“You can’t be in here,” someone says then puts a mask over my face.I try to refuse it, but my lungs seize at the fresh oxygen.I suck in as much as I can as my body goes slack.I see out of the corner of my eye that Stone is in the same state as me.“We’ll take you through the back,” the fireman says then hauls me up with an iron grip.I’m a big boy and this guy is trying to maneuver me like I’m his ragdoll.I try to fight out of his hold, but the vise he has on me is unmoving.
“My woman’s in here!”I yell out, but it’s muffled by the mask.I go to move it, but he stops me.
“The woman outside told us that there’s a lady in here somewhere.We’ve got men combing through the house,” he informs me, but I need to be looking too.
What if they miss her?What if they don’t get to her in time?
I’m not given a choice as I’m dragged to an opening at the back of the house and set out in the backyard.Stone is laid up next to me as paramedics come over to us.They administer albuterol and stick a new mask to our faces with a tank next to us.They start asking questions, but my eyes never leave the burning house.The firemen are dousing what’s left with water, but there are still flames on the far side of the structure.
My body is exhausted, and my jeans and shirt have holes.My skin feels raw and stings.I’ve got blotches of skin where it’s been burned from fallen embers off the wood from the walls, and my hands ache from where Stone and I crawled to stay low.
“I need to go back,” I try to say and stand up, but my body doesn’t cooperate.
“You need to rest and keep this over your nose and mouth, sir,” one of the paramedics says.
Over one of their radios, we hear a voice talking.
“They’ve found something… coming out the front… have the gurney and bus ready to transport,” they say.
“Is it Sutton?Did they find her?”I pepper them with questions.
“We don’t know, sir, but if you can stand and walk we can go out to the bus and wait,” one of them offers.
I muster every inch of strength to lift my ass off the ground.Stone and I use the medics to lean on as we stagger around the ash and wood that was once a livable home.A huge slot in the neighbors fence is pushed down as we pass by the side of the house.Out front, the street is lined with people watching as the firemen continue to put out the rest of the flames.
Raegan is surrounded by police officers as she screams at them to move.Stone notices her distress and charges over to towards them.
“Kane!Havoc!”A sob leaves her throat when she sees us.
She bends slightly and shoves the officer so hard to get out of her way that he lands on his ass.The sirens from the ambulance come on, and it races off down the street.Is Sutton in there?How long did it take us to make our way around the house?
“Was that Sutton?”I ask after she pulls back from engulfing Stone in her arms.
She’s crying; her face is soaking wet from her tears.
“They carried her out and right into the ambulance,” she tells us.“She had burns everywhere.They didn’t say if she was alive!”
“I need to get to the hospital,” I say, looking around, trying to figure out my next move.
“You need to see a doctor,” Raegan states.“You’re both burned too.”
Just then a paramedic comes over.
“We need to get you both checked out at the hospital.”
“I’ll call Mom and let her know you’re coming and that Sutton is already heading there,” Raegan says.“I’ll follow in the car behind you,” she tells Stone.“Please let them check you over.”
Something in her voice must move Stone because he nods, then wraps an arm around me, and we follow the medics to their vehicle.They set us up in the back on a gurney and put the oxygen masks back over our faces.
“We need to get an IV in each of you.The hospital will want to hydrate and monitor you to make sure your lungs aren’t damaged,” the male medic tells us as he gets the instruments ready for us.
I lay my head back and look up at the ceiling of the ambulance.
“She’s gonna be okay, right?”I ask then move my head, looking to Stone for assurance.
Stone has never been one to bullshit his brothers, but when I start to see his eyes soften and his serious expression change slightly, I start to panic.My skin feels like it’s crawling.
“She’s a fighter, brother.She’s been through a lot and is still here.If anyone can come out of it on the other side, it’s her,” he says, and I feel a wave of emotions hit me.I haven’t cared for another person, other than my brothers and Zane, ever in my life.And the fact that Sutton might not survive, after finding the missing piece to my soul, the person that completes mine and Zane’s family, devastates me.
