After the Fire

by Jen Talty

  “I’m working on it.” Fletcher ignored Renee’s damning glare.

  Gavin pressed his cheek against Charlotte’s. “Come on, babe. You’ve got this. Stay with me. Our baby girl needs you.”

  Fletcher managed to maneuver the second shoulder out and gave the body a good tug, pulling out the rest of the baby in one quick motion.

  “I’ll do CPR,” Renee said.

  “No. You stay on massages but work harder. Watch for the placenta, and if it doesn’t come out in its entirety, the paramedics and doctors will need to know immediately.”

  “Like I don’t know that,” she mumbled. She continued to help Charlotte’s uterus contract in hopes of keeping her from bleeding out. Of course, they could have read this entire situation wrong, especially since the baby came so quickly and Charlotte had no signs of having any problems with her pregnancy.

  Fletcher turned his back, setting the baby on the floor as he began chest compressions. He bent over and covered the baby’s mouth.

  Renee bit down on the inside of her cheek. “Your baby is going to be fine,” she said, but she wasn’t sure she believed the words. “How’s Charlotte’s pulse?”

  “Holding steady,” her brother said with tears running down his face. “He’s doing all the right things. We both know that.”

  Renee swallowed. Gavin wasn’t going to think that if things turned out badly.

  The faint sound of a baby crying filled her ears. The cries grew louder and stronger. Fletcher lifted the little girl and placed her in Gavin’s arms just as the paramedics blew through the front door.

  “Wow,” Gavin said. “Come on, Charlotte. Open your eyes and meet our little girl.”

  Renee stepped back, giving the paramedics room to work. She shook out her hands and fought the tears. The gravity of what just happened smacked her between the eyes. She’d always prided herself on being calm in any situation, but she’d lost her center in the middle of this one, and she knew it.

  Fletcher handed her a towel. “That’s a big baby and she’s a fighter, just like her mother. Charlotte’s going to be okay. The color in her face is already coming back, and look, she’s waking up. I suspect a few different things happened, but it’s all under control now.”

  Renee turned and poked him in the chest. “You could have done a lot of damage. Not only could you have killed that baby, but you could have damaged her uterus to the point she can’t have another child.”

  “First, stop yelling,” Fletcher said in a dark tone, glancing over at Gavin.

  Thankfully, her brother was too busy with his wife and new daughter to be bothered with her outburst. While deep down she knew Fletcher saved them both, he did things that as an off-duty paramedic could get him sued, and if he’d been on duty and he’d done things that way, well, he would have been fired, pure and simple.

  “Second, that’s not true, and you know it.”

  “No. I don’t. And if there are any ramifications from this, it will be your fault.” Renee followed her brother and the gurney carrying Charlotte and the baby out of the Mason Jug.

  Fletcher might be great in the sack, but it didn’t change the fact that the way he handled himself in the field was unacceptable, and either he was going to have to go, or she was.

  Fletcher stood at the end of the hospital bed. It had been a long few hours as they worked to figure out exactly what happened to Charlotte and her baby.

  “How are you two holding up?” Fletcher asked. He’d thought about going home hours ago, but his grandmother would have yelled at him for leaving Renee. Besides, he really did want to see his buddy and make sure he and his family were doing more than fine.

  “Now that we know exactly what happened, I might be able to sleep for five minutes tonight.” Gavin sat in the rocking chair by the head of the bed with his daughter in his arms while his wife rested.

  “If the baby is awake, you’re awake,” Charlotte said. “I’m the only one who gets extra sleep.”

  “Yes, dear,” Gavin said with a bright smile.

  “I’ve only heard bits and pieces.” Every time he tried to get information from Renee, she’d either turn her back on him, or tell him it was none of his business. He’d learned a lot about pregnancy and high-risk births because his ex-wife, in order to keep them from having sex, she told him she was at risk for early labor. Fletcher knew he took a risk in how quickly he pulled that baby out, but she was suffocating, and at the same time, something else was going on with Charlotte.

  “It was a cocktail of separate events that when mixed together had disaster written all over it,” Gavin said. “Between the placental abruption, causing Charlotte to hemorrhage, how quickly the baby came, and the fact we had no idea she was a little over ten pounds and wasn’t going to fit too well coming out naturally, well, thank God, you and my sister were there. Had it just been me, I’m not sure I would have known what to do.”

  “I’m sure all your instincts would have kicked in.” Charlotte reached out and ran her hand over her baby’s head. “But you didn’t have to this time.”

  “Well, this wasn’t my first rodeo in the baby delivery department,” Fletcher admitted. He’d delivered three babies as a firefighter, but none that risky. His heart still raced. He didn’t think he’d ever been so scared, except for maybe the day his parents had died. “I’m just glad everyone is okay.”

  “Do you want to hold her?” Gavin asked.

  “Sure.” Fletcher stretched out his arms and cradled the little girl. He didn’t particularly feel the need to hold Gavin’s kid, but Fletcher wouldn’t insult his buddy. “She’s got Charlotte’s eyes.”

  “She’s all her mother,” Gavin said with pride.

