Page 6 of Venus

The crew is finishing our rounds. The one and only fire station in the county is dimly lit while we test the lights and sirens of our beloved engine. We named him Leroy.

Yes, as in Leroy Jenkins.

Yes, we’re idiots. How’d you know?

We’ve got the only engine in the county that’s always rushing headfirst into dangerous (and not so dangerous) scenarios, so we needed to give him a fitting name.

We all head back upstairs to the lounge, and I lean against the edge of the pool table in the rec room while I wait for Jacks to take his shot.

He and Trevor are nursing cold cans of Coca-Cola while I chug a Monster.

We’re all a little tired. We tend to get this way at the end of our 96-hour shifts.

Half alive. Hungry. Sometimes even delirious from the boredom.

“So let me get this straight,” Trevor says with a look of pure mischief.

“You had a night in the sheets with the hottest blonde in the county, you still haven’t gotten her name, and you fumbled getting her number?

All those nights with your right arm really did it in for you, huh?

Cooter can’t last a second in a cooter.”

I glare. “Do you want this can thrown at your forehead or your throat?”

Trevor shrugs. “Surprise me.”

I throw my empty can at his head. “Please shut up.”

“Okay so you’re not a three-pump chump.” Trevor continues. “Did you scare her off with your personality then?”

This time, I gently toss the pool cue at him, hoping it knocks him over the head, but he sacrifices the last of his coke to catch it.

“I’m just fucking with you, champ.” Trevor says.

“Seriously though,” Jackson interrupts Trevor from continuing to hear himself talk. “She works at the hospital, right?”

I nod. “Yeah, labor and delivery.”

“So next time we’re in the ER, just ask around like a lost puppy looking for his owner. This is a small town, somebody down in Emergency’s gotta know her.”

They joke, but I’ve actually considered it. She might feel differently about that night, but she wasn’t just a fling to me. There was something more there. I can just feel it.

In my heart, not my dick.

Although my dick did enjoy itself .

Before I continue that train of thought, the shrill wail of the alarm fills the station. We all jump to our feet. Testing done. Adrenaline takes over. Training kicks in.

Residential structure fire. Heavy smoke and visible flames. Engine One respond.

The dispatcher’s description of the fire focuses us further. I take the radio and confirm we’re on our way as the Captain tells us to move. The last of the crew hops on the truck as it pulls out of the garage, and it’s all lights and sirens on the way.

The ride is fast and tense. The crew takes turns checking each other’s turnout gear and air tanks to ensure we’re ready to go as soon as we reach the site.

We stare out of the window and watch the streets race by, each one of us knowing that our job is to be faster than the flames.

The smoke can be seen well before we reach the house.

It’s a small single-story on the edge of town, and it’s completely engulfed already.

Flame shoots out of the front door and broken windows.

Thick black smoke curls and puffs into the sky like the devil himself is using the home as a cigar.

The orange glow of the flames light up the street ominously as people from town begin to gather to watch the grim sight.

Captain Rodriguez shouts orders as we roll to a harsh stop. The hose is deployed and the protective gear is on.

Out front, our station’s ambulance stops near the elderly couple as they watch their lives reduce to black ashes in the flames. The woman cries and the man is frantically pointing to the house, his shouting unintelligible over the loud flames.

Over the radio in our helmets, I hear Captain say their pet is still inside. A small brown yorkie.

I’ll be damned if I don’t find that dog.

I start moving towards the house with Jackson at my back before they even finish describing where the dog was last seen in the house.

With my brother covering me, we crawl through the house below the smoke.

We hear a small, faint, panicked yapping on the far end of the main living area.

I squint through the smoke and see two small ears and a shaking little dog on a chair that looks more flammable than gasoline.

“Gotcha!” I breathe, reaching for the terrified yorkie as it yelps. Jackson leads me out of the house backwards on our hands and knees with his hand on my ankle. When we emerge from the house and the elderly woman sees her precious pup in my arms, she gasps and reaches for him.

All things considered, he looks fine. A bit of burnt fur but no concerning breathing patterns.

When I emerge into the night air, I pass the shaking dog into the arms of his owner. She gasps like I’ve handed her a newborn.

Oh God. I shouldn’t have said newborn. Now I’m thinking about—

“Oh, Charlie! Oh, my baby, he’s okay! Thank you, thank you—”

Her voice cracks, and her husband chokes up beside her. I take off my mask and give them a tired smile and motion to the small patch of singed fur on the pup’s hind legs. “Take him to the vet just to be safe, alright? He’s a tough little guy.”

The woman clutches my hand, her palm warm and trembling. “God bless you,” she whispers. I nod and join the rest of the crew attempting to get control of the inferno.

It takes hours, but the flames are finally dispelled.

We’re covered in sweat, soot, and water, and the house is a total loss, but the important part is that there were no casualties.

The one thing about this town is that the community will come together to help out the couple that’s lost everything.

We’re four hours past shift change, and we’re all toast. We’re all exhausted. We smell disgusting. We’re hungry. As we reach the station and change, I find myself unable to get off the bench in the locker room.

My elbows rest on my knees and I close my eyes, relaxing my back and trying to ease the tension there.

But it’s not the fire that’s got me worked up anymore.

It’s that damn girl. Venus.

I can’t help it. I know she probably forgot about me the second the post-nut clarity kicked in, but I haven’t stopped thinking about her for even a minute.

No name. No number. The only thing I have to go on is that I know she works in the maternity ward at the hospital. I could go there and try to catch her on a break, but the more I think about it, it starts to sound more stalkerish than romantic.

I know a few nurses in the ER…maybe one of them knows her. But would that be even weirder if I asked?

I rub my face and eyes to try and get that golden hair out of my mind.

Does she really not want to see me again? Could I really be infatuated with a woman who has no interest in me?

It was so…sudden. I’ve never had a fling, even a one-night stand, leave so suddenly after a night in bed. It was almost like it meant nothing to her at all.

And I can’t even be upset if it did, because who am I to her except the guy she met at the bar? She doesn’t owe me anything.

“Great work with that dog tonight,” Jackson says, nudging me on the way to his locker.

“Thanks,” I grunt.

“Are you good?” he asks.

I shrug. “Have you ever met someone and been so sure that there was meant to be more?”

He chuckles softly. “Still caught up on this girl? Damn. It must have been a great night.”

I shake my head. “It wasn’t just the sex. I can’t really explain it.”

He pats me on the shoulder. “I know, bud. I’m sorry it didn’t work out. Sometimes people come into your life for a second and shake everything up. Doesn’t mean they’re staying. Doesn’t mean it wasn’t real, either.”

“I just wish I knew why, you know?” I say. “Like…what did I screw up? What did I say? Why was she so eager to leave?”

“Have you ever considered that she was telling the truth and that she just wasn’t looking for anything serious?

I know it sounds harsh but…maybe she really just wanted some fun.

She works long hours like us. Sometimes you just need to take the edge off.

I don’t think she wanted you to take it so personally. ”

I sigh. “I know. I just need some time to let it go.”

We’re both dead tired and decide to end our conversation there. We say our goodbyes and head in separate directions. The weight of my exhaustion presses down on my eyelids as I drive home, but my mind doesn’t slow down for one second.

When I finally slip into my apartment and fall onto the bed, all I can think about is my Venus. I know she’s probably not thinking about me, but I hope she is.

But my last thought before sleep takes me, is that if I ever see her again, I won’t let it be the last time.