It was a few days before I saw Jamie again. Our schedules had gotten so messed up that we ended up on opposite shifts. We were at a fire when I saw him next. I was yelling for more hoses, or else this fire would get out of control.

He tapped my on the shoulder, "Anything I can do to help Captain?"

I turned and laughed, "No, not now. How long have you been here?"

"An hour or so." He looked around. "The pedestrians keep trying to get closer. It makes things difficult for crowd control."

I heard Jack come over the radio, "Almost cleared boss. We need to get out soon though."

"Right. Everyone who does not need to be inside the building, get out. We need to get everyone out or else we'll just have to let the building burn down." I hated it when we had to do that, it meant we couldn't do our jobs.

"Why would you have to do that?"

I looked back at Jamie, "The water's low in this area. There's been too many fires lately, and not enough water to fill the supply. We either have to get this fire controlled now, or let it burn down."

He nodded, "What should we do?"

I looked back at the crowd, "Get them further back. We may have to pop all the windows so the glass doesn't explode."

He nodded and ran off. Thankfully we left the fire an hour or so later, but Jamie had left by then. We all piled back into the truck, and went back to the station. I was working a triple today and went to get some sleep. Everyone else either decided to sleep or watch TV. A few of the wives were here cooking, and I waved my hello. They waved back and mentioned that they would save me some food. I waved my thanks, and crawled into my bed. I hadn't slept in the last 20 hours, and I could tell that I wouldn't be getting much sleep in the next few days. I swear it was twenty minutes later when the alarm for another fire went off. "Fuck!" I rolled out of bed, and went to get ready.

Angela came up to me, "Get any sleep?" I shook my had, "Same here. Are you on a triple too?"

I nodded, "How many of us?"

"I think the whole crew. The next shift has the stomach flu or something."

"Great." When we were all in the truck I signaled for us to leave.

We went to another house fire. This one was small, but we still had to clear the whole building. That took us maybe two hours, but right as we got back into the station, we were called out to another fire. This one was in an eight-story apartment building. That took a few hours, and thankfully we all got out safe.

At this point we had all been up for almost 40 with barely any sleep. I looked at the time and realized Jewls would be getting out of school soon when my phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Emily, I'm back from Africa."

"Sam!" I yawned, "When did you get back?"

"Just now. I'm in Boston. The plane will be arriving in New York in a few hours."

"Shit. I'm on a triple now." I was too tired to deal with this.

"I can just take a cab when I get back, it'll be fine."

I sighed, "Sam, I always pick you up from the airport, or I send one of the guys. I'll find someone to pick you up."

He let me know what time he was getting in, "Ok. I'll send Jamie. He should be off by that time tonight."

"Whose Jamie?"

Shit I was waiting to tell him that. "Um….Well…fuck." I leaned against the wall. "I've been seeing someone."

"How serious? And I'm gone for seven months, and you immediately start dating someone, or what?"

"Sam, I'm sorry. I should've told you. But to be fair, I did tell you about him a little bit. He's Nikki's uncle."

"No you didn't. You just said you were spending some time with…" He faded out, "Oh shit."

"Exactly smart ass. I told you a little bit, I just didn't want to tell you the whole story until I actually saw your face."

He laughed, "Fine, I deserve that. I promise I will never leave for this long again."

"Good. Will Darren be with you?"

"Yeah we got on the same flight."

I nodded and then remembered I was talking on the phone, "Okay." I really needed some sleep.

"I'll tell him what time you'll be there." What I wouldn't tell him was that Darren was Sam's husband.

I hung up with Sam and called Jamie.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's me."

"Hey, what's up? Want to get dinner after your shift?"

I laughed, he was always trying to spend more time with me, "I'm actually still on the triple. I was wondering if you would do me a favor."

"Yeah, what is it?"

"I need you to pick Jewls up from school today."

"Sure. I can pick Nikki up to. Should I bring them to your place or mine?"

"Either. But then I need you to do something else for me."

"Sure."

"I need you to pick my brother up at the airport tonight at almost midnight."

He laughed, "Yeah. I'll drop the girls off at my dad's then just come sleep at the station for a few hours."

I smiled, "I'd like that." We hung up, and I walked up to the bunk room. Had we really been dating for six months? I wondered when Jamie would ask me to one of his family dinners.