23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Andy

On our shift that Tuesday, our spirits were high. We had Keith back with us, and we were all excited about the upcoming baseball game. Once we got our morning chores done, we spent most of our free time out back tossing a ball around and practicing for the game.

It might be a charity game and was just for fun, but we still planned on winning. That was just our nature. Keith had made BBQ baby back ribs with potato salad for our dinner, and by the time we were done, we were all stuffed and ready to veg out in the rec room.

I pulled out my newest project. Gigi had found out about my failed knitting experiment and had made it her mission to teach me to crochet. She said she'd never got the hang of knitting, but she loved to crochet because she could make smaller projects and then piece them all together to make something.

I liked that idea, so she'd been teaching me different stitches. I'd only learned three so far, but I'd made multiple granny squares out of each one. I wasn't actually sure if this was something I would want to do long-term, but I was determined to learn because Gigi had taken the time to show me.

I'd just pulled out my yarn and my hooks to get started when the tones went off, and the whole room jumped into action. I shoved everything back in my bag and headed for the bay while listening to see what the call was.

Multiple car accident, Cross streets Fifth and Vine. Engine 113, Ambulance 73. Injuries reported.

Shit . A car accident. They were our most frequent call-outs, but they still made me nervous. We all pulled on our gear and climbed into the truck.

We sped through the city streets, Ford behind the wheel as usual, with the siren wailing and lights flashing. My heart pounded in my chest. I did my best to hide it, but I was always a mess on these calls until we got there. After seeing both my parents die in a car crash, I knew firsthand just how bad it could be, and as details came in, this sounded like a bad one.

When we pulled up, the scene was chaos. Two cars were mangled together in the middle of the road, smoke billowing from the wreckage, and a third car that appeared less damaged was sitting off to the side. The smell of burning rubber and gasoline hung heavy in the air.

We all hopped out of the truck, and Robert barked orders, his voice steady and commanding.

"Keith and Ronda, you take the Mazda . Ford, you and Kevin go check the Fiesta . Thank goodness it seemed to escape the worst of it. Andy, you're with me. We'll take the SUV."

He pushed the button on his radio, letting dispatch know we would need at least one more ambulance as we rushed to the SUV. The vehicle was in bad shape, and as we approached it, I could see someone through the shattered windshield. There was a woman trapped inside, her face pale and bloodied, and she appeared to be unconscious. Thankfully, I could see the rise and fall of her chest underneath her seatbelt.

Robert and I worked together to try to pull open the door to get her out, but it didn't budge. Just then, Ford joined us.

"The driver of the Fiesta is okay. Their car just got clipped in the accident. Becca and Simon are checking him out." I glanced over to see both our station's paramedics bent down over the man who was sitting on the curb. I was glad he seemed okay because this woman was going to need them.

Ford continued, "Kevin went to check on Keith and Ronda. How about you two? Do y'all need help?"

"We do," Robert said. "Go grab the extraction equipment off the truck. We can't get this open."

Ford ran to do as Robert said, as the driver started to come around.

I moved to the broken driver's side window and leaned down. "Ma'am, can you hear me? We're here to help. What's your name?"

Her voice was faint and shaky. "Olivia… my name is Olivia. I don't know what happened. They just came out of nowhere. Please, it hurts so much."

Ford came back with the equipment they needed. He gave me a nod to keep talking to her as he and Robert went to work on prying the door open.

"Hang in there, Olivia. We're going to get you out," I reassured her, trying to keep my tone calm and steady.

"The people in the other car. Are they okay? I think I saw a car seat."

"I'm not sure, Olivia. Some of the other firefighters are helping them, but I can check for you in a minute. Right now, let's just focus on getting you out of this car."

The sound of metal bending and breaking filled the air as they pried the door open, making it possible to get to her.

"Olivia," I kept my voice gentle and reassuring. "I'm going to put this collar around your neck, okay? We need to move you carefully."

She nodded weakly, tears streaming down her face. "Okay… just please hurry."

I carefully slid my arms around her, trying to avoid any sharp edges of the wreckage. "You're doing great, Olivia."

As I gently pulled her free, Ford stepped up and helped me move her to the backboard. She winced in pain but reached for my hand. "Thank you," she whispered.

Once Olivia was out of the car, Becca and Simon swooped in, taking over and quickly assessing her injuries. I gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before stepping back.

"They're going to take good care of you, Olivia." I hoped my words offered some comfort because I remembered how terrified I was to wake up in a mangled car, glass everywhere, dizzy and confused.

"The other people. You said you would check."

"I did say that. Hold on for me." I didn't really want to ask, just in case it was bad news, but I knew she wouldn't be able to worry about herself as long as she thought a child might have been injured. I looked over at the other car, and Keith was standing by the Mazda , holding a young child in his arms. Ronda and Kevin were placing a man on a stretcher next to the car while the extra paramedics Robert had called for were looking on. Mine and Robert's eyes met, and he smiled at me before giving me a thumbs up.

I turned back to Olivia. "You were right. There was a car seat, but one of our crew is holding the little one, and they seem to be doing fine. You just worry about you, okay?"

"Oh, thank goodness," she breathed out. They loaded her into the back of the ambulance, and I watched as it drove away.

I was still shaken by the whole situation, but while I would love to be back at the station right now taking a shower, our job wasn't done yet. Now we would need to hang around until the police got the road cleared. I sat down on the back of the truck and let out a breath. Thankfully, this seemed like it was going to have a better outcome than the accident that took both my parents.

