Chapter 20

February 10^th, 2010

“I reeeeeaaallllyyy neeeeeeed my paaaaaiiiinn meds now!!” I yelled through my teeth as another contraction ripped through me.  My water finally broke as they were getting me out of the H2 and into a wheel chair.  Turns out I was 5cm dilated and my contractions were coming along faster and faster.

“Oh, Darling, you won’t need pain meds because the babe’s gonna be here really shortly,” the nurse with the thick southern accent said from underneath the blanket that was covering my knees.

“No pain meds?!” I squeaked.  “You’ve got to at least be able to give me something to take the fucking edge off?!”  I looked over at Patrick with pleading eyes, hoping he’d go to bat for me, but he just shrugged his shoulders and wiped the sweat off my forehead for the 100^th time.  “You people suck,” I said plain and simple.  Of course right after that another contraction throttled through, feeling like it was splitting my hoo-hoo down to my ass-hole.

“One more push, Mrs. Kaleta!”

“I don’t want to!” I yelled, but I found that I really had no choice and next thing I knew there was a blood curdling cry echoing off the bare walls of the hospital room.  I think I passed out for a minute because everything seemed to get fuzzy for a bit until I felt Patrick squeezing my hand really hard and whispering in my ear to open my eyes.  I opened my eyes to find a bright red baby, screaming angrily as the southern nurse held it up in front of me.

“It’s a girl!!” Patrick whispered excitedly into my ear.

I turned towards him and said, “You win, this time,” and kissed him hard on the lips. 

I felt his lips curl upwards before he pulled back and said, “Madelyn Rose Kaleta, Maddie for short.”

I whispered the name through my lips as they laid little Maddie in my arms and nodded with approval as I kissed her softly on the forehead.

July 4^th, 2010, 2030hrs.

“Jesus!  What the hell was that?” Drew yelled as he pointed over towards the city.  A group of us were out partying on the boat while watching the fireworks.  My mom had taken Maddie for the night so I could have a fun evening out with Drew, Stacy, Miller and his new model girlfriend, Roy and his girl and Nate Gerbe.  I was bummed that Emmy had to work, but I planned on having a good time on the holiday either way.

I looked over and saw the remnants of what seemed to be an explosion.  There had been fireworks coming from that same vicinity, so I wondered out loud if that had anything to do with it.  “Do you think something happened with those fireworks they had been setting off there?”

“Good possibility,” Miller said as he walked over to me and Drew.

It wasn’t long afterwards that the area around the explosion began to glow bright orange and I could hear the distinct sound of the cue (fire truck siren).  “I guess Emmy’s gonna be busy tonight,” I mumbled.

March 2010

“Patrick Kaleta returns to the ice after a foot injury that seemed to plague him for several weeks…”

“Come to the game tonight…” I whined into her ear softly as we lay in bed, attempting to take my pre-game nap.  Maddie was great at sleeping through the night but getting her to nap during the day could sometimes be a challenge.  Today it seemed the she was cooperating, so far.

“Your mom and dad are going to the game so who is going to watch Maddie?” she mumbled into the pillow.

“I’m sure we can find a babysitter…”

“It’s too late for that, Patty.  Besides, Charlie is coming over to visit tonight and you should probably go out with the guys after the game anyway, since it’s the first game you are back for.”

“But I don’t want to hang out with the guys; I want to be with youuuuuu…” I whined again as I pulled her back against me, cuddling closer to her.

She left out a sigh and murmured, “Go to sleep while you still can, love.”

I kissed her hair and squeezed her once more for good measure as we fell asleep.

It was tough getting back into the hockey schedule after having a month off and with the new addition to the family, but it was an exciting time.  We were leading our division and it was a given that we would be heading to the playoffs.  Emma proved to be an awesome mother so far and was a saint at making sure I got my rest, even with a newborn in the house.  I’m not quite sure how she managed everything, but I guess it all comes down to that mother instinct.

Maddie became a full-blown Sabres fan as soon as she came home.  Her first Kaleta jersey was given to her by Drew and Stacy, along with a Stafford one.  Drew said it was for the times that the other jersey might be in the laundry from getting spit-up on.

Of course the one night Emma had to drive up to the rink because I forgot something for the game.  I was already in my uniform and our media guy caught us and made us pose for our first family hockey picture that they showed during intermission and then posted it on the website.

