Page 54 of Phoenix Rising

Becky cleared her throat, her expression hardening once more. “We’ve got to move. More vehicles are at risk of collapsing.”

Lucinda nodded, pulling herself together. “I’ll get my team on it.”

15

BECKY

The high-pitched wail of sirens pierced the humid night air as Becky gripped the steering wheel, her knuckles white. The fire engine rumbled beneath her, its tires slapping against the wet pavement as they sped toward the scene. Her radio crackled with updates, but all Becky could hear was the steady thrum of her own heartbeat in her ears. The details had been sparse—multiple vehicle pile-ups on the interstate, semi-trucks involved, numerous casualties—but it was enough to send a shiver down her spine.

“ETA, two minutes!” shouted Carter from the passenger seat, her eyes scanning the horizon for any sign of the wreckage.

Becky grunted in response, her mind alreadyracing with the checklist of tasks that would need to be handled the moment they arrived. She was Chief Thompson right now, and she needed to stay sharp, focused. No room for error. Not after what happened last time. She couldn’t afford another mistake.

But deep down, Becky couldn’t shake the gnawing feeling in her gut. Lucinda’s hospital was the closest facility to the crash site, and that meant she’d likely be there. Becky wasn’t ready to see her—not like this, not in the middle of a disaster.

The radio crackled again. "We’ve got confirmed fatalities," a voice reported from one of the first responders on the scene. "And multiple critical injuries."

“Damn it,” Becky muttered under her breath. She knew it was bad, but hearing it confirmed always hit harder. She slammed her foot on the gas, urging the engine faster.

Moments later, the wreckage appeared on the horizon like a scene from a nightmare. Flames licked the sky from several vehicles, casting an eerie glow on the twisted metal scattered across the highway. A semi-truck lay on its side, its cargo—a pile of lumber—spilled across the road, pinning several smaller vehicles beneath it. EMTsand police officers were already on site, trying to make sense of the chaos, but it was clear they were overwhelmed.

Becky’s engine screeched to a halt, and she jumped out before the truck had fully stopped. Her crew followed, leaping into action as she barked orders.

“Carter, get the foam on those fires! We need containment now!” Becky shouted, her voice cutting through the noise. “Knight, help the EMTs with triage! We need a headcount of the survivors!”

The rain had started to fall, a slow drizzle that only added to the tension. Becky yanked on her helmet, her heart pounding. She could feel the adrenaline surging through her veins as she jogged toward the nearest vehicle, a mangled sedan that had been crushed beneath the semi. A young woman sat inside, barely conscious, her face streaked with blood.

“We need the Jaws over here!” Becky yelled to the team, kneeling beside the car. “Hold on, ma’am. We’re gonna get you out.”

The woman’s eyes fluttered open for a moment, fear and confusion etched on her face. Becky reached through the shattered window, gentlygripping her hand. “You’re gonna be okay. We’re here now.”

But as Becky surveyed the wreckage, she realized how bad it truly was. Dozens of cars were scattered across the highway, many of them piled on top of one another like discarded toys. Some were burning, others overturned, and people were trapped in almost every vehicle. It was the kind of scene she’d seen only a handful of times in her career, and it never got easier.

"Chief!" Carter's voice rang out from behind her. "We've got someone pinned under the truck. We need help over here!"

Becky turned, her stomach dropping as she followed Carter to the semi-truck. The lumber had shifted, crushing two smaller cars beneath its weight. From where she stood, she could see the pale face of a man trapped beneath the wreckage, his leg pinned under a log that had fallen from the trailer.

Becky gritted her teeth. "We need a crane or something to lift this load. We can’t pull him out without risking further injury."

Carter nodded, already calling it in, but Becky knew it would take time—time the man didn’t have.

As she walked away scanning the scene, Becky’s eyes landed on a figure moving swiftly through the wreckage. Even with the rain falling steadily and the smoke billowing from the wreckage, she recognized her immediately—Lucinda.

Her breath caught in her throat.

Her name rang in Becky’s head, a familiar and painful echo. She hadn’t seen Lucinda since they’d parted ways months ago—, since Lucinda and Becky had talked outside of the hospital. Becky had certainly been avoiding any contact with her.

But now, Lucinda would be here, in the middle of all this wreckage and heartbreak. Of course, the hospital would send her. Lucinda Everett was the best, and when it came to trauma, she never faltered.

Becky swallowed hard, forcing the emotions down like she always did. There wasn’t time for this. There wasn’t time to think about the hurt, the unanswered questions, or the way her heart still stuttered at the thought of Lucinda.

She had a job to do.

Becky moved toward the fire crew at the semi, barking orders to the officers standing around, trying to focus on the task at hand. She directed traffic, coordinated extraction efforts, and helpedparamedics where she could. But as each minute passed, she felt Lucinda’s presence getting closer, a magnetic pull that she couldn’t shake.

Lucinda emerged from the back of an ambulance, her expression calm but intense. She was wearing her scrubs under a thick jacket, a stethoscope hanging around her neck as she took in the scene with those sharp, assessing eyes Becky knew so well. They caught on hers, and they seemed to look right through her.

Lucinda always looked composed in these moments, but Becky could tell there was more going on beneath the surface. She recognized the tightness around her jaw, the way her eyes flicked back and forth as she took in the scope of the disaster. Even now, months after everything had ended, Becky could read her like a book.

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