Page 92 of Exposed Ink

“Shane, my man.”Luke grins up at me when I walk into the station, and I already know what’s coming next. “I’m craving a steak and baked potato. What do you say? Want to go by the store and pick up dinner?”

Chuckling, I shake my head as we go about doing an equipment check.

Luke and I have been working together for too many years to count, and before that, we went to school and played baseball on the same team. He’s been married for about six months now, and he doesn’t have the heart to tell his wife, who loves to cook, that she can’t cook for shit. So, instead, he pretends to love it, barely eats, throws it away when she’s not looking, and then begs me to cook on our shifts since he can’t cook either.

“I’m going to buy you and your wife cooking lessons for whatever holiday is next,” I tell him, pulling my phone out of my pocket when it beeps, indicating that it’s dying, so I can try to charge it.

I connect it to the charger, but after a few seconds, it disconnects and blinks red, letting me know it’s almost dead and not charging.

“Fucking phone,” I grumble, accepting the fact that I’m going to have to buy a new one. It’s not that I’m cheap, but phones are expensive, and I literally use it for nothing except to text and call my friends and family. Hell, half the time, I can’t even keep track of where the thing is.

Once the trucks have been checked, Luke says, “Store?”

“Yeah, yeah.” I wave him off. “Let me get a workout in, and then we’ll go.”

“I’ll join you,” David says.

We’re just finishing up our run on the treadmill when my phone goes off with a text from Taylor, letting me know that she’s with her mom and they’re on their way to the city.

But before I can respond, my phone dies.

“Fucking hell!” I throw my phone on the table. “Can I borrow your phone?” I ask David. “Mine’s dead, so I need to let Taylor know to call the station if she needs me.”

“Sure.”

He hands it over, and luckily, I know her number by heart. It rings once, twice, a third time, then goes to voice mail.

“Hey, Tay, my phone is dead. When you get to the city, call me at?—”

My words are cut off by the sound of the emergency tone ringing out through the station, followed by the details of the incident—two females in a car accident, both injured and in need of medical help.

Since we’re the only fire station in town, our engine fits two patients, so we jump into emergency mode, heading straight to the scene of the accident.

Because we’ve done this too many times over the years, my brothers and I work like a well-oiled machine. So, when David gets to the victims before I do since I’m grabbing the gear with Luke and yells for me in a tone that indicates he’s freaking out, I’m confused … until I get over to him and see why.

“Taylor!” I yell, racing over to my little girl, who’s lying on the ground, unconscious.

There’s metal and glass shards poking out of her skin in various places, and her arm is in an awkward position. I glance at the other woman, who’s still in the car, and even from here, I can see it’s Jamie.

“Shane,” David says. “Snap out of it, man. We need to get them to the hospital.”

His words kick my ass into gear, and like the professionally trained paramedic I am, I work with my guys to get my daughter and her mother stable and to the hospital, the entire time praying that my little girl will be okay.

* * *

Shane

Present

“Fuck, Sour Patch.”

I pick her up and carry her over to the couch while Becky follows, sensing that something is wrong. When I sit on the couch with her in my lap, Becky sniffs and then licks her face.

“It’s okay, girl,” I tell her, patting her head. “Kinsley just needs a moment.”

The entire way here, I was worried about telling her what had happened because of how her late husband and baby had died, but I thought by telling her to stay calm, she’d listen. In hindsight, that probably wasn’t the best approach.

I move several strands of hair out of her eyes as she stirs slightly, blinking several times in confusion. I know the moment she remembers what I told her because her face pales, and she scrambles to climb out of my lap.

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