Adalind’s P.O.V

‘Water!’ The pump is broken! There’s someone down here! I’ll go get myself! Not safe, the wood on the body is burning!

My eyes flickered open, a heavy weight pressing on my senses. For a terrifying moment, the world was painted in a horrifying mix of orange and black, the taste of smoke thick in my mouth. My heart pounded like it wanted to burst out of my ribcage. I was certain I was still there, engulfed in the flames, stuck and trapped. Help!

But then, a breath, clean and fresh, filled my lungs. My lungs seized in surprise, gasping for the unfamiliar sensations, and just like that, the world slowly sharpened into focus.

I was lying on something hard, moving. The ceiling above me was a blur of gray, but the air was fresh and cold.

Panic seized me again. Where was I? What had happened? I tried to sit up, but a strong arm pinned me down. My head throbbed like a maddening drum and I struggled against the restraint, fear fueling my desperate attempts to escape being stuck and trapped again.

“Easy,” A smooth, soothing voice rumbled above me and my brain emptied out almost immediately, slowly realizing I was being carried.

A shaft of light appeared ahead, growing larger with each passing moment. We were exiting the building. Relief washed over me in waves but it was quickly replaced by confusion. Who was carrying me? Whilst clad in a wet sweatshirt, the back was firm and strong, just like Nick. It had to be Nick! He came to save me after all.

“Nick,” I croaked, praying my voice rose above the thumps of my boyfriend’s boots.

No answer.

Desperation clawed at my throat. I needed to see Nick’s face, to confirm my hope. But no matter how hard I squirmed, he ignored me. With a jolt, we burst into the open and the following noise was overwhelming. I soon felt myself being lowered onto something cold and hard. A stretcher, I realized.

I blinked open my eyes with effort, the world blurring at the edges. A figure loomed over me, a faceless silhouette against the sun and glaring lights. I opened my mouth to speak, but a cold, wet, mask was pressed over it, filling my lungs with a fresh wave of oxygen. The world was fading away, slipping into darkness.

A final thought formed in my mind before oblivion claimed me again. The one who helped me wasn’t my boyfriend. It wasn’t Nick.

“Adalind!”

I sucked in a sharp breath, my eyes blinking as I tried to focus on the blurry figures hovering over me. A wave of nausea hit me as I became aware of my surroundings. The cream walls, the beeping monitors, and yes, the smell of antiseptic that I still haven’t gotten used to. It was the familiar environment of the hospital where I worked.

“Adalind! Can you hear me? A familiar voice cut through the fog in my head and I turned my head to the side of my bed. It was Monroe, my department director. His face hovered over me, lines of worry etched on his forehead.

“How did I get here?” I asked in a hoarse voice, knowing I should have died in that fire.

Monroe’s expression softened and the worry left. “You were rescued from the fire in your apartment by the hero that brought you here. Maybe you’ll meet him in the future.” His voice was gentle, but his eyes held a strange intensity which was weird for Monroe. “You’re going to be okay, Ada. you’re safe now.”

I nodded, swallowing saliva to wet my throat and then I cut my gaze to the end of the bed, grimacing when I saw my ankle propped up with bandages covering it. A flurry of activity soon surrounded me as nurses and my doctor colleagues came to check on me. The questions thrown at me made it easy for me to ignore the image of flames consuming my home. The images that plagued me.

“How did it happen? One of my colleagues, Medical assistant Stella asked.

My throat tightened. “Negligence.” I managed to say in a barely audible voice. “I think I left the stove on.”

Their eyes widened in sympathy. “You’re lucky to be alive.” another colleague said. “Be careful next time, Dr. Schade.”

The room fell silent until someone cleared their throat. “Why is Nick not here yet?”

The question hit me like a physical blow, a fucking freight train. Nick. my boyfriend. Who was a fucking firefighter? He didn’t give a rat’s ass about me. A lump formed in my throat. I couldn’t look at anyone. I couldn’t speak.

