#swyneric

@maritimeericandersen

The call came in the middle of the day.

Tom had already been at work for several hours. (He rarely left the firehouse these days, unless forcibly removed by Captain Denim. He wanted to make as much money as possible before the bairn came. There wasn’t a lot of money and he felt like if it was the only way he could provide for his son, then he would break himself to do so.) It had been a slow day. He’d cleaned the fire engine and the truck, then helped with a few things that Captain Denim needed. They were in the middle of some filing--

When the house phone rang. Captain Denim answered.

“Landslide,” she said with a sigh when she hung up the phone. This was always a dangerous time of year. After all, the snow melting in the quarry could make it muddy and if you weren’t experienced--or even if you were--you could step wrong and the whole side of the quarry would come down on top of you. It happened at least once or twice a year, even though there were warning signs and posters put up in town hall and on PrideU’s campus.

“How many injured?” Tom said as he moved towards the garage, to load up on materials: ropes, hoes, shovels--a first aid kit, a stretcher. They wouldn’t be able to get the truck far into the woods, so they might have to carry people.

“The hikers that came across them weren’t sure. At least one. Maybe two.” 

“Right.” 

“Take Howells with you.” 

“Aye,” Tom agreed, called for Howells and took off in the truck.

It took about half an hour to get to the edge of the woods and then go through the Troll Trail with all the equipment and then off to the quarry. By the time they got there, the two firefighters were both panting, but Tom drew up next to the hikers that had found the landslide. 

“Oh, thank goodness!” the girl of the couple said. “I think there is someone down there. Help them.” 

“We will,” Tom said with a nod. “Howells, escort them  back to the truck and get them shock blankets.” 

He saluted and led them away. 

Tom climbed carefully over a bit of the rubble. “Hullo?” he called.  

@maritimeericandersen

Danny knew he shouldn’t be surprised that Eric had wound up in the hospital. After all, they had met because Eric was trying to slide down steep stone steps. And since then, there had been several times that Danny had coaxed Eric down off the proverbial ledge before he took the leap into something dangerous. 

As soon as Eric had admitted that he was in the hospital, Danny had determined he was going to go see him. It made him kind of nervous, because hospitals made him kind of nervous. His mother had always warned him that anyone who medically tested him would know immediately that he wasn’t human. And he didn’t think about such things much, but when he was about to head into the hospital, his mother’s paranoia did prickle at his skin.

He wasn’t going to just leave Eric there, though. Danny had no idea if he had any family nearby. Obviously, the other volleyball teammates were going to be there for him, but Danny didn’t know if he had friends outside of that. 

So, Danny had baked some cookies. He wasn’t a baker by any means, but he’d done it a few times with his mum. Had tried to bake her a cake one time for her birthday when he’d been younger, with Jane’s help. (It had been a disaster.) But, following the recipe online he’d found hadn’t been hard.

“Hey,” he said when he knocked and then entered the hospital room. He didn’t like the way it looked or the way Eric looked either. “Uh--I brought you cookies?” he asked it like it was a question as he came closer. “They’re oatmeal raisin.”