kid,” Ray, Ariel’s father, said, sliding his hand through his hair. “But damn, I think I just got fifteen new gray hairs.”
“Don’t worry,” Rafe said. “They’re both going to be fine.”
He went in to see Ariel, who was busily texting on her phone. She looked up and smiled. “Hi, Firefighter Donovan. Thanks again for hanging out with us.”
“Telling all your friends about your big day?”
He saw her blush. “I am. Hey, would you take a selfie with me?”
“Sure.” He leaned over and smiled while she snapped a pic.
“Awesome. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. You did good today. You were very brave.”
“Thanks. I was totally scared out of my mind. I don’t know if I’ll ever want to drive again.”
“You will. The next time you and your friends want to go somewhere, you won’t even think about it.”
“You think?”
“Yeah. It wasn’t like you did anything wrong. It was just . . . bad timing. And those things are rare. So don’t let it spook you, okay?”
She nodded. “Okay. Thanks again for saving our lives.”
He felt a pang in his stomach. “You’re welcome. Drive safe.”
“Oh, trust me, I will.”
He stepped into Andy’s room. Carmen was in there checking Andy’s vitals. She gave Rafe a brief smile but then put her professional one back on for Andy’s parents.
“The doctor will be in to talk to you shortly, but they’re going to set the break and put a temporary cast on until the swelling goes down, then he can see the orthopedic surgeon for a more permanent cast in about a week.”
Carmen leveled a brilliant smile on Andy. “And you, young man, get to choose whatever you want to eat from the menu.”
Andy’s eyes widened. “Really? I can have chocolate ice cream if I want it?”
Carmen looked over at Glenda and Ray. Glenda nodded. “I’d say you’ve earned some chocolate ice cream.”
“Awesome,” Andy said, smiling a wide gap-toothed grin.
“If I’d known that was all I had to do to earn chocolate ice cream, I’d get stuck against a bridge, too,” Rafe said.
“I don’t know, Mr. Donovan,” Andy said. “It’s pretty scary.”
Rafe laughed. “You’re right about that. I was scared, too.”
“You were?”
“Sure I was. I didn’t want anything to happen to you. You’re a future firefighter, you know?”
“That’s right. I am. I’m gonna be a fireman someday, Dad.”
Ray looked over at Rafe and smiled. “So you’ve told me. I couldn’t think of anything better for you, Andy.”
“I’ll leave you all alone. It was nice meeting both of you.” Rafe shook hands with Ray and Glenda, then went over to Andy and laid his hand on the kid’s head. “Be good.”
“I’m always good.”
Ray coughed and Rafe grinned.
He left the room, and Carmen followed him out.
“Big day so far, I see,” she said as he went with her to the main desk.
“Yeah. I rode in the ambo with the kids to make sure they were all right.”
She was charting, and she lifted her gaze to his. “That’s sweet. They’re good kids.”
“They are. It was a rough wreck, and the way they were pushed up against the guardrail . . .”
She laid her hand over his. “You were worried.”
“Like you wouldn’t believe. It could have gone badly.”
She squeezed his hand. “But it didn’t. You saved their lives.”
“The whole team did. I just needed to be here to . . . I don’t know. Follow up. Make sure they were really okay.”
She nodded. “Sometimes certain cases grab hold of us, hit us in the heart. We can’t help it.”
“Yeah.” He shifted his gaze at the rooms where Ariel and Andy were. Andy was chatting with his dad, and Ariel was talking to her mother. They appeared to be a good family. He was glad to have played a part in reuniting them today.
Carmen looked at her watch. “I’m due for a lunch break. Do you have some time to grab a bite with me or do you need to go?”
“I have time. My EMTs got another call, so my ride back to the station left me. I’m kind of on my own for the moment, unless the truck gets a call and they have to swing by and pick me up.”
“Great. I’ll meet you in the cafeteria in five.”
“Okay.”
He radioed Jackson that he was still in the hospital and would take his lunch with Carmen. Jackson said that was fine and that they were going to go on a scheduled training run after lunch, so they’d swing by in about an hour to pick him up unless they got a call.
He headed