Weds Brief

It's that time of the week.   Time to flash

This week's prompts: "As time goes by..." lol Just came to me, wonder why? or use a winter theme or use: snow, peeved, water or "When did you tell me..." or use a rainbow in your story or use a rainbow and a unicorn lol or use: handcuffs, silver, basket

 

Weds Brief 1/23

 

The one thing about being a public servant was you didn’t get the luxury of staying home because of a snow storm.

 

So that was why Tom was on the line helping put out a house fire. He was inside, checking for people that might be trapped inside the burning structure, while Ben was at home, probably sitting in front of their fireplace in the living room. Tom wished he was with him, cuddled up together, enjoying not only the warmth from the hearth but the warmth from each other’s bodies.

 

One consolation was he was wearing the long johns Ben gave him for Christmas.  They kept him warm under the layers of fire fighting gear. , It made him feel closer to Ben.

 

Cough, cough   Tom turned around at the sound that came from behind him.   “Hello!” he called out.  He signaled to his fellow firefighter that there was someone in the house.

 

“Help me, please, help me.”  Tom moved toward the voice calling out to him, through the obstacle course of furniture and an overturned table, to reach the figure that was lying on the floor of the living room. The room was filled with black smoke and, if not for the sky light spotlighting the body on the floor, Tom might have missed the woman.  

 

“I’m here, let me help you.” Tom carefully pulled the woman up and over his shoulder and carried her out.  He searched through the myriad of people who were standing outside until he found the paramedics who were coming toward him. He laid the woman on a stretcher. He took off his breathing mask and looked at the woman’s face. “You’re going to be okay now.” He felt the woman’s hand clasp at his coat.

 

“Please”  cough  “You have to save Andy.”

 

Tom looked at the burning house. He hadn’t seen anyone else there.  “There’s someone else in there?”

 

“My cat. He’s probably hiding.” 

 

“Don’t worry, I’ll find him.” He squeezed the woman’s hand and put his mask back on and ran back into the house. “Joe, there’s a cat in there.” He alerted his captain. 

 

“Okay, try to find him, but you be ready to leave if I tell you to clear out.”

 

“Okay, Joe.”  He ran back in and called out for the cat. He could just hear a faint meow.   “Jack,” he called out to his colleague ,who was trying to put the fire out in the kitchen.  “Do you hear a meow?”

 

“Yeah,” 

 

Tom could hear his friend’s voice over the headset built into the helmet. They followed the sound to the bedroom that was off the living room.  They found the cat lying very still on the floor. Tom picked up the limp animal and carried him out. The paramedics took out the special inhalator that had been donated by an animal clinic; it was made especially to revive animals. Tom put the mask on the cat’s face and gave him some oxygen. It took a few minutes but slowly Andy regained consciousness. 

 

The lady refused to go to the hospital until she knew her cat was okay. “Oh thank you, thank you,” She told Tom when he handed the animal off to her. 

 

“We need to take her to the hospital now,” Nancy, one of the station’s paramedics said.  “I’m sorry, the cat can’t come with her.” 

 

“But I don’t have anyone else who will take him. I don’t want him to be put in the pound. Please!”  

 

“I’ll take him,” Tom assured her.  “Don’t worry, he’ll be fine. I’ll take him to the vet and have him looked over and then I’ll take him home. You just go to the hospital.” Tom gave the woman his card so she’d be able to contact him when she was able to take her cat back.

 

Tom lived up to his promise and took the cat to the vet for a check-up. Except for a slight burn on his ear, he was just fine.  

 

“Ben,” Tom called his husband. 

 

“Tom, are you okay?”  Ben could tell by Tom’s voice that something had happened.

 

“Yeah, I’m okay. We had a house fire call, there was a woman trapped. I got her out and she went to the hospital. But I have a little situation here. I hope you don’t mind if we have a guest over for a while.”

 

“Guest?” 

 

“Yeah her cat, Andy. She doesn’t have anyone for himto  stay with. I told her I’d look after the cat. Please, Ben. I know we never talked about having an animal in the house. But I promised her I would take care of him.”

 

“Okay, bring Andy home. I’ll go get him cat litter and all the other stuff.”

 

“Really, are you sure it’s okay?”

 

“Of course, we can’t let the lady down. Or leave Andy homeless.”

 

“Have I told you I love you, Ben?”

 

“Yeah, but not lately.”

 

“I’ll remind you when I get home.” Tom had a bounce in his step as he left the animal hospital and drove back to the station to get his stuff and then it was home to his man.

 

tbc

 my fellow flashers

Nephylim m/m

Elyzabeth VaLey m/f

Chris T. Kat m/m

Victoria Adams m/f

Lily Sawyer m/m

MA Church m/m

Tali Spencer m/m

MC Houle m/m

Julie Lynn Hayes m/m

Cia Nordwell m/m