- 18 minutes ago
Subscribe and enjoy the best of Dramas, one episode at a time ❤️
Watch more movies at: LaughOverDrama
Watch more movies at: LaughOverDrama
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00So my ex just kicked down my bedroom door.
00:03I'm handcuffed to my own bed frame,
00:05wearing a black lease slip that barely covers my ass.
00:09Three firefighters are staring at me.
00:11Let me back up 30 minutes.
00:13I bought pink fluffy handcuffs off Amazon last Tuesday.
00:16Don't judge me. I'm 26 and single.
00:18A girl gets curious.
00:19Tonight was supposed to be wine, candles, and a little me time.
00:30Then the little release pin slipped through the crack between my mattress and the wall.
00:35I tried for 20 straight minutes.
00:37My fingers couldn't reach the gap.
00:39My wrists were turning purple.
00:41Looked cute on TikTok.
00:42Turns out the fluffy part hides actual steel.
00:45Like real steel.
00:46I scooted my phone over with my chin and hit speaker.
00:50911, what's your emergency?
00:52I panicked.
00:53I'm chained up.
00:54I can't get out.
00:55My hands are going numb.
00:57I think I'm losing circulation.
00:59Please send somebody.
01:01Ma'am, I'm dispatching fire arrest to your location.
01:03Stay on the line.
01:05I should have explained it was a sex toy situation.
01:08I was hyperventilating.
01:10My hands were turning blue.
01:12I was hoping a narcliffe would show up.
01:14Then I heard the sirens.
01:16They got louder.
01:17Then they were right outside my window.
01:19I heard boots running up the stairs.
01:22One kick and my front door was open.
01:24Fire rescue!
01:25Anyone home?
01:26Three guys in full turno gear flooded down my hallway.
01:30I tried to scream stop.
01:32Nothing came out.
01:33They burst into my bedroom.
01:35The captain pushed to the front.
01:37I stopped breathing.
01:38It was Liam.
01:39My ex-boyfriend.
01:41The man I broke up with three years ago.
01:45He was standing in my bedroom.
01:47Staring at me.
01:48And I was just laying there.
01:50Dress up.
01:51Hands up.
01:51Everything.
01:52Knees apart because that was the only way the cuffs didn't pull.
01:59The rookie behind him made a strangled sound.
02:02He spun toward the wall so fast his helmet almost flew off.
02:06Oh god.
02:07Oh god.
02:08Captain, I'm sorry.
02:08I didn't...
02:09Uh...
02:10Sir, these are novelty cuffs.
02:11There's no keyhole.
02:12We're gonna need the heavy-duty bolt cutters from the rig.
02:14Liam didn't acknowledge him.
02:16Liam didn't even blink.
02:18He just kept staring at me.
02:19Like he was trying to figure out what he was looking at.
02:22Three years ago, he used to look at me like I was his whole world.
02:25Right now, he looked pissed.
02:28Like, really pissed.
02:29Everyone out.
02:30His voice came out low and flat.
02:33The rookie froze.
02:34Sir, protocol says we maintain a two-person...
02:36Tyler.
02:37Out.
02:37Nobody argued.
02:38Tyler practically ran.
02:40The other two followed with their eyes glued to the floor.
02:42The bedroom door clicked shut.
02:44And then it was just us.
02:46My heartbeat was so loud I could feel it in my teeth.
02:48Liam pulled the bolt cutters off his belt.
02:51He set them down on my nightstand.
02:52He didn't move toward my wrists.
02:54He put one knee on the mattress instead.
02:56The bed sank.
02:57I literally slid toward him.
02:59My strap fell off my shoulder.
03:01I tried to shrug it back up.
03:03Couldn't.
03:04The cusses held my arms in place.
03:06His eyes tracked the strap.
03:08Then my collarbone.
03:09Then lower.
03:11He didn't reach for the cusses.
03:13He reached for me.
03:17Then he looked at my thighs and I felt it.
03:19Physically.
03:20Like he'd touched me.
03:21His hand wrapped around my ankle.
03:24His hand was so hot.
03:26And rough.
03:27Firefighter hands, you know?
03:29I got goosebumps everywhere.
03:31Like, everywhere.
03:33My thighs clenched together on instinct.
03:36Because I knew that hand.
03:38I knew exactly what that hand could do.
03:41That hand used to be on me every single night.
03:44My body reacted before my brain even processed it.
03:47He felt it.
03:48His thumb dragged a slow circle on the bone of my ankle.
03:52My breath hitched.
03:53Out loud.
03:54The corner of his mouth twitched.
03:56He heard it.
03:59Liam.
04:00What are you doing?
04:02He didn't answer.
04:03He leaned over me.
04:05His mouth went to my ear.
04:06His chest brushed mine through the lace.
04:09My back arched off the mattress without my permission.
04:13Then his hand started sliding up my calf.
04:15Up the inside of my knee.
04:17He stopped right above my knee and just left his hand there.
