My lip trembled, shaking my head in horror as the guy ignored his teammate, trying again to get through the flames to my trapped son. When he stumbled and fell against the burning wall, he jumped back, and I saw his shoulders slump as he turned to look at me. Even through the thick mask he was wearing, I could see the sadness and sorrow his eyes. My heart shattered into a thousand pieces as I understood his apologetic expression. He was silently telling me he couldn’t rescue my baby. “NO! DJ!” I screamed, trying to wrench my arm out of the other guy’s grasp. There was no way I was leaving my child in there, fire or not, I was getting to him. “Momma!” DJ wailed. Through the haze and the smoke, his red rimmed eyes met mine, and I knew I would never get that look of sheer and utter horror out of my brain. I moved to run towards him, not caring that the flames were everywhere in the room, that even the walls were on fire. I just needed my baby safe. I made it only three st
As soon as I stepped into the door, I immediately recoiled from the heat. I flinched back against the wall, squinting, trying to see the little red box that I knew was down at the bottom of the stairs. I fumbled my way along the wall until my fingers grazed the protruding box, silently praying someone else hadn’t already taken it. “Come on, please, come on,” I mumbled, coughing from the smoke that filled my lungs. I ran my fingers over the front and let out the breath I was holding when I realised that the glass was intact. Pulling my arm back, I thrust my elbow into it, smashing the glass. Shoving my hand inside quickly, I grabbed the small fire extinguisher and fire blanket from inside. I silently thanked my training because things like scoping out the nearest exit or points of interests –like fireboxes – stuck in my mind. Keeping my back against the wall, I slowly made my way up the stairs, counting them as I went so I could keep track. The flames were everywhere. I tri
I looked back at the flames that were outside his door, they were making their way into the room now. Now that the door was open, the fire was rapidly setting DJ’s carpet on fire too. If we didn’t get out soon then it’d be too late. He didn’t have a window in his bedroom, so the only way out was through the flames, back the way I came. I had no idea how we were going to do that though. I barely made the jump last time, now though the fire had spread and I would be carrying a four-year-old. My heart sank, but my head refused to give up. Struggling to get back to my feet, I picked up the little fire extinguisher from the floor. I mentally planned everything out. This was going to have to happen fast. I looked back to DJ and smiled. “Right, I’m going to spray the fire then I’m gonna pick you up and we’ll jump back to the lounge. Now, I only have one arm, so I’m not going to be able to hold you very much. I need you to hold onto me as tight as you can. Really, really tight, ok
Agony like nothing I had ever felt before ripped through my whole body as I smashed into the ground. I’d tried to turn so that I could protect DJ as much as I could, I knew he would get hurt, but it was the best I could do under the circumstances. Thankfully, I landed feet first instead of on my back. One of my ankles cracked, my knees buckled and popped, and we fell forwards. I immediately panicked because DJ was clinging to my chest. If I fell forward I could crush him and he would hit his head. Placing my hand on the back of his head to limit the damage, I put my elbows out to try and keep some of my weight off him. Shooting pains coursed up my already damaged arm making the air whoosh out of my lungs. I twisted my body and rolled slightly, my shoulder and hips connecting with the cold hard floor next. The side of my head struck the concrete making my eyes unfocussed. Then I felt the burning on my lower body. People were shouting, screaming around us. I could still hear
I pulled the mask off my face so I could talk. “There goes my dancing plans this weekend,” I joked, shifting uncomfortably on the bed. The doctor laughed quietly. “Because of the burns to your legs, we can’t cast it straight away. We need to let the skin heal a little before we can cover it. We’ll have to leave the temporary one on for a few days, then see how you’re getting on after that. You’ll have to stay here for a few days, I’m afraid. The burns need monitoring, and you’ll be started on a two week course of antibiotics to ward off any infections.” I frowned. I really didn’t want to stay here, I hated hospitals. “Will the burns heal or…” I trailed off, wondering what my legs were going to look like after this. The worst of it was on my right leg, covering most of my shin. He nodded. “We’ll move you to the burns centre as soon as we’ve dealt with your other injuries. They’re more equipped to deal with it there. You were very lucky though. The dampness of your cloth
I took a deep breath, willing myself not to mess it up. “As soon as you said those three words to me, I was going to drop down on one knee and propose to you.” I said it quickly before I wimped out and didn’t do it. She didn’t react how I thought she would though. She didn’t gasp and look at me shocked. Instead, she burst out laughing, shaking her head. “That’s a good one,” she replied around her giggles, settling herself back down onto the bed next to me. I remained silent, waiting for her to catch on that I wasn’t joking. Slowly, I saw it sink in. The giggles stopped, and the smile slowly faded from her face as her eyes widened. “Oh God, seriously?” she asked breathlessly. I nodded in confirmation. “Seriously. But your timing ruined that for me too. I can’t exactly get down on one knee right now because one’s busted and the other leg’s broken, so that plan’s out of the window.” I laughed at my choice of words. Out of the window – yeah, it literally was. “Jace, wh
After a little while, Ashley had to excuse herself to go back up to DJ. My parents and Bryson kept me busy, fussing over me for a few hours, before they left too so I could get some rest. Once I was alone, I tried my hardest to sleep, but sleep didn’t come easy, and even when it did, I was plagued with dreams of the fire. Memories flooded my brain, images of Ashley shaking and mumbling words that I couldn’t understand while she was standing by the ambulance. I dreamt of DJ and the look he gave me when he understood that we were going to die. Thankfully, the hospital was busy, so I was woken often by talking or doctors banging around. The noises brought me out of my nightmares before they reached the climax. That afternoon, after I’d finished choking down some hospital garbage that they called ‘food’ the door opened and my beautiful girlfriend stood there with a huge smile stretched across her face. “Hey, you,” she greeted. I smiled, happy to see her again. “Hi.
After a couple of minutes of us just sitting on the bed, talking about what pictures I was going to ask Anna to draw on my casts, Ashley poked her head in the door. She looked a little nervous as she chewed on her lip. When I smiled reassuringly and waved her in, she seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. “You two okay in here?” she asked, stepping in. DJ grinned and nodded. “Momma, Jace wants to a-dot me and Woody. He wants to be my daddy,” he boasted. “We all getted new names!” Ashley laughed to herself, her eyes sparkling as they met mine. “He wants to adopt both of you? Wow, that’s nice of Jace, huh? Roger is a pretty nice name,” she said breathlessly, heading over to sit on the bed with us. She took my hand and I interlaced our fingers, grinning. “DJ likes the idea of us getting married,” I told her proudly. “That’s a coincidence, because I like the idea too,” she replied, blushing. She sighed and nodded towards the door. “My parents want to come in a