Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 38800 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 194(@200wpm)___ 155(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38800 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 194(@200wpm)___ 155(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
“Please! My boyfriend, Danny! He’s still in there somewhere!”
Instead of going back inside immediately, he turned to Mr. Knoxville.
“Up to you.” Mr. Knoxville had leaned over with his hands braced on his knees while he coughed, same as the rest of us. “Fuckin’ prick left his children in a burnin’ fuckin’ buildin’.”
“What?” I gasped in surprise, looking up at Mr. Knoxville. Not only had I never heard the other man swear like that, but he was accusing Danny -- his own son -- of deserting us in a crisis. “No! Danny and I have had our problems, but he’d never leave his kids. We got separated. He’s still in there. Probably looking for us! You have to find him!”
The firefighter took off the mask, and it was like I was looking at a slightly older, bigger, much scarier version of Danny. I sucked in a breath…
… then immediately started coughing. Luke was at my side when I collapsed on the ground on my knees. I fell forward onto my hands in the grass, coughing uncontrollably.
“We need to get Mom to the hospital.” Luke handed me a bottle of water. I had no idea where that came from, but I took a gulp before promptly coughing again. I glanced over at Aneshya. She had a worried expression on her face but wasn’t coughing anymore. Luke looked like he wasn’t hurt either, but I had to be sure. Both of them were streaked with soot.
“Are… you…” I gasped. “Are you… hurt?”
“No, Mom.” Luke was quick to reassure me. “Aneshya’s fine too. Drink some more.”
The next thing I knew an oxygen mask was placed over my face and the Danny look-alike was in front of me, holding my gaze with a steady one of his own.
“Take deep breaths, honey.” He put what looked like an inhaler in the hole at the side of the mask and squeezed it. I felt the mist from the spray enter my lungs as I inhaled. I still coughed, but after a few seconds, the pressure in my chest relaxed a little. After another lungful of air and more coughing, he did it again. After that, it wasn’t long until the pressure in my chest eased almost entirely. I still coughed, but it felt different. Like the coughing was actually helping to clear my lungs instead of being a futile effort.
“Mom?” Aneshya looked up at me with worry in her expression. She’d wiped her face with something, washing some of the soot off, but smearing it over her face.
“I’m okay, sweetie.”
“Fire and EMS are on the way.” The man kneeling in front of me moved the mask long enough to urge me to drink some more water before replacing the mask. “Just take some slow, deep breaths. I gave you an inhaler. Got something to help with the spasms in your lungs. Might make your heart race a bit, but nothing too bad.”
“Who are you?”
He glanced over at Mr. Knoxville who was looking at him with a combination of pride and relief. If there were tears in the gruff old man’s eyes, I was sure it was from the smoke. “Denver. Boy…”
“It’s Knox.” He stood before his face split into a grin. “It’s good to see you, Pop.”
“Fuckin’ Christ, Denver!” Mr. Knoxville pulled Knox close, and the two men clapped each other on the back heavily, sharing a chuckle and a warm embrace.
“Denver?” Luke asked, his eyes narrowing. “Dad’s older brother?” He shook his head slowly. “You’re dead.” Then he shifted his gaze back to his grandfather. “Or did you and Danny lie to us!” It was a demand instead of a question.
“He didn’t lie,” Knox said as he and Mr. Knoxville separated, still gripping each other’s shoulders as if reluctant to let go. “It’s complicated.” Then he knelt beside me again. “Better?”
I couldn’t speak. I was just trying to breathe. But yeah. I felt better so I nodded several times.
“Good.” Again, he removed the mask long enough to give me some more sips of water. “Luke, I’m in the older black Ford truck with an enclosed black trailer behind it. In the trailer you’ll find a stack of clean cloths in a clear tote. Bring a handful along with some more bottled water. It should all be just inside the door of the trailer.”
Luke looked at his grandfather before looking back at me. “I don’t know. I think I should stay with Mom while you go get whatever you want.”
“It’s all right, Luke.” Mr. Knoxville gave Luke a serious look. He wasn’t dismissing the older boy’s worries. More like reassuring him. “I’ll stay with Evelyn.”
“I don’t know…” He looked from his grandfather back to Knox again.
To his credit, Knox didn’t try to hurry Luke or in any way dissuade him. Instead, he waited patiently for Luke to make up his mind.