Page 60 of Fire and Ice
The floor was starting to give in. It creaked and groaned.
Grady swept his gaze one more time around the area in front of him. A beam that had crashed through the ceiling rested against one wall. The angle of the beam left just enough space to duck through. Spot barked and led the way.
Grady carried Kyra in his arms. He reached the beam and dropped to his knees to crawl beneath it, moving her in front of him as he push-crawled.
The heat was nearly overwhelming. Grady scrambled out from beneath the beam, picked up Kyra, and eased her over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold. He saw the open door and Cord through a wall of flames.
A thought went through his mind over and over. I have to get back to Chelsea. I can’t leave her alone like her husband did.
He admitted something to himself that he hadn’t before.
I love Chelsea.
I will get home to her.
Grady’s heart thundered, yet he was calm at the same time. No way was he going to end up trapped in a fire and not save Kyra and Spot.
The ceiling shuddered and groaned. Grady ran in the only direction he could—for the door.
He emerged from the flames and, with relief, handed Kyra off to Cord. Spot stood just in front of Grady, barking as if telling him to hurry.
A yawning roar, and the ceiling collapsed.
Flaming debris fell just as a beam slammed onto Grady’s legs and drove him to the floor.
Grady’s vision blurred as his mask ripped away from his face, and all air was knocked from him.
Smoke crowded his lungs, and he choked, his eyes watering. He tried to crawl forward, but pain screamed through him. His legs were not only trapped beneath the beam, but they were probably broken as well, including his ankle.
“Fuck.” He could barely choke out the word. The room grew hotter, the smoke denser.
“Hold on.” Archer crouched in front of Grady a moment before he disappeared from sight.
Archer worked to shove the beam off Grady’s legs, and he bit back a shout from the excruciating pain.
The smoke was so thick, that Grady came closer and closer to losing consciousness.
Another firefighter entered the room. Grady could only tell it was Beckett by the name patch sewn onto his gear.
“You need to get out of here,” he shouted at Archer and Beckett. “This place is going to go.”
“Shut the fuck up and let us do our job,” Archer shouted.
Spot tugged on Grady’s sleeve, and he almost gave a delirious laugh at the seriousness in the dog’s actions and the growls coming from his throat.
“It’s okay, boy.” Grady had a coughing fit before he spoke to Spot again. “They’ll get this damned thing off of me and we’ll make it out.”
The room vibrated. The floor made an ominous sound.
Beckett and Archer shoved the beam off of Grady’s legs, and he almost screamed and blacked out from the pain.
The men grasped him by the arms.
“Legs are broken,” Grady managed to get out. His thoughts flashed to Chelsea again.
“We’ve got you,” Archer said, voice muffled by his mask.
They dragged him out of the room just as the floor behind them caved in.
