Chapter 3

3

ELLE

" M aybe you're a poker prodigy, but you sure aren't a treasure chest prodigy," Elle proudly exclaimed, extracting from Haley Johnson the two aces she'd been lacking to complete her set.

"Somehow treasure chest prodigy doesn't have the same ring to it." Johnson shrugged. Up to this point, she hadn't managed to collect a single chest .

Before the women knew it, the alarm rang its bestial tone around the station. Their playing cards fell to the floor as everyone got up in haste and one by one slid down the pole to the ground floor of the station. The ringing took on a nasty intensity, which meant it was serious.

In a choreographed manner, each took her equipment, then her place in the truck. Not a single second of time to waste . Quick. Efficient. Highly Trained.

"We are meeting the trucks from Station 20, Station 4, and Station 22. Building Fire."

Four trucks meant large fire. Elle took the driver's seat and waited for coordinates.

Captain Hunter coordinated their departure. Roaring sirens wailed above their heads as they made their way toward one of the oldest residential buildings in town.

"We knew it would happen eventually." O'Malley sighed.

No one knew how to respond, and Elle was too occupied with maneuvering the huge fire truck around the busy streets. Otherwise she'd tell O'Malley to shut it and get off her high horse. There were people there potentially burning alive. In the supposed safety of their homes. The chill running down her spine at the thought reminded her each time why she'd committed to this path.

They saw the rising black smoke from several miles away. It swelled and ballooned, tugged on by the gentle wind. The situation looked grim. When they got to the scene, Elle could see the residents gathered outside. There weren't many, thankfully. Due to the afternoon hour, most residents were probably still at work or commuting. What a view to come home to.

Captain Hunter was busy checking in with the concierge, while Captain Ramirez checked the building's state with her crew, doing a 360 and analyzing the structural damage the building had suffered.

"It's safe to say everyone is here," the concierge said, nodding. "The fire spread slowly at first, so we were able to double check most rooms. Some were more flammable and they practically exploded."

A car frantically parked right next to the fire trucks and a distressed man stormed out of it, looking around the gathering at the parking lot.

"My sons!" he shouted, tears streaming down his cheeks, "My mother! They're in the building!"

Hunter looked sharply toward the concierge. "You said everyone was here!" Then she shouted into her radio, "An ambulance urgently needed. Team 2, prepare to go in."

Then she hastily took the man aside. "Which part of the building? What floor?"

Elle immediately put on her mask and pulled on her fire hood and helmet, preparing to go together with O'Malley and Montgomery. They exchanged meaningful glances, mentally going through the worst case scenarios and their immediate solutions.

"Third floor, from our perspective to the left, room 34," the man recited, on the verge of passing out. "My little son called me. He's there with his brother and my mother."

"FLOOR THREE, WEST, ROOM 34," Hunter barked at them. "Team 2 on evacuation. Team 1 on water."

Two ambulances arrived at the parking lot and the paramedics hastily spilled out of them, setting up equipment and scanning the crowd.

"This man's about to pass out," Hunter commanded them in passing, then went over to the fire truck to instruct Team 2.

Elle and O'Malley kept Montgomery in the middle as they moved into the building. The heat produced in Elle a familiar sensation. This was go time. This was what they trained for. Her muscles screamed, protesting each step farther into the blazing inferno.

"Staircase intact," she communicated via radio to Hunter.

"Ascend."

The old stone-carved stairs felt steady beneath their feet, carrying the weight of their gear. The first floor past them. Elle tapped Montgomery's shoulder. "Not so fast. We stay together." Kaia slowed down again, evenly in step with the other two. The terrifying sight of melting metal welcomed them on the second floor. Windows twisted into nightmare-like shapes and flames licked the walls like a pack of starved animals hunting for food, swarming insects devouring the building.

The three firefighters looked for the staircase, but a part of the wall had fallen, obscuring the path. Elle took out her axe and with a monstrous effort raised it to break through the wall. The other two carefully stepped back as she tore the piece of wood to shreds. They moved through, testing the floor's integrity as they went.

Third floor.

"Team 2 on the third floor," Elle barked into her radio.

"Got it, Elle. Go West."

The heat-resistant compass wavered a little before establishing the direction. To the right.

To the right. The sentence kept burning into the inside of Elle's mind. It was impossible to see through the smoke. The only thing that mattered—go to the right, rescue, descend. At the moment, nothing existed for her besides these three tasks. Nothing would exist at all if she didn't focus all her strength on finding the three people and bringing them out.

"RODRIGUEZ, HERE! Flat 34." O'Malley waved them over to the door frame.

