Dressed in my gear, I was sitting in the jump seat behind Pop in Station 24’s main ladder truck.

Kyle, who I hadn’t seen since leaving Station 41, sat beside me, and on the other side of him sat a big bald guy that I’d never met before, named Curly.

Curly leaned forward in his seat. “What we got, Captain?”

Pop turned the call radio up that was attached to the trucks dash. “Something is going on at the women’s shelter. Not exactly sure what yet.”

Curly furrowed his brows. “Why is dispatch sending us all the way out there? Don’t they know that’s Station 26’s zone?”

“26 is tied up. They’ve got a house fire and a multiple vehicle collision out on highway eighteen.”

Curly sat back in his seat and spat a wad of tobacco juice into a Styrofoam cup. Disgusting, man. “Great. Just great.”

Next to me, Kyle fiddled with his gloves. “Women’s shelter… Isn’t that the place where women and kids go when they’re running from abusive men?”

Pop nodded once. “Yeah, kid. The place is a shit-hole, but they do good work.” He glanced in the side mirror, and his eyes found mine. “They help a lot of people.”

The radio on Pop’s shoulder crackled, repeating the same call from earlier. “Medic requested at 321 Sycamore Street. Multiple persons. One male. Early forties. Unconscious. Multiple gunshot wounds. Respiratory and cardiac distress.”

“Doesn’t sound good,” Pop said before propping his elbow against the side window.

“One female. Mid-twenties. Unconscious. Head injury. Assault suspected.”

Pop stilled. “Fuck!” He screamed before hitting the dashboard. His eyes found mine again in the mirror, and I didn’t miss the panic plastered all over his face.

“Pop! What the hell is going on?”

He shook his head as static came through the radio followed by the dispatcher’s voice. “Police on scene.” More static. “Scene secured. 24 proceed as normal.”

I looked at Kyle who merely shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t know, man.”

Then, I looked at Curly who was looking at Pop. “This could go bad—fast.”

Pop nodded again. “I already know.”

Not knowing what was going on—and not giving a damn either—I leaned forward in my seat and stared out the dark windshield. Ahead of us, the ambulance made a sharp right, and we followed. An old—but big—brick building came into view. I knew right away it had to be the shelter. Again, the ambulance made a right, and we stayed right on their ass. Driving through a set of opened metal gates, the truck came to a stop in the middle of a gravel parking lot.

A crowd had already started to form.

“Is that the people who live here?" I asked no one in particular. I sure as hell hoped not.

Pop opened his door. “I don’t know, but we’re about to find out.” Jumping down, he stomped towards one of the police cars that was parked right in front of us. “Haywood!” He screamed. “Who are those people?”

The police officers face turned red as he replied, “Residents of the shelter.”

Pop cursed. “Goddamn it! You didn’t think to at least push them back and put a barricade in place?”

The cop's mouth opened and closed. “We were trying to secure the scene—”

Pop cut him off. “Forget it. We’ll handle it.” He turned and found me. “Hendrix, get those people back!”

I nodded once as I headed for the crowd. “I’m on it.”

Behind me, I heard Pop bark, “Keep him back until I know what’s going on,” to someone. Kyle, maybe?

I spun around ready to ask him what the hell the problem was when a girl in the crowd caught my eye. Petite. Almond shaped eyes. Shiny black hair. I recognized her immediately. “You’ve got to be shitting me.” Fisting my hands at my sides, I stomped towards her. Her eyes widened when she saw me headed in her direction. “I know you, don’t I? You were my girl’s roommate at Vanderbilt. Hope, right?”

“I… I….” she stuttered before looking to her right and screaming out someone else’s name. “Shelby!” I followed her line of vision and saw a girl, around my age, with blonde hair and big blue eyes. Most men would’ve thought she was gorgeous. I didn’t. Her hair was too pale, her skin too tan. “It’s him,” Hope yelled, pointing at me. “I… it’s Hendrix!”

What in the fuck?

The girl named Shelby took one step towards me. Then two. That’s when I noticed her hands. They were covered in blood, along with the lower half of her shirt.

I moved to her. “Are you hurt?”

She shook her head, her eyes wild with fear. “No, but you have to help her.”

I kept moving. “Help who?”

She lifted her hand and pointed towards the area where EMS was working on someone. “Madelyn!”

One word, one name, and I knew. 

I fucking knew.

Turning left, I ran towards the scene. Pop was the first familiar face that I saw. Kneeling on the ground, he was crouched beside a body. “Pop!”

He looked up at the sound of my voice, and his face visibly paled. “Stay back, Hendrix.” Fuck no. I moved faster. “Keep him back!” He shouted at someone behind me.

Curly stepped into my path. Guess he thought he would stop me but little did he know, a tank couldn’t have stopped me. Dropping my shoulder, I rammed it into his chest, and like a domino—he fell.

