The minutes seemed to drag into hours as I sat by Chloe’s bed in the emergency room of the hospital. The lights were bright and sterile, and the low noise of patients and nurses moving around here and there echoed through the expansive space. Every now and then someone would be requested over the PA system, the dispassionate voice on the other end asking them to report to this room or this floor or that ward.

Still dressed in my fireman’s uniform, the jacket draped over the other seat in the room, I sat with my hands clasped together between my spread legs. Chloe was unconscious on the bed in front of me, a breathing apparatus hooked up to her mouth.

Thinking about how close she’d come made me sick to my stomach. The crew and I had arrived just in time to rescue her and the other people in the building. If we’d been just five minutes later… I didn’t want to consider it.

The doctors said that her lungs had been mildly burned from the smoke and the heat. She’d likely be fine once she woke up, but still. It struck me as odd how protective I felt toward Chloe. When she’d been brought to the hospital I’d simply followed her as though it were the most normal thing in the world. It didn’t even occur to me until I’d plopped into the chair across from her that I’d only know her for a few days.

Felt like a lot longer than that, though. And I wasn’t sure why.

“Where am I?”

Chloe’s voice was muffled through the plastic of the breathing machine. I pressed the call button, then jumped out of the chair and to Chloe’s bedside. Her eyes were open, but I could tell that she wasn’t entirely sure who I was, or why she was there.

“Hey, hey,” I said, placing my hand on her arm. “How are you?”

“I…I dunno.”

A pair of nurses entered the room before the conversation could go any further.

“She just woke up,” I said.

“And you are?” asked one of the nurses, a heavyset woman with red hair.

“I’m, uh, the fireman who brought her here.”

“Well, you’re going to have to give us some space.”

I did as they asked, leaving the room for a few minutes. A short time later, the nurses came out.

“How is she?”

“She’s fine,” the redheaded nurse said. “About as lucky as it gets. One of the other women from the apartment above her suffered major burns to her lungs. Chloe’s in much better shape than that.”

“Thanks for everything,” I said.

The nurse gave me a nod and headed off. Before I had a chance to reenter the room, I spotted a pair of cops coming down the hallway, serious looks on their faces.

“You with the girl in there?” one of them asked, a skinny guy with a thin mustache and a chrome-dome head. “A Miss Chloe Parker?”

“Kind of,” I said.

I let them know very briefly just why I was here with her.

“Damn,” the other cop said, a thick-bellied man with childlike eyes. “We heard about what you guys pulled off. Saved everyone in that building.”

I gave a nod.

“Anyway,” said the first cop. “We’ve gotten word that the fire’s being investigated as an arson. Just like the other one your crew took care of the other day.”

My gut instinct had been confirmed. I don’t know how I’d known it, but I did.

“Good to hear you boys are on top of it,” I said.

“Thanks,” said the bald cop. “We’re here to ask the girl some questions if you want to stick around.”

“Will do,” I said.

With that, I stepped into the room, the two cops following behind. Chloe sat up in bed, a little more light in her eyes than before—a good sign.

“Ethan!” she exclaimed, her voice still a little raw from the smoke.

She stuck her arms out toward me, and I went in for a quick hug. There was an intimacy to our embrace. Just like everything else, it seemed to be something more than what I’d expect from only knowing this girl for a few days. It was nice all the same.

“What happened?” she asked, her eyes bouncing from me to the cops.

“What do you remember?” I asked.

“I remember smoke in my apartment…then feeling like I was, um, going to die…then…you!”

“That’s the long and short of it,” I said, putting my hands on my hips.

“Good morning, Miss Parker,” said the bald cop. “I’m Officer Paulson and this is Officer Collins. We’re going to ask you some questions about what happened to you last night.”

“Wait a minute,” she said, a frantic expression appearing on her face. “Did you say ‘morning’? What about my kids?”

“The boys at the station called your school,” I said. “They got a sub covered for you. Don’t worry.”

“Wow,” she said. “Saving my ass all kinds of ways.”

“Anyway, Miss Parker,” said Officer Paulson. “We need to know if there’s anything else you remember from last night.”

“Why?” she asked. “It was just a fire.”

