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Carlos was already waiting at the edge of the lawn when the ladder truck pulled up. Behind him there was a house fully engulfed flames and there was someone trapped inside.
“There’s a woman trapped inside,” he informed Captain Strand before the older man had even fully exited the truck, “her husband is pretty sure she’s hurt and she’s definitely trapped.”
The Captain took it in stride, nodding before turning to the crew, “Alright team, it looks like we have a trapped and injured woman in the structure. She is in the,” he paused here, turning to Carlos.
“Second floor bedroom, far right window,” he provided. Owen nodded and opened his mouth to continue instructions when Carlos continued, “but the stairs are out. They collapsed as the husband was coming down.”
“Okay so we will be entering through the window,” Owen said with a nod, turning back to the team. “Mateo, prep the ladder. There’s not enough clearance here to use the truck ladder so grab one of the ladders of the side. Captain Vega,” he called over to Tommy, “can I borrow one of your team? We don’t know how badly she’s hurt and having a paramedic on scene could make things a lot simpler.”
“What do you say, Strand,” Tommy asked TK with a raised eyebrow, “feel like going back to fire for a bit?”
TK flashed her a grin, already reaching into the compartment for his turnout coat and pulling it on with relish, “Sure thing, Cap.”
Carlos shook his head at his boyfriend’s obvious enthusiasm for walking into a flaming building as he turned to Nancy, “the husband’s over by my cruiser, he took a fall when the stairs collapsed. He seems to be okay, but if you wanted to give him a look anyways I already told him to expect it.”
“You know us so well Reyes,” she quipped back, flashing him a grin as she shouldered her pack and crossed over to where the anxious husband was watching the activity around the house.
Carlos turned to the house then, watching as Mateo got a ladder set up. He wasn’t surprised there wasn’t enough clearance – the house was surrounded by thick trees on all sides. He was surprised that the city hadn’t done anything about them, however. The powerlines weaved through the trees and stretched across the front of the house, which seemed like a serious safety and fire hazard, in his opinion. He wouldn’t even be surprised if that had something to do with the start of this fire. Thankfully there was enough of a sloped roof right at the base of the windows which made accessing them all the easier.
He caught TK’s eyes as he walked by, his boyfriend flashing him a cheeky grin. Carlos smiled fondly at his excitement. He knew that TK loved being a paramedic, that he hadn’t regretted his choice in the slightest – once the rocky transition period had passed. He also knew that there was absolutely no denying that he was in love with an adrenaline junkie and that even if TK hadn’t wanted to admit it there was definitely a part of him that missed the thrill of running into a burning building.
Carlos couldn’t say that he had missed the worry that came with that particular action too much, but he supposed he could stomach it one more time if it meant seeing TK this happy.
“Think you remember how to do this kid?” Judd called with a grin as he approached, clapping Carlos on the shoulder as he passed by.
“I think I’ll manage,” TK deadpanned, “you know how hard it is to remember 7 years of experience and training after only being out of it for a few months, after all.”
Judd rolled his eyes at TK and reached over to muss up his hair before he could get his helmet on, ignoring TK’s indignant noise, “Yeah, yeah, alright. Don’t get your stethoscope in a twist. Just remember, you’re medical now so I call the shots getting us there and getting us out. I’ll leave all the medical up to you but...”
“In and out, don’t treat anything that can wait until we’re not in a burning house,” TK finished. “I know Judd, I’m not new at this.”
“I know you ain’t kid, just wanted to make sure we are on the same page.”
“Aren’t we always?” TK asked with a grin and Judd rolled his eyes. Even Carlos couldn’t repress a snort at that.
Any comeback on Judd’s part was prevented by Owen calling for the teams to move out and TK paused long enough to throw another grin in Carlos’s direction before he was off and heading up the ladder after Judd. Carlos hung back at the edge of the scene, keeping a watchful eye out for anything he might need to address, but it seemed all was calm. He was also keeping an ear open, however, and couldn’t deny that he was relieved when he heard TK’s voice across the radio only a few short minutes later.
“We’ve got her free and she’s stable enough to move,” he reported, “we’re bringing her down soon but she will need treatment for some pretty severe burns when we get out of here.”
“Copy that, Strand,” Captain Vega replied, “get her down here and we’ll take it from there.”
“On our way now, Cap.”
Carlos couldn’t deny the relief he felt when TK appeared at the window a few moments later. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust his boyfriend’s skills, it was that while he might not be an expert it did seem to him that the flames were getting stronger and stronger with each passing second.
It was also that he had a bad feeling he just couldn’t shake. It was probably nothing, but the sooner TK and his team were out of there and back on the not on fire ground, the happier he would be.
