Daire watched as Silvia ran up the outside steps.
Should he follow her up? No, she’d said to get the chief. He didn’t like what she was doing, but he trusted her instincts.
If she said she saw someone, there was someone still inside the building…as hard as that was to believe. Even the second graders they’d taught earlier mostly knew what to do if a fire broke out. None of them had said that they would stay inside a burning building.
Daire clicked on his radio, but firefighters were overtalking each other, shouting orders, making comments. Some of the comments were in bad taste, but that’s how most responders dealt with tragedy—by laughing at it.
He tried to break through several times, but no one heard him.
“Screw this! I need someone now!” He started to run back to the front side of the building to get help but then turned in horror as a loud shriek echoed behind him. The beast had come to life, like a giant dragon screeching its dominance, ready to swallow its prey whole.
The stairs wobbled, pulling away from the building. The heat had apparently melted the bolts and brackets that attached the metal frame to the wall.
Silvia stood in front of the door to the top apartment, banging. “Fire! Open up!” Her shouts were quickly swallowed by the wind.
Obviously feeling the structure start to slip, she removed her ax and swung it against the window. The glass shattered and, thankfully, her ax held against the metal frame on the first swing. The steps buckled beneath her, but she was already climbing over the shattered glass.
“Silvia!” Not believing what he was seeing, Daire blinked, then charged toward the structure on an angle to get away from the falling steps. Sam had always told him not to try to outrun a falling tree; run at an angle away from it. If you knew which way a tree or structure was falling, that is. More often than not, you couldn’t know. Daire had no idea how far the stairway would fall away from the building, if not straight down, so he opted to escape it entirely.
He smashed a downstairs window and climbed inside the building. He couldn’t let Silvia do this on her own anyway. The fire hadn’t reached this side of the apartment building, but heat and smoke raced from the shattered window.
“Mayday!” he shouted into his radio. “Mayday! Mayday! A child’s inside the structure! A-D corner!”
He barreled through the small apartment, then slammed through the exit door into the center corridor, knowing the roof could collapse at any second. He charged toward the interior stairwell, then sprinted up the stairs. Smoke billowed above him, racing along the ceiling like shadowy phantoms escaping hell.
“Silvia!” He slammed through the stairwell door on the third floor, then checked the knob on the apartment she’d crawled into. Locked, of course.
He stared up at the interior ceiling, watching in dread as bubbles formed across the sheetrock. The roof would collapse any second.
“Silvia, I’m coming in!” he screamed from outside the door. He knew how dangerous it was to kick in an entry door if a victim had collapsed on the other side, so he pried it open. Usually, he would loop one of his straps around the doorknob in case fire was blazing on the other side, and he’d have to pull it shut quickly.
Not today. No matter what awaited him on the other side, he was going in.
“Silvia!”
Daire stormed down the short hallway but stopped short. In front of him, directly below the window where she’d crawled inside, a young boy stood above Silvia, wailing. The boy had his long skinny arms wrapped tightly around his body, and he was swaying from side to side as he sobbed.
Next to Silvia lay a baseball bat.
Daire eased closer. The boy hadn’t heard Daire shout Silvia’s name over his own howls. Obviously, the barely-a-teen boy wasn’t a hundred percent there.
Daire took another step and felt the floor dip. The entire three stories would collapse soon. There wasn’t any time to waste.
“Honey?” Daire used the endearment his mother always used on him, no matter the age, with a slight inflection to get the boy’s attention.
The boy turned, then darted to the floor, coming upright with the bat.
“It’s okay, honey,” Daire repeated in the soft voice Silvia had teased him about the other day. He lifted his hands. “I’m a fireman. I need to get you out of here. It’s not safe here.”
“Stranger danger!” the boy cried. Although he looked twelve or thirteen, he was obviously much too young mentally to be left home alone.
Daire didn’t have time to continue trying to explain. He stepped forward, hands lifting in the universal sign that he meant no harm. “I’m here to help. There’s a fire. I need to get you out—”
The boy shook his head. “Mama said not allowed to leave.”
Daire pointed to Silvia. “Can I help her?”
The boy nodded. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—” He dropped his head. “I didn’t mean to hurt her.”
“It’s okay.” Daire reached down and scooped up Silvia, then looked back at the boy. “You have to come with me. I spoke to your mama. She said it’s okay for you to come with me.”