Robert came over and sat down beside me. "So, how are you doing?"

"I'm fine."

"Good. I know after what you went through, accidents like that can be tough. If you ever need to talk, I'm here."

"I know, and I appreciate that, Robert. I really do, but I'm fine." Or at least fine-ish. Most of the time, I was able to stay grounded in the now so the accidents didn't hit me quite so hard, but something about this one had hit closer to home. Not that I was going to tell Robert or anybody else that. The last thing they needed was a firefighter who wanted to fall apart when they worked an automobile accident.

"Well, you did a great job with her today. You didn't make any promises you couldn't keep but were still very reassuring."

"I just try to remember what the guy did for me that day and do the same. He didn't tell me my parents would be okay. He just told me he was going to get me out and that I would be okay. That's the guy I want to be. The one that's there for them in that moment when they need that reassurance."

He clapped his hand on my shoulder and smiled. "Well, you did good, son. Now get out there and help direct the traffic."

I chuckled. "Sure thing."

Jesse

The house was unusually quiet when I woke up, and a stillness hung in the air that immediately put me on edge. Andy and I had fallen into a pattern on the days he worked. Either I stayed up and waited for him to get home, or he woke me up when he came in. Sometimes with a kiss or sometimes with something even more interesting than that, but not this morning. Instead, I found him sitting on the couch, staring blankly at the TV and mindlessly petting Seph. His posture was slumped, his eyes distant, and I knew something was wrong.

"Hey, slugger," I said softly, trying to gauge his mood. "You okay?"

He blinked a few times, as if coming out of a trance, and turned to look at me. The sadness in his eyes hit me like a punch to the gut. "Hey," he replied, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Come here, baby boy." I took a seat on the couch next to him, and he didn't hesitate. He slid right over and let me wrap him in a hug. "What happened?" I asked gently, rubbing soothing circles on his back.

For a moment, he didn't respond. He stayed curled against me. His body was tense, and I had a feeling he'd been holding himself together for a while with nothing but sheer willpower. He took a few deliberate, slow breaths, and gradually, his shoulders relaxed a little, and with one more deep breath, he pulled back and looked at me.

"I worked a crash," he started, his voice shaky. "It was bad, Jesse. Really bad. Like it was that kind of crash where you look at the cars and wonder how anyone walked away. It… it brought back everything from before."

I squeezed him a little tighter. "From the accident you were in with your parents?" I asked quietly, already knowing the answer.

He nodded, his eyes glazing over with unshed tears. "Yeah. The accident wasn't the same, but there was a woman who was trapped, and she was so worried about the people in the other car. There was a child in the car. He was okay, but his father was driving, and he was badly injured. Something about it just felt so familiar. I couldn't stop thinking about it, about them, about how they died."

"Tell me what happened," I urged him softly, needing to understand the full weight of what he was carrying.

"I'm sure Victor told you."

"He did, but he wasn't there. I want to hear it from you if you're up to telling me about it."

He swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing as he tried to find the words. "We were driving back from dinner, just the three of us—Mom, Dad, and me. It was raining hard, and the roads were slick. Dad was driving, and he was trying to be careful, but…" He paused, his breath hitching as he fought back the tears.

I pulled him even closer in an attempt to give him the support he needed to continue.

"No matter how careful you are, you can't account for other vehicles. This truck came out of nowhere. The driver lost control and swerved into our lane. Dad tried to avoid it, but the car skidded, and then it rolled. I remember the sound… the metal crunching, the glass shattering. It all happened so fast, but at the same time, it felt like everything was in slow motion."

He stopped again, lost in the moment. I could feel his pain, the rawness of it, as if it were my own.

"I was trapped in the car," he continued, his voice barely above a whisper. "I couldn't move, couldn't get to them. I kept calling out, but they didn't answer. I knew… I knew they were gone before anyone even got there. I was stuck, helpless, listening to the rain and the distant sound of sirens getting closer. It felt like forever before the firefighters arrived." Tears streamed down his face now. "They pulled me out, Jesse. They saved me. But they couldn't save my parents.

"I'm so sorry, baby boy," I whispered, pressing a kiss to his temple. "That was a lot for you to go through."

He nodded against me, his grip on my shirt tightening as if I were his lifeline. "Today, when I saw that car… the people inside… it was like I was right back there, in that moment. I've worked accidents before. Ones where people were trapped. I don't know why it hit me so hard today. Why I felt so helpless all over again."

I tilted his chin up so I could look into his tear-filled eyes. "You're not helpless, Andy. You're one of the strongest people I know. What you went through… it would've broken most people. But you turned that pain into something good. You became a firefighter because you wanted to help others, to save lives, even when you couldn't save your parents. That's what makes you a hero."

"I don't feel like a hero right now," he whispered, his voice cracking with emotion. "I feel… lost."

"You're not lost," I said firmly, brushing away his tears with my thumb. "You're here, with me, where you belong."

He looked up at me, his eyes filled with a mixture of vulnerability and gratitude. "Thank you… Daddy," he whispered, his voice trembling but full of trust.

"I'm here for you, Andy. Always," I murmured against his hair.

He nodded, the tension in his muscles slowly easing as he leaned into me. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Well, if I have anything to say about it, you'll never have to find out," I promised, my voice low but steady. We sat there in silence for a while, just holding each other. As the minutes passed, I felt him gradually start to calm, his breathing evening out.

"Did you sleep at all last night, baby boy?"

"Not really. I was too rattled."

"Well, let's get you to bed, then. Seph and I'll lay down with you until you're asleep."