It was obvious that she had some kind of serious problem that she wasn't ready to face, but there was no way to make her own it if she wasn't ready to. I could understand why she would have turned to drugs in the first place, but now that she'd gotten caught, I couldn't understand why she continued to deny it.
Leslie handed me scrubs and a pair of old tennis shoes, and I quickly changed into them and headed back to the floor. I needed to talk to someone, but I was afraid that if I did, I'd sink Liz's chances for reinstatement when she was released. Mrs. Rikka didn't like her to begin with, and this absence was going to cause a bigger rift in the already tenuous relationship.
"Ms. Pierce," Mrs. Rikka said as she found me walking down the hallway. "What on earth is going on with you and Ms. Baker?"
"Liz is sick, Mrs. Rikka," I said simply as I tried to avoid having the conversation altogether. "She should be back in a few days."
"I’m already aware of the situation," Mrs. Rikka said, looking over her glasses at me. She was a tall, imposing woman, and I felt dwarfed by her presence. "And what, pray tell, was she doing that made her so sick?"
"I'm sure Liz would be happy to tell you if you talk with her," I said, trying to dance around the need to talk about Liz's problems when she wasn't here. "I need to get to the floor."
"Mmm hmm." Mrs. Rikka nodded as she raised an eyebrow and pivoted on her heel before walking the opposite way down the corridor. I breathed a sigh of relief and headed back to the safety of the ER.
Leslie asked me how Liz was doing, and I wasn't quiet sure how to respond. I wanted to ask her what she thought might be the problem, but I also knew that Leslie was our supervisor, and as such was required to report any improprieties. So, I held back and let her talk, but didn't answer many of her questions.
"Alex, if you girls are in some kid of trouble, there are people who can help you out, you know," Leslie said as she looked through the stack of files that the residents had piled next to her computer. "I can give you the number of some resources, lawyers, recovery therapists, and such."
"Thank you." I nodded, feeling uncomfortable talking with her about Liz's problems when Liz wasn't here to explain herself. "We're good, but if I need anything, I'll let you know."
"You don't have to shoulder this alone," Leslie said as she gave me a pointed look before returning to the files.
I wasn't sure how I was going to handle this, but I knew Leslie was definitely wrong about her last assertion. Liz was telling me that she wasn’t doing drugs, and I wanted to believe her. I also knew that I was alone in this mess, and I was going to do what I had always done and handle it.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Cam
"Engine One, Truck One, Ambulance Fifty-Four, warehouse fire at Jackson and Green. Be advised there are workers trapped in the building."
"Shit, I hate warehouse fires," Newsome said as he and I climbed up onto the engine and waited for Mike to hop into the driver's seat. It wasn't like Mike to be lagging behind us, but today he seemed a little slower than usual.
"You okay, Kelly?" I hollered as he turned the key and fired up the engine.
"Yeah, fine," Mike yelled. "Your cooking was a little off this morning, that's all!"
"My cooking is never off, you asshole!" I yelled back with a grin. "It's your pansy ass stomach that's incapable of making even the slightest change! From now on, I'm gonna make you plain oatmeal with fruit."
"Aww, fuck off, Connor." Mike grinned as he turned on the siren and pulled out of the firehouse.
He drove like a bat out of hell down Jackson and pulled up to the fire less than five minutes later. I wondered what was going on, but then got busy hooking up the hose and getting ready to go in and forgot to ask.
"Vangel, don't go in till Chief gets here," I yelled as Victor shouldered his axe and headed for the door taking the new probationary firefighters with him.
"Fuck you, Connor," he said, waving me off. "I've been doing this job longer than you've been wishing you could do it."
"It's not safe, you dumbass," I said loud enough for him and the probationary candidates to hear me then turned back to helping Danny get the hose ready.
The next thing I knew, Victor was at the side door to t
he warehouse knocking the handle off the door with his axe. There was a momentary silence before the familiar woosh.
"GET AWAY FROM THAT DOOR!" I shouted as the air entered the building and fed the flames. Suddenly, there were flames shooting out of the door and windows shattering as the intensity of the heat that had been trapped inside the warehouse struggled to escape.
Victor jumped to the side, but the two probies behind him didn't have the reflexes that he'd developed and were quickly engulfed in flames.
"Hose! WATER!" I shouted at Danny who cranked the hydrant and sent water shooting out of the nozzle. I pointed the hose at the probies and doused them as I pushed them back a good ten feet. Neither one was burned, or even hurt, but they were both shaken by the close call.
"Get back to the truck," I said, motioning toward the engine. "Just sit there and wait for Chief to tell you what to do next. You got it?"