Finally Us (Next Generation #5) - J.M. Walker Page 0,94
smoke detectors went off. We saw smoke and then the door caught on fire and…and…” I stopped suddenly. The house, my house, was fully ablaze. “Vince.” A sob left me.
“Show me!” the man demanded, running up the side of the house.
“In the back.” I followed him, leading him to my bedroom window. “I was able to get out and he should have been right behind me. The window isn’t too small but something—” I stopped by the patio door as the man ran past me.
“Where?” I heard him ask.
I pointed, unable to take my eyes off the scene going on inside my house. The living room was fully engulfed. Nothing would be salvageable. Not that it mattered. They were only material items and they could be replaced, but watching your house along with everything you own go up in flames, was like losing a piece of yourself.
“I got him.”
I snapped out of my trance at those words.
The man came toward me with his arm around Vince. “He must have passed out from the smoke. That’s why he didn’t follow you.”
“Oh God.” I rushed to them, hooking Vince’s other arm around my shoulders.
“I’m fine,” Vince coughed.
We walked back up the side of the house to the older man’s yard. Sirens sounded, the fire trucks barreling down the streets as we walked to safety.
An ambulance parked in front of the neighbor’s house and the paramedics rushed toward us with a stretcher between them. They pulled Vince from the man who helped us and laid him on it, placing an oxygen mask on his face.
“No.” He sat up, handing me the mask. “She needs it more.”
“Vince.” I went to his side, trying to calm him. “They’re going to help you.”
“You need this more than I do.” He tried handing me the mask again.
“Stop.” I placed the mask back on his face and kissed his forehead. “You were in the smoke longer than I was.”
“She’s pregnant,” he told the nearest EMT, ignoring me. “She needs it more.”
“I’m fine, Vince.” But my words didn’t stop the other EMT from guiding me to the ambulance and giving me my own oxygen. “Wait.” I pushed away from her and went back to the man who helped Vince.
He was talking to a police officer. They both turned toward me.
“Sorry for interrupting. I just needed to thank you.” Before he could respond, I hugged him around the middle.
“You don’t need to thank me at all,” he told me, stiffening.
“You went into a burning house and got my boyfriend.” I squeezed him. “Thank you. Thank you for bringing him back to me.”
The man relaxed and hugged me back. “You’re welcome.”
I released him and went to head back to the ambulance when another officer came toward us.
“We just have some questions,” he said. “You’re the homeowner?”
“Yes I am.”
He nodded. “We’ll meet you at the hospital. Go get checked out.”
“Thank you.” I went to the ambulance and stepped up into the back.
“What’s going on?” Vince asked, pulling the mask off his face.
“I thanked my neighbor for saving you and the police are going to meet us at the hospital to question us.” I wasn’t sure why, but I imagined they needed to rule out arson. It was probably faulty wiring. No. My dad wouldn’t have let that happen when he and the guys built the house for us girls.
“I need to check you out,” the female EMT told me.
“Put your mask back on,” I told Vince.
Something flashed behind his eyes.
I grabbed his hand, holding onto it for dear life, thankful that I didn’t lose him.
The EMT checked my vitals, put an oxygen mask on my face, and did what they could before we got to the hospital.
When she was done, I moved closer to Vince and leaned my forehead against his. “We’re fine, baby.”
He nodded, his eyes fluttering closed. He squeezed my hand.
I kissed his knuckles, trying to give him all of the strength I could even though I didn’t feel strong.
At all.
***
“What the fuck happened?”
“How the hell did this happen?”
“Where is she?”
“Don’t tell me to calm down. Where’s my daughter?”
I sighed, swinging my legs over the edge of the bed just as my mom and dad came into the room.
“Baby.” Mom rushed to me, pulling me into her arms. “You okay?”
I nodded, returning the embrace. I waved my dad over, needing his big teddy bear hug that always made me feel like I could get through anything just by having his arms around me.