Equal partners, p.1
Equal Partners, page 1
EQUAL PARTNERS
Sisters of Fire
Book 4
Kathryn Shay
Equal Partners
Copyright © 2021 by Kathryn Shay
All Rights Reserved
Smashwords Edition
Published by Ocean View Books
Cover Design by Shelley Kay at Web Crafters
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to the bookseller and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Table of Contents
Cast of Characters
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Author’s Note
Don’t Miss All of the Sisters of Fire Stories
A DIFFERENT WAY Excerpt
About the Author
Cast of Characters
Hero and Heroine:
Capt. Julie “JJ” Jensen
Dr. Nick Barrows
Sisters of Fire:
Firefighter Annie O’Shea
Firefighter Trish “Mac” Mackenzie
Lt. Tess DiMarco
Capt. Julie “JJ” Jensen
Battalion Chief Lynn Lucas
Battalion Chief Brooke Cartwright
Significant others:
Colin O’Shea (Annie)
Nathan Mitchell (Trish)
Capt. David Ashford (Tess)
Nick Barrows, (JJ)
Ken Lucas (Lynne)
Zach Cartwright, deceased (Brooke)
Family:
Brick Jensen, JJ’s father
Joel Jensen, Jimmy Jensen, JJ’s brothers
Millicent Madison and Nicholas Barrows Sr. Nick’s parents
Joanie and Patrice, Nick’s Sisters
JJ’s Crew on Engine 2 Group 1 (Crystal City Fire Department):
Capt. JJ Jensen
Lt. Abe Quinn
Firefighter Mick Morey
Firefighter Elena Cortez
Firefighter Rookie Ronny Harmon
Other officials:
Fire Chief Joe Redman
Various Battalion Chiefs Roncone, Landry, Jackson, Perry etc.
Various Firefighters: Capt. Daniels, Capt. Zander, FF Keiko Nguyen, Spike Samuels, Donny Richmond, Derek Wayne, etc.
Places:
Crystal City Diner
Conor’s Restaurant
Lakeview Restaurant
The Elmwood Inn (The Grand Hotel)
Chapter 1
On the first day of her captaincy, JJ Jensen rode shotgun in her new rig, Engine 2. The call had come in at one p.m. and the five firefighters sped to a site for one of the worst kinds of fire—in a hospital. They pulled into the Memorial’s circular driveway where she caught sight of Incident Command, which would run the operation. Jumping out in full gear, with her air pack ready to go, she crossed to the jeep where she wasn’t surprised to see Fire Chief Joe Redman in charge, the structure blueprints in front of him. An acrid smell of burning debris assaulted her nostrils the closer she got.
“Engine 2 on scene, Chief.”
“You’re first-in, Jensen. Go in and find the seat of the fire. There’s fire reels in each section for you to use.”
“Yes, sir.” JJ glanced down at the layout of the building, which she’d already seen before. “I came here for a fire drill before my new job started.”
“Good for you.” More softly, he added, “You can do this, JJ.”
Jogging back to the rig, she faced her squad, who’d gotten off the truck. “Full turnout gear. Grab tools. There are fire reels and extinguishers inside.” Fire reels were hoses connected to water inside a building. “We’re gonna look for the point of origin.”
Lt. Abe Quinn, second in charge, buttoned up his turnout coat and put on his Nomex hood. Then his air mask and helmet. “Should I go in or take the rear?”
“You go first. I’ll follow you inside.”
They hurried in through the ground floor, which housed the ER. Smoke hadn’t reached here yet, which was a good sign that the blaze was contained. Retrofitting years back had compartmentalized the hospital into closable sections for keeping fire contained. Firefighters would have to check each floor regardless, and soon reinforcements would arrive to help with that. Pulling off her air mask, she sniffed. She followed the smell up the steps and came to floor two. The sign read SICU—Surgical Intensive Care Unit. The smoke thickened as they strode down the corridor until they reached Surgery.
The unit was semi-dark with smoke, but they had some visibility. “We’re in the surgical unit, chief. Smoke indicates fire might be here.” To the others, she said, “Let’s go down to the end. Looks like the point of origin. I’ll check each room on the way to be sure they’ve evacuated.”
As her team covered the distance at a fast pace, she did a cursory check of each OR they passed. OR 1—empty. God forbid they had an active surgery going on. OR 2—the same, but the third operating room was occupied.
Shit, JJ thought.
Straight ahead, they could see fire. “It’s in here,” Quinn called in his radio. “The Surgical Sterilization Center.”
JJ joined them. “Morey, pry the door open. Cortez, hook up to the hose reel about three feet down from you, low, on the wall. If the unit itself is on fire, Lt. Quinn will put it out with the Class C extinguishers inside and the rest of you use the reel to contain fire that’s spread.” These life saving devices had also been installed when the place was brought up to speed on the new standards.
