The Firefighter

BEN

I left Kensie with her mother for a couple of hours and rushed downtown to do what I had in mind.

Since I knew what clothes Kensie liked, I bought her a couple of new outfits and two pairs of PJs—one that I would give her when we got home and one for Christmas morning.

I also bought her a little mountain of toys and felt bad for the young girl who helped wrap them for me. But as soon as she was done, I rushed back to the car and drove off to find a place to buy a Christmas tree.

A while later, and with a glowing credit card, the car was filled to the brim with food, gifts, Christmas ornaments, and decorations for the tree.

And the tree itself was tied on top of the car, making me look like a true hillbilly.

I laughed at the thought. If anybody had told me about this a week ago, I would never have believed them. I didn’t normally celebrate Christmas at all!

But there was one thing, though. Leila. I knew she needed pretty much everything from toilet supplies to clothes, but I couldn’t buy her any of that. I didn’t know anything about her.

I didn’t know what she liked or didn’t like or what she was like as a person. I couldn’t just buy her perfume or a bracelet, either.

She wasn’t my girlfriend. And that would just be a downright distasteful gift since she lacked everything else! But it would feel wrong to only buy her a gift card and let her take care of it herself.

And not to forget the fact that she was in no condition to walk around in the stores to buy clothes, either. And she wouldn’t be any time soon. No. It had to be something special. But what?

While pondering what to buy her, I drove back home to unload the car and give Molly some dog food I’d bought. But she just looked at it, then at me, and then back at the food again.

Then she lay down on the floor. I had never seen a dog pout before, but this one did. And when I tried to put a collar on her that was too big, I could have sworn she rolled her eyes at me too!

I sighed. This was harder than I thought. But I lifted her up on my arm, grabbed my laptop, and went back to the car. And deep in thought, I drove back to the mall to find a gift for Leila.

***

“Ben!” Kensie shouted as soon as she saw me opening the door to her mother’s room. “Finally!”

She ran toward me and grabbed my hand. “Can we leave now?”

Slightly shocked, I looked from her to Leila and found her mother giggling while shaking her head.

“She… She’s been a little bored while you were gone. I guess there’s not much for a five-year-old to do in this hospital unit. And she’s been talking about you nonstop.”

She giggled again, and I was stunned to hear how different her voice was when it wasn’t all hoarse and groggy.

I guess they’d given her some inhalations of some sort because right now, she seemed a lot better than when I left. But not long after, she had a fit of coughing and turned away, hiding her face in a tissue.

And she sighed tiredly when it subsided.

“Really? A good thing I brought my laptop, then. Kensie? Do you wanna see if we can find a game you can play?”

“Yaaay!” she cheered and came to sit on my lap. Leila helped me to move a couple of things on the nightstand so we could use it as a table, and then I turned the laptop on.

After a little back and forth to find out what she wanted to play, the choice fell upon a bubble game: pop as many bubbles as you can within thirty seconds.

So stupidly simple but genius to a little girl.

When Kensie started to get the hang of it, I suddenly was aware of Leila.

She’d been lost in her thoughts, studying us, while we were busy finding the game of all games, and I could see that her cheeks were moist with tears.

But when she noticed I was looking at her, she turned away, pretending to scratch her temple so I couldn’t see her face.

Seconds passed, and I felt desperate to do something to make her feel better. Anything. I just couldn’t bear to see her so sad.

But then she cleared her throat and turned to look at me, and a little smile was planted on her lips. It wasn’t convincing at all…

“Thank you, Ben. For everything. She…” She coughed a bit but continued.

“She could go to my father’s, but he lives all the way down in Philadelphia. And he… He just had a heart attack.

“Well, not that recently. Almost a year ago now, but I can’t stop worrying about him. And you know how five-year-olds can be. He just hasn’t got the health to run after her all day.

“And my aunt and uncle are even older than him. I couldn’t… I mean, they’re not… And my cousins. Kensie doesn’t even know them, and they don’t like animals. Dogs especially. And I just…”

I held up my hand to stop her. She didn’t need to explain.

