make sure the worker they had charge of didn’t move either higher or lower.
“Okay,” Phil said. “Start pulling up again.”
It was painstaking work, and it took a while, but after about ten minutes they had the first worker freed from the pipe. He had a few cuts and abrasions, but other than that he looked okay.
Micah and Andy had already started pulling the second worker out. Once he was freed, they retrieved Meg and Phil from the pipe. Their team members were dusty and had a few abrasions of their own.
“It was tight as hell down there,” Meg said. “I don’t know if we could have gotten them out if that pipe had been any smaller.”
“But you did get them out, and that’s what counts,” the lieutenant said. “Job well done. Let’s pack up our equipment and get out of here.”
Kal began to roll up the ropes.
“You somewhere else today, Donovan?” Phil asked when he came over.
“No.”
“It was like I was talking to myself down there. I need an alert team member, and that wasn’t you. Pull your head out of your ass.”
“Yeah. Sorry about that. It won’t happen again.”
Phil pointed his finger at Kal’s chest. “See that it doesn’t.”
Kal put his head down and resumed folding the rope, taking a deep breath and wishing he could have done that rescue over again.
The last thing he needed was to be anything less than perfect on the job, and especially when he was working with either Phil or Dean, the two guys who for some reason he still couldn’t fathom seemed to have it out for him. And so what did he do today? He let his mind drift, to think about Hannah, when he should have had his head on work and only work.
But he’d been thinking about the future, playing a game of what-ifs about Hannah and him.
He couldn’t let that happen again. His job was too important to him.
He went to the truck to store gear.
“You okay?” Meg asked.
He shook his head. “I let my mind wander, and Phil kicked my ass about it.”
“Hey, it happens. And he’s not perfect, either. Don’t let him kid you into thinking he is. The rescue was textbook. Don’t worry about it.”
He nodded. “Thanks.”
Meg was right, and he should let it go, but it was all he thought about through shift. He’d done nothing but work on high alert the entire time he’d been with the TRT. Mainly to prove to himself that he could do this job that he loved, but also because Phil and Dean had been riding his ass since the first day he’d reported for duty here.
He had something to prove, and he couldn’t for one second half-ass his way through any rescue. Today had been a good reminder of that. Focus first on the job, especially when he was on the job. Let everything else slide to days off.
Which was hard to do when Hannah was on his mind all the time. Every day. Every night.
Which was either a really good thing, or maybe a not-so-good thing.
He needed a sounding board.
After shift the next morning, he drove over to his parents’ house. The garage door was open, so he knew his parents were home. There was one of them he needed to talk to.
He knew his mom worked at home today.
He knocked, then went inside. Dad was at the kitchen table drinking coffee and looking at his phone. He smiled when Kal walked in.
“Don’t tell me. You came to surprise me and mow the lawn.”
“I can do that if you want me to.”
“I was joking. I was just about to head to the hardware store. Wanna come with me?”
“Actually, I was hoping to talk with Mom. Is she around?”
He motioned down the hall. “She’s in her office.”
“If she’s working . . .”
His dad cracked a smile. “She’ll still be happy to see you. Go on. I’ll see you later.”
“Okay, Dad. Thanks.”
He headed down the hall and stopped at the glass doors in front of his mom’s office. She wasn’t on the phone, so he lightly tapped. She looked up and smiled, then motioned him inside.
She stood up when he walked in and wrapped him in a hug. That hug alone already helped to relieve some of his stress.
“Hey, baby. What brings you here today?”
“Just thought I’d stop by. How’s work going?”
“Pretty good today, actually. I’ve got a couple of kids placed with amazing foster parents that are looking to make that placement permanent.”
He knew kids getting adopted