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The cloud of yellow had fully surrounded the school.
Their patient lay dead several feet away.
TK was going to die.
He always knew that it was a possibility, especially in his career, and Tommy had warned Nancy and him to evacuate, but at the time, staying seemed like the only decision.
Hell, he would probably do it again if he had the choice. TK couldn’t help but feel the drive to save people, even when it came at the cost of his own safety.
His heart broke as he thought about Jonah; he never even got a real chance to fight for the little guy. And Carlos… they had been in a rocky place lately, and TK knew he was just as much to blame.
Tommy’s hands shook as she made the call into dispatch. Her voice was on the verge of breaking as she instructed Wyatt on what to tell his father and Grace, how they were going to take good care of her girls.
Their captain rarely surrendered in the face of danger, to hear her imply that it was the end…TK didn’t know what to do. All he wanted was Carlos. All he wanted was his husband.
***
“Hey, Carlos.”
“..TK?” Carlos answered his phone with a pit growing in his stomach. TK never called when he was on the rig.
“Hey, baby. Are you- are you by the kids?”
The Texas Ranger clenched his jaw. He could hear the pain in TK’s voice, outlined with fear that stabbed him like daggers deep in his soul.
“Yes.” He looked over to the twins, still knee deep in their Barbies, Trevor helping them pass the time.
“Is there a place where we can talk alone? I just…Tommy should be the one to tell the girls.”
Carlos’s chest tightened. “TK…what's wrong? Why are you whispering?”
He already knew deep down that it was bad. Bad enough that he didn't want the twins to overhear, bad enough that TK’s voice sounded like it was going to break into a thousand whispering echoes.
“I just wanted to say that I'm sorry.”
Somehow out of all the things he could have said, this scared Carlos the most.
“TK- you didn't answer the question. What's wrong?” Carlos tried to be firm but knew that his voice betrayed him.
“I love you so much, baby. I hope you can always remember that. And… I- I just am so grateful to have been your husband.”
Carlos stopped pacing the hallway as he let the words sink in. He couldn’t breathe. This wasn’t happening, this couldn’t be happening.
“We never made it out of the school. The gas has us surrounded. I’m uh-” rustling came from the other end of the receiver. “I’m not sure how this is supposed to go. I’m not sure how to say it.”
Carlos’s jaw clicked as he clenched his teeth together. “Then don’t. There’s no need to say goodbye because you are coming back to me.”
TK took a shaky breath. “Can you just…stay with me?”
Carlos could hear the tremble in his husband's voice. How could he say no?
“We’re not giving up that easily- I’ll get a rescue team out there, hazmats-”
“There’s no one else. Tommy’s on the line with Wyatt, he’s trying to work the logistics, but we can see the gas. We stuffed the cracks in the windows and doors, but it’s started to leak in.”
His throat was closing in on itself; had he always had this panic reaction? Or was it after losing his father that everything just felt so much…more.
“TK…” Carlos wasn’t even sure what he was going to say, but his sob wouldn’t let him finish. He retreated to the bathroom, the thick wood door giving him a sense of privacy. His hand was still clamped over his mouth, trying to stifle the sob; it wasn’t fair to anyone to break down, not now.
“Baby…please don’t cry.”
It killed him that TK was the one in danger and yet here he was comforting him. He drew in a wet and shaky breath. “I love you.”
No other words seemed powerful enough. If this was his last chance to talk to his husband, he was going to make goddamn sure he knew how loved he was.
“I love you too, baby. So much-”
Voices overlapped, and Carlos thought he could hear Nancy shouting on the other end. Was this it? Was he really doomed to listen to the love of his life die over the phone? He couldn’t accept that.
“TK? TK!”
“Oh my god! The winds, the winds are changing! It’s blowing it away from our direction!”
The tears he had been holding in started to flow freely as Carlos sank to the tiled floor. The air was finally refilling in his lungs. “You’re..?”
“We’re okay, Carlos. We’re going to be okay.” The relief was flooding off of TK’s voice, and Carlos had never heard a sweeter sound.
“Thank God…”
“Thank Mother Nature!”
“Jokes. That’s your first thought. Really?” Carlos hoped that TK could hear the smile behind his words; the relief felt like a drug.
His laugh on the other end was like the sound of angels. Carlos’s heart was still beating a mile a minute with adrenaline and panic, but hearing that laugh…he knew it was all going to be okay.