It felt like my tongue was tied. The hero who had saved me was a stranger, and the man I had trusted had failed me.

Adalind’s P.O.V

Other than a few charred windows and wallpaper, it was shocking for me to find out that my entire apartment hadn’t burned to cinders. Rather I must have been so stressed and freaked out that I imagined the fire licking across my curtains in the sitting room. Also, my antique bookshelf wasn’t broken or burnt like I’d thought. Hell, almost all the other parts of my house were untouched, left for the bad smoke smell and soot on the wallpaper that made everything black.

Realizing, I mustn’t have been trapped under the bookshelf was also wild to me. So I just laid on the ground after I tripped and broke my ankle, my brain going amok and telling me I was trapped under the bookshelf.

The fire only affected my kitchen and a renovation wasn’t something I could afford yet so after being discharged from the hospital four days after the incident, I was eating from disposable paper plates whilst struggling to move around my apartment and then back to work with a healing broken ankle.

It wasn’t only my ankle that broke too, I had to repair my phone screen and still, Nick hadn’t reached out to me to know what happened, if I was alive or dead.

BANG! BANG!

I jerked up from my bed at the noise at my front door, feeling my heart thump right out of my chest. “I’m coming!” I yelled, annoyed at the incessant pounding of a fist against wood. Today was my day off and I wasn’t expecting any visitors so who could it be?

Transferring my body weight to my good foot, I hopped down the hall and into the living room, until I got to the door and clicked it open.

Oh. my mouth went dry at the sight of the figure propped against my doorway, arms akimbo with his ankles crossed in such a lazy position that sent a flicker of irritation through me.

Nick.

From the shock on his face, he must have expected a hug or something, but I simply left the door open and returned to a couch in the living room.

A couple of seconds later, I heard the sound of the door closing and then his footsteps as he entered the room.

“Fuck, I’m starving baby!” He went straight to the kitchen without stopping by me and my fist clenched in anger.

“Holy shit! Did a demon from hell visit your kitchen?” His voice bounced through the walls and soon his head popped through the space dividing the kitchen from the living room. “What the hell happened in here?”

I ignored him and he snickered. “Right, I told you to stop entering that kitchen. You might be one of the best junior doctors in the hospital but your cooking skills would put your dear mother to shame and you know she was the best.”

As usual, Nick continued to run his big mouth, mocking my cooking, and all the while, he didn’t notice the slight bruises on my face and the glaring bandages on my swollen ankle. He didn’t even bother to apologize to me for how he had dumped me for his ex-girlfriend’s birthday and the heartbreaking things he’d said about me to her.

I gritted my teeth in a silent simmering angle and bit back my retort. He was such a waste of breath sometimes. As I tried to pick myself up from the couch, still giving him the silent treatment, Nick materialized in front of me with his brows twisted in a huge frown.

“Get out of my way,” I said simply, managing to sound neutral and bland.

But he planted his feet even wider and his hands stopped fumbling with the buttons of his shirt as he’d been undressing. “Are you mad at me because of Juliette?”

His words somehow felt like a hot iron rod piercing my heart because the way he intoned it was as if I was just being dramatic. Suddenly, tears stung my eyes and I fiercely blinked them back.

“Fuck off, Nick.” I snapped and used all my body weight to push him out of the way before angrily hopping off to my bedroom.

I could feel his laser stare burning into me as I walked off but he didn’t stop me once. As the first few tears began to drop from my eyes, I heard my front door slam shut and without checking, I knew he’d stormed off.

My cheeks grew even wetter as more tears escaped my lids. This wasn’t the first time Nick and I would have an argument or quarrel. Hell, I’d say in our relationships, we had more fights than good times, yet every single time we exchanged heated words, I was always the one to apologize first and beg for his forgiveness.

Balling my fingers into tight fists, I wiped off the tears, damned near scratching my own face. That time was over. I would never beg him first or accept him back unless he reached out first and showed he was sorry truly and genuinely.