04:21Burning a hole through me.
04:23So where is he?
04:26His voice scraped against my eardrum.
04:29Your hookup?
04:31Tinder match?
04:32Whatever.
04:34He chained you up and bounced?
04:38Real stand-up dude.
04:40I'd love to meet him.
04:41Every word hurt.
04:42I wasn't scared of him.
04:44I was guilty.
04:46So guilty I couldn't speak.
04:48He thought there was another man.
04:50And I had no idea how to tell him the truth.
04:54Liam picked the bolt cutters back up.
04:57Cold steel pressed against the soft skin on the inside of my wrist.
05:01I sucked in a breath.
05:03His hands were rock steady.
05:06This guy pulls people out of car crashes for a living.
05:09He talked a jumper down off the 17th floor last spring.
05:12His hands don't shake.
05:13He was clenching his jaw so hard it looked like it hurt.
05:16I asked you a question, Chloe.
05:18His voice was dead quiet.
05:19Did you use protection?
05:21My brain stalled.
05:22Protection?
05:23Like a safety release on the cuffs?
05:25Did Amazon sell something I missed?
05:26I was panicking.
05:28I spit out the truth.
05:29No.
05:29I didn't.
05:31Wrong answer.
05:32Wrong, wrong, wrong answer.
05:33Liam froze.
05:34Completely froze.
05:35His knuckles went white around the bolt cutters.
05:38Then he snapped the chain.
05:40The metal cracked so loud it made my ears ring.
05:42A piece of the broken link ricocheted and sliced across his knuckle.
05:47Blood started dripping down his fingers onto my sheets.
05:50Liam, you're bleeding.
05:52Your hand.
05:53Don't.
05:54He threw the bolt cutters on the floor with a thud.
05:56My wrists were finally free.
06:00I scrambled back against the headboard and yanked the duvet up to my chin.
06:04Okay, thank you for the rescue.
06:06You can leave now.
06:07My voice was somewhere between a squeak and a sob.
06:10I really appreciate the response time.
06:11Tell the department I said thanks.
06:13Bye.
06:14Liam didn't move.
06:15He stood up.
06:16He turned his back to me.
06:18And he started unbuckling his turno coat.
06:23What are you doing, Liam?
06:24Hello?
06:25The heavy coat dropped off his shoulders.
06:27He had on a black compression shirt soaked through with sweat.
06:30You could see every muscle in his back.
06:32I just stopped.
06:33Like, brain stopped.
06:34He grabbed the chair from my vanity,
06:35walked it across the room,
06:37wedged it under the doorknob.
06:38He sat down, knees wide,
06:40elbows on his thighs,
06:41bloody hand dripping onto my floor.
06:43He didn't even look at it.
06:44I have to file an incident report.
06:46His tone was pure venom.
06:48So walk me through it, ma'am.
06:50Start to finish.
06:51When did he get here?
06:53How long was he here?
06:55What position were you in when he left?
06:57Take your time.
06:58Be specific.
06:59My nails dug into my palms.
07:01This was revenge.
07:02He'd been holding this in a long time,
07:04and now I was going to pay for all of it.
07:05He didn't bandage his hand.
07:07He didn't even glance at it.
07:08He was 100% locked in on me.
07:10I snapped.
07:11Are you insane?
07:13I sat up with the dupe still wrapped around me
07:15and screamed it at him.
07:17There is no guy!
07:18There was never a guy!
07:20Get the hell out of my apartment!
07:21This is my house, Liam!
07:23You don't get to do this!
07:25He didn't flinch.
07:26His mouth pulled into a slow smile
07:28with no warmth in it.
07:30No guy.
07:31So you cuffed yourself.
07:32To your own bed.
07:35Dressed like that.
07:37And then he stood up
07:38and started searching my room.
07:42I opened my mouth.
07:43I closed it.
07:45What was I supposed to say?
07:46That I bought sex toys to feel something.
07:48That this was my Saturday night, Liam.
07:50This is who I am now.
07:52He ripped my closet open.
07:53Hangers screeched across the bar.
07:55Scanning for anything male.
07:57Nothing.
07:57He kicked the storage bins out from under my bed.
08:00Flipped one open.
08:01Just my shoes.
08:02He yanked back my balcony curtains
08:04so hard the rod rattled.
08:06Empty.
08:06His eyebrows pulled together harder
08:08with every drawer.
08:09There was nothing in this apartment
08:10except me.
08:11There never had been.
08:13Then his eyes landed on my vanity.
08:15My heart stopped.
08:16Don't go over there.
08:18Please don't open it.
08:19He started walking.
08:20I jumped off the bed so fast
08:22the dupe fell.
08:23I sprinted across the room
08:24and threw myself in front of the vanity
08:26with my arms spread wide.
08:27Stop!
08:28You can't open this one!
08:30My voice came out shrill and wet.
08:33He looked down at me.
08:34I'm 5'4".
