Blazing for Her Read online

  “Nonsense," she replies, startling me a bit with her inflection. "I’ll be there in an hour. Is that okay?”

  My heart starts to race at the thought of seeing her again. I only saw her face flushed and dirtied with soot, but she was almost painfully beautiful then. I can just imagine what she looks like with her eyes wide open and conscious.

  “If we don’t get a call between now and then, that sounds great.” Please don’t let us get a call. “The boys will be your slaves after this, they are easily tamed by food,” I joke.

  “Really, and how are you tamed Captain Drake?” she rebuts coyly.

  Damn, this woman is going to be dangerous.

  Chapter 4

  Elena

  I can feel my body being picked up from the ground. Could it be an angel that I prayed for taking me to the afterlife, to my idea of heaven? I can barely make out the figure that's carrying me through all the smoke and fire, maybe I'm hallucinating. My vision is hazy, and everything feels like I'm in a dream. No, I can't believe this. I'm being carried out of the burning office building I thought I would die in, but by who?

  I slip once again out of consciousness, but not before the light from the sun bounces of what looks like the helmet of my savior.

  My savior.

  ~~~

  “What am I doing here, where am I?” I ask through a scratchy throat and blurred vision.

  “Miss Alverez, Miss Alverez, don’t try to move or speak just yet.” A gray-haired man was standing next to me, checking a machine that seemed to beep louder than it should when I moved. Maybe it was the fact that I had a splitting headache, and my eyes wouldn't come into focus no matter how many times I blinked, willing them to clear.

  “What happened, how’d I make out of that building alive?” I manage to get that question out more coherently.

  “You’re in the hospital, Miss Alverez. You were rescued by our local fireman’s Captain and brought in for observation by ambulance after being treated by the EMTs a week ago.”

  "A week ago… I’ve been unconscious for a whole week, has no one come looking for me?” I ask more surprised than anything.

  "You've been sedated for a week. You took in a lot of smoke. You weren't breathing well on your own when you were brought in. So we kept you comfortable through sedation and put you on a ventilator," he states, just as easily as if we're chatting about the morning news.

  “I was on a ventilator, oh my lord,” I move trying to get out of the bed without success. “I have to talk to my family.”

  "Calm down, Miss Alverez, they're all here, and they've been here since we contacted them a week ago. Please don't get yourself all worked up, or you'll have a relapse."

  I definitely don't want that, so I take the doctor's advice and calm down as best as I can. After the doctor and several nurses check to make sure all of my vitals are steady, my family and surprisingly, Daniel and my PA are there to visit. When I was finally allowed a cup of water and what the hospital calls a meal, I start to get some of my energy back. Allowing me the strength to enjoy the company of my family and friends all around me.

  Being born into a large family, I'm used to large gatherings with love surrounding me. I'm the middle child, but you would think I was the oldest the way everyone depends on me to take care of them; To do the right thing, which is to dance my heart out and to make as much money as I can. At the same time, I'm still young enough to be sought after. So that is what I did, exactly what I was told even after mama died. I still danced all over the world even though I knew deep down inside that that wasn't really what I wanted.

  These legs of mine have taken me all over the world; Paris, Milan, and Japan. Looking at the way they look now, lifeless and pale under my hospital bed sheets, you would never have guessed how far they've taken me and how much they've done for me.

  It's time to let them rest a little. I think it's time for all of me to relax. I just wished that almost dying in a high-rise office fire wasn't the way I got to do it.

  “Thank you all for coming to be with me,” I smile, knowing full well that my family wouldn’t ever desert me in my time of need.

  Everyone immediately erupted into simultaneous chatter, saying everything that I thought they would, “We will always be there for you.” “You’re family.” "We would never let you go through this alone." I knew that was coming even before I opened my mouth, and it felt so good to hear it.

  I haven't seen my family in over six months since the last leg of my European tour, some longer than that. My Papa and two of my sisters surprised me and flew out to see me perform in Paris. It was wonderful to see them despite Daniel's disapproval. He hates the possibility of me having any distraction before performances. I was feeling downright tired and homesick, so my fantastic PA had them flown in to get me out of the blues. It was one of my best performances to date.

  “Daniel, how are you?” I ask over all the noise my family was creating with their declarations of who loves me the most. “I’m glad you made it out of there.”

  “I’m fine, just some minor wounds and some smoke inhalation,” he recalls with this empty, shaken look in his eyes. “I told that fireman that I had lost you back there, I had no idea where you were or if you were even still alive.”

  "Thank you, Daniel." I am completely sincere — if it wasn't for him telling them I was still there; I would have for sure been taken out by the flames. "Thank you so much."

  Tears begin to form in my eyes as I look him in the eyes, shaking as the memories of what had happened to me come flooding back faster than my heart can handle.

  I know that my heart rate started to spike because the nurse that had just left my bedside earlier returns with a worried look on her face. Her eyes glued to the now-silent monitors that began beeping like crazy after I started to recall what happened to me.

