Enjoying the Chase (68 page)

There was pressure on my shoulders; I could
feel myself being shaken. I closed my eyes as my head rolled lifelessly on
neck. All I could think about was DJ, my baby, my adorable little angel. 

“ROSE!”

DJ was dead. My life was over. Part of me
had died.

“ROSE!”

I tried to focus on the pressure that was
squeezing my shoulders as I looked at the person standing in front of me.

My knees gave out when my eyes met Nate
’
s. His hold on me tightened as he pulled me
into a hug.

“One of my friends is a fire-fighter; he
called me and said your building was on fire. Oh God, I
’
m so glad you
’
re okay.
Shit, I was so scared. So, so scared,” he mumbled against the side of my head
as he hugged me way too tight. His body was shaking against mine; unless maybe
that was my body, I wasn
’
t sure. I
didn
’
t know what to think, what to
feel. The pain was everywhere and all I wanted to be dead so I didn
’
t feel it any
more. “Rose, where
’
s
DJ?”

I squeezed my eyes shut at the mention of
his name as I burst into hysterical sobs again.

“Rose? Where… where is he?” Nate repeated.
His voice shook and sounded so desperate that it was almost as if it belonged
to someone else. I couldn
’
t say
the words. I couldn
’
t even
think
the words.

“He
’
s not…” he trailed off, his fingers biting into my upper arms, his
nails probably cutting into my skin but that was nothing compared to the
emotional agony I was drowning in right now.

“Her son, where is her son?” Nate shouted,
pulling me to his chest. I could hear his heart crashing loudly as he
practically dragged me forward a step closer to the paramedic. “She has a
four-year-old son. Where is he?” His voice rang with authority as he spoke.

“They said they couldn
’
t get him.”

The words sounded so far away. It was like
I was fading off, like I was listening to everything from underwater. I clung
to Nate, squeezing my arms around him tightly as if he could somehow save me
from this pain that was slowly ripping my heart out.

“Fuck!” Nate cried. I was jostled; his body
left mine as his hands cupped my face. His expression was pure agony as his
blue eyes locked on mine. “Where is he? Which room?” he asked, his jaw
tightening.

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing
came out. My chin trembled as the tears just continued to fall.

“Was he in his bedroom, Rose?” Nate
repeated, shaking me again like a ragdoll. I nodded quickly, my mind picturing
DJ hugging his Woody doll, screaming my name. I
’
d left him. I
’
d left
him there on his own. I hated myself. I hated the firemen. I hated the building
for being on fire. I just hated everything. Nate kissed my forehead quickly
before pulling back and taking off his hoodie that he was wearing. “I
’
ll get him,” he stated before he turned and
ran off.

I
’
ll get him.

I couldn
’
t understand the words that he
’
d said. How? How could he get him? He couldn
’
t. He was gone. My dazed eyes followed Nate as he ran towards one of
the firemen at the front line. He seemed to run in front of the spray of the
hose, the pressure of it almost knocking him off his feet. I gulped; my tired
and frazzled brain just couldn
’
t
work it out as he thrust his hoodie into the jet of water too. The firemen were
shouting at him to get out of the way, that he was stopping them from doing
their jobs. Nate was literally dripping with water as he put his hoodie back
on, pulling the hood up over his head, the material stuck to his body.

“Nate?” I whispered, not understanding what
was happening. Someone tackled him to the ground, but he threw them off him
easily and jumped to his feet.

He didn
’
t look back at me as he ran into the burning building.

My mouth dropped open as I figured it all
out. The pain somehow doubled as I watched him disappear into the flames. The
firemen started shouting, screaming to keep the stairs clear, they were
shouting him to come back out that it wasn
’
t safe, that the roof was going to collapse any second.

