Trust Me

Chapter 4

Jason

Plopping down on the back of the rig, I took all of the gear on my head off. I was exhausted and drenched in sweat. I leaned back against the truck trying to catch my breath, and rested my elbow on my soot-covered helmet. My breath showed in a puff of white fog every time I heavily exhaled into the cold air. This fire was one of the rougher ones, without a doubt. It quickly transformed from a single unit fire with a single person trapped to a fully involved 4-alarm blaze that wiped out over half of the large apartment complex. The good news was that most of the residents had gotten out before the fire became major, leaving only a few victims trapped within the building, whom we were thankfully able to rescue.

Russ, my partner and best friend of many years, was on search and rescue with me. We'd been at it for hours, bringing people out and carrying them down flights of stairs. The adrenaline rush was like nothing I could ever begin to describe. Once it was all over, the reality of the stress my body had gone through came crashing down like a pile of bricks. It kicked my ass tonight, that's for sure.

"Hey man." Russ coughed, plopping down right next to me. His face was covered in soot, and his eyes were bloodshot. "You look awful." He shot at me.

We both looked at each other and laughed in unison. "Have you looked in a mirror lately, brother?" I snickered sarcastically, making him smack me on the back of the head before settling down.

"I think you need this." He proceeded to pass me a bottle of ice-cold water which I gladly and almost desperately took.

"Thanks, man." I sighed out before literally inhaling the water and enjoying the relief it gave my dry throat. I swear water tastes better when you've been rushing through a building that's like a couple of hundred degrees and covered in smoke, dust, and debris.

He nodded before gulping nearly his own bottle down in 3 sips.

"Cops think it was domestic violence." He muttered, shaking his head in discontent.

I raised my brows in surprise before taking another sip of my water, waiting for him to elaborate. I'd been wondering what caused the fire in that girl's apartment. I just hadn't gotten around to speaking with any of the guys yet.

"The girl that you carried out of the source unit, the poor thing was covered in bruises, and they weren't from the fireman..." he trailed off, shaking his head. "The scumbag she was with must have been beating on her...I guess he got upset because she left or did whatever to piss him off, so he did this." He scoffed, motioning toward the destruction right in front of us.

"Wow." My head shook in disbelief. "I hate hearing about shit like that. It's such a shame." I whispered, feeling my heartstrings tug just a bit.

There's nothing I hated more than running calls that involved kids being hurt and domestic violence. Those were the hardest for me to shake, maybe because they hit so close to home for me. I'd grown up in a home full of abuse, neglect, and violence.

"At least she survived, man. At least you got her in time." Russ reminded me before placing a comforting hand on my shoulder.

We'd known each other since we were high school freshmen. My mom and I moved out here to New York for a fresh start all those years ago. He knew all about my family's past and the insanity that I called my childhood.

"I just hope she's okay," I stated wearily before looking over at Russ.

I vividly remembered the girl's face as she looked up at me, terrified. She was soot-covered, her eyes were watery and red, and her dark brown hair was wild over her head. I had tried my hardest to keep her calm, assure her that she was okay, and it seemed to work. She seemed to relax with my presence, and it made me happy at this moment to know that I could do that much for her after all she'd been through.