She shook her head frantically and pointed at me.
“I’m okay. I’ve been wearing it this whole time. You need it now.”
She shook her head again, her eyes wide with panic.
“Take it! I’ll be okay.”
Her eyebrows raised in disbelief. I couldn’t help but chuckle, coughing and disproving myself as I did.
“Your baby needs you. Take it.”
I felt her acquiesce. She slowly nodded then touched my arm to stop me. “I’m Sarah. This is Benji. Thank you.”
“It’s my pleasure.” She held still for me to pull the mask over her face. As I slid the mask on, I continued to reassure her. “We’ll be okay. The fire station is close, and my girlfriend’s calling for help. She’ll get them here as fast as possible.” I kept talking, promising her that Juliette would take care of us, trying to distract her. And perhaps myself, too.
Where was help? We were less than a mile from the firehouse. They should’ve been here already. Even if they weren’t available, the next station wasn’t that far. Smoke was starting to come in from around the door. We couldn’t wait much longer.
38
Juliette
Oh God. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. This was my worst nightmare, and nothing was going right. I couldn’t do anything right.
The instant Dylan pulled away from me, I reached into my pocket for my phone to call 911. Empty. Every pocket empty. I screamed for Dylan, but he was already at the house, pulling the door shut behind him.
I sprinted to the car and yanked the door, but it didn’t budge. I raced around, trying every door. Locked. Both our phones sat in the console, mocking me.
Damn Dylan and his compulsive door locking!
“Help! Fire!” I screamed, running to the house next door. Banged on their door. Their window. Screamed. No answer. I ran to the next house. Banged. Screamed. Begged. No answer at that house or the next or the next after that. No one was coming to help. Someone had to be home! Shooting a look at thenext house down, I gave up on it, praying it wasn’t the wrong decision.
I ran back to the car. Searched for a big rock. How were there no rocks? God, give me any damn rock. I found a small rock, banged on the window as hard as I could, again and again, but it didn’t crack even a little. God, I needed that phone! I was wasting too much time. Smoke was coming out through the window, and I was no closer to getting help.
I had to run. I ran like I’d never run before. My lungs burned, my ankle throbbed, but I pushed on. I fell up a curb, scrambled to keep going, ignoring the pain shooting through my knees, my ankle. I had to run faster. I tripped again. Shit! It was too hard to see through my tears. I was too slow.
Fuck. An intersection. Left, right, or straight? How could I not know? If I was wrong, Dylan could die. I chose left, praying. Dylan couldn’t die because I had a shitty sense of direction. My ankle gave out and I almost fell again, but I kept running. Well, half ran, half limped as fast as I could. It wasn’t fast enough.
Shit! This wasn’t it! I’d gone the wrong way. Dammit! Heart pounding, muscles aching, tears blinding me, I spun around and kept running.I’m sorry, Dylan. Please be okay.
There!The red brick building of the firehouse was just ahead. Boosted by the sight, I surged toward it, and then I was bursting through the door. “Fire! Help!”
Someone grabbed my shoulders and said something. I blinked away the tears and saw Chief’s worried face.
“Juliette, what’s wrong?” Chief asked.
Taco, Moose, Penelope, and other people I didn’t know were right behind him. “What’s wrong?”
“Dylan! Fire!” I gulped in lungfuls of air. “He needs help.”
“Where?”
“Second street. 500 Second street.”
“Are you okay?” Taco asked.
“Yes, I’m fine. Go! It’s been too long! Please!”
“We’ll go get him,” Penelope said. “Stay here and we’ll bring him back with us soon.” Then they were running to the bay, and sirens filled the air.