Chapter 7

7

Silas

I walk into the station and throw my bag in my locker. Atta and Hayes are already here, so I head to the kitchen, where they’re probably pouring themselves another cup of coffee to start off their morning.

“How’s it going, fellas?” I ask as I enter the room.

“What’s up, Fed?” Hayes says as he hands me a cup, and I pour coffee into it.

Slowly, Hawk, Marchy, Hollywood, Ghost Pepper, and Brax all show up and join us in the kitchen to get our debriefing from the shift before and settle in for the unknown of the day.

I take up my seat on the couch and put on MLB Network to see the scores of last night’s games when Marchy joins me in the living room.

“I saw that flier you had made. Maybe we should have this girl perform more often,” he teases.

“Her name is Kara, and she’s good. I just want to help other people see that too,” I respond nonchalantly.

“Hey, if it’s going to fill the bar, I’m for it. Haley liked her, too, so maybe we can make her a regular.”

Hollywood plops down on the other side of the couch. “Are you talking about Fed’s new obsession, who he’s trying way too hard to get?”

I grab the pillow next to me and throw it at him. “You’re one to talk with how you’ve been with Sofia. Has she moved in yet?”

He ignores me, knowing I’m totally right and he has no room to talk, so instead, he stares at the screen with a huge grin on his face. He fell hook, line, and sinker for that girl, and now that she’s pregnant, all bets are off.

Oscar, our house dog that’s a Swiss mountain breed, comes to me, so I lean over and pet his ears.

“How you doing, Oscar?”

I’ve always loved dogs, so it’s been great, having this guy at the station with us; I get the best of both worlds—having a dog, but not having to worry about him being alone when I’m at work.

I sit back, and he curls up at my feet, just like he always does when I’m sitting here. Funny how something so simple as having a dog next to you can fill you with a peace you didn’t know you needed inside.

The side of the screen shows me the Yankees game is coming up next when the tones above us go off, alerting us of an incoming call.

Once they stop, dispatch comes over our loudspeaker. “Station 47, we have an elderly woman who has fallen and thinks she broke her hip.”

Dispatch continues speaking, giving us the address, as we all pop out of our chairs and run toward the garage. While a few of us slide on our turnouts, Hollywood, Hawk, and Hayes head straight to the ambulance, pulling out before we’re even dressed. Every shift, we’re either assigned to the ambulance or fire engine, as all of us are both firefighters and paramedics.

No matter the call though, both the ambulance and the engine travel together in full gear in case we have to go from this call to where we’re needed next.

I hop in my assigned seat, and we’re pulling away from the station in less than one minute. We don’t turn on our lights and sirens since it’s a medical call and the ambulance went with theirs on. By the time we arrive, Hollywood, Hawk, and Hayes are already with the patient, assessing the situation.

We park the rig and climb out to see if they need our help. When I get to the door, the last person I expected to see is standing next to an elderly gentleman, holding his hand, while our guys work on getting the woman on the gurney.

“Kara?”

Her expression softens. “Hi, Silas.”

I see that my guys have the situation under control, so I head her way. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, this is Mr. Gomes. His wife fell, so when I heard the commotion, I came to check on them. I live in the apartment next door.”

Mr. Gomes places his hand on Kara’s arm. “She has been my godsend through all of this.”

Kara pats his hand, grinning his way. “She’s in good hands now.”

“Thank you, dear, for being here for us,” he replies.

“Anytime,” Kara says as the guys start to wheel Mrs. Gomes out of the living room and to where we are.

Mr. Gomes rushes to his wife’s side, grabbing her hand. “I’ll be right behind you in the car.”

“Okay, thank you,” she says with a grimace of pain.

“Be tough. I love you.” He leans down to kiss her head as she takes a big inhale, trying to do as he said.

The couple reminds me of my grandparents. Their love is evident and something everyone strives to be when they are their age.

I glance at Kara, and we lock eyes for a second before I move to help them maneuver out the door.

They load Mrs. Gomes into the ambulance, and I step back to go talk to Kara again.

“They’re all ready to go,” I say, motioning toward them. “Thanks for being here for Mr. Gomes.”

“Least I could do. I feel so bad for her. She was in a lot of pain.”

“She’ll be just fine. We see it all the time. When I started, it happened to this sweet old lady who lives across the street from the station. We’ve all helped with her recovery, so I can say with certainty that Mrs. Gomes will be okay after a few months.”

“You guys have helped with her recovery?” she asks with a laugh of disbelief. “Isn’t that going a little above and beyond?”

I shake my head with a smile. “Not for Granny Rose. We’ve all become her kids and now even grandkids, as she refers to me. After she lost her husband, we took custody of her dog, Oscar, when he became too much for her to care for.”

“Isn’t that sweet?” she replies with a grin and a sigh.

“Are you ready for tomorrow night?” I ask.

Atta yells over the rig at me, “We’re getting another call. Hurry it up, lover boy.”

I don’t hide my smile at the way he just called me lover boy. I’ll own that shit till the cows come home when it comes to Kara.

I lean in and give her a quick kiss on the cheek. “See you tomorrow.” As I run off, I turn to yell, “Just you wait. I’m filling that place up. My sister, her friends, the guys—we’ll all be there!”

“Bye.” She giggles.

I thought my day was made, getting to see her, but I was wrong. Hearing her giggle like that lifted me to cloud nine. I sure hope this isn’t too serious of a call because I don’t want this high to fade one bit.