Page 81 of Her Braun
Faust's best friend had died during the holiday season, not from a fire, but that really didn't matter.
A death of someone close to you could put a firefighter in a dark place, especially when they ran into the flames on a daily basis.
Still, Gibson might have argued if a large part of the ceiling hadn't fallen down in front of the door, debris on fire.
Chief Campanelli's voice broke in through their radios. "Hey, you two! Get out of there!"
Gibson pushed Faust ahead of him and as soon as they got down to the yard where the grass was stomped down under their feet, the ceiling above the entryway crashed to the ground with a rush of air that knocked them off of their feet.
Faust was the first one up.
"Jesus, Braun!" He held out his hand and lifted Gibson to his feet. "Don't ever fucking do that again!"
Gibson held onto Faust's hand when the other man tried to walk away. "Faust?"
His friend gave another tug on his hand to pull away.
"Isaac!"
Faust stopped short and Gibson looked him square in the eye. "I know. I know what you're feeling."
Faust opened his mouth to argue, but in the next moment his shoulders sagged and Gibson watched the flames of anger in his eyes sputter out and die.
"Your cousin."
Gibson nodded. "Yeah, Kev. I lost him, too. Different situations, but we both lost people close to us."
Faust folded his arms across his chest, walling himself away from Gibson, but that wasn't going to stop Gibson from saying his peace.
"Isaac, man, have you been to see the therapist at CCFD?"
Before Faust gave him a hard glare, Gibson already knew what the answer was.
"You know what happens if I see a department shrink."
"I know what happens if you don't. The white-shirts already know that he was your best friend. The police were involved, man."
"The police?" Faust leaned in, anger rolling off him like heat. "The police were the reason that he's dead!"
The chief walked up and put a hand on each of them. "Okay. I know you two are talking here, but why don't you step back and make it easier for the others.
Gibson nodded.
He watched as Chief Campanelli walked off to the side with his hand on Faust's shoulder.
He didn't try to follow them.
The Chief was close to Isaac. Closer than anyone else who worked in the firehouse.
Faust had signed up to join the Fire Department on the very day he turned eighteen and the Chief had been more than a mentor to Isaac, he'd been a kind of foster father. If anyone could get through to Isaac and get him to seek help, it would be Aldo Campanelli.
Or his daughter, Vitalia.
She'd known Isaac for the same number of years as her father, but they had a different connection.
And while Isaac definitely loved Vitalia, Gibson could see that his friend didn't see that Vitalia loved him back, just not in the same way as he did.
"Excuse me? Yoo hoo!"
