~ Chapter One ~
Michelle
“What the hell is taking so long?” I yelled out in my car, resisting the urge to honk my horn at the black Camry in front of me. I considered myself a patient person for the most part, but that morning I’d woken up thirty minutes late, and I still needed to get Diego to school.
“Mama, if I’m late, Ms. Daniels deducts a point from the behavior chart,” my six year old whined from the backseat.
I peered up in my rearview mirror to see Diego, frowning with his arms crossed. “I know, sweetie. Mommy is moving as fast as she can.” I used the calmest voice I could muster at that moment.
“Can’t you tell the other cars I need to get to school?”
I pushed out a breath. “If only it were that simple.”
“This week Ms. Daniels says if we get all our points, we’ll get to have an ice cream party. I gotta make it!” My son, much like his mama, loved ice cream.
“Look, Diego,” I began, holding on with the tightest of grips to my patience, “I’ll make you a deal … even if Ms. Daniels doesn’t throw you the ice cream party, I will buy you whatever flavor you want. Ice cream date, you and me, this weekend. Deal?”
His sun-kissed face brightened, a smile spreading, exposing his missing front tooth. “Promise?”
“Mommies don’t make promises.”
“They make memories,” he finished, giggling. It’d become my little saying whenever he asked me to make him a promise.
“Ice cream date, just you and me.” It’s not like anyone else was in the picture to date. That’s how’d it’d been, Diego and I for the better part of six years. His worthless father continued to make sure of that.
One … two … three … I began counting in my head, to push down the annoyance that rose in me whenever thoughts of Diego’s father sprang up.
“We’re almost there,” I informed my son as soon as I turned onto the block where his school sat. I looked to the clock on my dashboard, which read 7:53, and it was three minutes fast. That meant I’d gotten there two minutes before the school bell rang.
“Come on, baby,” I encouraged Diego from out of the backseat, trying to hurry him in. I straightened his school uniform jacket and pants, not wanting him to appear wrinkled. Diego attended an exclusive elementary school that only those with connections got their children into. That was one of the only things his father had ever done for him. Besides be a pain in my ass.
One … two … three
“Bye, Mama!” Diego waved before running to meet up with the rest of his class as they waited in a line right outside the front door entrance. I waved back, but instead of hopping back into my car to make it to work on time, I paused, waiting for the bell to ring and watch my son and his classmates march into their school building to begin their days. Diego didn’t even bother looking back, instead whispering something into the ear of another little boy and giggling about it. It made me think back to the year before when I practically had to push him through the doors of his new school and run out just so he wouldn’t cling to me. I sighed. He was growing up so fast.
I pulled out my cell once I was back in my cream-colored Ford Focus. “Hey, Natoi, I’m stopping to pick up a coffee and some donuts. Want anything?”
I jotted down my assistant’s order of a hazelnut coffee and a Boston Creme donut before hanging up and pointing my car in the direction of my favorite specialty donut shop around the corner. I stopped in this same shop a few times a week since it was on my way to work after dropping Diego off. I could also blame my regular donut runs and ice cream dates with my son on why my body remained a size ten, but forget that. I wasn’t small by any definition but at five-six, I carried it well.
I placed the donut box in my passenger seat and the two drinks in my car’s cup holders between the seats, before I pulled out of the shop’s parking lot. It was rush hour so a trip from the donut shop to the building where I worked that should’ve taken only ten minutes, would likely take twenty to twenty-five. If I was lucky, I’d get there at about eight forty-five. The work day was supposed to start at eight thirty, but thanks to my company’s flex-time scheduling, I rarely got in before quarter to nine. As long as I stayed a little late, it was fine.
I held the steering wheel in my left hand, while bringing my coffee cup to my lips with my right hand. Taking a quick sip to let the caffeine begin doing its job before I stepped in the office, I kept my eyes on the road, while placing the cup back in the center holder. Just as I returned my hand to the steering wheel all hell broke loose.
The car in front of me was T-boned by another car coming from it’s right. I barely made out the faint sounds of car horns from behind me as I slammed on my brakes but it was too late. I hit the car in front of me, and felt a jolt of something to the right. The steering wheel locked up and I couldn’t do anything to stop my car from moving. My heart squeezed in my chest, the mix of fear and panic stiffening my entire body.
“Oh God!” I yelled. My head slammed into my driver’s side window and the last thing I remembered was praying to God to let me live so I could see my son grow up.
****
Carter
“Rescue Four, car accident on the corner of South and Grant Ave …” The dispatcher’s voice sounded through the fire station’s speakers, alerting our squad that our help was needed. I hopped out of the bed where I had been working on a crossword puzzle while being at the station all night, tossed my feet into my boots, and pulled up my fire protective gear. Slinging my suspenders over my shoulders and grabbing my coat out of my locker, I moved to the pole that stretched from the first to the second and third floors, and easily slid down.
As soon as my boots hit the ground, I yelled out, “Let’s roll.”
