Chasing the Fire (Backdraft, Fully Involved, Flashover) (11 page)

“Yep. And it was cold and impersonal.”

“You get what you ask for.”

“I know. I did.” His words were humble, as
was his tone. Damned if he didn’t sound sorry.

She’d never seen this self-deprecating side
of him. Even before he became what the
American Medical
Association Journal
called Trauma’s Boy Wonder, and even though
he’d grown up without any support, he spoke with an arrogance and
assurance. Not now, though.

“How’s your family?” she asked

He counted off on his fingers. “Jason’s a
doctor, too. Pediatrics. Mary Catherine teaches school. Leigh’s an
engineer. Mark a pharmacist. Louie’s a writer and publishes
children’s books. Ezra works on Wall Street.”

And little Molly had died at the age of four
and his parents had never recovered, leaving Linc to tend to the
family.

“Are you close with them still?”

“Not with the girls.” He cleared his throat.
“Things were never the same between them and me after I left
you.”

“I always loved them. Are they happy?”

“The guys say so. Are you, Lisa Beth?”

“Yep, happy as a clam.”

They reached the house’s circular driveway
and she stopped the car at the stoop. “Here you go.”

“Help me inside. There’s a separate entrance
around the side to my private suite.”

Without arguing—he’d badger her until she
gave in—she got out of the car, circled the hood and opened his
door. He swung his feet around and tried to stand but couldn’t do
it unassisted. “I’m afraid you’ll have to help me.”

Bending into the car, she pulled him up. He
came to his feet and slid his arm around her shoulders.

Black spots swam before Lisa Beth’s eyes. His
scent, sweaty now, but that special Linc brand, surrounded her. He
was taller than she remembered and she felt the hard muscles of his
chest against her breast. For the first time in nine years, she
wanted to cry over all that they’d lost.

Leaning heavily on her, he limped to the
door, unlocked it, and they stepped inside. “Nice,” she said when
he switched on lights. The sitting area sported a stone fireplace,
built-in shelving, hardwood floors and big stuffed furniture.

“I’m glad you like it. I bought the place
with you in mind.”

Exasperated with the comments, the
implications of his words, she turned to him and said, without
rancor, “Linc, please. Even if I believed you changed, I could
never trust you again.”

“I won’t accept that. I spent seven years
trying to make myself believe I could live without you. When I
realized I couldn’t, I left everything and decided to woo you.”

She shook her head. “I can’t
be
wooed.
Your actions won’t make any difference.”

He propped himself up against the wall, and
she realized he was in pain. And probably exhausted. “Come on, I’ll
help you to bed, get you some ibuprofen and an ice pack, then I’m
out of here.”

This time when she hooked his arm over hers,
he moved in as close as he could get. She remembered the times
they’d made love; it was as if they were trying to get into each
other’s skin. Right now, she missed that so much it hurt.

When they reached the entrance to the
bedroom, she stopped short. “Oh, my God.”

He didn’t say anything and just dropped down
onto a chair by the door. But she remembered…

We’ll have a king-size bed.

With a big quilt. I like dark green. Maybe
some stripes.

How about teak furniture? One of my profs
has it in his living room. It’s cool.

Teak it is.

Skylights?

Of course.

A bathroom with a Jacuzzi.

He’d kissed her nose. I think I can
accommodate you, m’lady.

She sucked in a deep breath and stared at the
green comforter with yellow stripes, the teak headboard and
dressers, and three skylights above. She didn’t have to see the
bathroom to know what was in it. Overcome, she had to take a minute
to process her thoughts. Finally she came up with, “It’s a little
creepy, don’t you think?”

“Ha. If you think this is creepy, look on the
shelves of the entertainment unit.”

She should leave. But something drew her to
the wall facing the bed. A big TV, stereo, DVR in the middle
section. But on either side, there were framed photos…of her. Of
them. Together. She’d forgotten he was a camera buff and had taken
pictures of her all the time and asked others to photograph them
once in a while.

There were shots of them kissing, of her in
bed looking as if they’d made love, of him half dressed. She felt
her eyes well. It was a minute before she realized he’d come up to
her. Grasped her shoulders. Once again, she felt encompassed by
him. For long seconds, she lost herself in his nearness, in the
safety and security his body made her feel.

