Beyond the Fence

Until Death

The next two days were torturous. I tried to think of any excuse possible to go to the ER and see Cassy. Her schedule was a lot different than mine and I had no idea if and when I would see her again.

I had never wished harder in my life for a false alarm, cardiac arrest, or any other major event that would get me to the hospital. I know that sounds morbid, but, firefighters, police officers, military personnel, nurses, and doctors have a dark sense of humor at times. I didn't want someone to suffer so I could use it as an excuse to see Cassy, but, if someone were to have a bad situation, I wanted to be there to help. Seeing Cassy would be a bonus, a reward.

When the tones dropped and I heard the address for the hospital announced for a building alarm, I was the first person on the truck.

"Dude, what's the deal," my captain said as we left the firehouse, "You got a huge smile on your face and you practically ran to the truck?"

"Just want to make sure I don't get left behind," I said through my headset, "plus, I love my job. That's why I am smiling."

"I call BS," he laughed as we pulled up to the hospital, "There has to be more to it."

I got out of the truck, walked toward the entry door while looking around to see if Cassy was working. The disappointment must have shown on my face because my captain told me to brighten up.

"The day is young," he said after we reset the alarm at the panel box, "we may get a fire later. Plus, a hospital fire would not be a pretty sight."

We pulled into the bay at the firehouse, I got out of the truck, hung my jacket on a hook, and was beginning to take off my bunker pants when Lisa walked by. She stopped, put her hands on her hips, and looked at me after I gave her a weak smile.

"What's a matter sunshine," Lisa said loud enough for everyone to hear, "Your girlfriend wasn't working at the hospital?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," my captain bellowed, "That's why you were so happy to get to the hospital, your girlfriend works there?"

"No," I said quickly, "I don't have a girlfriend."

"Not yet," crowed Lisa, "She will have ole Romeo here wrapped around her finger in no time."

Like I said before, Lisa was one of my favorite medics of all time, and she can bust chops with the best of them. So, busting her chops is not seen as disrespectful or mean. The only problem with getting into a contest of throwing insults or trying to embarrass Lisa is, she has seen it all, done it all, and is one of the best at flinging verbal vitriol. Ever.

"What's the matter, Lisa," I said, "jealous?"

"Yup," she replied without hesitation, "Just a little. If I wasn't old enough to be your grandma, I would have eaten you up already. You are yummy and I am hungry. You had better go find that girl and take her out. If you don't, I may come out of retirement and teach you a thing or two."

I may have been young, but I was wiser than my years. I felt like the devil in the song, "The devil went down to Georgia," I bowed my head because I knew that I had been beaten.

While everyone catcalled, bellowed, and screeched with laughter, I held my hands up and made slight bowing jesters to the Queen of chop busting and backed away.

Later that day, I had to drive the medics to the hospital. I wasn't sure if Cassy would be working the late shift, working at all, or if she was just a figment of my imagination. I had decided I was going to ask about her if she wasn't working, or ask her out if she was.

After I cleaned the cot, I stopped at the triage desk and asked if Cassy was coming in later or if it was her day off.

The triage nurse smiled and said, "Oh, you must be her fire guy, she told me about you."

"Her fire guy," I muttered, "she must've been talking about someone else."

I felt my stomach knot up and my face pale when she said that to me. A lot of firefighters flirt with the nurses at the hospital when they ride in with the medics. I was quite sure she had been wooed by another guy from a different shift or department and the triage nurse assumed I was her fire guy.

"Your name is Lee, right," she asked, "If you are Lee, then you were the one she was talking about."

"Yeah," I replied, "I'm Lee, but, I spoke to her for about ten seconds the other day."

"Step back from the counter," she said while standing up, "I'll make sure you are the one she was talking about."

I stepped back, not sure what was going to happen or how she would make sure I was the Lee she was talking about. She looked at my left thigh, down at my right leg, and then my left boot.

"Yup, it's you," she said confidently, "you have a red strap in your left pocket, part of your reflective fabric is ripped on your right leg, and your left boot has a cut in it exposing some of the steel on your steel-toe boot."

To say I was speechless would have been an understatement. Unless the triage nurse was busting my chops, something she is also very good at doing, Cassy observed more of me than I realized. I carry red webbing connected to two carabiners in my left bunker pants pocket, my right leg reflective fabric is ripped from a fall through a floor, and my left boot was cut from a car door that fell on my foot during an extrication on a car wreck.

"No, Cassy will not be in today. It's her day off," she said as she sat back down, "But, she told me to tell you hi, and she will be working tomorrow from 0700 hours until 1900 hours."

"Thanks," I said softly as I turned away with a huge smile on my face, "tomorrow."

It was busy that night and I had to drive the medics to the hospital two more times. After cleaning the cot, on the last visit, I talked to the other nurses and found out Cassy's favorite drink from Starbucks, favorite snack, and that she enjoys working crossword puzzles if she gets a break.

Needless to say, I arrived the next day at 0900 hours with a Kiwi Starfruit refresher, trail mix with lots of m&ms, and a book of crossword puzzles.

That was how our relationship began.

We began to date, I was the first one to say, "I love you", we admitted to one another that we were virgins and wanted to wait until we were married, and would flirt with one another discreetly when I arrived at the hospital for a call.

She would flash me the "I love you" hand sign if we saw each other but couldn't talk. I would hold up two fingers back at her as my way of saying, "I love you too".

If we were able to able to talk at the hospital, we started out with one of us saying, "I love you," and the other would respond with, "I love you too". However, with the frenetic pace of the hospital ER and the need for me to get back to my firehouse, our term of endearment for one another was truncated to, "Too."

Many times, she would be working on a patient when I arrived for a false alarm and I would loudly say, "Too" while passing the patient's room and she would reply, "Tooooo," without looking up or stopping the task she was performing.

Life was great.

Life was wonderful.

We married, bought a house with a lanai that would have a custom, made by me, outside kitchen and bar, a covered pool, and a tall privacy fence.

Life was great.

Life was wonderful.

Until.

Until the day I kneeled in Cassy's blood next to her dead body.