  "I think our patient needs a little break, everyone," the nurse says, brown hair flowing back and forth in her ponytail as she works her magic on me to calm me down. "Let’s let our star get some rest. She’s had a long day.”

  I know it's a strange thing to think, but I honestly couldn't wait for the quiet of an empty hospital room. I bet at night it's so peaceful and I have my own private room with a remote, a TV and my own twenty-four-hour on-call button if I need assistance. Damn, this is better than a four-star hotel and spa.

  You must still be on heavy drugs, Elena. Spa. This is far from a spa… you almost died.

  "I love you guys," I say, waving everyone off and out of the room, happily awaiting a coherent night of silence and recuperation.

  After the nurse is satisfied with my vitals, she gives me some pain meds into my trusty IV and heads out the door.

  My throat is so dry, but at least my vision has come back one hundred percent. I reach over to the standing tray next to my bedside with the cup of ice chips on it and pull it close to me. The combination of the pain meds and the cold chips melting down my dry throat is like heaven, relieving the discomfort just enough for me to almost forget where I am.

  Here no one is calling me. No one is after me to train and exercise. No one is asking me for my autograph or trying to take pictures with me like I'm their best friend. In here I can try to remember everything that happened to me the day of the fire. I know it may seem strange, but I have my own reasons for wanting that day to stay with me forever, partly because I never want to forget how short life is and partly because I want to remember who rescued me.

  How did he know which room to find me in, did he tell me his name, did I even see his face, is he okay? I want to remember so that I can thank him for all he’s done for me and how much his sacrifice meant to me. He could have lost his life in there as well, but he took a chance and took the word of a man he didn’t even know who could have been wrong and went in to save me, a total stranger, without a second thought.

  As far as I’m concerned, a man like that is certainly worth trying to remember.

  I wake up the next morning feeling refreshed after
a good night of completely guilt-free rest. I can't remember the last time I felt like this, free and happy to be among the living. Over time you start to forget how precious life is, how one day you're here, and the next you're not. All the simple problems of your life become big ones, and every little downfall morphs itself into the worst day in your existence. If anything, being caught in the building the way I was, open my eyes to the way I want to live in this world, and I'm grateful for that, as strange as it may sound.

  Over the course of the next week I couldn't help but to think about the fireman that saved my life. I was laying in the hospital being taken care of, loved by my family and friends, and I thought to myself, is someone taking care of him like I'm being taken care of? Is he being loved like I'm being loved right now at this moment? I have to have some kind of memory of him other than a brief recollection of his deep, commanding voice and a couple of flashes of him carrying me through the smoke and fire to my safety. Other than that, the fireman that saved me from death is a total mystery, one that I have been dying to solve.

  Before I was released from the hospital, I started to dig around and ask questions about my fearless fireman. What was his full name, where was his station, what was the best way to get in contact with him? I was grasping at straws, trying to get as much information as possible without seeming like a complete star-struck stalker. I had to meet him face to face. I had to see him with my own two eyes. To believe that he was really just a man and not an angel sent from heaven to answer a scared shitless woman locked up in a burning building begging for someone above to save her.

  That day was the scariest and best day of my life and I believe I shared that same connection with him.

  It didn't take as long as I thought to gather all the information, I needed to find who I now know is Captain Washington Drake, Fire Captain of Fire Station Five. He is in charge of hundreds of firefighters, who quickly climbed up the ladder, no pun intended, and became one of the best Captains in the state.

  Just like I thought, this is a man definitely worth remembering and thanking. I have to meet him. I have no idea where my life will take me next, and I have to get back to my reality soon. I have no agent now since I fired Daniel. My PA and my family have been up my ass trying to get me to decide what I'm going to do next now that I've received a clean bill of health, and energy is back to where it once was.

  If I'm being honest with myself, which I rarely am, I don't want to go back on tour. I want to settle down, ironically, in a nice town like here. It's pleasant, the people have been nothing less than phenomenal to me, and I don't feel like a stranger here even though no one knows who I am. This would be a perfect place to settle down, open a little dance studio for all who want to learn, and start a family, a big one just like the one I grew up with. But I also have a duty to my family and my talent. I'm still young, and right now, sought after. What if I miss a once in a lifetime opportunity dreaming of what might never be? Maybe the nostalgia of not working so hard lately is getting to me. Perhaps it's the excitement of coming close to finally meeting this wonderful man. The man who carried me in his arms through a burning building where he could have easily lost his life as well as mine. What woman in their right mind doesn't love a man in uniform or being rescued?

