Captain Reyes closed the door behind him.
For several seconds, he simply stood there.
His eyes went to Tyler.
Then to me.
Then to the paper in his hand.
"What is that?" I asked.
Reyes looked at Tyler.
Tyler sighed.
"She already knows about the nomination."
The captain raised an eyebrow.
"That didn't take long."
"I asked questions."
"I can see that."
I folded my arms.
"Captain."
Reyes pulled a chair closer to the bed.
"I came to check on him."
"That doesn't look like a check-in."
He glanced at the paper.
"No."
Tyler shifted carefully against the pillow.
"Just tell her."
Reyes looked at him.
"You sure?"
Tyler nodded.
The captain handed the paper to me.
It was a preliminary incident report.
I looked at the first page.
Tyler's name appeared several times.
So did Reyes's.
I read the summary.
The warehouse fire had begun shortly after eight that morning. The crew had entered to search the first floor and locate anyone still inside. The building's structural condition deteriorated rapidly.
Then I saw the sentence that made my stomach drop.
A civilian minor was located on the second floor after initial evacuation procedures had begun.
I looked at Tyler.
"You knew she was there before you went back."
"I heard her."
"How did you know exactly where she was?"
"I followed the sound."
"Was she calling for help?"
"She was crying."
"How long had she been there?"
"We don't know."
I looked back at the report.
The words were clinical.
The reality wasn't.
There was no sentence capable of explaining what it meant to be a child alone inside a burning building.
I kept reading.
Tyler had returned to the upper level after the evacuation order.
The structure failed.
He sustained injuries.
Another firefighter located him.
The child was transferred safely.
I looked at Reyes.
"Why did you bring this?"
"Because there are questions."
"What kind of questions?"
"Some are procedural."
Tyler spoke quietly.
"And some aren't."
I looked at him.
He didn't elaborate.
Reyes leaned forward.
"The department is reviewing whether Tyler's decision to return violated operational protocol."
My stomach tightened.
"You mean he's in trouble?"
"Not necessarily."
"That's not what you just said."
"I said the decision is being reviewed."
"He went back for a child."
"I know."
"Then why is this even a question?"
Reyes didn't flinch.
"Because if we don't understand what happened, we can't learn from it."
That answer made sense.
I hated that it did.
Tyler stared at the ceiling.
"I knew the floor was unstable."
I turned toward him.
"What?"
He looked at me.
"I knew."
"You knew the floor was unstable?"
"Yes."
"Then why did you go back?"
He swallowed.
"Because I thought I had enough time."
The room became quiet.
That sentence frightened me more than anything else he had told me.
Not because it made him reckless.
Because it made him human.
He hadn't believed himself invincible.
He had believed he could calculate the risk.
He had been wrong.
I sat down again.
Reyes looked at Tyler.
"The review board will want your statement."
"When?"
"Tomorrow."
Tyler nodded.
"Okay."
I stared at him.
"You're not going anywhere tomorrow."
"I'll still be here."
"I mean physically."
"I know."
Reyes stood.
"I'll give you two some privacy."
He reached the door.
"Captain?"
He stopped.
"Why did you tell me there was something I didn't know?"
Reyes looked at me.
"Because I knew Tyler wouldn't tell you everything."
Tyler closed his eyes.
I turned toward him.
"Excuse me?"
Reyes gave Tyler a pointed look.
"He's good at protecting people from information he thinks will upset them."
"That's true."
Tyler opened his eyes.
"You're supposed to be on my side."
"I am."
Reyes smiled faintly.
Then he looked at me.
"There's another reason."
I waited.
He hesitated.
"Tyler wasn't the only person who went back."
My eyebrows lifted.
"Who else?"
"Grant."
I remembered the firefighter who had taken the cake from my hands.
"He went after Tyler?"
"Yes."
"Did he get hurt?"
"Minor smoke exposure."
I exhaled.
Reyes nodded toward Tyler.
"Grant says Tyler had the girl in his arms when he found him."
Tyler looked uncomfortable.
"Don't."
"What?"
"Don't make it sound heroic."
Reyes gave him a tired look.
"I'm not making anything sound like anything."
"You are."
"You carried a child through a collapsing building."
"I got lucky."
"You got hurt."
"So did everyone else."
Reyes shook his head.
"This is exactly why I don't like talking to you about this."
He left.
The door clicked shut.
I looked at Tyler.
"You really don't know how to accept praise."
"No."
"Why?"
He stared at the ceiling.
After a while, he said, "Because people only see the part where you walk out."
I waited.
"They don't see the part where you wonder if you're going to."
His voice was quiet.
I reached for his hand.
He squeezed my fingers.
