Page 20 of Burn For Me

At the test house, I explained what we would do.

She put her hand up. “Wait! We are going to be inside there when it catches on fire?”

“Yes.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

I shook my head. “I promise you, it’s very safe.”

Nervous laughter flitted from her lips. “Safe, yeah, okay.” She studied the test room through the glass. “But if it fills up with smoke, won’t you have trouble breathing?”

“For this test, we will wear air masks similar to what firemen wear.”

She turned to me slowly. “Do we have to wear the other gear?”

“No, you will be far enough away from the fire that you can see it, but you will not be in any danger.” I explained again where the fire would be and pointed out the safety lines on the far side where we would be standing.

“Okay,” she said in an unsure voice.

“Lillian, you don’t have to do this. I can do it, and you can watch. It’s still impressive. It’s just not as impressive as being inside while it happens.”

“How many times have you done this?”

“Well over a hundred.”

She stared at the test room for a few moments, and I saw her trying to decide. Her facial expressions changed every second or so as if she were conversing with someone I couldn’t see. Finally, she sighed and turned back to me. “Okay, I’ll go inside.”

“You sure?”

She nodded. “You only live once, right? My friend tells me to be more spontaneous, so this is pretty damn spontaneous.”

Before she could change her mind, I brought her around to the entrance and collected a mask to show her how it worked, then clipped on a belt that held a small oxygen tank so she could breathe while inside.

“Whatever you do, don’t take your mask off inside the test room.”

“What happens if I do?”

“The oxygen tank could explode.”

Her eyes grew wide, and I chuckled. “Don’t worry. It won’t happen. Just keep the mask on. You’ll be so focused on what is happening around you that you won’t even think about taking it off.”

I fit it over her face, turned on the oxygen, and stepped back. “Just breathe naturally.” She took a few breaths, smiled, and gave me a thumbs up. “Okay, let me get mine on, and then we can step in.”

I put on my mask, turned on the oxygen, and led her inside the test room.

I gave the thumbs up to Isaac, who was outside. He nodded and began to prepare to turn the unit on, focusing on his controls for a few moments. I pointed to the end of the room, and Whiskey watched with wide eyes as the flame flicked at the electrical socket and caught the cardboard beside it on fire.

The moment the flames appeared, Whiskey shuffled closer to me, and she looked around her wildly as the room began to fill with smoke rather quickly. She stepped further from it, and I put my arm around her shoulder and pulled her to my side.

I didn’t routinely do that, but this was Whiskey. She curled her body closer to mine, and I could feel her breathing more quickly. “Slow your breathing down, Whiskey. You are fine.”

She nodded, and I felt her hold her breath for a second and then release it. After that, she began breathing more steadily, but she remained at my side with my shirt fisted in one hand around my back.

My ego swelled slightly as I felt like a protector. I’m not sure that it meant anything to her, but to me, it was huge.

The fire began to rage on the other side, and you could feel the heat from the flames. I watched the temperature gauge beside the window and saw we were about to hit the engagement switch. The moment the gauge registered, the system kicked into action, and vents opened on the side of the room that sucked the air out. Our clothing fluttered around our bodies from the suction, and her hair lifted and fanned out around my face.

Briefly, I thought about how I’d like to see that happen again in another circumstance. The fire was out now. Suffocated from lack of oxygen, it could no longer burn and was extinguished. The suction slowed down to help remove any residual smoke and then stopped altogether.

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