Eric, one of our squad’s lieutenants, looked at me and nodded before running to climb in the driver’ seat of the huge firefighter rig. I piled in the back with four other guys, while the captain took his place in the passenger seat.
“Everybody in?” Eric yelled.
“In.”
“All set.”
“Let’s go.”
Rang out, and within milliseconds the captain was pulling the horn, alerting everyone in a two block radius to watch the fuck out.
“Carter, car accident. At least one trapped in their vehicle. This is going to be a rescue mission. Your lead,” Captain Waverly called back, looking at me.
“Make and model of the car?”
He turned back, pressing the button on his walkie and said, “Ford Focus.”
With that information, I began devising a plan as to how we were going to get the victim out. I couldn’t be sure of anything, however, until we were on the scene.
“Corey, you checked the jaws?” I questioned, glancing at my squad member sitting directly across from me.
He nodded. “In perfect condition. Ready to cut through whatever you need.”
I nodded.
“Let’s go, Harvard! My fucking grandmother can drive faster than this!” I yelled from the back. I was getting antsy. Hated the feeling of just sitting there while I knew someone needed my help. The guys around me were the same, their faces a reflection of my own. We were doers, not waiters.
“ETA less than one minute,” Eric called out from the front.
We all hiked up our equipment, made sure our boots and jackets were secured, and as promised, less than a minute later we were pulling up to the scene. I pushed the double doors of the back of the rig open and jumped out of the back, circling to the front of the truck to get an assessment of the scene with my own two eyes. It was a mess. At least four cars were involved in the accident, one of which was a police cruiser.
Captain Waverly came over to us. “Police chase gone wrong. Guy was high on heroine. T-boned that Lincoln,” he pointed to the smashed up Lincoln that rested against a telephone pole and then hit the Focus.”
My eyes shot to the Focus that was upside down on its roof.
“Victim’s still in side.”
“Holy fuck,” I grunted. All of Rescue Four moved in the direction of the Focus. Whoever was inside would be lucky to make it out alive. Just as we inched closer there was a spark…and then flames were shooting up from the underside of the vehicle that was now on top.
“Townsend, kill that fire!” Captain shouted.
I lifted the fire extinguisher I held and shot it at the flames until they were suppressed.
“Help!” a muffled begging came from inside the car.
I was immediately drawn to it.
Without any discretion or hesitation on my part, I got low next to the broken out passenger side window and lowered myself so I was right next to the car.
“Help!” a female voice sounded, and it pulled at every instinct in me.
“Hey, hey,” I called out, unable to see her since her face was turned in the other direction.
“Hello?” she responded. “Help me!” she yelled, trying to turn her head.
“Don’t move. Listen to me. Don’t move. We’re going to get you out of here, but you gotta be as still as possible. Can you do that for me?”
“P-please. My son. He’s in the backseat,” she cried.
Oh fuck!
I hadn’t even thought of a child being in this mess.
“Captain,” I moved back to call out, “she says her son’s in here, too. I’m going to see if I can reach him.” I didn’t pause or stop even when the captain yelled for me to. I belly crawled to get the top half of my body inside the passenger side window.
“Ma’am, what’s your son’s name?”
“D-diego,” she responded, her voice so full of agony and fear it was choking her.
The car was upside down, causing me to have to look up to see the backseat. There was a booster seat, scraps of paper, and a blue baseball cap that looked like it was made for a child, but there was no child.
“Diego?” I called out and got no response.
“Carter?” I heard, Don, one of my squad members yell out.
“Is he okay?” the woman asked.
“We’re working on it, ma’am,” I told her just to reassure her. I pulled out to see Don standing over me.
“You find the kid?”
I shook my head.
“It’s well after eight o’clock, most schools have been in session for at least a half an hour. Maybe she dropped him off and forgot due to the accident.”
I nodded at Don’s assessment. It made the most sense. People often get details wrong in the immediate aftermath of something traumatic like a car accident.
“We working to get her outta here?”
“Yeah, but Cap’s afraid the jaws might cause sparks and another fire to star… Hey! Where the fuc–”
His words were cut off as I ducked back into the vehicle to tend to the woman. Something pulled me back to her, whereas ordinarily, I would’ve been helping to strategize.
“Hey, what’s your name?” I questioned, reaching out to the woman still stuck in the driver’s seat.
“M-michelle. Is Diego okay?”
“Michelle. I’m Carter. I need to ask if you’re sure Diego was with you in the accident?”
“I-I,” she began, shaking her head and then turning.
“No! Don’t m―” My protest was cut off when she finally turned her head to look at me and I got to see her face for the first time. The words I’d been trying to form turned into a ball of concrete and cemented in my throat. I was speechless. Thrown by the power of her gaze. Even the blood trickling down her forehead couldn’t mar the beauty of her caramel skin, high cheek bones and brown doe eyes.
“Diego.” She blinked a few times, then squeezed her eyes tight before popping them back open to look at me. “I think I took him to school,” she finally stated.
“That’s good. That’s a good thing, Michelle. It means your little boy is safe and sound in the classroom.”