I still found it strange to be a father at 24, but at the end of the day it all felt right.  I enjoyed being a family man; it gave me something else to focus on besides hockey.

July 4^th, 2010, 20:35

Additional from dispatch stated apparently someone had been setting off fireworks on the warehouse roof and somehow one did not ignite properly, exploding on the roof of the building.  The roof quickly gave way and the heavy fire load of boxes and paper quickly took off.  There were reports of cleaning staff in the building including 4-5 people who were working in the offices that were located on the basement floor.

“Why the fuck are there people working on the holiday?!” Wagner yelled up towards the front of the truck, so that I could hear him.

“Why the fuck are we working?” I yelled back with a laugh.

“True, true,” I heard him say over the blaring cue.

We arrived on scene to find a warehouse that took up basically the whole block, with heavy fire pouring from it.  It used to be a 3 story building but at the moment it was 2 floors and with the heavy fire, we knew it wouldn’t be long until it was ground level.

The chief greeted me as soon as I opened the door of the truck.  “Kaleta, we definitely have 4 people trapped in the basement.  One of them called out on a cell phone from the stairwell and said they are unable to get out.  There is one with possible life threatening injuries.  I need your crew to get into the B side of the building and begin tunneling your way through to the stairwell.  This is going to be really dangerous because I don’t think we have a lot of time until the rest of this building goes down.”

I turned to find Wagner and Patterson gathering their wall breaching tools and first aid stuff to get the injured guy out.  “You guys catch all that?” I yelled to them.

“Yup, we’re waiting on you, sweet cheeks,” Wagner spouted as I finished tightening my SCBA straps and the straps to my rope harness for the simple fact that if we found a hole in the floor, we might have an easier time just going to the basement through the floor. 

Patterson looked like he was going to be sick, so I just smiled at him and said, “Buddy, just think about what they taught you in training, we’ll be fine,” I said with a smile and pointed the direction we needed to be heading.

We found an outside stairwell exit but we had to cut through the door to get in since it was an “exit only” door.  I could actually hear the building groan as the aerial trucks poured water onto the raging flames.  This really isn’t a good sign and I’m not quite sure if we’re going to get to these people.  I sure hope we have the correct stairwell.

Once we got in, I found immediately that the stairwell was blocked, just like the victims said, and that we definitely needed to search for another access route.  We hooked up our search ropes to the door, in case we needed to find out quickest route out if things went wrong, and began searching for another direction.  About 100ft in I found a hole in the floor where a machine or something had fallen through from one of the upper floors, during the explosion.  I held up my hand and got Wagner and Patterson to huddle around.

“Okay guys, I think our best bet is to go down through this hole and look for that stairwell they are in.  We can set up a rigging system here and have a couple more guys come in here to hoist people out of the basement and get these people on SCBA’s because it’s too smokey in here,” I yelled through my SCBA mask.  The both nodded that they understood me.  I then yelled, “Okay, Patterson, start setting up the rigging system and I’ll radio for more help for you.  Wagner and I will repel down to the basement here.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Patterson said as he turned and got to work, helping Wagner and I get set up for repelling.  I radioed out to command and told them of our plans and next thing I knew Wagner and I were on the ground floor helping each other unhook from our ropes and start a new search rope so that we could find our way back to the spot.  The gear was heavy, but I didn’t notice it much with all the adrenaline that was rushing through my veins.  I knew we didn’t have a lot of time and I observed that my air cylinder was already down to almost half.  Not Good.

I pointed to my air pressure gage as I grabbed Wagner.  He looked down and showed me his which was about the same.  We both shrugged shoulders and moved forward.  Soon we came to what looked to be office cubicles.  I knew we had to be getting closer and my heart began beating faster in anticipation.  I felt Wagner tug on my gear, catching my attention.  I turned and found him pointing at a red steel door with a small window in it; above it was an exit sign.  I left out a big sigh and headed towards the door.

We pulled some debris away from the door and opened it to find the 4 co-workers huddled together looking deathly afraid.  3 of them looked healthy enough to walk with just some abrasions on their faces.  The 4^th was a man who looked to have at least broken leg with a possible head injury and in obvious need of first aid.  I called for the stokes basket (A/N: a basket that is used to carry patients that can be hoisted with ropes if patient is properly secured into it) and additional man power.