He watched as TK stepped onto the ladder, swinging his leg over to the front of his and beginning the process of climbing down.
At least, that was what was supposed to happen.
What happened instead was that the moment TK put his weight on the ladder, it slipped. It fell to the side and it was all TK could do to catch himself, flailing his arms to keep his balance, to avoid the 10-foot plummet to the ground. He succeeded, but his actions propelled him back as he overcompensated, sending him in the direction of the other edge of the roof, and the improperly placed powerlines Carlos had noticed earlier and Carlos knew with a sinking, heavy dread what was about to happen before it did.
Knowing didn’t make it any easier to see the sparks emitted the moment TK made contact with the lines, or the way his body convulsed as 240 volts coursed through his body. Foresight did nothing to ease the fear of watching him crumble, falling onto the roof in a heap before rolling down the roof and hitting the hard ground with a decisive thud.
For a moment, Carlos froze. TK was crumpled on the ground at the edge of a burning house and he wasn’t moving. Not a twitch, not a blink, not a breath. He heard a desperate voice calling out TK’s name and realized with a start it was his own.
There was deadly silence for a moment as the assembled team processed what they had just seen. But only a moment. The next moment was filled with shouts as the fire chose that instant to erupt, filling the last corner of the first level with bright and hungry flames. Marjan and Paul rushed to attend to it with a hose and Owen put in a call for another unit to respond. There was so much going on and no hands to spare so Carlos took off running, meeting Tommy at TK’s side.
“TK?” she was calling when Carlos skidded to a stop, “can you hear me?”
There was no answer and Carlos felt the dread inside him grow. Tommy gave TK a quick once over before glancing back at the raging flames that were far too close for comfort and looking up at Carlos, “Officer Reyes, I need you to help me move him.”
It took half a moment for the words to process before Carlos was moving, nodding even as he was already bending down to help the paramedic captain.
“Carefully,” she told him as she indicated for him to support TK’s left side, “he took quite a fall and I don’t know for sure what injuries he might have, but this fire is getting out of hand and we’ll get trampled if we stay here.”
Carlos nodded, as if he had any intention of doing anything but. TK was the most precious thing in the world to him, he wouldn’t risk hurting him further for anything.
Distantly he heard the noise of Judd calling for assistance and then descending the ladder with Mateo’s help to grab the victim at the bottom. The 126 continued to work at their usual efficiency even now, splitting into seamless groups to attack the rapidly swelling inferno before it began to spread through the neighborhood. They were consummate professionals, but even they couldn’t help but throw a worried gaze in TK’s direction every few minutes. Carlos couldn’t say he blamed them. This was easily the most horrifying sight he had ever seen.
But once they got TK settled in a more remote corner of the scene anything else ceased to exist. Because they had just carried him a good 30 feet and he hadn’t woken up which could not be a good sign. He watched, his own breath trapped in his throat and his own heart beating its way out of his chest, as Tommy leaned down with the side of her face close to TK’s and her hand atop his chest. The seconds ticked by like hours before Tommy shook her head with a quiet yet desperate curse and reached out to check his pulse again. She frowned and muttered “C’mon Strand,” and Carlos’s heart sank. TK wasn’t breathing, his heart wasn’t beating, he was…
His spiral was interrupted by an ambu bag being thrust into his hand.
“Place this over his nose and mouth, like you have in your CPR courses and squeeze when I tell you to,” Tommy instructed.
There was no talk of how there was no one else to help, no mention of how they were stretched thin with her third paramedic lying still on the ground before them. There was no discussion of how it shouldn’t have to be Carlos, that it shouldn’t be him having to push the breath back into the lungs of the man he loves more than life itself; but it was conveyed in a glance, and Carlos nodded. There is no other option and he would have to be dead himself before he stood by and did nothing to help TK.
He placed the mask over TK’s face and followed Tommy’s rhythm, trying not to think how each thrust of her arms was the only thing keeping his blood moving through his veins; trying not to dwell on how each pump of the bag was the only thing bringing air into his lungs. Tommy was calling out instructions but it was all white noise to Carlos who was hyper focused on the horrifying sight before him and the rhythm of the CPR: 30 compressions, 2 breaths. 30 compressions, 2 breaths. 30 compressions…
And then Nancy was there, kneeling down beside him and unpacking the defibrillator with calm professionalism. She reached around Carlos without a word, placing the pads on TK’s chest. She attached the leads to the machine and called for Tommy to stop and for them both to stay clear as she administered the shock that would hopefully reset his heart.
Carlos’s body followed her instructions on autopilot, stopping his motions and watching with dread as TK’s body arched off the ground as electricity coursed through his body once again. He wanted to erase the sight from his memories but he knew with a cold certainty that it was one he wouldn’t be able to, that it would return in the night for days and weeks to come. He knew it was an image that would forever be burned into his brain.
