Page 30 of Hearts on Fire

The heat of it burned her palm badly but she held on, her legs swinging. The fire was coming toward her again. This time, it was going to explode and the window was going to go with it.

The burns on her palm were horrible already and she was sure she'd suffer with them for a while—if she survived this.

She spared a look down, and thought she caught sight of the landing pad, but she couldn't be sure. She was dizzy, her body weak, and her vision blurry. She knew she'd suffer later.

That is, if there was a later.

Scotti let go of the window just as the building exploded and the window blew apart.

She knew she wasn't breathing when she was falling. But she didn't know why, or if it was because she was dead.

For a moment, the world was dark and still and she couldn't hear a sound. Then, all of a sudden, it came rushing back.

She heard someone calling her name—screaming her name, actually. She felt the surface beneath her moving.

She wondered if she'd landed on the landing pad, but she felt too tired to open her eyes.

But Scotti wasn't one to lay back. She coughed and winced as she sat up despite warnings not to.

“Scotti!”

She recognized her captain's voice immediately.

“I'm sorry, Sir,” she said, knowing what was coming. “There was no other way.”

The captain took a deep breath. “Your hands are badly burned. You barely made it out of there. You’re going to be off rotation for awhile, so don’t even argue.”

“I'm sorry, Sir,” Scotti apologized again. Sitting up now, she was beginning to feel the burn of her palms as her head began to pound in a terrible headache.

“We'll get you to the medical team. There's a lot of people needing immediate medical attention and there are not many doctors here. We've sent the first ambulance to the hospital. The second is ready to leave. You'll go with the third.”

Scotti nodded and lay back down. A particular question plagued her mind, and she tried hard not to ask, but she just couldn't help it. Her captain stayed back, as if expecting the question too.

“And Doctor Crane? Is she here, Sir?”

The captain shook his head. “She was not one of the doctors sent with the emergency unit.”

Scotti could not tell why that answer hurt more than the burns on her hand. She nodded and shut her eyes.

She was headed for the hospital either way. Naomi would see her there.

The captain tapped her shoulder lightly. “Helen told us what happened. That was a brave thing you did there. I'm proud of you.”

All ride long, Scotti could not help but think about what Naomi would say when she heard she was one of the victims of the fire. She knew Naomi was going to be scared, but she hoped she could pacify her.

It was for Naomi's sake that Scotti asked to walk into the hospital herself rather than be wheeled on a stretcher despite the aches throughout her body from the fall.

Scotti didn't get a chance to walk out of the ambulance. She was still lying right there when the ambulance doors flew open. With the help of her elbows, she sat up as quickly as she could, but Naomi was already staring wide-eyed at her.

“Scotti?” she called with a stammer in her voice.

“Naomi. I'm fine, I'm fine,” Scotti began to say.

But Naomi could see for herself that Scotti wasn't as fine as she claimed to be. That fact and more seemed to snap Naomi's last nerve.

It was as though the activity had ceased around them and it was just their moment. The emergency department catering to the injured victims faded away in the background, and Scotti knew that all Naomi could see was Scotti. Not just Scotti, but Scotti's burned hands, Scotti in pain.

Scotti saw tears in Naomi’s vivid green eyes. She saw her pain and her fear.

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