“Sorry, Chief, I can’t,” I tell him as I go back into the building.
“You’re disobeying a direct order!” he calls into my ear piece.
“What would you do, Chief?” He sighs in my ear.
“I’d go get my brother, be careful.”
“Roger that,” I reply.
“Marcus?”
“Yes, Chief.”
“You will be reprimanded for this, just so you know.” I chuckle at him—our chief is a good man who hates to discipline us…but he will.
“Understood,” I say. I do a quick search of the first floor but find nothing. I go back to the stairwell and climb the second floor. Just as I reach the top, I see him trapped under some debris and a heavy beam. He’s unconscious, letting me know I’m on my own with his rescue. He’s a heavy son of a bitch, so this should be fun. I go to one end of the beam and bend my knees. I get a hold of it and am thankful it isn’t as heavy as it looks. “Found him Chief, I need to remove a beam and some debris from him, he’s out for the count. Shouldn’t take me long.”
“10-4,” he says, I can hear the relief in his voice. I know he didn’t want to leave him behind any more than I did. I understand that as a whole he’s responsible for us all, and he’d have to make the decision to leave one behind to save the rest. I get a good grip and slide it over his body, I get everything but his feet and lower legs uncovered. I go to the other end and start the process all over. Once I have the beam removed, I start clearing the debris from on top of him. He is slowly coming around, I hear him moan and call out to him, “Micah, it’s Marcus, I need to remove this debris from you, then we’re out of here. Hold still for a few more minutes.” He communicates with me using a grunt. At least he’s letting me know he understands what it is I’m saying, even if he doesn’t quite have his wits about him yet.
I get the last piece removed and ask him, “If I get you lifted up, do you think you can walk?”
“Yeah,” he grits out between his teeth. Once he’s steady on his feet, I notice a limp and that he’s having a hard time standing on his own. I take his right arm and throw it over my shoulder, and I grab a hold of him by his waist. I assist him, going slowly down the stairs, I know we need to hurry, but he can only move so fast due to an injury. He keeps grabbing his faceguard with his left hand, letting me know he must’ve hit his head.
“Almost free, man,” I say to him as we make it to the first floor. When I open the door I direct him towards the back door, not even trying to make it to the lobby. “Coming out the back, need a medic for Micah,” I tell the Chief who immediately responds that a medic is on standby in the back. We barely make it out the door when I hear the structure give way. I rush us the best I can until I feel my men gather around us and grab him from me. I immediately hit my knees, my body suddenly feeling weak and worn out.
“You’re in so much trouble,” my chief says standing over me.
“Yes, sir,” is the only thing I manage to get out before I collapse on the ground.
“Where is he?” I wake up hearing her voice and the sound of her anxiety forces me to open my eyes.
“He’s in here,” I hear my chief tell Em. I hear feet pounding the hallway making their way to my room. Wait? My room, I open my eyes further and notice I’m on a gurney in the hospital. Fuck! No wonder she sounds frantic. She runs in the room, with tears running down her face.
“Don’t cry, beautiful, I’m alright,” I tell her, opening my arms. She runs to my bed and collapsed on top of me.
“What were you thinking going back into that building, Marcus!” she screams at me through her sobs.
“Please don’t cry,” I coo at her. I can’t stand to see her tears, and knowing I caused them causes my heart to ache.
“Answer my question, Marcus,” she says laying her head on my chest.
“He was trapped a burning building, Emory, what would you have me do?”
“Stay safe and not go in alone,” she mumbles.
“What kind of man would I be if I left a fellow brother behind to burn to death? That’s not the kind of man I am, Emory, I wouldn’t be the man you loved if I was.”
“You put yourself in danger, Marcus. You didn’t follow direct orders,” she sniffles out. I give my chief the evil eye to which he smiles at me. When he said I was in trouble, I thought he meant I’d be written up or verbally reprimanded, I had no clue he was going to sic my girl on me. The damn coward!
“Em, look at me, baby,” she lifts her head and I see how red her eyes are from all the crying she’s done. “I will never intentionally seek out dangerous situations, but this is my job. I serve and protect in my own way. I will never sit back and do nothing, while someone is stuck inside a building, praying for their life to be spared, if it was one of your family members, what would you want me to do?”
“I don’t like it when you’re all rational when I’m pissed off at you. Why can’t you just let me be angry for a little while longer?”
“Because I love you, Emory. I can’t stand the thought of you being upset or angry at me. I need you on my side, baby.”
“I love you too, and I am. I will always be at your side, Marcus. I was just scared when I got that phone call.”
“I know you were, baby, and I’m sorry. I can’t promise it will never happen again, but I do promise you to always be careful.”
“That’s all I can ask, I knew what you did for a living when I got with you. I accepted that then, and I accept it now. Just try not to be a lone wolf, please.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” I tell her.
