21. Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Nineteen
Noah
Moments before the fire at the body shop
“Are you sure you don’t want to get out of the shop for a little bit?” Ruby asks again as she puts her leather jacket on. “We’re going to the bank then to grab lunch.”
“Thanks for the offer, but I can’t. I need to finish this paperwork by the weekend and right now it’s slow, so it’s perfect. I don’t want to bring it home to Amelia.” She smiles at me.
“We’ll bring you back something, okay?” I nod thanking her. I navigate my laptop. I hit complete on the documents and close the laptop. I place it back in the bag. Walking out from behind the counter, I stretch my body and stare out the window. It’s a quiet day and happy to see everything is caught up. TJ thought we’d never get there because he’s been coming in early and staying late. He was going to collapse soon. I hear a noise in the garage bay when I take a step toward it the phone rings. I’ll check the noise later.
“Thanks for calling Tanner’s Auto Body Shop, Noah speaking. How can I help you?” I grab a pen and paper to write down. The next thing I know my eyes open in an ambulance. People are shouting numbers. My eyes are scanning everything. I try to swallow but there’s a tube there. My hands try to pull it out but there’s someone blocking me from doing it.
“Sir, you need to calm down. There was a fire at the body shop. You were coming in and out of it then stopped breathing. We needed to put a tube in so you didn’t die. Relax. Do you understand what I’m saying?” I nod slowly. The tube feels like I’m suffocating. “We need to wait on the doctors at the hospital to take this out, okay? I know it’s uncomfortable but try to remain calm. We’re almost there. You have some burns on your body. Were you the only one in the shop?” I nod again. Thank God TJ and Ruby left. “Okay good. I’m glad we got you out so quickly. This hospital is good and will take good care of you.” I blink staring at her. “Good. You’re relaxing. Listen to my voice.” I close my eyes. He talks about his kids, what he wants to do for Christmas as a family and taking his kids to see Santa. I feel calm but I moan in pain. “Are you in pain?” I nod. “Okay. I’ll give you some more fentanyl for the pain. You have a lot of burns on your right side. Some look to be fifth degree burns. You have a long way to go recovery-wise, but you’re alive, which is great news.” Nodding again, I’m alive, but will Amelia still want me? I’m going to be disfigured. Is this from that guy two months ago? Will TJ be able to rebuild? How long will I be in recovery? As I think these thoughts, everything fades to black.
“We’re losing him. I’m going to start CPR. Step on the gas.” Were the last words I heard.