"Cassadee… I really… can't hold on much longer…"

I grabbed the corner of Cassadee's turnout coat. My fingers had already begun to cramp and curl from the lack of oxygen.

But she just shook me off impatiently.

"Stop pretending, Emmett. I'm sick of your act," she said, her voice icy and dripping with years of pent-up contempt.

"In the past, whenever you couldn't keep up during physical evaluations, you'd fake having heatstroke. Whenever a rescue assignment got too tough, you'd suddenly say your old injuries were flaring up. And now, you're pulling this crap again just to garner sympathy?"

Suddenly, a massive concrete panel crashed down beside me with a loud boom, sending shards of debris flying.

But she didn't even spare it a glance, instead turning and walking away.

From the other side of the wall, I heard her voice—so gentle that it felt almost unfamiliar—as she coached Colin on how to regulate his breathing.

"Ignore him. He's always had a hero complex. He can't stand seeing someone else get the attention and care they need."

Then came Colin's voice, laced with the smugness of a victor. "Cassie, do you think Emmett really hates me?"

"No, he just has a rotten temper. He'll get over it in a bit."

Curled up in the corner, I felt my consciousness slipping away little by little. I didn't even have the strength to shiver anymore.

Just then, someone appeared in front of me. He removed his oxygen mask, and a cold smile spread across his face.

It was Colin! The look in his eyes was one of unadulterated malice and contempt.

"Did you know, Emmett? Cassadee got tired of you a long time ago."

My eyes widened as I did everything I could to yell at him, but all that came out was a faint whimper.

He laughed.

"She said you're too competitive, always wanting to be the best at everything. She said you're like an emotionless rescue machine, and that it's too much pressure working alongside you."

He lightly patted the specially issued oxygen tank strapped to him as he flaunted it.

"This oxygen's pretty pure, huh? What a shame you'll never get to breathe it again."

I wanted to lunge at him, but my body felt as though it had been pumped full of lead. I couldn't move at all.

Suddenly, he grabbed the fire axe from the floor and, with a brutal swing, brought it down on a nearby oxygen pipeline.

A piercing hiss sounded.

That was the main supply line feeding the entire fire suppression system! Once it came into contact with open flames, the entire warehouse could erupt in a flash fire.

Everyone would die.

"You lunatic!" I screamed.

Driven by a sudden, inexplicable surge of adrenaline, I leaped off the ground and shoved him aside.

"What's going on here?"

Cassadee and the other firefighters had been laying down hose lines not far away. Hearing the noise, she strode over, frowning.

The next second, tears welled up in Colin's reddened eyes as he darted over to her.

"Captain… I was just trying to help Emmett check his equipment," he explained, his voice choking. "But… But he shoved me and accused me of deliberately destroying fire equipment…"

Cassadee's gaze swept over the gashed pipeline. When her eyes landed on me again, there wasn't even a trace of warmth left in them.

"Emmett, you're absolutely ridiculous! Col was just trying to help you, and you're framing him like this?"

"It wasn't me!" I rasped out.

I pointed at Colin, my hand shaking violently from the lack of oxygen. "It… It… was… him…"

Every word came out broken and fragmented.

The axe was clearly sitting right there at Colin's feet, yet Cassadee didn't even bother looking.

Frank immediately piled on. "If you ask me, he's just jealous that you're looking after Col, so he intentionally sabotaged the pipe to drag us all down with him!"

"Yes! He's always been the biggest attention seeker in the entire company. A flashover is imminent now! He wants to take us all out!"

The other firefighters chimed in one after another, throwing accusations at me.

"Don't be scared. I'm here," Cassadee said as she gently rubbed Colin's back, her voice carrying a level of patience I'd never heard before. "That's just how he is. The more talented someone is, the more temperamental they become."

Colin sniffled against her shoulder. "Captain, should I not have touched his stuff? Does he really hate me that much?"

"You did nothing wrong."

Cassadee looked up at me, her words shattering the last shred of hope I had.

####CHAPTER-NAME:

"He has psychological problems," Cassadee added.

I staggered backward, collapsing onto the floor.

Still leaning against Cassadee's shoulder, Colin secretly shot me a triumphant smile.

"Listen carefully, Emmett," Cassadee said, looking down at me from above, her tone icy enough to freeze. "Either you apologize to Col right now, or you don't ever come back to this company again."

I looked up at the woman standing before me, feeling both familiar and so unfamiliar.

Three years as partners who put their lives on the line together. We'd trusted each other with our backs. But now, to her, I couldn't even compare to a total stranger.

"I…"

I'd barely uttered the word when a violent wave of dizziness washed over me. Cassadee's and Colin's faces blurred and twisted before my eyes.

My body began to convulse uncontrollably. Every spasm felt like an electric shock ripping through me, as though my life were draining away at an alarming speed.

"Emmett! Emmett, what's wrong?"

Colin rushed over, panic filling his voice. He crouched next to me and reached to unbuckle my safety harness.

"Let me get this off you! That way, you can breathe easier!"

I tried to pull away, but my body wouldn't obey. His movements were incredibly rough, forcefully tearing at my skin that had been blistered by the high heat. The harness dug deeper into my chest, turning my already labored breathing into a shallow wheeze.

The suffocating sensation hit its peak, and I started coughing violently. He was trying to kill me faster!

Summoning my last sliver of strength, I jerked my head to the side and swung my hand across his face.

Colin staggered back, shrieking. Then, he turned to Cassadee and huffed, "He hit me! Is he still blaming me for damaging the pipeline? I was only trying to save him! Why is he treating me like this?"

Cassadee rushed over. She hoisted me off the ground, her grip so punishing it felt as though she were going to crush my collarbone.

"Col was just being nice and helping you, and you still attacked him? I finally see you for who you are, Emmett! You're just a cold-blooded monster! There's no place for someone like you in our company!"

Then, she threw me back onto the floor.

Darkness swallowed my vision completely, but I could still hear Colin's fake sniffling.

Suddenly, a sharp alarm and the pounding of boots tore through the roar of the fire, followed by several beams of powerful flashlights piercing the smoke.

A squad dressed in black special-operations firefighting gear charged into the warehouse. In the lead was the district's chief, Rebecca Stone.

"Move!"

She shoved Cassadee aside and knelt right beside me. In one smooth motion, she scanned my vital signs with a cardiac monitor and fitted an emergency oxygen mask over my face. Every movement was precise and controlled.

Then, she calmly relayed her orders into the radio clipped to her shoulder, "Severe hypoxia accompanied by a loss of consciousness. Establish an IV line immediately and prepare for CPR!"

Cassadee blinked in confusion. "What? Severe hypoxia? He's just throwing a tantrum. How can it be that serious? And what are you doing here, Chief Stone?"

Rebecca didn't even look up. While directing the special operations unit to administer emergency treatment, she answered coldly, "I received a mandatory intervention request."

"Cassadee Flack," she continued, her voice as cold as ice. "As the officer in command, you have been derelict in your duties and grossly mishandled the situation. Report back and await formal investigation."

The firefighters quickly secured me to a stretcher. As high-purity oxygen flooded my lungs, my numb limbs finally regained a sliver of sensation.

As they carried me out past Cassadee, Rebecca's radio crackled.

The city's deputy chief spoke through the speaker, his voice stern, "Cassadee Flack, following assessment by the Incident Command, you're immediately relieved of all on-scene command authority. All duties are suspended effective immediately.

"You will also personally bear all of Emmett Doherty's medical expenses, as well as the equipment losses and rescue delays resulting from this incident.

"Until the investigation is completed, you are strictly prohibited from participating in any rescue operations."