A second firefighter climbed the ladder and then Keren was passed to him, her hands leaving the side of the window only momentarily then clutching onto the firm shoulders.
Scott heard her sobbing but in a matter of seconds she was on the ground. He rushed to her and pulled her into him, picking her up and moving her out of her garden, away from the burning building and to where an ambulance was waiting at the side.
“I’ve got you.” He repeated the words over and over, not knowing what else to do apart from hold her. “We need to get you checked out at the hospital.”
She nodded into his shoulder, her sobs less erratic, subsiding slightly. There was another loud bang and he figured that the rest of the roof had come down. They’d gotten her out just in time.
“It’s going to be okay, baby,” he half carried her into the ambulance. It was. Her house was not going to be okay, but there were solutions, ones that could be carried out because she was alive.
“I couldn’t fall.” She kept repeating those words.
“And you didn’t. You’re safe. The paramedic’s going to check you out now before we set off.” He unstuck himself from her and stepped back, letting the paramedic take over and introduce herself.
“You’ve inhaled probably a fair bit of smoke. We’re going to get you to the hospital to get you checked out. In the meantime, everything else looks good, but I need you breathing some oxygen. That’s going to help.” The paramedic was firm but kind and she seemed to be relaxing Keren.
Keren gave a nod. “The smoke alarm woke me but I couldn’t get downstairs – it came straight through – probably through the chimney. I opened the window and stayed there. I shouldn’t have inhaled too much.”
The paramedic smiled. “You did the right thing. But we’re still getting you checked. Is there anything else you need to tell me?”
Keren took the mask and started breathing it in.
“I’m going to take some blood. Are you happy with – Scott, is it? – coming with us?”
She gave a nod and they headed off, leaving the wail of sirens behind them, along with the many questions that would need to be asked.
Keren was quiet while they wheeled her into the hospital in Astley into one of the triage rooms. She was wearing fleecy pyjama bottoms and one of his t-shirts that he’d happened to leave there, and had her dressing gown wrapped around her. The t-shirt looked good on her; he liked seeing her dressed in something of his, maybe a little too much.
The paramedic swapped with a nurse and did a brief, open handover. Scott sat on the chair next to the bed where Keren lay, taking her hand in his. She looked incredibly pale and scared. He’d never seen Keren scared, in all the years he’d known her. Never once had she shown fear, until now.
“I’m going to be sick.” She sat up and the nurse passed a paper bowl. She vomited hard and he moved onto the bed to hold her hair back and stroke her back. Shock, panic, they both could make someone react physically.
The vomiting continued for fifteen minutes or so, the nurse hovering round, watching curiously. Scott knew his own anxiety levels were through the roof. He’d turned his phone off in the ambulance after sending a quick text to Zack to tell him what had happened. Right now, his focus was on Keren. He didn’t need to be interrupted with an ever streaming flow of texts and calls.
“Your bloods have been sent off to the lab. They’ll tell us how much carbon monoxide’s in your blood stream. I’m going to check with the doctor about doing a chest x-ray too, just to be on the safe side and I think I’m going to pop you on a saline drip to get some fluids into you.” The nurse hadn’t made a comment about him being still sat on the bed. “Is there any chance you could be pregnant?”
It was a standard question, he knew. But when Keren didn’t answer for at least thirty seconds, pieces of a jigsaw began to click together. He felt himself stiffen, but he didn’t take his hands away from her.
“I… I…” She turned her head round to look at him. “I am pregnant.”
He felt her shoulders sag, as if the promise of having to say the words had been weighing her down.
“Do you know how far along you are?” The nurse said, her tone gentle.
Keren swallowed loudly. “Probably six to eight weeks.”
He felt all the air leave his lungs and the blood rush out of his head. “You’re pregnant?” He knew the answer. He’d heard her say it and confirm it and it was definitely his. She was pregnant with their baby. His baby. “That’s why you were scared of falling.”
She nodded. “Will the smoke harm my baby?”
My baby.She was keeping it. Not that there would’ve been any other option that she would’ve considered. He managed to move his arms and wrap them around her middle, one of his large hands on her flat stomach.
“Did you lose consciousness at all?” the nurse asked. “And congratulations.” She shot them a smile.
“No. As soon as I realised what was happening I got to the window. If I hadn’t known I was pregnant I’d have climbed down, but I couldn’t risk falling. I’ve already fallen once. I stayed at the window – that’s why I didn’t throw any of my stuff out. I didn’t want the smoke in my lungs.” He felt her take a sharp inhale of air. She was struggling to keep herself from falling apart.
“It’s highly, highly unlikely that any damage has been done. Any bleeding beyond a bit of spotting?”
Keren shook her head. “I have a doctor’s appointment this week.”
