Tyler woke from the eerie silence. No birds chirped, no fire roared. He jumped to his feet and gave a long, agonized groan. Troy and Denis were already up, taking charge of the crew in Jules’ absence. They had serious expressions on their faces.

“Have you heard from Jules?” he asked them.

“Not really. Her radio seems to be on, but all we get is static. Nobody has seen or heard of her.”

Tyler wanted to strangle them for being the bearers of bad news. “I’m going after her. Show me her last known location.”

“Man, if you want to try and look for her, I’ll go with you.” Gunner joined them, his eyes showing the lack of sleep after only two hours napping.

“I guess. You could try your luck,” Denis said. “It’ll get dark in two hours and the temperature has cooled off. Operations told me the finger of the beast ravaging where Jules was last seen has slowed and moved direction.”

“Here,” Troy tapped the map with his finger before continuing, “We were working this ridge when she left. The winds shifted, and we had to evacuate the area to save ourselves. It was burning straight toward her.”

Tyler looked at the map, trying to figure out where Jules would have headed when she saw the fire coming for her. “Where are you?” he murmured to himself, not seeing the look of compassion that crossed Gunner and the others’ faces.

“Armstrong,” Denis said, “I know you feel you have to do this, but are you sure you’re up to it? It’s bad up there. Real bad.”

“That’s exactly why I can’t afford to wait I will find her.”

“Man, you realize she might…”

Tyler shook his head, holding up a hand to stave off the comment that was coming. “Don’t say it. I know the odds, but I’m not ready to give up. Are you?”

“No. No one’s giving up. We all love her. Be safe. Be smart.”

Tyler nodded, put on his Kevlar suit, grabbed his gear bag and joined Gunner at the edge of the clearing. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah. Let’s go get your girl.”

“How do you know she’s my girl?”

“Man, don’t even go there. Jules is yours, whether she has come to that realization or not. You two make a good team. Everyone knows it.”

Tyler nodded and pushed his exhausted body to function beyond his normal limits. They made it to the top of the hill, but they couldn’t find a clear way through the still burning forest.

“Maybe if we go around that side,” Tyler said, seeing with his eyes that it was impassable.

“You know that’s a suicide mission. We have to stand down and wait till the flames burn themselves out.”

Tyler shook his head and took a step forward, but Gunner grabbed his arm, preventing him from heading into an unsafe area. “Let me go.”

“No, I can’t do that. You will die for sure if you go in there. Let’s head back.”

“I can’t just leave her up here,” Tyler cried out, desperation making him crazy.

“We’re not leaving her up here,” Gunner said and took his radio to contact Denis.

“You found her?” Denis voice came through.

“No, we can’t get in, still burning hot.”

“Give me your exact location and I’ll ask for another load of flame retardants, that’ll give you a chance to run through to the other side.”

“Good. We wait.” Gunner switched off the radio and turned toward Tyler. “You heard? We’re waiting for a load of slime. Then we go.”

Tyler nodded, worry and desolation etched into his face. About fifteen minutes later the heard the engine of a plane and watched how it sprayed its pink cargo across the blazing forest.

“It’s now or never.” Gunner said, and they mobilized all energy reserves and burst through the smoldering mass of blackened trees and barrenness.

Tyler was sick with worry, and thankful for his friend’s clear head. Jules had been out of communication for almost five hours now. Five long hours alone in the blazing heat. It would soon get dark outside, and if she was injured, she wouldn’t survive a night alone on the mountain. He had to find her. Now.

He pushed his body, his muscles screaming at him to slow down, but he kept climbing, using his hands when necessary to continue his forward progress.

“Wait, Armstrong,” Gunner said as they reached the top of the rise.

“What?”

“We should split up. You go down that slope and I take the one over there, check in every ten minutes until we meet again over there at rock formation.”

Tyler nodded and dashed off, running down the hill, his eyes scanning the area for any signs of her bright yellow suit. After fifteen endless angst-filled minutes a person staggered towards him through the black. He increased his pace, his lungs pumping oxygen at full speed, until he caught her as she fell into his arms. “Jules! Oh, God. Jules! Honey, are you hurt? Talk to me?”

“I’m fine. A bit wobbly.” She attempted something similar to a smile, but she couldn’t fool him. Mortal fear and excruciating pain etched every line in her face. He settled her on the ground, taking stock of her injuries. Some serious burns on her hands, her Kevlar suit was melted in a few places, and there was a nasty burn on her neck.

“This is Tyler Armstrong. I have Cooper, but she needs medical attention immediately,” he radioed back to operations.

“Armstrong, a chopper is in the air. Give us your exact location. When you hear the chopper, set off one of your smoke bombs so that they can locate you. Is there a safe place for them to land nearby?”

