Too much traffic between us

The heavy scent of smoke lingered in the air, a stark reminder of the inferno that had just been tamed. Vidisha Pradhan, still catching her breath, wiped the back of her hand across her soot-streaked face, feeling the coolness of the night start to settle in after the long, exhausting fight with the flames. The fire had been aggressive, devouring half the apartment building before the team had managed to get it under control. “Good job, Vidi,” her colleague called out, clapping her on the back. She gave a tired nod in response, eyes scanning the scene as paramedics rushed to tend to the injured. There had been casualties, though fewer than expected, but it was still too many in Vidisha’s eyes. Every life mattered, every person was someone’s loved one. Yet, no matter how many fires she fought, she couldn’t always win. The fire chief’s radio crackled to life, and Vidisha tuned in to the updates, wiping her brow as she steadied her breathing. The blaze was officially out, and her team was working on cleanup now. Even as she stood there, exhausted, her mind raced. Something about this fire didn’t sit right with her. The flames had been too fast, too destructive. This wasn’t normal. It felt...wrong. “Pradhan!” The gruff voice of her captain broke through her thoughts. “Wrap up here and head back to the station. You’re needed for the investigation briefing.” Vidisha gave a quick salute, tossing her helmet into the back of the fire truck before grabbing her jacket. The cold air cut through the heat still clinging to her skin, and she welcomed it, trying to shake off the weariness that was settling in. It had been a long night, and from the looks of it, it wasn’t over yet. She made her way to the cordoned-off area where police officers and investigators were gathering evidence. They had been talking about possible arson for weeks now, and with each new fire, the suspicion grew stronger. Something wasn’t adding up. Vidisha wasn’t an investigator by profession, but her instincts had been honed after years of firefighting. She had seen enough of these types of fires to know when something was out of place. This wasn’t a typical accident. As she walked closer to the investigation site, her eyes caught sight of him. Raunak Mehta. The doctor. He stood tall, dressed impeccably in his white coat, his expression neutral as he spoke with one of the officers. His dark, serious eyes scanned the scene, as if he were taking in every detail, processing it, calculating. Vidisha had heard of him before, though their paths hadn’t crossed until now. He had a reputation in the city’s trauma unit as one of the best. Precise. Efficient. Cold. A far cry from the chaotic, unpredictable world Vidisha thrived in. She found herself momentarily transfixed by him. He didn’t belong in this messy scene of destruction, didn’t look like someone who had to roll up his sleeves and dive into danger like she did. Yet, there he was, a picture of control amid the aftermath of the chaos. "Who’s that?" one of her teammates asked, following her gaze. "Raunak Mehta," Vidisha muttered. "Doctor from the trauma unit. He’s here for the survivors." As if on cue, Raunak’s eyes flickered in her direction, meeting hers. For a moment, neither of them looked away. His gaze wasn’t warm or friendly; it was assessing, as if she were just another part of the scene he was evaluating. Vidisha frowned, feeling her pulse quicken for reasons she couldn’t quite place. He made no move to acknowledge her, just a brief glance before he turned back to the officer. Vidisha snorted under her breath. She had no time for uptight professionals like him. He was probably the type who never broke a sweat, who never understood what it was like to fight tooth and nail in the middle of a blazing inferno. She moved closer to the investigation area, overhearing Raunak’s conversation with the lead officer. “If the victims had been brought in sooner, we could have saved more lives,” Raunak was saying, his tone calm but unmistakably critical. “Time is everything in these situations.” Vidisha’s irritation flared. She stepped forward before she could stop herself. “We got here as fast as we could. You think we just sit around waiting for the fire to burn long enough before we jump in?” Raunak turned to face her fully now, his eyes steady, unreadable. He didn’t look surprised by her interruption, though there was a flicker of something in his gaze—curiosity, perhaps. “I wasn’t questioning your commitment,” he said evenly. “But if the response time were faster—” “If the response time were faster,” Vidisha cut him off, “it would still take minutes to save people trapped in a burning building. You can’t snap your fingers and make it all better.” His calm, measured tone grated on her nerves, like he was above it all. “I understand that,” Raunak replied. “But if lives can be saved by cutting even a minute, it’s worth looking into.” Vidisha bristled at his clinical detachment, the way he talked about saving lives like it was all a calculated game. "Maybe instead of pointing fingers, you could appreciate what we do out there." "Believe me, I do," Raunak said, his voice dropping a notch, though still maddeningly controlled. "But I also know that acknowledging mistakes is how we improve." Mistakes. Vidisha felt heat rise in her chest. Who was he to stand here, fresh and unscathed, and talk about mistakes after she’d spent hours in the thick of it, pulling people from the flames, risking her life with every step? She was too tired for this. Too raw. "Well," she snapped, "next time I’ll bring a stopwatch, just for you." Before Raunak could respond, the officer intervened. "Let’s keep this focused on the investigation, please." He turned to Raunak, steering the conversation back to the technicalities, but Vidisha didn’t stick around to listen. She had enough on her mind without getting into it with some doctor who thought he knew everything. She walked away, seething, her hands balled into fists. How dare he stand there and judge the work they did without even understanding what it took? But beneath the anger was something else, something she didn’t want to admit—an unsettled feeling that stayed with her long after she had walked away. --- Back at the station, the mood was heavy. The team had done their best, but the devastation weighed on them. Vidisha, despite her irritation with Raunak, couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. She headed to the makeshift briefing room, where the investigation team was gathering to discuss the fire’s origins. A tall officer, Detective Rathi, stood at the front, his face stern as he addressed the group. “This fire was no accident,” he said without preamble. “We’ve found traces of accelerants at the scene, the same ones we’ve found at three other recent fires.” Vidisha felt a knot form in her stomach. She had suspected as much, but hearing it confirmed made it worse. Someone was setting these fires deliberately. Someone was responsible for the destruction, for the lives lost, for the chaos they had all been thrown into. “And it’s not just arson,” Rathi continued. “This is targeted. Whoever is doing this, they have a specific goal in mind. They’re after something, or someone.” Vidisha leaned back in her chair, absorbing the news. The fire she’d just fought wasn’t a random tragedy. It was intentional. She exchanged a glance with one of her teammates, their shared unease reflected in each other’s eyes. This wasn’t over. Not by a long shot. Her mind wandered back to Raunak, to the fire she’d seen in his eyes when they clashed earlier. Despite their differences, they were both caught in the middle of something bigger now—whether they liked it or not. And something told her, as much as she wanted to forget about him, their paths were going to cross again. She just wasn’t sure if it would be as allies—or something else entirely. --- Vidisha’s prediction proved true faster than she’d expected. As the investigation ramped up, Raunak’s presence became more frequent at the scenes, treating the victims who survived these horrific fires. Their interactions were brief, usually tense, but there was an undercurrent now—something charged and unsaid beneath the words. They were on opposite sides of the same fight, both grappling with the destruction in their own way. And yet, as the city continued to burn, Vidisha couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever was sparking between them might be just as dangerous as the fires surrounding them.