Lifeline || Evan Buckley [2]

chapter fifteen

solitude

Panic surged in Sasha's body the moment she stepped out of the elevator at the call center. News of a firefighter shot down by a sniper spread like wildfire. Since Josh relayed the news, Sasha's thumb worked nonstop dialing Buck's number. Her feet paced back and forth in the conference room. Her chest tightened when his voicemail rang through her ears for the umpteenth time. All her texts were delivered without any sign of response.

Sasha exhaled deeply merely attempting to compose her anxiety rising.

If anything, she would've received a call from the hospital being Buck's emergency contact. Bobby and the 118 would've notified her as well. That had to be something positive of the unknown, she thought.

During the time of uncertainty, all of Sasha could think about how they had a wonderful breakfast together. The established meal that was waiting for her at the table. The morning kisses shared between each other. Monet capturing their attention and producing a mess with her head, much to Sasha's dismay. The security of Buck's arms before he placed one last kiss upon his departure for his shift at the firehouse.

The assumption that nothing could beat the way she felt when Buck was crushed under that truck proven her wrong. Ever since that night, a piece of her heart clenched whenever Buck left for shift. She wasn't sure she could bear another tragedy, another loss, another heartache.

Her life plans were disrupted when Buck entered her life. Falling in love with him was like a fever dream.

This love was something she wanted to treasure for a lifetime.

Shaken out of her distressed state by the repetitive ringing from the phone, her heart jumped at the name of the incoming caller.

"Buck is okay. It wasn't him."

Chimney's confirmation brought relief to Sasha. Yet the next set of news disheartened when the firefighter gunned down turned out to be Eddie. He thought to give her a call after Maddie mentioned about the worrisome woman. He summarized to her what went down. Buck had witnessed the scene firsthand. Sasha presumed her boyfriend could be in shock registering that horrifying moment.

Reorganization of Diaz's furniture in the living room occurred in the evening. The brown coffee table shifted to the side to make space for an unzipped sleeping bag laid out under several blankets and pillows along with a playpen at the other end of the room. Indeed, it was a last minute sleepover.