True Love Waits Pt. 02

Fire was everywhere. Flames twisted and curled igniting everything they touched as the world turned into a fiery hell. The old tenement building was well alight and glowed like a furnace against the blackness of the midnight sky.

Below, surrounding it like flittering fireflies, the rescue and containment continued apace as small groups of Fire-fighters entered the ten-story building searching for survivors.

One group, a pair, had reached the top floor.

Fire-fighter 47 crouched low as he forced open the door of the last apartment they had managed to reach. The air was thick with black acrid smoke as he looked over his shoulder at his companion who was kneeling in the stairwell watching him. He reached up and tapped the side of his oxygen mask shaking his head. His comms were intermittent and even if he could hear them they were mostly drowned out by the roar of the fire.

His companion, Fire-fighter 38, nodded and held up two fingers.

Two unaccounted for. Two missing people. Two little girls.

They had already rescued their unconscious mother and another older girl who had told the others about her missing sisters as they were passed down the line.

There was a sudden loud crack and 47 turned back to see the floorboards behind him beginning to smoke as the heat from below made them expand and buckle. Time was of the essence and time was running out. The fire had spread to the outside of the building and had snaked its way up the cladding to every floor. The ceiling above him flared brightly and as it burned he could see the crisscrossing joists turning black as they began to smolder.

Inside his mask, he was breathing hard as he tried to open the last bedroom door. But the wood had expanded and it was stuck. Grunting, he twisted around so he could use his feet to kick it open.

It was a children's bedroom. On top of cupboards and along several shelves were toys of every description all sat together unaware of the danger they were in. There were two single beds but both were empty as he crawled into the room with the light from his helmet lamp searching the smokey gloom.

Checking under each bed, 47 frowned as he looked around the room. Where were they? Had they somehow gotten out and made their own way down the fire escape? No, that was impossible. Every exit was covered and had been cleared. They had to be here somewhere.

There was a sudden hiss and he looked up through his breather to see flames flickering above him as they reached the ceiling. Fiery spittle dropped onto the far bed setting alight the duvet and sheets. Alright. Enough was enough. It was time to think of their own safety and get the hell out of Dodge.

The heat was intense as he started to turn back when something caught his eye. He looked at it for a second before realizing it was a doll. A rag doll with bright orange hair that was lying slumped next to a large inbuilt cupboard at the far side of the bedroom. As he stared, one of the doors suddenly opened slightly and a small hand reached out to grab the toy before disappearing back inside.

"Oh shit," he muttered as his heart leaped in his chest. There was a sudden burst of static in his ears. "Back out!" said a panicked voice. "We need to get the hell out right now!!" He looked over his shoulder and saw his partner gesticulating wildly at him. "Let's go!"

Ignoring the command from his superior, he turned back and began to crawl across the room to where the ragdoll had been. Reaching the cupboard, he grabbed the bottom of the door and yanked it open to find a girl of about eight wedged into the corner holding the doll to her chest. She was wide-eyed with fright, covered in dirt, and he could see her struggling to breathe as she gasped for air.

Instinctively, he tossed his yellow "47" helmet to one side, ripped off his breather, and placed it over the girls face. Immediately, she took great gulps of oxygen and began to move towards him. He was about to reach for her when she shook her head and pointed to the other side of the cupboard. It was then he noticed a pair of bare feet sticking out from under a pile of clothes.

The other girl. Her sister.

He reached for the first girl who wrapped her arms and legs around him then leaned in for the other by grabbing her by the right ankle to drag her out from where she was hiding. She was barely conscious and as he knelt there he switched his mask from one to the other and watched as the younger child began to stir in his arms.

Suddenly the room was lit by a bright white light and the Fire-fighter turned to see a blinding spotlight shining through the bedroom window. Above the sound of the fire, he could just make out the "whup, whup, whup" of a helicopter's rotors. He raised a hand to shield his eyes and automatically thought it was Police or Rescue. And they had seen them.

Taking deep lungfuls of air before handing his mask back to the older girl for her and her sister to use, he held them to him as he began to edge back towards the door. There was a sudden loud cracking sound and he looked up as the ceiling gave way and burning debris began to fall on and all around them.

Crouching over both girls, he realized his suit was beginning to smolder and burn. The only thing that mattered now was to get them out. Whatever it took, whatever sacrifice he had to make, he had to do it. Still in the circle of white light, he slowly inched back and could feel the heat from below cracking the wooden beams as the inferno continued to consume everything in its path.

His lungs were on fire and he glanced down at the pair of girls wrapped around him. The youngest had on the mask and gave him a thumbs up which made him laugh despite himself.