Elle and Kaia ran to assess the structure. Someone inside was faintly crying. They had to pull open the door, grab the victims, and get out. Elle could hear Team 1 fighting the fire. O'Malley used a hook to pull on the wavering metal, and it gave in after a few seconds. In the oven-hot shambles of the room, an elderly woman lay unconscious together with a small boy. Next to them, a barely awake boy cried, stuck to his wheelchair. Swiftly and efficiently, they dragged the woman down the stairs. Elle moved backward with her grip tight around the woman's chest. She felt nothing but pulsing pain in her muscles, ringing in her ears, and the determination to look ahead, look ahead, look ahead. O'Malley and Montgomery carried one child each and they lead her out. At least the stairs were clear of fire, and there was some visibility. It was a quick, efficient exit. Would the woman and the children survive? Elle desperately hoped so. this aspect of the job never got easier.

They reached the exit. Cold air outside embraced all three heroes, and the medics crowded about them, securing the victims on the stretchers, shouting to each other things Elle had no strength to decipher. Elle pulled her helmet and mask off and breathed the cool night air. Captain Hunter ran up to congratulate her and her two other teammates, but the words seemed to Elle out of sync with her mouth. They twisted and bent in strange ways around Elle's ears. Everyone seemed as if they were behind a thick glass barrier, dull and blurry, and when she opened her mouth to say something, her voice sounded removed from her body. Elle wasn't feeling right. She needed help.

Captain Hunter took hold of her just before she collapsed, "Rodriguez? Oh for Christ's sake, why are there only two ambulances around?"

She waved a paramedic over while taking Elle by her shoulders, removing her breathing apparatus, loosening her fire jacket and gently laying her down.

"Don't worry, they'll help you in a second." She nodded encouragingly. "You did a great job, saving those three. You guys were smooth and quick. It wasn't an easy task."

But the words only wobbled around Elle's mind in abstract shapes. Soon, a medic ran up to her carrying a spray bottle and some cloth. Her figure seemed very familiar, the way her hips moved in a hurry, the way she kneeled on the grass taking over supporting Elle's legs. As she got closer, the earthy scent of her body mixed with the same perfume she'd been using for decades raised goosebumps on Elle's skin. She tried focusing her vision more, but her doubt was useless—it was Dr. Maya Monroe kneeling right next to her, her straw-blond hair tied as neatly as it always had been.

"Breathe in deep, please." The voice sounded as cold as the compress that landed on Elle's forehead.

"You still haven't changed your perfume?" Elle tried laughing, but a wave of nausea overcame her.

Maya didn't react besides coldly unzipping Elle's jacket in one professional motion.

"Oh, you're undressing me now?"

"You have heat exhaustion, and we need to get out of your jacket so we can cool you down."

Maya was clearly not in the mood for a warm reunion, though Elle considered it might also be due to the circumstances. She looked toward the ambulances. One had already departed, and in another there seemed to be a commotion. The building was still being extinguished, but there was no risk of the fire spreading. She weakly wriggled out of the jacket.

"Raise your shirt."

Elle did just that, this time without any comments, though many crossed her mind. Immediately, she felt cool water sprinkled on her skin, causing shivers to ripple through her body. This made her feel better immediately, the fire of her skin finally dwindling down.

Maya handed her a bottle of cold water.

"Drink up. I'll stay with you until another ambulance arrives and a paramedic can actually take care of you if something happens."

Elle frowned.

"Aren't you a paramedic?"

"No, I'm a trauma surgeon. But they dispatched too few ambulances. I stabilized the boy. Now he's going to the hospital, look." She pointed toward the ambulance getting ready to leave. "But we can't leave you guys without an ambulance, so we'll wait until they come."

Maya truly hadn't changed much. Her light hair rested tightly bound, the color she'd once explained to Elle was strawberry blonde , but when Elle pointed out another blonde, Maya insisted that Maya's hair wasn't strawberry blonde but sunflower blonde. They laughed it off in the end.

The weight of memories nested somewhere at the bottom of Elle's chest.

"Why'd you come back?" Her voice came out much more meek than she would have liked, little vibrations of emotion on the string of her words.

Maya turned to look at Elle's face—an intense stare difficult to endure. Elle turned away, regretting the question.

"I don't think it's any of your business, Elena." She shrugged, collecting the equipment in one place.

Elle raised herself up on her elbows, feeling significantly better under the cloudy sky. Evening was approaching, and her skin breathed in the cold water from refreshing compresses. The firefighters were still in the middle of wrestling with the fire, and a few cars had pulled up at the parking lot, hopeless residents of the building who'd got back from work to see their home had been ruined. Some held little children in their arms, some came with teenagers, some had no one to turn to and watched their undoing alone.

"Where are you staying?" Elle was desperate for at least a small piece of banter, if not to rekindle Maya's affection, then perhaps at least to distract her from being unable to help any further. Heat exhaustion would keep her out of work for at least two days, and she'd have nothing to do. Work was her life.

Oh, and whiskey and women… The three beautiful W's. But she had given them up, hadn't she? Women, at least.

Probably a hangover had caused the heat exhaustion. She had to stop drinking on nights before she had work.

Maya let her hands fall in resignation.

"Elena, I don't want you to talk to me. We no longer have any kind of personal relationship. I'm here as a professional doctor to watch you in case you pass out. As soon as my colleagues arrive, I'm gone."

