FireGirl: Bread and Butter
Part 4
"Shit! Let's get him out!" Lew ordered. Bear and Murph pulled, but they couldn't free him. "Pull harder!" They got nowhere, and the guy started convulsing.
"LOOK OUT!" I struck the toilet, but my halligan bounced off.
"Hit it again!" Lew called. I pulled my halligan further back and I hit it again. The toilet cracked and water spilled out. Bear and Murph dragged him out and checked his vitals.
"I got a pulse and he's breathing. He's having some sort of seizure." Murph said.
"Danny, is there a bus on scene?" Lew called on the radio.
"HEY THERE'S SHIT WATER ALL OVER THE FLOOR!" Brittney screamed.
"Ma'am, shut up please!" Lew said.
"Yeah Lew." Danny called back.
"Whose gonna fuckin' clean up this mess? Not me!"
"WILL YOU SHUT UP BEFORE I ORDER THE YOUNG LADY TO SHOVE THAT HALLIGAN DOWN YOUR GOD DAMN THROAT!" She backed off.
"Send the medics up. A man's having a seizure." Lew radioed.
"10-4 Lew." Danny said.
They opened his shirt and tried to keep him still so he didn't hurt himself.
"If he wasn't such a horny bastard he wouldn't be in this mess." She said to me.
I shrugged. "Men," was the only thing I could think of.
"Yeah, assholes." I guess she agreed.
The paramedic was so exhausted from running up the stairs he could hardly get the words out. "What do you got?"
"He's having a seizure." Lew said. The other medic made it up and they went to work. Lew took me by the arm and we walked over to the side of the room. "Good thinking. Quick move."
I smiled. "Thanks Lew."
"Just don't let it go to your head kid." He gently punched me in the arm, chuckled and walked off. We left the feuding couple to the medics and followed Lew down the stairs.
"Katniss, are you in the shower?"
"Yeah Chief, I'll be out in a minute."
"Take your time, I'll use the men's shower." I heard Emma open the door to the men's showers next door and lock it. I finished drying off, got dressed and went downstairs to eat. We're having lasagna tonight. The Probie got this recipe from his Italian grandmother. He used the freshest Mozzarella and homemade pasta. The basil was grown in one of the firehouse's neighbor's herb garden. I sat at the table. The smell made my mouth water as he put my food on the plate.
"Hey Everdeen, where's the chief?" Captain Reynolds asked.
"She's taking a shower."
He looked at my wet hair and asked. "You just came out of the shower?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Where's the chief showering?"
"The men's shower."
His whole body tensed up and his eyes got wide. "SHIT!" He screamed and ran to the stairs.
"SILVIO! REYNOLDS! GET UP HERE NOW!"
"Oh crap! What did you do?" Lew asked, but the captain didn't answer. "Tell me before we go up there."
"SILVIO, REYNOLDS!" The officers turned to walk upstairs. "NO! You stay right there! Katniss! Get up here now!"
"Jesus H. Christ. How did I get involved in this?" My lasagna will have to wait. I ran up the stairs. "Chief? Emma? Where are you?"
"Get in here now."
I entered the shower room and saw ... "OhmiGod. What the fuck!" She stood with a bath sheet wrapped around her. "You look like Carrie." Her red hair matched her red face which probably matched the rest of her body. "Oh, your feet are red too, I guess the rest of your body is red." Her red eyes were not from the dye. "What did they do? Put dye in the shower head?" She didn't have to answer. "Oh... um..."
"Just help me hose this crap off." She bellowed. "I swear ... I'm gonna ... If I ever ..."
"Chief?"
"What!"
"Are you ever gonna finish any of your sentences?" Oh crap; if looks could kill. "Chief, I might have to scrub a little harder."
"Just get it off ... now!"
"Hey Everdeen, you see the morning paper yet?" Murph opened The News to page 24. "Nice photo."
My heart rate went through the roof. There I was, me and Bear hanging from ropes from the sixth story window. "Shit!"I high-tailed it to the payphone. "Answer Peeta, come on answer!"
A groggy voice answered, "Hello?"
"Hi Peeta."
"Katniss, what time is it?"
