“I’m cramping,” she whispered. “It’s too soon for the baby to come. And I’ve miscarried before.”
Every word was a knife in his gut. He knew, firsthand, how painful miscarriage was. His chest squeezed and his throat grew tight before he managed to take his emotions out of the picture.
After ten years as a hotshot, he knew better than to let anything get in the way of the job he had to do.
From the window above the couch, he could see the treetops bending in the mounting breeze. Within minutes, flames would roll over this house.
Joe was going to have a hell of a time getting down here to pick them up, and Sam found himself wondering if the three of them were going to make it out alive.
“Our phones went out and my husband has our car,” Tammy said in a frantic voice. “I didn’t think anyone was going to find us.” She started crying again. “I don’t want to lose my baby or let anything happen to my little girl.”
Damn it, he didn’t have time for doubt, for second-guessing himself. He had to get them out.
“Can you walk?”
She tried to stand up, then sank back into the cushions.
“It hurts too much,” she said, her cramps obviously far too intense for her to stay upright.
With the fire raging, there was no way Joe could drop low enough to the cabin in the helicopter to get near them. Besides, in her condition, Tammy couldn’t climb a ladder, which meant Sam needed to get them to an open patch where Joe could land.
Pulling out his radio, he said, “Joe, I’m heading northwest with a pregnant woman and her daughter. First open spot you can land, we’ll need pickup for transport to the nearest hospital. Radio me when you choose your spot. And keep it close.”
Reaching under Tammy’s knees and shoulders, he hoisted her into his arms. “Wrap your arms around my neck and hold on tight.” Turning to Piper he said, “You look like you’re pretty fast.”
“I am.”
He smiled at the pretty little girl. “Good. Let’s get out of here. We’re going to hitch a ride on a helicopter.”
Moving as fast as he could without jarring Tammy, they eventually made it past the cabin to the stream that ran adjacent to the property. The acrid smell of fresh smoke hung in the air, and he instructed them to cover their mouths with their shirts.
Joe radioed with news that he’d found a meadow a half mile up from the cabin. It was a steady slope to get from the valley to the meadow, but even pregnant, Tammy didn’t weigh much.
As they began their ascent, he checked in with the brave little girl. “How are you doing, Piper?”
“Good. I’m going fast, aren’t I?”
“You sure are, Piper. Tammy? Am I moving too fast? Am I hurting you?”
She had stopped crying and he sensed that she had turned her entire focus to making it to the clearing, to getting up in the helicopter and flying to the hospital.
“Please, just hurry,” was her reply.
He hadn’t seen blood on her clothes or the couch when he’d picked her up, and he was praying that her cramping hadn’t yet turned into a full-blown miscarriage.
He’d been too late with his own child. He had to save this one.
“Everything’s going to be all right,” he promised, hoping like hell that he was telling the truth.
He couldn’t hear the helicopter yet, though, only the sound of hot flames already feasting on outbuildings. Could he get the three of them off the hill before they were next?
And then, thank God, he heard the whir of the helicopter’s blades above them.
“Joe’s coming to get us now,” he said, and a couple of minutes later, when they crested the hill, the helicopter was already on the ground, waiting for them. Together, the two men lifted Tammy into the aircraft.
On the way to the hospital, another helicopter was heading in with a full load of water. Squeezing Tammy’s hand, he smiled and said, “If the crew works fast, the fire may not move beyond your outbuildings and they’ll be able to save your house.”
“I don’t care about my house,” she said, her voice even weaker. “All I want is a healthy baby.”