Smoke & Fire || Evan Buckley

Chapter 9

A L E X I S _ P A R R I S H 

"16 DOA SO FAR. Mostly blunt trauma to the head" I inform Captain Bobby Nash as he enters the scene. Firefighters crawl around the collapsed building searching the ground for more victims. The top floor of the building collapsed during a wedding and from the looks of it, the guests fell 2 stories down. 

"Or crushed by falling debris or other bodies" Buck adds onto the report. I haven't been speaking to him at all since last shift so the sound of his voice irritates the hell out of me. I roll my eyes walking over to Bobby.

"Captain the groom is devastated...his bride hasn't been accounted for yet" Hen says walking up to us.

"We'll find her. Buck, I'm gonna need you to go up top. Access to the second floor is  blocked, we're gonna have to tackle this thing from both ends" Bobby instructs and Buck nods his head in confirmation then walks off.

"Savita!! Savita!" the devastated groom yells frantically looking for his wife. I sigh watching as Bobby tries to calm him down. If there's anything that I've learned on the job is that people,they dont care what you have to say or do, nothing will stop their overwhelming state of panic until their loved one is found.

The pounding of their racing hearts against their ribs, you could even feel it in your temples.The shaky hands and deep breathing, its like your body has a mind of its own, running on autopilot and there's nothing you can do but hope for the best and pray. Pray for a miracle, pray that God hears you. That's exactly how that little boy must have felt.

I think deep down I knew it was impossible to get her out, I can still feel myself floating under water as I drift off to sleep. I can still see the look of defeat in her eyes...she knew she was going to die..I knew it too...but it didnt make it any easier.

"Alexis" Hen's voice brings me out of my thoughts and I look at her concerning eyes. 

"You good?" she questions and I clear my throat before quickly nodding my head.

"Yeah, whats happening?" I ask looking up, lost on the whole game plan.

"Buck's meeting cap on the second floor, they found someone"she explain, her concerned frown doesnt leave her face.

"I think it's best if you help with evac and triage-"

"What? Why?" I furrow my brows in confusion at her words.

"Lexi, don't fight me on this" she says, slowly shaking her head side to side. Her voice is gentle but demanding and I sigh before wordlessly trudging through the debris on the floor.

The outside light almost blinds me as I look around for triage.

"Hey, I'm lexi. Can I take a look at that?" I ask with a small smile noticing the nasty cut on some guy's forehead.

He's seated in the back of the aid car, holding some gauze to his head, away from most of the people as he watches their panicked movements.

"Sure" he mutters out. I take some antiseptic from the med kit behind him and then slowly remove the bloody gauze from his head.

"can you imagine..." he scoffs with a dry chuckle and his body shakes lightly.

"What?" I ask blocking out the noise in the background. I quickly clean the wound and he hisses upon impact. I continue slowly.

"Starting a life like this. Half your family dies on the happiest day of your life..seems like something out of a horror movie" he explains looking off to the deceased bodies covered up, close by.