I Surprised My Firefighter Husband at His Station for His Birthday – What His Captain Told Me Made My Stomach Drop

I felt cold again.

Tyler swallowed.

“There was a little girl trapped upstairs.”

I said nothing.

“The floor was already unstable. Reyes ordered everyone out.”

“Tyler.”

“I heard her crying.”

He looked at me then.

“I went back.”

I stared at him.

He had walked back into a collapsing building.

For a child he didn’t know.

“Did you get her?”

Tyler’s eyes filled.

“Yeah.”

“She’s okay?”

“Not a scratch.”

The anger inside me broke apart.

I wanted to yell at him.

I wanted to hold him.

I wanted to tell him never to do anything like that again, even though we both knew he probably would.

“That’s not what Reyes thought you knew.”

I froze.

“What does that mean?”

He took a slow breath.

“The department nominated me for the Medal of Valor this afternoon.”

I stared at him.

“And apparently they approved it.”