in and sat down on the mattress.
He shot a glare at his brother. “If you’re gonna plant your ass where I’m working, you can help.”
“Fine.” Kal got up and helped Rafe change the sheets.
It got quiet, which meant Kal had something on his mind. Rafe waited, moving around the room in silence with his brother.
“I talked to Jackson about the job change.”
They had moved to another bed. Rafe looked up, then around the sleeping quarters. They were alone. “Okay. What did he say?”
“That he wasn’t surprised. He knew I was unhappy; he just didn’t know why. So we talked it out.”
“And?”
“He said he’d approve the transfer if I qualified for the class.”
Rafe felt equal parts elation and anxiety. But he wasn’t going to say that to Kal. So he grinned. “That’s great. How did he feel about it?”
Kal shrugged. “He was fine with it, as long as I was happy. Then he asked if I was sure this was what I wanted.”
Rafe straightened and looked across the bed at Kal. “Is it?”
“It’s not like I just pulled the idea out of my ass. I’ve been thinking about it for a long time. The TRT has been on my radar for at least a year.”
A year. Damn. “And you never told us about it?”
Kal shrugged. “I needed to be sure about it before I brought it up. Leaving you guys isn’t exactly going to be easy. We’ve been a team practically our entire lives.”
Rafe came around and sat on the bed. Kal sat next to him. “We’re still gonna be a team, Kal. The three of us. Always. That’ll never change, no matter where you go or what you do.”
The thought of them being separated made him ache inside. But he knew it was coming. Maybe not with work, but someday, they’d all move on with their lives. He hadn’t expected it to be right now. But he’d never do anything to hold Kal back from what he wanted.
“Yeah. Still, you know what I mean. We’ve always been together. Since we were kids.”
“I know. It’ll be tough not seeing you on Ladder 6 every shift.”
“But you’ll see me on the news doing amazing rescues.”
Rafe rolled his eyes. “Whatever, wonder boy.”
The alarm sounded. It was a full alarm, which meant both truck and ladder as well as EMTs, so they hustled into the bay and climbed into their gear.
The call was three miles away, so it didn’t take long to get there. It was a three-car wreck right on the overpass, and it looked bad. One car was pushed against the edge of the bridge and appeared to be pretty smashed up. An SUV was crushed behind it, and a pickup was wedged in between the two of them.
“I’m concerned about structural here,” Jackson said as they all climbed out. “We’ll need to concentrate on stabilization.”
“I’m calling the city.” Captain Mathias had driven in with them and was already on his phone.
Jackson nodded. “We need to assess injuries first and see who we can extricate before this goes sideways.”
It looked like a couple of the occupants had already climbed out of their vehicles.
“Hendricks. Find out who belongs where and see who might still be inside,” Jackson said.
Hendricks nodded. “You got it.”
“Brokaw, Smith, see if they need aid,” Jackson instructed.
John Brokaw was starting his new shift replacing Miguel Acosta. He was two years into his EMT duties, which made Adrienne his senior.
The EMTs ran over to care for the victims who were free of the wreckage.
“The rest of you, let’s get in there and see what we’re dealing with,” Jackson said.
Rafe went over to the compact car that was balancing precariously against the edge of the bridge. There was a teen girl at the wheel and a little boy who looked to be about eight or nine in the back seat. Both were conscious, both looked scared as hell.
“You okay?” he yelled, since all the windows were rolled up.
The girl gave a quick nod. “I am, but I think my brother’s hurt. Can you get us out?”
She started to unbuckle her seat belt, but Rafe held up his hand.
“I need you both to stay right where you are and not move at all for now.”
The look of fright in her eyes told him she understood what he was saying. She laid her hands in her lap. “Okay.”
The little boy was huddled up in the back seat against the far door, crying. “My arm hurts. I want Mom.”
“We’re working as fast as we can