Chapter 3 - Ethan
2146 Words
Ethan slowly walked into the smoky building. From here they split up, Garrett took the south side of the building and he took the north.
They’d received a call about a small block of flats, three floors in total, with smoke coming from the third floor.
From the information, they’d received it was an apartment block for elderly residents of the community who had no families nearby. He hated the thought of some old dear stuck somewhere in the building.
They spread out looking for signs of life. The ground floor and second floor were quickly cleared of their residents.
That left the third floor.
One by one they cleared each flat until they came to the one which caused the alarms.
“Fire Department!” He shouted as he pounded on the door.
When there was no answer he kicked in the door and once again they spread out searching. The fire hadn’t spread too far; the flames were only crawling up the walls in the kitchen, eating anything flammable in its path. It was the smoke that filled up the rooms which could do the most damage.
He located the source of the fire; something flammable appeared to have been left too close to the hob whilst it was alight. He decided they would need to get new smoke alarms and sprinklers installed in these flats.
The tenant for this flat still hadn’t emerged from anywhere. He turned from the fire, leaving it in his crew’s capable hands to tackle. He checked all the other rooms and came to the bedroom of the small flat. There he found an elderly lady collapsed on the floor, a hand to her chest but no movement from her. “Dammit. It looks like she had a heart attack. Let’s get her out.” He shouted to one of the firefighters who had followed him.
Rushing forward he lifted the lady into his arms and carried her from the bedroom, shielding her from the flames. He emerged into the street, talking to the paramedics as he deposited her on the waiting gurney.
“Elderly lady looks to be in her 70’s. She was unconscious in the bedroom when we found her. I think she has had a heart attack.” He pointed to her chest. He waited long enough to find out the lady had a pulse before disappearing back into the building.
It took about half an hour for the flames in the flat to be extinguished. Once they were out, they clambered back onto the truck and headed back to the firehouse. They remained silent for a few minutes, calming the rush of adrenaline that only came from rushing into a burning building.
Ethan turned to Garrett. “Hey, I was wondering, how do you know that pixie?”
“Pixie? What pixie?” Garrett frowned, “Did you hit your head back there?”
“Ha-ha. You know who I mean, the teacher. The redhead from yesterday’s class trip.”
“Tina?”
Ethan nodded and waited.
“First, don’t call her a pixie. I’ll kick your ass.”
Ethan laughed. “So, you do like her?”
“It’s not like that. I’ve known her for years. We were neighbours back in Scotland and best friends since we were in nappies. We were inseparable.”
“So, you don’t like her?”
“We were just friends. She was a magnet for trouble though. A lad in my year got a bit too comfortable around her; he would follow her and push her around. She bumped into me one day when I was on the way back from football practice. She kept looking over her shoulder like someone was there, I knew something was wrong and after a few prods from me, she told me what was going on, just as he came around the corner. I was furious she hadn't said anything sooner. Let’s just say after I had a word, he left her alone.” They both looked at each other in understanding. Ethan knew that Garrett having a word meant fists had been flying. They both hated it when a man treated a woman that way.
“Did you call Serena?”
“Yep, we’re going out Friday.” Checking the time, he saw it was almost three in the afternoon. “Hey, let’s pass by the school. See if the kids are about.”
“The kids… Yeah right”
Ethan punched him on the shoulder and the crew laughed at him.
It didn’t take long to get to the school; they parked the truck just outside the school fence, leaving the gates clear for arriving parents. He noted a police car parked near the reception and spotted his friend Detective Peters as he helped a young girl and her mother into the car. He recognised the girl from the trip yesterday. He couldn’t place her name though.
His eyes shifted to the other doors as the kids began to filter out. He climbed out of the truck and stood by the door.
It wasn’t long before a door opened and a few faces they recognized joined the crowd. Garrett beeped the horn a few times and waved to the kids.
“Lieutenant!!” They shouted, rushing over towards them. Behind the kids, he spotted the pixie making her way over but not Serena.
“Hey, kids! Miss Malone. We just thought we would pass by on our way back from a call.”
“What happened?” They all asked.
They gave a quick explanation of their rescue and how it started. He explained that all residents except one were safe and well. The last was being looked after by the doctors at the local hospital. He moved so the kids could say hello to the rest of the crew. His eyes moved to the school doors and he couldn’t help feeling disappointed about not seeing Serena.
“She’s in a meeting with the head,” Tina said quietly, clearly, she didn’t want the other kids to know what was going on.
“Is everything okay?” He frowned a little.
“No, but I can’t tell you much. It’s to do with one of the kids in our class.” She gestured to the police car.
