Hot Nights Forever (Hot Summer Series) (4 page)

Brian arrived in
Savannah and drove straight to the fire scene.  Aaron said he would bring all
of his equipment and it would be on the hook and ladder truck.  He gave
Stephanie a quick call while he parked his car out of the way and jogged to the
hook and ladder truck to retrieve his things.  He hurriedly put on his turnout
gear and grabbed his oxygen tank and mask. 

Running over to
his captain to see what the status was on the fire and see what position he
wanted him to take.

            “About damn time you
got here” his captain said in greeting.

            “I came as soon as you
called.  What’s the situation?”  Brian was anxious to help out his fellow
firefighters.

            “The building is
consumed.  No one was in the building when it started.  We are trying to keep
it from spreading to the building behind it.  You can go to that side door and
help out those guys from station 9.”  His captain turned to talk into the radio
to tell them they had one more man coming.

“Later Captain.”  Brian began
running to the side exit as he was putting on his oxygen tank and mask. 

Three men from Station 9 were
holding the water hose.  There was a powerful stream of water going directly at
the building that was on fire.  Brian jogged to the first man on the hose and
tapped him on the shoulder to let him know he was there.  The first man put his
fisted hand up and made a circling motion above his head to let Brian know to
take over for him.  Brian suspected that he was exhausted and willingly stepped
up front and took the hose. 

While Brian held onto the hose and
controlled the direction of the water flow, he briefly thought about Aaron.  He
wished like hell he could ask someone where he was but Brian knew that was
impossible at the moment. 

After about ten minutes of them on
the hose, working together and trying to put out the fire, a call came over the
radio.  It was an urgent call from his captain telling them to evacuate
immediately.  “Get out! Get away now! Get back to the fucking trucks!”  His
captain sounded frantic and that caused the tiny hairs on Brian’s neck to stand
straight up. 

After the water was turned off,
Brian and the others ran away from the blazing building.  Running in turnout
gear is hard to do but Brian pumped his legs as hard as he could until they
burned.  Because he was running so hard, his helmet fell off his head.  To lose
more weight, Brian decided to get rid of the oxygen tank on his back and mask
on his face.  Now he could run a little faster.  He could see his station’s
fire trucks and he knew he was half way there.  That’s when he heard it. There
was a large explosion that vibrated in his chest.  Brian knew by the sound that
it was bad.  All of the sudden, he had an excruciating pain in the back of his
head.  Then all was black.

Stephanie was lying in bed reading
a book and thinking about Brian. She put the book down in frustration because
she couldn’t concentrate on the story line.  She was worried about Brian.  This
was a reality check.  It was one thing to see him in those sexy firefighter
pants that hung low at the waist but a completely different thing to live this
life close to a fire fighter and knowing the dangers they face.  

When her phone rang, she jumped. 
Stephanie answered it on the second ring without looking at the caller id. 
“Hi, how are you?” She said a little breathless.  She assumed it was Brian.

“Hello.  Umm, we haven’t officially
met, but my name is Aaron and I work with Brian at the fire station.”  Aaron’s
voice was strained.

Stephanie felt the pit of her
stomach roll with nausea.  “I really don’t want to ask you why you are calling
me.  Is Brian…?”  Her voice broke in a sob.  She couldn’t finish the sentence. 

“There was an exposition and Brian
is in the hospital.  The doctors are staying he is stable right now but I
thought you should know.”  Aaron pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to
control his emotions.

“What hospital?  Can I come down?” 
Stephanie had jumped out of bed and began gathering some clothes.

“He’s at
Cape Valley Hospital
. 
Do you need the address?”     

 “No.  I’ve put it into my IPhone
and I’ll follow the GPS.  Where do I need to go when I get there?” 

“He is on the 4
^th
floor.  Room 406.  You’ll recognize his room by all the firefighters in the
hall.”  There was a sense of pride in Aaron’s voice. 

“Ok.  I’ll be there as soon as I
can.  Thanks for calling me.”  Stephanie hung up the phone without waiting for
a response and began putting some clothes in an overnight bag.  She quickly
changed clothes and brushed her teeth.  Within ten minutes, she was out the
door and on her way to Savannah.      

Stephanie arrived at the hospital
in Savannah and parked haphazardly in the 2
^nd
row of the parking
deck.  Getting out of her car, she ran to the front entrance.  To her right,
there was a receptionist desk with an older woman sitting behind it reading a
book.  When Stephanie walked up to the desk, she placed the book face down and
gave her a small smile.

“How can I help you dear?” She
asked in a grandmotherly voice.

