Page 32 of Burn for Me
“There you go, Pussycat. Eat up.” Her mom handed her a plate and cutlery.
“Thanks, Mom.”
Taking a bite, Kitty bit back a moan. She hadn’t thought she was hungry until she put that first forkful of fluffy eggs in her mouth. Suddenly, she was ravenous. Wolfing down the rest of the eggs, she cleaned her plate in no time. Her mother took the plate from her, handing her a steaming mug of coffee.
The ringing of her cell phone had her jumping at the unexpectedness of it.
With a shaking hand, she answered it. “Hello?”
“Kitty, hey. It’s Kyle. I wanted to give you a heads up. We’re about to break through the rubble. We’re pushing back the barriers so they can’t film it, but it won’t take them long to get their hands on the news and broadcast it. I’d rather you heard it from me than them.”
Her heart thumped with anxiety. It felt like a tiny bird trapped in her chest. She wondered if that’s how it felt at the start of a heart attack.
“Thanks, Kyle. I appreciate it.”
“It’s all good. Stay on the line with me, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Kyle was silent for some time, but she could hear him breathing on the other side. She took the opportunity to let the others know what was going on.
Finally, she heard, “Yes! They’re through. We’re lucky that the way the building collapsed, there’s a big enough clearance in the rubble to get to him. They’re sending someone down.”
Please, god, let him be okay. Please? Don’t let him die down there.
“Okay.” Was all she could manage. It felt like a boulder had lodged in her throat. Between the pounding of her heart and suddenly finding it difficult to draw a breath, Kitty was almost convinced she was having a heart attack.
It seemed like it was taking forever. Why was it taking so long, damn it? Surely, they should have reached him by now. Reaching out, she gripped Morgan’s hand. Holding on as if Morgan was all that anchored her in place, she waited, barely breathing for word to come.
After what seemed like hours, she heard a radio crackle to life on the other end of the line. She couldn’t make out what was being said, but then an almighty cheer went up. And then she heard Kyle’s shout of jubilation.
“They found him, Kitty. And he’s alive.”
Kitty could hear the emotion in Kyle’s voice. Realisation dawned that despite telling her otherwise, he’d been convinced they’d find Gray dead underneath all the rubble. He’d known, better than her, the odds that had been stacked against finding him alive and well. Yet he’d chosen to offer her hope in the face of his own fears.
Tears of relief tracked down her face. “Thank you, Kyle. For everything. For trying to make this situation easier for me, even when you knew things were grim. I really do appreciate it.”
“Under different circumstances, I’d say it’s a pleasure. I’m just grateful I could give you good news. Oh, hang on a sec.” Kitty heard him speak to someone else before continuing. “Senior on site has just informed me it’ll be approximately another ten minutes before we can haul him out. They’ll assess his condition before they can move him. But once we can move him, he’s being sent to Foreshore General Hospital. I’ll let you know when we’re en route. You can meet us there.”
“Okay, thanks. I’ll do that. See you there in approximately an hour then?”
“Yeah. An hour sounds good.”
Now impatient, Kitty jumped to her feet. Her mother, Morgan, and Lee stood with her.
“What’s going on, Pussycat?” her mother asked, taking in her agitation.
“They’ve found him. Oh my god, they found him. He’s alive.” Her voice hitched as she fought to hold it together. “Apparently, they need to assess him before they can move him. But once they’ve checked him over, they’re taking him to Foreshore General. I’m meeting Kyle there.”
Dashingtowards the emergency room doors, Kitty’s eyes darted around, frantically searching for Kyle. Not seeing him outside or in the parking lot, she ran for the doors. She spotted him as she cleared the entry. Thankful, she rushed over to him.
“Hi, Kyle. Any news yet?”
“Hey. Nothing yet. The ER doc is doing his own assessment at the moment. His pulse, blood pressure, and heart rate all appear to fine. What’s got them concerned is there’s no way of knowing how long he was unconscious and if he suffered lack of air at any point.”
“Lack of air? Didn’t he have his breathing apparatus?”
“Yeah, he had it. But his mask got knocked off at some point. We just don’t know when. There’s no way to tell. So, they’re sending him for an MRI to see what’s going on with his brain. You’re going to want to get comfortable. It’s going to be a long wait.”