Elle's breathing got heavier. She'd thought that once they'd settle into their separate lives, they could be at ease with each other. That she could treat the woman she'd known inside and out as a friend, even if their paths had at some point diverged.

The woman she'd never forgotten.

"Am I supposed to pretend nothing between us has ever happened?" Elle brushed her hand against Maya's, but it was quickly shoved away.

"No, you're supposed to act according to what happened." Her voice trembled a little, but she quickly took control of it. "Take responsibility for your actions for once in your life, Elena. Your truly shitty actions. Remember them?"

Elle sighed. She needed a drink.

For fuck's sake.

The atmosphere between them grew irreversibly sour. Maya was as beautiful as ever, especially when she was pissed. The ambulance still hadn't arrived, and the other one was preparing to leave. Maya ran up to it to consult the plan, leaving Elle alone for a moment. O'Malley and Montgomery, having rested, were helping the crew extinguishing the fire, and the situation appeared to have deescalated quickly.

Elle's stomach swelled with another wave of nausea, rapidly paling her skin. She crawled over to the water bottle, gulping the cool liquid. The clear taste of it swam down her tongue, but the painful nausea exhausted her. Slowly, her eyelids grew heavy, and she plunged into a feverish sleep.

"You okay? Elena?"

Someone was touching her shoulders. When she opened her eyes, it was Maya again. She smiled, feeling stronger.

"So worried, how sweet." She tried sitting up to prevent falling asleep again.

"No, lie down."

Elle obediently followed Maya's cold command, so contrasting to her head-spinning heat of fire and abruptly met old love. After a moment, she tried again. "Could we cast aside what happened and be on normal terms? Maya, it's been so long…"

Hearing her own name leave Elle's mouth made Maya subtly flinch. Her arms grew tense, and in the dusking sun, Elle could see the shimmering drops of sweat create silver paths along her skin. Maya's presence did something to Elle that she hadn't experienced with any other woman, not before nor since. Her bones itched with want, the heat of their reunion beat in her heart with more intensity than the fire blazing next to them. And in the heart of that beating fire of her chest, something poisonous dripped. Melted. Elle began feeling the poisonous little pangs of guilt.

Maya turned to look at her, a prolonged, cool stare meant to hide her trembling heart. But Elle saw the corners of Maya's mouth twitch, and she knew everything she needed to know.

"You hurt me, Elena. You hurt and humiliated me. And after all this time, I'd hoped you'd grow up enough to see that your actions have consequences. You play with fire – you get burnt. Maybe you got that idea messed up after all these years running into burning buildings."

Elle swallowed spit louder than she'd intended to, and in a small voice said, "Very clever."

Maya wasn't finished. Now that she'd uncorked her hurt, Elle knew she would go all the way.

"I know no one's going to tell you this, but you're not untouchable. To have something real you need to make real sacrifices, put in real effort! This doesn't only apply to your job. Love is work. Becoming a decent human being is work. And all these girls, these girls who throw themselves all over you because of the way you look, because you're a hero—how's that working out for you?"

Elle kept quiet. She hadn't expected Maya to hit such a sensitive nerve for her. But Maya had always known her best. She shook her head. "You think I'm some kind of a playboy."

"Aren't you? I just think you take intimacy withoutsacrifice yourself, over and over again. And I can't imagine you've changed much. You use women and then discard them. You know the best part, Elena?" Her voice rose dangerously high.

Elle shook her head. She'd entirely forgotten about the dizzy spells or the nausea she'd felt. Her body lived whatever words Maya directed at her, absorbed every break in her voice, every twitch of her expression.

"Everyone I tried dating in Phoenix Ridge after you, they thought I was just another Elena Rodriguez cast off just like all the rest. That I was just a toy you'd gotten bored of. And you know," her voice broke, "I found it difficult to refute."

These words absolutely enraged Elle. Maya had been different. Maya was… She grabbed Maya's hand, and this time wasn't immediately pushed away.

"That's bullshit, and you know it. One drunken mistake doesn't change anything about the kind of deep connection we shared for years. I'm sorry, you know I am, but--"

"No, I don't know, Elena." Maya pulled her hand away and got up from the grass. "Frankly, I don't care. I moved away. I got over you. I'm back now, but I'd like for us to keep our interactions to a minimum."

She pointed to an approaching man. "My colleague will take care of you."

"I feel fine now." Elle grunted, hurt by Maya's words.

"Don't be a baby," Maya responded and was gone in a moment.

Elle's vision became blurry with tears. The male paramedic kneeled next to her, checking her temperature. The building stood almost entirely extinguished, its image now flooded by tears in Elle's eyes.

"How are you feeling, ma'am?"

"Who does she think I am?" Elle moaned, fed up with herself more than anyone else. "I fucked this up."

The young paramedic sat next to her, confused.

"I'm not delirious," she explained. "tThat doctor is my ex."