Title: Towers
Author: Maestra
Chapter 3: "Streets of Pain"
Having taught anatomy and his various pretends as Doctors, Jarod had located a few remains over the past few days. Every time he found a body part it felt like a stone was added to the region around his heart. There were shadows under his chocolate colored eyes, and few days' stubble on his cheeks. He trudged along behind Joe as they entered the building that had been their headquarters over the last few days.
But the toll on his body was nothing compared to the toll on his spirit. He sighed and coughed a couple times as he got out of his dusty and smoky gear, and without eating or drinking anything he lay down on his cot and quickly fell asleep.
It was dark, hours later when Jarod awoke. He could see Joe, Stan and Pete sleeping nearby. Off to the side he could hear a couple volunteers talking softly amongst themselves. Jarod noticed that the persistent Tara Kelly was one of them.
Tara sensed his movement out of the corner of her eye, and waved to him. Jarod decided to go over and talk to her for a while. She had been so warm and friendly and truly kind to him the last few days, and had done nothing to deserve his standoff-ish attitude. Tara's fellow volunteer moved off to visit with another volunteer, leaving Tara alone as Jarod approached her.
"Hi Jarod, I hope we didn't wake you," Tara said in concern, "Can I get you anything? You missed eating earlier didn't you?"
"How did you know?", Jarod said as he sat down beside her.
"Well, I came in right after they finished serving dinner and you were sleeping already. Joe was just finishing up. But you were out like a light, so I figured you skipped dinner."
"I was pretty tired."
"I know Jarod. I have seen how hard this is on all you guys. My heart really goes out to you. I don't think I could go down there Jarod, to where the Towers were. I couldn't look through the rubble, and search for friends. You truly amaze me."
"Well, I didn't have any friends in the World Trade Center," he said, "Unlike Pete, Stan, Joe and the rest of these guys."
"Still Jarod, it takes a special kind of man to do be willing to go into a place like that, in a situation like this. I mean, the guys say there are still fires burning, and smoke fills the air. You brave guys are down there day and night. Knowing that at any minute something even more terrible might happen. You are a hero to us Jarod."
"I'm no hero." As soon as the words left his mouth thoughts of his brother Kyle saying those very words shortly before he died flashed through his head.
"Yes Jarod, you are."
"No, I'm not, Tara. If you only knew..." he sighed sadly.
"Yes Jarod, you are."
"No, I'm not, Tara. If you only knew..." he sighed sadly.
"Knew what Jarod?"
"I'm not a hero. I'm not," Jarod just said in reply, repeatedly denying it by shaking his head.
"Ok, Jarod," Tara said slowly her concern for her new friend evident in her voice.
"I'm not," Jarod whispered as a tear formed and slowly fell from his sad brown eyes.
"It's Ok, Jarod", Tara said again softly as she reached out and cupped his face in her palm, and wiped his tear away. "You're going to be ok. If you want to talk, I am here for you Jarod. You may be new to New York City Jarod, but you've got a friend in me."
"You're not alone." Tara reminded him, as she knelt in front of him and gave him a big hug before pulling back to rest on her heels and look into his face.
Then Tara reached into her jacket pocket, "Here Jarod, I confess, I snitched an apple for you." She smiles and hands him the shiny red apple as she stands up. "I'm going to see if I can chase down anything else to tide you over."
"The apple is fine, please don't trouble yourself Tara."
"It's no trouble Jarod. I want to help; it's why I am here. You just relax and eat your apple, OK? I'll be back in a few minutes."
************************************************************************
On the 14th, Miss Parker walked into Sydney's office, dark circles under her eyes. Her dark plum pants suit did nothing to take hide the circles under her eyes or the pallor of her skin.
"So Miss Parker", Sydney quipped, "Find Jarod?"
"No. Who knows for sure how many hours we missed him by. We turned his place upside down looking for clues to his whereabouts. Nothing! Is Broots in yet? He needs to get back at the search immediately."
Sydney smiled a sly smile, "I haven't spoken to him yet." (Broots probably overslept after a long road trip with Miss Parker, he's undoubtedly exhausted!)
"Well if you see him, tell him I need to speak to him right away! And remind me to never go on a long car trip with just Broots and Sam again! They talked about sports the whole way down, and half the way back! I thought I would die of boredom," Miss Parker drawled as she left Sydney's office behind.
Sydney's hand reached for the phone automatically then stopped in mid-air. 'Ah, let Broots sleep', Sydney thought as the door swung closed behind Miss Parker,
'He will be back at the hunt for Jarod soon enough.'
