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Josephine had resigned herself to watching while everything unfolded, but soon a firefighter rushed up to them, carrying someone bundled up in a blanket.

“Medic!”

Josephine was already beside her. There was a little boy wrapped up. His eyes looked unfocused and drowsy. Side-effects of smoke inhalation.

“Place him there!” Josephine directed. She turned to the other medic. “We need to put him on oxygen right away!”

Josephine made sure the boy’s airways were not obstructed, peeling back the blankets to observe his torso. His breathing was weak. She put a stethoscope to his chest and listened. There was a high-pitched whistling sound in his lungs each time he took a breath. The smoke had probably exacerbated the boy’s allergies, leading to bronchospasms.

They needed to relieve his airways as quickly as possible.

“Do you have albuterol on hand?”

The medic nodded and added the medicine to the nebulizer before he placed the placed the oxygen mask on the patient. Josephine checked once again to make sure the boy was breathing properly before letting the others on the team take care of him. Her mind wandered back to Ember.

I hope she’s okay

More injured people came. The fire raged. The fight went on and Josephine did the best she could to help out. But there was no sign of Ember. She was starting to get worried. She heard some commotion outside the ambulance, prompting her to step out and see what was happening.

She found some firefighters crowded around Becky who was frowning at the radio in her hands with a hint of fear in her voice. Josephine knew something was horribly wrong. The chief had been stoic in her operations until now. Only something happening to Ember could put a chink in her armor.

Josephine pushed her way through the people gathered round.

“What happened?”

Becky looked at her. The desperation in her friend’s eyes told her too much.

“Ember’s radio just cut off while she was in the middle of requesting backup,” Becky told her. “It’s probably nothing.”

Josephine’s mouth worked but no words came. Her mind had gone completely blank with fear for her lover. She started hyperventilating. The world spun around her, she started to lose her footing, but strong hands grabbed her under the arm, steadying her.

“Stay with me, Josephine,” Becky’s voice cut through the haze. “I need you. Ember needs you.”

Her voice centered Josephine. Her vision reasserted itself. She took slow, deep breaths. She nodded gratefully at her friend.

“What do we do?”

“You sit tight,” Becky replied. “I’ll coordinate the search.”

She turned to her radio, talking rapidly. “Engine two, can you read me?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” came a response.

“Where was Firefighter Thompson headed before her radio cut out?”

“She wanted to make sure old man Farcy had moved out. She went up over the hill in the direction of his property.”

“On foot?” Becky asked, sounding like she already knew the answer to that.

“On foot,” the voice confirmed.

Becky sighed deeply. “Get me in touch with the helicopter. Engine four, head westward.”

“We’re already making our way there. We have a problem. The backroad leading to the Farcy home is currently inaccessible. There’s flaming trees blocking the way. It’ll be nearly impossible to go through.”

Josephine saw Becky’s fingers tighten over the radio.

“Copy that. Hold on, don’t force your way in.”