He waited silently, not even daring to breathe on the off chance he might miss something, that he might upset the tenuous balance of the universe. He watched as TK’s body settled back onto the ground, as Nancy examined the ECG. The single moment it took her to read the display seemed to last a lifetime but finally, she smiled and Carlos almost dared to breathe.
“He’s in sinus rhythm,” she declared, voice heavy with relief, “he’s going to be okay.”
Carlos sagged, all the tension caused by fear leaving his body in an instant. He was going to be okay. He repeated it to himself like a mantra, desperately wanting it to be true - desperately needing it to be true.
From his spot a few feet away he could now see the gentle rise and fall of TK’s chest and he was certain he had never seen anything more wonderful in his life. He never wanted to see it stop ever again.
There was a voice calling his name. It was raspy and weak, but familiar. He knew he should answer but his body was so tired he wasn’t sure if he even could sit up even if he wanted to.
“Carlos.”
The voice called his name again and somehow his sleep clouded mind connected it with a name - TK. TK was calling him which meant…
“TK!” he exclaimed, sitting bolt upright, eyes wide as he took in the sight before him. TK was in the hospital bed that Carlos had been resting his head on just a moment before and smiling at him. He was awake and Carlos was quite certain he had never seen anything more wonderful, “You’re awake! How are you feeling?”
“Sore,” TK replied with a wince, “very sore. I kind of feel like one giant bruise?”
Carlos couldn’t help but snort at that, despite everything, “That doesn’t surprise me.”
TK frowned at him now, taking in his disheveled state and the dark night evident through the windows, “What happened? How long have you been here?”
Carlos swallowed, reaching across the bed to take one of TK’s hands in his own, “What to do you remember, Ty?”
TK frowned as he considered, “I remember the house fire with an injured woman trapped inside. They needed a medic inside so I went in with Judd and then...nothing? Did something happen? Is Judd okay?”
Carlos squeezed TK’s hand, “Relax babe, it’s okay. Judd is fine, everyone else is fine. We’ve all just been worried about you.”
TK frowned at him, still clearly needing more explanation and Carlos sighed before launching into the story: “You were coming out of the house with the victim and Judd when something happened with the ladder. It slipped and you fell off, and managed to fall right into the powerlines by the roof.”
TK’s eyes widened and he breathed a soft, “Oh.”
“Oh is right,” Carlos agreed quietly, running a thumb across the back of TK’s hand as he studied their linked hands. He knew his eyes would show too much. He knew that the fear he had felt then was just as evident now. “It was scary,” he said simply, softly, “you got shocked and then fell off the roof when you collapsed. Your body is pretty much one giant bruise right now and you do have some nasty electrical burns from where the lines hit you, but you’re so lucky. We’re so lucky. For a while there I…”
He trailed off, using his hand not intertwined with TK’s to hastily brush away the tears sliding down his face. He took a deep breath and forced a smile before he looked up to meet TK’s eyes, “But you’re okay, and I am so happy.”
“But you were scared,” TK observes softly, “I’m sorry I made you feel that. If it had been you…”
TK trailed off but Carlos could fill in the blanks easily. He was about to reassure him, about to tell him he had nothing to be guilty about when TK continued.
“I know it was an accident,” he assured Carlos, “but that doesn’t change the fact that I am sorry. I know we can’t control what happens in the field. This was an unavoidable accident, you know I would never willingly put myself in danger. Not anymore,” he paused, holding Carlos’s gaze for a moment before continuing, “not when I have so much to lose. Not when I stand to hurt someone I care about so much. I would never do anything to cause you pain on purpose, Carlos.”
Carlos swallowed around the lump in his throat. TK was still holding his gaze and he knew how much he meant those words. Just as much as he knew that this was an accident - that it couldn’t have been stopped, no matter how much he wished it could have.
“I know,” he said eventually, voice thick, “but that doesn’t change the fact that you scared me. I really, really thought I had lost you for good this time and it is the worst thing I have ever felt.”
TK’s eyes grew even sadder as he studied Carlos. He leaned down to press a tender kiss on Carlos’s forehead before resting his own Carlos’s. Carlos savored the closeness, the familiar warmth of TK’s skin against his as TK spoke.
“I will always do everything in my power to come home to you, Carlos Reyes,” he vowed, voice warm against Carlos’s skin, “I promise. All I ask is that you try to do the same.”
Carlos nodded, pulling away so he could see TK’s eyes, so the other man could see how sincere he was.
“Always,” he promised, “it’s going to take an act of God to pull me away from you, Tyler Kennedy.”