  “Let’s see if he still says that when she’s sixteen.” Charlotte adjusted her pillow. “Especially when some boy is sneaking into her bedroom window.”

  “She’s never dating,” Gavin growled.

  “She’s beautiful.” Fletcher kissed the little girl’s forehead before handing the child to her mother.

  “Thanks,” Charlotte said. “So, what’s going on with you and Renee?”

  Fletcher choked on his own breath. “What?”

  “You heard my wife,” Gavin said as he sat on the edge of the bed, helping his wife find a comfortable position. “I know my sister better than anyone, and I know when she’s sleeping with my co-workers.”

  “I don’t think Renee would appreciate you talking about her behind her back like this.” Fletcher leaned his hip against the doorjamb and glanced down the hallway. He wouldn’t want her walking in on this conversation. He was already in the doghouse as it was.

  “You wouldn’t be the first firefighter I’ve had this conversation with.” Gavin put a protective arm around his wife. “I realize Renee is a grown woman and it’s none of my business, but there are some things you should know.”

  “I’m not comfortable with where this is headed.” Besides, Fletcher knew all he needed to when it came to Renee. She was a complicated woman, with a broken heart and a tormented soul.

  Not much different than him and soon, their fling would be coming to an end and not because he’d gotten bored, like with most women.

  But because she’d captivated him, and he could see himself going against all his own rules.

  “I don’t care,” Gavin said. “I’m going to speak my peace.”

  Fletcher shrugged. He might as well hear the man out.

  “When she finally stopped blaming you for Devon’s death, we all thought maybe she’d turned the corner and she’d pick up the pieces of her life. None of us expected her to go back to who she was before Devon.”

  “I don’t follow.” Although, that was a stretch. He understood a little based on what Renee had shared, but he wanted to hear Gavin’s take on the situation.

  “She keeps her love life a secret. Or at least she thinks she’s hiding it from us until whoever she’s dating decides they want more, and then she dumps them. I warned Devon about my sister, and he didn’t ca
re. He went about winning her over. She broke up with him, but he just kept going back for more until she finally caved, and I’d never seen her so happy.”

  “Until the fire,” Fletcher said.

  Gavin nodded. “And then you came along.”

  “I don’t know what that means.”

  “I didn’t come into the picture until after she started seeing Devon,” Charlotte said. “But when she’s falling in love, she gets angry and confused, and she tends to push the world away.”

  Fletcher had enough of this conversation. “This has nothing to do with me.”

  “Are you kidding?” Gavin said. “It has everything to do with you. Ever since you two came back from the expo, she’s been treating you like you’re a blood brother at work, while mentally undressing you. It’s kind of gross.”

  “It is when it’s your sister you’re talking about,” Fletcher said.

  Gavin laughed. “What you need to know is that my sister believes that if she loves a man, he’s going to die.”

  “I’m well aware of that fact.” Fletcher probably shouldn’t have admitted to that, but he didn’t want Gavin to continue with the lecture. “And you should know I don’t do long-term relationships. I don’t kiss and tell. My love life is none of your business, and this conversation is over.”

  The sound of flip-flops smacking against the back of Renee’s feet made his stomach churn. He glanced down the hallway.

  “We’re not done,” Gavin said.

  Renee stepped into the room. “Oh. You’re still here.”

  “Well, I did bring you, so I figured you’d want a ride home,” Fletcher said.

  “Whatever.” She pushed past him and made her way to her sister-in-law where she leaned over and cooed at her niece. “Have you two come up with a name for this little girl?”

  “We have,” Gavin said. “But we wanted to talk to the two of you first.”

  Fletcher swallowed. He didn’t like the sound of that.

  “We can’t thank you enough for everything you did today,” Gavin said. “Looking back over what happened, while I know my instincts would have kicked in if you both weren’t there, they didn’t have to, and I could just focus on my wife. We will forever be in your debt.”

  “Oh stop, big brother,” Renee said. “You’re being ridiculous and insanely over the top. We did our jobs.”

  Fletcher refrained from correcting her because it would only serve to dig him in a bigger hole. Besides, she had done everything she needed to save her sister-in-law and niece’s life.

  But at the same time, she questioned everything Fletcher had done, and she did so in a way that in any other situation would have made the patient feel uncomfortable and question the competence of the paramedics. That was never good.

  “Yeah, but I froze,” Gavin said.

  “No, you didn’t,” Fletcher said. “You put all your energy into taking care of Charlotte. That’s all that mattered when you had us to do everything else.”

  “I hate to admit it,” Renee said. “But Fletcher is right on that point. Now tell us about this name.”

  Fletcher was glad to get off the current discussion.

  “As you know, we’ve been struggling with coming up with girls names we both like since we found out we were having a daughter. However, after tonight’s events, we think we have the perfect name.”

  “Yeah? What’s that?” Renee asked.

  “If you are both agreeable, we want to name her Renee Fletcher Nash,” Gavin said.

  Fletcher sucked in a large gasp of air. As a first responder, he was used to people thanking him for his service, but not in such a grandiose gesture. He tapped his chest. “I’m speechless.”

  “Me too,” Renee said.

  “So, you’re both okay with it?” Charlotte asked.

