Page 11 of Blazing Hearts

The silence stretched between Mallory and Ember, thick with something unspoken, something that neither of them seemed eager to address. Mallory felt the old resentment rise up inside her like a tidal wave—raw, dangerous, and completely out of her control. She thought she had buried it; thought she had left it all behind when she’d walked away from Ember all those years ago. But now, here it was, flooding her mind again, reminding her why she had sworn off people like Ember in the first place.

“So, you finally moved to the incredible Phoenix Ridge. Good for you,” Ember said, her voice smooth and almost teasing, though her smile remained tight. “Nice to see you taking that ‘fresh start’ you always said you needed seriously finally.”

Mallory clenched her jaw, trying to hold back the words she knew were about to spill out. She hadn’t come to Phoenix Ridge to face this—her. She’d come here to escape, to find peace. But here Ember was, like a ghost from her past, stirring up old wounds she hadn’t even realized were still so raw.

“I’m here to do my job, Ember. Not to be a part of whatever drama you’ve got going on. I’m a cardio-thoracic surgeon,” Mallory replied, her tone clipped.

Ember’s smile faltered for the briefest moment, but it was almost imperceptible. She recovered quickly, her eyes narrowing slightly, but she didn’t back down. “You always did have a way of shutting down anything that made you uncomfortable,” she said, her voice cool and knowing. “I guess some things never change.”

The words hit Mallory harder than she expected. They cut deep, too familiar, like a reminder of everything she’d tried to leave behind. She knew Ember well enough to recognize that glint in her eyes—bold, unafraid, and unapologetic. Ember had always been like that, never afraid to call Mallory out, never afraid to push her buttons.

But Mallory wasn’t going to let her get to her this time. She’d come too far to let Ember undo all the work she’d done to move on. She took a deep breath and forced herself to respond, her voice cold and controlled.

Mallory crossed her arms, her posture tense as she looked at Ember. “So, how’s retirement treating you? Still miss the thrill of running into burning buildings?” Her tone was sharper than she intended, but the bitterness she’d carried for years had bubbled to the surface before she could stop it.

Ember sighed, her expression softening but tinged with weariness. She shifted, brushing an invisible speck of lint from her sleeve. “It’s been many years, Mallory. We were just stupid kids. I thought you’d have let go of all that by now.”

Mallory’s eyes narrowed, her jaw tightening. “Let go? You mean forget? Forget how you threw yourself into danger like it didn’t matter I existed at all?”

Ember’s gaze flicked downward for a moment, and when she looked back up, there was no anger, only quiet resolve. “I didn’t retire because of fear, Mallory. I retired because I wanted something different—for myself, for my life with Josephine, for Natalie.” She hesitated, her voice softening even further as she said her daughter’s name. “And I’ve found it. I’ve built a life I’m proud of with a woman I love.”

She hadn’t expected to feel this strange mix of relief and anger, knowing Ember had finally stepped away from the danger that had defined their relationship. “So now you get it,” Mallory said, her voice low. “Now you understand what it’s like to want someone to stay. To not spend every day wondering if the person you love is going to come home in one piece.”

“I always understood, Mallory,” Ember said quietly, her gaze steady. “I just didn’t know how to balance it back then.”

Mallory’s hands clenched into fists at her sides. “No, you didn’t. And I paid the price for that. You threw yourself into danger every chance you got, and I had to live with the fear and the waiting—and then the arguments when I begged you to stop.”

Ember flinched at the words, but her composure didn’t falter. “You’re right. I didn’t listen when I should have. I was stubborn and too caught up in proving something to myself. I treated you badly. And I’m sorry for that, Mallory. I really am.”

The apology caught Mallory off guard, her heart stuttering in her chest. Ember’s tone wasn’t defensive or dismissive—it was genuine. But it wasn’t enough to soothe the ache of old wounds. “Sorry doesn’t change what happened,” she said, her voice trembling with anger and something else—hurt. “It doesn’t change how it ended.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Ember agreed, her voice soft but resolute. “And I’m not here to change the past. I can’t. But I thought maybe I could… I don’t know, help you move forward. You deserve that, Mallory.”

Mallory laughed again, bitter and sharp. “Help me move forward? Is that what this is? Some kind of redemption arc for you?”

Ember’s eyes darkened, her calm slipping just slightly. “It’s not about me. It’s about you. You’ve always been so strong, Mallory, but you hold onto things so tightly, like you’re afraid to let yourself heal. What happened between us was 15 years ago. Aside from anything else, we wouldn’t have been right together. I don’t want you to forgive me or forget what happened, but I want you to stop letting it hurt you.”

The words hit Mallory like a blow, sharp and unexpected. She wanted to fire back, to tear through Ember’s reasoning, but the sincerity in her voice was impossible to ignore. “You don’t get to decide what I need,” she said, her voice softer now but no less firm. “You lost that right when your behavior to me was constantly shitty.”

Ember exhaled slowly, the tension in her shoulders easing slightly. “I know. And I’m not here to argue with you, Mallory. I just… I want you to be happy. That’s all.”

The words hit Mallory like a punch to the gut, raw and painful, but Mallory didn’t flinch. She couldn’t. Not anymore.

She felt a sharp sting in her chest, a memory of the last fight they’d had—the one that had shattered everything between them all those years ago.“I can’t do this anymore. Not with you. Not with anyone like you.”The memory came crashing back, unbidden and sharp, as if it were happening all over again. She pushed it away, but it lingered, raw and aching in the back of her mind.

But Ember was already walking away, her figure retreating down the hallway as she called over her shoulder, “It was good to see you, Mallory. Really.”

The words were almost kind, but they didn’t ease the weight in Mallory’s chest. She stood there for a long moment after Ember disappeared from sight, her mind racing. The past was never as easy to leave behind as she had hoped. And as much as she wanted to pretend that she had moved on, she knew now that part of her would always be tethered to Ember Thompson, her first love,—whether she liked it or not.

She didn’t want to be with Ember. And if she was thinking rationally, she could see plenty of reasons things hadn’t worked out between them aside from Ember’s risk taking and shitty behaviour. But, we don’t always think rationally, particularly when it comes to first loves.

Mallory watched Ember’s retreating figure as it grew smaller down the hallway, her footsteps echoing against the sterile walls of the hospital. There was something so final about it, like a door closing for good. Yet, Mallory couldn’t shake the feeling that the past had crept back in, unnoticed, settling itself like an unwanted guest. Every inch of her wanted to run after Ember, to somehow finish this conversation better, to untangle the mess of emotions that had stirred up within her. But she didn’t move. She couldn’t.

As Ember turned the corner, Mallory finally exhaled, a long, deep breath that carried the weight of everything she hadn’t said. The intensity in her chest had not faded; if anything, it had only deepened, a gnawing ache in her stomach that refused to be ignored. The same ache she’d carried for years after it ended- the aftermath of their relationship. The feeling that no matter how far she ran, no matter how many new jobs she took or how many new faces she met, she would always be tangled up in memories of her first love.

No other relationships had worked out for her either. Maybe, it wasn’t Ember after all. Ember was happily married now to a real grown up- head of the hospital, no less. Maybe it was Mallory that was the problem in every relationship. Maybe she was the reason her girlfriends never worked out.

Mallory shook her head, forcing herself to focus. She was here for a reason. Phoenix Ridge wasn’t just a change of scenery; it was supposed to be a fresh start. A place to rebuild her life, free from the ghosts of the past. She couldn’t afford to let Ember, or anything related to her, drag her back into old habits.

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