And the story continues... if you're just catching up, you can find Part One here!
PART
THREE
Conner jogged toward
the fireman carrying the girl from the front of the building. She was small and blond and for a moment his
heart beat sped up.
But it wasn’t
Sara. Still, he was glad to see every
single survivor they carried from the building.
The building was
huge. It had been an elementary school
at one time. He knew from the briefing
at the scene that the west end of the building was mostly offices and storage
space. The east end, where the fire had
broken out, was the more “lived in” part of the building where they had a huge
common room, a gymnasium with showers and locker rooms, and, of course, the
kitchen.
One of the firemen was
speculating that they had put something in the microwave that had caused
sparks. One of the kids had said
something about an explosion, but they hadn’t been able to get a good
explanation. Just that they heard a loud
boom and that flames and smoke had come pouring out of the kitchen right after
that. Most of the kids in the common
room had immediately run for the doors.
Though Mac had told him there could be up to fifty kids there on any
night, the kids were telling them that there had only been a handful in the TV
room on the other side of the kitchen.
But from the
description they gave and the layout of the building that one of the firemen
had, it was clear they would have been trapped if the fire had come out of the
kitchen.
In any case, it was
taking a hell of a long time to get the blaze under control.
“Okay, sweetheart, I’ve
got you,” Conner told the girl as they shifted her from the fireman’s arms to
Conner’s.
She immediately
burrowed close and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and burst into
tears.
He continued crooning comforting
words until they got the rig. Dooley
Miller was there with Sierra.
“She’s conscious, I see,” Dooley said.
Conner smiled. “Yep.
Though she hadn’t said anything, so I don’t know if she’s making
sense.” And she didn’t seem inclined to
loosen her grip on him even the tiniest bit.
Dooley studied her for
a minute, then he said, “I heard the new running back recruit for the Huskers
backed out and is going to Kansas State.”
The girl’s head came up
fast and she looked at him. “Travis
Humphry?”
“Hey, Tasha,” Dooley
greeted with a grin. “You okay?”
Her eyes filled up with
tears again, but Conner felt her hold relax slightly. “I don’t know.”
“Well, come here and
let me make sure,” Dooley said.
The girl obviously knew
and trusted him. She immediately let go
of Conner and he swung her feet to the ground.
Dooley put an arm around her waist and helped her to the ambulance.
“You sure you’re good?”
Conner asked the other man. “I told
Gordon I was calling in another rig.”
“Good idea,” Dooley
agreed. “Sam and Mac shouldn’t go near
anyone. But Kevin and I are fine. We’ll just help out. Get the Methodist guys over here.”
Conner appreciated a
cool head in a crisis. “They’re already
on their way.”
“Dixon!”
He turned and nearly
got plowed over by Mac Gordon himself. Conner
was the quarterback for the best team in the amateur league. He was, unfortunately, periodically plowed
over by big guys who didn’t mind hurting him.
Still, he was very glad Mac didn’t play. “What’s up?”
He was as anxious as
anyone else. He hated the waiting,
knowing there were people inside that might need their help, knowing that
minutes counted, yet having to hang back while the fire guys did their
thing. It was hard. But he kept cool. It was his gift. Perfected over the years of growing up with
four younger sisters. It was hard to
rile Conner up.
Only four things could
really do it and they were named Amanda, Emma, Isabelle and Olivia Dixon.
“Sara texted me.”
Conner perked up. “What?
Seriously? She’s not here?” That would be awesome. Not awesome that there were still people
inside, but if Sara wasn’t one of them…
“She’s in there,” Mac
confirmed. “But they headed in the
opposite direction from the kitchen.
They went for the showers in the girl’s locker room. She figured the tile wouldn’t burn.”
“There’s no back exit?”
Conner asked, started for Cody to tell him the news. “This is an old school for Chrissake.”
“There is, but the door
is stuck. Or locked. Or something is against it from the
outside. She’s not sure, it just won’t
move.”
Conner pulled up
short. “She’s on the line now?”
“Yeah.”
Conner grabbed the phone
from Mac. “Sara?”
“Conner, is that
you? Oh, my god, are you out
there?” She sounded panicky, but not
hysterical, which Conner appreciated about her.
She had to keep her cool for those kids.
“Yeah, it’s me. We’re gonna get you out of there.”
“You better.”
He wove in and out of
firemen, searching for his friend, the Chief.
“Well, listen lady,”
Conner said, trying for light and flirtatious like he always was, hoping to
reassure her that everything would be fine.
“When you get out of there, I’m first in line for mouth to mouth.”
She laughed, sounding
tired. Though it wasn’t like he really
knew her well enough to know if she sounded tired or not. “When I get out of here, I’m pretty sure I’m
going to feel like kissing everybody.”
Goddammit where was Cody?
“That’s why us
paramedics do what we do, babe.”
She laughed again, but
this time it ended on what was definitely a sob. Conner would know that sound anywhere. His gut tightened and his fist tightened on
Mac’s phone.
He stopped
suddenly. Mac ran directly into him,
sending him two steps forward before he swung around with a scowl. Did the guy have to be right on his ass?
He still didn’t see
Cody so he took the phone away from his ear, covered the mouthpiece and
bellowed, “Somebody tell me where the fuck Madsen is!”
“Over here!” someone
shouted.
He headed in that
direction. Back on the phone with Sara
he said, “Honey, tell me where you are in the building exactly.”
“The girl’s locker
room.”
“Right, but walk me to
it. Like from the front doors.” He
arrived next to Cody and covered the mouthpiece again for a moment. “Sara’s in the building… and on the
phone. She’s going to walk you to where
they are.”
Cody lifted the
microphone on his headset. “Dennings,
listen up,” he barked.
“Okay, Sara, go. I’m right here,” Conner said. “I’m going to repeat everything to Cody.”