The boy blinked. “She did?”
“Yes!” Daire exhaled in relief. His mother had told him to be aware of strangers, but she obviously hadn’t made him understand that a stranger might tell him that his mother said it was okay to follow his instruction. “Hurry up. She’s waiting downstairs.” He looked at the baseball bat in the boy’s hand. “We’re gonna take you to the park to play catch. Would you like that?”
The boy moved to turn. “I’ll get my ball and mitt.”
“No!” Daire tried not to shout. “No time. I’ll let you use mine, okay?”
The boy nodded and, thankfully, followed.
Daire didn’t have any more time to waste. He needed to get Silvia, himself, and the kid out of the building as quickly as possible, which meant he had to go back the way he’d come. Typically, he’d lower Silvia, then the boy out the window, but he couldn’t even take the time to tie a harness.
He charged toward the door, praying the boy would follow. He took off toward the stairs, only taking a second in the doorway to ensure the boy was following.
The kid stopped and looked up at the smoke. “Fire!”
“Yes!” Daire said a bit louder. “Fire. Danger. We have to go quickly.”
The boy followed him into the stairwell, and Daire moved down the steps as fast as he could while carrying Silvia. Thankfully, she didn’t weigh much, but even her weight quickly got unbearable.
“Silvia,” he coaxed as he carefully made his way down the first flight. “Please wake up.”
He hadn’t a chance to check for a concussion or any significant injuries. He could be hurting her worse right now, but he reasoned that even a broken neck was better than burning to death.
Before reaching the second flight, he heard the telltale sounds he’d been dreading. Just like the outside staircase, the entire building was creaking and groaning.
The bottom door of the stairwell opened, and Daire heard footsteps pounding up the metal steps. His brothers were coming.
Tears filled his eyes. They knew the building was collapsing, yet his brothers had heard his Mayday and were coming to help.
First, shift commander Big Ivan, then Lieutenant Jack Schilling charged up the steps toward him. Big Ivan moved to his side, looped one of Silvia’s arms around his shoulders, and then wrapped an arm around her waist. Daire followed suit, and they started moving down the stairway three times faster than Daire had been managing on his own.
The boy screamed behind him as LT had clearly taken him by surprise.
“It’s okay, son. I got you.”
“Stranger danger!” the boy cried, but LT must have overpowered him because he heard the two of them keeping pace with him and Ivan.
The door swung open below them, and more hands were reaching and pulling them out at the same time.
“Clear the building,” Ivan bellowed as only he could. “The whole thing’s coming down!”
When they passed the door, they didn’t stop to look back. Along with the other firefighters, the five of them cleared the fallen wood staircase debris and raced toward the street.
LT sprinted past Daire, the boy in his arms.
On the street, Therese Allard and Jim Johnson waited with a gurney.
“Holy shit!” Therese screamed. “There it goes!”
Everyone turned to see the building literally disintegrate. Walls melted inward, then debris shot forward as a ball of fire erupted. Plumes of smoke billowed skyward, blocking out what was left of the building where they’d just been.
“Holy crap!” Daire bent at the waist, feeling like he might collapse himself.
Therese stopped gawking at the fire and rushed toward them. “Silvia! Oh, my God! Is she okay? What happened?”
Big Ivan and Therese lifted Silvia to the gurney, and Daire made his way to her face, looking in her eyes. Even in the bright light, her pupils were dilated several times their normal size.
“She was hit on the back of the head!” Daire shouted above the roar of the fire, the water spray, and the Pumper.
Therese checked Silvia’s eyes, then reached behind her head, feeling for the injury. “No blood, but she’s got quite a lump. Let’s get her inside the LSV.” Johnson helped Therese wheel the gurney inside their ambulance, then Daire watched as the doors shut Silvia from his view.
It killed him to watch the woman he knew without a doubt that he loved disappear from his sight, but he couldn’t leave the scene. He had to stay and help others.
He closed his eyes for just a moment, praying that Silvia would be okay, then turned to Big Ivan to see where they needed him.
Hours later and countless texts to Therese about Silvia’s status, Daire was finally able to make his way to the ER. Hospital staff and rescue workers were buzzing around, busy with patients. Still, most of them knew the local first responders and could tell him exactly where she was.
Finding out whether she was hurt badly was another story. No one knew anything, and no one had the time to check.