"About five. Listen, I need you todo something important. Go to my mother's house and take her copy of the Daily News."
"Why?"
"Just check out page 24."
The crew cab of the truck was very cozy, especially with my partner, Bear, sitting next to me. It takes a contortionist to get our SCBAs on.
"WOW! Bobby, watch it!" Jonsie said as he rolled into me. "Sorry Kat."
They're usually a little extra nice to me. You know, because I'm a girl. I've been with them for 3 years and I think they're still getting used to a female in the firehouse. "No problem Jonsie."
Battalion 2 to Manhattan K
Battalion 2
Battalion 2 is 84 at the box. We have smoke showing. Transmit a 10-75 K
10-4 Battalion 2
"Hear that guys. Another worker." Lew said from the front seat.
I took in a deep breath and the smell of burning wood filled my lungs.
"Smell that? Smells like a big one." You wouldn't think you could smell how big a fire was, but the smell was strong and we're still blocks away.
"Thanks for the info Danny." Bear said.
We rolled onto the block behind the engine. Smoke from the third floor apartment poured into the street. The engine dropped its crew and hose and sped up the block to the hydrant. "Here's your stop. That's $32.50." Our chauffeur said.
"Thanks Bobby. Here's $35. Keep the change." Lew said.
"A $2.50 tip. Cheap bastards."
Even though my turnout gear and SCBA added 50 pounds to me, they were like a second skin. I felt naked when I wasn't wearing them. We grabbed our tools when we dismounted. Each member had a specific job and they took the tools to do the job. My job today was the irons. The flathead axe and a halligan were my tools.
"Let's get a move on gentlemen, and lady. We got a worker." Chief Dever said.
"Good morning to you too, Chief." Lew responded. "Bear, Everdeen, let's go."
Lew, Bear, and I made up the inside team. We force entry, find the fire, search and rescue victims. "Only 2 flights up today." I said. In the lobby we could smell smoke. Lew and Bear book-ended me as we walked up the stairs. On the third floor the acrid smoke banked down.
17 to Battalion 2
Battalion 2
We're almost ready to enter K
Engine is heading up now K
10-4
I looked out of the window from the hallway. "MY BABY!" I saw the chief's head whip around to see who was screaming. A woman in a soot-covered flowered sundress ran towards Chief Dever. "MY BABY'S STILL INSIDE!"
"The apartment that's on fire?"
"YES! SAVE MY BABY!"
"Ma'am, look at me. What room?"
"The back bedroom."
"Which way should they turn when they go through the front door?"
"To the right. To the right. Please hurry! Save him!"
"Lew. we got a victim in the back bedroom," I said.
Battalion 2 to 17 urgent K
17
You have a child in the back bedroom. Turn to the right when you enter K
10-4 K
"Everdeen, ready?" Lew asked.
I jammed the end of my halligan between the jam and the door. "HIT!" I said. Lew hit the end of the halligan with the head of the axe. "HIT!" Another hit sent the halligan deeper. "HIT!" I pushed the halligan towards the door until the locks popped and the door opened. Dark black smoke filled the hallway. My stomach turned when I caught some before I got my facepiece on.
"Ready!" Lew asked. Bear and I nodded. "GO!"
Bear entered first. On his knees he was only a little shorter than me. He squirted water from his extinguisher at the kitchen ceiling. For a moment white steam displaced the black smoke. "Bear, stay here. We'll search the bedroom." Lew said before he crawled down the hallway. The only reason I knew he was in front of me is I felt his boot as I followed.
"Check this room." I crawled through the doorway. My hand moved easy across the smooth floor. I reached into the tub. Then I checked behind the door. "Nothing. It was the bathroom."
"Okay. This is the bedroom. Right hand search." Lew said.
I crossed the threshold and moved forward sweeping the floor with my left hand and keeping my right hand on the wall or the furniture. I circled the room, searching on top of and below everything. "Nothing yet!"
"Okay."
17 Can to 17
17's on
It's spreading to the hallway. Engine's not here yet
10-4
"Everdeen, hurry. We don't have much time!"
A/N: The final chapter will be posted on Wednesday September 10th