Sara started walking
him mentally through the building, giving him lefts and rights, things that
would be in the rooms, how many doorways to count off, and other information
that would lead the firemen inside to where they were at.
“It’s the last doorway
in the hallway,” she finally said.
“We’re all in here.”
“How many of you?”
Conner asked.
“Eight,” she said. “Me and my sister and then six kids.”
Conner repeated the
information to Cody, then felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. “Jessica is in there?”
It was Sam
Bradford. He’d come over to join Mac.
Conner nodded. “Yeah.
And six kids.”
“Ben’s not in there?”
Sam asked with a frown.
“Sara, honey, is Ben
there?” Conner asked.
“No.” There was a pause. Then she said, “Was he
supposed to be?”
Conner repeated the
question to the guys.
“We can’t get him on
the phone,” Sam said. “We thought maybe
he came down here.”
Conner knew Ben Torres
from the hospital. He was one of the
trauma surgeons so, unfortunately, their paths mostly crossed when Conner and
the crew were bringing people in who needed Ben’s skills. But occasionally he’d pass Ben in the hallway
or stand in line behind him in the cafeteria.
Torres was a nice guy and a hell of a surgeon. Conner’s buddy, Nate, was also a surgeon at
St. A’s and he admired Ben a lot.
“Does Jessica know
where Ben is?” Conner asked Sara.
Jessica Bradford Torres
was a nurse and was the head of the ER.
Conner knew her well too.
“He’s supposed to be at
home with Ava,” Sara reported. “Jessica
can’t get her phone to work in here.
None of the others will, actually.
We figure it’s all the cement and stuff.
Don’t know why mine’s working.”
Conner made himself
smile as he replied. “’Cuz we were meant
to connect, Sara. You should just accept
this as one more sign.”
“Conner.” She said it in that sweet, chiding tone that
she always used when he flirted with her.
He loved it.
She was always going to
turn him down. He knew that. And if she was married to anyone but Mac
Gordon, he probably would have laid off a long time ago. She was taken. He got it.
But wow, it was such a great way to antagonize Mac. And Gordon had plenty of fun antagonizing
Conner when he’d been a rookie and filling in on their crew, trying to build up
his hours of experience. It was only
fair.
Plus, Sara Gordon was
it. She was the perfect woman. Gorgeous, funny, smart, sweet, baked like
nobody’s business and blushed so adorably whenever he flirted. If he didn’t
have a crush on her it would have been a sad commentary on his
intelligence.
“Fuck.”
Conner’s attention was
pulled to Cody—and the deep scowl his friend wore.
“They can’t get
through. They’re blocked getting into
that hallway.”
Conner’s stomach
twisted. They’d have to find another
way. And quick. If the fire was blocking that hallway, it was
getting too close for comfort. Sara was
right about the concrete of the locker rooms not burning, but that wasn’t the
only risk in a fire. Smoke inhalation
and toxic fumes were a real risk as was the chance for an explosion that would
propel debris that could seriously injure someone. Debris like concrete pieces, for instance.
“There’s a door in
back.”
They all turned. Ben Torres had arrived.
“Where?” Cody took off
at a run, Ben right behind him.
“The door opens into
the backyard. It’s not right by the
locker rooms, but you can come from the back instead of the front where the
flames are.”
Conner, Mac and Sam
were right behind them.
“The door’s locked,”
Sara said in Conner’s ear. “We couldn’t
budge it.”
“We’re gonna need
tools,” Conner called to Cody.
“Thomas, Buckely, Peterson,
come with me!” Cody shouted. “Bring the
tool box”
The door was, indeed,
locked. Tight. It took three fireman leaning on the crowbar
to finally pop the lock and wrench the door open. No smoke billowed out—a wonderful sign that
the fire wasn’t anywhere near this area.
Conner turned
immediately to Mac as the heavy metal door swung open, bracing a hand on the
bigger man’s shoulder. “No way, big
guy. You don’t have equipment on and
this isn’t your show.”
Mac strained forward
for just a moment, then he took a deep breath and leaned back on his
heels. “Okay.”
Conner knew that Mac
knew he was right, but adrenaline was pumping hard and the guy’s wife—his pregnant wife—was just inside, in
danger.
“Here, talk to Sara,”
Conner said, thrusting the phone at Mac.
Mac put the phone to
his ear. “Hey, princess.”
Conner almost got
choked up at the emotion in Mac’s voice.
“I love you too.” Then Mac cleared his throat. “Here.”
He handed the phone back. “She
wants to say something else to you.”
“Hey, Sara.”
“Conner, you better be
close by. Because you are getting that kiss,” Sara said.
He grinned. He’d take it too. There would likely never be another opportunity
and he was all for taking advantage of good fortune.
“I’ll be the
good-looking guy dressed as a paramedic,” he told her.
She laughed and there
was no tension now. “Noted.”
He handed the phone
back to Mac. “Lucky bastard,” he said.
“I know,” Mac said
sincerely. Then he put the phone back to
his ear.
“Let’s go, Mac.” Kevin Campbell appeared out of the darkness,
Dooley at his side.
“Yep, come on Sam,”
Dooley said, gesturing in the direction they’d come. “Let’s get out of these guys’ way.”
The firemen were suited
up. They pulled their helmets and masks
into place and then turned on their high beam flashlights and plunged into the
darkness inside the Center.
Stop back tomorrow for Part Four!
Book and goodies for all participants!
The Fun Pack
includes: four fun summer glasses, a
matching tablecloth and snack bowl, snacks including Fiesta Party Dip Mix and
Giddyup Guacamole Dip mix from Tastefully Simple, and four margarita drink
mixes! AND a DVD copy of Magic Mike for
a fun Girls Night with friends!
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