Daire made his way to the room several had mentioned, praying that she would be awake when he got there. He didn’t even care that she would probably yell at him for something.
Maybe he’d beat her to the punch and yell at her for going in without a mask. For going in without waiting for backup. For scaring the death out of him.
He nudged the door open to the room, carefully peeking in.
Other than all the equipment she was hooked to, the room was dark.
Daire made his way to her bedside. Silvia always looked petite. But lying in the hospital bed, an IV connected to her arm and oxygen tubes connected to her dainty nose, she looked like a fragile child.
“Oh, God.” Tears sprung to Daire’s eyes. “Oh, Silvia. Please be okay. Please, God, let her be okay.” His mind raced with all the what-ifs and could-have-beens. The idea that he might never talk to her again… Never be able to tell her how he felt about her…
He searched his heart for a bargaining chip. What would he give to make sure she was okay?
Anything.
But what?
It didn’t matter. Prayers in foxholes and such didn’t make any difference. As Daire’s mother had always told him, If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.
He shook his head over his weird thoughts. Amazing how his brain grasped at the strangest memories whenever he was in a situation he had no control over. It was as if his brain were searching past experiences it could draw upon to get through an ordeal.
But there wasn’t anything. He’d been young when his father died, and even though his brothers had been through a lot of crap, he hadn’t. All of his rescues had even gone well.
As he’d told Silvia the other day, he knew how lucky he was. Even though he’d lost his father young, he had an amazing mother and four older brothers who always had his back.
That thought had Daire looking around the room. No one else was here. Where was Silvia’s family? Had anyone thought to call her family? Even though they were in California, he was sure they would want to know.
It was too late to call human resources. Maybe her phone.
Daire searched for her clothes. He fumbled in the pockets for the phone he saw her use only a few times, usually when she was Googling something.
“Got it!” He swiped up the screen, and it prompted for Face ID, then switched to password. “Of course.”
He held it up to her face, then swiped it up. Nothing.
“Hm.” He was positive he’d seen her use Face ID.
Daire took out his own phone and searched: Using Face ID on a Sleeping Person.
“Huh. I was right.” He pocketed his phone. He’d always called foul on movies where they used fingerprint ID after a person had been dead for days. His fingerprint wouldn’t work if his fingers were even too dry. And clearly, Face ID looks for liveliness.
He slid into the chair beside her bed. What would he even say to her family if he reached them? He knew nothing of her condition, and he had no idea what Silvia’s relationship with her parents was like. The little they’d spoken about her mother hadn’t sounded positive.
He would just stay here with her…as long as it took. He just wished he knew what they were monitoring her for. Probably a concussion. Maybe there was swelling. If that were the case, they might have induced her sleep.
“Man, my A.D.D. is bad tonight. I can’t keep my mind focused on one thing for even a second.”
“So…that’s…what’s wrong…with you. I…should have…guessed.” Her words came out strangled, but she’d spoken. And, of course, she had something smart-alecky to say.
Daire ignored her comment and jumped up. “Silvia! Thank God.” Before he overthought his actions, his hands were on her face. He pressed his lips to hers. He’d totally forgotten this was a one-sided romance. He pulled back. “I’m sorry.”
Instead of blasting him, her hand that wasn’t weighed down from the IV moved to her mouth. “Why…? Why did you…kiss me?”
Daire dropped back into the chair. “I don’t know. I was scared. You scared me. Damn, Silvia.” He lowered his head into his hands. “How can you not know how crazy I am about you, woman?”
He felt her hand touch the side of his arm. “I’m…pretty crazy…about you, too, Daire.”
~ Silvia ~
It had only been thirty-six hours since the fire, but Silvia had insisted on keeping her word and going with Daire to his family’s house for brunch.
The hospital had monitored her overnight but then released her the following morning.
Then Daire had insisted that he spend the day—and evening—with her. All she had wanted to do was sleep, but he insisted on waking her up every three hours—and he had.
Around the clock, he’d walked into her bedroom, checked her eyes, and then let her go back to sleep.
He’d even made her soup for dinner, then had woken her up with scrambled eggs and toast.
“Are you sure?” An hour after bringing her breakfast, he’d come back into her room. He removed the makeshift bed table, which he’d made by removing the legs from her TV-dinner table. “You don’t have to come with me.”
“Yes, I’m sure. I don’t want you to go alone because then you’d be subjected to Big Brother Sam, and I’ve grown quite fond of having you as my houseboy.”