08:35In a slip.
08:37Trying to block a six-foot fire captain.
08:39Yeah.
08:39It was not going to work.
08:41Move, Chloe.
08:42No!
08:43I'm not asking twice.
08:45No!
08:46He didn't repeat himself a third time.
08:48His arm went around my waist
08:49and he picked me up like I weighed nothing.
08:51He set me down against the wall
08:53and held me there with one hand on my hip.
08:55With his other hand,
08:56the bloody one,
08:57he pulled open the bottom drawer.
09:01There were no men's things inside.
09:03Just a brown Amazon box.
09:05Sealed and resealed with packing tape
09:07so many times the cardboard had gone soft.
09:09He sliced the tape with his thumbnail.
09:11The box flopped open.
09:13A photograph fluttered out
09:14and landed face up on the floor.
09:17Us.
09:18Summer.
09:19Three years ago.
09:20Outside Station 12.
09:21He was in his Navy duty uniform.
09:24I was up on my toes
09:25holding a Gatorade above his head,
09:27laughing because he was reaching for it.
09:29We looked stupid happy.
09:31Next to the photo was a leather journal.
09:33Forest green.
09:34The spine was cracked
09:35from being open so many times.
09:36Liam crouched down.
09:38He picked up the photo first.
09:39His thumb dragged across my face
09:41on the paper.
09:42Real slow.
09:43Then he picked up the journal.
09:44No!
09:45Don't!
09:46Liam, don't!
09:47I lunged at him.
09:48I clawed at his arm.
09:50I grabbed at the cover.
09:51He held it straight up over his head.
09:53I jumped.
09:54He stepped back.
09:55I jumped again.
09:56He stepped back again.
09:57The world's most humiliating game of Kipawa.
10:00My bare foot caught the edge of the photograph
10:02and slipped.
10:03I fell forward.
10:04His arm caught my waist
10:06before I hit the floor.
10:07He never lowered the journal.
10:09He sat me down on the edge of the bed.
10:11Like a kid in timeout.
10:13He backed up two steps.
10:15Out of my reach.
10:17He opened the cover.
10:20First page.
10:22The day I dumped him.
10:23His pupils flinched.
10:24He flipped through the pages
10:25faster and faster.
10:27His hands started to shake.
10:28He stopped dead on the last entry.
10:30Yesterday's date.
10:31And then he read it out loud.
10:33His voice was already breaking
10:34before he got the first word out.
10:36Day 1023.
10:39They changed the sign tone
10:40at the firehouse down the block.
10:42Took me three days
10:43to get used to the new one.
10:46The old one was the siren
10:48Liam used to roll out on.
10:49I used to count seconds
10:50until the trucks came back.
10:52He kept reading.
10:53Walked past a guy at the mall today.
10:55Smoking Marlboro Reds.
10:56Liam used to smoke Marlboro Reds.
10:58I stopped in the middle of the food tort.
11:00I couldn't move.
11:01People were staring at me.
11:03I told myself
11:03I was just waiting for someone.
11:05I was actually waiting for my eyes
11:07to stop watering
11:07so I could keep walking.
11:09And then the last line.
11:11The one I wrote last night.
11:13Drunk on cheap wine.
11:14His voice cracked all the way through.
11:16Why does the smell of cigarettes
11:18still make me want to cry?
11:20The journal dropped from his hand
11:21and hung at his side.
11:23His knuckles were bone white
11:24around the spine.
11:26And then his whole face changed.
11:30His eyes were bloodshot
11:31like he hadn't slept in a week.
11:33The bedroom was completely silent.
11:35He looked down at the pink fluffy cusses
11:36on the floor.
11:37The anger drained out of him.
11:38The cruel smile was gone.
11:40What was left
11:41that some never seen on his face before.
11:43Grief.
11:44He'd figured it out.
11:45There was no guy.
11:47There was no hiccup who ran.
11:49There was just me.
11:50Three years of just me.
11:53Sleeping with his photo in a drawer.
11:55Writing his name in a book
11:56I never let anyone read.
11:58Even the sex toys were mine.
12:00There's been nobody else.
12:02I slid off the bed onto the floor
12:03and put my face in my knees.
12:05My shoulders were shaking.
12:07This was officially the worst moment
12:08of my entire adult life.
12:10I looked up and gave him
12:12the most pathetic smile
12:13I've ever produced.
12:15There.
12:16Happy now, Captain?
12:17Mystery solved.
12:19Chloe Park, 26, certified loser.
12:22Can't get over her ex
12:23three years later.
12:24buys sex toys to cope.
12:26You can put that
12:27in your incident report.
12:28Have a great night.
12:29I pointed at the door.
12:30Get out.
12:31Just leave me
12:32a little bit of dignity.
12:33Please.
12:35He didn't move.
12:37He should have left.
12:38I had ghosted him.
12:40I had blocked his number
12:41and ignored 137 phone calls.