  ~~~

  One short car ride later after being released from the hospital, I’m at my hotel checking in and settling into my room. Damn, it’s a nice one. I must thank Kelly for really fixing me up with someplace cozy until I decide what my next move is going to be.

  Actually, my PA, Kelly, is supposed to be Daniel's PA that I hired to help him out when I have one of my extremely heavy tours planned, and he gets overwhelmed. I kind of adopted her for myself, and frankly, I think she likes me a hell of a lot more anyway. How couldn't she, what's not to like? I'm moody, pig-headed and stubborn, a crazy cookie fanatic and I love to make her watch old movies with me when I'm lonely.

  Yup, it’s official: she deserves a raise, a raise I may not be able to give her if I don’t go on tour again soon. There’s a knock at the door which snaps me quickly out of my thoughts.

  "Who is it?" I ask, praying that whatever's behind that door comes with fries and a drink. I didn't order room service, so that's highly unlikely, and I'm not supposed to eat that kind of stuff anyway.

  “It’s me.” It’s Daniel. “Can we talk?”

  Standing there in front of that door, I wonder if I could be cruel enough not to let him in and to not care what the hell he has to say. I know myself, and the honest answer is that I can't, not after all the years we've known each other.

  “Hold on,” I say straightening my hair a little, making sure I don’t look like a complete slob even though I just got out of the hospital.

  When I open the door and see Daniel's face staring back at me, I immediately feel guilty for firing him, even though I know that it's the best thing for the both of us to part ways. We practically killed each other my last tour. He was so hard on me and demanded more of my time that any man should be allowed. I had hated him by the time we arrived back in the States. When I agreed to meet with him on the day of the fire, I had no idea it would be a meeting about starting all over again with another tour. He tricked and manipulated me into thinking he really cared about my feelings.

  I said to myself before I arrived that day that if he listened to me and truly cared about what I was going through then maybe we could work things out, but my mind was quickly changed when I discovered his real intentions.

  He didn't want to hear me out, he didn't even hear a word that I had said to him during our previous conversations about tired and drained my body was. He just wanted me to dance and make money. Everyone around seemed to only want me to dance and make money for them, but what about me?

  Suddenly, I didn’t feel so guilty anymore.

  "What is there to talk about, Daniel?' My tone is brutal and angry. "I think we've talked enough."

  “Hello to you too, Elena,” he snorts. “I just came by to make sure that you got settled in and to offer to take you to lunch later.”

  He’s always had a way of saying things to shut me down. I guess that’s why he’s such a good agent; manipulation is his forte.

  “I’m pretty tired, Daniel. What is it that you want to talk about?” I show him in, inviting him to have a seat in the chair next to me.

  “I understand. I just wanted to offer and to take a moment to talk to you about what happened the day of the fire.” He moved past me choosing to take the chair in front of me rather than next to me.

  I know that tactic of his, he's trying to talk me into something. I can feel it. Whenever he wants me to do something that he knows, I won't like, he sits in front of me or across from me never next to me so that I can't back out.

  "Tell me, Daniel, what was that really all about? You abused me knowing that I’m the type that never wants to disappoint someone.” I move to sit in the chair next to him rather than across. “You played on my weakness and tried to manipulate me into doing what you wanted, which was to start another damn tour. Even after I told you how they take a toll on my body and my spirit, we talked about this just the night before.”

  "Yes, and I want to apologize for that, Elena, really. I'm sorry." He smiles, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "Truly, I'm sorry."

  He's lying, I can feel it in my gut, and my gut's never steered me wrong.

  “I don’t believe you, but I do forgive you.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean, you forgive me but don’t believe me?” he puffs up in his chair next to me, beginning to stand.

  "Just as I said and just how it sounds, Daniel, it's as simple as that."

  That's right, Elena don't back down!

  "Do you know who got you this nice hotel, who's taken care of you and your career for the past ten years, who's made sure that your family is being taken care of and receiving funds while you're away? Me, that's who," he snarled, puffing up even bigger than he was a minute ago.

  Oh,
he’s pissed now Elena, I laugh to myself, finally feeling like I’m free from his bullshit.

  “So, what, Daniel?" I yell louder than I thought I could. "That was your job, and I'm pretty sure, according to my financial records, that you got paid pretty well to do it. And as far as this hotel room goes, I think I have Kelly to thank for that."

  I've never seen Daniel Haywood speechless before. Today I shut his lying, miserable little mouth before he could say anything more.

  “We’re done,” he stood up heading straight for the door. “I’ll make sure everyone knows how you treated me, and you’ll never get another respectable agent to work with you again, you’re washed up anyway. I had to practically beg for you to be booked on the tour, your time was up soon, you just don’t realize what a big favor you did me.”

  "Well, then I guess we're even now."

  “Even? How does this make us even close to even?” He pauses at the door waiting for me to answer.