Page 34 of Embers of Love

Ember continued to push the rubble around. She took a step forward, a little too far to the edge of what was left of the collapsed floor. It gave underneath her weight. There was an initial jolt of terror as the floor crumbled underneath her feet and gravity took hold of her. As she fell, her fear gave way to peace. At least she’d done all she could. It wouldn’t count as failure if she died trying, would it? Nobody would judge her then, would they? Would it matter? She would be gone by then. It wouldn’t. Perhaps now the eyes would stop glaring at her accusingly. No judgement in death after all.

“Ember!” Someone wrenched the mask off her face.

She was staring up at the open skies. She was outside the building, no recollection of how she got there. Jenna appeared above her, her dark hair framing her worried face underneath her helmet. The captain was covered in dirt and part of her gear was still smoking.

“Are you okay?”

Ember moved her lips. They were working. She felt fine.

“Yes?” But she didn’t understand how, or why. The building had gone down, hadn’t it? She tried to get up, feeling strength return to her body as she moved. Jenna helped her up. She glanced around, noting other firefighters arounds. The fire had been put out, only a few areas was still smoking so everyone was a bit more relaxed, though Kiera and Zara gave her worried looks.

“What about the person trapped inside?” Ember enquired.

Jenna frowned. “We’ve gone through most of the rubble. We haven’t found anybody so far.”

“That’s…,” Ember didn’t know what to say to that. She’d heard someone cry out, hadn’t she? She definitely heard someone stuck up there when she was in the building. She heard them cough.

“I don’t think there was ever anyone trapped up there, Ember,” Jenna told her.

The ride back to the fire station at the early hours of the morning was eerily quiet. Even Kiera, who was normally boisterous, was somewhat subdued. Jenna drove the fire truck while Ember was made to sit in the back. She didn’t know if that was meant as punishment or for her to recover. The medic had performed a check-up and confirmed that she was fine.

Apparently, only a small portion of the floor had collapsed, likely due to Ember’s weight. Any more than that it would likely have killed her. They’d used the firetruck’s ladder to lift Jenna up. She found Ember buried under mostly dust, her helmet and protective gear had prevented any serious injuries. They brought her down without any incident.

Nobody mentioned the fact that she had risked her life for nothing. They searched the whole rubble. Nothing was found. There was nobody trapped inside the building.

Ember knew she was going to get an earful for her mother when she came in to work. This time, she actually deserved it. Another failure.

8

JOSEPHINE

Nothing had been harder for Josephine than walking away from Ember in the park.

I love her

Nothing had been more terrifying than watching Becky, her friend, storm into the house and stare at her with such vitriol.

It had been the one thing she’d feared the most in her relationship with Ember. Watching it unfold had been horrifying and heartbreaking. As Ember and her mother devolved into shouting matches, Josephine couldn’t take it anymore. She had to leave.

In the days that followed, she avoided Ember. All the times she had showed up at the apartment, Josephine had known it was Ember, but she didn’t answer the door. It was for the best, or so she told herself. She didn’t want to be the reason why the mother and daughter cut ties with each other. Her friendship with Becky was basically gone. That bridge had been burned the night she unknowingly slept with Ember.

“What happened?” Benjamin asked, sitting across from her at the table. They were having dinner at a place called Swan’s Heart. It was a beautiful restaurant, but seemingly built for tourists of Phoenix Ridge. It didn’t have any of the intimacy that The Golden had, but it was a beautiful place, nonetheless.

Her father studied her, his grey eyebrows furrowed in concern.

“What do you mean?” Josephine played dumb.

“You’ve been moping around for the last few days. Come on, I’m old but I’m not quite senile yet.”

Josephine sighed.

“Things not working out with your girlfriend?”

Josephine looked at him. She searched his expression. Realizing he was genuinely concerned, she relaxed and decided to reveal her situation to him.

“I’m dating my friend’s daughter.”

He ruminated on her words before looking at her. “Okay, I think I see where this is going. How old your friend’s daughter?”

---