Chapter 46 Lainey
Lainey
Iwake up from a deep sleep feeling dizzy and disoriented.
My bed is empty, the man I love is gone, doing what he’s called to do—protecting our community.
The heart in my chest that beats for him pounds out an achy throb like it always does in recognition of his absence.
But my need for Remington is not what pulled me from sleep tonight.
My brain finally registers the sharp alarm blaring in the house, the pungent smell, and the unwelcome thickness to the air. Smoke.
Oh my God . . . Ash.
Now fully awake, aware of the danger, I whip out of bed. I am wearing only one of Remington’s old fire department T-shirts and sleep shorts. Rolling to the ground, I crawl to our closed bedroom door. Reaching up to grasp the knob, it sears my palm with its heat upon contact.
This is not good. I need to get out of here. I need to get to Ash.
I use the hem of my shirt, gripping the knob again.
It barely blocks any heat, but I wrench the door open to find a wall of smoke.
Gasping in a shocked breath, I drop back down to the floor as fast as I can, coughing and gagging.
Heat ripples over my body from flames and fire I can’t see but can certainly smell now and hear.
The crackling of the burning house and the fire alarm blaring feel like spikes in my brain making it hard to concentrate.
The smoke makes my eyes sting and my lungs burn.
Ash is in his crate, where he sleeps every night, in the guest bedroom down the hallway with the door shut. So close and also a million miles away. I can hear him yelping in fear, my heart ripping open at the sound of his panic.
I’m so sorry, sweet boy. I’m coming.
I can see flames now, tunneling toward me, and I scream, pulling more noxious smoke into my lungs—choking me with invisible grey fingers. A hot lick whips up my neck and jaw in a burning caress that makes me cry out.
I can’t go this way. I am trapped, burning in my own home.
I scramble back to our bedroom like a crab, kicking the door shut. The room is black with thick smoke now. A glow from the flames that chased me down the hallway lights up the crack under the door like a nightlight sent from hell.
Spots blink in my vision. This dizziness is consuming, the burning in my lungs feels like being tossed in that deep water all over again.
A whole different kind of drowning. Gulping for air.
Praying it is all a nightmare but knowing this sharp, burning pain only comes from reality.
Blackness swallows me down, and I hold on to him in my mind.
My safe place.
My true home.
Remington.
I love you . . .