dino's twin sister ➳ seventeen

Thirty Three ➵ Fire

I sit up straight on the sofa, wide eyed. I look at Joshua who's confused expression mimics my own. It's probably just a false alarm, literally.

He stands and grabs my hand, lifting me up with him.

"We should probably go and check it out." He tells me and I nod, following him out of the door.

As soon as we walk outside the door of the small room, a distinct smell of smoke becomes evident in the air and my heart beats loudly inside my chest.

"I don't think it was a fake alarm." I whisper and hesitantly follow him down the corridor.

When we turn the corner, I gasp at the sight and jump back in fright. Flames. Flames are everywhere.

Joshua immediately snaps me out of my daze by pulling me in the other direction.

"Where's the next exit?" I ask him breathlessly, already exhausted.

"It's just up this corridor." He tells me.

"But isn't that corridor linked to the one which is inflamed?" I ask worriedly and he nods.

"It's worth a shot."

We jog towards the end of the corridor but before we reach it, a deafening bang erupts through the air and before I know it, my vision has turned white and I'm knocked off my feet.

Still in a daze, I slowly open my eyes and find myself lying on the ground, beams and plaster covering my body. There was an explosion.

I manage to push off the heavy beam, my hearing being fuzzy and my head ringing. I look around slowly whilst lifting off some other pieces of material which had fallen on me.

Joshua. I see Joshua lying a few metres away from me, a steel beam lying across his arm and plaster covering his face. But his eyes are closed.

I crawl towards him, worriedly whispering his name.

"Joshua, can you hear me?" I ask quietly and lean over him, resting my head by his chest.

I hear a faint but prominent heartbeat in his chest and I sigh in relief. He's alive.

I shake him slowly by the shoulders until his eyes slowly flutter open. He looks at me with a pained expression and my heart practically breaks at the sight.

"Areum," he whispers. "Are you alright?"

I nod. "I'm fine, but we've got to get this off you."

I move backwards and grip the steel beam, trying my hardest to lift it.

"I'll help you." He says hoarsely but I shake my head adamantly.

"No, I can do it."

Ignoring the aching pain spreading through my body, I focus on the heavy beam and lift the beam off his body. It falls to the side and his arm is revealed, a deep cut spread across it.

"Oh my god..." I whisper.

I immediately pull off my cardigan and wrap it around his arm, trying to stop the blood from escaping his body any further. I wrap it tightly and tie it at the ends to secure it.

"Come on, we need to get out of here." I tell him and help him to his feet.

He stumbles weakly but I catch him with my arm to keep him upright. I hold his waist to steady him as I pull him towards a hopeful exit.

But all that I can see is fire.

I turn the corner in the opposite direction of the burning flames and pull Joshua towards an empty room. It's the recording studio and I quickly pull us inside and shut the door behind us.

I pull him into the corner of the room where there's a large window and open it, seeing multiple fire engines outside.

"We're up here!" I shout weakly, waving my arm about until somebody spots me.

I cough and sit Joshua down onto a chair so he doesn't waste his energy. The firemen and women prepare a ladder and attach it to the ledge of the window before climbing up.

When a fireman reaches the window, he passes me a harness but I shake my head.

"No, you need to take him first," I tell him whilst coughing and point to Joshua. "He's injured."

"Are you sure?" The man asks.

"Positive."

He gently attaches a harness around Joshua and helps him outside. I watch as they climb slowly down the ladder, and when they reach the floor he's immediately rushed to paramedics.

A different fireman climbs back up to collect me and helps me down. I thank him and run towards the ambulance which luckily hasn't made a departure yet.

"Can I go with him?" I ask hurriedly.

"You'll need to get checked out first," the woman tells me. "But when we bring you to the hospital and give you the all-clear, you'll be the first to see him."

I don't like the fact I won't be able to go with him but I feel too tired to argue. I nod weakly and I'm led into a different ambulance.

The paramedic asks me questions to see if I'm alright before placing some sort of mask over my face to help me breathe. But I can't concentrate on anything but Joshua. I hope that he's okay.

When the ambulance reaches the hospital, they offer to push me in on the stretcher but I shake my head and stand. I follow the paramedics into the hospital and immediately I see my parents and Dino standing by the reception area. How did they even find out what was going on so soon?

"Areum!" My mum calls in relief when she sees me and they all run in my direction.

"Are you okay?" Dino asks, worried and I nod.

"How's Joshua?" I ask in a restrained voice.

"He's currently in the operating room. He's lost a lot of blood but the nurses say that he should make a full recovery." My dad tells me and I sigh in relief.

"Come on, Areum, we need to fully examine how you are. It won't take long." A nurse says and I oblige, following her into a small room.

As I'm being checked by the nurse, I can't help but think: how did the fire start?