Fireproof

Five days had passed by slowly as I took small steps on my road to recovery. I was no where near being pain free but it was definitely controlled by this point making things a lot more bearable. I was finished with surgeries for now after having my knee and back repaired. I had gotten lucky with my hip and there was no need to have surgery to repair that. I wasn’t far from being able to open up my own office supply store with all of the staples they had stuck in me.

I think I had just about driven Tommy crazy with thinking and talking about the girl who had saved my life who’s name I now knew was Parker. She had been discharged home yesterday morning and had stopped by to check in on us before she left. Her and Tommy had been talking a lot and she had offered him her house to stay at or to cook a hot meal and shower. I was thankful for that for the sake of Tommy because he wasn’t going back to California to leave Mick and myself here, so at least he had someone somewhat looking after him. He was now encouraging me to try to get to know her, but I wasn’t too sure about all of that. She had just been doing her job and I’m sure I wasn’t the first guy she had saved to find her beautiful.

Tommy had already left this morning to go to Parker’s and get cleaned up and rest for a little bit. I didn’t blame him at all because there were so many people in and out of the room during the day to check on me or work with me that it was very difficult to get any rest, but they were just doing their job. Everyone had been extremely nice and helpful throughout all of this which definitely helped on my end too. Every now and then a nurse would cautiously approach and beat around the bush before shyly asking for an autograph. I felt that was the least I could do for them, and I promised pictures to whoever wanted one on my way out the door when I got discharged.

I had finally managed to catch a break from all the visitors to the room and had just drifted off to sleep when the new cell phone Tommy had gotten me started to ring. I answered it, still halfway asleep to see what he wanted.

“Yeah?”

“Hey man. I was calling to check on you. Everything good?”

“Yep. I’m holding the fort down.”

“Alright. Well, if it’s alright with you Parker and I are going to swap up tonight. She offered to come stay with you and Mick and let me stay here to try and get some sleep. Will that be okay?”

As if I couldn’t feel my heartbeat speed up at the thought of Parker being here all night with us, the beeping on the monitor above my head begin to speed up as well. Besides the fact that I had feelings for this girl, how nice could one person be especially to a complete stranger? Regardless of what became of my romantic interest in her, this girl was a true angel.

“Don’t worry about it, man. She doesn’t have to come up here, hell she just got out of here. You both need some good rest. There are people up here who can help us if we need it. Seriously.”

“I know but those nurses are busy. They may not be able to come as soon you need them. If you don’t want her up there then I’ll come back but I’m not leaving you guys up there alone.”

“Okay. I don’t care who is up here. I’m not going anywhere that’s for sure.”

“Maybe this will help you out with your feelings for her. She’s awesome, man. She’s been hurt before though, that’s obvious.”

“That’s a shame.”

“It is. Alright, well, get some rest and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I hung up with Tommy and knew that going back to sleep at this point was not going to happen. My mind was racing with a million different thoughts as I worked hard trying to figure out if there was something really there making me constantly think of Parker or if it was just some short lived fling due to her putting her life in danger to save mine. I normally felt a little more strongly towards one theory when I had these issues, but not this time. Besides, there was no way a girl like her would go for a guy like me. She was beautiful, your average height for a girl, well built and athletic looking, and I would bet a lot of money on the fact that she could throw a good punch if she ever got put in the situation. At the same time, however, she had that cute innocent little girl look about her as well and I was very far from innocent. My only two options were to just forget her and move on with my life or do as Tommy suggested and get to know her to see where things would go. Being as I was in no position to really start getting on with my life at this point and the fact that she would be around as long as we were here, my only option right now was to just roll with things and see where they went.

I figured it would only be appropriate for me to try to clean myself up a little bit seeing as how I hadn’t felt like doing it up until this point and there was no telling what I smelled like at this point. To me I still smelled like something that had just come off of the operating table reeking of the stuff they cleaned my skin with before cutting me. With the help of a nurse I sat up on the side of the bed and washed myself off, surprised at how much better it made me feel. I smelled a lot better after that as well. I got some assistance with getting into a t-shirt and boxers and that had ended up in my room somehow, and I got settled back down for the evening. Who knew getting cleaned up and getting some clothes on could be so exhausting?

