Page 96 of The Firefighter's Fate

But still, I push on.

I have to find her.

And then I round a corner.

And I finally see her.

Ember is bent over forward, coughing aggressively from the smoke clouding the hallway.

Oh, God...

She looks up at me as I approach. Her eyes widen at the sight of me.

“Connor?”

Her voice is weak. She stammers over my name.

“Ember.”

“I was... trying to find... the way out... I was... trying to help...”

She tries to step toward me, but she stumbles. She falls. I’m quick to react – bending down to scoop her up in my arms. I carry her full weight and lift her to her feet.

Adrenaline is coursing through my veins – she feels totally weightless in my arms. A new energy comes to me now that I’m holding her. I could carry her to safety all day.

I lean down so my mouth brushes her ear.

“I’m going to get you out of here, Ember. Trust me.”

I lift her up. I hold her body.

And I start to move.

I take her to safety repeating the same words over and over again in her ear.

“Trust me, Ember. Trust me. Trust me. Trust me.”

We make it outside. I traced back my steps through my childhood home to find my way. I make it out of the front door of the mansion with the heat scorching my back but with my arms still carrying the journalist.

Ember wouldn’t have made it out on her own...

She has closed her eyes somewhere along the escape, but I can still feel her heart beating as I hold her. She’s passed out from the smoke.

Fuck.

I immediately rush across the grounds to the nearest paramedic. It turns out to be Jacob from the car crash I witnessed on that remote road outside of town with Eric.

He and I gently bring her inside the waiting ambulance and rest her on the bed.

“Is she going to be okay?” I ask Jacob, my breathing labored and my lungs full of smoke.

Jacob simply looks at me expressionless. Professional.

“We’ll know in a minute,” he says.

I nod at him. I understand.

He needs space for him and the other paramedics to do their required work. I’ve done what I can, and now it’s time for them to take over. I step out of the ambulance and head to the nearest tree. I lean against the bark with all the effort and exhaustion finally catching up to me and I watch on as my childhood home continues to burn.

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