Page 31 of Never Forget
Hose work, ladder sequences, equipment checks. Cap called instructions from the bay floor while Tyler, Sean, and I moved through the routines we'd done a thousand times before. My arms burned from hauling hose. Sweat dripped down my back despite the winter chill coming through the open bay doors. The work was physical and repetitive and exactly what I needed.
No one at Station 33 had talked about Jack.
That was how Havensworth firefighters were. We coped with movement, not words. Grief was something you carried quietly, buried under the weight of the job, and if you needed to fall apart you did it somewhere no one could see.
I was grateful for it. The drills gave me somewhere to put my body while my mind tried not to think.
"That's good," Cap called out. "We're done for the morning."
Tyler dropped from the ladder and stretched his neck. Sean killed the pump and headed inside without a word. I coiled the hose and followed them toward the locker room, my legs heavy, my chest looser than it had been in days.
The locker room was quiet. Just the hum of the fluorescent lights and the familiar smell of sweat and old gear. Tyler grabbed a towel from his locker and disappeared toward the showers.
I stopped at mine. Pulled it open. Reached for my water bottle.
And then I saw it.
Three lockers down. B shift. Jack’s locker.
The lock was still on. His things were still inside. No one had touched it yet.
I made myself look away. Grabbed my towel and headed for the showers.
The card game had been going for twenty minutes.
Tyler was up. Sean was complaining about it. I had a hand that should have had me talking trash, but the words weren't coming the way they usually did.
Sean threw down a card and looked at me. "You gonna play or just stare at your hand all day?"
I tossed a card onto the pile. Didn't say anything.
Tyler and Sean exchanged a glance.
"Come on, Reeves." Sean leaned back in his chair. "You're killing me here. At least pretend you're trying to win."
"I'm trying."
"That's trying?" Sean shook his head. "I've seen you play better half-asleep after a double shift."
I almost smiled. "Maybe I'm letting you win."
"Bullshit." Sean grinned. "You don't let anyone win. You're a sore loser and a worse winner."
I was about to remind him that I'd taken his money three weeks running, but Sean's grin faded. His eyes drifted over my shoulder and stayed there.
I knew that look. It was the same one he got when a girl he was about to make a fool of himself over walked into a bar.
I turned to see what the fuss was about.
It was Jamie.
She saw me at the same moment I saw her, and something in her expression softened. She took a step forward, her mouth opening to speak.
"Miss Donovan."
Cap was already crossing the bay toward her. Jamie turned.
"Captain Sutton."