Morey lifted the halligan, set the pick end on the door handles and Cortez hit the end hard with a large hammer. The door opened. The others made quick work of the fire wheel and soon had the hose ready.
Inside the room, the smell was metallic. She watched as Quinn grabbed the extinguisher and sprayed the cleaning device, which doused the fire. The others opened the hose nozzle on the walls. She radioed the chief. “Fire’s out. Point of origin is the sterilization section.”
“Makes sense. Teams searching the rest of the hospital report no sign of fire. Do you want more people to search for victims and do the salvage and overhaul?”
“Maybe one squad.” Quinn, on the call, too, spoke for all of them. “We could use more hands to make sure there’s no fire hiding in the walls.”
Cortez had already begun the process.
“You got it.”
“Copy that.” JJ added, “There’s an operating room in use.”
Redman swore. “You go, Jensen, and assess the situation.”
“I’m heading to the active OR.” She looked at her lieutenant. “You got this, Quinn.”
JJ jogged down to room 3. The windows were obscured by smoke in the corridor, so she opened the door, ducked inside and quickly closed it. A thin mist of smoke had already permeated the space. Four people stood around a table, gowned and gloved, wearing goggles and face shields. A patient lay hooked up to machines.
“I’m Captain Jensen of the CCFD. I’m breaking sterilization because you already have smoke in here. We gotta clear this room of its occupants right away.” She gestured to the manifold wall lever to turn off the gasses.
“Stay where you are!” a doctor with his hands in a guy’s chest, shouted. “I have to get him off the bypass machine before we can leave.”
“Bypass?” You gotta be kidding me.
“We’re almost done with a heart repair. If you stop us now, he’ll die.”
“How long do you need?”
“Minutes until you can cut the power.”
Their face gear kept enough visibility for them to work quickly.
Soon, he said, “All right, Macon, punch in a higher dose of anesthesia then we’ll cut the gases. Nurse Baker, get the portable oxygen tank in the emergency compartment.”
As they worked, they started to cough.
The woman brought over a kit zipped into a medium-size bag, took it out and attached the tank to the bed. They switched masks on the patient because the second was hooked up to a battery.
“Now, Captain,” the surgeon called out.
JJ pulled the lever next to her. The bright lights shut off and a smaller light over them went on.
The surgeon said, “Everybody but one person, go. I’ll need help getting the bed out.”
The anesthetist stood. “I-I can stay, Dr. Barrows.”
“Thanks.”
“I’m an EMT,” JJ told him, “I’ll stay.”
“I—”
“My call, doc.” To the others she ordered, “Leave on your goggles and shields. The smoke’s penetrable in the corridor, still. Can you find your way to the unaffected section of the hospital?”
“Yes. We practiced this.” This from the nurse.
Into the radio, JJ barked, “I’m sending out the anesthetist and two nurses.”
They left the room.
“All right, Captain. Stay where you are until the man’s closed up.”
She saw that he still had his hand in the man’s open chest! He poked the heart with his finger. Nothing. “Come on, Barry.”
JJ held her breath.
He poked again.
&
“Wow.”
“I’ll have to put a temporary bandage on before we can move him.” He worked quickly as he spoke, cleaning the skin around the area, drying it, and applying a huge strip of medical tape she’d seen once on someone who had hip surgery.
Over the radio she heard, “Status, Jensen.”
She explained what happened. “We’re—”
An explosion rocked the room.
“Chief?” She waited.
Then she heard from Quinn, “Sterilization unit reignited. We put it out again, Cap. Truck 3’s helping us look for fire in the walls.”
Already she could see blacker smoke enter the hall.
“Everybody okay?” she asked.
“Yep.”
“Nothing’s easy, is it, Captain?” Dr. Barrows coughed but continued to work.
“I guess.”
Finally, he stepped back. “I taped up the wound and covered the bandaged patient.” He got out blankets. Minutes had passed.
“Jensen!!!” she heard over the radio.
“Just finished, Chief. Leaving now. Doc, go to the head of the bed. I’ll pull from the open door, since I’m right by it and then I can push. Once we get in the hall, I’ll share my air with you.”
“Sounds like a plan.” He moved to the head of the bed.
He was pretty calm for a critical situation. He was a surgeon, so she guessed he had to be.
She opened the door and more smoke filtered into the room, cutting visibility in half.
“Try not to bump him,” the doc called out.
“I won’t. We have to stay in lock step.” They maneuvered the patient into the hall. Thicker smoke, now, even blacker.
A coughing fit seized Barrow. “Take some of my air.”
“You’re too far away. Let’s go.” They headed down the corridor as quickly as possible. JJ couldn’t force him to take her air.
They got halfway out of the wing, when he started hacking—and he crumpled to the ground. She was going to kill a heart surgeon on her first outing!
Stopping, she moved around the bed, slipped her arms under his and dragged him to her end. She lugged him up and laid him over the legs of the patient, face down. Then she pushed hard. Harder. Fast. Faster.
