Burn slow

Chapter 21| Hot glass

POV Wednesday

With the speed of the wind I rushed to the medics and pulled away the sheet from the body at the carriers. It was so charred that it was impossible to recognise the person. However, the body on the carriers was much shorter than Xavier's, so a good breath of relief escaped my mouth. But I still didn't know what happened to Xavier:
- Xavier Thorpe, he lives in this house. Where is he? - my voice sounded with tell-me-or-I-will-kill-you-all notes.
- We found only him, - a tall tremendous nurse with a voice of a child nodded at the dead body on the carriers.
- Is still Xavier in the house? - my eyebrows lifted up immediately, and my heart seemed to stop beating for a moment.
- We don't know, - other nurse shrug his shoulders indifferently. - The firemen did everything what they could. - I clenched my jaws with fury and threw myself towards the burning house. Just before the spot where an entrance door used to be, one of the nurses tried to prevent me from getting in; he locked me in his arms, pressing me to his body and dragging me back to the safety, what definitely didn't accord with my intentions. My teeth pierced the nurse's strong hairy arm, and once my fangs penetrated the skin, the salty blood spilled into my mouth. The nurse let me go in a snap of a finger and I ran into the burning house. The construction of the building got already massively damaged, not mentioning the furniture and other inner objects. The golden handrails, that used to be beautiful, turned into shapeless stalactites, and copious amount of cracks wended their way through the marble floor and stairs crawled over the floor. The soot covered the lustre, leaving no sign of its former granger. Despite I covered my mouth and nose with the sleeve, the choking smoke managed to sneak inside my lungs. My body took a fight.

Having checked the hall and the kitchen, I rushed to the dining room.
- XAVIER! - I called him, investigating every inch of the room. When I was about to move to the second floor, all of the sudden the seizure of cough assaulted my lungs. I bowed trying to banish the smoke out of me but it managed to win a fire superiority. I felt how my body was getting weaker with every second because of the lack of oxygen in blood. My lungs started burning like the fire managed to get inside them. I desperately gulped the  air but it wasn't enough for me to stay conscious. My legs buckled and I crumpled on the floor. I was losing the battle. I couldn't breathe and I barely saw everything around when a tall figure approached me:
- Wednesday! - the voice was familiar to me. - Don't close your eyes. Fight! - I recognised Xavier's voice. He slightly slapped my cheeks to keep me conscious. - Don't worry. I will get you out of here,- he lifted me up and started moving towards the exit. As Xavier asked, I fought to stay conscious but it got more and more difficult with every single second. The temptation to close my eyes was overwhelming but every time I forced myself to open them again and again. The picture changed with every blink. We were already in the middle of the hall when Xavier screamed:
- Bloody hell!
In a nick of time we both turned out on the floor. Xavier covered me with his body when the enormous glass lustre was falling to the ground. I felt his warm breathing on my skin when his face was above mine. I squinted when the loud noise cut my ears, and tiny pieces of glass splattered around. Just for a second Xavier groaned and squeezed my hand, I squeezed it back. Once the hazard passed, Xavier managed to get up and take me to his arms again.

I opened my eyes, laying on the cold ground covered with wet grass. I slightly turned my head and saw his face. Xavier's red swollen eyes were widened, being full of transparent liquid and burning panic.

Nurses rushed to us being eager to start immediate care, I heard Xavier shouting:
- I am refusing from medical help. Save HER, - Xavier dropped to his knees to be closer to me. Medics applied an oxygen mask to fulfil my organism with O2; I was brought to the medical car, being covered with thermo blanket. In a while I could see clearly, I could move my limbs and feel Xavier's palm on my hand.
Despite Xavier's and medics's protests I took out the oxygen mask and unwrapped the blanket:
- Leave us alone, - I ordered to the medics, sitting on the bad.
- You have to mind your manners, young lady, - the medic mentioned and left the car.
Xavier still had a large tremor, he squeezed both of my hands so hard that I felt pain:
- The more pain, the better. You know that I like pain, right? - I made a lame joke.
- What have you thought about, running inside the burning house?! - Xavier almost shouted, squeezing my wrists and peering into my eyes, which were looking for answers. Then he pressed me to his body. "You" - that was what I was thinking about running into the burning house. But I stayed silent. - Do you understand that I could lose you? What would I do? - Xavier grabbed my shoulders and slightly shook me.
- You would keep going, - I stated with a cold calmness.
- And what if I wouldn't? - Xavier shook his head, peering at my eyes, and  squeezed my wrist again. I looked at Xavier with surprise, bewilderment and seriousness.