“I’m here to see Brian um…Brian in
room 406 please.”  It wasn’t until just now that Stephanie realized she didn’t
even know his last name.  She was in love with a man that she hardly knew.  How
was that possible?

“I’m sorry dear but visiting hours
are over.  You can come back in the morning at 8:00.”  The older woman gave her
an apologetic smile.

“No!  You don’t understand.  I need
to see him.”  Stephanie knew she was pleading but couldn’t help it.

“Hi Margaret.  She’s with me,” came
a voice from the entrance of the elevators.  Stephanie turned and saw a very
pregnant woman with a friendly smile.  “Hi. You must be Stephanie.  I’m Kara,
Aaron’s wife.”  Kara reached up and rubbed Stephanie’s back for reassurance. 

“Hello.  I just got here but…” 
Stephanie was on the verge of an emotional meltdown right in the hospital’s
lobby.    

“I know.  It’s going to be fine. 
You can come up with me.”  Looking at the receptionist, Kara said “she’s family
so it’s ok for her to come up right?” 

“Well, if she’s family it is.” 
Margaret looked at Stephanie over her glasses.

            “Thanks.”  Lacing her arm through Stephanie’s,
Kara led her to the elevators and pushed the up button.  When the doors slid
open, they both stepped inside.

“I know she was just doing her job
but I was about to lose it.”  Stephanie said as she leaned against the back
wall for support. 

“Looks like I came down just in
time then.”  Kara rubbed her belly and gave her a smile.

“How is Brian?”  Stephanie had no
idea what happened or what was wrong and she needed some information.

“He’s holding his own.  I will tell
you that the doctors put him in a medically induced coma to keep him stable. 
Just so you know before you see him.”  Kara reached out and squeezed
Stephanie’s hand. 

Stephanie blanched. 
A coma!
 
That sounded so serious.  “What happened?”

“There was an explosion from the
building behind the one that was burning.  Everyone was evacuating but as Brian
was running, something from the force of the blast hit him in the back of the
head.  He has a concussion and some swelling on the brain,” Kara explained
softly.

“I just realized downstairs that I
don’t know his last name and I love him.”  Stephanie put her face in her hands
and sobbed uncontrollably. 

“It’s going to be ok.  Brian is
tough and the doctors have had some positive responses from him so far.  And
his last name is Abernathy.”  Kara hugged Stephanie and rubbed her back for
comfort.  “We are almost on the 4
^th
floor.  You better get yourself
together because the hallway is lined with firefighters. 

The doors to the elevators opened
and the two women stepped out.  When they made the right turn onto Brian’s
hallway, firefighters were flanked on both sides.  Stephanie was very
intimidated by the sight.  As she walked further down the hall, she couldn’t
help but notice the heavy smell of smoke that clung to their clothes or how
bone tired some of them looked.  But still they were here, supporting one of
their own.  Stephanie suddenly felt a since of pride at fire fighters and what
they go through.

A fireman stepped away from the
wall and approached Stephanie.  He had kind brown eyes and a weary smile. 
“Hi.  I’m Aaron.  We spoke on the phone.”  Aaron reached out to gently shake
Stephanie’s hand.

“Hi. Thanks so much for calling
me.  Can I see him?”  Stephanie smoothed her hair back.  She was so nervous
about seeing Brian helpless.

“The doctors are in their now doing
some tests.  When they finish, I’m sure it’s fine.” Aaron looked at his wife
and seemed to ask a silent question.  Kara shook her head slightly.  “Just so
you know there’s a lot of stuff in and on Brian’s body to monitor him.” 

Stephanie took a deep breath. 
“Kara told me what happened and that they put him in a coma.”

“That’s right but the swelling on
his brain is already going down and that is a very good sign.”  Aaron gave her
a small smile. 

Just then, two doctors and a nurse
came out of Brian’s room.  One of the doctors was an older gentleman with thinning
gray hair.  He had an air of authority about him.  He was approaching Aaron. 
“Things are continuing to look good.  The swelling in his brain is slowly going
down and he is responsive to touch.  We’ll come back in 2 hours and see if
those changes continue.  Until then, his vitals are closely monitored.” 

“Thanks doc. Can we see him?” 
Aaron shook the doctor’s hand.

“Yes, but I still don’t want no
more than 3 people in that room” he said in a no nonsense voice and walked
away.

Kara walked over to Stephanie.  “If
you want me to go in with you, I will” she offered.

“No thank you.  I can do this.” 
She gave her a shy smile and walked to the door.

