All Consuming (Brotherhood by Fire #3) -Jaci Burton Page 0,25

this.”

“And you’ve got a life hanging in the balance in your hands. If you can’t handle it, we’ll replace you with someone who can.”

The last thing he needed right now was Phil telling him he couldn’t do the job. “I said I’ve got it.”

“Concentrate on your own patient, Beckwith,” Micah said. “We’re on a time crunch here.”

“You got it,” Phil said.

With a bigger team down to help, they extricated both victims from the vehicle and secured them, using buckets to pull them up the hill to waiting ambulances. It was backbreaking, slippery work, but they got it done, keeping their patients stable on the way up. By the time they got the woman to the ambulance, her vitals had perked up. Kal was relieved about that. He really hoped she was going to make it.

Wes and Winnie located Danny about twenty feet from the vehicle, conscious but with a broken leg and a possible concussion. He started fully coming around when the team got to him, thankfully. Considering how badly it could have gone for the kid, they were all relieved when the rescue team brought him up. Kal hoped he was going to be okay. It was a terrible accident, so it was amazing the whole family had come through this. At least they were all alive. Since they wouldn’t be following to the hospital, he’d have no way of knowing if they survived. He just had to hope.

Now all that was left was cleanup. By the time they made their way back to the station, Kal was filthy and wiped out, the initial adrenaline rush having left his body. He felt twenty pounds heavier since he was carrying all that extra mud and water weight on his body.

He went to the shower to scrub the mud off, then put on a fresh uniform. He sat in the locker room and tried to keep his hands from shaking. It had been a tough call that could have gone sideways in an instant. It didn’t, but he had to admit that one scared him.

Calls like that were why he’d signed on to the TRT. He was going to have to suck it up and manage the stress of it all. So he went back into the main room to rejoin his team.

Everyone seemed to be wiped out, but the truck had to be cleaned up and supplies inventoried and replaced. Fortunately, they didn’t get any calls the rest of the night, so they ate and chilled out. Which gave him plenty of time to regain his bearings.

He needed some downtime to reflect on that call, on his reaction to it, on how he’d managed it. Because it had been difficult, but this was what he’d asked for.

So he was going to have to learn how to deal with it.

CHAPTER 9

HANNAH HAD A CANCELLATION ON HER LAST APPOINTMENT of the day, which didn’t disappoint her all that much. It gave her time to pick Oliver up from school so he didn’t have to ride the bus. Her mom still worked full-time at the county clerk’s office, so they’d made arrangements for Oliver to stay at the neighbor’s house with his friend. She’d already called Becca to let her know she was picking Oliver up, and texted her mom, too.

“It’s so cool you’re here,” Oliver said when he saw her outside the school.

“I think so, too.”

After he got into his seat, he said, “You’re usually the last one home. Now you’re the first.”

“Which is why I wanted to surprise you today.”

“So what are we gonna do now?”

“Well, tonight we’re going to a movie, remember?”

“Oh, right. Can we have pizza first?”

“Of course. A friend of mine is going with us.”

“Do I know her?”

“It’s a him. And no, you don’t.”

Oliver went silent for a moment, and Hannah wondered if he was upset about her bringing a guy.

“Can I bring a friend, too?”

She smiled as she connected glances with him in the rearview mirror. She should have known he was playing an angle. “Sure.”

“Can you call Jeff’s mom and ask if he can come?”

“I’ll do that as soon as we get home.”

Becca agreed to let Jeff go with them for dinner and a movie. In fact, she sounded deliriously happy. Becca was just coming out of her first trimester of pregnancy with her second child, and she told Hannah she was looking forward to having a few hours of rest and relaxation with her husband, Tony. She said they’d probably both pass out on the