Enola turned towards the voice. It was coming from a paramedic. She looked down at her stark-naked body and threw her hands over her breasts. She allowed the paramedic to cover her with a scratchy green blanket and returned her attention to the window. Relief flooded when she saw the firemen carrying Crystal and Dania down the ladder.
“Oh, my God. Thank you, God,” Enola breathed.
She waited as they placed Crystal and Dania on separate gurneys, then she hurried over to Crystal. Crystal was coughing uncontrollably and covered in soot, and warm tears welled in Enola’s eyes as she watched her friend struggle to breathe.
“Crys, I amsosorry,” Enola sniffed.
“It…it’s…not your fault,” Crystal coughed.
But it was Enola’s fault, and she needed to take full responsibility. “Crys, I-”
Enola’s words were cut off when Crystal grabbed her arm.
“I’m fine. Go see about my baby. Stay with Dania,” Crystal instructed.
Enola nodded and swiped the tears from her cheek.
“I’ll take care of her. I promise.”
“Thanks, friend,” was Crystal’s hoarse response.
Enola leaned over, kissed Crystal on the forehead, and reluctantly walked away. They were taking them in separate ambulances, so she climbed in with Dania. Enola leaned over and caressed Dania’s hand.
“Mommy,” the sweet girl whimpered with tears in her eyes.
“Mommy is okay. She told Tee Tee Nola to stay with you,” Enola reassured, fighting back her own tears. She was wrestling with the guilt of endangering her best friend and goddaughter during the entire ride to the hospital.
As she held tight to Dania’s hand, her grandmother’s words haunted her:
“You can’t run from who you are.”
* * * *
Gideon’s eyes flew open. He sat upright, feeling a strange sense of doom. Immediately on the defensive, he scanned his hotel room for threats. His room was completely dark, but his canine vision was perfect in the dark. When he found nothing in the form of a threat, something deep within told him that it was Enola that was in danger.
He snatched his cellular from the nightstand and called Hannibal. Since Gideon needed to keep his distance until Enola was ready to accept the paranormal reality of their life, Hannibal had been dispatched to ensure her safety.
“Boss?”
“What’s happened?” Gideon said into the receiver.
“Well, it seems that she flamed out and set her building on fire.”
“What!” Gideon shouted, hopping out of the bed. He was in Chicago. He wouldn’t let Enola see him, but he simply couldn’t stay away.
“Is she okay?”
“Well, yeah, boss. It’s not like fire can hurt her.”
Gideon pulled the phone from his ear and stared at it. “That’s not what the fuck I meant!” he growled into the phone.
“Well, she had guests. She seemed really worried about them. She ran out of the building ass naked and stood in front of a window.”
Gideon growled at the phone. For some reason, the welfare of Enola’s guests was considerably lower on the list of shit that bothered Gideon than the fact that Hannibal had seen her naked body.
“What of her guests?” Gideon snapped.
“They’ll survive. I’m at the hospital now. What do you want me to do, boss?”
