Chapter Twenty Four
“Aleeeeexxxx !” I screamed in horror as I watched the staircase come down on him. I tried crawling toward him, but a fireman pulled me back. I struggled as best I could, but in my weakened state I couldn’t get out of the fireman’s grasp to get to Alex. He exited the house with me in his arms, and the clean air burned my lungs. My throat felt constricted, but not as much as my heart when I thought about how my boyfriend was dead. I coughed and sputtered, trying to tell the firefighters that they NEEDED to get Alex out. The man carrying me introduced himself to me as Dan.
Dan set me down on a stretcher, placing an oxygen mask over my face. He started telling me about how my parents made it out, and that they were fine, but I was glancing behind him. I watched as Isobel Gaskarth ran across the street toward us. She spotted me first and rushed up to me. “Jack ! Jack, where is Alex ? I can’t find him !” She was visibly panicking, desperately hoping I would disprove what she already knew- that Alex had gone into the house. I started to fade away, and I was loaded into the ambulance, unable to try to communicate with Mrs. Gaskarth any longer. As the ambulance pulled away, the last thing I heard was Isobel’s screams.
I woke up some time later, confused and in pain. My left leg and part of my left arm were both burned and bandaged, and an oxygen mask still lay over my face. My throat felt like it had been stripped raw, and I was almost positive I couldn’t even talk. I looked around the plain white room, wondering where my doctors were. And then it hit me- was Alex really gone ?
Could he really be dead ?
Tears started streaming down my face, and my chest tightened up at the thought. I couldn’t even bear thinking about life without Alex. He was my best friend….I loved him. I was IN love with him, and I never got the chance to tell him. Alex died saving me and my family, doesn’t that count for something in God’s eyes ? Couldn’t he bring him back ? The Gaskarth’s had already lost one son, was that not enough ? So many questions swirled around in my brain, and I didn’t have answers to any of them.
A short time later, a nurse came in. She noticed I was crying, and immediately sat down beside me. She was young and blonde, and her name tag read ‘Jan.’ She placed her hand on mine, “Are you in pain ?” I shook my head, even though I was, but not the kind that she was talking about. I didn’t think they had anything here to heal heartbreak. “It’s Jack, right ?” Jan asked. I nodded again. “Well Jack, what’s wrong ? I know your home just burned down, and you’ve been through some pretty traumatic stuff, but both you and your parents survived, and that counts for something.” I removed my oxygen mask, “M-my boyfriend, he lived across the street from me, and he saw the house was on fire and he saved me and my family…but he d-died.” Jan looked confused, “I didn’t hear anything of anyone else being in the house….or dying in it, more specifically. I can go check in a little while though. Tell me more about your boyfriend now, what was he like ?” I smiled a little through my tears “Well, you would think he was hot. His name was Alex. Actually, we uh, got into a fight on Christmas, and-” My voice dropped down to a whisper. “The last thing he said to me was that he hated me, that he didn’t want me anymore…” Jan squeezed my hand tighter, “Jack, you know he didn’t mean that. He loved you, and I can tell you loved him. If he put his own life at risk to save yours, that counts for something. Listen, I have to go right now, but I’ll be back soon okay ? Get some rest, your parents are sleeping right now too, you can see them later.”
I watched her leave and sat back against my pillows, thoughts of Alex consuming my mind again. I’ve missed him so much these past couple of months. I’ve missed his crooked smile, his dimple, his eyes…..I miss the one I love, but now that I’ve realized that, is it too late ?
Half an hour later, my dad entered the room. He sat down beside me and explained to me that our entire house and most of our belongings had burned straight to the ground. He told me that some things were salvaged and were now in storage, but that we would most likely be moving back to Lebanon at the end of the school year. The whole time he was speaking to me, the only thing on my mind was the Gaskarth’s. Why wouldn’t anyone talk about Alex ?
Sure, it sucked that I had just lost all of my material things, but that stuff didn’t matter. As long as the people I loved were alive I would be okay. Even if I was moving back to a different country, as long as Alex was alive somewhere I could live with it. “Dad ? Where’s Alex ?” I held my breath as I waited for an answer. My dad looked at me, then glanced away. “I gotta go, Jack. Gotta check on your mom. I’ll see you later okay ? I love you.” He awkwardly left the room. So that was it then.
Alex is dead.