Chapter 3
Emory
Count all your blessings and wish upon a star…
When I got the call that Marcus was in the hospital, I thought my heart was about to collapse. Finding out he only suffered from an adrenaline crash should’ve set my mind at ease…but it didn’t. When I calmed down and looked at the bigger picture and thought about how it could’ve been him under the rubble and collapsed beam, I realized that had that been him, I would’ve wanted one of the guys to go back in after him. Deep down, I know that this is who he is, and I am not the type of woman who wants to change her man. I have an appointment with my doctor next week, and I’ve been biting my nails with worry of how my progression on the meds has gone.
Marcus is back on shift today, it’s my day off from the shop and I’m sitting here lost in thought when my phone rings. I go to answer it. “Hello,” I say not recognizing the number from the incoming call.
“I’m looking for Emory Masters,” the lady says.
“This is she,” I respond.
“Hi, this is Josie from Dr. Tremaine’s office,”
“Oh, hi,” I tell her.
“Dr. Tremaine would like for you to go get your labs done today if that works with your schedule. We’ve sent the paperwork over already. I can give you the time and address of where we set it up for you at.”
“Today works, I have a pen and paper right here, go ahead and give me the details.” I write everything she tells me down and realize it’s just next door to the hospital. I have an hour and a half until I have to be there, so I get up and get my things gathered up and head to the bathroom to shower.
Once I finish with my labs, I decide I don’t want to go home, so I head to the shop. When I walk in I see Levi manning the front desk. “They put you to work?” I ask him with a smile.
“Yeah, this place has been a madhouse today. Ariel, Rainey and Carson are all in their rooms with clients.” I look around and notice that there are a couple of clients on the couch.
“Are they walk ins?” I ask him.
“Yes, ma’am,” he replies looking up at me.
“I can take one or two to help out,” I say as I make my way around the counter to look at the book and see what they’re here for.
“It’s your day off, Emory. Why on earth would you want to work?”
“Because I’m freaking bored out of my mind and need something to do.”
“Check in with your sisters, get yourself set up and I’ll bring the first client back. Do you have a preference on which one you want to do first?” he asks, pointing to the guys who are patiently waiting to be called back.
“Doesn’t matter, they’ll both take an hour tops,” I reply walking back to see Ariel.
“Hey girl,” I say knocking on her door. It’s partially open, so walking in isn’t an issue. She looks up at me and turns her gun off.
“Hey, sis. What are you doing here?”
“Had to go play Dracula’s victim and get some blood drawn for labs Dr. Tremaine wanted. I was bored so I decided to come and check in. Looks like y’all could use some help?”
“That would be great, Rainey’s working on a sleeve and it will take her most of the day, so I could use any help I can get. Carson is doing good, but I told him I wanted him taking his time and not rushing any work. He’s on his third client of the day already.”
“Wow, it was a great idea to bring him on board,” I tell her.
“He truly is a natural,” she says.
“Well, I’ll let you get back to work, get my office ready and take one of the clients who’s out front waiting.”
“Sounds good, thanks, Emory.”
“No problem,” I tell her and go check my inventory to see what I need to grab. The first design is a dragon. So I make sure I have the standard green, black, gold, and purple ink bottles and go and grab the client. I introduce myself and he tells me his name is Oliver. We walk into my station and I ask, “Do you have a specific style of dragon you’d like use?”
“I have a picture I brought in with me,” he tells me pulling out his wallet and removing a picture. It’s a medieval looking dragon, it’s a gorgeous picture and I’m anxious to do this. I love being able to weave and intertwine colors and put my unique twist on things. “I’d like to add some armor to the top of his head, along his back and some sort of cuffs along his wrists here,” he says pointing where he’d like them to be placed.
“I can do that, give me a little while to draw something up and I’ll be back. You’re more than welcome to wait here, or back out front. Whichever will be more comfortable for you.” He decides to go back up front and sit on the comfortable couch. I go into our drawing room, which is something that we’ve just recently incorporated into the shop. We used to just work from our stations, but the lighting wasn’t great. Now we have a drawing board desk with a light box underneath to help fine-tune the details. It was Carson’s idea, and it was such a good one that we added it. My dad and uncle’s stations have been left untouched since we took over. After a lengthy discussion and some debating, we are now using Dad’s as the drawing room and Carson has taken over our Uncle Derek’s.
It was bittersweet opening those rooms back up, but I actually feel Dad’s presence and it soothes me while I’m in here. “I miss you, Daddy,” I say and then get to work. Forty-five minutes later, I feel like I have the perfect design. I take it out to Oliver to let him take a look at it.
His eyes immediately light up when he sees it. “That’s amazing, it’s better than what I had in mind.”
“Thank you, let me get this copied and on the transfer paper and we’ll get this going.” I escort him back to my room and go to the copier. Once I have it ready, I go back into my room. He’s removed his shirt and shows me where he wants it placed. We’re putting it on his left pec and wrapping it around his shoulder. I adjust the design to fit the area and get ready to go. I put the head of the dragon directly on his pec and have it placed where his claws look like they’re digging into his skin at his shoulder, as if it’s holding on to its purchase. It’s going to be amazing! Once I have the outline done, we take a short break and I go in our breakroom and get the clay out and begin to stretch my fingers and hand with it. I roll it in circles. Keeping my limbs loose so my fingers don’t stiffen up is going to be important, especially today. The feel of the texture in my hands is soothing. While I work the clay, I grab a bottle of water and take my afternoon meds. I feel refreshed and rejuvenated. I go back into my station and pour the colors into their individual containers. Oliver walks back in and we get started with his shading. It’s bigger than I thought it would be so that hour-long session has turned into three by the time we’re finished. I wrap him up and give him his after-care instructions. I walk him out front where Levi processes his payment. Boy, this boring lonely day sure took a turn, at least I didn’t have time to worry about my upcoming doctor’s appointment.
