Chapter 5
Together we tore the panel back far enough to expose a narrow passage no more than three feet high.
On the other side was the neighboring roof, about one story lower.
“Owen first.”
One office worker crawled with him.
Then the others.
Miguel stayed behind.
I shook Lily.
“Baby, I need you to crawl.”
She couldn’t.
I pulled her into my arms.
Her body felt horrifyingly limp.
“I’ve got her,” Miguel said.
“No. Push us.”
I wrapped my arms around Lily’s chest and dragged her into the passage.
The metal floor burned through my pants.
Behind us, glass exploded.
Miguel pushed my shoes while I pulled forward using one arm.
“Almost there!” somebody shouted from the other side.
My wrist bent badly when I slipped.
Pain shot up my arm.
I didn’t stop.
Then hands reached through the smoke.
Firefighters from Rescue Four.
Someone took Lily.
I heard myself say, “She was talking two minutes ago.”
Then my knees gave out.
When I woke in the hospital, there was an oxygen tube under my nose and a brace around my wrist.
My first word was Lily’s name.
A nurse leaned over me.
“She’s alive.”
That was enough to make me cry before I even knew the rest.
Lily’s carbon-monoxide level had been dangerously high. Doctors had considered transferring her for specialized treatment, but she responded quickly to high-flow oxygen.
She spent one night in pediatric intensive care and two more under observation.
I had smoke inhalation, burns across both knees, cuts on my hands and a fractured wrist.
Owen recovered.
So did Miguel and the other adults from the roof.
Olivia was treated for mild smoke inhalation and a panic attack.
She went home that evening.
Daniel came to Lily’s room after midnight.
His uniform still smelled of smoke.
He stood in the doorway for several seconds before looking at our daughter beneath the oxygen mask.
“Is she going to be okay?”
“The doctors think so.”
He dropped into a chair.
Neither of us spoke for a while.
Finally he whispered, “I thought the interior team would reach you.”
I looked at him.
“You redirected the ladder.”
“Another team was going to the roof.”
“After you moved the fastest option away.”
“Rachel—”
“Lily stopped responding.”
His face twisted.
“I didn’t know that was going to happen.”
“You knew she was coughing.”
“I knew.”
“You knew our roof door was locked.”
“Yes.”
“You knew seven people were trapped.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Olivia could stand and talk.”
His jaw tightened.
“She was panicking.”
“You knew firefighters were approaching her from inside.”
“They weren’t there yet.”
“Neither was our ladder after you sent it away.”
He stood abruptly.
May you like
“She said Nolan’s name.”
The words hung between us.
