Just keep pushing.
Only a little further. Beth watched the numbers on the treadmill approach
the end of her workout. She hadn’t always been faithful to her gym membership
but that had all changed nearly two years ago. Of course, she didn’t start
getting the nightmares until then either. Nothing seemed to help break the funk
she was in like a getting sweaty running.
The nightmares weren’t always the same, and had gotten to be
less frequent. The one last night was the first in over a month. She closed her
eyes as it came back to her. A red car pulling up in front of her house.
Captain Sam Peterson, or Petey as everyone called him, stepping out. The first
knock on her front door, and the fear of why he was at her house. It could only
mean one thing. Her biggest fear had come true.
********************************************************************************
Beth had known Josh since the first year of college. He was
from Hutchinson, the town they later called home. She grew up in the cities,
and wanted to get out of the busy, urbanized area. Beth had always felt trapped
by the tall buildings and fast paced way of life. Both had attended many of the
same general education classes, and the friendship grew into love. He proposed
the week after graduation, and they got married the following April. Even at
23, she knew with him was where she was meant to be.
One thing that drew Beth to Josh was his willingness to
help. It was no surprise to her that he desired to follow his dad’s footsteps
and become a member of the Hutchinson Volunteer Fire Department. He joined the spring before school was out,
and commuted from Hutch to school every day. He didn’t want to miss any called
and let his numbers slip. The fire department was a second family to him. His best friend Petey, the brother he never
had Josh always said, was the best man at their wedding. It was a great source of friendship for both
Josh and Beth.
They had been married 3 years when they started talking
about having a baby. They were lying in bed tossing around ideas of what to
name the future little one when Josh’s pager went off. He kissed her good-bye,
and told Beth he loved her before grabbing his socks and getting his jeans on
as he ran out the door. Beth caught part of the end of the page, hearing it was
a car wreck on the main highway. Please
keep the guys safe and get the people the help they need, she said in a
quick little prayer. It became habit when she knew he was on a call.
A few minutes later, Beth heard the sirens. Their house was
less than a mile from the fire hall, which usually resulted in Josh getting on
the first rig to leave. About ten minutes later, there were more sirens. Car
accidents meant at least one fire truck, the rescue rig, and an ambulance. She
waited to hear the third set of sirens, and then got out of bed to get some
things done. Josh wouldn’t be back for a while, longer if it was a really bad
accident.
Beth worked on getting laundry done, cleaning the living
room, and headed to their office in the half story of the house. The office was
on the main level, and their room and a third room that was mainly used for
storage in the top level. Beth went upstairs and stood at the doorway of the
storage room, trying to picture what it would look like with a crib. They were
ready to be parents. Josh would be a great father.
As the afternoon went on, Beth found herself cleaning the
spare room. There were a lot of things kept in the room that could be moved to
the basement already. She took a trip down memory lane as she flipped through
photo albums of their wedding and honeymoon. Beth found a box in the garage and
labeled it “Photos” before adding the albums and other pictures to it. She
brought the box to the basement, along with a few other boxes.
As she came up the steps the last time, she took a look at
the clock and decided to start making supper. Beth was filling a pot of water
when she looked out the kitchen window and froze. The Hutchinson Fire
Department car had just rolled up to the curb in front of their house. Petey
got out, wearing a tired look. This couldn’t be good, Beth thought. He rubbed his face for a second, and then
crossed the street and walked up to the door. The first knock on the door
jarred Beth back to the present, and she turned off the water. Walking to the
door, she knew Petey wouldn’t have shown up unless something had happened to
Josh. She opened the door, and saw it was grim by the look in Petey’s eyes.
“Can I come in?” he asked her, leaning on the doorway.
“Sure.”
They walked into the living room, and Petey sat on the
couch. Beth stood with her arms crossed.
“I think you should sit down, Beth.”
Beth let out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding,
and sat on the couch with Petey.
“What happened?” she asked, fearing the reason he was there.
“Do you know what the call was for?” Beth nodded yes, and
Petey continued. “ We were out on 7 for a roll-over. The car was smashed so
bad, but being the first crew on the scene, we were doing as much as we could
to assess the victims’ conditions. Josh was on the driver's side when a truck
came barreling through our scene. The driver didn’t see Josh.” He put his head
down in his hands. “He hit Josh.”
Beth didn’t notice the tears falling until they started
hitting her arm. “Where’s Josh? I need to go see him.”
Petey looked up, his eyes also wet.
“He’s gone.”
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