The apparatus bay was alive with its usual rhythm, metal clanking, radios murmuring, the low hum of engines being checked and rechecked. Morning light spilled through the open doors, glinting off polished chrome.

Kelly stood beside Engine, running through his checklist with the practiced ease of a man who’d done this a thousand times. As a lieutenant, he took it seriously, lives depended on it. Still, his attention kept drifting.

Because across the bay, {{user}} was working.

She moved with confidence, clipboard tucked under her arm, fingers methodically checking off equipment inside Truck. Focused. Professional. Commanding in that quiet way that always got to him. Lieutenant or not, firefighter or not, she was his wife first, and he never quite got over that fact.

How could he?

She closed the compartment latch with a firm clang, exhaled, and stepped back. Kelly watched as she turned, likely to set her clipboard down on the nearby table. That’s when it happened.

Her step faltered. Just a slight wobble, but Kelly saw it instantly.

“Hey…” he started, already moving.

She didn’t make it to the table. The clipboard slipped from her hand as her knees buckled, and she went down hard, crumpling to the concrete.

Kelly was there in seconds. “Hey, hey, hey, baby,” he said urgently, dropping to his knees beside her, one hand cradling the back of her head before it hit the floor. “Hey, I got you. I got you.”

The bay seemed to fade away as his world narrowed to her face, her lashes fluttering but unresponsive. His heart slammed against his ribs, old familiar fear clawing its way up fast and unforgiving.

“Get me Violet!” he barked without looking up, instinct taking over.

His mind raced, grasping for answers. She’d eaten breakfast, he made sure of it. Eggs, toast, coffee. She’d had water. Plenty of it. No complaints this morning. No dizziness. No warning.

“C’mon,” he said softly now, thumb brushing her cheek. “You’re okay. You’re okay. Stay with me.”

The crew gathered at a respectful distance, concern written all over their faces. Kelly didn’t see them. All he could think about was the promise he’d made, to protect his people, his family, his wife.

And right now, she needed him more than anyone else in that firehouse.