Page 82 of The Santa Rules
“Probably just some burnt pizza in the cafeteria setting off a smoke detector,” she says, but looks uncertain. We push through the doors at the end of the hallway, the bitter cold hitting our faces as we usher the kids away from the building. Once we get to the parking lot, the kids line up, and I move down the row counting heads. We’ve done this twice already this year, so they know the drill by now.
“Twenty-two. Twenty-three. Everyone’s here,” I say right as a fire truck turns into the parking lot, pulling close to the opposite end of the school near the gym.
When I look over at Lucy, there’s panic on her face. “Crap. This is real, and I’m short one.” She pulls out her roll and calls out each kid by name, and when she gets to Melissa, a tiny little blonde second-grader darts out of my line and into hers.
“Wait, now I’m missing one.” I pull out my roster when it hits me. “Avery!”
Panic claws at my chest as I walk up and down the line looking for her. I thought she came out with us. And there’s a fire truck here, which means this could be a real fire and not a drill.
Isaac’s class must be close by because he comes running up. “Did you say Avery? Where is she?” he asks, looking around.
“She went to the bathroom and then I was cleaning up crayons, and then the fire alarm went off. I forgot she was gone in all the confusion.”
“Avery! Butterfly! Where are you?” Isaac calls out.
I can see several of his classmates pointing at us and laughing, but their demeanors change when several of us start panicking, shouting her name.
“Avery! Avery Williams!” I call out, looking around the other nearby groups. When I turn back to Isaac, he’s gone. “Isaac?”
“Oh my God,” Lucy says as she points at the building, and I see Isaac slip into the doors as a plume of black smoke rises from the back of the building.
“Isaac!” I yell, tearing after him, but he’s too fast and the building is too far. When I get to the door, a firefighter blocks my path, holding up a hand to prevent me from entering.
“Mike?” I say, recognizing him under his gear as I pant, out of breath.
“Bella, sorry, I can’t let you in the building.”
“My son Isaac just ran inside,” I say, trying to gulp in air. I’m going to hyperventilate.
“He must’ve run past when I was clearing a classroom. I’ll call it in to the guys. What does he look like?”
“Almost my height, thin, floppy blond hair like an alpaca. He ran back in looking for Avery.”
“Hardy’s Avery?”
I nod as I try to get my breathing under control, but my heart is beating too fast and I can feel the rhythm in my ears. “She was in the bathroom and never came out. We couldn’t find her outside.”
“Shit.” He talks into the radio on his shoulder, and either he’s speaking in code or my head is getting lighter because I have trouble following what they’re saying.
He places a hand on my shoulder. “My guy at the front door says he has eyes on Avery. She must’ve gotten lost in the shuffle and went out the front.”
“Okay, okay, that’s good,” I say, bending over at the waist to grab my knees.
“Bella, are you okay?” His voice sounds distant and tinny.
“I’m going to need a medic over here. Female, early thirties, hyperventilating, possible panic attack, send a unit.” I hear bits and pieces of what he says into his radio as I start to wobble.
Two hands grip my biceps, steadying me. I think they’re Mike’s. Seconds or minutes go by, I can’t tell. The only word in my head and on my lips is “Isaac.”
I faintly hear Mike giving me instructions to control my breathing, but I can’t concentrate. My head feels so light and I’m having trouble holding it up when I feel him guide me to sit on the brick retaining wall.
“Bells? Baby, what’s wrong?”
Is that Hardy? I can’t open my eyes, and my entire scalp feels tingly.
“Hardy, I told you to stay back at the firehouse. I’m not letting you in this building.”
“I’m with the medical unit you called in,” Hardy says. Is he angry? He sounds angry.
