Page 75 of Fighting Fire

“Okay, okay. Let’s go.”

* * *

While riding through the city, watching everything the paramedics did, he breathed in oxygen in great gulps, but his lungs still felt gritty and raw.

When they got to the ER, Sean tried to go with her, but a nurse grabbed his arm and directed him toward an exam room.

He tried to fight her, but the room started spinning and he found himself flat on his back.

“Be still,” a big doctor instructed him, standing above him.

“Lana…”

“Your friend is in good hands. So stop squirming or I’ll have to stick you with a needle to quiet you down.”

Sean quieted down. He didn’t want to be sedated. He wanted to see Lana. So he let the doctor clean him out and give him some more oxygen.

“How is she?”

“I don’t know.”

“Could you please find out?”

“Will you stay put for a few minutes until I get back?”

“Yes, just let me know how she is and I’ll stay here like a good boy.”

The doctor disappeared and when he came back, he said, “Your friend has smoke inhalation and a concussion from a blow to the head. And she’s in shock. That wins her rest and relaxations with twenty-four-hour care.”

Sean breathed a sigh of relief.

* * *

Sean refused to be admitted. Ignoring the doctor’s caution that he should also stay, he went out into the waiting area. Sienna and Kate sprang up from their chairs the moment they saw him.

“Lana?” they asked in unison.

“They’re working on her,” Sean said, giving both women a hard hug. He nodded to A.J. Camacho, standing by Sienna’s shoulder.

“They wouldn’t give us much information because we’re not family,” Kate said. “Fat lot they know.”

“She’s like a…no, she’s our sister.”

Taking a deep breath Sienna slipped her hand into A.J.’s and sat down.

Sean sat, too, still feeling woozy.

Kate said, “You saved her life.”

“Thank God,” Sienna added.

A.J. put his arm around her and drew her close, saying, “It’s okay, sweetheart.”

She turned her face into his chest and relaxed against him and Sean suddenly wanted what they had found. Wanted it with Lana.

As they sat there in silence waiting for news of Lana, the squad began to trickle in. Firefighters who hadn’t even bothered to go back to the station after the fire was extinguished. They crowded around Sean, patting him on the back and giving him their thanks for saving Lana. Then his squad started arriving one by one until the hospital was crowded with San Diego firefighters.

“Mr. O’Neill?” The nurse approached him. “The doctor said you can see your friend for a few moments.”