Page 63 of Phoenix Rising

Becky gave a small, wry smile and pulled up a chair next to her. “You and me both.”

For a few moments, they sat in silence, the hum of the EOC continuing around them, but the chaos had quieted. Outside, the light was starting to break through the clouds, casting a soft glow over the soaked landscape. It was a strange sort of peace after the storm, the kind of calm that made you realize just how close you’d come to disaster.

Lucinda glanced at Becky from the corner of her eye. She looked worn out, her face lined with fatigue, but there was still that strength about her, the same strength that had drawn Lucinda in from the very beginning.

“How’s everything looking out there?” Lucinda asked, her voice soft.

Becky rubbed the back of her neck. “Better than we thought. We got most of the evacuees to higher ground in time. There’s some flooding in the lower parts of the city, but it’s nothing catastrophic.” She paused, her gaze drifting out the window. “We dodged a bullet with that dam. If it had gone, this whole place would’ve been underwater.”

Lucinda nodded, feeling a pang of guilt. She’d been so wrapped up in the hospital and her ownrole in managing the disaster that she hadn’t stopped to think about how much pressure Becky must have been under. The weight of the entire city’s safety had been on her shoulders, and yet she’d handled it with her usual calm.

“You were brilliant,” Lucinda said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper.

Becky turned to her, surprise flickering in her eyes. “What?”

Lucinda met her gaze, her exhaustion stripping away the usual barriers she kept in place. “You did well. You always do.”

For a moment, Becky just stared at her, as if trying to read something in her expression. Then she gave a small, almost embarrassed smile and looked away. “I don’t know about that. We got lucky, that’s all.”

Lucinda shook her head. “It wasn’t just luck. You kept everyone together. You kept me together.”

Becky blinked, clearly taken aback by the admission. They hadn’t talked like this, not since their reconciliation. They’d been careful, cautious, avoiding the deep, vulnerable conversations that had once been so easy between them. But now, sitting here in the quiet after the storm, it felt right.

“I’ve missed you,” Lucinda said, the words tumbling out before she could stop them.

Becky turned to her again, her eyes searching Lucinda’s face. There was a moment of hesitation, a flicker of uncertainty in Becky’s usually steady gaze.

“I’ve missed you, too,” Becky admitted, her voice low and rough with emotion.

Lucinda felt her chest tighten. It was the truth they hadn’t been able to say, the thing they’d both been dancing around for weeks. And now with the city safe and the immediate danger passed, it felt like the dam holding back her own emotions had started to crack.

They sat in silence for a few moments longer, the weight of the last few days still pressing down on them, but now there was something else—a warmth, a connection that hadn’t been there before.

As the morning light continued to filter into the room, Lucinda reached out, her fingers brushing against Becky’s. It was a small gesture, but it was enough.

Later, as the storm clouds finally began to break apart, giving way to the first rays of sunlight Phoenix Ridge had seen in days, Lucinda stood onthe makeshift observation deck outside the Emergency Operations Center. Her eyes were fixed on the horizon where the sun had started to burn through the heavy mist and was casting a warm, golden glow over the drenched city. She let out a long breath, her shoulders sagging as the weight of the disaster started to ease off her chest.

The rain had stopped.

It was surreal to stand there after days of relentless storming, after the fear that the dam would break and bring unimaginable destruction. The storm had felt like it would never end, but now, everything was quiet except for the distant hum of emergency vehicles and the occasional splash of water dripping from the trees.

Lucinda closed her eyes for a moment, inhaling the cool, damp air. Relief flooded through her, but it was mingled with a deep sense of fatigue. Her body ached, her mind weary, but there was also a glimmer of something else—a sense of clarity that hadn’t been there before.

The door behind her creaked open, and Lucinda turned to see Becky stepping out. They hadn’t had much time to talk since everything had started spiraling, and their interactions were kept to the professional necessities of the crisis. Butnow, with the storm finally breaking, the tension between them felt palpable.

“Hey,” Becky said softly, her voice carrying over the soft pitter-patter of the last remnants of rain dripping from the roof. “You okay?”

Lucinda smiled faintly. “I think so. We made it through.”

Becky nodded, her eyes scanning the horizon. “Yeah. We did.”

They stood in silence for a moment, both of them absorbing the quiet after the storm. Lucinda could feel the weight of everything that had happened, not just in the last few days but in the last few months since their breakup, hanging between them. There had been so much left unsaid, so much they hadn’t had the chance to address since they started talking again.

Lucinda glanced at Becky, studying her profile in the fading light. She had missed her more than she had let herself admit. Their slow steps back into each other’s lives had been cautious, both of them afraid to repeat the mistakes of the past, but Lucinda knew now that there was no denying what she felt anymore. The storm had tested them in more ways than one, and it had only reinforced what she had been trying to suppress.

“Becky,” Lucinda began, her voice quieter than she intended, “I’ve been thinking...”

Becky turned to her, her brow furrowed. “About what?”

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