Page 7 of Dueling Flames

“It reminded you of the falling chimney?”

“Yeah,” she whispered. “It’s not like I haven’t been injured on the job before, but I’ve never flinched at everything afterward.”

“But you pushed through it. How were the next two runs?”

“Better. I still flinched, but not as often. I keep wondering if I’d be able to do this job. I can’t keep taking my eyes off what I’m doing and risk blasting the water in the wrong direction.”

I scooted closer to her and put my arm around her shoulders. “It got better each time. Before you know it, it won’t bother you at all.”

“Don’t tell anyone, okay?”

“I won’t.” I rubbed her arm as she lowered her head to my shoulder.

“Especially don’t tell anyone I leaned on you like this.”

A laugh escaped me before I could stop it. “Never. They wouldn’t believe me even if I told them.”

“What if I’m permanently broken?”

“You’re not.” I flicked her head. “If it gets worse, we’ll find someone for you to talk to. A professional.”

“The captain would love that.”

“He doesn’t have to know.”

She sat up and stared me down. “This. This right here. You’re a bad influence. If it started to affect the team, den he will need to know.”

I gasped. “I’m not a bad influence. A bad influence would tell you to smoke a bowl or drown in alcohol. You know what? We should do that anyway.”

She pushed me. “Get out. I’m gonna sleep. I had a long night.”

“My arm. You broke my arm,” I cried holding my arm where she pushed me.

“Shut up.” She pushed the sheet down and shimmied under the covers.

“Fine. I’ll go hobble my way to the living room with a broken ankle and arm.”

“If you wanna broken arm, I can give you a broken arm,” she said with the blanket pulled up to her chin and her eyes closed.

I swung my way out of the room on my crutches and closed the door. Just another day of figuring out what to do while immobile. Luckily, I was cleared for light duty and could go back to work next shift. Just forty-eight more hours to go.

Lissa

The first week living with Thorne was better than I expected. I even joined him on his daily walk around the block. While it felt like I had a shadow and he was still annoying, his antics off the job didn’t bother me as much. With nothing at stake, I found myself amused but refused to show it. He’d get a big head.

I kept my eye on him during his first week back. He was stuck on administrative work like counting inventory, making order lists, answering phones, filing reports, scheduling training, and other mundane chores we all avoided. He took advantage of the rolling chairs and made a game of it with the others, because of course he did. I wouldn’t let him rope me into the game, even if he claimed it was part of his bonding plan.

“We’ll play teams, Lissa. I know you like to win.” He grinned up at me.

He wanted me to push him in the chair to see who could be pushed the furthest. I looked at the path he’d chosen. At the end was the large window that overlooked the bays where the trucks parked.

“And what happens when I push you through the window?”

He laughed. “That won’t happen.”

“I said when not if.” And walked away from his nonsense.

Now we walked back into my apartment, and he lounged on the couch. No overnight runs, so we slept at the station. And today was training day. I gathered up my gym bag and changed shoes.