He flashed a wide grin. “Hmm. All you’ve done is sleep. Not how I imagined our first sleepover would go—”
She shot him a warning glare. “Daire, we said we wouldn’t discuss anything until I’m back on my feet. If this had been our first date, I wouldn’t have allowed you to sleep over. Thank you for everything, but now that I feel better…” She rubbed the back of her head. The knot had gone down significantly. “I just need a shower, then I can get on with my life.”
“You sure you’re okay to take a shower alone? The discharge papers said no physical activities that might cause you to hit your head.” He tapped his head. “Did you know that falls are the leading cause of death when it comes to home accidents?”
She pushed back the blanket and threw her legs over the side of the bed. “Yes, we went through the same EMT classes, remember? I’m sure I’ll manage, Daire. Now go!”
He shrugged. “Just sayin’. I’m here to help if you need me.”
“Not a chance.” She waved him off. “Get! I’ll be ready to leave in thirty minutes.”
When they pulled up to Daire’s property for the second time, Harvey obviously knew where they were. Instead of being nervous, he paced the back seat, then pawed at the handle when they came to a stop.
Also different, instead of nothing but two German shepherds greeting them, the front lawn was set for what looked like a party. At least seven adults, two young boys, and a toddler were present on the green grass.
Sam had one of the toddler’s hands, and a dark-haired beauty had the other as they made their way to the truck. As soon as Daire released Harvey, Sam bent down and scooped up the child without preamble. He just did it as if he were planning to.
Everyone who’d ever come in contact with Harvey usually took a step back, asking her if he was friendly. Sam had assumed.
“Oh… Aren’t you a beautiful boy?” The woman, Nora, Silvia assumed, bent down to inspect Harvey, offering him a pat on his jowls, then came back up. “And you must be Silvia. Bueno! ¡Oh, ella es hermosa!”
“Gracias!” Silvia said. “Tu tambien eres hermosa.”
Daire stopped and stared at Silvia, and she just shrugged.
Nora smiled. “Ah, hablas español muy bien.”
“Si, gracias. Mi abuela era de Costa Rica.”
“You speak Spanish?” Daire interrupted before Nora could respond again.
“Yes, I was telling Nora that my grandmother was from Costa Rica.” Technically, her mother was from Costa Rica, too, but that was too much personal information. But she couldn’t help speaking Spanish with Nora. It’d been so long since she’d been around anyone who spoke Spanish that it felt like she was missing a part of herself.
“Hm,” Daire said. “Well, it appears you and Nora already have something in common. Come on, let’s go find my mom. She’ll be jealous if she doesn’t get anything else out of you.
“It’s nice to meet you, Silvia. We’ll have to sit down and chat when our English-speaking men aren’t around. I’ve missed having someone to talk to in Spanish.”
“It was nice meeting you too, Nora. And definitely! I’ve missed speaking Spanish, too.” Inwardly, Silvia wondered if she’d just made a huge mistake. But Nora was from Argentina, so no harm could come of it. Silvia wouldn’t mistakenly reveal any of her secrets.
Daire waved off a few of his brothers as they walked toward the house. “We’ll be right back.”
In unison, the other women and men smiled and nodded as if they understood.
Daire wrapped a protective arm around her and led her up the front stoop.
“I’m fine, Daire,” she said before he reached for the doorknob. “I can walk upstairs without falling.”
He dropped the arm that was around her waist. “Oh, yeah…” He smacked his lips together. “That’s not why I was holding you, but I understand.”
“Oh.” Silvia chuckled. “Right.” She stared up at him. “It might take a bit of time. Okay? Umm…I’m…”
“It’s okay, Silvia. Really. I’m not pushing you. As I told you on the way here, I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, so I’m a bit ahead of you.”
Silvia nodded and exhaled, sounding exasperated. “I understand. It’s not that I haven’t been attracted to you, believe me.” She dropped her head, embarrassed.
He nudged it back up. “You were?”
“Well, yeah, obviously.” Self-conscious, she peeked around Daire. They were still standing on the stoop. “Should we go inside?”
He opened the door and ushered her into a great room with a soaring staircase that led to a large loft and several rooms. He turned to her, though, blocking her view. “You sure know how to change the subject. You were saying that you were attracted to me…”
“What woman isn’t, Daire?”
