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“No one is going in. It is unsafe. We are fighting it from above and evacuating as fast as we can,” he says to me as all his people remain outside at the doors, pulling people out as quickly as they can.
“It is not fucking fast enough!” I yell as I pull my hair, stress eating my insides.
“Harrison is here,” Ben says as I see a small motorcade pull up, and my brother steps out before the car even stops.
“Eddie.” He rushes over to where Ben, Tennyson, and I stand. He was down in DC today, so it has taken him forever to get here.
“Mom and Pinkie are still inside,” Ben tells him, and he swallows before looking up at the hospital. Flames are now starting to glow out from the roof, and I see a steady stream of patients and nurses all flowing out the doors. I watch closely for Katie, but she isn’t coming.
“She said she was going to get Mom out when I last spoke to her. That was about twenty minutes ago,” I say, feeling useless as the police stand nearby, knowing that I am going to jump this barricade the minute they turn their backs.
“She should just leave her there. I wouldn’t be saving her,” Tennyson mumbles, doing nothing to help the situation.
There are people everywhere. Paramedics, patients, families, even the media have started pulling up. Their large white vans and cameras are on, and they are doing a livestream to their respective news stations. Dusk has fallen already, and large spotlights have been put in place. We are all just standing here, waiting to see our loved ones, while watching the whole place burn.
“Governor Rothschild, any news on your mother?” A young woman comes up to us and sticks a microphone into his face. He frowns and doesn’t answer the question as police come over to her immediately and escort her back over to where the media are congregating. Harrison looks concerned. Mostly for our mother and Pinkie, because they are both still inside, but also for Baltimore, because this is a terrible day for the city.
“Harrison. We have our name, we have money, but that still can't get me my girl. I need to get in there. I need to get her,” I grit out, and he looks down at me before looking back at the hospital. The bright-orange flames are now bigger and brighter than before.
“Oh my God.” I hear a woman's voice and see Willow, Beth, and Emily rushing toward us, and they stand, all looking at the hospital in awe.
“Chief, give me an update,” Harrison snaps at Chief Warden as Harrison’s people mill around, some on phones, taking notes, all looking busy.
“We are securing the grounds, as it is too dangerous for our guys to enter. We are controlling it from the air now,” he says just as a chopper flies over.
“Don’t you understand? Can’t you see that people are still inside? We need to get them out,” I seethe. Harrison’s brow crumples even more.
“As I said before, we are doing everything we can. There are still people coming out. Our guys are at the emergency exits and helping, but we can’t go in too deep. The risk is too high,” he says, and on paper, it makes sense. Why send in hundreds of men to potentially risk their lives for a few people. But doesn’t he understand that my whole heart is in that building?
I see a few other nurses making their way out, and I squint, trying to see if it is her. I see Tracey from the neonatal ward, a baby in her arms, and I immediately know it is Buddy. She runs past me, looking at me, wide-eyed and terrified.
“Are you okay?” I yell out to her.
“Fine. The baby is fine too,” she says as she lowers her arm a little, and I see him sleeping peacefully through it all. I watch as the nurses rush around her, and she walks over to the far end of the crowd, where all nurses and patients are congregating. I look back to the hospital doors and see more people rushing out. I’m frantically looking for the pink hair I love, but I can’t see it. I do see Shelley pushing a man in a wheelchair, though, and I rush over to where she is going.
“Shelley. Shelley!” I’m panicked as I grab her, spinning her toward me. She looks frazzled, wet, and is coughing up a storm. Tennyson takes the man in the wheelchair and pushes him toward the paramedics before coming to my side. “Where is she? Where’s Katie?” I ask, fear spiking my veins.
“She was in your mother’s room, just unhooking her from the monitors before pushing her out. She said she was right behind me,” she says as we both look toward the doors, and new hope flames in my chest.
“She is still alive. She is okay. She will be out in a minute,” Tennyson says, grabbing my shoulders and pulling me back toward where Harrison and Ben stand. My eyes don’t leave the door, and I stand and wait with my brothers as one minute turns into two, then two turns into three.
“Come on, Pinkie. Come out. Come out to me,” I murmur under my breath as me and my whole family wait, watching the door, waiting for the sight of the woman who has ingrained herself into me, my heart, and my life.
Then I see her.
“Pinkie!” I yell the minute I see her frame push through the door. She is with another woman who looks a little familiar, the two holding hands and stumbling out, coughing and falling into each other. I don’t hesitate then, my body already moving.
“Eddie!” I hear Harrison yell behind me as I jump the police barricade to shouts and curses from my brothers and surrounding emergency services. But nothing will stop me from running to her.
The lights are bright, people are screaming, and the flames are hot against my face the closer I run to them, but I can’t stop. It is complete bedlam. The flashes of cameras and the movement of the crowd behind me feels like a pulsating wave.
“Jesus Christ!” Tennyson grits out behind me, followed by Willow screaming his name, and I know he has jumped the barricade too. I don’t look at them, though, my eyes firmly on one person and one person only.
“Eddie!” Harrison yells again, this time more panicked, and I know he is right behind me too. Red and blue lights flash, the spotlights bright above us, and I hear a small rumble and a gasp from the crowd.
“Watch out!” Ben warns, his voice close, so I know he is also hot on my tail. I look up briefly and see smoke plume into the dark sky and immediately know part of the roof has collapsed.
“Eddie!” Katie screams, running straight for me, only a few yards separating us. I recognize the other woman with her then. It’s Lucy, who I met with Pinkie in the baby ward.