Once they reached the doorway, he could see his partner through the smoke and heat laying flat out on the top step of the stairwell urging him on with another Fire-fighter hunkered down against the wall behind him. He handed over each girl to his backup who quickly turned and passed them back down the line to be taken out of the burning building.

It was then everything changed.

There was a sudden explosion from below as the window shattered and the backdraft blew him across the room where he hit the wall hard. The last thing Fire-fighter 47 remembered as the pain rolled over him in electric waves was the memory of a girl in a red woolen hat looking up at him as she knelt in the snow.

***

Far below, the pale blue dot slowly turned as the silver 747 banked gracefully and headed out across the Atlantic towards home.

The boy sat staring out of the window in a world of his own with his thoughts firmly rooted in the recent past. All he could think about was the one thing he was leaving far behind as their trip came to an end.

"You look sad," said a voice to his right. "Everything comes to an end, hon. Maybe we'll go back again one day."

Fifteen-year-old Joss Vandenburg turned to see his mother watching him. She tilted her head and he could see the question in her eyes. The trip had been a grand tour with his family visiting various relatives who were scattered across Europe. Their last port of call had been just outside London and they had spent three days with a distant cousin in the old country. And now it was over. He didn't reply but smiled and nodded.

"It's a girl," said his eight-year-old sister sitting reading a magazine to his mothers right who looked from her youngest child to the oldest.

"Oh?" she asked, amused at the look on her son's face.

Joss glared at his sister who was innocently chewing gum and blowing bubbles. "No, it's not. Don't listen to her, Mom," he frowned. "Carly doesn't know what she's talking about."

"Do too," replied the girl under a bushel of brown shoulder-length curls with a sprinkle of freckles across the bridge of her pert nose. "Last night when we were out playing. There was this girl. She was really pretty and sort of different."

Their mother shook her head. "Different?"

Her daughter continued to flick through her magazine. "Uh-huh," she explained. "Think she comes from Japan or something."

"She was Chinese, dummy," Joss blurted out before turning red.

Carly sat forward in her seat and stuck out her tongue at him. "Told you," she said to her mother. "Everyone was playing catch and he caught her."

"Is that so?" his mother said turning to him.

"He doesn't even know her name," continued his sister. "And she's only about ten or so."

His mother raised an eyebrow at her son. "Only ten?"

Joss ignored the question and stared at his sister. Did she know her name? How could she know her name? They had only been there a couple of days. His younger sister could be a right pain in the ass when she wanted to be. But she knew the girl's name and he needed to know it.

"You don't know her name," he said.

"Do too."

"No, you don't."

"Do too two times."

"Then what is it?"

His sister looked at him. Her big brother could be such a dork. Why hadn't he just asked the girl himself? "Her name is," She stopped chewing her gum and screwed up her face as she tried to remember. "Jyn. Or something like that. Like I said, Japanese."

Joss glanced at his mother.

"What a nice name," she smiled. "Though she sounds a little on the young side. Don't worry, we'll be home soon and you'll forget all this ever happened once you get back with your friends."

He shrugged. "Sure, mom," he nodded before turning back to look out of the window. "I'm fine. It was nothing." He felt strangely light-headed as he sat there. It was like he had taken a step forward into something he didn't yet understand. He had asked the girl her name but she had kept silent and not knowing irritated him more than he cared to admit. But now he knew her first name as it echoed around inside his head.

The girl in the red woolen hat was called Jyn.

***

Everything was organized chaos.

It had been nearly an hour since she had received the text for all emergency personnel to report for duty because of a major incident. Along with a group of other nurses, Jyn ran through the main hospital entrance to find the lobby and waiting area being cleared.

A section had been cordoned off and was packed with photographers, reporters, and tv crews as Jyn and the other personnel waited for the first responders to arrive. Standard operational procedure meant that specialist teams had already been set up based on what sort of event it was so that everyone knew their roles and were ready to go.

"Big story," said a voice behind her. "Everyone is covering it. Even the foreign news channels. Especially now they've got something to pin their hat on."

Jyn turned to see the main receptionist standing there. The man was in his late fifties, black, bald, tall and thin dressed in a pressed white shirt, black tie, and pants. Jyn shook her head in confusion. "What?"

George Hobbs scribbled updates on a large white notice board that had been set up for the latest information. "Haven't you seen the news?" he asked her. "About what happened earlier?"

"No," replied Jyn. "I just know there was a big fire over on the east side."

"Everyone is talking about it."

"About what?" Jyn looked around as more injured people were brought in mostly suffering from smoke inhalation.

The receptionist glanced at her as his assistant handed him another batch of notes. "The man. The one who rescued those two kids. The Fire-fighter. The tv news showed the whole thing live. He's a real-life god damned hero," He stopped and frowned. "Well, he will be if he's still alive."

