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She was so light that it was easy to move her around in my arms, so I took off my gas mask and put it on her face.
The thick, black smoke took my breath away. We had to get out of here right away.
As I walked back to the main area, I coughed and held the small body close to me. I moved quickly, hardly noticing that my men were starting to put out the fire.
I ran down the stairs faster than I had run up, and my mind was full of bad thoughts.
Please let her be all right.
As soon as I burst through the main doors and saw the light of day again, I took a deep breath and welcomed the fresh air (as fresh as Portland air can get) into my lungs.
I was mostly focused on the girl in my arms, and when I looked down at her, it felt like the wind had been knocked out of me again. Her mask had fallen off, and I couldn’t think of anything.
“Sir, we need to treat her.” I didn’t understand what the paramedic was saying at first, but then I realised what was happening.
I put her on the waiting stretcher and stepped back, not sure what to do, so the paramedics could do their jobs.
I didn’t get it. I couldn’t believe what I had just seen.
She was a heavenly being.
The ECG machine’s loud screeching woke me up with a start. My brain quickly took in everything that was happening.
I ran to the edge of the bed again and hugged her to me.
“I told you you were okay,” and I ran my hand over her head to try to calm her down. She coughed and gurgled, choking on her own spit as she tried to breathe.
“No, no, no,” I said as I held her trashing body gently but firmly so she wouldn’t hurt herself.
I promised her, “You’re safe. You’re safe.” Then I kept stroking her head.
Her body shook with sobs. I felt the same hopelessness that I’ve been living with for a long time as I held the little face in my arms and watched it break down.
Her breathing slowed down and she stopped convulsing after a few minutes. I thought she would go back to sleep like she had every other time, but this time she turned and looked right at me.
Her hazel eyes were so bright they looked orange. I was shocked not only by how rare her eye colour was, but also by how innocent they looked. She looked so… not dangerous.
Her stare was so strong that it kept me where I was, unable to move.
Her eyelids started to droop again, and she wrapped her arms around mine and rubbed her head against it like a kitten.
I listened to her little breaths as she closed her eyes. She was too special, and I’m not sure I could have handled it.
I thought I heard her mumble, “My hero,” and for the first time in a long time, I smiled a cheesy smile.
I carried her out of a burning flat about twenty-four hours ago, and she has been waking up every hour for the past ten hours, completely and utterly traumatised.
I couldn’t make myself go. I haven’t left her since the EMT took her to the hospital and moved her to this room. Except for the twenty minutes I spent in the hospital shower. I had taken off my uniform and put on some casual clothes that I had bought at the store across the street.
For hours, I sat next to her bed, wondering what I was doing there. I tried to tell myself that this was very wrong, but every time I tried to leave, I would look at her face and know that I couldn’t go.
As the hours went by and the investigation results started to come in, I found more and more reasons to stay.
The first reports say that the fire may have started when a lighter exploded on the couch. It spread quickly, and they think the man we found was passed out from drinking too much.
With all the bottles I saw on the floor, it wasn’t hard to figure that one out.
The fire spread quickly, even though the flat had carpet. The gas pipes caused the explosion, and they said that if we had come ten minutes later, the damage could have been much worse.
The thing is, we still didn’t know who the victims were, but I was going to find out very soon.
~ ~ ~
“Mr. Reid, Mr. Reid?” Someone was shaking me awake, and I could feel my annoyance rising in my chest. Who the hell was waking me up?
I grumbled, “What?” and then I heard a whimper from next to me and knew I had made a mistake.
She was still asleep, but I cursed myself for making her even a little bit upset. I stroked her fingers, which were tightly wrapped around my thumb.
Someone cleared their throat, and when I looked up, I saw what I thought was a doctor looking at me like I was a rabid dog that was about to attack. Then I saw the four big security guards behind him. They looked just as scared, if not more so.
I knew right away where they were going with this.
I asked, “How is she doing, doc?” and leaned back in my seat, keeping my face completely still.
“W-well, you see, Mr. Reid, the hospital can’t… we can’t tell you that,” he said, pulling out a yellow handkerchief and wiping the sweat off his forehead. If this had been any other time, I would have laughed.
“And why not?” I asked, trying to figure out how long it would take him to just say it.
“It’s our policy,” he began strongly, but I could see the exact moment his resolve began to wane. He weakly said, “This is a very sensitive matter and we have to follow the rules. So, you can’t… be here… right now.”
I stayed quiet for a while, trying to calm down so I wouldn’t do something that would make things worse. The only sound I heard was the beeping that told me the little angel was breathing. I looked at her sleeping face for a moment before turning back to the idiots in front of me.
“I am not leaving her,” I said firmly, with no room for argument.
They probably thought I would fight back, so I had no idea what those confused faces were about. They looked at each other, not sure what to do next, and I rolled my eyes at how stupid they were.
“Mr. Reid,” he began, but a tiny sneeze and the sound of shuffling cut him off.
I was only paying attention to her now. Her hazel eyes blessed me again, and the innocence and purity on her face shocked me for a second.
I thought I saw a small smile on her pouty lips, but it was gone as soon as she saw the five other men in the room.
A lot of noise.
That was the only word that came to mind to describe what happened next. She screamed so loudly that it made her blood run cold, and then she climbed up on the bed to get as far away as she could. When that didn’t work, she pulled my body in front of her with strength I couldn’t explain and used me as a shield.
I felt proud that she trusted me enough to know that I would always protect her, but I couldn’t think about it for long because these jerks were back.
They grabbed their teasers and moved closer, making her scream again as she tried to get off the bed and behind me. I was so angry that I could feel my blood boiling. I knew she was probably moving her IV and hurting herself, all because these idiots don’t seem to have enough common sense to know that now is not the time.
I thought about attacking them. It wouldn’t have taken much to take these fat clowns down, but I couldn’t imagine being that violent in front of her. So instead, I turned around and wrapped my arms around her small body, covering her completely and keeping the men behind me from seeing her.
“Don’t be scared, honey,” I said, holding the back of her head as she buried her face in my chest. “I’m here, so nobody will hurt you.”