcing himself to push the thoughts and melancholy away, Ashley grabbed the GPS and helped direct Max back to the station. Jumping out as soon as the truck pulled up, he helped to hose it down and restock it for the next fire while the following crew were turning up.
He stole a hurried shower, because Keller wasn’t going to die before he got there, and he needed the time out to get his head back on straight. He had no idea why he was feeling so out of sorts, and he tried not to dwell on it. He wasn’t the brooding type.
The hospital was busy when they arrived and Ashley had to wait ten minutes before he could even get someone at the desk to talk to him. Keller was in x-rays seeing if he needed surgery, Louisa was being checked for smoke inhalation and her parents had come to find her. Apparently, there had been a babysitter, but Ashley doubted it. They couldn’t afford it; had left Louisa home, not expecting the building to burn down.
Ashley sat heavily in one of the waiting room chairs, a few seats away from Max and Scotty, and closed his eyes. For a brief minute. Someone cleared their throat and he thought a shadow fell over him. When he dared open one eye it was to find Clay standing over him, hands on hips, glaring.
‘What the fuck, Ash?’ He at least kept his voice to a quiet, grating demand, since they were in the hospital.
‘Huh?’ What had he done now?
‘What are you doing in the hospital?’
‘I’m not … well, I am, obviously, but I’m not a patient. There was a fire … ’
‘Did you get checked out?’ Clay demanded, already reaching for his shoulders and gripping hard, as if he could squeeze any injuries out of him.
‘No! I’m not hurt! Keller broke his ankle! I came to see how he is!’ Ashley shoved Clay off and looked over his shoulder, not at all surprised to see Taylor there with an identical scowl on his face, though he did also look worried.
‘You’ve got cuts on your hands … ’ Taylor pointed out softly. A little too softly, since it was Taylor. It made Ashley nervous and he found himself looking at his hands again.
‘Yeah, there was a duck …’
‘Excuse me?’ Taylor’s frown was dark and so very confused.
‘Quacky,’ Hayley confirmed, coming up on Clay’s other side, said duck wrapped in a towel against her chest. ‘I’m taking him to the vet. Isn’t he cute?’
‘Why the fuck do you have a duck?’ Clay demanded, looking from Hayley to Ashley and back again.
‘It belongs to Louisa,’ Ashley said softly.
‘Your girlfriend?’ Taylor butt in immediately.
‘What? No! The little girl I pulled out of the fire!’ What was wrong with these people?
‘You pulled a duck … out of the fire.’ It wasn’t a question, and Taylor didn’t look like he expected an answer. He was staring down at Ashley like he wasn’t sure he was sane. Which was fine; Ash knew his family weren’t normal. Whatever that was.
‘Shoulda cooked it.’ Clay was glaring at the duck as if its breathing offended him.
‘Excuse me?’ Ashley was angry now. As if he would let anything die that way if he could do something to stop it. No one deserved to burn, even Quacky.
‘I like duck pancakes,’ Clay shrugged, apparently oblivious to Ashley’s rage. Or immune to it. ‘I’m really hungry … Do you think they’ll notice if we go get some food? We could bring some back?’ Clay looked hopefully at Taylor who shrugged and waved Clay off.
‘If you want, go order some. I want sweet’n’sour pork.’
‘Got it,’ Clay stepped aside, phone already to his ear, leaving Taylor, Hayley and the duck standing over Ashley. They all looked uncomfortable.
‘Was it bad?’ Taylor asked softly.
‘Keller broke his ankle. It wasn’t nice,’ Ashley reasoned. ‘Pretty sure the building’s gonna be demolished, it’s wrecked.’
Taylor was nodding, distracted. It made Ashley nervous and he looked around and realised Taylor and Clay were not alone; Mendel was also in the waiting room.
‘Wait, what are you doing here?’
‘Hale got stabbed.’
‘What?’ Ashley felt the air flee his lungs like they’d been immolated. He was on his feet suddenly, looking around as if Hale might magically appear and say it was a lie and he was fine, but Taylor stood there instead, staring coldly at him with a strange look on his face. Like maybe he thought Ashley had lost his mind.
‘What the hell happened?’ Ashley demanded. He’d only seen him yesterday, and he’d been fine. He’d saved that kid! He’d told him to be careful. Ashley should have said the same!
‘Uh … A drug bust, went a bit sideways.’
‘Sideways.’
‘Well … yeah,’ Taylor looked sheepish, rubbing the back of his neck. ‘We thought we had everyone rounded up, but one of the guys did a runner, so Hale went after him, because he’s the fastest, but there was another guy and when Hale rounded the corner he stabbed him … ’
‘Is he okay?’ Hayley asked, looking concerned but not at all like she was about to drop dead if someone didn’t answer the question. Not like Ashley felt.
‘Yeah, it was just in the thigh, but there was a tonne of blood. Think it nicked an artery.’
‘Jeez …’ Ashley felt woozy, but refused to sit back down when everyone else was standing up. It was too easy to die. Too easy to see someone one minute and miss them the next. The loneliness he’d felt at the fire swamped him again, leaving a hollow feeling in his gut.
‘You okay?’ Taylor was still looking at him strangely.
‘Did you get checked out? The duck scratched you, you could have a disease … is it bird flu? You could totally have bird flu …’ Clay reappeared and Ashley scowled at him.
‘I don’t have bird flu! My partner broke his damn ankle, and the fire was bad, okay? I’m …’ Worried about someone he had no right to be worried over. He should have been thinking of Keller, and there he was freaking out over the guy who worked with his brothers.
‘He doesn’t have bird flu,’ Hayley confirmed, shakin
g her head at Clay. ‘You don’t get bird flu from pet ducks, you moron.’ She said it as if anyone would know that, but really ducks were birds and Ashley could see how Clay was confused. Sort of. This was the guy who didn’t even know what a Quark was, yet dated a physics professor. Still, he was good at his job, mostly because his head was hard and he was big enough most doors fell over before he could hit them too hard.
‘Keller’s fine,’ Scotty said, coming over to interrupt, waving at the nurse who had spoken to him. ‘You can go in and see him anytime. We’ll go in first, see you in there.’
‘Thanks,’ Ashley mumbled, annoyed at himself because that wasn’t the room he wanted to rush in and check on. He managed to shove away from his siblings, because there was somewhere better to be. He snatched the duck from Hayley and shoved it under one arm, ignoring its protests.
‘I’m gonna go see Louisa, then Keller. Good luck with Hale!’
He wished someone would let him know how that went, but knew they wouldn’t.
4
Le Corridor
Louisa was so happy to see her duck she almost fell out of the bed trying to get to it. Ashley was still laughing about it when he walked through his front door at home and found Dave alone on the couch, laptop on one thigh, scowling at the screen.
‘Working?’
‘No, stalking,’ Dave corrected.
‘Ah, Facebook?’ Ashley grabbed a beer from the fridge and dropped onto the couch beside Dave, looking over his shoulder at the familiar blue framed screen. Definitely Facebook.
‘Yeah, some idiot at work who reckons he’s been … everywhere. Anyway, he was bragging about it and I figured if he’d really been those places there would be photos, right?’
Rhino Ash (Saturday Barbies Book 2) Page 5
