Emma: Freshman Year

Chapter 34: Tragedy

Emma spent the rest of her day fulfilling her mom's multiple requests, most of which involved doing chores around the house. Despite feeling dizzy and nauseous all day, Emma was forced to do things like shovel the sidewalk, scrub the floor, and clean the bathroom. All the while, her mom was browsing through wedding decor online on her laptop.

Needless to say, Emma was relieved when her mom finally let her go to bed for the night. She hurried up the stairs before her mom could change her mind, entered her room, and closed the door. Walking over to the space heater she always kept her room, Emma proceeded to turn it on to the hottest setting. Then, she stripped herself of her clothes and crawled into bed, completely naked except for the bandages on her arms. She then plugged her phone into its charger and placed it on her nightstand. Reaching up, she turned off the lamp, leaving the room completely dark except for the soft glow of street lamps that filtered through the window. Finally, Emma lay her head down on the pillow, pulled the blankets up under her chin, and tried to sleep.

However, despite the pounding headache she had, sleep did not come easy for Emma. For several hours, she lay awake, tossing and turning. She couldn't stop ruminating on the events that occurred the last few days. Emma felt guilty that she had slept with Brock, but the fact that her coworker Shane had announced it in public made her feel even worse. She was so afraid that everyone would find out; that coupled with an angry, threatening customer had caused Emma to have a major panic attack at work, right in front of customers and employees alike. Even though Brock had graciously sent her home after the incident, Emma was still worked up about everything. She had attempted to calm herself down by drinking an entire bottle of wine, but ended up making a drunk decision to call her ex-boyfriend, Josh, in the middle of the night.

At this point, Emma's memory was beginning to get cloudy. However, she could remember Josh calling her out for leaving her newborn baby in the school bathrooms. Just the thought of it broke Emma's heart, and she began to cry silently to herself. What kind of monster would abandon a helpless child like that? Emma knew she deserved to be punished because of what she did. Ever since that day, the guilt had hung over her head like a black cloud. Emma knew the only way to escape it was to end her life. In fact, she knew she deserved to die after what she had done to her baby. She desperately wished she could turn back time and make a better decision, but she couldn't. And she would have to live with that for the rest of her life.

However, no sooner had Emma cried herself to sleep, she was abruptly woken up by the feeling of choking and the intense heat that filled the room. Gasping for breath, she quickly sat up in bed, only to realize with horror that her room was filled with thick, black smoke. Because of the smoke, Emma could barely see what was right in front of her. Her eyes, nose, and throat burned terribly, her head pounded, and she was so dizzy she felt like she was going to pass out. 

Emma knew she had to get out of the room, or she would soon be burned alive. She could barely breathe and her skin was so hot it felt like it was going to melt off. She had never been so scared in her life. Despite feeling suicidal, Emma knew she didn't want her life to end this way; being burned to death was one of the worst ways to go. With her heart racing with fear, Emma jumped off the bed, grabbed her phone from the nightstand, and blindly groped her way around the room through the smoke until she found the window. Using all of her strength, she yanked the window open and stuck her head outside, taking huge gulps of cold winter air. 

Despite finally having access to fresh air, Emma was extremely lightheaded and was growing weaker by the second. Her vision blacked out and she lost consciousness as her limp body hung over the windowsill like a rag doll.

When Emma came to, she was being carried away on a stretcher by two paramedics; a blanket was covering her entire body up to her neck, and an oxygen mask had been placed over her nose and mouth. She caught a glimpse of her mom standing in the yard, talking on her cell phone with several items by her feet, including Emma's newly-purchased bridesmaid dress. But what stuck out the most was the house, engulfed in flames. Emma couldn't believe it. She lifted her head to get a better look, but as soon as she did, she was whisked inside an ambulance, which quickly drove her to the hospital.