When they reached the wing that had been compartmented off, the door opened and she pushed them inside.
“Bring him to this room,” a nurse called out.
JJ rolled them to a curtained off area. Three people surrounded the patient. She drew Barrows up and off the flat part of the bed. He fell into her arms. Someone shoved a gurney over and they slid him onto it.
“The doc needs oxygen. He wouldn’t take mine.”
Quickly, they hooked up oxygen on him while the others stayed with the patient.
After pulling off her helmet, facemask and Nomex hood, she heard over the radio, “JJ, talk to me.”
“We’re safe. In the west wing.”
“Thank God. Condition of the patient and doctor?”
“Patient’s fine,” one nurse called out, so the chief could hear.
“The doctor?”
“Getting oxygen now.”
Coughing, Barrows roused. “H-how’s…” More coughing. Then, “How’s Barry?”
“He’s on our oxygen, doctor.” Another nurse. “He’s in good shape.”
Bracing himself on his arms, he inched halfway up. “I applied only a temporary bandage. I have to stitch him up.”
“No, Nick,” A white-coated man who’d entered the room had come up to the bed. “I’m here to do it. Relax and breathe.”
He deferred, laid back and took a hit of his own air. Then looked up at her. “Oh, hell, you’re young.” He gave her a smile. “And pretty.”
Oh hell was right!
* * *
Nick awoke in an ER cubicle. A nurse at his side fiddled with his IV. He knew her, but her name eluded him. He glanced at her name tag. “Lucy. What, um, what day is it?”
“The day of the fire, Doctor.”
He frowned. “Why are you calling me that? I’m on a first name basis with the staff.”
“You’re a patient now, Dr. Barrows.”
“How’s Mr. Barry?”
“Alive and well. The surgeon on call finished up the closing. The patient’s recovering well. You did an excellent job under terrible circumstances.”
“I had help.” Now that he was awake, the soreness shot through his whole body. “Why did I sleep so much?”
“Dr. Cassidy, your attending, wanted you on pain killers and medication to sleep.”
“Why pain killers?”
“Once the shock wore off, you were hurting from smoke inhalation.”
“Did I agree to have the medicine?”
“You were in and out of it. Your physician made the decision—as you would have done.”
“I’m conscious, no pain. Just soreness. No more medication.”
An arched brow. “I’ll ask Dr. Cassidy.”
“I’m ready to be discharged.”
“I’ll ask Dr. Cassidy.”
“Where is he?”
“Making rounds. He’ll be in as soon as possible.”
How often had he told patients that? Hmm, he didn’t like the vagueness of her response. He’d have to do better with his language.
“I’ll get dressed.”
“Your clothes were full of soot. They’re in the laundry.”
He plucked at his hospital gown. “Get me some scrubs.”
She cocked her head.
“Please.”
“All right. I’ll see to it.”
He thought about his family. “Did you alert my parents?”
“Yes.” His dad was a heart surgeon, too, and his mom a Congresswoman. He’d listed them as next of kin. They were taking a long-overdue vacation, which was where they were now. “They called later today to see how you were. Wanted to know if they should come back.”
“They’re entitled to go on with their plans. The trip was long in coming.”
“Dr. Barrows Sr. called your sisters.” They lived in New York City.
“None of them should fly up.”
“You can call them. Your phone is on your tray table.”
“Thanks. Lucy, I’m sorry if I was abrupt.”
“You’re not as bad as some docs.”
“I need a favor.”
She waited.
“The firefighters who rescued me? Could you get me their information? Which station they came from. Their names.”
She chuckled.
“What?”
“The captain who brought you in here?” Another chuckle. “Your first words to her were that she was young…and pretty.”
“I don’t remember saying that.” He gave her a half-smile. “Was she?”
“Yes, to both.”
“Ah. Well, get the information, will you?”
“That shouldn’t be too hard.” She grinned now. “Nick.”
When she left, he laid back in the pillows. And thought about today. He remembered the surgery, the firefighter coming into the operating room. She’d been wearing a face mask, then. She’d wheeled the patient and apparently him to safety, after he passed out. The last thing he remembered was falling to the floor in the corridor.
He didn’t have to wait too long for Patrick Cassidy.
“So,” Pat said at the hand soap dispenser, “you want to be discharged?”
“Yes.”
“Let me look at the chart.” He picked up the tablet. “Hmm. You slept for hours.”
“Because of you.”
“You would have prescribed the same medication.”
“Probably.” He stood next to Nick. “Close call, huh?”
“Yeah. Thankfully, the city spent money retrofitting the hospital. You weren’t here when that happened years ago. They had no choice when the new laws came out. There was talk of enlarging Cedar instead and closing us down. But Elmwood Hospital had gone through with a retrofitting and their board advised us to keep Memorial open.”
“They were doing the final touches at the time I came on board.”
