“Did you get her?”
Tyler nodded.
“She’s okay.”
I covered my mouth.
“Completely?”
“Not a scratch.”
I wanted to scream at him.
I wanted to hug him.
I wanted to demand that he promise never to do anything that reckless again, although we both knew what the answer would be if another child were trapped tomorrow.
Then Tyler said:
“That still isn’t what Reyes thought you knew.”
I froze.
“What else is there?”
He took a slow breath.
“The department nominated me for something this afternoon.”
“For what?”
He looked embarrassed.
That almost made me laugh.
I stared at him.
“They nominated you today?”
He nodded.
“And apparently it was approved.”
For several seconds, I couldn’t speak.
I had spent the morning planning how to embarrass Tyler with birthday balloons.
Instead, he had spent his birthday walking back into a collapsing building because a child was crying inside.
And somehow, he was still embarrassed about people making a fuss over him.
I leaned closer.
“You’re still an idiot.”
He smiled.
“Probably.”
“But I’m proud of you.”
His expression softened.
The following morning, there was a knock on Tyler’s hospital-room door.
Captain Reyes walked inside carrying the cake.
Behind him came Grant and the rest of the crew.
And floating above all of them were my ridiculous birthday balloons.
This time, everyone was smiling.
Someone placed the cake on the table.
Grant looked at Tyler.
“You really thought you were getting out of this?”
Tyler groaned.
“Absolutely not.”