Adalind’s P.O.V

The soft glow of my desk lamp illuminated the stacks of patient medical records spread across my desk. There was a dull ache throbbing at my temples as I forced my eyes to focus on the words. I was so tired today and after the last call to a burning house where I had to resuscitate a baby who had been locked in the room, I was ready to call it a night.

“Adalind!” Monroe’s voice cut into my concentration and I gasped, startled.

“Jesus, you scared the living lights out of me, Roe!” I snapped, rubbing at my thumping chest.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Monroe chuckles lightly and I glanced up to see him leaning against the doorframe.

“Or maybe I’m just tired after a long ass day,” I replied flatly, rolling my eyes at the look on his face.

“Nope, we both know you’re a work machine.” he persisted, furrowing his brows. “Remember when there was that crazy epidemic in the city and you worked five nights in a damn row without taking a break. Look, is it Nick? You know you can talk to me about it.”

“Don’t you have some unconscious patient to cut into?” I rolled my eyes again.

He shook his head and gave me a look that said he wasn’t going anywhere until I said something.

I sighed heavily, massaging my temples with my thumb. I needed to change something, and fast. I couldn’t bear to stay here, in this fucking place.

“Actually, Roe,” I began in a steady voice despite the turmoil in my chest. “I was wondering…is there any chance of transferring to the headquarters in another city? Maybe a change of scenery would do me good.”

Monroe’s brows climbed up but there seemed to be pride in his eyes as he nodded at me. “I’m glad you actually brought that up. Your initiative to work even harder never fails to please me. There are quite a few doctors who are truly passionate about the craft like you.”

He was no longer the concerned friend at that moment. He was the senior doctor and director of the medical rescue team of the fire department, fishVille.

“Thank you, sir.”

“There’s an ongoing project that I didn't tell you about because I figured your entire life is here in FishVille.” Monroe pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Since you are clearly willing to relocate, I’ll recommend you for the project.”

“Thank you so much, Mr. Badger.” I almost gave him a hug right then. “Could you tell me what the project is about?”

“Well, they are just handpicking the best and most excellent doctors to create a team to send up to the headquarters,” Monroe explained and my chest tightened in happiness. “You’ll need to apply for it personally…” he trailed off and an uncomfortable look slipped into his eyes. “Are you truly sure about this? You would have to separate from Nick.”

I hid the smile that threatened to spread my lips. “Don’t worry about that sir. I’ll apply for it.”

Just then, my phone vibrated against the wood of my desk, alerting me to a text message.

“Excuse me, sir,” I said to Monroe before picking it up. He said a few words and exited my office, leaving me alone.

It was a text from Juliette.

My lips instantly pressed into a tight line as I opened the inbox. What met my eyes as I scrolled through the chats made it burn with angry tears. There were numerous photos of Nick and Juliette having the best time on the beach. His hands kept moving to more intimate places on her body in the pictures where Juliette was clad in a two-piece bikini.

My phone vibrated again with a text from her that read…

–Nick and I are rekindling what we had and he’s never been so happy as he is with me. You know what to do, clown.

My teeth ground together with rage and I almost threw my phone across the room. Gathering myself, I blocked the number, dropping my phone on the desk.

I buried my face into my palm, my shoulders trembling as I fought to control my emotions. They weren’t worth it. And now, it all made sense. I’d seen a letter in Nick’s bag where he asked for an extended leave from his job. He clearly took the leave so he could spend time with his ex-girlfriend.

The tears I was fighting to hold escaped as I remembered how I begged him every time to take me to the beach, or a trip to Hawaii to see the beautiful sea life. I even promised to pay for his own trip. But Nick had always replied that he was busy. I guess I wasn’t the one he wanted to enjoy a vacation with.

The signs were there, but I had been too blind to see them. As they always say, men would never make excuses, unless they don’t want to do it.

I was such a fool.