Radclyffe - Firestorm

Mallory stayed out of the way as Jac efficiently prepped the boy and the girl for transport. Jac had obviously done that kind of work before, and there wasn’t room for both of them to maneuver in the cave. Besides, she just liked watching Jac work. Jac was intense, focused, efficient. Gentle, but unhesitant. Just like she was about everything else that she did. Jac would make a great smokejumper. So much depended upon attention to detail, good judgment, certainty of will. Jac had all those things.

She’d make a great smokejumper, but on someone else’s team. Working with her like this, every day, was going to be torture. Being around Jac threw Mallory’s rhythm off, gave her something to think about besides the goal, the mission, and she couldn’t. She couldn’t afford to do that. She couldn’t afford to have anything intrude on her focus. She didn’t want a personal life. She didn’t want personal feelings. Fortunately, it wasn’t that difficult to get smokejumpers moved around from team to team. They weren’t, like the hotshots, based in one place or strictly integrated as units. Sometimes they’d finish a fire call in one state, pack out to a pickup point, and end up in a completely different state until they were rotated out again with different team members. Sometimes she didn’t get back to Yellowrock for weeks. She’d work the rotation so she and Jac were on different shifts, and they probably wouldn’t see each other for the rest of the summer.

Jac looked over at her. “We’re ready.”

“Good. Nice work.” Mallory grasped the stretcher the helitack crew member had slid down the tunnel behind her, and she and Jac logrolled the girl onto it. On hands and knees, she guided the stretcher out. The man in the red flight suit grabbed the end, and together they lifted.

“I’m Rich Dennis out of McCall. Good to see you.”

Mallory grinned. “Likewise. How’s the flying?”

“Smooth. Ought to be an hour or so to Gardiner Regional.”

They fell silent as they trudged through the drifts to the helicopter. After sliding the stretcher with the girl inside, Rich climbed in and pushed the second stretcher out to Mallory. She dragged it over the snow back to the cave and crawled inside, guiding it behind her. Jac had all the gear packed, and they quickly secured the boy to the stretcher, piled their equipment packs between his feet, and worked their way back to daylight.

“Careful with your shoulder,” Mallory said as Jac lifted her end.

“I’m good. Where are we headed?” Jac asked as they maneuvered the stretcher toward the helicopter.

“Medical center at Gardiner.”

“How far back to base?”

“A solid half day’s drive,” Mallory said. “If the weather lets up.”

Mallory hoped the trip would be quick. As soon as they got back to base, they’d be heading right out to the field camp to complete the pre-season training. She could settle back into her role as training manager, and Jac would be just one of the rookies again. They wouldn’t be partners any longer, and the troubling sense of intimacy would disappear. She ought to be happy about that, but for some reason a cavern yawned inside her, dark and cold and lonely. She so did not need this. Even the satisfaction that usually came from a successful mission eluded her. Ordinarily, rescuing the climbers and getting them to safety would be all she needed to feel complete. The aching sadness in her chest was something new. Something new and unwelcome and, hopefully, something she could quickly correct.

Chapter Twenty-four

Jac watched the red-bordered landing zone on the rooftop of Gardiner Regional Medical Center grow larger and larger as the helitack landed on the white cross in the center. A cluster of white-coated medical personnel rushed forward the instant the helo’s runners touched down. The flight tech slid open the door, and trauma team members surged forward to transfer the stretchers onto waiting gurneys. The tech jumped out, calling out status updates as everyone raced toward the building, the injured quickly hidden in the center of the scrum. Within a minute everyone had disappeared, leaving Jac and Mallory still in the belly of the shuddering bird.

“I guess we’re done,” Jac said, the adrenaline waning and fatigue grabbing her by the throat.

“If it’s okay with you,” Mallory said, “I’d like to go downstairs and see if I can get an update on the kids.”

“Yeah. That would be good.” Jac released her shoulder harness and winced as her stiff shoulder objected to the sudden freedom.

“Maybe we ought to have someone check that shoulder too,” Mallory said.

“No, it’s okay.”

“Actually, that wasn’t a suggestion.” Mallory climbed down and extended her hand back to Jac. “Come on, let’s get you looked at.”

Jac considered refusing, but if she didn’t get medical clearance she knew damn well Mallory would never let her back in the jump plane. Somehow, she feared Mallory might be looking for an excuse to keep her at arm’s length, maybe even farther than that. She wasn’t going to give her any ammunition. Grasping Mallory’s hand, she let herself be guided out to the rooftop. “Okay. But you know how long an ER visit can take, and we need—”

“I don’t care how long. Sully has things covered back at base. All that will keep.”

“Okay,” Jac said again, surprised at how easily Mallory dismissed missing another day of boot camp. A little frisson of pleasure shot through her belly. Maybe she mattered more than Mallory was willing to let on. And maybe she was setting herself up for a fall—one a lot worse than back there on that ledge.

They followed the path of the trauma team and took the elevator to the ground floor. Like in most regional trauma centers, the doors opened across from the emergency room. To the right was the waiting area, where a harried clerk and several admitting nurses shuffled papers, typed on computers, and copied insurance cards.

Mallory stopped in front of a set of gunmetal gray double doors with Emergency Room stenciled in peeling black letters. “I’ll see if I can get an update on the kids while you sign in.”

“Take your time,” Jac said, surveying the stack of charts in the rack next to the window. She crowded closer to the wall as a transport orderly pushed an elderly man in a thin white cotton smock in a wheelchair, trailing an IV pole and oxygen canister on wheels. “You hungry? I’ll see if I can rustle us up something while we’re waiting.”

“Starved.” Mallory hesitated. “Maybe you better not eat anything.”

“Mallory, I don’t need surgery. I probably don’t need anything except some anti-inflammatories. But if I don’t eat something, I’m in danger of committing criminal acts.”

“Really.” Mallory smiled a teasing smile. “Are you one of those people who loses all semblance of civility when you need to be fed?”

Jac had a hard time looking away from Mallory’s mouth as she spoke. The windburn had faded, leaving her full lower lip looking bruised and just kissed. Kisses she wished she’d put there. She was hungry for a lot more than food and didn’t know how long she could hide it. “Yeah. I get pretty dangerous.”

Laughing, Mallory tugged on the zipper of Jac’s flight jacket. “Well then, go find some food. I’ll be out in a minute.”

Jac grabbed Mallory’s hand and pretended to bite her finger. “Careful. I did warn you.”

Mallory’s lips parted and her eyes darkened, the shadows of fatigue replaced by glowing embers. “So noted.”

When Mallory made no move to pull away, Jac battled the urge to lean forward and take her mouth. She was on the verge of combusting, her fuse lit, burning fast and hot. She shuddered and released Mallory’s hand. “See you in a few minutes.”