Page 31 of Sparks Fly

None of them are Hallie.

As Kaia carries another barely conscious victim into a waiting ambulance, her muscles screaming with fatigue, she overhears a pair of paramedics talking in low, urgent tones.

“...Hunter, I think. Blunt force trauma to the head, nasty laceration to the thigh...”

Kaia’s legs nearly give out from under her, her vision darkening as the paramedic’s words sink in like poison darts.

She deposits her charge on a gurney and whirls around, grabbing the arm of the nearest paramedic with a white-knuckled grip.

“The casualty you just mentioned. Hunter. Do you mean Hallie Hunter? The lieutenant from Fire Station 3?” Kaia demands, her voice shaking with barely restrained panic.

“I… I don’t know. She was pretty banged up, but it looked like her.”

Kaia’s stomach plummets, a wave of dizzying nausea crashing over her. She fumbles for her radio, her voice cracking as she calls for the captain.

“Captain Hewitt, do you have eyes on Lieutenant Hunter? I heard… I heard the paramedics picked up someone who looked like Hallie.”

There’s a pause on the other end of the line, an agonizing stretch of static that seems to last an eternity.

Then, the captain’s voice crackles through, heavy with grim resignation.

“Montgomery... Yes, Hunter’s been located. She was transported to a hospital in critical condition maybe ten minutes ago. Montgomery… I have to warn you… it doesn’t look good.”

The ground seems to drop out from beneath Kaia’s feet. She staggers back a step, her radio almost slipping from her trembling fingers.

This can’t be happening. This can’t be real. She was coming back to me.

Kaia stands frozen amidst the ongoing chaos, her mind reeling as she tries to process the captain’s words. Every instinct in her body is screaming at her to run, to race to the hospital and find Hallie, to hold her hand and beg her to stay alive.

But she’s torn, a fierce sense of duty warring with the desperate need in her chest. She knows Hallie would want her to stay focused on the rescue, to put the needs of the citizens before her own. It’s what she’s trained for, what Hallie has drilled into each and every rookie from day one.

Kaia looks around slowly at the still-smoldering wreckage. It’s impossible to know at this point how many more survivors need to be pulled out.

But then, Captain Hewitt’s voice crackles through the radio again, this time softer, almost soothing.

“Montgomery, listen to me. I think I know what Lieutenant Hunter means to you. I’ve had my suspicions for a while now, and it’s okay. You can go to her. We’ll handle things here.”

Kaia’s eyes well with tears, her throat tightening with a surge of gratitude and relief. But still, she hesitates.

“But Hallie... she would want me to stay,” she whispers, more to herself than to the captain. “She would put the job first, no matter what.”

Beside her, Richards appears and places a gentle hand on her shoulder, his expression understanding.

“Kaia, you should go,” he says gently. “We’ve got this. Hunter would do the same for you, and you know it.”

“Thank you,” Kaia mumbles, seizing Adam in a quick, fierce hug before sprinting towards the line of waiting ambulances. She spots one that’s about to leave, two paramedics closing the rear doors while another leaps into the driver’s seat.

“Wait!” Kaia cries out, waving her arms frantically. “I need to come with you. My... my partner, she was taken in on another rig.”

The paramedic in the front snaps his head up, spotting Kaia and jerking his chin towards the passenger seat, a silent invitation. Kaia scrambles into the ambulance, her heart lodged in her throat as she fastens her seatbelt with shaking hands.

As the ambulance peels away from the horrifying scene, sirens wailing, Kaia closes her eyes and sends up a desperate prayer.

“Hold on, Hallie,” she whispers. “Just hold on for me. I’m coming.”

She presses her forehead against the cool glass of the window, watching the city blur past through a haze of tears.

15

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