“It might be arson,” said Officer Collins.

“Arson?” she asked, a quizzical expression on her face. “Why would anyone burn down some mediocre apartment building?”

“We’re thinking it wasn’t the whole building they were after,” said Officer Collins. “The fire started in the business on the first floor.”

“The deli?” she asked. “That doesn’t make anything clearer. Who would torch the deli on purpose?”

“That’s what we’re trying to find out,” he said. “If there’s anything you might be able to tell us, it could make the difference between breaking this case open or not.”

A look of concentration appeared on Chloe’s face. Then she shook her head.

“Nothing,” she said. “Everything’s just too blurry.”

Then a flash of realization lit up her features.

“Wait a minute,” she said, raising her finger in the air. “I remember something—before I passed out and you came to save me.”

“What was it?” asked Officer Collins. “Anything can help.”

“I remember when I first tried to make an escape out of the window. I looked down from the fire escape, and I saw these three guys there. I didn’t recognize them, and even though I was freaking out about the smoke and everything I remembered thinking how weird it was that they were down there. And they were dressed all in black, like they were trying to hide or something.”

The officers became very, very interested. And I was too—I remembered the three men who’d been lurking in the alley behind the other torched building. Officer Paulson pulled out a notepad from his back pocket and began eagerly scrawling.

“Anything else you remember about these guys?” asked Cornrom.

“I don’t know…” she said as she looked away. “Wait! They looked at me. They saw that I saw them.”

“Anything else could help,” said Paulson. “Even little details that you might think don’t matter.”

She squinted, thinking hard. “One of them had a long scar on his face, like a big, curving hook of a scar that started at his jaw here…,” she placed her fingertip at the midway point on her jaw between her ear and her chin, “…and went all the way up to here.”

She slowly moved her fingertip along her face in a curving swoop, ending right at the beginning of her scalp.

“These sound like some guys that I saw at the scene of the other fire,” I said. “Scar and everything.”

The officers thought the matter over for a second.

“Well,” said Collins. “I don’t want to jump to any conclusions, but these fires are starting to look like a pattern. And if the same three men were at the scene of both…it’s starting to look a little too coincidental for my liking.”

“But we’re just speculating at this point,” said Paulson. “For now, we need to know what’s going on with you, miss. You have family in town? Friends to stay with? Anything like that?”

“Family’s all back in the Midwest,” she said. “But I can get my insurance on the line, see if they can cover my hotel or something.”

“I’ll see to it that she makes proper arrangements,” I said to the officers.

They finished up by leaving their information with Chloe, instructing her to be in contact if she happened to think of anything else that might help in their investigation. Soon they were gone, and it was just me and Chloe.

“You’ve got someplace to stay?” I asked.

“Not really,” she said. “No family in town, and all of my friends are teachers who either live with roommates or have such tiny apartments that there’d be nowhere for me to stay but hanging in the closet or something.”

“Then you can stay with me,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

“‘Stay with you’?” she asked. “Are you serious?”

“Serious as it gets,” I said. “I’ve got more than enough space, and I don’t like the idea of a woman like you not knowing where she’s going to be staying. Especially if those guys remember your face. Once they hear that a possible witness survived, then… it might not be a good scene.”

“Thanks,” she said, sitting up and pushing the breathing equipment away. “But I don’t need a big strong man to look after me. I’m more than capable of taking care of myself.”

With that, she plopped her feet on the floor and stood up straight as a spear. A proud expression formed on her face for a moment before wracking coughs burst from her lungs, causing her to curl up like a question mark.

Once the coughing fit was over, she turned to me with a red face, her eyes watery with tears.

“How about this,” I said. “You stay in my spare bedroom tonight, and if you’re still feeling all independent in the morning, you can stay at my apartment as long as it takes for you to get your next step planned out. Sound good?”

She stood for a moment without saying anything, her hands on her knees, as though she was expecting another coughing fit to break out at any second. She took a long, slow breath.

“OK,” she said. “But just for tonight.”

I nodded, and that was that. One of the doctors stopped in to check on her, and Chloe let her know of the new plans. The doctor seemed a little hesitant to let Chloe out so soon, but I let her know that I’d be making sure she was taken care of. The doctor was pleased with this response. Then a look of realization appeared on her face before she asked me if I was the fireman from the video online. I confirmed, and she seemed more than happy with that.