************************************************************************
Tara had managed to find Jarod a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a bottle of water. She had come back and apologized that since it was so late, most of the volunteers had gone home. But they had thoughtfully left some PB& J for those firefighters or volunteers who might need a late night snack. Jarod and Tara had sat and talked for a while after he had finished eating. Finally, Jarod grew tired again, and returned to his cot.
When Jarod awoke the next morning Tara was gone, and he found a note on the cot beside him with Tara Kelly's phone number.
'Jarod, Enjoyed our talk last night, or was that this morning? I'm off the volunteer list for a couple days; guess there are more people making themselves available. Here is my phone number if you need a friend, please don't hesitate to call me. I know this tragedy hasn't been much of a welcome to New York! Your New Friend, Tara'
"Jarod," Joe said as he came over with his cup of coffee in hand, "After our shift today we're being replaced by other firefighters coming in from other cities. You, Pete, and Stan will have a couple days to get back to your families."
"But Joe," Jarod replied quickly, "I don't have a family to go back to, remember? I'm new here in town. Let me stay and help."
"Sorry Jarod," he said as he patted Jarod on the back. "I have planning meetings that I have to attend, you and the guys are due for some time off. I know you have worked long and tiring hours; you need the chance to rest and recuperate. We've seen some pretty horrible things in the last few days; you need a chance to process. A chance to grieve."
"No, Joe. I don't want to stop now. There are so many people that need us to keep looking. So many with no word from missing loved ones. I need to keep working Joe. You can reassign me to....", Jarod begged.
"No Jarod, I'm not going to do it. You need the "down time". You came to the fire station right away because you thought you would be needed. And you were right. But, now others have volunteered to help. You have to let them feel useful too! Now, take a few days off and that will give you time to find a place to stay. No use burning the candle at both ends, you'll end up "burned out". They say that we'll be working on the recovery effort for months Jarod."
Though Jarod wanted to continue working in the rescue and recovery efforts, he knew Joe would soon start to question why his employment records hadn't yet been transferred. With all that had happened over the last few days, Jarod hadn't had a chance to create an employment record and send it to the station house. And how long would it be before the Centre was on his tail?
"Ok Joe." Jarod gave in, at last.
*********************************************************
To Be Continued...
Author: Maestra
Chapter 3: "Streets of Pain"
Having taught anatomy and his various pretends as Doctors, Jarod had located a few remains over the past few days. Every time he found a body part it felt like a stone was added to the region around his heart. There were shadows under his chocolate colored eyes, and few days' stubble on his cheeks. He trudged along behind Joe as they entered the building that had been their headquarters over the last few days.
But the toll on his body was nothing compared to the toll on his spirit. He sighed and coughed a couple times as he got out of his dusty and smoky gear, and without eating or drinking anything he lay down on his cot and quickly fell asleep.
It was dark, hours later when Jarod awoke. He could see Joe, Stan and Pete sleeping nearby. Off to the side he could hear a couple volunteers talking softly amongst themselves. Jarod noticed that the persistent Tara Kelly was one of them.
Tara sensed his movement out of the corner of her eye, and waved to him. Jarod decided to go over and talk to her for a while. She had been so warm and friendly and truly kind to him the last few days, and had done nothing to deserve his standoff-ish attitude. Tara's fellow volunteer moved off to visit with another volunteer, leaving Tara alone as Jarod approached her.
"Hi Jarod, I hope we didn't wake you," Tara said in concern, "Can I get you anything? You missed eating earlier didn't you?"
"How did you know?", Jarod said as he sat down beside her.
"Well, I came in right after they finished serving dinner and you were sleeping already. Joe was just finishing up. But you were out like a light, so I figured you skipped dinner."
"I was pretty tired."
"I know Jarod. I have seen how hard this is on all you guys. My heart really goes out to you. I don't think I could go down there Jarod, to where the Towers were. I couldn't look through the rubble, and search for friends. You truly amaze me."
"Well, I didn't have any friends in the World Trade Center," he said, "Unlike Pete, Stan, Joe and the rest of these guys."
"Still Jarod, it takes a special kind of man to do be willing to go into a place like that, in a situation like this. I mean, the guys say there are still fires burning, and smoke fills the air. You brave guys are down there day and night. Knowing that at any minute something even more terrible might happen. You are a hero to us Jarod."
"I'm no hero." As soon as the words left his mouth thoughts of his brother Kyle saying those very words shortly before he died flashed through his head.
"Yes Jarod, you are."
