Page 5 of Scorched Hearts
“I don’t think I will, though.” Sylvia laughed.
“Well, you never know when or where you might come back.”
Maya got into the driver’s seat of her own little Fiat and embarked on the journey home. As she drove through the serpent-like highways, she almost felt herself going back in time, unravelling her life and tracing the various paths stretching out like asphalt in the sun, melting and twisting together like a bunch of roads with destinations yet unclear.
“I want it.” She sighed, standing in a gorgeously lit apartment hidden away in a quiet alley minutes away from the city center. “I really want it.” There was a lovely view over the city and the forest to the south. She could even see the sea out of the big window in the bedroom.
Arthur, Maya’s real estate agent, pressed his hands together. “Well, you can easily afford it. Your financial situation is strong, and you’ve already prequalified. Shall I prepare all the documents?”
Maya nodded, enchanted. This was real. She was about to buy an apartment entirely on her own, to furnish it on her own, and do whatever she’d like with it. Even the sun streaks seeping in through the windows took on a celebratory shape in her eyes.
Having taken the documents to read later, Maya headed straight toward the Main Phoenix Ridge Hospital. Blood pumped through her veins at an insane speed. This was the dream, the place where she’d wanted to work from the beginning.
The apartment and the hospital together seemed to her such a pinnacle of achievement that they almost overshadowed an icy sensation rising in her chest while passing certain corners of the city.
No time for that. She shook her head decisively. It was time for her to get to work.
3
ELLE
“Maybe you’re a poker prodigy, but you sure aren't a treasure chest prodigy,” Elle proudly exclaimed, extracting from Haley Johnson the two aces she’d been lacking to complete her set.
“Somehow treasure chest prodigy doesn’t have the same ring to it.” Johnson shrugged. Up to this point, she hadn’t managed to collect a single chest.
Before the women knew it, the alarm rang its bestial tone around the station. Their playing cards fell to the floor as everyone got up in haste and one by one slid down the pole to the ground floor of the station. The ringing took on a nasty intensity, which meant it was serious.
In a choreographed manner, each took her equipment, then her place in the truck. Not a single second of time to waste. Quick. Efficient. Highly Trained.
“We are meeting the trucks from Station 20, Station 4, and Station 22. Building Fire.”
Four trucks meant large fire. Elle took the driver’s seat and waited for coordinates.
Captain Hunter coordinated their departure. Roaring sirens wailed above their heads as they made their way toward one of the oldest residential buildings in town.
“We knew it would happen eventually.” O’Malley sighed.
No one knew how to respond, and Elle was too occupied with maneuvering the huge fire truck around the busy streets. Otherwise she’d tell O’Malley to shut it and get off her high horse. There were people there potentially burning alive. In the supposed safety of their homes. The chill running down her spine at the thought reminded her each time why she’d committed to this path.
They saw the rising black smoke from several miles away. It swelled and ballooned, tugged on by the gentle wind. The situation looked grim. When they got to the scene, Elle could see the residents gathered outside. There weren’t many, thankfully. Due to the afternoon hour, most residents were probably still at work or commuting. What a view to come home to.
Captain Hunter was busy checking in with the concierge, while Captain Ramirez checked the building’s state with her crew, doing a 360 and analyzing the structural damage the building had suffered.
“It’s safe to say everyone is here,” the concierge said, nodding. “The fire spread slowly at first, so we were able to double check most rooms. Some were more flammable and they practically exploded.”
A car frantically parked right next to the fire trucks and a distressed man stormed out of it, looking around the gathering at the parking lot.
“My sons!” he shouted, tears streaming down his cheeks, “My mother! They’re in the building!”
Hunter looked sharply toward the concierge. “You said everyone was here!” Then she shouted into her radio, “An ambulance urgently needed. Team 2, prepare to go in.”
Then she hastily took the man aside. “Which part of the building? What floor?”
Elle immediately put on her mask and pulled on her fire hood and helmet, preparing to go together with O’Malley and Montgomery. They exchanged meaningful glances, mentally going through the worst case scenarios and their immediate solutions.
“Third floor, from our perspective to the left, room 34,” the man recited, on the verge of passing out. “My little son called me. He’s there with his brother and my mother.”
“FLOOR THREE, WEST, ROOM 34,” Hunter barked at them. “Team 2 on evacuation. Team 1 on water.”