by Kerri Carr
Gary cut him off before his next words. “What we’ve got?” he asked without glancing at him.
Gary caught Bill from the corner of his eye glancing hopelessly at Chelsea like he wanted her to help me out with what next to say to, but she shrugged instead.
Bill sighed, “Captain, I don’t want to fuck this up. Can you take over command please?”
Gary hinged the flat head axe to his buckle and looked up to meet Bill’s pleading stare. “You know I can’t. I shouldn’t be here remember. You’ve got this. If anything goes wrong, it’s because you let it happen.”
“Wow. That was inspiring,” Bill said in a disappointed tone. “Guess I have to hold the fort until the chief arrives.”
“Sounds like it,” Gary replied him flatly and started to walk away, but stopped after taking a few steps.
He turned and completing the path of a semicircle to look at Bill. “By the way, what’s the officer’s report?”
“Well, uh, they think they’ve evacuated everyone inside the building.”
“They think?!” Chelsea and Jackson both asked in a disbelieving tone.
“My gut is telling me otherwise," Chelsea added shortly.
“I don’t know if this count, but I honestly feel the same way,” Jackson chipped in.
Gary didn’t like the report Bill had received. His gut felt the same way Chelsea and Jackson were already feeling. But unless the fire was contained to a bearable degree, there was no way any of the fire team could walk right through the doors of the burning Spa Palace. Unless they were ready to risk their own lives to save whoever that was trapped inside. That could result in a MAYDAY situation, but the fact that the authorities were unsure of the accountability status of everyone that had been inside earlier worsened the situation.
“Well, they’ve gone about accounting for everyone. Still expecting the report on that. Let’s hope for the best though.”
Michael, who was working at the top of the fire truck scoffed.
“‘Hoping’ is as hopeless as a flaccid dick right now. If anyone is unfortunate to be caught in this infernal hell, the person is as good as toast. And Thanksgiving isn't any close yet." He said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Because there's no how any of us can walk into that right now," he stressed pointing at the burning Spa.
Captain Damon agreed with his reasoning. In his many years of service, he also knew there were moments the textbook format of operation for a firefighter had to be discarded, and the risk had to be taken to save a victim's life.
"Unless we are willing to discard the SOG if necessary,” Gary said casually.
Michael started to protest, “Captain you’ve got to be kidding right now…”
Bill’s agitated voice came over the portable radio and interrupted him.
"Captain, there are some persons unaccounted for. Miss Richards is among them."
“Who’s Miss Richards?” Jackson was asking when Gary swung into action and darted toward the building in quick gaits.
Chelsea saw his determined face and knew there was no way he could be stopped, but she had to try. It was still too risky walking into in the fire. They had to wait for the other units to arrive and assist them suppressing the surge of the blame before any rescue operation could be initiated.
“Gary!” she yelled, calling him by his first name. It’s been a while she did that. "You are planning on doing what I'm thinking right?" she asked and was replied by his silence. "It's too risky, please." She pleaded, but Gary was undeterred from his mission.
"This guy has lost his mind," Michael sputtered, and Chelsea shot him a glare.
“What? You know I’m right,” he snapped. “I’m not so enthused about saving a black man’s ass this morning.” Michael added in a hushed tone.
Chelsea frowned at him, “Save me your racist bullshit.” She warned him and he replied her with a grunt.
Chelsea couldn’t blame Michael for his utterance, but only she understood why Gary was throwing caution to the wind to save the victim or victims who could be trapped if there were any inside.
She was well aware Gary still carried the blame for the firefighters who had failed to respond quickly to the scene of his fiancée’s plane crash at the airport in Lagos, Nigeria. Since the incidence, he never hesitated to act, no matter how impossible or risky it was to rescue a victim from a burning scene.
A minute later, after debates back and forth between the team members and as soon as other fire units had arrived the scene, Chelsea grabbed the pry bars and hydraulic spreaders to find Gary with three other fire firefighters.
She radioed in to know Gary’s position before walking into the building.
*****
The EMTs rushed toward Gary as soon they saw him staggering from the blinding smoke carrying what appeared to be the lifeless body of a woman.
Gary collapsed onto the ground as soon as one of the EMTs had relieved him of the burden of the victim he was carrying. In quick succession, two others helped him remove his SCBA and proceeded with the standard protocol to ensure he was medically okay and not harmed adversely.
Since walking through into the building earlier, Gary had been communicating with the team until he had reached the elevator on the second floor. From there, he became unresponsive to the radio calls that were sent to his channel. Even after the primary and secondary search teams had gone to the rescue and secured the remainder of the missing persons that were trapped in the building, Gary and Miss Richards were the only two no one knew about their whereabouts.
Everyone seemed to be frantic and agitated. Even the chief appeared to be apprehensive and disorientated—two qualities he’s never displayed in public as a professional firefighter. And he was about to be forced to declare a MAYDAY when Gary lurched out looking battered in smut.
Gary coughed loudly and repeatedly as he tried to regain his full consciousness. At the same time, he was trying to sit up to monitor the EMTs who were attending to the woman he had rescued earlier. One of the EMTs checking his vitals was asking him questions and giving him instructions, but Gary's mind wasn't even with them. His mind was a distance away, at the ambulance where Miss Richards was being loaded into.
