Bear. He’d simply have to quit his job and move away from the island forever out of embarrassment.
He got out of the car and took a few long strides around the side of the house. There was a warm glow coming form the back yard – in all likelihood, a bonfire. He could stop by and say hello – it was probably just Morgan and Luke anyways.
As soon as he turned the corner, he saw it – a massive fire with flames spanning half of the house and reaching the roof. He stood stunned for a moment, just staring at it.
Matthew was about to reach a hand to his radio when he heard a scream ring out from inside the house.
Chapter 12
The beeping from the smoke detector roused Jade from sleep – but just barely. She flipped over, instinctively pulling a pillow over her head to drown out the noise. She’d always been a heavy sleeper, and it took a few moments before she realized that she needed to investigate the sound.
She rubbed her eyes, fumbling in the dark to turn on her bedside lamp. The lamp made a click, but the light wasn’t working. It was still dark. She yawned and sat up in bed.
The air that she sucked in with her yawn burned her throat and made her cough. Her brain caught up in an instant – it wasn’t that the light was broken, but that her room was filled with dark smoke.
Jade launched out of bed, coughing and stumbling towards the door. Just as she was about to reach it, part of the ceiling collapsed in front of her. She didn’t realize that she was falling backward – she didn’t know that she was screaming. Her head slammed into the corner of the bed as she landed on her side.
She didn’t lose consciousness – instead it seemed that the pain woke her up even more. It was becoming harder and harder to breathe and the smoke was now so thick that she could hardly tell where she was or which direction she needed to go. Jade lowered herself to the ground, trying to crawl towards what she thought was the door.
A voice boomed from the hallway. “Jade!”
She tried to yell back, but all she managed was more coughing. How would they know where to find her if she couldn’t respond?
That moment, her bedroom door flung open, a narrow beam of light piercing the smoke.
“Hang on, I’m going to get you out of here.”
In a swift motion, Jade was scooped off of the floor and out of the room. Even just by getting to the living room, the air was clearer and she was finally able to take a breath. Within seconds, they were outside of the house and onto the street, the sound of sirens echoing in the distance.
Matthew gently set her down and took her face in his hands.
“You’re okay, you’re going to be okay,” he repeated. “The ambulance will be here soon. Is there anyone else in the house?”
Jade shook her head, unable to speak. For every few breaths she took, she was forced into a coughing fit.
“It’s okay, don’t worry. I’ve got you.”
He sat with her until she was finally able to take a few deep breaths. Jade looked back at the house – from the front, it hardly looked like anything was even wrong. It was eerily quiet on the street.
She looked back at Matthew. “Are you okay?”
He laughed. “Yeah – I’m fine. Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine now. I woke up and it was so smoky…”
“I know,” he said. He brushed a strand of hair away from her face. “You’re bleeding.”
Jade absentmindedly darted a hand to her head and winced when she felt the gash. “Oh. The ceiling collapsed and I hit my head trying to get away. Does it look bad?”
He pulled away slightly, looking her over. “No. They’ll fix you right up.”
Jade couldn’t tear her eyes away from him. He was so close and the world felt frozen around them. She had the urge to wrap her arms around his neck and bury her face in his shoulder.
She resisted that, though, and instead stared at him, studying the lines in his face, the gentle swoop of his hair. How did he manage to walk out of a fire looking so perfect?
“The paramedics are here. How about you let them check you out?” he said softly.
She nodded and tried to stand up, but stumbled.
“Let me help you,” he said, stooping down