Hold My Hand

The world around her seemed to slow down as Taylor wrapped her arm around the boy’s waist and pulled him to safety, covering his body with her own as the balcony crashed to the ground. Pushing herself off the floor, she dusted herself off and checked the boy over to make sure he was not hurt.

‘Taylor, come in,’ came Boden’s voice over the radio.

‘Yeah, I’m here,’ Taylor replied, lifting the sobbing boy into her arms and surveying the scene as she reunited him with his mother.

On her way back to help truck, Taylor noticed Shay watching her from the back of the ambulance and gave her a nod to show that she was okay. Satisfied that no one was trapped under the pile of rubble, Boden arranged for another crew to deal with the clean-up and ordered everyone back to the firehouse.

“Good job on that rescue, Taylor,” Matt said as they stepped out of their turnout gear a while later.

“Thanks,” Taylor mumbled, heading into the kitchen and putting on a fresh pot of coffee.

The next few hours were quiet and Taylor had just finished eating her lunch, when her phone started ringing. Not recognizing the number, she frowned and answered it.

“Hello?”

‘Don’t hang up,’ came Greg’s voice from the other end, ‘I just want to talk.’

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

‘You got me arrested, I think that earns me at least a conversation,’ Greg argued.

“After everything you did to me...” Taylor replied, realizing that everyone was watching her and taking a deep breath to calm herself down, “I don’t have anything to say to you, so just leave me alone and don’t ring me again.”

‘Taylor...’

Without another word, she hung up and slammed the phone on the table before disappearing into the locker room. Sat on the bench, she ran a hand over her face and looked up as someone entered.

“Hey,” Matt stated as he joined her, offering her a smile and taking a seat, “Are you okay?”

“I thought I was,” Taylor mumbled, feeling the tears form in her eyes and shaking her head, “I...”

Cut off by the alarm, Taylor wiped her eyes and followed Matt out to the truck rig. There was no sign of a fire when they pulled up to the church, but police were everywhere and that meant that something was going on.

“What’s the situation here?” chief Boden inquired as soon as he reached the officer in charge.

“There’s a guy inside the church threatening to set himself and several other churchgoers on fire, unless he talks to one of your firefighters.”

“Who is he asking to speak with?” Matt added.

“Taylor Shaw.”

It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who it was inside and Taylor knew that she would have to go in there, before anyone got hurt. The church was small compared to some of the others around the city, so it wasn’t long after stepping over the threshold that she heard Greg’s voice and quietly made her way towards it.

“Well, well, well, look who we have here,” Greg stated with a smirk, playing with the lighter that he was holding, “Now, how about we have that conversation?”

“I’ll talk to you, but not while you’re threatening the lives of these people,” Taylor replied, noticing the empty gasoline container and the puddle that was on the floor, “Let them go and we’ll talk.”

“Do you really think I’m that stupid?” Greg snapped angrily as he slowly circled Taylor, “These people are the only thing stopping you from turning around and walking away, so I think I’ll keep them around for a while.”

“What do you want, Greg?”

“I just want to talk,” Greg told her, moving to stand directly behind Taylor and causing her to tense as he ran his fingertips along her arm, “I’ve missed you... missed us.”

“There is no us,” Taylor mumbled quietly.

“Not at the minute, but there could be again... what does he have that I don’t?”

“This isn’t about Kelly.”

“What is it about then?”

“Me,” Taylor answered simply.