12:44That's what a normal person would do.
12:46Instead, I heard the journal
12:48hit the rug.
12:49Soft.
12:50Then footstess.
12:51Coming closer.
12:54Close enough that I could smell him.
12:56Smoke.
12:57Sweat.
12:58Iron from his blood.
12:59His hand came up under my chin
13:01and lifted my face.
13:02His palm was rough and warm.
13:04His fingertips were trembling
13:05against my jaw.
13:06I had to look at him.
13:07His eyes were wet.
13:09Red rimmed.
13:10He looked like he was barely
13:11holding it together.
13:13He dropped to one knee
13:14in front of me.
13:15This is the guy who rips
13:17car doors open
13:18with his bare hands.
13:19He carried two kids
13:21out of a 15th floor fire
13:22last year.
13:23And I'm the idiot
13:24who walked away from him.
13:26If you missed me this bad.
13:28His voice was barely working.
13:31His thumb wiped the tears
13:32off my cheek.
13:34He reached for the duty belt
13:35at his hip.
13:36The buckle came undone
13:37with a metallic clink
13:38that I felt in my stomach.
13:40He leaned in
13:41and pressed his forehead
13:42against mine.
13:43Nose to nose.
13:45Why are you using
13:45plastic toys baby?
13:47Use me.
13:48I couldn't speak.
13:49He kissed me.
13:51Hard.
13:51Like everything he'd
13:53swallowed for years
13:53coming out at once.
13:55The back of my head
13:56bumped against the side
13:57of the bed.
13:57His palm shot up
13:58to cradle it
13:59before I felt it.
14:01His other hand
14:02grabbed my waist
14:02and hauled me
14:03onto the mattress.
14:04He climbed on top of me.
14:06And then my brain
14:07finally caught up
14:08to what was happening.
14:11I shoved both hands
14:12against his chest.
14:13I bit down
14:14on his bottom lip
14:15until I tasted iron.
14:16He didn't pull back.
14:18He didn't slow down.
14:19He kissed me deeper.
14:20I beat my fists
14:21against his shoulders.
14:22He didn't move.
14:23At all.
14:24I twisted my head
14:25sideways and screamed.
14:27Who the hell
14:27do you think you are?
14:29You don't get to
14:30disappear for three years
14:32and then just show up
14:33and kiss me.
14:35What am I to you, Liam?
14:37He braced himself
14:38over me on his elbows.
14:40His chest was heaving.
14:41He licked the blood
14:42off his bottom lip
14:43and looked down at me.
14:45I disappeared?
14:46His voice dropped
14:47to a whisper.
14:48Chloe,
14:50you have some nerve.
14:51His right hand
14:52caught my wrist.
14:53He laced his fingers
14:54between mine
14:55and squeezed
14:56until my knuckles popped.
14:57Three years ago,
15:00you're the one
15:00who left me.
15:01And just like that,
15:02I was sobbing
15:03because he was right.
15:05Three years of running,
15:06now we're left to run.
15:08Because...
15:09my voice cracked.
15:10Because I was terrified
15:11you were going to die
15:12in a fire.
15:13Liam went completely still
15:15on top of me.
15:16His breathing stopped.
15:17Then it came back
15:18fast and unseven,
15:20hot against my collarbone.
15:21I looked at him
15:22through tears.
15:23His face had gone white
15:24under the soot.
15:25It was pure terror.
15:27What did you just say?
15:28His voice was barely a thread.
15:32I lifted my hands.
15:34The cuffs had left
15:35thick red welds
15:36around both my wrists.
15:37I cupped his face anyway.
15:39My turn.
15:40Every time I hear
15:40a siren downtown,
15:41I start counting seconds.
15:42I never stop.
15:44Every fire on the news,
15:45I scroll the comments.
15:46I look for your name.
15:48Two years ago,
15:48a firefighter died
15:49at a building collapse
15:50over on 6th Avenue.
15:52I locked myself
15:53in my office bathroom
15:54and threw up for an hour.
15:56When I found out
15:57it wasn't you,
15:58I sat on the bathroom floor
15:59and laughed until I cried.
16:01Like a literal crazy person.
16:03My thumb brushed
16:03the old scar
16:04under his cheekbone,
16:05the one from the collapse
16:06he survived two summers ago.
16:08Liam,
16:09I never stopped loving you.
16:11I loved you too much
16:12to sit around
16:12waiting for that phone call.
16:14I'd rather lose you
16:15on my terms
16:16than lose you to a fire.
16:17At least this way
16:18I got to choose.
16:20At least this way
16:21I could lie to myself
16:22and say I left you.
16:24Liam's eyes spilled over.
16:26He couldn't get a word out.
16:27He buried his face
16:28in the cook of my neck.
16:29I could feel his heart
16:31slamming through his shirt.
16:32He held onto me
16:33like if he let go
16:34I'd evaporate.
16:35I pushed my fingers
16:36into his sweaty hair.