“Yes. Just get them here.”

“On their way. Armstrong, good job.”

“Okay. Over,” Tyler responded and checked in with Gunner before he returned his attention to Jules. “Hang on, sweetheart. Help is on the way.”

“Water,” she demanded with a hoarse voice.

He held his flask to her lips, thankful that he’d drank very little from it, as she downed the entire contents in one greedy gulp. Minutes later, Gunner came running to them.

“Thank God, Jules. You’re alive!”

Tyler dressed her burns with bandages soaked in water to alleviate the pain, while he murmured words of reassurance. “Honey, you’re safe now. The chopper is almost here. I can hear it.”

Five minutes later, the chopper landed, and two paramedics rushed across the clearing to retrieve Jules. There wasn’t room for him or Gunner in the chopper and they began the long trek back to the campsite, grateful for each other’s company.

“God, I love her so much,” Tyler murmured and for once Gunner kept his mouth shut and didn’t shoot back with a teasing answer. When they arrived at the campsite, night had already settled in and after reporting to Dennis and Troy, Tyler fell into his sleeping bag and passed out even before his head hit the pillow.

The next day word came in that Jules had been transferred to the hospital in the town about an hour’s drive from Bear Mountain and she was already starting to recover from her injuries, but had to stay some more days at the hospital, because of the severity of her burns and the danger that they could become infected.

Tyler wanted nothing more than rush to her side, but he couldn’t abandon his team. So, he was stuck fighting that monster of a fire for an entire five days, before they finally moved out, leaving the mop up to the local crews.

The very moment he arrived at the base, he rushed to take a shower, put on clean clothes and grabbed two sandwiches on his way out to his car. Under normal circumstance he’d have slept for at least twelve hours, but he couldn’t go another minute without Jules.

“Hey Armstrong, where do you think you’re going?” Mike called out to him as he traversed the parking lot.

“Seeing Jules,” Tyler unlocked his car, but Mike, who’d spent the past week recovering from a sprained ankle, put a hand on his shoulder, saying, “No way I’m going to let you drive after six days without proper sleep.”

Tyler gave him an angry stare, but Mike simply took his keys from him and pushed him to the passenger seat. “Hop in. I’m driving.”

“Thanks man,” Tyler said and fell asleep the moment the engine started.

An hour later, Mike parked in front of the hospital. “Wake up, we’ve arrived. I have to run a few errands. Call me when you’re done? And say hello to Jules.”

“Will do, thanks.” Tyler nodded, thankful for the privacy Mike wanted to give him when he checked up on Jules. He stopped at the nurse’s desk to ask for a room number and directions.

“Jules Cooper? The firefighter? Sorry, but we have instructions not to let anyone visit,” the nurse said with an apologetic smile.

“My name is Tyler Armstrong, I’m a colleague…” Tyler answered, running a hand through his short hair.

“That’s what they all say,” the nurse answered and scrutinized him from head to toe, and then murmured under her breath, “although with you it could actually be true.”

Tyler recognized a chance when he saw it and put on his best panty-melting hero-smile. “I really am a firefighter. I was in the same wildfire in Sequoia with Jules Cooper. Just came back after six days of non-stop work to save the forest and the animals.”

“Oh….” A flicker of admiration lit her eyes as she gazed at him. “So, you’re not from the press?”

“Press? Of course not!” He gritted his teeth while trying to keep up the charming smile at the same time. Goddamn reporters. Why do they have to buzz around like the annoying human insects they are!

She shook her head. “Sorry, but I have my orders. Only family and her boss, Mr. Carter is allowed in.”

Damn! He should have told the chief and might have gotten an official pass or something. But now it was too late, he had to find another way to see Jules.

“Ma’am, I aim to be family, but I need to see her first,” he pleaded with her.

The nurse eyed him with a twinkle in her eyes. “And just how do you aim to change the fact that you’re not related to the patient?”

“Well, in the time-honored tradition of asking her to be my wife. I don’t have a ring…but the moment I almost lost her in this fire I knew that I’d never let her out of my sight again. Not without her knowing how much I love and care for her.” Tyler paused as the terror of almost losing Jules came rushing back and he felt tears sting his tired eyes. “I know you have rules, and I’m normally one to obey them, but…”

“Well, I for one am a sucker for true love and romance, so I’ll make an exception for you. Come with me.” She smiled wistfully and led him to the second floor, where she stopped in front of a door. The kind-hearted nurse looked him up and down and said, “I suggest you wipe that worry off your face and put a smile in its place. No one wants to receive a marriage proposal from a teary fiancé to be.”

“Thank you.”