I didn’t have the time or patience to deal with her shit. I wasn’t kidding, and I proved it ten minutes later when two security guards entered her room and told her to leave. She made a huge scene and threw herself onto the floor kicking and screaming with a tantrum that any three-year-old would have been envious of.
Dr. Alvarez stepped into the doorway and took in the scene. “River, call the police while I order a psych consult,” she said loudly.
Silence suddenly fell over the room. My mother got to her feet, glared at Dr. Alvarez, and stomped out the door.
My mouth dropped open in shock, and Dr. Alvarez grinned. “Works every time.”
I was so relieved to have my mother out of the hospital that the rest of the night’s craziness didn’t bother me. And when I got home, I fell asleep the second my head hit my pillow.
Chapter Seven
Judge
The one thing I didn’t like about living in the rental house was the distance it was from my office. My mom’s house, the clubhouse, and my new house were all on the other side of town where my office was located. Since I tended to do a good bit of work at home, I set up a makeshift office in one of the guest bedrooms of the rental house.
It didn’t happen very often, but occasionally I would get an alert that needed immediate attention. So, when one of those alerts came to my phone Saturday morning, I stopped what I was doing and went back to my home office to see what was going on.
When my eyes landed on not one, not two, but four sensors picking up smoke or fire in River’s house, my heart skipped a few beats before my body sprang into action. I knew the system was wired to call 9-1-1, but I called from my cell phone anyway as I ran over to her house and started pounding on the front door.
River didn’t open the door, but I knew she was home. I saw her pull into her driveway when she came home from work, and her car was still sitting in the same spot. And I knew she was probably asleep.
I gave the dispatcher the address and told her what was going on before I ended the call and moved around to the back of the house. Luckily, I had just done the security install on the house right before River moved in, so the layout was still fresh in my mind.
After I checked the back door knob and found it cool to the touch, I gave it a turn, but it was locked. Taking a step back, I raised my booted foot and planted it squarely in the center of the door. The wood creaked, but the door didn’t open. It took two more solid kicks before it finally flew open, and thick, white smoke poured out at an alarming rate.
I covered my face with my shirt and ducked down low, following along the wall to what I hoped was the bedroom River was using. Flinging the door open, I rushed inside and closed it behind me. The room was filled with smoke, not as bad as the hallway, but bad enough that I couldn’t see clearly.
“River!” I yelled, followed by a fit of coughing. “River! Are you in here?”
“Jonah?” she croaked and coughed.
“Keep talking,” I ordered.
“Can’t. It hurts.”
I went for the window I could barely make out through the smoke and tripped over something.
“Ow! Fuck, Jonah!” River groaned from below me. I reached down and grabbed for anything I could get my hands on while keeping my eyes focused on the window. When my fingers made contact with cloth, I grabbed and pulled, dragging her along with me as I tried to get us to the window.
My eyes were burning, and it was becoming more and more painful to breathe. I was struggling, and I wasn’t sure we were going to make it out of the house. I knew smoke inhalation was usually the cause of death for victims of fires, and I now fully understood why.
My steps faltered, and I fell against the window as I gasped for breath and tried not to acknowledge the absence of River’s coughing. With the last bit of strength I could muster, I flipped the locks and raised the window. Pressing my face against the screen, I sucked in a huge lungful of air while I pushed it out of the frame.
I squatted down and scooped River’s limp body into my arms. I hated to do it, but there wasn’t time to be gentle. I dangled her as far as I could out the window before I let her fall to the ground below. At least it was a one-story house, so the fall wasn’t too far.
I attempted to land on my feet, but fell on my ass the second my boots touched the ground. I scrambled to grab her and pull her to me, so I could press my lips to hers and breathe what little breath I had into her smoke-filled lungs. And that’s how the fire department found us. Passed out on the ground with my arms around her and my lips pressed to hers.
***
“Judge! Knock this shit off!” Copper ordered from beside me.
I shoved my President as hard as I could and jumped up from the stretcher they were trying to keep me on. “Where is she?” I roared and then damn near collapsed as I gasped for air through a fit of coughing.
I steadied myself, caught my breath, and pushed past the men surrounding me. Or I meant to. I was captured from behind by the big bastard I thought was my best friend. “Let me fucking go, Batta.”
Kennedy suddenly appeared in front of me and placed her hand on my cheek. “Judge, please get back in the bed. River’s in the next room, and we’re trying to help her, but you’re pulling resources from her by not cooperating with us. Sit down, put that oxygen mask back on, and breathe so I can go back in there.”
I nodded and did everything she said without a word. The moment I was settled, Kennedy disappeared and Batta gently squeezed my shoulder. I tilted my head to the sky, closed my eyes, and prayed that I didn’t get to her too late.