“Wagner, get these people back to Patterson.  Tell them to cover their mouths with their clothing and breath as shallow as possible.”

“You need to come along too, Emma.  I’m not fucking leaving you here.  You are too low on air and we can get the next team down here to get him out,” he yelled back at me.

“I’m fine; I will start doing some first aid.  Just tell them to bring another cylinder with them.  They will be waiting for you, so it won’t take too long now that we have the safety line strung.  Please, just go,” I said as I turned away and began finding things to splint the patient’s leg.

I heard Wagner gather the other 3 victims and give them instructions.  I felt him tap on my helmet to let me know he was going and away they went.  I then heard him call on the radio for the extra crew to start climbing down because he was leaving me in the room.  More radio transmissions were going on, but the signal was weak because of the building construction, so I took off my SCBA and began talking to my patient.  With the door closed, the smoke stayed at bay and I figured I should probably conserve my air for as long as possible.

Unfortunately for my patient, he was in fairly bad shape.  He was floating in and out of consciousness and I didn’t think he was going to last much longer without higher medical care.  However, I just kept myself focused on splint his leg and getting him ready for transport because I knew we didn’t have much more time to get out of the building.

Being in the enclosed room, I never heard the evacuation command from the chief.  I never heard the air horns signaling to evacuate.  I never knew how much time I didn’t have to get out of the building.

July 5^th, 2010, 0045hrs.

After we got off the lake, we headed out to the Morrisey’s Irish Pub for some dancing and beer.  I wasn’t really in the mood to do this without Emmy, but I also had nothing better to do for the night since Maddie was still at my parents.

“Excuse me, hottie.  I was wondering if you’d like to dance with me?” a brunette breathed into my ear as I stood at the bar with Drew.

I just held up my left hand and didn’t even look her way.  I guess being married means nothing to some of these people because I felt her fingers on the back of my neck, working their way up into my hair.  I jerked away from her grasp and said, “Look lady, this ring means something to me, so please, keep your hands to yourself.”  At first she pouted out her lips but after I kept the glaring stare focused on her, she got the hint.

I turned back to the bar as Drew just left out a laugh.  “Shut the fuck up,” I grumbled.  “This is exactly why I don’t come here without my wife.”

“I can understand that one…sorry, Derek was all gun-ho about this.  If you want to go home, I’m cool with that.”

I looked around and saw Stacy was sitting over at the table playing with the straw in her drink as the rest of the crew was out on the dance floor.  “I guess it seems that Stacy isn’t having much fun either without Emma,” I mused.

“That’s why I’m saying we’ll be game to head out,” he said with a smirk.

We said goodbye to the rest of the crew and walked down the street to where Drew was parked.

“Wow, you can still see that building burning.  Do you think Emma is there?”  Stacy asked worriedly.

“Yeah, most likely she is.  Especially since it doesn’t seem far from her station and because of how large it is.  Do we want to walk the couple blocks and see what’s going on?”

“Sure!” Stacy said excitedly as she grabbed hands with me and Drew, walking towards the glow.

It was utter chaos when we arrived on the fire scene.  Instantly I felt all wrong about coming down here, but something in my mind told me I needed to be here.  We walked up to the yellow tape and saw a bunch of the guys in rehab, including some of the guys from Emma’s station.  I waved over at Patterson, but as soon as he looked at me he got up and walked in the opposite direction.

Wonder what that was all about.  It certainly looked like an explosion had happened because the building was all crumbled in on itself.  The flames were all but extinguished, now the sky was lit up by the bright lights of the fire scene and some construction lights that had been brought in to help.  I was disappointed that I didn’t see Emma with the rest of her crew, but I didn’t want to bother anyone because they all looked really tired and bummed out.  After standing for a bit I motioned to Drew and Stacy to leave.  We were turning to walk back to their SUV when I heard Charlie yelling my name.

“Kaleta!” he yelled, loud enough that I could actually hear him over the roar of the engines.

“Oh, hey Charlie!” I waved and smiled as I turned back around and began walking back towards the fire scene.

Instead of his face lighting up with a smile like it normally would, I noticed he looked sullen and very upset about something.  Immediately I put my hand down and ran over to him.