“I love you, too. Did you want to say ‘hi’ to the kids?”
Reno stood next to her, his arms crossed as the fingers on his right hand tapped his left elbow.
“I’ll talk to them later when things calm down a bit. Tell them I love them and give them both a big hug for me.”
“All right.”
She ended the call and switched to her voicemails as she walked back outside the hospital. Both Aiden and Laura had left one, there were two from her mother, and then there were three from Gerald on top of those. She tapped the first one from her ex.
“Maya, where are you? Are the kids with you? I just saw on the news. Call me back!”
She rolled her eyes as she tapped the second message.
“For Christ’s sake, Maya. Why won’t you pick up the goddamn phone? This earthquake shit is all over the news. I talked to Laura and she said they haven’t heard from you. I don’t care if you’re working. Call me!”
Maya huffed as she slammed her finger down on the screen, playing Gerald’s third and most recent voicemail.
“That’s it. I’m going to Elizabeth’s house to pick up the kids. I don’t want them anywhere near the city. You’re too busy with your job to be a good mother.”
Maya’s heartbeat quickened. She checked the time of the call—twenty minutes ago. Gerald lived about an hour from her mom’s house.
She swiped down to Gerald’s contact information.
“We have to go,” Reno said, hanging out of the passenger side window of the rig.
“I know. One second.”
“Maya!” Reno said.
Her call went to voicemail. She waited for the tone and left a message.
“Look, Gerald. Do not go to my mom’s house. The kids are fine. I didn’t pick up the phone because I was in the middle of a damn earthquake and have been doing nothing but treating injured people since it happened. This is the first chance I’ve had to check my phone.”
She sighed, mustering as much bravado as she could, given the situation.
“I’m serious. Don’t go to my mom’s. I’ll call the cops if you do.”
She ended the call then. Reno sat in the passenger seat, his jaw clenched and his arms crossed. Maya took a deep breath and sat in the driver’s seat.
“I’m sorry. I know we have to get back out there, but I had to check on my kids.”
“I understand. I didn’t mean to overreact. Are they okay?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I mean, yes. It’s not them, really. I got a voicemail from Gerald. He was all pissed off, saying he was going to get Aiden and Laura.”
“Oh, no.”
“Yeah. I need to call her back quickly to tell her. She doesn’t always check her text messages.”
Elizabeth picked up on the second ring.
“That was fast.”
“Listen, Mom, I got a message from Gerald. He said he was coming there to get the kids.”
“What? Why?”
“I don’t know why. Because he’s crazy? Because he’s taken them without authorization before? Please, listen. I need you to take them and leave, but just not for town. Do you have somewhere you can go?”
“But, Maya. You don’t really think he’ll come here and get them, do you?”
“I don’t know what he’ll do. But I don’t trust him. He’s done this before. Can’t you go to the church? Or to a friend’s house?”
“Well, yes. I suppose Joanna wouldn’t mind us stopping by. I don’t know if the kids will like the smell, but we—”
“Great,” Maya said, cutting off her rambling mother. “Take them there.”
“Is everything okay? I mean, with you.”
“It’s fine. I just need to focus on my job right now. I have people to treat. I don’t want to worry about Gerald or the kids. Go to Joanna’s. Okay?”
“All right. If I remember, I’ll text you when I get over there.”
“Thanks, Mom. Love you.”
9
She had lost track of how many hours they had worked before the supervisor forced Maya and Reno to take a break. They had worked up to—and probably beyond—the 18-hour shift limit in one 24-hour period. And the last thing Maya wanted to do now was deal with a reprimand from the union rep.
The most recent aftershock had occurred three hours ago. While another could come again at any time, the lull in seismic activity had given emergency crews the opportunity to treat more people. Maya hadn’t wanted to stop because there were still plenty of people who needed help and not enough emergency personnel to get to them all, but when they arrived at Nashville Fire Station #19, Maya parked the rig in its designated bay. She turned off the ignition and then sat back in her chair with her eyes closed, exhaling with a long, slow whistle.
“What a day,” Reno said.
“Yeah. And it’s not over yet.”
“I know. I want to be out there as badly as you do. But we can’t go out anymore or we’ll get suspended. You need to check on your kids anyway.”
Maya knew her mother would keep Aiden and Laura safe. Elizabeth had even texted her when she’d gotten to Joanna’s house. But Gerald still worried her, and the situation in Nashville had barely kept her mind off of him. The tone of his voice in those voicemails had been almost rabid. She wondered if he had gone to her mother’s house, or if he’d only been bluffing.
She checked her phone as she stepped out of the rig. Maya had text messages from her mother and from Laura, but nothing from Gerald. She texted her mom to let her know she was still okay and that she was finally getting a break.
Curious, she opened her front-facing camera when she got to where there was enough light. Maya hardly recognized the eyes that stared back. Dirt covered her face and the bags under her eyes appeared darker than she had ever seen them.
Maya slid her phone back into her pocket.
They walked down the main hallway and past a handful of firefighters sitting around a table playing poker. Maya and Reno waved as they walked past on their way to the locker rooms.
“Meet you out front in fifteen?” Reno asked.
Maya let her hair down and dust filled the air. She ran her hand through tangled and greasy locks.
“Let’s make it twenty.”
She walked into the small locker room, stripped down, and stepped into the shower. Leaning her head against the wall, she let the warm water soothe her aching muscles. Dark water pooled at her feet and swirled around the drain, but the water lightened as the dust and grime washed from her body. Maya normally liked to think while she took a shower, but not this time—it was the fatigue that allowed her to relax.
After fifteen minutes of hot water numbing her tired muscles, Maya turned off the shower and returned to her locker. She stepped into clean panties, sports bra, and a tank top, then slid into the bottom half of her uniform—a pair of dark pants. For now, she’d forego her white paramedic shirt. She dabbed at her hair with a towel and then left it down to dry. She was already five minutes late for meeting Reno.
Maya hurried down the hallway and out the front door. Reno stood there, leaning against the wall. Unlike her, he’d dressed in his full uniform. He looked her up and down, and then smiled.
“You clean up nicely.”
“How long have you been waiting for me?”
“Not long. I thought we could hang somewhere else for a bit—not the firehouse. You know, try to take a real break from this mess. Unless you wanted to try and get some sleep or something.”
Maya snorted. “Yeah, I don’t think I’ll be getting sleep anytime soon. But do you think it’s a good idea for us to leave?”
“Tommy said it was all right—I think we gotta be off the clock for at least five more hours before we can jump on another shift. He walked by a few minutes ago, suggested that we leave our radios on.”