I dropped to my knees and sobbed harder as
I realised that I was going to lose Nate too. He was going to die as well. I
had now lost the two most important things to me. Nate was going to die in
vain, he wouldn
’
t be able to save
DJ and he was going to be trapped in there too. My heart broke all over again
at the thought of being without him too. They always said that you didn
’
t know what you had until it was gone, well,
that saying couldn
’
t have been
more accurate than in that second.

I loved Nate. I knew I loved him because he
was killing me right now, and now it was too late. I would never be able to say
those words to him.

The two most important things in my life
were gone. I couldn
’
t cope. I
couldn
’
t breathe. I just slumped
into a pile on the floor and sobbed until it felt like all of my tears had
dried up. I pressed my forehead to the cold concrete as I beat my fists against
the ground, trying to cope with the emotions that were pulling me under.

The shouting died down and the smoke got
thicker as time seemed to pass in slow motion. Each second was pure agony. I
always thought I had been through heartbreak when I broke up with Josh, but
this, this was real heartbreak.

Seconds, minutes, maybe even hours passed…
but still they didn
’
t come out. I
was alone in my agony. I closed my eyes and begged for death to come and take
me too so I could be with them.

Chapter
Thirty-Five

~ Nate ~

As soon as I stepped into the door, I
immediately recoiled from the heat. I flinched back against the wall,
squinting, trying to see the little red box that I knew was down at the bottom
of the stairs. I fumbled my way along the wall until my fingers grazed the
protruding box, silently praying someone else hadn’t already taken it.

“Come on, please, come on,” I mumbled,
coughing from the smoke that filled my lungs. I ran my fingers over the front
and let out the breath I was holding when I realised that the glass was intact.
Pulling my arm back, I thrust my elbow into it, smashing the glass. Shoving my
hand inside quickly, I grabbed the small fire extinguisher and fire blanket
from inside. I silently thanked my training because things like scoping out the
nearest exit or points of interests – like fireboxes – stuck in my mind.

Keeping my back against the wall, I slowly
made my way up the stairs, counting them as I went so I could keep track. The
flames were everywhere. I tried to keep focussed on the job at hand and not
take in the body of an old man that was burning just inside his apartment next
door to Rosie
’
s. It was so hot
that the sweat that beaded on my forehead, immediately started to evaporate. My
eyes seemed to be drying out, making it a little hard to blink. All I could
think about was DJ. My heart was
pounding
in my chest,
the sound of it was almost dwarfing the crackling and hissing of the fire that
was burning everywhere around me. Thankfully, the stairs were clear; it was
just the smoke I was fighting against at the moment. That, and the fact that
there was burning debris scattered everywhere.

When I got to the top of the stairs, I knew
I was thirteen paces from their front door. I gripped the banister, keeping my
eyes trained on the open door as I jumped over a hole that had literally burnt
through to the floor below. I held on tightly to the fire extinguisher – our
only hope. I would have to grab DJ and pray that the stairs were still clear
when we got back here, if not then we were both screwed.

I refused to feel the terror that was
boiling in the pit of my stomach. All I could think about was what I would see
in there. Would I be too late? Would I see the little kid that I loved so much,
dead? I had never been more scared in my life at what awaited me in their
apartment. But I pushed the horror away and forced myself through the door.

As soon as I stepped in, I gasped. Theirs
was one of the worst affected from what I
’
d seen so far. Debris lay everywhere; there was literally no ceiling
in their lounge, it was all burning rapidly in the middle of their floor.

“DJ?” I shouted desperately. I knew it was
useless though, there was no way he was alive if he was in here. My eyes settled
on his bedroom door. It was closed, but there were flames dancing on the frame
of it, it wouldn
’
t be long before
the door was on fire too. There was a huge pile of burning wood in front of it;
I had no idea how I was going to get across there. I zipped up my wet hoodie,
praying that the water from the hose would keep my clothes from catching
alight.

“DJ? Kid? Are you okay?” I shouted, as I
ran towards the flames, grabbing the fire blanket and beating the flames with
it, trying to get them to die down a little. I hissed through my teeth as my
hand went into the flames for a split second.

