Souls' Rescue Part 14

"I'll get our air packs," Scott said and he and Jimmy stalked away.

Kelly turned to go, but froze when she heard Burke's voice, quiet and deadly. "Best keep a look out, d.y.k.e. This ain't finished."

"Yes it is," Jimmy said. He'd come back and told Burke to leave. When Burke was gone, Jimmy turned to Kelly. "What the h.e.l.l is wrong with you?"

"He was being a d.i.c.k so I gave it back to him. You should've let me kick his a.s.s."

"No. I should be writing you up, but I'm not going to. You're getting a verbal warning because you d.a.m.n near got hurt. If you're not ready to go back in, I'll get someone else."

"No, I'm good. I guess he just pushed my b.u.t.tons, L-T. I'll apologize to him if you want me to."

"I'll put that in writing," Jimmy said. "Now get your a.s.s in there for overhaul."

"Copy that."

Chapter Seventeen.

TALIA READ THE note for the tenth time that morning. Reading it made her sympathize with the archaeologists who studied the hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt. But she got the gist of it. Kelly had stopped by, she'd been asleep, and it had been important for her to let Talia know she'd been there.

It sucked that she was still so d.a.m.n sleepy all the time, and sucked even more that she'd missed a visit with Kelly. But the short note meant more to her than Talia thought possible. She had no idea if a relationship with Kelly would work, but she knew she wanted one.

"Miss Stoddard?"

Her mother's lawyer walked into her room. Talia pointed at the door. "Leave. I don't have anything to say to you, Mr. Clark."

Delmar Clark continued walking toward her bed and placed a briefcase on the empty rolling table. "This will only take a minute."

"I don't think you heard me. Get out of here." Talia's voice got louder and her hand hovered close to the nurse's call b.u.t.ton.

"I heard you," he said, shuffling through some papers. "Ah, here it is." He put the paper in front of her and held out a pen. "I need you to sign this and I'm out of here."

"I'm not signing anything."

"Look, this won't take more than a few seconds and it will be worth millions to you."

Talia narrowed her gaze at the man with beady eyes and a face that reminded her of a ferret. "No. I don't want your lawsuit or your money. Now get out before I call the nurse."

Clark was fast and had the call b.u.t.ton out of her hand in a flash. "No. Sign the paper. Please."

"You're an ambulance-chasing b.a.s.t.a.r.d." She tore the paper in half. "Bite me."

"Look, I'm trying to do you a favor. I can get you a seven figure settlement without ever stepping into court."

"I don't care. I'm not suing the family of that poor man."

"That poor man nearly killed you. He crippled you for life." He touched the empty s.p.a.ce on the bed where her leg should have been. "It's his fault you don't have a leg."

Talia stared at his hand, feeling anger welling inside her. But it wasn't the anger she suspected Delmar Clark wanted her to have. She wasn't angry with the dead man's family or with Mr. Colwell. She was angry at this lawyer for conning her mother into the lawsuit to start with. "I'm not signing anything. My lawyer's name is Jacob Meier, and if anything is done in court or otherwise, it'll be by him."

Clark stepped back from her bed at the mention of Jacob. "Really? He doesn't have the-"

"He has more than you'll have in your whole lifetime, Mr. Clark." Talia finished the sentence for him, not wanting to hear what he had to say. "So get out of my room before I call security."

Clark gathered his things and moved to the door. "You'll regret this. I could have made you a millionaire."

"Money isn't everything, Mr. Clark. And I don't regret anything other than my mother's vulnerability."

Clark looked like he had something else to say, but Talia continued. "I don't expect to hear from you or see you again. If I do, I'll have my lawyer file a restraining order. Is that clear?"

He didn't respond and left the room.

Talia reached for her cell phone and called Jacob. His a.s.sistant put her through immediately.

"Hi, sweetie!" His voice was cheery and high pitched.

"Hi, Jacob. Can you talk?"

"Hang on." She heard m.u.f.fled speech in the background. A door slammed shut and Jacob came back to the phone. "Men. Can't live with 'em, can't kill 'em."

"Boy troubles again?"

"Oh, honey, it's more complicated than you need to know. So, what's up?"

"Delmar Clark."

"Ick. That name gives me a rash." She heard Jacob's chair creaking as he leaned back in it. "Did he contact you again? I called his office and told him to stay away."

"He was here." She recounted how the stubborn lawyer had treated her.

"I'll take care of him, sweetie. I already have the restraining order filled out and ready for your signature. I'll bring it with me at lunch and get it to the judge today. You won't hear from that c.o.c.kroach again."

"Have I said I love you today?"

"No, but please do. I need to feel the love."

"I love you, Jacob. Very much. Thanks for taking care of this for me."