Gary still had no idea who she was, but he knew he had seen the most beautiful blue turquoise eyes he had ever seen in his entire life.
He brushed off the hands that were stitching one of the few cuts on his face. “I’m fine, all right,” he barked frustratedly even as he recounted the desperate look in the eyes of Miss Richards the very moment he had cut open the elevator to rescue her.
Her eyes were full of a compassionate plea, one that said more than the default appeal to be saved from the distress she was facing and he couldn’t resist the urge to help her even more.
"Lay still Captain. Let the medics do their work to fix your shitty look," Gary heard the chief instruct from behind him, but his eyes remained glued to the ambulance that was being shut to drive away to the hospital and he tried to force his way to sit up.
"Gary!" Chelsea called his name in a warning tone, but he still didn’t respond.
She and Chief Matt Pierson trailed his stare and realized what he was up to. They both knew how Gary had an inexplicable attachment to any of the victims he saved personally, especially in a dire situation.
The chief sighed. “She will make it. Thanks to you. You have my word," he said to persuade Gary stay calm until the paramedic properly checked him up.
Gary eyes lazily glanced over to the Chief. He blinked blankly at him before complying with his orders.
Ten minutes later, the medics were done ascertaining his health status. Besides cuts on his face and the bruises caused by sharp objects that had fallen on him—which they had stitched neatly, he appeared to be okay, but they advised he continued to check in with the station's medical unit or his doctor.
“What the hell were you thinking?” Matt asked him as soon as the EMTs were out of earshot.
Gary struggled to stand on his feet from the back
of the ambulance. He raised an eyebrow at his boss.
"Why're you asking like you don't know already?"
“You are supposed to be off duty!”
“And I am. None of this is happening, all right? Just let me leave discreetly before the media gets here.”
Chelsea cleared her throat and nodded gently toward the east where some reporters were barraging the police officer in charge with questions.
Gary slowly followed her nod and immediately caught one of the reporters looking him straight in the eyes. They were over twenty yards apart, but there was no denying she could identify him.
Damon exhaled. “Fine. I get you’re mad, but you should understand I was caught in a dilemma. The team was understaffed. I couldn't look away and if for anything, I’m not even on the run sheet. The management doesn't need to know about this. Okay?”
Matt looked him straight on in the eyes for a few moments. “You never quit taking dangerous risks do you?”
"I'm sorry for saving a life in this manner," Gary replied sarcastically. Chelsea stifled a chuckle.
“Don’t get cocky now. Today might just be your lucky day. Take the back exit and head straight to your house. No visits to the hospital. Not a word to anyone. Like you said, you were never here.”
“Yes sir,” Gary replied immediately just as a vehicle pulled over close to them.
"Now hop in and get the fuck out of my scene before you get me in trouble with the council."
Not hesitating, Gary got into the vehicle as the chauffeur opened the passenger door for him to get in.
As the started to drive away, Gary’s phone rang. He picked up shortly after identifying the name of the caller. It was Sophia.
"Gary! Where the hell are you?” she demanded in a scolding tone. "You are supposed to be in Manhattan already. This is past midday and I still haven't seen any signs of your shadow."
Gary closed his eye momentarily and scratched his forehead with his head slightly bowed down. She deserved to be mad at his after the so many times of promising and failing her. But there was no way he could afford to attend a dinner in his battered state.
“I’m sorry Sophia,” he apologized in the most apologetic tone he could manage. “An emergency came up—”
Sophia squeaked. “Yeah? Tell me more about that,” she said sarcastically.
"What happened?" she asked a second later in a more concerned tone after a very flitting silence between them. Gary went ahead to explain how events in the morning unfolded, carefully skipping the part where he was still finding impossible to stop thinking about the lady he had rescued.
Everyone close to him knew of his attachment to the victims he had saved personally, but this felt so much different. Every time he remembered the deep plea in her blue turquoise eyes, his heart drummed against his chest quicker than any tensional situation he had ever found himself.
Gary couldn’t place his finger on it. It was inexplicable how in an amazing guiltless way, a part of him seemed to want to desperately reach out to her soul.
"Wow. Okay," Sophia uttered after his narration of the morning. "So, uh, I take it you didn't get to purchase the items on the list I sent right?"
“Unfortunately, no,” he replied her. “But, if-if you don’t mind, I could still do it later in the day and get them delivered to you,” he quickly added to prevent her from starting an argument but her reaction was even worse than he anticipated.
“Wait! What do you mean by ‘deliver’?” Sophia demanded. “Do you plan on not coming?” she added and Gary found it to be a tricky question to answer.
He was pretty in a terrible state, emotionally and physically still, Sophia was not going to buy that as an excuse. The main reason he didn’t want to go to the dinner anymore was that of the lady who had clung to his arms like he was her messiah of all time the moment he had lifted her from the elevator system. He could still feel her soft, tender hands holding tightly to him with all the strength she could muster. This wasn’t the first time a victim held on to him so affectionately, but hers stirred some feelings with him. Something he didn’t want to tell his loving sister just yet. Not when he planned on visiting the hospital that evening against attending her NGO’s fundraising event.