16:38I cried so hard
16:39I couldn't get a full breath.
16:41And then his breathing
16:42started to change.
16:46It got hotter.
16:47Heavier.
16:48His mouth moved up
16:50the side of my neck,
16:51under my jaw,
16:52to the corner of my mouth.
16:54My fingers fisted
16:55in his hair.
16:56My back arched up
16:57off the mattress.
16:58Then a radio shrieked.
17:00We both froze.
17:01The radio on the chest
17:03of his coat.
17:03The red transmit light
17:05was blinking.
17:05All units.
17:06All units.
17:07Multiple explosions
17:07reported at Sinclair Chemical
17:09on the east side.
17:10Active fire.
17:11Structural failure.
17:12Engine 12.
17:12Respond code 3.
17:13Liam's eyes changed instantly.
17:15Heat gone.
17:16Hesitation gone.
17:17Pure work mode.
17:18He pushed off me so fast
17:20my fingers ripped out
17:21of his hair.
17:21He swiped his coat
17:22off the floor.
17:23Shrugged into it.
17:24Snapped every buckle
17:25in under 15 seconds.
17:26Belt back on.
17:27Rodeo on his shoulder.
17:28Helmet under his arm.
17:29He stopped at my bedroom door
17:31with his hand on the knob.
17:32He looked back at me.
17:34His face was calm.
17:35Almost flat.
17:36Lock the door behind me.
17:38If I make it back.
17:39The corner of his mouth
17:40lifted into that same
17:41crooked half smile.
17:43We're not done.
17:44The door closed.
17:46His boots pounded
17:46down my hallway.
17:47The fire engine roared
17:48to life on the street below.
17:50The siren screamed
17:51past my window
17:52and faded into the distance.
17:53And I was alone again.
17:55Counting seconds.
17:56Just like three years ago.
18:00I sat on the bed
18:01in the dark.
18:02The only thing in the room
18:03was the broken pink cuffs
18:04on the rug.
18:05I pulled my knees
18:06up to my chest
18:07and started shaking.
18:08Chemical fire.
18:09Multiple explosions.
18:11Active structural failure.
18:13Every nightmare
18:13I'd ever had
18:14was happening tonight.
18:15I scrambled for my phone
18:17and opened the news app.
18:18The top story
18:19was already live aerial footage.
18:21The eastern sky
18:22over the city
18:22was orange.
18:23Black smoke
18:24pumping into the air.
18:25The fire glow
18:26lighting up half the skyline.
18:27The anchor
18:28was talking fast.
18:2927 units on scene.
18:30Heavy rescue
18:31is now pushing
18:32into the interior
18:33of the second structure.
18:34Liam, come back.
18:35Please come back.
18:36And just like that
18:37I was right back
18:38where I'd been
18:39three years ago.
18:40Back then
18:40I lived two blocks
18:41from his firehouse.
18:42The second the siren faded
18:44the waiting would start.
18:45The longest he was ever gone
18:47was almost two hours.
18:48When he finally
18:49walked back in
18:50his left eyebrow
18:52was singed off.
18:53He poured himself
18:54a glass of water
18:55in my kitchen
18:56and drank it
18:57without saying a word.
18:58That night
18:59I cried into my pillow
19:00until three in the morning.
19:01The next day
19:02I told him it was over.
19:04And now here I was.
19:05Same fire glow.
19:07Same silence.
19:08Same fear.
19:12I watched the news
19:13for two hours.
19:14The fire was getting bigger.
19:16The first explosion
19:17had set off a chain reaction.
19:18The storage tanks
19:19were going one after another.
19:21The comments
19:22under the live stream
19:23went from praying
19:24for the crews
19:24to any casualties
19:25yet in real time.
19:27The aerial footage
19:28went from full dark
19:29to gray dawn
19:29to actual sunrise.
19:31The fire was still burning.
19:32By hour ten
19:33I'd stopped crying.
19:34My eyes were swollen shut.
19:35Hour eleven
19:36a push notification
19:37dropped onto my lock screen.
19:38Breaking.
19:39Secondary collapse
19:40at Eastside Chemical Fire.
19:42Two firefighters
19:42reported critical.
19:44Identities pending
19:44family notification.
19:46My phone hit the floor
19:47and the screen shattered.
19:48There was a high ringing
19:49sound in my ears.
19:50I don't remember
19:51putting on shoes.
19:52I don't remember
19:53leaving my apartment.
19:55Uber wouldn't load.
19:56I started running
19:57down the sidewalk
19:57in my pajamas.
19:59One of my Converse
20:00came off
20:00around the third block.
20:01I kept running
20:02with one bare foot.
20:03A cab pulled over
20:05from me eventually.
20:07The driver took
20:08one look at me
20:08and fluttered it
20:09across town.
20:10The ER doors
20:11were propped open.
20:12Wall of noise.
20:13People crying.
20:14Doctors yelling.