"No problem. It's nice to be able to squash the insect. It's the fun part of my job."

"And why I love you. See? I said it three times."

"Ah, but you really love me for my mind and my incredible body."

"You have an incredible body?" Talia giggled harder when Jacob refused to answer her. "Oh, honey, don't be mad."

"I could never be mad at you. I better go fix things."

Talia's eyes grew wide when she realized Kelly was in the room. "Got to go, Jacob. Bye." She disconnected the call and dropped her cell phone into her lap. "Hi there. I was, um, talking to Jacob."

"You're cute when you blush."

"I do not blush." She gave her a mock look of ferocity.

"Oh, yeah, you do. You get this adorable sheepish look and-see! You're doing it again."

Talia ducked a little so Kelly couldn't see her, but she didn't miss the coffee container and brown paper bag Kelly set on the bed table. "Breakfast."

"Bless you!"

"I'm starved, but I didn't realize you'd be that hungry, too." She pulled out a blueberry bagel and cream cheese and handed it to Talia, then picked up her own cinnamon one and bit into it. Chewing, she said, "Don't they feed you here?"

"Have you ever tasted hospital food?"

"Once, when I was ten and had my tonsils removed. I got all the ice cream I wanted and didn't complain once."

"Ha ha. I'd kill for some ice cream."

Kelly said, "I'll make sure I bring some next time. I'd tell you to ask your nurse to get you some, but you'll probably only get those tiny little containers of c.r.a.ppy ice with freezer burn."

"You sound like an expert."

"Paramedics know where anything that resembles food can be found."

Talia sipped her coffee and made yummy sounds when she was done. "You really are my hero, bringing me real coffee."

"I just love catering to a lady." Kelly kissed her on the cheek.

"I wasn't sure you'd come this morning."

"Of course I'm here. I told you I'd stop by after my shift was over."

"I know. It's just that-you keep on coming back. Why me? What's so special about me?"

Kelly was at a loss for words. Talia was so important to her, but how could she make her understand that? How could she explain that she was falling in love with her? "I've never met anyone like you. I mean, I feel like I've known you forever. You're so easy for me to talk to."

"No one's ever said that to me before."

"It's true. I want you to know everything about me."

"I'd like that."

"There's something I haven't told anyone I'm close to, except my mom knows, of course, and Scott."

"What's that?"

"You know I'm from New York, and I told you I got rid of the accent because I don't like people asking about 9-11, right? I don't want the questions because I was there. I was in the city that day, and I worked the pile until my hands and feet were bleeding."

"The pile?" Talia asked.

"Ground Zero." Kelly paused to compose her words. She wanted to-needed to-tell Talia about this life-changing event. The news had reported the facts and some stories from those that lost friends and loved ones, but that never felt like it was enough. "There were some stress counselors there, walking around the pile talking to us and helping us work. I'll never forget it..."

Kelly stopped for a second to wipe the sweat from her brow, then sat in the chair next to Talia's bed.

"You okay?" Talia asked.

Kelly said, "Yeah, just give me a minute here."

It was all too easy to transport herself back to the horrors of that time. Usually Kelly did all she could to avoid thinking about it. Today the memories were close, almost visceral. She remembered how the heat coming from beneath the rocks was incredible. She was on her second pair of boots in two days and wondering how long these would last. She looked around her at the rest of the rescuers on the bucket line. Most were FDNY, but the woman beside her wore a white construction helmet with "OHIO" on the front.

Kelly was so tired that all she really wanted to do was sleep. But that wasn't an option. She had to keep going. Had to keep working. If no one was left alive, the least she could do was continue to help remove the rubble so that maybe they would find the remains of some of her brothers.

The woman beside her worked quietly as Kelly handed her bucket after bucket laden with debris. "Where you from in Ohio?"

The woman looked up at her. "Dayton. North of Cincinnati."

"You a firefighter?"

"Yep." She held out her hand. "Lee-Jean."

"Kelly." They shook in greeting. "How long you been here?"

"Just a few days. You?"

"Since Day One." Kelly gazed out over the rubble. Not one of the FDNY men were familiar, and she was slowly getting used to that. It was like being a stranger in your own home, but at the same time, she knew these strangers were her brother and sister firefighters, and cops and medics, and that meant more than anything. "Most of my station is somewhere under this pile."

"Have you found any of them?"

"Two. Dead." Kelly wasn't sure why she shared this with a complete stranger, but it didn't matter. She needed to share. "Both were guys I've known most of my life. My dad was an engineer at the same house I work at."

"Family business. Seems like a trend in this city."

"Pretty much."

"Does your dad still work there?"

"No. He died in the line a few years ago."

"Sorry to hear that."

"I'm thankful. I wouldn't want him to have to deal with this."