Page 6 of Betrayed

AJ took a deep breath as she strode toward the vehicles. Why was Logan here? And why did he have to look at her with such disgust? She didn’t want to admit how much she missed him. He surely wouldn’t understand.

It didn’t matter; she needed to work.

Brennan and Emily, the EMTs on their team, were already helping the young man out of his green coupe. So she went to the sedan.

“Miles!”

“Well, if it isn’t AJ! You going to save me from this mess?”

“That’s my goal. How are you doing? Other than stuck?”

“Can’t complain about life. Other than being stuck in this car.”

She chuckled with him. “We’ll get you out of there. Now that they have the young man out of the other car, we can get it out of the way and then see what we need to do to get you extracted. How are your legs?”

“Sore. I can feel everything and move my toes easily. I’m pinned but fine.”

“Good.”

Brennan would have to check him over, but it seemed Miles was not suffering from anything major. Perhaps a concussion but nothing worse.

The other car was towed away and Don, one of the firefighters, and the new guy, Seth, worked the Jaws of Life to get Miles extracted. There was nothing else she could do, so she went and waited near the truck with Ty and Emily.

Logan was there too. She ignored him and stood next to Emily. There’d be plenty more to do soon enough.

Between cuts of the roaring Jaws of Life, a young child’s giggle floated on the wind from the house next door.

She tried to see where the child was and spotted a little boy of about four on the deck of the house. He was adorable.

The Jaws ramped up again.

AJ took a few steps to keep an eye on the little boy, who seemed to be out back by himself. Where did he go?

On instinct, or maybe it was a Holy Spirit prompting, she wandered over. She seemed to remember that house having a pool, though she couldn’t see over the fence.

The Jaws took a break and a distinct splash met her ears.

She busted into a sprint and hurdled the fence. Where was the boy?

A little body floated face down in the middle of the pool. She reacted without a thought beyond saving the child from drowning. She ran and jumped in.

She came up beside the boy, but the pool was deeper than she was tall. She grabbed the boy and swam to the edge. But her boots and turnout pants weighed her down.

Why didn’t she take them off before she jumped in? She should have. She knew better.

AJ fought with all her might to keep the little boy above the water and get to the side. With one hand she tried to release her suspenders from her shoulders, but the boy began to sink without her holding him up with both hands, so she abandoned that attempt. She kicked. They had to get to the side or at least stay up. Her feet hit the bottom of the pool. She pushed off and burst to the surface. The edge was closer, but not close enough. They sank again.

A hand reached in and gripped her arm. The person at the end of that hand hauled her up and to the side of the pool. She found footing on a small ledge on the edge of the pool and lifted the boy onto the concrete.

Logan helped. Logan was the one who had grabbed her? He had saved her. That fact shocked her as much as the cool pool water had shocked her lungs.

But had they saved the child?

She lifted herself from the pool and the two of them assessed the boy.

He wasn’t breathing. She started chest compressions.

Emily appeared beside them. “AJ, I got it.”