20:15Radios crackling.
20:16The hallway was packed.
20:17Hospital gowns.
20:18Sochford turnout coats.
20:19Family members
20:20with red eyes.
20:21I pushed through.
20:22I checked every face.
20:23I must have looked
20:24at twenty firefighters.
20:25None of them was Liam.
20:27At the end of the corridor
20:28I spotted Tyler.
20:31The rookie.
20:33The rookie curled up
20:33in a plastic chair
20:34like he wanted
20:35to disappear into it.
20:36His turnout coat
20:37had melted holes in it.
20:38The right side
20:39of his face
20:39was wrapped in gauze.
20:41He was sobbing
20:42into his fire gloves.
20:43I crossed the hallway
20:44in three steps
20:45and grabbed his collar.
20:47Tyler.
20:48Where is he?
20:49Where is Liam?
20:50Tyler looked up.
20:51He saw me
20:52and his face crumpled.
20:53Oh ma'am.
20:54Oh god ma'am.
20:56The captain
20:57he pushed us out first.
20:58He stayed at the front
20:59so we could get clear
21:00and then the wall
21:01came down right on top.
21:02I didn't hear the rest.
21:04My knees folded
21:05and I dropped
21:05onto the line emolium.
21:06I couldn't breathe.
21:08Like physically
21:09couldn't breathe.
21:10I crawled across the floor
21:11to the trauma room doors.
21:12The red light above them
21:13was on.
21:14In procedure.
21:15I bought handcuffs.
21:16I played with them
21:17alone in my bedroom.
21:18He came in to save me.
21:20Now he was on a table
21:21behind those doors
21:22and he wasn't coming out.
21:24The light over the doors
21:25clicked off.
21:25The doors swung open.
21:27A white sheet
21:28was pulled all the way up
21:29over the body.
21:30The corner hung off
21:31swaying as the orderly
21:32pushed it.
21:33I lost it.
21:34I crawled to the gurney.
21:36My knees hit the metal frame
21:38and I didn't feel it.
21:39I grabbed a fistful
21:40of the sheet.
21:42I was crying so hard
21:44I didn't even sound
21:45like myself.
21:47Liam.
21:48Liam!
21:49You son of a bitch!
21:51You do not get
21:52to die on me!
21:53I swear to god
21:54if you die
21:54I'm going on Tinder tonight!
21:56I'm going on Hinnage!
21:57I'm gonna date
21:58a hundred guys!
21:58Do you hear me?
21:59The orderly froze
22:00with his hands
22:00on the gurney rails.
22:02The nurse just stared.
22:03The whole ER
22:04was watching.
22:04I did not care.
22:05The only thing
22:06in the world
22:06was the white sheet.
22:07And then
22:08from behind me
22:09a voice
22:10tired
22:11horsey
22:12a little amused.
22:13Hi.
22:14Looking for me?
22:16My spine locked up.
22:20I'm not dead yet
22:21sweetheart.
22:22I didn't dare move.
22:24I was still gripping
22:26the sheet.
22:27If I turned around
22:28and he wasn't there
22:29I was gonna die
22:29right on this floor.
22:31Chloe.
22:32He said my name again.
22:34Closer now.
22:35Weak.
22:35Smiling.
22:36I turned around
22:36so slowly.
22:37Liam was heening
22:38against the wall
22:39at the end
22:39of the hallway.
22:40His termout coat
22:41was bunched
22:42around his waist.
22:42There was a thick
22:43wad of gauze
22:44taped to his left shoulder.
22:45His left arm
22:46was in a temporary
22:46cast in a sling.
22:47His face was streaked
22:48with soat and blood.
22:49His bottom lip
22:50was split.
22:51His left eyebrow
22:52was scorched off again.
22:53He was upright.
22:54He was breathing.
22:55He was smiling
22:56crooked at me.
22:59The doctor walked up
23:00and pushed his glasses
23:01up his nose.
23:02Ma'am.
23:02There's been a misunderstanding.
23:03The patient under the sheet
23:04is one of the chemical
23:05plant employees.
23:06He didn't make it.
23:06Captain Reyes here
23:07walked into the ER
23:08on his own two feet.
23:09He refused the wheelchair,
23:11refused the gurney,
23:11refused the elevator.
23:12The doctor looked at Liam.
23:14He's a pain in my ass,
23:15frankly.
23:16I stood up off the floor.
23:17My legs were jelly.
23:18One bare foot,
23:19one sock.
23:20I walked across the hallway
23:21in slow motion
23:22and then I ran
23:23the last two steps
23:24and threw myself
23:25at his chest.
23:26He grunt hard,
23:26his back slammed
23:27into the wall,
23:28his cast banged
23:28against the doorbrain
23:29and he sucked
23:30in a sharp breath.
23:31He didn't push me away.
23:32His good arm
23:33wrapped tight
23:33around my waist.
23:34I shoved my face
23:36into his shirt
23:36and started screaming.
