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Chimney could barely hold it together. It was why the 118 had sent him. He was of no help in that state, not that there was much of anything any of them could do anyway except finish their shift and save other people, but he could help by coming over here and telling Karen what was happening in person. He hadn’t even taken the time to wash himself, not caring about the mess he’d make in his car. He was covered in soot from the fire, and he was bleeding from a few cuts. Nothing bad though.
“You look like shit.” Karen said as soon as she opened the door.
She was smiling. She was teasing him and smiling, happy. And he was about to ruin it. If things ended badly, his face would be the one she would associate with this moment for the rest of her life. He couldn’t do this. Why did he think he could? This was too hard. He was too worried. All he wanted to do was run right back to the hospital. But Karen was his friend too. He loved her. He wanted to be there for her. They would need each other to get through the hours to come.
“Karen, I’m so sorry. Something happened.”
“Is Hen okay?”
“She’s in the hospital, we don’t know yet.”
“What happened?” The break in her voice was almost too much to bear.
“We were working this house fire. The owners had a pet snake, Hen, being Hen, tried to rescue it. But the thing bit her and... I had to get her out. The doctors don’t know if the snake was venomous or if she had an allergic reaction to the venom. They’re working on her right now.”
“She’s so selfless and full of love, I knew it would get her hurt one day.”
“But we love her for it.”
“Yeah, I guess we signed up for this too. I’m so worried. What if we lose her?”
“Let’s hope we don’t.”
They hugged each other, and both started sobbing. They felt safe and comfortable in each other’s arms. They knew the other accepted them and shared their feelings, so it was easy to let go. They stood there, releasing their pain, worry and sadness together. It was comforting not to be alone in this, to have a friend going through the same thing. It was sad too, because they both hated seeing the other suffer like that.
Once they’d pulled themselves back together, Karen changed. She also insisted Chimney take a shower and take care of his cuts while she explained what was going on to the kids and got them ready to go. Half an hour later, the four of them sat in the hospital waiting room, anxiously hoping for good news to come. Chimney had made sure to get food for the kids, but neither he nor Karen felt like eating. Denny and Nia kept alternating between running around, crying and asking them a million questions until they finally fell asleep. By now, the doctors knew it wasn’t an allergic reaction, which meant they had to find an antidote to the venom before it was too late.
Hen was his best friend, his partner. They’d been through so much together, shared so many things. They understood each other. He couldn’t lose her. He couldn’t lose the person he was closest too again. He couldn’t lose her like he lost Kevin. No, he refused to think about it. Hen would live, she would be just fine and they would be a team again.
Chimney stared into Karen’s eyes. He noticed how red and puffy they’d gotten from crying and he knew his likely looked the same. They each kept an arm around the other’s shoulder, trying their best to comfort each other, though they knew it was impossible. Nothing other than news that Hen would live could comfort them. In the meantime, all they could do was wait, and hope.