She remained silent, eyes still on mine, holding my gaze, silently begging me to get her out of there.
“So now, we’re going to do everything we can to get his mama back to him, safe and sound. Okay?” I removed one of my gloves, and lifted my hand to push strands of curly hair away from her face. “Alright?” I urged.
“’Kay,” she answered on a whisper.
“I’m gonna check your seatbelt right now. Don’t move.” I traced her seatbelt with my hand all the way down to her waist and tried to undo it, but it was stuck.
“Michelle, your seatbelt has got you in there pretty good. Great thing during an accident, but right now we gotta get you out of here. Give me a sec.” I pushed back out. “Harvard, I need a knife. Seatbelt’s caught.”
“Here.” He handed me a knife we kept in the rig. “It’s about to get loud.”
“You’re going with the jaws?”
Harvard nodded.
“Good. Hurry the fuck up!” I ordered before moving back through the window. “Michelle,” I called out, my voice much more soothing than the tone I’d just used with Eric.
“Yeah,” she answered, sounding dazed.
“I’m going to cut you out of here, but again, I need you as still as possible. It’s also going to get loud as my guys work to get you free, alright?”
“I’m scared,” she confessed.
“I know, sugar. Do me a favor?”
She nodded.
“Keep your eyes on me. As long as you’re in here, I’m right here with you.”
“Wh-what’s that?” she asked, anxiously, as the loud hum of the jaws began its work, causing the car to vibrate.
“That’s my team, working to get you free. Eyes on me,” I ordered and those honey brown orbs, full of fear, turned back on me. “That’s it. Michelle,” I began, tugging a piece of the seatbelt and using the knife to begin sawing at it. “What’s your last name?”
“Clarke.”
“Michelle Clarke. Beautiful name. How old is your son?” I periodically looked between her and the work of my hands, unable to keep my gaze off of her for too long.
“He’s six … and a half.”
I chuckled. “That half’s important. He like sports?”
“Baseball and football.”
“No kidding? My kid brother plays a little football. I bet they’d get along.”
I continued talking about any and every thing, asking questions that came to mind just to keep her distracted. Eventually, everything fell away. The fact that she was upside down in her car. The noise of my squad working. Even the knowledge that this car could explode without a moment’s notice. It all fell by the wayside, and it was just Michelle and I making conversation. Something that’d never happened on a rescue before.
“We’re almost there,” I told her, when I was almost finished with the sawing of the seatbelt.
“Carter, take this,” Captain Waverly stated, pushing in a neck brace through the driver’s side window.
“Got it,” I called back. “Michelle, sugar, I’ve got to put this around your neck. It’s a neck brace to keep you stabilized while my guys pull you out. It’s just for your safety.” I carefully placed the brace around her neck. “I’m just about done with the seatbelt, and when I am, my guys are going to yank the door open and pull you onto a gurney, okay?” I told her as calmly as I could, and went back to the last quarter inch of the seatbelt until I finally got it out. I pressed the walkie talkie on my shoulder.
“All clear.”
Soon after that message, the driver’s side door made a horrible scraping sound as my guys pulled it open.
“What’s that?” Michelle shrieked, grabbing my shoulder. She was unable to turn her head due to the brace.
I reached for her outstretched hand, taking it in my ungloved grasp. “It’s my squad, we’re getting you out of here.”
“Don’t leave me, Carter.”
If I’d been standing, I’m not sure I would’ve been able to keep myself upright the first time I heard her say my name.
“I’m not going anywhere, sugar.” I squeezed her hand tighter, and didn’t let it go, even as my guys loaded her onto the gurney after they pulled her out of the car. I closely followed, pulling myself over the center console of her car and crawling until I was completely out the other side, and standing next to her as she laid on the gurney. The paramedics told my squad they got it from there. I heard them tell me they could manage, but Michelle’s pleas to not leave her outweighed them all.
I peered down at the male paramedic and gave him a death glare before turning back to Michelle. No one asked me to move out of the way after that.
“Carter,” Michelle said my name as we arrived at the ambulance.
The paramedics pulled the doors open and out of my peripheral I saw them glance at one another, deciding who was going to ask me to move so they could load her in. It was selfish of me. She needed to be checked out. She needed medical attention, at the very least on that cut above her eye, but I wouldn’t … no, couldn’t let go of her hand or her gaze.
“Carter! Let’s go!” The captain’s yell snapped my attention and pissed me off. I glanced back to see my guys now loading the rig. It was time to go.
“Michelle, these nice paramedics are going to take care of you now.” And for some strange reason, I lifted her hand to my lips, kissing it. A warm glow started at my lips and moved out and down my entire body when I did so. Reluctantly, finger by finger, I released the hold I had on her hand and let the paramedics do their job. The entire time they loaded her in the ambulance until they closed the doors, Michelle’s eyes and mine were locked on one another’s.
“Carter!” Another call, this time from Eric.
It was time to go. But as the ambulance pulled farther and farther away, I had to tamp down hard on the urge to chase after it.