23:38He patted my back.
23:39Real awkward.
23:41Hey.
23:41Hey.
23:43What's all this?
23:44His voice was scratchy
23:45and warm.
23:46You know what they say.
23:48Bad guys never die.
23:49And I still owe you
23:50a real night, baby.
23:52I'm not gonna miss that
23:53for a fire.
23:54His mouth dropped
23:55to my ear
23:55to a whisper
23:56only I could hear.
23:57I cried harder
23:58and hit his chest
23:59with my fist.
24:00The nurses
24:01started laughing.
24:02Tyler was wiping
24:03his eyes
24:03and laughing too.
24:04A few bandaged up
24:05firefighters
24:06poked their heads
24:06out of the next room.
24:07One of them
24:09whistled.
24:09Get it, Captain!
24:12Liam flipped them
24:13off over my head.
24:15The tips of his ears
24:16went red.
24:21Three days later,
24:22Liam signed himself
24:23out AMA.
24:25He said the hospital bed
24:26was too hard
24:27and the food
24:28was an insult.
24:29He moved into
24:30my apartment
24:31with a paper bag
24:32full of prescriptions
24:33and zero
24:33discussing about it.
24:35He was propped up
24:36against my headboard
24:37with his clasped arm
24:38on a pillow
24:39flipping channels
24:40with his good hand.
24:42Water.
24:46I brought him water.
24:48Babe,
24:49peel me an apple.
24:50I peeled an apple.
24:51Did you peel this
24:52with a chainsaw?
24:53The skin is still
24:54on half of it.
24:56I took a deep breath.
24:57I owed him
24:58three years.
24:59I could take this.
25:00He took a bite
25:01and talked
25:02with his mouth full.
25:03There's chicken soup
25:04in the fridge.
25:05Heat it up.
25:05I'm dying over here.
25:07I started walking
25:08toward the kitchen.
25:09Hey!
25:10Hey, hold up!
25:12I turned around.
25:14His good hand
25:15came out of his pocket
25:16holding the broken
25:17pink cuffs.
25:18You kept those?
25:20When did you even
25:20pick those up?
25:21You were on a call!
25:22He held them up
25:23to the light
25:24and examined them
25:25like an antique.
25:27Stuffed them
25:27in my coat pocket
25:28before I rolled out.
25:30He said it like
25:31it was the most
25:32natural thing
25:32in the world.
25:33I lunged at him.
25:34He held the cuffs
25:35up over his head
25:37way out of my reach.
25:38I climbed onto the bed
25:39and tried to push up
25:40on my knees.
25:41I could not get close.
25:43Liam,
25:44give them back
25:45right now.
25:47Nope.
25:49You are literally
25:50a 30-year-old man.
25:54Yep.
25:56And then I lost
25:57my balance
25:58and tipped forward.
26:01He laughed
26:02under his breath.
26:03His good arm
26:04caught me around
26:04the waist
26:05and pulled me down
26:05against his chest.
26:06The cuffs landed
26:07on the pillow somewhere.
26:08I ended up
26:09straddling his lap
26:10with his good hand
26:11splayed on my lower back.
26:12Our faces were
26:13two inches apart.
26:14I could smell
26:15antiseptic on his bandage.
26:16His good hand
26:17slid down past my hip
26:18and gripped my thigh.
26:20Hard.
26:21My breath caught.
26:22He stopped smiling.
26:23His eyes went serious.
26:25Chloe.
26:26He said my name
26:27really quiet.
26:28Really careful.
26:29In the hospital.
26:31I didn't get to finish
26:32what I was saying.
26:34When you broke up
26:35with me three years ago,
26:36I already knew why.
26:40I stopped breathing.
26:42After you moved out,
26:43I went to your old landlord,
26:45Mr. Henderson.
26:47He told me
26:48you'd been calling him
26:49at three in the morning
26:50every week.
26:52Asking him
26:53if he'd heard
26:53whether any firefighters
26:54got hurt that night.
26:56You thought you got out clean.
26:58You did not.
26:59You weren't as careful
27:00as you thought, baby.
27:03He tipped his forehead
27:04down against mine.
27:06I knew you still loved me.
27:08I knew you were scared.
27:11I didn't come after you
27:13because you were scared
27:14I was going to die.
27:15And I was scared of that too.
27:18I'd go down in a fire one day
27:19and you'd be a 23-year-old widow
27:21getting a folded flag.
27:23I couldn't do that to you.
27:27His good hand slid up
27:28into my hair.
27:30So I let you go.
27:31I figured you deserved
27:33a clean break.
27:34I thought you'd meet
27:35some accountant,
27:36a nice guy with a 9-to-5,
27:38who came home every night
27:40at 6.
27:41That was the plan.
27:42His voice dropped soft.
27:46Then I read your journal
27:47tonight, baby.
27:49A thousand and 23 days.
27:53You weren't free
27:54for a single one of them.