“Fuck!” I shouted, feeling the desperation
settling over me. I couldn
’
t lose
him; I couldn
’
t let Rosie go
through losing her child. I loved the kid like my own, and this was killing me
knowing he was on the other side of that door and I couldn
’
t get to him.

If he could just open his door, then maybe
I would be able to make the jump across to him. But with his door closed like
that, I would slam into it and fall back into the flames.

“
DJ? Open your door,
Kid. It
’
s Nate! I need you to open
the door, quickly!” I carried on beating the flames with the blanket, but it
was no use, the thing was now starting to catch fire too. “
Open your door, DJ!
” Was he hurt? Was he dead?
Why had he not opened the door? Had the fire spread behind the door and into
his room? My desperate tears started to fall as grief consumed me. 

I growled in frustration.

“
Damon Josh York, you
open your door right now!
” I shouted, hoping the bad
guy act would work. I coughed and choked on the smoke, dry heaving as my lungs
burned. I wasn
’
t giving up yet
though. Maybe I could make the jump, if I made the jump and grabbed the door
handle to stop myself from falling back into the burning pile of what looked
like Rosie
’
s bookcase.

I turned around; looking for something I
could maybe throw at the door to smash it. My eyes scanned the room as I
pressed the wet material of my hoodie over my mouth making it a little easier
to breathe. Everything was gone, charred, black or still burning. There was
nothing heavy enough to smash the door down. I was going to have to just take
the chance and pray that someone up there liked me and DJ enough to give us
this chance.

I closed my eyes and pictured Rosie
’
s face as I prepared to make the jump. I never
once thought of quitting and giving up. Either I was leaving this building with
DJ, or I wasn
’
t leaving.

I opened my eyes again, stepping back as
much as I could, and then ran forward a couple of steps, jumping into the
flames. My whole body heated up for a split second and then I crashed into the
door on the other side. Instead of rebounding off it, like I was expecting to,
the door crashed off its hinges and I fell into the room heavily. I landed
awkwardly where I wasn
’
t expecting
to make it through. White hot pain ripped up my arm, making me squeeze my eyes
shut and grit my teeth as a wave of nausea rolled over me. The nausea was
immediately replaced by more pain, this time on my leg – this one a searing,
scorching pain.

An involuntary scream left my lips as I
forced myself to roll over and grab the cover from DJ
’
s bed. I threw it over my legs with my good hand, patting it
quickly, hissing through my teeth as my skin started to burn and blister from
the flames that were eating the leg of my pants. After a few seconds I pulled
it back off to look, the flames had gone out. I closed my eyes and just wanted
to stay still. I didn
’
t want to
move, my leg was burnt, my arm was probably broken, all I wanted to do was lay
down and die. I couldn
’
t do that
though, I had my kid to think about.

I clenched my jaw and pushed myself up to
sitting, trying to breathe through the dizziness that made my head spin. I
needed more oxygen, the smoke was making me feel lightheaded and tired.

“DJ?” I called weakly, flicking my eyes
around his room. It was empty. There was not one sign of the little brown
haired boy that had stolen my heart like his momma had.

“DJ?” I called louder. Had he gotten out?
Rosie had nodded when I asked if he was in his room. He couldn
’
t have made that jump because
I
barely
made it, he wouldn
’
t have had a
hope in hell
’
s chance of making
that jump. I groaned when I looked back at the burning pile outside his door.
My eyes were searching for a child sized shape in there, not wanting to see but
I just couldn
’
t stop looking.

A little
sob
caught
my attention. How I heard it over the roar of the flames, and the cracking and
groaning of the buildings foundations, I had no idea, but I heard it and that
was all that mattered. I whipped around, my eyes scanning again looking for
him. His closet door was closed. I tried not to build my hopes up as I grabbed
the head of the bed, pulling myself up to my feet using my good arm. I stumbled
over to the closet, ignoring the pain that was making me feel like I wanted to
pass out. I wrenched open the door and relief washed over my body.

