BURNED - A Chicago Fire Fanfiction

Chapter Fifty Four

I jolted awake, heavily panting as I clutched my blankets to my chest. It hurt to breathe, my mouth felt dry, I could taste the ash in the air. I flinched as something wet hit my cheek, but quickly realized it was Boromir licking me. I wrapped my arms around him and shuddered a sigh. "Christ," I mumbled.

When I calmed down, Boromir hopped down from the bed and looked at me, silently telling me to follow him. I mentally groaned and got out of bed, following him into the commons. I walked to the kitchen and grabbed myself a glass of water, taking a few large gulps before pouring the rest into Boromir's bowl. He sniffed it, but left it alone. "I'm sorry, we're fresh out of Fiji water, Your Grace," I scoffed.

I cleaned the glass and put it back in the cabinet. The commons was dark and quiet, too quiet for my liking. I made my way out to the garage and turned the light on. The bright lights shined brightly off the trucks and I smiled. "Smell that, Boromir? Clean trucks, clean garage, and not a bit of ash in sight." My smile slowly dropped. "I wish the nightmares would stop..."

Boromir whined and nudged my leg. "I know, I need to open up more, but it hurts. Besides, K'eon and I made a pact, remember? Pact order number eleven: 'the events and experiences from 9/11 will be kept private, only to be discussed between the two parties.' I couldn't talk about it even if I wanted to." Boromir whined once more. "No, K'eon wouldn't be okay with me talking about it, not even to Dr. Charles. A pact is a pact." I let out a sigh and turned off the garage lights. "Alright, come on, let's go for a walk."

I led Boromir out the front door and over to the empty lot beside us. Boromir sniffed around for a few moments before peeing on a nearby bush and squatting down a few minutes later to poop as he stared me down. Why do dogs do that? I don't stare at him when I poop. Once finished, Boromir happily wiped his paws on the grass and ran towards me.

We walked back towards the firehouse and I opened the front door, but Boromir didn't walk inside. I turned to look at him, only to see that his eyes were fixated on something in the distance. "Boromir?" Boromir began to bark aggressively. I looked up as a figure froze in our parking lot, a large box shaking in their trembling hands. "Boromir, quiet." Boromir stopped barking, opting to growl instead.

"It's okay, he won't hurt you," I reassured as I shut the front door. "He's all talk and no bite. My name's Zahra, do you need help?" The figure remained still. I looked at the box curiously. "Is that box for us?" I took a couple steps towards the figure, but they took a nervous step back. "It's okay, I won't hurt you either." I slowly approached the figure and they stayed still. I stopped a few feet away, but even then, I couldn't make out the person's face.

"Is it a drop off?" The figure nodded. "Donations?" The figure shook their head. I looked the box over once more before it finally hit me. "Is it a surrender?" The figure nodded. "Do you need any help? I can call a women's crisis center—"

"No," the woman whimpered. "I just...she doesn't deserve this...she deserves better."

"Are you homeless?" The woman nodded. "Are you on any drugs I should know about?" The woman fell silent. "It's okay, I'm not calling the cops or judging you, I just need to know for when I take the baby to the hospital."

"I-I'm on meth," the woman sniffled. "I stopped when I found out I was pregnant and didn't use again until she was born."

"That's good to know," I softly smiled. "That shows me that you can still quit. You're not too far gone, I can call a shelter for you, get you some help."

"No, I—I can't."

"I know it's scary, quitting meth and going through the detox and cravings, but you showed great strength to keep her safe. I know you could do it if you wanted to." The woman fell silent. "If you're in any danger, I can keep you safe."