“I’m not giving up on you, Lisa Beth. This
ought to prove that.”

Overcome, she wrenched out of his grasp,
hurried to the door, opened it and left. She couldn’t bear to be in
the room of living proof of what they’d lost.

oOo

“
REPEAT, FIREFIGHTERS ARE
not to go
into the building until the police arrive.”

“Roger that.” Lisa Beth spoke into the
two-way radio from her side of the Midi. Nearly a week after the
baseball game, she and Jackson had been called alone to a domestic
disturbance where the man inside had been seen through the window
wielding a knife. A neighbor had phoned in the incident.

“It sucks sitting here,” Jackson said. They
both watched shadows cross the lightly draped window. “What do you
think? The smaller one’s the wife?”

“Probably. According to previous reports, the
neighbors said they have these spats a lot. The police really
should do more about domestic violence.”

“Yeah.”

Silence. Then, “Shit, Jackson, did you see
that? A little shadow. Kid size.”

“Damn it. Call the chief.”

When she reached their battalion chief by
phone, Mitch Malvaso said, “No way are you to go inside until the
police arrive. You’re seasoned firefighters, you know that.”

She glanced at Jackson. He raised an
eyebrow.

“What’s that chief?” Lisa Beth said. “You’re
breaking up.”

“The hell I am. Duncan, I mean…”

She clicked off.

“I’m not lettin’ that bastard hurt a kid.”
Jackson thrust open the driver’s side door. Lisa Beth grabbed the
ALS bag out of the back of the medical truck. They rushed up the
sidewalk to the door. Knocked hard. “Open up. Police.”

Silence inside. Then crying.

McCabe eyed the door. “It looks flimsy. I can
kick it in.”

Just then the door swung open. A huge man
with a beer gut, stinking of pot, holding a knife. “What the fuck…
You’re not five-o.” He pointed the weapon at them. “Get the fuck
out.”

Lisa Beth, said, “Not a chance.”

The guy started to move toward her, so she
braced her arms on the door frame and kicked him as hard as she
could in the balls. He crumpled to the ground, gurgling out
animal-like noises.

Moaning and crying came from inside. “Find
the kid,” McCabe said. “I got the woman.”

Sirens blared, signaling the police’s
arrival, but Lisa Beth ignored them. She rushed in the direction of
the crying sounds coming from the basement. “Jesus, a little girl’s
at the bottom of the cellar stairs.” Lisa Beth trundled down. “God
Almighty.”

The child of about eight lay on the concrete
floor, wailing. Because both her legs were positioned at weird
angles, each with a raggedly broken bone sticking out, one bubbling
over with blood.

oOo

HIS INTERN BURST
into the on-call
room, bringing Linc upright and instantly awake. “Kid coming in
with fractures in both legs and profuse bleeding.”

Linc bounded off the cot and raced out of the
small sleeping space in the ER unit. Down the hall, two paramedics
were wheeling the stretcher. When he saw one was Lisa Beth and the
other was McCabe, the same guy who’d brought her in injured, he
gave her a brief nod and said, “Report, please.”

“Child found at the bottom of the cellar
stairs while a domestic fight ensued on first floor.” McCabe spoke
neutrally, but Linc could tell he was corralling his anger. “Tibia
in right leg and fibula in the other are broken…” which Linc could
see. “We stemmed the bleeding with ice packs on the way over. My
guess is the poor kid has weak bones, anyway. That she’s suffering
from poor nutrition.”

Linc turned to his intern. “Get her an X-ray,
stat.” To a nurse, he ordered, “Book an OR for surgery and take her
up there as soon as the scan’s done.” He looked at the paramedics.
“Walk with me up to the OR. Tell me what happened.”

They flanked him.

“We were called to a domestic-abuse
situation…” When Lisa Beth finished the story Linc stopped short.
“You went into all that without police protection?”

“She didn’t need it.” McCabe chuckled as he
walked a few feet farther and pressed the elevator button. “She
crushed his balls with her foot when he lifted a knife to us.”

“I held the kid all the way over.” Lisa
Beth’s voice was strained. “She whimpered and came in and out of
consciousness.”