Stephanie took a deep breath and
pushed the heavy door open.  The room was dimly lit and had the classic smell
of medicine and latex.  The bed was the dominate feature in the room.  In the
middle of the bed, Brian was lying perfectly still with wires and tubes seemly
coming from everywhere.  Moving closer to his bedside, Stephanie noticed a
large white bandage wrapped around his head.  She choked back a sob and placed
her hand on his hand.  She was comforted by the warmth from his body. 

“Brian I’m so scared for you right
now,” she cried.  She could have sworn that she saw his finger twitch. 
Was
that my imagination?
  Then, the steady
beep, beep, beep
of the
monitor for his heart picked up a slightly faster pace
.  I know I’m not
imagining that,
she thought.

Stephanie was watching him closely
for any more signs when the door opened quickly.  A nurse about her own age
came in and gave her a wary look.  “There are some changes on his vitals.  What
happened?”

Stephanie felt guilty for some
reason.  She didn’t know if the changes were good or bad.  “I just came in here
and touched his hand.  When I spoke to him I thought I saw his fingers move.”

“Well that and his vitals
increasing slightly is a good sign.  Are you a relative?”  The nurse was
checking his IV bag.

“No.  We’re umm… seeing each
other.”  Was that a correct assessment of their relationship?  She had no idea because
it had only been a few weeks.   

 “Yes, the love effect.  Well
whatever you were doing don’t stop” she gave Stephanie a wink. 

“What is the ‘love effect’? 
Stephanie asked.

“It’s when a patient is
unresponsive until someone he or she loves touches or speaks to them and they
react in a way that Brian just did.  Looks like he loves you sweetie.”  The
nurse walked out the door.  Stephanie stood open mouthed looking at the closed
door. 

  Stephanie felt warmth spread from
her heart. 
Looks like he loves you sweetie
.  Those were the words from
a complete stranger.  Could they be true?  Stephanie turned to make her way
back to Brian’s bed. 

Stephanie placed her hand back on
his again.  There was so much she wanted to say.  “Brian, I care for you so much. 
I…” 

The door opened again and a young
woman came in followed by an older woman and man.  They all looked vaguely
familiar and Stephanie suddenly realized that this must be Brian’s parents and
sister. 

“Hi.  You must be Stephanie,” the
older woman said.

“Yes I am.  Are you Brian’s mom?” 
Stephanie asked nervously.

Brian’s mom stopped and cupped her
mouth when she saw her son lying on the hospital bed.  His dad stepped forward
to introduce them.

“Hi, my name is Robert, Brian’s
father.  Yes, this is his mother, Susan and this is our daughter, Katie. 

“Hi. Nice to meet you.”  Stephanie
smoothed her hair back.  She saw the look of horror, fear, and shock on the two
women’s faces and knew she had that same look 15 minutes ago. 

“The doctors said that things are
looking good and he just moved his fingers.  The nurse said that was a good
sign.”  Stephanie knew she was talking to fast but she couldn’t control her
nerves. 

After Brian’s mother recovered from
the shock of seeing him, she made her way to the other side of the bed.  “My
sweet son.  I can’t believe this has happened.” 

Once again, Brian’s heart rate
began to beat a little faster.  Stephanie explained to them what the nurse said
about his vital signs but didn’t reveal her nickname for it.  She thought that
was a little to forward.

Not wanting to leave his side but
knowing she should give his parents some privacy, Stephanie made her way back
out into the hallway. 

“Hi.  Are you ok?”  Kara came to
stand beside her.

“Yes I’m fine.  Just shocked at how
vulnerable he looks.”  Stephanie wrapped her arms around her chest. 

“Would you like to go downstairs
while his parents and sister are visiting and get some coffee?”  Kara offered.

“Sure that sounds nice.”  They both
made their way to the elevators. 

Stephanie ordered a latte and Kara
got a decaf coffee when they arrived at the café on the 3
^rd
floor. 

“So you really love Brian?” Kara
asked with a smile.

“Yes.  I know it’s crazy because we
have only known each other for a very short time but I do love him.”  Stephanie
took a sip of her latte.

“Well I would guess that Brian
feels the same way.  Aaron says that he has never seen Brian this head over
heels for any woman.”  Kara winked at her over her cup. 

Warmth spread thought Stephanie’s
core and she smiled.  “I just wish I could tell him.”

“From the responses he has been
giving and what the doctors has said, things are looking good.  The nurse told
us what happened when you first went in the room.  That’s a very good sign for
several reasons.”  Kara smiled a knowing smile at her.

“Yes it was and he had a similar
response with his mother.  So I know that he is aware on some level of who is
around him, it’s just unnerving to talk to him and him not talk back.” 
Stephanie looked down at the cream colored liquid in her cup. 

Kara reached across and squeezed
Stephanie’s hand.  “I know he’s going to pull through.”