The Love of a Firefighter End of Chapter Part 1 - Could it Be?

I found that it was only a dream and not a reality.

I had to remove those stupid imaginations from my head before I was completely insane. So, I grabbed the towels and took a shower, hoping that the cold water would chill out my head and erase  the love I had for her or made me forget about the dream I had the night before.

Yet, as the water flowed throughly onto my head and ankles, and the palm of my hands pressed the  pale white wall in front of me, I could almost feel the gentle touch that I yearned so deep inside my heart -- her hands caressing my waist. That day, Monday, 06.00 a.m. November 22, she would wear a white chiffon dress  I had bought for her the other day.

Without shoes or slippers on our feet, we would  stroll down along the beach to enjoy the lovely sunrise, walked side by side so close to one other. Her head leaned on my shoulders and her arms around my waist.  I would kiss her forehead - with all my attentions centered on her.  I have to let her go once she noticed a seashell got stranded in the sand by the tiny waves that carried it into the shore.  After a smile of victory and showing off  her findings,  her hands would once again reach for mine.

She would be so beautiful in that white dress with her face glowing by the morning light. Her laughter filled  the air and her joy sunken into my soul. With all of that, she would drag me into the salt water, splashing it around and onto my face that makes us immerse in laughter until I pulled her in my arms and onto my chest.

There would be silent between us except for our pounding hearts as our eyes lock into each other's, beating fast, heavy together, wrapped in one another so close without any slight of distance between us. I would kiss her tenderly until the waves  hit us both and the water sank into the drain and slowly brought my mind back into reality.

I realized it was nothing more than an illusion. Still, no matter how I tried to forget her, those thoughts kept coming back inevitably. No matter how I wished the dream to happen, those tickets to Fiji Island had turned into nothing but useless papers. It was time to face the truth and to let go all memories and the shadow of that cold hearted woman.

I knew I had to face her, to question her reason for leaving me at the altar.

Lord, please help me not to yell at her. Yet, I found that it was quite strange and funny that no matter how angry or disappointed I was, I still missed her and yearned  for her love and  her touches even more. No. I quickly increased the volume of the shower faucet in a hope that the cold water would chill out my head and bring me back to sanity.

After finished taking that cold shower, I walked heavily to the bedroom and found Eva there. Poor woman got her heart broken, just like mine at the same time. I hate to wake her up, so I let her sleep on my bed while I was being stuck in reveries in front of the mirror.

That morning, instead of waking up with a blissfulness after an unforgettable night, enjoying a day for a beautiful honeymoon,  I had to arrange few words to explain to my colleagues the reason of my failure to slip a wedding ring on her finger. I wanted to escape, rather than to face it. Even though, it would be useless because I could not hide from them either, and cover it up like nothing ever happened. Though, it was quite true in some parts that nothing ever happened that day between Lila and me that would lead us into a more committed relationship.  I grabbed my shirt, dressed up and tied my shoe laces.

It was time to face the truth.

 

 I decided to stop by at her house before going to the fire station. I had to ask her personally.

After pressing her doorbell several time, I waited quite long until finally I decided to leave. When I arrived at the fire station, Tim  was the first person who greeted me there. "Dave, I heard about Lila. She's...."

"Don't talk about her right now. I want to forget about it, Tim."

"But..."
 

" Tim, I know I was so stupid to let a woman left me at the altar like that, but please... I would buy you a drink or two if it would satisfy you."

"But, Dave... Could you hear me first? Lila is..."

Before Tim could finish his lines, the emergency alarm rang. We had to go to the Twinbrook Hospital as soon as possible. 

  

 

An x-ray machine  had a catastrophic malfunction and it drew enormous amounts of electricity, causing a lightning strike to the hospital building.

 

For about three hundred thousand volts of electricity were carried into the hospital in  just a few milliseconds. It then traveled around metal wires and pipes inside the building. The lightning rod could divert it, but still, up to fifty percent of it had already spread over different conductive elements inside the building.
  

It caused damages on integrated circuits in computers and electronic equipments.  Some nurses and patient were trapped inside rooms with shorted out electronic locks. The lightning almost hit a visitor outside. He was a lucky person to be able to avoid it, but, the vital impact hit the electronic devices that support patient treatments, including life support machines. We must  handle the situation as soon as possible. 

At 3.00 p.m., I had finished handling a fire that caused by a small explosion inside the building and made sure that everyone managed to get out of the locked rooms safely, but  then I found Terry there. Strangely though, he wore a patient robe and not a uniform. I noticed he was quite surprised to see me.

"Dave! You're here. I've got a small injury because of the fire in a factory on the north bank side. Why didn't you answer your phone? I tried to call you, but your phone was inactive or something. I forgot it was your wedding day until Lila reminded me."
"Lila?"
"Yes. She kept calling you, but you didn't answer your phone. She called one of your friends to send the message to you. Lila thought that you would come, but we didn't see you around. She planned to come to the wedding as soon as we have rescued all the people who were trapped inside the factory, but on her way out of the building while assisting them, part of the roof fell on her. We had to bring her to the hospital. "

"What?! Is she okay now?"

"I don't know, you have to check on her. She's probably in a room somewhere."

I hurried off to find  her and then asked a nurse to check  the patients list, but the main computer was  still not working and it ended up for nothing. I had checked in every room, but  there was no sign of her.

I was in a real panic trying to find the person I cared so much. How could I've thought that she didn't come because she didn't want to marry me?! I should have known that she's not that kind of woman, and she might  have good reasons for it. If I saw her, I would fall on my knees and ask her for her forgiveness.

Still, everywhere I tried to find her, I could not find her. Then, a moment of shock hit greater than a lightning strike could have ever been.

A nurse said that a woman named Lila was being treated in a room. When I arrived there, there was no one in the room. The white sheet neatly covered the mattress. It seemed the room had already been emptied. Not long, a janitor came out of the toilet. She had finished cleaning the room and was about to clean another one until I stopped her before she could reach the exit door.

I asked her about the woman who was being treated in the room, and the truth unfold itself again in front of me. The nurse said that the woman died because the life support machine had stopped working after the lightning bolt.

She died?

She.... died

LILA DIED?!!! 
  

 

My world had really fallen apart.

For once in my life, I wished my life would end too.

To Be Continued...