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“Are you really?” he asked, looking her up and down.

“Yes, move,” she said, pushing him out of the way. It was like trying to move an elephant.

Reluctantly, he moved away, hovering over her as she leaned into the back of the car. The baby was whimpering softly, seeming a little out of it. Blood had soaked the right side of her head, into her dark hair. Her big gray eyes looked up at Olivia and she felt something in her heart squeeze. This poor kid, whether she knew it or not, had just lost her mother. Hopefully, she had some other family that would be able to take her. Olivia glanced back at the firefighter. “Can you grab the woman’s wallet and phone? She might have an emergency contact listed somewhere.”

Olivia gently pressed the bandage to the bleeding on the baby’s head. The wound seemed superficial. “You’re going to be okay, baby,” she crooned to her softly as she began to cry.

Olivia didn’t want to move the baby until they had a backboard, so she just sat there and talked to her while they waited on the paramedics, holding a bandage gently to her head. The baby’s breathing seemed fine and the bleeding that the pipe had caused seemed to be easing up. Eventually, her whimpering lessened and she watched Olivia, listening to her voice.

The built firefighter with the startling blue eyes leaned in next to her.

“I think we can remove the car seat without removing her from it,” he said, reaching for the push button on the latch.

She grabbed his hand. “We need to brace her head somehow.”

He seemed to agree as well, because he pulled out of the car and disappeared. Within a few seconds, though, he was back. And he carried a thick, fluffy towel. Olivia had no idea where he’d gotten it, but she wasn’t going to complain. The man rolled the towel into a tube like a pool noodle and wrapped it around the little girl’s dark-haired head. It fit the space in the car seat perfectly, and when he reached for the latch again, she let him unfasten the belt.

They drew the baby out of the car as they backed up, and it went more smoothly than she could’ve hoped. And as soon as the baby was out, the paramedics were there to take her. They strapped her to a gurney, car seat and all, and whisked her to an ambulance. The baby began to cry again.

Olivia’s gaze followed their progress all the way to the emergency vehicle, and she wondered what kind of life the kid would have ahead of her. It was so sad that the child’s life would always be defined by being a crash survivor and losing her mother at the same time.

Life was full of tragedy.

“Thank you for the help,” the blue-eyed hero said, voice gruff.

Olivia turned her head to look at him and her vision swam. She blinked, trying to get it to clear, but it only seemed to get worse.

“I think…”

* * *

Connor caught the woman as she took a long, slow-lidded blink and fell. He’d been doing this job long enough to know the signs of an impending disaster. Had to admit, though, the woman had done a lot of good, and she’d lasted longer than he’d expected.

She had a bold, dominant personality considering her diminutive size, but it disappeared as soon as she lost consciousness. Her short blonde hair fluttered in the breeze and away from the bloody contusion on her temple. Damn, that’s a hell of a goose egg. A bandage flapped in the breeze, only connected on one side.

As he swung her up into his arms, he realized how tiny she was. No bigger than a minute. The 5-inch large diameter firehose they used came in one-hundred-foot sections, and they weighed one hundred and two pounds, dry. He would bet his stars that this woman didn’t weigh any more than that. Turning, he looked for an available ambulance, then began walking toward the east. 73 had just pulled up. Kim Caldwell met him just outside the door and ran to open the vehicle up.

“What have you got, Chief?”

“She was involved in the crash somehow, but she’s medical. When I pulled up, she had already triaged three people and was helping a trapped kid. I tried to get her to slow down, but she checked on most of the people in the crash. Take good care of her, Kimmie.”

Kimmie nodded her head. “You know I will,” she grumbled.

Yeah, she would. She’d been one of his best students ever. And that was saying a lot.

“Did you find the driver,” Frank asked, joining them in the back the rig.

Connor shook his head. “Not sure yet exactly, though I have an idea. I think I saw Jack Parson’s truck smashed against the far stoplight, but I haven’t seen him yet.”

Frank shook his gray head. “That man has used up all his nine cat lives.”

Jack was a habitual drunk. The FD were called to his house at least once a week, and as far as Connor knew he didn’t even have a valid license. He’d lost it years ago. If he was the cause of all of this, the old man would probably be going to prison. He’d killed at least one person.

With a wave, he headed back to the chaos. Connor knew he was incident commander. They’d been convoying to the park when the call had come in, and it was sheer luck they’d been as close as they had been.

“Chief,” Rookie Hall skidded to a stop in front of him. “The pump on 13 is acting up again.”

Damn it. “Grab the extinguishers we stashed in the back, then, until we can get Pumper 22 moved up.”