“Leila. I understand. You don’t need to say anything.”

Her eyes were glossy again now, and I knew why. She didn’t want to be parted from her daughter.

“I’ll take care of her for as long as you need. It’s okay.”

I just had to call my boss and ask for a week off, that’s all. And if something came up, I was sure either my mother or my sister could look after her for a while.

It was only for a short period of time, anyway, until they found their own place. A couple of days, maybe.

But… Tomorrow was Christmas Eve, and I just wanted them to have a good Christmas, at least. Yeah. That was the right thing to do.

“But I just… They won’t let me out today, and I…”

“What does Molly like to eat?” I asked to get her to focus on something else.

“W-what…?”

“Molly. What does she like to eat? She didn’t eat what I bought her. That Pedigree something.”

I gestured with my hand when I couldn’t remember the exact name, and Leila giggled, still with a mixture of sadness and confusion on her face.

“Ox liver pâté or oven-baked chicken fillet.”

I raised my eyebrows and blinked my eyes. Was she serious?!

“She’s a little picky.”

She giggled shyly, blushed, and looked down.

“So…ox liver pâté…,” I started, and she nodded and met my eyes again.

“And oven-baked chicken fillet. Yes.”

I chuckled. Not only because of the delicate eating habits of her dog but also because I was taken aback by how her smile made my heart feel warm.

But then Kensie turned from the screen.

“I’m hungry,” she muttered.

“Oh, you are?” I asked and poked her rib, making her twist away from the sudden pressure.

“I think we might have to go get you some food then, won’t we? Ox liver pâté for Molly and a Happy Meal for you? Or was it the other way around? Yeah, I think it was.”

I poked her a couple of times more, and she squealed loudly.

“NOOOOOO! Molly likes that! Not me! That’s yucky!”

“Oh, really? Are you sure about that?”

I tickled her and made her writhe around on my lap until she slipped out of my hands and ran over to her mother.

Her laughter filled the entire room and was so loud, I was sure they could hear it all the way down the hall. But it felt good. Uplifting.

“Yes, I’m sure! I want chicken nuggets. And ice cream!”

She quickly climbed up into her mother’s bed and hid in her arms, who tried to shush her before she started coughing.

“Well, nuggets it is. And you need to show me what kind of food Molly eats because Uncle Benny has absolutely no clue. He knows about chimpanzee food and even elephant food. But not…”

“You’re not Uncle Benny, silly! You are Ben! I told you!”

She laughed and kicked with her legs when I tickled her left foot.

“Kensie! Be quiet! You can’t decide what Ben should eat. And you know that kind of food is not healthy for…”

Leila surrendered into another series of coughs and had to let go of Kensie to use both her hands on her tissue. So I picked up Kensie and helped her with her winter coat and shoes.

“I think your mother needs to rest now, Super Princess. Give her a hug.”

She grinned widely at her nickname, did as she was told, and rushed right back to me, eager to get out of the hospital. But before I let her pull me with her, I nodded toward the laptop.

“Keep this while you’re here. You can kill some time and maybe order clothes and stuff?”

I felt like I was fumbling with my words.

“And if you need anything else, just write it down, and I’ll get it for you tomorrow. Okay?”

She nodded silently, and I could tell she hated being in her vulnerable position. Who wouldn’t? I couldn’t imagine how lost she must feel, knowing that she had nothing. Not even a home.

“I gave my phone number to the nurses if you need to contact me. And we’ll be back here around ten tomorrow. Does that sound good?”

She nodded again and looked at her daughter.

“Is there anything you need right now?” I asked lastly.

“No. But…”

Her big, deep-blue eyes captured mine again, and I stopped breathing when I felt all the emotions that were stored in her gaze.

“Thank you, Ben. Just... Thank you. For everything. I don’t even know what to say or where to start to go on with our lives, but... Thank you for making it so much easier.”

I gave her a smile that I hoped showed what I felt.

“You’re welcome, Leila. It’s my pleasure.”

And weirdly enough, it really was.