She looks up, slowly blinking as if maybe I’m not really here.
I pull off the T-shirt covering my face and pull it down over her head, then I bend and pick her up. Her hands wrap around my neck. I say a silent thank you that I found her and she’s safe.
When I spin around, I can still make out the door, and I head that way.
“I’m gonna open this door in a second, but I want you to take a deep breath and try to hold it until we’re out of the building, okay?”
She tucks her face into my neck.
“All right, one, two, three.” I suck in as much air as I can, then whip open the door.
The fire on the right side is only a few feet away from the door now, and when I step out into the hallway, we’re met with a wall of heat. Hattie jolts in my arms. I squeeze her tighter, hoping it conveys that everything is okay and I’m going to get her the hell out of here.
We don’t have time for me to be careful about our exit, so I turn left and barrel down the hallway even though I can’t see shit. When we’re a couple of feet away from the exit, the outline of the door and the light in the doorway come into view. I burst outside, letting fresh air fill my lungs, and slam the door shut with my foot.
I cough, tears streaking down my cheeks from the smoke, but I don’t let Hattie go.
I’m never letting her go. That’s what I figured out at my dad’s. This woman in my arms wasn’t supposed to come to mean so much to me, but she does. If there was any doubt left in me aboutwhether or not I love Hattie, thinking I may have lost her has shredded it to pieces. I love this woman, and I’m going to have her as mine.
Once, I couldn’t wait to reveal the truth of who and what I was to her. And now I have to make sure she never finds out.
40
BASTION
The paramedics gave Hattie and me oxygen and looked us over, declaring us both fit enough to leave, though they’d prefer that we go to the hospital. Neither Hattie nor I was interested, though I wouldn’t mind Hattie being looked over. But all I wanted to do was hold her, have her in my arms so that I know she’s real and she’s here with me, so I immediately took her back to the condo.
We took a shower to get the smoke scent off our bodies. It took two rounds of shampoo and two deep scrubs to achieve. I’m pretty sure I’ll still be smelling smoke for weeks.
Once we’re dried off and Hattie has dried her hair, I lead her to bed, where I wrap my arms around her and tuck her into my chest. “Are you okay?”
She’s been quiet since we arrived. I keep waiting for her to break down, but it’s as though she’s trying to hold back for some reason.
Hattie nods into my chest, and I squeeze my arms around her, kissing the top of her head before pulling away to see her face.
“Talk to me. What are you thinking?”
Her gaze lifts to meet mine, and I see tears in her eyes. My chest squeezes painfully.
“I was so scared.” Her voice is still rough from breathing in the smoke.
“I was too.” I drop my forehead to hers. “When I knew you were in there, I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I was so afraid of losing you.”
“I kept praying to God to save me, but when you called and said you were coming to get me, I didn’t want you to because I was scared you’d be hurt… or worse.”
I kiss her forehead. “I’m here. We’re both here.”
There’s so much more I want to tell her, but now is not the time. She’s had a traumatizing experience, and the best thing for her right now is rest.
“Are you hungry?”
She shakes her head. “No, I don’t think I can eat right now.”
“All right. What do you say we put on a funny movie or something, cuddle up here?”
A little glimmer of the usual sparkle that’s in her eyes rises. “Okay,” she says in a soft voice, then clears her throat.
The paramedic said we can expect to have irritated throats and that a cough might develop too.