“Well,” she said. “I think this young lady could be in far worse hands than yours, Mr. Stokes.”

She gave me a wink, then headed out.

“Want to bring her over too?” asked Chloe. “I’ve lived in dorms. I’m used to ignoring loud sex through the walls.”

I snort-laughed. “Not really my type,” I said.

Chloe, on the other hand…

I put these thoughts out of my head as quickly as I could. Tonight was about making sure she was in good hands, not about anything else.

Once Chloe was good to go, we headed out to my car.

“Nice ride,” she said, looking over my cobalt blue convertible, an approving tone to her voice.

“I’ll keep the top down,” I said. “The fresh air will do you some good.”

Moments later we were on the road, making our way through the streets of Brooklyn. The towers of Manhattan were illuminated in their usual evening splendor, their slim tall forms poking through the space between the buildings we passed, the East River reflecting their light.

Soon we arrived at my place. Once we parked, I hurried over to Chloe’s side, opened the door, and extended my hand for her to take it. She regarded it with a quizzical expression.

“You know I’m not a little old lady visiting from a nursing home, right?” she asked.

She planted her feet on the sidewalk and stood up. Another proud expression, but this time no coughing. I couldn’t help but like Chloe’s independent nature. She liked to do things on her own.

“Thank you though, but see?” she said, sticking her arms out. “Good as new.”

“Let’s see if you can make it up the stairs before I write you a clean bill of health.”

We entered the building, one of the converted loft apartments so common in Williamsburg. I was on the second floor, so I stood by as Chloe made her way up the stairs. Sure enough, she managed the climb. I was more than a little relieved—smoke could do some serious, long-lasting damage, and a shudder shot up my spine as I thought about what might’ve happened if I’d shown up just a little later.

I opened the door to my apartment, revealing a spacious loft with brick walls, high ceilings, a recessed floor, and three large, factory windows that allowed for a pretty damn nice view of the city, if I did say so myself.

“Damn,” she said. “I guess I didn’t really… have a look around last time. Nice pad.”

I laughed. “To be fair, it was dark out, and we were busy. But yeah, I love it. Got it before Williamsburg turned into a hipster mecca,” I said. “Been here ever since.”

I showed her around as we walked to the spare bedroom where she’d be staying.

“Listen,” she said. “I really need a stiff drink after the night, I mean, day I’ve had. You got anything?”

“Sure do,” I said. “Come with me.”

We went back to the living room, and I directed her toward the L-shaped leather couch in the middle of the room.

“Just some vodka on ice is fine,” she said, stepping closer to one of the windows.

I poured two drinks, the glasses cool in my hand. Chloe stood in front of the middle window, her slender frame backlit by the evening city beyond. For a long moment I was struck by how goddamn gorgeous she was, her hair hanging loosely on her shoulders, her hand on her delicate chin.

“Thanks,” she said as I handed her the drink.

Then she raised her glass.

“To spending my evening in a nice apartment with a brave man, instead of in the morgue, I suppose.”

A playful smile curled her lips, and I couldn’t help but laugh. We tapped the rims of the drink and took our sips.

“Seriously, though,” she said after bringing her booze down in a soft swallow. “I can’t thank you enough for what you did tonight. You…saved my life.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but she held up a finger to stop me.

“And don’t you say that it’s all part of the job, or just your duty, or anything else like that. You’re one of the bravest men I’ve ever met.”

She was right—that was exactly what I was going to say.

“I’ve known you for a few days, and you’ve already saved three lives, one being my own. So, thanks.”

She slowly brought the drink to her lips, her soft green eyes on me all the while. After a sip, she dragged her tongue slowly over her wet lips, bringing the vodka that coated them into her mouth. I wanted to speak, but I couldn’t find anything to say.

But there was something I wanted to do. I’d told myself that I wanted to be professional, but with a beautiful girl like that standing in front of me, I just couldn’t resist.

I leaned in and put my hand on the small of her back, pulling her in close. Then, before she could realize what was happening, I kissed her hard.