Chapter Seventeen
The night sky was painted orange as Aiden leaped from the rig. The whole house appeared to be engulfed. Flames licked out of the windows on both floors. It wouldn’t be long before the roof was on fire. Hazel’s car was parked at the curb, now surrounded by fire and rescue vehicles.
Hazel had to be alive. She just had to be. He scanned the area outside the house, but he didn’t see her. Panic gripped him. The pain in his chest was monstrous. He would not lose her. Not this way. She could tell him she never wanted to see him again and he’d deal with it, but he wasn’t losing her to a fire. As long as she still breathed and walked the earth, he could survive. He would not make it if she died.
Phoenix appeared beside him and Jory. “Doc is still in there and”—he put his hand on Aiden’s arm—“so is Hazel.”
Aiden’s lungs froze. He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Hazel. He had to get to her. He glanced at Jory, and they both immediately headed into the burning building. Captain Hastings yelled at them to stop, but they didn’t wait. Aiden couldn’t. He needed to find Hazel.
They raced up the stairs into the old house where they found the foyer in flames. He flicked on his flashlight and entered the room on the left. It was also engulfed in fire. The window was open, and the smoke was billowing out. He turned back and found Jory heading down the hallway. He followed and took the next room on his left.
The filing cabinets in there were open with flames shooting out as the paper burned. The rug was on fire and so were the curtains. He looked up. The ceiling was also consumed by flames. He looked around, but he was sure the room was empty of people. He went back to the hallway and found Jory with someone over his shoulder. Aiden shone the light at the body and recognized Doc immediately.
They headed toward the front of the house. Captain Hastings was on the radio, telling them to get out, the roof was going to collapse. Jory hurried out the door with Doc, but Aiden turned and climbed the stairs two at a time. At the top, he turned right. He went into the first room and shone his flashlight around. The room was filled with thick black smoke. His flashlight beam barely penetrated the darkness. “Hazel,” he yelled. “Hazel!”
There was no answer. He searched every corner of the room, but it was empty except for more filing cabinets. He turned and went to the next room. The door was closed. He tried to open it, but it was locked. At this point, fire surrounded him. The floor of the room opposite him caved in, shooting sparks everywhere. He didn’t have much time.
He took a step back and slammed the door with his boot. It shot open and bounced off the wall. “Hazel!” When he waved his flashlight around the room, he caught a glimpse of a leg on the floor. Hazel.
He squatted beside her and shook her shoulder. “Hazel!” he yelled, but his breathing apparatus muffled the sound. She didn’t respond. He immediately picked her up and slung her over his shoulder.
Out on the landing, the roof above them collapsed. He turned to shield Hazel as best as he could from the flames and falling debris.
He had no choice but to go through the fire and out the front door. There wasn’t time for the ladder to get to them. He went to the stairs and started down. He was almost to the bottom when they collapsed underneath him. He staggered and tripped but managed to stay upright. Intense, nausea-inducing pain shot through his knee. He ignored it and kept moving.
Flames shot at them from every direction as he decided the best way to get through the foyer. Without hesitation, he ran through the flames and down the stairs to the front yard. As he got to the sidewalk, many hands took Hazel off his shoulder and put her immediately on a gurney. He pulled off his mask and started coughing.
“Is she okay?” he demanded. “Is she?”
The EMTs worked on Hazel as he stood there. He tried to move toward her but fell. His left knee wasn’t working. Phoenix was there, helping him up.
“Jory,” Aiden yelled. “Where’s Jory?”
Jory came around from the other side of Hazel. “I’m here.”
Aiden nodded, and his shoulders sagged. The two people he cared most about in the world were out of the fire. “Tell me she’s gonna be alright, man,” he pleaded.
Jory stared at him and then stared at his sister’s motionless body on the gurney. “I don’t know,” he whispered.
The EMTs loaded her up in the ambulance, and Jory climbed in. Aiden stumbled after them, but there was no room for another person.
“Looks like you need your own bus,” Hastings said as he came to stand next to Aiden. “Someone, get this man into an ambulance and to the hospital. He’s hurt.”
Another gurney was rolled over, and after they helped to remove his gear and looked him over, they loaded him up. “Please go faster,” he pleaded when they were on the way. “I need to be there. I need to see Hazel.” The adrenaline was fading and his knee was a giant seething ball of fire, but not nearly as much as his heart. He couldn’t bear it if Hazel didn’t make it.
They pulled up to the ER entrance of the hospital, and the EMTs wheeled him in. He tried to sit up, but they held him down.
“Where’s Hazel?” he demanded.
“Aiden,” a nurse said as she walked beside the gurney. “I’m Kerry. I’m Hazel’s boss. She’s here, and they’re working on her right now. I’ll keep you updated, but we need to look at your knee.”
“I want to see Hazel. How is she? Is she gonna make it?”
Kerry pointed to a room in the ER and the EMTs rolled the gurney into it. Then they shifted him onto the bed.
“Please,” he begged, “I need to know about Hazel.”
Kerry reached over and touched his arm. “I will go find out for you, but you have to stay here and let this doctor examine your knee. It doesn’t look good.” She left the room. The doctor poked and prodded the bad knee and asked all kinds of questions to the point that Aiden thought he would choke the guy if he asked one more thing.
“Where is Kerry? How’s Hazel? Someone please find out how Hazel is doing!” Desperation made his voice rise and crack. No one answered and panic crawled up his gullet. Why the fuck was everyone ignoring his request?
As soon as the doctor and nurse walked out of the room, he was up off the bed and hobbling through the door, looking for Hazel. He took a few steps down the hallway and started to fall. Hands caught him and pulled him back up. He turned, and it was Jory who leaned him against the wall.
“Jory, man, how is she? How’s Hazel?” He needed answers but was afraid to look at his friend’s face. He would know in an instant if it was bad news.
Jory cleared his throat but couldn’t seem to get any words out. Aiden blinked. No. NO! he screamed in his head. He started sliding down the wall. Jory tried to hold him up but couldn’t. They ended up on the floor. “Please, God, no!” Aiden moaned. “Hazel can’t be— I can’t take it. I love her. Please, God, let her be okay,” he begged.
Jory grabbed him by the front of his shirt. “You asshole! You should have told me!”
“I know. I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry, Jory. I love your sister, man. Please don’t let her die. She just can’t be dead.”
Jory swallowed. “She’s not dead. She’s gonna make it.”
Aiden stared at him. “She’s alive?” he asked.
Jory nodded. “She’s got some cuts and minor burns. She’s suffering from smoke inhalation, but she’s gonna be fine.”
Aiden almost passed out from the shear relief. “Thank you, God. I couldn’t handle losing her, Jor. I couldn’t handle that at all.”
“I know.” Jory shook his head. “You should have told me,” he said in a quiet voice.
“Yeah, I know. I just…didn’t know how. I didn’t even want to really admit it to myself. I thought I could keep it buried. But when she moved in. She was …just…everywhere. I couldn’t deny it anymore. I’m so sorry. It was the first time anything happened between us, man, and I would’ve told you immediately. You just…showed up before I had the chance.”
Jory just stared at him for a minute, but finally gave a slight nod.
“Why are you two on the floor?” Kerry demanded. “Get up, Jory”—she pointed at him—“And help me get this one up.” They pulled Aiden to his feet, and Kerry brought a wheelchair over. “You can go see your sister now, Jory.”
“Thanks.”
“I want to see her,” Aiden demanded.
Kerry looked at him and shook her head. “I’m afraid it’s family only at this point.”
Jory went around to the back of Aiden’s wheelchair and started to push. “He is family.”