AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Ssh," I soothe her as I catch her and hold her against me. "Daddy's got you now. Everything's going to be okay."
She sniffs and pulls back from me. I watch as she looks over my shoulder, her eyes widening in fear.
"Zeke!" she screams my name, and I turn to see Jeff pouring gasoline all over the floor.
What the fuck? Who keeps gasoline on standby in the house? Was this his plan all along? To burn his house down?
I don't even try to reason with the crazy fucker. Instead, I grab Jaz and shield her with my body as I walk us away from her stepdad.
He lets out a maniacal laugh as he lights a match and throws it on the gas.
I feel the heat from the instant flames that surround us. The fucker must have had gas already poured all around his house, and it's an oversight on my part that I didn't smell it as soon as I walked in the door. The only thing I can contribute my lax to is the adrenaline rush of being so worried about Jaz I couldn't think of anything else.
"Zeke!" Jaz is screaming my name, and all I can tell her is to hang on tight as I run us to the door. The heat is so intense it's rising past my waist, and the pain shoots all through my back as my shirt catches fire.
"Zeke, we can't make it out!" Jaz yells as she holds me tighter, her nails digging into my skin.
"Just hang onto me, baby. I've got you."
I don't know where her stepdad is or if he was happy to go down in the flames like the crazy fucker he obviously is, but all I can think about is Jaz.
Jaz.
She's the one I'm trying to save.
She's the one I'm trying to protect.
I'm going to keep her alive.
I look down at her, and her eyes are wide and scared. I push her head against my chest to protect her from the smoke and flames as I pummel my way through to the door, taking the brunt of the heat.
I don't know how long I can last, but I do know I'm not letting go. I run through the door and out into the driveway, pulling her with me.
The flames follow us, enveloping the door we just exited. I fall to my knees as I feel the heat from the flames grazing my back. The pain is something I'm not familiar with, and it's agonizing.
"Zeke!" Jaz yells as my eyes start to close. I'm so exhausted, and the last thing I feel is Jaz's cool tears against my cheek.
And then, there's nothing but darkness.
ChapterSeven
Jaz
I'm notready to lose him. I can't.
I watch as the paramedics rush him onto the stretcher and into the ambulance. I don't even care that my arms and legs hurt from the burns and bruises I got escaping the fire. I need to be taken to the hospital with him. I need to be there when he wakes up.
"Jaz, we're taking care of him. Let us look at you," the paramedic who attended me after my apartment building burnt down begs me, holding onto my arm.
"No, I need to be with Zeke." I pull my arm from his grip and run to the ambulance, jumping inside before the doors are even closed. "I need to be with him."
"Jaz, we're going to take good care of him," the paramedic tells me as he straps a monitor to Zeke's chest and puts a needle in his arm.
"I need to be there. I need to be with him the whole time," I insist as the door to the ambulance is closed. I physically shove the paramedic out of my way and climb over the bench so that I'm sitting next to Zeke.
"Jaz, you need to let us do our job," he insists, placing his hands gently on my shoulders.
I shake him off, not wanting to hear anything he has to say. He needs to take me to the hospital, and I need to be there with Zeke to make sure he's okay.
