Phoenix Maplewood will I find you when the night is over?

assuming this is pretty soon after the fire?

fire had been omnipresent in his life--but from a distance. he'd always had the luxury of many miles between him and the blazes that ravaged the southern coast. he had heard personal testimonials from those affected, had seen how flames could leave a permanent scar on an ecosystem. still, none of it had prepared him for the day where fire grew seemingly out of nowhere--

from a thing of tales to a living, almost breathing crisis.

adi tried to comfort those more grievously wounded as best as he could, knowing the healers could deal with their physical injuries. he was responsible for tending to their hearts, and after hours of murmured, soothing whispers, he rose, too, and just in time, as dawn's voice called for him from a short distance away.

he came up quietly beside her, for once having no words to give her. he sat in silence, eyes locked on the dismal crimson sunset. the names of the missing rang through his skull, the headache that wouldn't go away, and he found it just as hard to breathe now as it had been in the center of the fire--the cost of this freak incidence was unbearable.