Jyn didn't say anything as she saw a crowd of people standing watching a news channel on the large tv at the other end of the room. Making her way through the throng, she stopped and stared at the screen with the others. At first, it showed the side of a building on fire but then the image zoomed in to an apartment window on the top floor that had been lit up by a spotlight. Thick smoke obscured the view but suddenly cleared to show someone crawling under the flames towards what looked like a small cupboard.

There was a gasp as they saw the Fire-fighter reach in and pull out two small figures. Jyn felt her heart flutter when she saw him hug the two girls to his chest and realized what he was doing. He was using himself as a shield to protect them from the fire as he slowly made his way back out of the room. Somebody clapped when they saw him handing each girl over to someone out of sight but then there was a bright flash followed by a loud bang as the apartment disappeared in a cloud of smoke and debris with the helicopter backing away to hover at a safe distance.

"Oh my God," whispered a nurse who was standing beside her.

"Like I told you," said George who had followed Jyn to stand and watch the news. "Man is a hero. He saved those kids," he said. "All that happened half an hour ago. They managed to get him out. He's due any minute. That's why all the press and tv are here."

For Jyn Halliday, the world was about to come full circle.

***

There was an explosion of light with a wall of flashbulbs going off as the ambulance screeched to a halt and reversed into the area in front of the main hospital entrance.

News crews and press surged forward to be held back by the Police and security as the paramedics wheeled their injured passenger inside on a stretcher to be met by the crash and resus team.

Jyn was standing to one side with two other nurses as the Fire-fighter came into view. The man had been packed either side for support with his head secured by a pair of straps across his chin and forehead. He was still in his uniform which had been cut open down the front and there were the beginnings of bruises either side of his ribcage. Under the oxygen mask, his face was covered in dirt and scorched red from the heat and flames. Both hands were burnt and clenched either side of him as he laid there unconscious.

One of the paramedics turned to the lead Doctor. "Patient was none responsive when he came out. Had to defib him on the way here. Vitals are critical but stable. He has flash burns from the explosion and from what we can tell definite breaks and fractures to his lower body. He's a mess."

Along with two other nurses, Jyn was overseeing the basic requirements of intensive care so that the patient could be connected up to the various drips and monitors surrounding him as soon as possible. But first, they had to get him out of his clothes. Using scissors, she was standing next to the bed cutting away the sleeve to free up his right arm as the doctor used a small pencil thin light to check his pupil response. The man looked to be about twenty-five or so as she glanced at him with the mask still in place to help him to breathe.

Gently turning his arm so that his hand was palm up, Jyn saw his fingers move and she had a sudden urge to comfort him. Glancing at the others, she slipped her hand into his and held it for a moment as she watched his chest slowly rising and falling.

The senior nurse turned to the injured man's colleague who had accompanied him in the ambulance. He was still in his uniform and holding his safety helmet which had "38" on it. "Were you there with him?"

"He's part of my team," replied the man. His face was covered in sweat and dirt. "We were clearing the top floor. The last apartment. There was a report of two missing girls. The place was well alight when we managed to reach it. He was on point. We got orders to back out but he ignored them. He must have seen something because he went in and got them out," He looked over her shoulder at the man on the bed as the medical team worked on his friend. "And then everything went to shit."

The nurse nodded and put a hand on his arm. "Can you tell me his name?" she asked. "We're going to need things like his personal details so we can check his medical history. Address. Next of kin. That sort of thing."

"Uh, yeah. Sure," the man replied. "Vandenburg."

Jyn turned her head in surprise. There was a sudden jolt through her whole body at the mention of his name. She stared at the older man. "What did you say?"

The Fire-fighter glanced at the senior nurse standing next to him. The injured man was connected up to the system and the slow beep of his heart broke the silence.

"Vandenburg," he repeated. "His name is Joss Vandenburg. He's uh about twenty-five. Originally from America. Moved here about three years ago. Is something wrong?" he asked. "Do you know him?"

Jyn ignored the question and turned back to the man on the bed. Her world had suddenly become very small as she let go of his hand and took a step back. It couldn't be him. It was impossible. She blinked as a particular memory of a name tag flashed before her and she knew there was only one way to be sure.

From a dispenser on the wall, she pulled a wet wipe and moved around to the right side of the bed as the other people in the room continued to work on the man. Jyn could feel her heart thudding in her chest as she stared down at him as he lay there. He was still wearing the mask but she could see the side of his blackened face.

The nurse on the other side of the bed gave her a curious look as she reached forward and gently wiped away the dirt on his left cheek until she could see what she needed to see.

Jyn gasped and stepped back in shock.

There on his cheek was the scar she remembered.

It was him.

The boy from long ago. The boy who had chased and caught her.

The boy she had been waiting for.

***

End of part 2.