“Gary, you there?” she recalled his attention.
“Uh, yes.”
"Yes to what?" she asked immediately just as the driver crossed the intersection between 6th Avenue and the West 26th Street to head toward his neighborhood.
Gary exhaled and made up his mind to tell her the truth when there appeared to be a rowdy disorderliness at her end. Sophia immediately told him she would call him back before she hung up the call.
*****
The receptionist at the hospital’s desk flashed him a weird smile as she tilted her head a little and raised an eyebrow at him.
“Making an exception to the rich, huh?” she asked him teasingly in a low.
Gary looked up from his phone to meet her accusatory stare and phony smile, “Sorry?”
“I asked if…”
A familiar nurse in fitted white scrub Gary had noticed earlier from the corner of his eye approaching them cut off the receptionist before she could repeat herself and also shot a warning glare.
“Captain Gary!” she exclaimed and opened her arms to embrace him politely. “Wow, good to see you. It’s been like what, ages?” She chuckled looking into his brown eyes after she released him from her embrace.
Shortly, she motioned him to take a walk with her. He followed her on cue.
Gary was no stranger at the hospital. Most of the staff knew him too well for his penchant to visit fire victims after rescue operation by his fire company. Especially those he had personally saved. But he stopped all of a sudden over a year ago. And a number of them, who knew him were pretty surprised to see him come around after a long time.
Gary clutched the flowers he had purchased in his left hand carefully as he turned into another corridor after the nurse.
The nurse with a shiny silver hair slowed her pace as she approached a door that appeared to lead into an office.
"When I heard you'd come around I thought it was an April Fool's trick by colleagues," the nurse laughed heartily as she opened the door to usher Gary in. "But unfortunately your ‘lady' you've come to pay a visit was discharged about two hours ago." She informed him while giving him a careful gaze. “Please sit,” she said politely, offering him a seat opposite her.
My lady? Gary first thought before looking disappointed. “Two hours ago?” he asked.
"Yes," the nurse replied while giving him a suspicious guided stare. She had thought as the receptionist that Damon had an idea of the victim he had saved, but it appeared he had none, even when rumors were seeping through the local media and blogs.
Gary scratched his forehead gently with his fingers like he was contemplating a decision. He stood up seconds later, thanked the nurse and started out toward the door when she stopped him.
“Gary,” she stopped his advancement and called back his attention to herself. “You have no idea, do you?” she asked when he turned to look at her.
Gary assumed she referred to his many months of it been since the last time he paid a visit to fire victims he and his department had saved.
"I'm truly sorry," Gary started to apologize looking sober. "I know I've disappointed a lot of you all, but I've been going through…."
“No!” she stopped him in midsentence gently. “I didn’t mean that,” she said and Gary looked lost for a second.
He shot her a questioning stare after he had recomposed himself almost immediately but before she could satisfy his curiosity, an emergency call came in, and she stood up simultaneously.
“Watch the news!” she informed him as she rushed out of the office in urgency.
*****
Gary couldn’t believe his eyes as he looked fixedly at Miss Richards where she sat at the table toward the front of the luxuriously decorated banquet hall. She looked radiant and so b
eautiful like she wasn't the fragile and tender lady he had carried out from the burning Spa that he had later found out to be hers.
After he discovered from the news that the lady he had saved and his heart had been reaching out to was Eleanor Richards, a business tycoon and billionaire lady, he had tried to force himself to stop thinking about her. His ego kicked him hard even to imagine anything could grow between them.
Although the media still speculated on who was the actual hero firefighter was that had saved her, even as his department remained mum and his chief smartly dodged reporters' questions on the issue. He somehow knew Sophia knew it was he who had saved Miss Richards. Still, she pretended to be oblivious and didn’t inform him that the special guest and the chief fundraiser for the NGO’s cause was the same Eleanor Richards he had rescued. He didn’t see that coming, although he was aware that his sister was very unpredictable with her surprise moves, he wasn’t prepared for this.
Damon’s heartbeat picked up the pace the longer his eyes lingered on Eleanor's beautiful spotless creamy white skin. She was wearing a long sinuous backless verbena-purple gown. He had caught her walking gracefully across the room just before she had taken her seat. And the way her dinner dress hugged her curvy body so fittingly to reveal the outline of her sexy and hot body like a revelation, left him completely breathless.
Memories of the moments he had lifted her from the elevator that was filled with smoke and burnt fallen interior fittings, surged forward in his mind. He remembered the plea in her beautiful eyes, begging him for something more than just the hope of survival. He remembered how tender her body felt in his arms. He remembered how she had surrounded to him when she wrapped her arms around him as he carried her out. He felt like he was her messiah at that moment.
Gary sipped wine slowly from the goblet he had been holding since he first set his eyes on her. He savored the rich taste of the wine like an accomplice to enjoying the memories that were taking over his memory lane, but that very same moment, Eleanor turned her head where she was sitting and looked him directly in the eyes.