"No, I'm not, Tara. If you only knew..." he sighed sadly.
"Yes Jarod, you are."
"No, I'm not, Tara. If you only knew..." he sighed sadly.
"Knew what Jarod?"
"I'm not a hero. I'm not," Jarod just said in reply, repeatedly denying it by shaking his head.
"Ok, Jarod," Tara said slowly her concern for her new friend evident in her voice.
"I'm not," Jarod whispered as a tear formed and slowly fell from his sad brown eyes.
"It's Ok, Jarod", Tara said again softly as she reached out and cupped his face in her palm, and wiped his tear away. "You're going to be ok. If you want to talk, I am here for you Jarod. You may be new to New York City Jarod, but you've got a friend in me."
"You're not alone." Tara reminded him, as she knelt in front of him and gave him a big hug before pulling back to rest on her heels and look into his face.
Then Tara reached into her jacket pocket, "Here Jarod, I confess, I snitched an apple for you." She smiles and hands him the shiny red apple as she stands up. "I'm going to see if I can chase down anything else to tide you over."
"The apple is fine, please don't trouble yourself Tara."
"It's no trouble Jarod. I want to help; it's why I am here. You just relax and eat your apple, OK? I'll be back in a few minutes."
************************************************************************
On the 14th, Miss Parker walked into Sydney's office, dark circles under her eyes. Her dark plum pants suit did nothing to take hide the circles under her eyes or the pallor of her skin.
"So Miss Parker", Sydney quipped, "Find Jarod?"
"No. Who knows for sure how many hours we missed him by. We turned his place upside down looking for clues to his whereabouts. Nothing! Is Broots in yet? He needs to get back at the search immediately."
Sydney smiled a sly smile, "I haven't spoken to him yet." (Broots probably overslept after a long road trip with Miss Parker, he's undoubtedly exhausted!)
"Well if you see him, tell him I need to speak to him right away! And remind me to never go on a long car trip with just Broots and Sam again! They talked about sports the whole way down, and half the way back! I thought I would die of boredom," Miss Parker drawled as she left Sydney's office behind.
Sydney's hand reached for the phone automatically then stopped in mid-air. 'Ah, let Broots sleep', Sydney thought as the door swung closed behind Miss Parker,
'He will be back at the hunt for Jarod soon enough.'
************************************************************************
Tara had managed to find Jarod a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a bottle of water. She had come back and apologized that since it was so late, most of the volunteers had gone home. But they had thoughtfully left some PB& J for those firefighters or volunteers who might need a late night snack. Jarod and Tara had sat and talked for a while after he had finished eating. Finally, Jarod grew tired again, and returned to his cot.
When Jarod awoke the next morning Tara was gone, and he found a note on the cot beside him with Tara Kelly's phone number.
'Jarod, Enjoyed our talk last night, or was that this morning? I'm off the volunteer list for a couple days; guess there are more people making themselves available. Here is my phone number if you need a friend, please don't hesitate to call me. I know this tragedy hasn't been much of a welcome to New York! Your New Friend, Tara'
"Jarod," Joe said as he came over with his cup of coffee in hand, "After our shift today we're being replaced by other firefighters coming in from other cities. You, Pete, and Stan will have a couple days to get back to your families."
"But Joe," Jarod replied quickly, "I don't have a family to go back to, remember? I'm new here in town. Let me stay and help."
"Sorry Jarod," he said as he patted Jarod on the back. "I have planning meetings that I have to attend, you and the guys are due for some time off. I know you have worked long and tiring hours; you need the chance to rest and recuperate. We've seen some pretty horrible things in the last few days; you need a chance to process. A chance to grieve."
"No, Joe. I don't want to stop now. There are so many people that need us to keep looking. So many with no word from missing loved ones. I need to keep working Joe. You can reassign me to....", Jarod begged.
"No Jarod, I'm not going to do it. You need the "down time". You came to the fire station right away because you thought you would be needed. And you were right. But, now others have volunteered to help. You have to let them feel useful too! Now, take a few days off and that will give you time to find a place to stay. No use burning the candle at both ends, you'll end up "burned out". They say that we'll be working on the recovery effort for months Jarod."
Though Jarod wanted to continue working in the rescue and recovery efforts, he knew Joe would soon start to question why his employment records hadn't yet been transferred. With all that had happened over the last few days, Jarod hadn't had a chance to create an employment record and send it to the station house. And how long would it be before the Centre was on his tail?
"Ok Joe." Jarod gave in, at last.
*********************************************************
To Be Continued...
