Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 76609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Just before I cracked the first egg, the tone dropped, signaling the first call of the shift.
“Fuck!” Tai called from the bathroom.
I laughed, turning off the gas and making sure the flame was out before I moved everything off the stove and started walking to the garage bay.
“Who’s on the medic today?” Naomi asked me as she jogged to catch up.
“Me,” I said.
I was usually the driver of the truck, but once every two weeks I worked the medic to keep my skills fresh, today being one of those days.
“Oh, yay,” she drawled sarcastically.
I tossed her a look that clearly said, ‘shut up.’
She closed her mouth and shut up, going to the side door of the ambulance and getting in the back without another word.
I got in the passenger seat, then pressed the ‘en route’ button on the screen to help Tai out. When a call came in, we had two minutes to get in the truck and go. By pressing it, I gave Tai a couple more seconds. A, because I wanted to, and B, because I didn’t want to have my ass chewed out by the captain because we didn’t respond to a call in less than the time we were allotted.
Speaking of which, Tai came running out of the door to the living quarters like his ass was on fire, buttoning his pants and fastening his belt as he did.
“Sorry,” he apologized breathlessly as he got in the front seat. “My wife decided to try something new for dinner last night, and it went straight through me. All night long.”
I snorted, reaching up to press the garage door button once we’d made it outside fully.
That’s when the rain decided to change to sleet.
“Shit,” Tai groaned. “This is already getting bad.”
I looked at the road, watching as the further we went from the station, the worse it seemed to get.
“Medic three, we have a two vehicle accident on South Main. Two extractions needed. Third vehicle’s occupant up and walking around.” The dispatcher called through our radios.
“Fucking perfect,” Tai sighed. “The busiest freakin’ road in Kilgore, and we’re working a call on it.”
We got there less than five minutes later, and when I stepped foot on the icy white ground, I slipped.
I caught myself on the side of the medic, then shuffled awkwardly to the back of the ambulance.
“Naomi,” I called. “When you get out I want you to start doing a perimeter check.”
She looked at the cars, then nodded, seeing the empty car seats just like I had.
“Got it,” she agreed, stepping out of the back.
I caught her before she could fall on her face, and I said, “Please be careful.”
She nodded, smiled, and we started working.
I saw her the entire time out of my peripheral vision while I worked on stabilizing the two patients in the two separate cars.
I saw she’d gone to the third guy, the one who’d been up and walking around, and started questioning him.
I’d just turned around when I heard the screech of tires, followed by the terrified screams of Naomi.
As I whipped my head around, I witnessed every firefighter’s worst nightmare.
Chapter 4
I wish I could stab idiots with my head.
-Unicorn
Drew
My drive home was almost on autopilot.
I hadn’t realized I’d even made it onto my street until the turn into my driveway was suddenly upon me.
I pulled in and nearly laughed when I saw Aspen trying to check her mail.
She was balanced on the mailbox, leaning over and around it as she struggled to reach the paper that was in the very back of the box.
Putting it into park and getting out, I shut the door then walked across the street.
She looked up almost sheepishly, staring at me like I was Superman.
“Need help?” I asked her.
“Now,” she glared. “What would give you that idea?”
It was more than obvious that she wasn’t in a good mood.
I wasn’t either.
“Your friend’s going to make it,” I told her. “She has a concussion. One of my fellow firefighters pulled her out of the way in time.”
Her head dropped and then her shoulders started to shake.
“I feel so terrible,” she moaned, pushing away from the mailbox and scooting back three steps before she whirled around and started to hurry to her house.
I got her mail and trashcan, shoved my keys into my pocket and followed after her.
She’d left the door to her house open, so I took that as my indication that I was allowed to come inside.
Dropping the mail onto the front entry table, I closed the door and followed the sounds of sobbing into the kitchen.
Then even further into the master bedroom that was off the kitchen.
I found her face down on her bed.
I wasn’t really good at handling crying females.
Hence why I just ignored the problems going on in my marriage instead of tackling them before they got too bad.