“Goddamn it, son,” Pop bitched as I reached his side and dropped to my knees.

Taking a deep breath, I looked down at the person lying face up on the ground for the first time. It was a woman. I couldn’t see her face for the bloody clumps of hair that were plastered across her skin. “Pop,” I said, “tell me it isn’t…”

It’s not her. It’s not her. It’s not her.

He didn’t answer me as he checked the woman’s vitals. Closing my eyes, I rested the tips of my fingers on her chin. I counted to three before sweeping my fingers upward, brushing the matted hair from her face.

Deep down, I already knew what I’d see once her hair was out of the way.

Still, I had to know.

I opened my eyes.

 “Oh fuck,” I cried, my hands shaking uncontrollably. “Maddie, baby…”

Pop hit my arm. “Hey,” he snapped. “Now is not the time for you to fall apart. Either get your shit together and help me help Maddie, or get the fuck out of my way!”

I couldn’t move. Couldn’t think.

All I saw was Maddie, beaten and broken, blood spilling from her nose and ear, as she lied unconscious on the ground. “Pop…”

“Goddamn it, Hendrix!”  He stared at me with cold, hard eyes. “What did I just tell you. If you’re going to fall apart when Maddie needs you, then get the hell out of my way, because someone has to save her!”

Someone has to save her…

His words were the kick in the ass I needed.

Something inside of me snapped, and my training took over. Moving as if on autopilot, I stilled my features, and emotionally numbed myself to the torrent of emotions that were wreaking havoc on both my heart and mind.

I couldn’t allow myself to feel. If I did, I feared I’d fail to help her.

I looked over at Pop. “What do you need?” Like him, I wasn’t just a fireman. I was a paramedic too. Had been for a couple of years.

He tossed an IV start kit in my direction. “Pulse and respiration are both tachy, and she’s losing a fair amount of blood.” He glanced at the blood coating almost her entire face, neck, and scalp. “We need to get a line in her. You think you can handle that.”

I answered him by moving to Maddie’s left side and ripping the plastic surrounding the IV start kit with my teeth. Pop nodded once. “Good. Now let’s get her stable and get her to the hospital.” He looked at the medics still sitting by her feet. “What the fuck are you two doing? Get a gurney and a spine board—now!”

My hands moved. Within seconds I had the bend in Maddie's elbow disinfected and the tourniquet in place. I tapped the vein twice before sliding in the needle.

Pop mumbled across from me. “Come on, Maddie girl. Just hang on.” He placed an oxygen mask over her face as I finished taping and securing the IV line.

The next few minutes passed in a blur as we loaded Maddie onto the spine board and then the gurney. I didn’t stop to think as I jumped in the back of the ambulance with her. One of the medics climbed in behind me and I looked him over from head to toe.

Hell no.

The kid couldn’t be more than twenty-two, and his appearance didn’t inspire a lot of confidence. Yes, I’m a judgmental dick.  

I pointed at the bench beside the gurney. “Sit the hell down.”

His face scrunched up in confusion, and he opened his mouth—no doubt to protest—but one scathing look from me and he sat right down. “This is against protocol,” he said, crossing his bony arms over his chest.

I didn’t look his way as I went to work checking Maddie’s vitals and readjusting the oxygen mask over her face. “What’s your name, kid?”

“Daniel,” he said with a huff.

“Well, Daniel, my name is Hendrix, and this girl right here is my entire world. You understand what I’m telling you?”

He jumped up. “Then this is definitely against protocol!”

Planting my hand in the middle of his scrawny chest, I pushed him back down on the bench seat. “Stand up again, and I’ll throw you out the back door, the consequences be damned!”

His face paled; he didn’t stand again.

“This is how this is going to work,” I tossed the radio in his direction. “You’re going to call her stats into Toluca Memorial, and I’ll be doing all the hands-on work. Got it?”

Face whiter than a sheet. He nodded once. “I g-got it.”

“Hendrix,” Pop appeared in the open door. “You got it from here?”

“Yeah, Cap.” I tapped the wall that separated the cab of the ambulance from the back. “Come on, man. Let’s go!”

Pop shut one door. “I’ll meet you at the hospital. Take care of her, son.” He slammed the second door shut. Even from inside the ambulance, I could hear him hollering at the driver. “All clear. Now fucking drive!”

With a jerk, the ambulance moved.

I took a breath and squeezed Maddie’s hand in mine. “I’m here, baby.”

Grabbing disinfectant wipes, I cleaned the blood from her face, scalp, and neck. Blood still trickled from her right ear and nostril. That wasn’t a good sign, and I knew what the cause likely was.

Still, I didn’t believe it.

I continued to rub the wet towelette across her beautiful face.

Still the prettiest girl I’d ever seen.

“Hang on for me, Maddie.” I leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Just hang on, pretty girl.”