DJ was sitting there on the floor of his closet,
hugging his Woody doll, sucking his thumb as he rocked backwards and forwards
slowly. His SpongeBob pyjamas were black from smoke. His face was sooty and
smudged. Little clean tracks lined his cheeks where his tears had washed away
some of the dirt. His eyes were red and teary as he looked at up me with his
chin trembling.

I closed my eyes for a second and tipped my
head back, silently thanking God that he was okay.

“Nate?”

“Hi, Kid” I managed to choke out through
the thick emotion that was swelling inside me.

“I
’
m scared,” he whispered, not making any moves to get up.

His statement broke my heart into a
thousand pieces. I nodded, putting on a brave face.

“I know, Kid. I
’
m here now, it
’
s okay.”
He made a little whimper again and pushed himself up, throwing his arms around
my waist, hugging me tightly. I groaned as my pain worsened, but it didn
’
t seem to matter right now. I smiled and bent
down, kissing the top of his head.

“You ready to get out of here?” I asked
quietly.

He nodded, pulling back and wiping his
tears on the back of his hand. As he looked up at me with those big brown eyes
that he got from his mom, I could see the hope there. He seemed to relax as if
he thought it was over. I didn
’
t
want to be the one that had to shatter the illusion, but this was far from
over.

“Okay. I
’
ve hurt my arm, so I
’
m
going to need you to help me,” I said, dropping to my knees, ignoring the pain
in my leg as the scorched skin touched the carpet. I grabbed the zip of the wet
hoodie that I was wearing and pulled it down quickly. “Help me get this off,” I
instructed, nodding encouragingly. His little hands immediately grabbed it,
pulling it off over my damaged arm. He stopped when I cried out from the pain;
his eyes looked at me apologetically. I shook my head and put on a fake smile,
knowing I needed to get the thing off. “It
’
s okay. Just do it quick. Pull it off for me,” I encouraged. I
gritted my teeth this time and tried desperately not to make a sound when all I
wanted to do was scream and kick something.

When the hoodie was off, I took it out of
his hands, putting the hood on his head.

“Put it on,” I instructed, trying to help
him with one hand.

“But it
’
s wet,
” he protested, shaking his head. “I
’
ll gets a cold, Momma always says that.”

I smiled at the thought of his mom. If I
ever got out of here, I was marrying that girl as soon as I left the hospital.
There was no way I was wasting any more time being too pussy to admit my
feelings. If I made it out of here then I was making them my life.

“It
’
ll be fine. Just get it on, quickly,” I ordered, tugging on the
front of it, so he could put his arms in the sleeves. He pulled it on
obediently. It was huge on him, as I knew it would be. The material covered
practically all of his body, which was why I had taken special care to get it
soaked through.

I looked back at the flames that were
outside his door, they were making their way into the room now. Now that the
door was open, the fire was rapidly setting DJ
’
s carpet on fire too. If we didn
’
t get out soon then it
’
d
be too late. He didn
’
t have a
window in his bedroom, so the only way out was through the flames, back the way
I came. I had no idea how we were going to do that though. I barely made the
jump last time, now though the fire had spread and I would be carrying a
four-year-old. My heart sank, but my head refused to give up.

Struggling to get back to my feet, I picked
up the little fire extinguisher from the floor. I mentally planned everything
out. This was going to have to happen fast.

I looked back to DJ and smiled. “Right, I
’
m going to spray the fire then I
’
m gonna pick you up and we
’
ll jump back to the lounge. Now, I only have
one arm, so I
’
m not going to be
able to hold you very much. I need you to hold onto me as tight as you can.
Really, really tight, okay? You
’
re
gonna wrap your arms around my neck and your legs around my waist and you have
to hold on as tight as you can. Can you do that?” I asked, stroking the side of
his face, wiping his tears away, looking at him hopefully.