  “She’s your kid,” Fletcher said. “You have to live with the name, so if you can tolerate my ugly-ass name as her middle name, then so be it.”

  “I’m not sure I’m okay with it,” Renee said. “I mean, you’re totally destroying my beautiful name by pairing it with the likes of Fletcher, but whatever makes you happy makes me giddy.”

  “Good, because that’s her name.” Charlotte yawned.

  “We better let you two get some rest.” Renee kissed her niece before taking Fletcher by the forearm, guiding him out of the room and down the hallway.

  They made it all the way to the parking lot without uttering a single word. He wasn’t sure if he should break the silence or not. It was close to three in the morning, and they were both utterly exhausted.

  He pulled open the passenger door of his pickup and offered her a hand.

  “I owe you an apology,” she said.

  “For what?” he asked.

  “For the way I treated you tonight when Charlotte decided to drop-kick a baby in ten minutes.”

  Fletcher chuckled. “It happened so quickly, and that’s your family. That often changes our perspective.”

  “I’ve handled situations with family members before and while what you did saved both their lives, it was still reckless.”

  “And here I thought you were apologizing.”

  She hopped up onto the seat and pulled the belt across her chest. “I am. For how I treated you. I could have handled myself better in the heat of the moment. You did what you had to, and I appreciate that, but in the future, we need to work together in unison. Not against each other. You do see how we do that?”

  He shut the door and jogged around the hood of his truck, thinking about her words and replaying the situation, and maybe Renee had a point. He climbed in behind the steering wheel. “Why do you think we’re like that?”

  “It’s because you don’t trust that I will make the right call, and you take over, and that’s got to stop.”

  “Why is it that you believe I do that?” he asked as he paid the parking garage fee and pulled out onto the main drag, heading toward the Northway.

  “You don’t trust that I can do my job.”

  “Actually, that’s not true.” He reached out, resting his hand on her thigh, giving it a good squeeze. “I know you’re damn good at your job. But I don’t trust that you have my back.”

  “What the fuck? Of course I do.” She glared at him.

  “No. You don’t.” He punched the gas. So many things just clicked into place in a matter of seconds. It was weird how the puzzle pieces came together in his mind about her as well as himself, and not just about their dynamic. “If any other paramedic had been with you tonight and they did what I had, you wouldn’t have questioned them at all. It’s just me. It got a lot better after we cleared the air about Devon and worked through a lot of the things that happened that night, but things are starting to get bad again, and it’s because you want me gone.” He gripped the wheel so tight his knuckles turned white. He resented having these emotions tumble from his heart to his mind and rumble through his soul.

  He didn’t love.

  He barely did heavy like.

  And he sure as shit wasn’t falling for the likes of Renee Nash.

  “If you’re talking about ending our little fling, well, you might be right about that.”

  He laughed. “You might want me out of your bed, but more importantly, you want me out of the 29, and I can give that to you.” He glanced in her direction.

  She stared at him with wide eyes. “What are you talking about?”

  “There are a lot of stations around here I can make my home, but there is only one that is truly yours. I’m going to put in for a transfer first thing in the morning. With me out of the picture, you’ll be able to continue to heal and find your new normal. All I am is a constant reminder of everything you’ve lost.”

  6

  Renee peeked her head in Cade’s office. Her cousin sat behind his massive desk with his fingers hovering over the keyboard while he stared at his computer screen. Soft country music filtered through the speakers. “You wanted to see me before I headed home?”

  “Shut t
he door and have a seat,” Cade said with a gruff tone.

  She always hated when he used that fatherly voice with her. He had a good ten years on her, and he was her immediate boss, but it still drove her batshit crazy.

  “What’s up?”

  Cade handed her a piece of paper. “Care to explain that?” He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms over his chest.

  She quickly glanced at the memo.

  To: Captain Cade Nash

  From: Lieutenant Fletcher Cain

  Ref: Transfer

  She didn’t need to read anymore. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”

  “Why the fuck is he asking to leave?”

  “You’re going to have to ask him.”

  “I did,” Cade said. “And his answer is bullshit.”

  “What did he say?” Curiosity always got the better of her, but she really wanted to know. She scanned the document.

  It is with a heavy heart that I respectfully ask to be relieved of my current post and transferred to another station. I have enjoyed working with you and everyone here at the 29, but I feel I would be better suited somewhere else.

  “He just doesn’t believe he’s a good fit and that if I can’t get him in one of our stations to consider this his two-week notice. He’s got an offer at a station in Glens Falls.”

  She set the resignation on the desktop. She hadn’t really talked much to Fletcher since the night her niece had been born, and all throughout their shift, they’d either been busy with stuff around the station or had been out on calls, keeping things strictly professional, though a bit awkward.

  Her mind continued to replay every intimate moment they’d had together over the last few weeks. She couldn’t shut it off if she tried.

  And she tried.

  Along with the need to feel guilt over her feelings for Fletcher. Not only should she still be grieving for her late husband, she couldn’t allow another man to worm his way into her heart. She couldn’t care for Fletcher, and he couldn’t have any kind of emotional attachment to her. He was arrogant and cared only for himself, which is why, in theory, they should have worked.