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Just as the fire inched closer to my boots, the wall I hacked away at came tumbling down and Nate and my team entered the building.
“Brayden!” Captain Beckham shouted as he tried peering through the smoke in the room. “Damnit Knight, where are you!?”
“We’re here!” an employee shouted as they all worked together to drag me through the hole in the wall.
They weren’t as skilled and as quick as firefighters, which led me into a whole new world of trouble. The fire had caught up to us and crept up the legs of my pants as they worked to get me out. The pain in my legs felt like blades slicing at my flesh. I could only flutter one leg, while the other one sizzled under the flames like steaks on a grill.
“Shit! We have to get him out fast! His legs are burning!”
Captain Beckham took the chance of climbing in before the building collapsed completely and squashed me like a bug. With the employees out of the way, he grabbed ahold of my collar and pulled me through the hole like a sack of potatoes.
Without hesitation, he jumped on top of my legs to smother the fire. It caused me more pain than ever, but the fire was out, and my legs were saved from melting away like candle sticks.
“Why’d you go in there, Knight!” he shouted at me as he waved for help. “That was stupid of you! You could have gotten yourself killed!”
After being lifted onto a stretcher and slid into the back of an ambulance, I don’t remember much. The pain I felt was enough to knock me out cold before being given pain meds.
I woke up what felt like days later even though it had only been hours. My leg was stapled shut where the ax hit and wrapped in bandages where the fire burned. Captain Beckham sat at my bedside waiting for me to come to and when I did, boy, did he lay it on thick.
“What the hell were you thinking back there Brayden?” he asked. “This feud between you and Nate has got to come to an end before one of you gets killed. That was stupid move you pulled and I'm glad you made it out, but as of now, you’re placed on leave. No desk work, no entering the station, nothing. You need to take this time to heal and really get to the root of your anger with everything. Until then, I can't have you back.”
“What?” I frowned. “No way. I couldn’t have known the fire would pick up as fast as it did. There were people trapped inside. I saved them.”
“Yeah, while nearly killing yourself.”
“Isn’t that what it means to be a firefighter? Risk yourself to save the innocent?”
Beckham looked at me and only shook his head. He was disappointed beyond belief, and I could do nothing but try to justify my actions. The excruciating pain in my legs reminded me of how stupid my take was, but I fought hard for my position anyway.
“Three months leave,” he said. “That’s final.”
“Captain?”
“I don’t want to hear it, Brayden. Three months. Take some time to get yourself together and then we’ll talk about you coming back.”
Before he walked away, he patted my shoulder to let me know there was no love lost between us. He was just doing his job. Not long after, my mom came barging into my hospital room looking like she’d been street walking all night and day. Her eyes were full of tears and her hair was a mess. She smelled funny too.
“Brayden are you alright?” she sobbed as she approached me. “I heard about what happened. How are you feeling, honey?”
“I’m fine.”
I answered her with annoyance in my tone and looked away. I couldn’t stand the sight of her the way she was; dirty and unkept. Drunk out of her mind most days we ran into each other.
“That’s good,” she said. “I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if something were to happen to you.”
“Oh yeah?” My uncle Joe entered the room right on cue. “That’s very rich coming from you.”
“What the hell are you doing here?” Mom scoffed. “Every time something happens, you’re always showing up. I can take care of my own son, Joe.”
The two of them were always fighting over me. When my mom let her addiction consume her, my Uncle Joe took me under his wing and raised me like I was his own. He tried getting her clean and off the bottle several times over the course of my life, but she always returned.
“What were you thinking out there, kid?” Uncle Joe asked. “That was a dangerous stunt you pulled. I know you think you failed at saving this one here, but you can’t make up for that by doing stupid shit like what you did tonight. You understand?”
I didn’t answer him. I was in too much pain and was in no mood for a lecture after what I'd gone through that night.
“Beck said he placed you on three months leave,” he said.
“Yeah,” I scoffed angrily. “That’s bullshit.”