He bit down on his lip. “I don’t know. I haven’t looked at another woman going on a year now.”
“Umm… Wow. You really know how to dish it, don’t you?”
He scoffed. “It’s not a line, Silvia. I wasn’t kidding. I haven’t been able to look at another woman since I’ve met you.”
“Really? I’ve always heard you like blondes. Therese said—”
“I wouldn’t say I’m prejudiced about it, but I’ve been known to have a fondness for blondes…obviously.” When Daire looked at her as if she’d grown another head, then scooped up a strand of her hair, she realized her gaff.
She was a blonde. She’d been a blonde for eight years.
You stupid, stupid girl. You knew this wouldn’t work. After a couple minutes of staring into Daire’s beautiful brown eyes, you forget you’ve died your hair blond for eight years.
Daire moved his hand from her hair to her cheek. “Are you okay? I really don’t care what color your hair is, Silvia. I don’t care that you slip into another world every once and a while—well, that’s not true. I do care. I do wonder where you go sometimes.” He moved his hand upward, running a finger between her eyebrows. “You furrow your brow when you’re deep in thought. Everyone does it, but yours is more pronounced. Your eyes drop as if you’re embarrassed, then the rest of your face follows. Where do you go? What happened to make you worry so much over every little word you say?”
“Daire! You came! And you brought Silvia, I see.” The woman was holding a food tray, but she set it on the coffee table and approached Daire, arms held wide enough to hug them both. “It’s so good to meet you, Silvia. I’m Claire. I was so jealous when Sam said he’d met you, and I didn’t get a chance. I was home the other day, but you two had already left.”
Behind Claire, a woman with reddish-brown hair offered a soft smile. “Hi, Silvia. I’m Irene. It’s so good to have you with us today. I—we have to get this food out there before it gets cold, so… We’ll see you two in a few minutes?”
“Of course,” Claire said, stepping back and picking up the tray.
“Mom, is there anything I can do to help?”
“No, no.” Claire waved her hand. “You two get settled, and we’ll see you outside whenever you’re ready.” Claire smiled at Silvia again. “If you need to wash up, the powder room is right down that hall. Help yourself to anything you need.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Belgarde,” Silvia said.
“Oh, honey, everyone just calls me Claire.” She bowed her head as she followed Irene out the door. “See you soon. Daire, close the door behind me, honey.”
“Sure, Mom.”
Silvia actually forced tears back, covering her silly actions with a smile, as Daire turned back to her.
“Oh, Silvia. Don’t cry. What happened? Are you okay? Do you need to sit down? I knew this was too much for you today. You shouldn’t be—”
Silvia stepped forward and lifted herself on her tiptoes, pressing her lips to Daire’s before he could react this time. She remained there only a second, just long enough for his arms to envelop her and return the kiss before she dropped back on her heels.
Daire chuckled and touched his lips. “Why did you kiss me?” He repeated the words she asked yesterday.
“Can’t you see I’m crazy about you, Daire?”
He stepped toward her again, moving her backward to the large sectional sofa. “I’m crazy about you, too.” He nudged her down on the soft suede-like material. “But are you sure you’re okay? You’re not acting like your feisty self.”
She cleared her throat. “I’m fine. Just a bit choked up. You really have a great family, don’t you?”
Daire leaned back and stared at her. “I really do. I know I complain about Sam—because he does drive me crazy—but I really do have a great family. Is that it? Are you missing your family? I hated that I didn’t know who to call for you the other day. Were you able to talk to them?”
Silvia released another deep breath. How to explain this. “I don’t talk to my family. Yes, I miss them terribly, but…something happened, and we’ve been…” She struggled for the right word, the explanation that would hopefully make Daire drop the inquisition. “Estranged. Maybe someday, we’ll be able to put our differences aside, but not now, okay?”
Daire shook his head. “Of course. It’s your life. I understand that, believe me. Part of why Sam and I are always at each other’s throats. I would never push you for anything, Silvia.”
“Okay. Now, let me use that powder room your mother mentioned, and then let’s get out there. I don’t want everyone thinking I’m a fragile little girl.”
“I’d never let that happen.” He bent forward and offered her another delicate kiss. With his first few kisses, he’d been so respectful that Silvia wondered about the supposed reputation Therese had touted about Daire.
Maybe tonight, since Daire hadn’t pressed her for extra information, she would be able to do something about the craziness he’d stirred within her.