TONY: Slow Burn (Raging Fire Book 1) by Kallypso Masters (the false prince TXT) 📕

He told her the usual details he might share with a stranger—that he’d been with the department for four years now. He mentioned how much he loved his job, helping people, and being a part of his fire station family. She didn’t probe him about the bad call or anything else for that matter. She simply let him talk and showed interest by asking follow-up questions. So far, nothing too invasive.

“Are you career or volunteer?”

“Career. At Aspen Corners’ main station.”

“Is there mandatory overtime at least once a week, or does your schedule remain fairly predictable?”

“My duty hours stay steady, unless we’re in the middle of a call at shift change. I used to sometimes go in during other shifts, but not overnight.”

“Good. A firefighter’s schedule is already demanding and unpredictable enough without piling on a lot of overtime. So, your house is well staffed?”

“Better than some, not as good as others like the ones here in Breck. We have some volunteer firefighters at a second station who help during busier shifts.”

She smiled. “I love how firefighting organizations work together to protect their communities, but being on call for twenty-four hours straight allows you very little time to turn off your brain to sleep. How many calls after midnight did you have on your last shift?”

“Three.”

“Which means you slept very little that night.”

“True. But after my shift ends, I usually sleep a few hours, if I’m not called out on a SAR mission.”

Her eyes opened a little wider. “You do search and rescue as well?”

“Yeah.”

She scratched that info onto her notepad and met his gaze again. “It’s not uncommon for first responders to have a hard time getting their brains to shut down, much less to achieve a restful sleep, especially those who remain on call and engaged with other jobs, their families, or stressful activities. What have you tried so far to help you sleep better?”

Tried? “I can’t take sleeping pills, so I just have a few drinks to help.” Okay, a fifth of bourbon a night was more than a few drinks, but he was ashamed that he’d been hitting the bottle as hard as he had, especially after Mama said she could smell it on him.

“Is that working for you?”

He shrugged. “Not so much. I gave up on bourbon Friday and went back to beer.” Of course, that had more to do with his family watching his every move than his not wanting something stronger.

“Any better?”

“Not with helping me sleep”—or at keeping the nightmares at bay—“but I function better during the day.”

“Hmm, interesting. But as a trained EMT, you know alcohol is a depressant. That in the long run, it will do more harm than good.”

Tony glanced away, knowing full well what she said was true. Maybe that’s one reason he couldn’t open that new bottle, not to mention that his family was on to what he was doing to himself. He met her gaze again. “It helped at first.”

“But not lately?”

After a pause, he shook his head. What else could he do, though? “I can’t take sleep meds,” he repeated, “not even over-the-counter ones. And I don’t want to use medical marijuana, even if it is legal here.” As if he needed to expose his lungs to even more carcinogens and smoke than he already got on the job.

“Don’t worry. There are lots of options short of medication and drugs. I’m all for the more natural approaches. Have you tried having a regular workout routine?”

“Working out is already part of my evening regimen at the station.” Not that he’d felt like doing it lately. “I suppose I could add workouts on the nights I’m off duty too.”

“Excellent idea.” It wasn’t as though he’d come up with it by himself; she’d steered him in that direction. “Studies show exercise is most beneficial when completed at least four hours before bedtime, though. That, along with cutting out caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine, helps a lot of people sleep more restfully.”

Tony nodded in understanding. He’d learned all that crap in college. “I don’t usually drink coffee after my two cups in the morning.”

“Good. Now perhaps you could find a workout buddy. Some find that motivates them to stay on track. Is there anyone you can work out with, even someone on other shifts at the station?”

“I used to hang out there all the time.” Which is how I wound up on the swift-water rescue gone bad.

When he didn’t go on, she continued to wait for a commitment from him, but he didn’t know who he’d ask yet. “How many times a week do you think you could fit in a regular workout?”

“I don’t know. Maybe once or twice.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Really? Would that only be when you’re on duty?” He used to stop by the station to use the equipment five times a week but had cut back on that after the incident. No way was he going near the station any more than necessary.

“I suppose I could run a couple other nights each week.”

“Good plan. Might take a few weeks to make a routine out of it, but see if it helps improve your sleep. If not, we can talk about other options in future sessions.”

Tony wondered what she’d suggested Rafe do to eliminate his nightmares. Of course, Tony hadn’t exactly come out and admitted that’s what was causing his lack of sleep.

“Okay, I’ll give it a try.”

“Great. Now, after your workout, what will your routine be leading up to bedtime?”

“At the station, I try to go to bed by ten or eleven, because I never know how many calls we’ll have overnight, but that’s hit or miss.” Mostly miss after he’d become terrified of having a nightmare at the station and having someone hear him scream out. Now he fought sleep more than embraced it.

“How about at home?”

“I watch sports, have a drink or two, and when I can’t keep my eyes open, I go to bed.” Or pass out on