Seen

Could nothing go right for him today? He forgot he had an open line to 911 and heard the tinny voice through the phone that was in his hand but not near his ear. “Hello? You’ve reached 911. Do you require police, fire, or ambulance?” The call taker raised their voice and tried again, sounding a smidgeon irritated- “Hello, do you realize you called 911? Police, fire, or ambulance…. Hello? Do you require assistance?” “Yes. Fire. I’m an off-duty OPP sergeant involved in an MVC. Additionally, I need traffic control and an ambulance. Two vehicles involved, one is actively on fire.” He gave the intersection then paused as he investigated the other vehicle, driver was only occupant. “One unconscious female with unknown injuries. I was the other driver, and I am uninjured.” The dispatcher was saying something but Roman hung up; he would call back once the immediate life threat was no longer in play. Roman climbed up the backend of the undercarriage of the car for better access. He tried to open the passenger doors first, but they would not open. With the older model car still in “drive” the automatic locks were not going to let him in, and the fire was rapidly spreading. If only he had his duty equipment… Wait! Roman hopped off the car and ran back to his SUV and grabbed the window punch tool with seatbelt cutter. “Thank you, Vivi”, he mumbled to himself as he returned to the flipped sedan. Others had stopped and were offering help. Bystanders were normally the bane of his existence. Today, however, he needed assistance until first response units arrived. Roman surveyed his options and picked a large construction worker to address. “I’m an off-duty cop. I’m going to breach the window and pull her out. The engine fire is spreading. I’ll reach in and grab her. I need you to help me get her off the car. Ya?” The man nodded and moved closer. “The rest of you please stay clear of the vehicle.” If it wasn’t for the fire, he would’ve waited for the on-duty professionals to come extricate the girl. The youth looked about fifteen-years-old, but was probably, hopefully, older. The growing fire told him there was no time to linger. Vehicle fires were not to be trifled with, and he was not risking her life on the off-chance firefighters were able to get there in time. He climbed the back-end undercarriage, again, yelping as flames shot out at his hands and forearms from behind the heat shield. Mother of pearl! Pain later. The flames were making it too hot to dally, and he was quickly becoming enveloped in smoke. Roman hoisted himself up onto the passenger side of the vehicle, used the window punch and watched as the glass instantly crumbled and rained down on the teen. Sweeping his jacket-covered forearm against the frame he cleared the rest of the glass from the edge where he would lean over and pull the girl out. He took a breath of clean air and then flattened himself along the side panel of the car. Roman reached through the open window with smoke billowing out around him. He could barely see, so he felt around until he found the seatbelt. He jerked the seat belt cutter down to tear the belt, freeing the limp girl. He got a secure hold of her right arm and pulled her close enough to reach around and secure a hold like a lifeguard. He then used his left arm as brace on the window frame and plucked the girl from the smoke-filled cabin. Construction-dude called to him from the back end of the car and Roman handed the girl to him then quickly slid off while hacking a cough. He was moving a safe distance away from the car that was quickly being engulfed in flames when he realized his SUV would catch fire if he didn’t move it. Even now flames licked from the sedan touching the paint on his driver’s side. Sirens could be heard as he rushed past the tips of the flames and hopped into his SUV. He carefully backed it away from the fully engulfed sedan, tossed the hazards on and parked his SUV on the bike path nearby. As his hand came off the gear shift, he exhaled the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. That was too close. He had almost become a charbroiled pancake. He allowed himself a second to compose himself, then details of what needed to be done started listing through his mind. This was going to take a while until he was allowed to clear the scene. He rubbed his hand across his forehead and emitted a guttural yelp. Withdrawing his hand, he was shocked to see burns across his right palm and forearm as well as the heel of his left hand. Blood was also coming from his right upper arm somewhere, seeping through his sleeve and dripping onto his pants. Pain started to make itself known. Too bad. He did what he normally did when something inconvenienced him, he ignored it. Pulling his phone out from his pocket he re-called 911 and gave a quick update to the dispatcher, letting them know the driver was extricated but the car was fully engulfed in flames. Police and fire were just arriving on scene. He got an ETA for the ambulance then hung up. Before stowing his phone in his truck center console, he brought up the text thread with Ryn and sent her a quick message. I’m going to be late, don’t have a current ETA. Unavoidable delay.