The elevator door opened and they rode up.
When they got out on the surgical floor, he turned to her. “If you
want, you can watch in the galley.”

“Seriously?” She faced McCabe. “You think we
could?”

“Sorry, I have a meeting at eight. You can
stay. We’ll be off duty by the time we get the truck back to the
house. You’ll need a ride to get your car, though.”

Linc squeezed her arm and started into the
scrub room.

“Linc?” He turned back. “Thanks.”

He winked at her. “Thank you for putting that
bastard out of commission.”

oOo

HE WAS A
miracle worker. She’d never
seen anyone so facile with his hands, so precise with his
movements, so quick in all of it. For four hours, she watched him
adjust the tibia and fibula of the child’s legs. Raze off
splintered bone. Reposition. Attach. Close up. When it was over,
her body was as tense as a strung wire, as if she’d been in the
operating room, too. And she felt the thrill of his success. In med
school, she’d watched other doctors operate and experienced the
same kind of exhilaration. But then it was because she knew she’d
get to do the same someday.

Those dreams had been dashed. She put her
hand to her stomach, which felt queasy from the stress. So much
loss.

When the last stitch was in place, Linc
looked up at her and angled his head toward the door.
Meet me
out there,
was the silent communication. She nodded.

They met up in the hall. His face was sweaty,
but his eyes glimmered with his success. A deep and abiding smile
broached his lips and even his stance was…confident. She used to
find that reaction to medicine sexy.

She still did.

He drew her off to the side. “She’s stable
and will get casting, of course. You were right, the bones were
fragile as glass. I’ll bet these aren’t the first broken ones she’s
had.”

“The poor kid.”

“She’ll get good care here.”

“Yeah, but what about when she goes back
home?”

“I honestly don’t know.”

A nurse named Renee approached them. “Lisa
Beth, the police have been waiting to talk to you. I stalled them
when I realized how involved you were in the surgery.” She nodded
to Linc. “Pretty impressive, isn’t he?” Must be she wasn’t too
afraid of him. And maybe she was attracted to him.

“Yeah, I always knew he would be.”

Linc gave her a double take. She was too high
to stop the compliment.

Renee said, “They probably want to talk to
you, too, Dr. Roberts. They’re in the first-floor waiting
area.”

“You go down and I’ll get cleaned up and come
out.”

Ten minutes later, Linc found Lisa Beth and
two cops huddled in a chair grouping, in front of a wide expanse of
windows. As he reached them, he heard the woman cop ask, “You went
inside when you were explicitly told not to by dispatch?”

Lisa Beth raised her chin. “I saw the shadow
of the kid before the bastard kicked her down the stairs. I
couldn’t wait.”

“You have to know that was risky to your own
life.”

“My call, I guess.”

The woman studied Lisa Beth. “I’m Captain
Megan Hale. I came on this case because I heard the fire department
was involved.”

Lisa Beth winced. “Your husband, Mitch
Malvaso, is our battalion chief. So, um, you kind of understand
us.”

“I don’t think so. You were wrong,
Firefighter.”

Linc interrupted. “If it helps, the girl
would have died had the paramedics not intervened. Not only did
they get to the hospital in time for surgery to do any good, but if
they hadn’t treated her on site, and on the way over, she probably
would have bled out.”

There was more discussion of the incident,
and though Linc was unhappy Lisa Beth had put herself in danger, he
was very proud of her quick thinking and bravery. It made him want
her even more.

While they were still talking to the cops,
another woman approached them. “I’m Denise Cruz. I’m from the
Department of Children and Families.”

The police officers gave her their
report.

After they left, Lisa Beth turned to Ms.
Cruz. “Do you have information on the girl?”

The woman checked her clipboard. “The house
was rented by John Lombard. She’s a foster child. She’s been there
six months.”

“She has a bad case of malnutrition and other
signs of abuse.” Linc was angry now. “How is it that your
organization didn’t know all that?”

The woman’s tired face turn sad. “Same old,
same old. We’re understaffed; she fell through the cracks.”

“She can’t go back to that house!” Lisa
Beth’s voice rose a notch.

The woman nodded. “I know. But she
will
have to go back into the system when she’s
released.”