"When you went back," I said, "were you afraid?"
"Yes."
He looked at me.
"Very."
I had never heard him admit that so plainly.
Tyler had always been the man who came home and said everything was fine.
He had never told me about the moment between entering a building and wondering whether the building would still be standing when he came out.
"Why didn't you tell me that?"
"Because I didn't want you imagining it."
"I already imagine it."
"I know."
I gave him a look.
He smiled.
"Sorry."
I leaned back.
The room had darkened outside.
Rain had begun tapping against the window.
I looked at the clock.
It was almost evening.
I suddenly remembered the cake.
"Your birthday cake is still at the station."
Tyler laughed.
"You brought a cake?"
"Yes."
"What kind?"
"Your favorite."
He smiled.
"Chocolate?"
"Chocolate."
"With that ridiculous frosting?"
"Yes."
"I love you."
"I know."
He raised his eyebrows.
I smiled.
"See? You can say it too."
He laughed.
Then his face tightened with pain.
I reached for the call button.
"I'm fine."
"Don't."
"I just moved wrong."
"Tyler."
He sighed.
"Okay."
A nurse came in and checked him.
Nothing had changed.
He simply needed to rest.
When she left, Tyler looked embarrassed.
"She thinks I'm an idiot."
"She's probably right."
"You're enjoying this."
"Very much."
He smiled.
For a few minutes, things felt almost normal.
Then his phone buzzed.
It was on the bedside table.
Tyler looked at it.
His expression changed.
"Who is it?"
He reached for the phone.
"Reyes."
"Why is he calling?"
Tyler answered.
"Hey."
I watched his face.
"Okay."
Pause.
"Now?"
Another pause.
"All right."
He ended the call.
"What happened?"
He looked at me.
"There's a problem with the emergency contact records."
"What problem?"
"The department wants to verify everything before the incident review."
"Why?"
"They need to know why the old number was still attached to my file."
I stared at him.
"That doesn't sound like your mistake."
Tyler was quiet.
"What?"
"I thought I updated it."
"You said that."
"I remember doing it."
"Then maybe the paperwork was lost."
"Maybe."
He didn't sound convinced.
I looked at the report again.
Something bothered me.
The report had his name.
Reyes's.
Grant's.
The little girl was listed only as "female minor."
I looked at Tyler.
"Do they know who she is?"
"Not yet."
"She doesn't have parents?"
"They were looking for them."
"Looking?"
"She wouldn't tell anyone her name at first."
My heart tightened.
"Why?"
Tyler looked at the window.
"She was scared."
"Of the fire?"
He hesitated.
"Not only the fire."
I stared at him.
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"She said something before they took her away."
"What?"
Tyler looked at me.
"She asked if I was going to take her back."
"Back where?"
"I don't know."
The rain grew heavier against the glass.
I felt a chill despite the warmth in the room.
"Did she say anything else?"
Tyler nodded.
"She asked me not to tell the police."
My heart stopped for a beat.
"Why?"
"I don't know."
"Tyler."
"I told her the police were there to help."
"What did she say?"
He looked down.
"She said they weren't."
Neither of us spoke.
Suddenly, the fire was no longer only an accident.
There was a frightened child.
A warehouse.
An unknown reason for her being there.
And a firefighter who had heard her crying before anyone else knew she existed.
I looked at Tyler.
"Did you tell Captain Reyes?"
"Yes."
"Did you tell the police?"
"Yes."
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
He closed his eyes.
"Because I knew you'd worry."
I stood.
"I am already worried."
"I know."
"No. Listen to me."
He opened his eyes.
"I don't need you to protect me from the truth."
He stared at me.
"I need you to trust me with it."
His expression softened.
"I do trust you."
"Then tell me everything."
He was silent for a long time.
Finally, he said, "There was something else."
I sat back down.
"What?"
"When I found her, she wasn't alone."
My skin prickled.
"Who was with her?"
Tyler looked toward the door.
"I don't know."
"What do you mean?"
"I saw a shadow move through the smoke."
My breath caught.
"You saw someone?"
"Yes."
"Did you tell the police?"
"Yes."
"What happened to them?"
Tyler's face tightened.
"I don't know."
A knock came at the door.
Neither of us answered.
The door opened anyway.
Captain Reyes stood there.
This time, he wasn't carrying paperwork.
He was holding a firefighter's helmet.
And there was soot smeared across the front.
Click here to continue reading: PART 4: The Soot-Covered Helmet Explained Why Reyes Had Been So Careful, but the Question He Asked Me Changed Everything
I Arrived With Balloons and Cake, Expecting My Husband to Laugh—Instead His Entire Crew Went Silent When They Saw Me
Part 3 of 40
