Page 42 of Fireline

EIGHT

Booth dug for Rico, pulling burning hot timbers off the pile and tossing them behind him.

“I’m here.” Eric coughed. “I’m here. Go! Get Nova! I’ll dig!”

“You left Nova inside?”

Eric tried to speak but started coughing again. He leaned over and braced his hands on his knees. The coughs came—raspy, hacking coughs that meant he had inhaled far too much smoke. The poor guy’d barely got himself out.

“I’ll be right back.” Booth handed him his water. “Nova! Can you crawl to the southeast window?”

“I’m all turned around,” she yelled. “Go to the kitchen window!”

“Okay!” He didn’t bother telling her that was the southeast. As he rounded the corner, Nova popped her head up, coughing and gasping. “It’s okay. I got you.”

“Someone…there was…someone…else.” Nova’s every word was followed by a cough.

He reached through the window and lifted her under the arms. She all but collapsed into him. He pulled her to his chest and dragged her over the windowsill. “See? I’ve always got your back.”

When her feet hit the ground, she wobbled.

“Easy there. Give yourself a second. You breathed a lot of smoke.”

“I…I’m…” Nova’s eyes fluttered and rolled back.

He caught her before she fell, then lifted her into his arms. Her head lolled back and bounced as he hurried around front.

Eric, still coughing, had uncovered enough that Booth could see Rico’s boot and part of his leg. And bone.

He lowered Nova to the ground and did a quick assessment.

Eric tossed a board aside. “She okay?”

“She’s breathing. Strong pulse. I think it’s smoke and heat inhalation.” Booth ran over and grabbed one end of a beam. “She’ll be fine, but we need an evac quick.”

“You called?” Eric lifted the other end, and they laid the beam off to the side.

“I radioed for help.” Booth’s muscles screamed in protest, but he managed to move a broken support beam weighing down the other stuff on Rico. “We saw the fire jumping down the hill. Rico ran to help you guys, but the porch collapsed on top of him.”

The heavy pounding of rotors filled the air.

“We’ve got incoming,” Eric said.

Booth paused long enough to see the helicopter pass over and circle back, lining up the approach. He turned back and kept working to uncover Rico. “Help’s here, buddy. Hang in there a few minutes longer.”

Nova coughed. “Wh-what happened?”

Booth glanced over his shoulder. “You passed out.”

“How’d I get out?” She worked herself into a sitting position. “Where’s Eric?”

“Right here,” Eric said with a cough. “Booth pulled you out and called for evac.”

The helicopter set down in a field of sage brush as they pulled the last board off Rico. In a matter of minutes, the trauma team unloaded, and two men ran over with a basket to load the patient and heavy duffel bags.

Booth told them about the cave-in. “Rico has a pulse, but his leg is hurt bad. We didn’t want to move him. Eric here breathed in a lot of smoke, but Nova the most. She was drowsy and confused when I pulled her out. Passed out a second later.”

One of the medics shone a light in each of Nova’s eyes. “Did you hit your head?”

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