Chapter 11 - Fire and RedemptionThe second floor was a roaring inferno.
A incendiary device had been thrown through the nursery window, igniting the curtains and the hardwood floor. Flames licked the walls, creating a wall of heat that would have turned any ordinary person away.
"MAYA!" I tried to sprint up the stairs behind Alex, but the smoke blinded me, driving me to my knees as I coughed uncontrollably.
"STAY DOWN!" Alex’s voice echoed through the blaze.
Through the thick gray smoke, I saw Alex throw his weight against the nursery door. The wood buckled under his momentum. Inside, tiny Maya was screaming in her crib, surrounded by a ring of growing fire.
Alex didn't hesitate for a single microsecond.
He didn't check for structural integrity. He didn't look for an escape route. He sprinted straight through the flames, shielding Maya’s crib with his own body.
"I've got you, baby! I've got you!" Alex roared.
He wrapped his good arm tightly around Maya, shielding her head under his torn shirt. The heat was blinding—his scarred face began to blister anew, his clothes catching fire along his shoulder.
He turned toward the doorway, but the ceiling beam fractured with a loud CRACK! and collapsed, blocking the stairs completely.
"ALEX!" I screamed from the landing below, forced back by the wall of fire.
"TAKE HER!" Alex yelled from above.
He scrambled to the second-story hallway window, kicked out the glass with his heavy boot, and leaned out into the rainy night.
Down on the street below, Mark’s paramedic truck pulled up, tires screeching onto the curb. Mark flung his door open, seeing the flames roaring from the roof.
"LUCY! GET OUT OF THE HOUSE!" Mark bellowed, pulling a portable rescue ladder off the side of the rig.
"THE BABY IS UP THERE!" I sobbed, collapsing onto the wet front lawn, choking on smoke.
Up at the window, Alex held Maya out with his single functioning arm, shielding her from the heat pouring out behind him.
"MARK! CATCH HER!" Alex screamed over the roar of the fire.
Mark threw his ladder against the wall, scrambling up the rungs at breakneck speed. He reached the second story just as the flames burst through the window frame behind Alex.
Alex gently pushed Maya into Mark’s waiting arms.
"I’ve got her! I’ve got the baby!" Mark yelled down to the street.
"Take care of them, Mark!" Alex rasped, his eyes locking with the rookie firefighter's one last time. "Be the man I couldn't be!"
"Alex, climb out!" Mark shouted, reaching back toward him. "Give me your hand!"
Alex looked back into the burning room behind him. A second ceiling joist gave way.
Instead of reaching for Mark’s hand, Alex smiled—a sad, beautiful, peaceful smile through the smoke and scars.
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"Tell Lucy... I finally ran toward her first," Alex whispered.
An explosion of fire blew through the second-story frame, throwing Mark back onto the ladder as the entire upper floor caved in.
