My One Shot Collection

A/N: This idea came to me last night actually. It is lightly based on the movie "Ladder 49", with Joaquin Phoenix and John Travolta among other actors, and it takes up the theme of courage among firefighters. I always teared up from that movie, and there is so much good character development in that movie. The ideas I've had have been loosely based on it so chances are there will only be one-shots for it. I hope you enjoy!

-RocketMason

"𝕊𝕒𝕗𝕖"

"How is Michael doing? Is he okay? Is he in any pain?"

She asked as he dug through the plate of pasta in front of him. He grabbed a fork full of food and shoved it inside his mouth before he replied.

"They're medicating him, so he probably doesn't feel it."

He answered in short as he kept cutting up the food and put it in his mouth. Jared had just come from seeing his friend who had suffered extreme steam-injuries to his face. Almost his entire face was melted off, while Jared's hand suffered trying to pull his friend out of the steam. Jared sat there in silence for a moment, not acknowledging his wife, Lizzie, looking at him the way she did.

"I would like to go see him sometime."

She then said. Jared stopped for a moment in his tracks, feeling hesitant to that idea.

"Why?"

He asked, sounding a bit harsher than he meant to. It was a good thing that the kids had gone to sleep by now, because he sensed that an argument could come any minute with the mood he was in.

"Because he's our friend, not just your buddy from work, but a family-friend."

She answered. He sighed deeply, nodding to himself.

"What? Don't you want me to go?"

Jared took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down from the turmoil he felt going on inside his chest. He eventually looked over at her. Even now, feeling as miserable as he did, his heart would feel a little lighter just by looking at her pretty face. They had been married for 11 years, and he still felt like he saw her for the first time when he looked at her.

"I don't know."

He answered eventually. He put the fork down on the table. He wanted to cover his face with his hands, but they were both covered in bandages. Whenever he used them for something, they stung a bit. Lizzie looked at him, having noticed that his mood had been different for the past week since Michael got hurt.

"What's going on with you, Jared? You have been distant for an entire week."

Lizzie finally said as she moved to the seat next to him. Jared shook his head, not knowing the answer to her question. Before they met, he had completed training as a firefighter, and had worked at the fire-station for four years when they met. They started dating, fell in love and married within two years before their son was born. Three years ago, a daughter came into their lives.

He always said in the beginning that he loved being a firefighter. He loved the rush, the adrenaline of suddenly rushing to a scene and then fight the fires, but things had become different over the years. His brother, Daniel, or 'Dan', fell through a roof and into an inferno, making it impossible for anyone to save him. That moment changed Jared. For a while he worked at the Head-Quarters, before going back to the fire-house. Now, he wasn't sure what he wanted anymore.