He looked back at the car and nodded once.
“Hey T. You good?” Garrett called with a smile.
“I am now.” She smiled and winked at him.
Ethan watched Garrett laugh and then he shook his head, but his eyes remained on Tina. He grinned at his best mate and wrapped an arm around pixie to hug her and laughed hard when Garrett’s face fell into a scowl.
“Come on Ethan, the Chief is calling.”
Ethan got back into the truck and waved to the kids and Tina as they drove off.
It didn’t take long to get back. Then they had to gut the truck, clean it out ready for the next call.
Both he and Garrett disappeared into their office to fill in paperwork on the fire. They also got in touch with the hospital and found out the elderly lady was stable but still hadn’t come around, but they were hopeful she would pull through.
It wasn’t long before it hit seven and it was time to clock off.
As he left the building, he spotted Serena sat on a bench across the road from the firehouse, her eyes found his. He could tell even from where he stood, she had been crying. The urge to comfort her coursed through him.
“Fancy a beer, Ethan?” Garrett called as he followed him outside into the street.
“Not tonight. Think I’m going to crash early” He called back, not taking his eyes off Serena. What was she doing here?
He waited for Garrett to disappear in his car and then made his way over. She looked frozen as he sat beside her. When he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close, he realised she was frozen.
“Whose arse do I need to kick?” he murmured rubbing his hand up and down her arm gently.
He felt her giggle and then curl into him more.
“I feel stupid for coming. I just needed…” She shrugged and pulled away. “I don’t know what I needed. I just started walking after school let out and ended up here.”
“Is it about that girl from your class?”
She nodded and took a deep breath.
“I’m not sure I’m supposed to talk about it. But I somehow feel I can tell you anything,” she admitted and wiped her face with her hands.
“That’s a good sign.” He fished out a tissue and placed it in one hand and took her other hand. “Tell me.”
Taking a deep breath, she kept her eyes on his. She looked so sad, but there was another emotion on her face. He could see the fear in her eyes, and it made his eyes narrow slightly and his heart raced a little.
“That girl you saw me talking to yesterday. Her name is Chloe. She came to me today and told me her mum’s boyfriend has been abusing her.”
“Jesus…” He was definitely not expecting that. He was sure there was shock all over his face. He ran one hand down his face. He couldn’t fathom what Chloe had gone through, and for her to open up to Serena that took guts. He didn’t know the kid, but he could tell from that alone she was strong.
As he thought about it, he said: “That’s why the police were at the school.”
She looked at him with a frown. “How did you-?”
“We drove past earlier today after a call. I spoke to some of the kids from the trip. I had already spotted the police car at the reception when Tina mentioned you were in a meeting with the head.”
She nodded in understanding and turned to him and buried her head in his shoulder.
“She’s only thirteen Ethan… just a kid…” she whispered and shook slowly as she cried again into his shoulder. She voiced what happened to the girl and he felt his body tense up at what had gone on with that young girl. He couldn’t understand what went through this sicko’s mind or how anyone could do that to a child. It made his blood boil.
Ethan growled, “I hope the police have arrested the bastard.”
“I hope so too. Unfortunately, we may never know. I was more concerned about getting Chloe to come forward and speak to the school. Then we informed the police. They might update the school with Chloe’s permission but it’s up to her and her mum to sort that out.”
Ethan nodded. “I’m glad you’ve told me.” He paused then added, “It’s a lot to deal with for her and for you.”
“You’ve no idea…” He heard her whisper. She pulled away and wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry I’ve got your top all wet.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m glad you felt you could confide in me.”
He watched her smile and fought back the urge to kiss her. He kissed the back of her hand instead and squeezed gently.
“Thank you.” They both stood, and he hugged her again.
“How are you getting home?”
“I'm going to walk. I didn't use my car today.” She secured her bag on her shoulder and turned to go.
“I’ll take you home. Come on, I don’t want you walking alone at this time.” He took her hand and led her over to his car.
“Are you sure?”
“Yep. I need to know where you live for Friday anyway.” He held the door open for her before getting into the driver's side. “Where do you live?”
“Grove Street, number two.”
Given the time, the roads were quiet. There was a quiet song playing in the background as he drove her home. It seemed like in no time at all he pulled up to the kerb.
Her house was a cute two-storey detached house. There was a small yard at the front, and a garage was to the left. A blossom tree sat to the right of the pathway.
“Thank you.”
“You are very welcome. Goodnight Serena.”
“Goodnight Ethan.”
He watched her from his car as she went into her house before he headed home.
- Writer