I barely had time to make a few phone calls to take care of some business before there was a light knock on the door and Parker walked in. She was dressed comfortably in her fire department t-shirt and some sweatpants but the discomfort on her face was evident. Regardless though, she had a smile on her face when she walked in. It killed me knowing that she was hurting and could be home resting comfortably right now, but yet her was she was to spend the night with Mick and me.

“Hey, buddy. You’re looking perky tonight.” She smiled as she sat her bag down slowly in the corner of the room, trying hard to hide her pain.

“Yeah, it’s amazing what getting cleaned up and getting some clothes on will do for you. How are you feeling?”

“I’m alright, I guess. Sore but I’ll make it. Is it alright if I hang out in here? Mick was passed out already.”

“Absolutely.”

I got a nurse to come in and help her get the fold out bed made out and the turned it around so that she could be facing me so we could talk. So far my heart rate was definitely staying elevated a bit and my stomach was definitely feeling different, but it was still early in the night.

“That’s a lot better. I’m pretty sure I over did it a lot today.” She said as she laid back.

“Just from what I’ve witnessed in the few days I’ve known you, I would say you probably did too. You should have stayed home, but I’m not going to argue. A different face is nice to have around.”

“Yeah, Tommy needed a little break. He was hanging with the guys when I left. There’s no telling what kind of hell they are getting in to.”

“I don’t doubt any of that.”

The small talk started rolling and we continued to talk about her and me and some other random things. I could definitely see us being a thing possibly a little ways down the road, but I still had the confused feeling about me. She was funny and laid back and seemed like she would be up for pretty much anything. She had to be if she was willing to take a plunge towards an almost certain death for some random guy.

My thoughts were broken by her moving to slowly push herself up from the bed to go look out of the window. It was then that I heard the sound of the sirens and knew immediately that she was wishing she was headed to wherever the emergency was. I would have given anything for her to be with her guys instead of here with me.

“Everything okay?” I asked

“Yeah, just a huge fire on the edge of town. The guys will have fun with that one.”

She smiled half-heartedly as we started talking again. The mood picked back up as we shared stories from our pasts and laughed about random things. I was slowly falling for her, I was afraid, but like Tommy had said, it was evident she had been done wrong and I wasn’t sure how to approach that. Slowly and cautiously for sure. I would have to think on that for a little bit but for now I was going to just enjoy talking with her.

“Holy shit. Is it five o’clock already? Wow.” I said as I glanced up at the clock for the first time tonight. Usually the hands fucking creeped around the circle but not tonight.

“Oh my gosh! It feels like it’s only been an hour. You should get some sleep. I’m so sorry I’ve kept you up.” Parker said, a true look of shock and concern on her face.

“Really, Parker? I’ve been talking more than you have.”

Her gaze fell to something outside of my room and I turned to find several of the guys from the fire department walking towards the door to the room. Parker got up to go meet them outside and I could tell that something had happened. The guys were still in their gear, covered in black from fighting the fire and they all look hurt and exhausted. It was almost like a scene from a movie when someone dies but you can’t hear the conversation, you can only watch their body movements. I watched as she turned to come back into the room as the guys left. The happy girl that had walked out of the room was returning with a broken heart. I could tell what had happened and knew that now was probably not the time for words. As my heart broke for her, I knew that I was in this for good now.

“Parker?”

She looked up at me as a tear rolled down her face. If a heart could be heard shattering, holy fuck the sound right now would be deafening from mine shattering into a million pieces. I rested my arm on the side of bed by her, offering her my hand. I wasn’t sure if she would take it or not, and I wouldn’t have blamed her if she didn’t, but I wanted her to know that I cared.

“I’m here if you need me, okay?”

“Thanks, Nikki.”

To my surprise she took my hand as she laid back on her bed, the effects of the past few days now fully visible on her face. Her hand touching mine sealed the deal for me. I needed this girl in my life. I wanted Parker.