Fire Born (Firehouse 343) Read Online Free

and trying his hardest not to show it. He was a firefighter—a rescuer and leader of others. It had never been in his nature to simply sit and do nothing. Even as a b oy growing up on the r eservation he had always been on the move, getting himself into this trouble or that mess . According to his grandfather, his body was host to a restless spirit. Though he had been settled in his work and the city he served for the last six teen years, his restlessness would not truly find peace until he had met a kindred spirit.
    Translation: His grandfather believed he needed a woman.
    He would have laughed at the thought had his present circumstances not been so morose.
    Prayer helped only a little, but still Chris prayed for Calvin with every breath he took. He prayed that he would make it through the surgery. He prayed that Calvin would wake up. He prayed that he would talk and walk and return to the job he loved so much, the job he had taught more than half of the men in the room to do. He prayed that Karalyn , who was only 24, would have her father to lean on whenever she needed him. He prayed that Tonja would have the man she loved to warm her bed at night and that Calvin’s family would have their son, their brother, back again.
    He prayed that he would have his friend.
    But through every breath, every silent prayer to God and all the animal spirits he had been taught to revere from the time he could talk, the knot of dread that had formed the moment Calvin had walked through that burning building’s door remained ever present. It burned in his gut like acid and gave root to the fear that was surely in everyone else’s mind, not just his own. A fear that Chris would not let himself put words to, because then that would make it an all too real possibility.
     
     
    The door to the waiting room opened slowly, and a doctor who looked to be in his mid-forties stepped slowly inside, starting ever so slightly at the number of people gathered. He looked around, his eyes settling on the three women, and cleared his throat.
    “ Karalyn Maynard?” he queried.
    Every man in the room not already doing so stood as Karalyn rose shakily to her feet. For a moment Chris wondered why the doctor had spoken her name, and then just as quickly realized that because he and Tonja were not yet married, Calvin’s only child would be listed as his next of kin.
    “My father?” Kara asked , her breath hitching as her gaze searched the doctor’s.
    Chris knew before the man spoke what he was going to say by the subtle drop of his shoulders. He ground his teeth together as the words came haltingly out of the doctor’s mouth, and his heart constricted painfully in his chest once again.
    “I… I am so sorry, Ms. Maynard. We did everything we could…”
    Karalyn would have hit the floor hard had Blake Temple not been standing beside her. He caught his cousin’s partner as he r knees gave way and lowered her gently to the tile, holding her tightly as she began to scream.
    “ Daddy! ”
    At the same time, Tonja let loose a loud, keening wail of grief. She turned into Irene’s embrace and the two sobbed into each other’s shoulder. Calvin’s team all hung their heads, their shoulders shaking as they cried silent tears. Bob Dresden let one fall from each eye before he wiped them away and stepped over to the doctor. Chris moved to stand beside him.
    “Tell me what happened, Doctor,” Bob said.
    With another glance at Kara , who was sobbing heavily into Blake’s shoulder, the doctor looked back at him. “As you may know,” he began quietly, “Captain Maynard’s neck was, for all intents and purposes, broken due to blunt force trauma. Vertebrae C2 through C4 were crushed and his spinal cord was severely damaged. Had he survived he would never have regained the use of his limbs, or felt anything below his neck.”
    “What about… What caused his death?” Chris asked.
    “ Vasogenic cerebral edema— swelling of the brain ,” the doctor replied.