27:56He looked up at me.
27:57I'm done hiding.
27:59I'm done being noble.
28:01I'm still going to do the job.
28:02I'm still going to run
28:03into the building.
28:04That part isn't changing.
28:05You're mine.
28:07You don't get to leave again.
28:08A tear ran off my chin
28:09and landed on his bottom lip.
28:11He didn't wipe it off.
28:12I leaned down
28:13and kissed it off him.
28:15This kiss was different
28:16from the one in my bedroom.
28:18This one was slow.
28:19His cracked lips.
28:21The bitter taste of iodine
28:22off his bandage.
28:24His fingers tightened
28:25in my hair.
28:26He was holding back.
28:27I straddled him
28:29with both palms
28:29flat against his chest.
28:31I could feel his heart
28:32mummering through his t-shirt.
28:36The kiss moved off my lips.
28:38Across my jaw.
28:40Down to the side of my throat.
28:42His good hand slid down
28:44the length of my spine.
28:45Slow.
28:46When his palm hit
28:47the small of my back
28:48I shivered.
28:49My tank strap
28:50slid off my shoulder.
28:51His mouth moved
28:52down to my collarbone.
28:53He bit me there.
28:54Soft.
28:56And then he froze.
28:59His thumb had pressed
29:00into the bruise
29:01on the inside of my wrist.
29:02I winked.
29:02He stopped instantly.
29:04He pulled my wrist
29:05into the light
29:05of the bedside lamp.
29:06The marks the cuffs
29:07left behind
29:08had bloomed
29:08into ugly purple bruises.
29:10Chloe.
29:11Why didn't you
29:11put anything on these?
29:13His voice went sharp.
29:14This is bruising
29:15plus surface abrasion.
29:16You're going to get
29:16a skin infection.
29:17What is wrong with you?
29:18I forgot.
29:19He glared at me.
29:20He used his one good arm
29:21to physically lift me
29:22off his lap
29:23and sit me down
29:24on the mattress.
29:24He stood up
29:25and immediately
29:26started walking weird.
29:27His good leg
29:28and his casted arm
29:29tried to swing
29:30at the same time.
29:31He had to stop
29:32and reset.
29:35On his way out
29:35the bedroom door
29:36his shoulder
29:37banged the door fame.
29:38I laughed out loud.
29:39From the hallway
29:40I heard a very loud
29:41Shut up, Chloe!
29:42He came back
29:43with the first aid kits
29:43tucked under his good arm.
29:45He dropped down
29:45on one knee
29:46next to the bed
29:46and pulled my wrist
29:47into his good hand.
29:48Everything about him
29:49got gentle.
29:50He squeezed
29:50a little neocabine
29:51onto his finger flip
29:52and rubbed it in.
29:53Slow, careful circles.
29:54His fingers were rough
29:55with calluses.
29:56His touch was almost
29:56too soft.
29:57Another one.
29:58I held out
29:58my left wrist.
29:59The bruise was darker.
30:00His jaw clenched.
30:01He rubbed in more
30:02knee open on
30:03and blew a slow breath
30:04across my pulse.
30:05He capped the tube
30:05and put it back
30:06in the kit.
30:07He stood up
30:07and looked at me.
30:08His eyes
30:08dropped straight
30:09from my wrist
30:10to my mouth
30:10and then he did
30:11the last thing
30:11I expected.
30:14He leaned down
30:15and kissed me on the forehead.
30:17He grabbed my comforter
30:18with his good hand
30:19and pulled it up
30:20over me.
30:21One corner
30:22was way too high.
30:23The other was on the floor.
30:25It looked like a disaster.
30:27He nodded at it
30:28like it was a job
30:29well done.
30:30Okay.
30:31Medicine's on.
30:32Get some sleep.
30:33I'll make you breakfast
30:34in the morning.
30:38He turned
30:39and headed
30:39for the door.
30:41Two steps in
30:42he stopped
30:43and looked back.
30:45His face
30:45was dead serious.
30:47One more thing.
30:48His ears
30:49went red again.
30:50No more playing
30:51with weird stuff
30:52by yourself
30:52okay?
30:55You've got me now.
30:58He turned around
30:59and his shoulder
31:00hit the door frame
31:01a second time
31:01on his way out.
31:03I heard a muttered
31:04God damn it
31:04from the hallway.
31:05Then the couch creaked
31:07as he laid down on it.
31:08I lay there
31:09in the dark
31:10smiling like an idiot
31:11crying the good kind.
31:13One thousand
31:14and twenty-three days.
31:15I waited.
31:17He came home.
31:22I curled up
31:23under the lopsided comfort.
31:24I listened to him
31:25breathing on my couch
31:26in the living room.
31:27I whispered to him
31:29through the wall.
31:30Okay Liam.
31:31From now on
31:32every single day
31:33sirens are
31:34no sirens.
31:35I'll be right here
31:36waiting.
31:36I'll be right here
Comments