“We don’t have time to knock.” Brody gave me a nod and slammed his shoulder into the first door.
“Right.” I nodded in understanding and kicked the door across the hallway.
I would have expected Houston’s fire department to have been better equipped to handle an emergency, but there was no time to dwell on it. We were in the thick of things and there were people to help. We got lucky and most of the apartments were empty, but when we got to the back of the hallway, Brody motioned me over before he hit the door. The handle was hot, which meant the fire was likely inside the apartment. It was the first one we found that seemed to be actually dangerous, so we prepared for the back draft and used our axes to break a hole in the door before we tried to take it down. Once the door was safely open, I heard a dog barking inside and ran towards the sound. The apartment was full of smoke and it looked like the fire was spreading towards the living room from the back of the apartment.
“Fuck, someone left this poor dog in a crate.” I looked over at Brody who shook his head in disappointment.
“Just take the whole crate outside. We don’t want it running into the—wait, the dog’s not barking at us.” Brody pointed and I realized the dog was barking at one of the bedrooms.
“Oh shit, there’s probably someone in here.” I nodded to Brody and hopped back to my feet.
“At least get the dog outside while I check.” Brody waved me towards the door.
I carried the dog outside of the apartment. Brody always had a soft spot for animals and refused to leave them behind if we had a chance to save them. Protocol said we prioritized saving people, but I wasn’t going to have that argument with him in the middle of an inferno. Once the dog was out of danger, I ran into the apartment. The instant I was inside, there was a loud crack, and I saw part of the ceiling collapse. My heart started racing in my chest. I ran towards the hallway and started looking for Brody. I called his name several times, but couldn’t see him through the smoke. I pushed into the first bedroom—it was empty. I could feel the heat getting worse as I approached the next one. I used the wall for support. The carbon monoxide levels had gotten so high that my mask wasn’t going to help much longer. I peered into the darkness and finally spotted Brody, hobbling through the smoke with an older woman slung across his shoulder.
“Take her!” He motioned with his hand.
“Come on.” I put my hand under her stomach and shifted some of the weight. “We need to get the fuck out of here!”
“Go…” Brody nodded. “I just need a second.”
“No!” I shook my head back and forth. “Give me your hand, I’ll fucking drag you both out of here if I have to.”
Before I could help Brody, there was another crash and the ceiling gave way. Embers spewed down on us and a beam dropped directly across Brody’s back. He screamed when it hit him and then collapsed on the floor. I needed help. There was no way I could get the beam off him and save the woman I was holding. My heart nearly split in two when I ran towards the entrance, leaving my best friend trapped in the rubble, but I couldn’t save him on my own. My radio could call the guys from Canyon City, but I didn’t even know where they were. They weren’t part of the crew that went into the building with us. Once I got into the hallway, I realized the other firefighters had moved into another part of the building. I cursed angrily—my squad would have never left someone behind. I laid the woman on the floor in the hallway and ran back into the apartment. Protocol said she was top priority, but there was no way in hell I was abandoning Brody.
We may both die in here—fuck, why did we volunteer to work on a Saturday?
The smoke was getting worse, and my head was spinning. I got back to Brody
and found him on the ground with the beam across his back. Thankfully, most of the beam had landed on the other side of him and was broken away from the part that was across his back. I grabbed the edge and tried to lift, but it was too heavy. I knelt down and started shaking Brody, trying to wake him up. My panic intensified when I realized Brody’s mask had been damaged and the hose was disconnected. I wasn’t sure if that was even possible with all the carbon monoxide he had inhaled, but without his help, I wasn’t going to be able to save his life. After a couple of seconds, he started to stir. He was groggy and disoriented. I motioned for him to push with his hands and he responded, mostly out of instinct. I pulled while he pushed and the beam finally started to move. I just needed a couple of inches to shift it—it was just so fucking heavy.
“A little more.” I gasped through my mask. “Come on, Brody. Wendy will kill me if I don’t get you out of here.”
Hearing Wendy’s name seemed to snap Brody out of his disoriented state. He nodded and pushed harder while I pulled with every ounce of strength in my body. The beam shifted more and I pushed it off Brody’s back. I dropped to my knees the instant it was off him, feeling the carbon monoxide flooding my system. I couldn’t give in. Brody crawled, but he was weak. I grabbed his arm and just started putting one foot in front of the other. We were either going to survive, or fall into the abyss together. My legs ached, but they moved. One step. Another step. Three steps. We were close to the door. We were in the hallway—another step. I kept going, fighting every urge that told me to just give into the sweet embrace of death pulling us towards oblivion. Just when I thought I was done, and my legs felt they didn’t have a single step left, I saw faces in front of me.
I just hope I got him out of there in time.
Wendy
Several hours earlier
The long stretch of interstate that took me from Canyon City to my father’s rehabilitation center in Sealy Springs was a rather boring stretch of interstate. I listened to the radio for part of the trip, but finally just turned it off to let my mind wander with the music. Staying in Canyon City meant that I would have to rethink most of my original plans for the future. I was still unsure about investing in Marigold Bakery, but I didn’t have many other options. It was a risk, but it seemed like my life had been full of risks since returning home. It might not have been the future I expected when I graduated from college, but there was something soothing about living in a small town. I had taken a few trips to Atlanta when I was going to college in Georgia and while it had a lot of nice places to shop, it wasn’t what I was used to.
I thought about Brody and Micah a lot during my drive. The relationship I had with Brody was definitely going to be complicated once the truth came out. There was a good chance Beth would hate me. I truly had no idea how she would react when she found out I was involved with her father. Things were less complicated with Micah, but I didn’t want to live my life without meeting his parents or the other people he cared about. If we ever had children, I would want them to know their grandparents. It was definitely too soon to worry about all of that. The moment belonged to us and I wanted to enjoy it as long as we could. The rest of the issues could be worked out when the time was right. I truly believed that the three of us could get through anything after finding our way to each other.
I arrived at Fresh Start, the rehabilitation center where my father was living during his recovery, and checked in at the front desk. The first few times I visited were hard. My father was still dealing with a lot of pent up issues, attending therapy regularly, and struggling with his desire to drink. The last couple of visits had been pretty good, and I saw happiness on his face for the first time in years. I was surprised to learn that he was outside—reading a book in the garden. My father didn’t read. He didn’t even own a book that was written in my lifetime. I walked outside into the garden and saw him sitting in a swing, eagerly flipping pages like he was fully engrossed in the story. It was enough to make me smile and warm my heart. He was still doing well, and that was a tremendous sign.
“Hey Dad!” I waved as I walked towards the swing.
“Wendy!” He put down his book and stood up. “It’s good to see you again. I’ve missed you so much.”
He missed me? He’s never said that before…
My father pulled me in for a hug. He never gave me hugs when he was buried in the bottle. I was lucky if I got a casual look, unless he wanted me to be his captive audience for a heartbreaking story. He put down his book and asked me to take a walk with him. That was another first. The only place he walked was to the bathroom, the bedroom, or to the car so he could drive to the liquor store. He asked me a lot of questions about the bakery, my future plans, and outlined the steps he was taking in his recovery as we walked down to a stream that ran along the perimeter of the property. I still wasn’t used to having a meaningful conversation with my father. It was a really nice feeling.
“I’m glad you came. I’ve been needing to talk to you about something.” He stopped when we got to the stream and turned towards me.
“Yeah?” I tilted my head to the side inquisitively.