Together Until We Die...

Chapter 16

Patrick Sharp blinked his eyes a few times, the fire bothering his vision. He eventually got accustomed to the heat and fiery feeling. He caught the sight of the two dangling Blackhawks inside, after a while.

"To-ez! Peekaboo!"

He gathered up his courage, taking a deep breath and dove into the inflamed room. The crackling noise drowned out the muffles from the two. The fire had become intense, but for some reason Patrick Sharp didn't seem bothered too much by it. He held his breath, picking his route inside, carefully. He braved the flames, as he darted in and eventually landed in the center, somehow unscathed, where the two dangled. He worked quickly, snapping the ropes in two, with abnormal strength.

"Sharpy!" The two screamed, relieved and weak, behind the tape.

Patrick Sharp was able to make out their cry of his name and it made him feel important and proud to be their rescuer. Their savior.

Both men crashed down on top of the prankster, who screamed at the touch, finally seeing that the kids were stripped nude. He recovered, shaking the sick thoughts out of the way. He felt a tinge of sympathy for the poor younger Blackhawks. Chris Pronger and his crew were a disgusting, disturbing bunch for conducting this revenge scheme at all. He attempted to grab them both, but struggled mightily.

To make matters worse, the flames were making things deathly hazardous. The heat choked him, slowly suffocating him with them. He lifted his head up and yowled at the top of his lungs, the best and loudest he could, "HELP!!"

He frantically tried to grab them both up again, but he couldn't move them both at the same time. And he refused to pick one or the other. He suddenly felt another person's presence. It was Andrew Shaw. Together, the two rapidly grabbed their superstar friends and hurried back to the door, leaping through the flames in the frame like dramatic action movie stars in Hollywood.

Back out of the heat, they laid the two down and put out any fire that had gotten on them, as best they could. Andrew and Patrick Sharp saw that both Patrick Kane and Jonathan had been badly burned by the fire. The color of their skin had changed and they look in a pretty horrible state. Andrew removed the tape from their bodies, unbinding them from one another.

"Pronger's a sick, twisted son of a bitch!" Andrew snarled, as he threw the adhesive bindings to the side.

Patrick Sharp removed the tape from their mouths, spotting Jonathan's Glasgow. He gave a tragically, melancholic gasp at the sight. A tiny surge of fury rushed through him, but it vanished and he removed the tiara off of the blonde man's head. He noticed that their eyes were still pasted closed and neither appeared to be breathing. The pulse was faint and they felt dangerous hot, maybe even overheated. The two rescuers panicked.

"Shawzy, call an ambulance! Get someone here! They need help! We can't lose them! Chicago can't lose them!"

Andrew scrambled to his feet, whipping his phone out. He dialed 9-1-1 and reported their disaster.

Patrick Sharp cradled both of his friend's heads in his lap, shedding tears for them. "Don't leave me To-ez! Don't leave me Peekaboo!" He kept nervously feeling the pulses of Jonathan and Patrick Kane. They still hadn't moved or opened their eyes. He was afraid that he'd lost them. His heart raced in his chest, as he checked again and again, hoping desperately for a change. But nothing changed.

Andrew was staring at them all in horror, as he hung up and spun back to his friends and teammates. Adam skidded in and helped to get them down the stairs and out of the building as the fire finally reached some sweet spot and caused the building to burst into flames. In the distance, sirens screamed through the air, getting closer to them. They were going to make it and be okay.