Marcus
I’m sitting down in a briefing with my chief and we’re going over the events of the fire and I’m signing my write-up. It’s the first one I’ve ever received since joining the fire department. But I’ll sign the damn thing since it means my brother is still breathing and walking this earth.
“The lady you found on the third floor didn’t make it. Preliminary reports so far indicate that this was arson. I want you to assist me with this investigation. Something is bothering me about this one and I can’t quite put my finger on what it is.”
“What about the baby girl?” I ask him.
“Her mother was the one lost in the fire.”
“Damn, what about the father?”
“Died overseas, road side bombing.”
“Fuck that’s horrible, what’s going to happen to her?”
“Ward of the state I suppose,” he says as if it’s breaking his heart as much as it is mine. I can’t believe the bad luck this baby has already had in her young life.
“I hope she has some living relatives somewhere that they can locate,” I say.
“I’m not sure, they only give so much information out to us.”
“I get it, I just feel bad for her.”
“I’ll see what I can find out and let you know later.” As he says this his phone rings. He waves his hand indicating I can leave. With the meeting over, I go back to my bunker room, lay on my cot and can’t seem to get this little angel out of my mind.
My forty-eight-hour rotation ended a little over three hours ago. Emory is at the shop, so I go to her house and lay down on her couch. I don’t want to be around her or anyone for that matter when I’m feeling so down. This little girl has haunted me since Chief told me she’s all alone in the world. Now hearing how her father died, I think about my old platoon and the guys who are still over there serving our country. I haven’t heard from several of my buddies in a while, which isn’t uncommon with the jobs they’re doing, but it makes me wonder how they are.
I drift off to sleep with them on my mind.
Chapter 4
Marcus
Some gifts are unexpected…
I wake up to Emory laying on top of me and kissing my cheek. “Hey,” she says smiling at me.
“Hey, beautiful girl, where’ve you been all my life?” She starts giggling at my remark. I sit up and place her on my lap so she’s straddling me. I look into her eyes and realize just how much it is she means to me. “I love you, Em.” I say to her. She smiles up at me and instantly the world makes sense again.
“I love you too, Marcus. Did you have a rough shift?”
“One of the worst I’ve ever experienced, and there wasn’t even a fire to put out,” I tell her truthfully.
“Oh no, I’m sorry, Marcus. Do you want to talk about it?” I think about it and I worry that she’s going through so much already, should I lay my burdens on top of that? I must be thinking too long because she breaks into my thoughts.
“You don’t have to, Marcus. But you need to allow me to be here for you the same way you are for me. This is a fifty-fifty relationship, we both need to be able to give and take.”
“You’re right,” I say to her. I tell her about the mother and baby from the fire. I tell her about how both of the parents are now deceased, and this little girl is left alone in the word. She listens to me and never interrupts me as I tell the story. She has tears leaking out of her eyes and running down her face by the time I finish. “Don’t cry, bab
y, please don’t cry.”
“We have to do something, Marcus. She can’t be put into the system. I’ve heard some horrible stories.” Glory walks in the front door about this time and sees the tears on Em’s cheeks and immediately becomes concerned.
“Baby girl, what’s wrong?” she asks coming and sitting next to us on the couch. She runs her fingers through Em’s hair. Emory repeats the story that I just told her, and Glory looks horrified. “We have to do something,” she says, like mother like daughter, I think to myself. This is one amazing family and I don’t know what I ever did to find them and be accepted by them. They brought me into the fold before I even truly began dating Emory.
“I don’t know what there is that we can do,” I say to them.
“Well, we’ll just have to figure something out,” Glory tells us, nodding her head up and down as if she’s got a plan forming in her mind. Lord help us all, Glory is like a wrecking ball when she sets her mind to something, everyone better get out of the way if you want to avoid the path of least destruction. I am relieved however, that I am not carrying this burden on my shoulders alone anymore, if anyone can help get information on this little girl, it’s Glory and her daughters.
“Will you be working on Thursday next week?” Em asks me.
“No sweetie, I took the day off. I’m going to be with you when we get the results of your labs. Don’t worry, baby, everything is going to be fine…you’ll see.”
“Why is it that when you say that I believe it? But when I say it to myself I have a hard time convincing myself that it’s true.”
“Because we have a tendency to get lost inside of our heads and can’t ever get the worst-case scenarios out of our minds. Sometimes, it takes someone to break through those thoughts and help find the best-case.”
Clean Slate: Diva's Ink Page 3