"That was so stupid." Jacob ran up to me where I was sat on the step at the back of the ambulance, holding an oxygen mask to my face.
"Sorry." I coughed again and pulled the mask away. "I had to. I couldn't leave him there."
"I know. But you could've been hurt." He wrapped me in a bear hug so tight I could barely breathe.
"J-jay. Air..."
"Oh, sorry." He let go but sat beside me, keeping one arm around my shoulders.
"Where's Penny?" I was coughing again so I put the mask up to my face, taking a couple deep breaths. Jacob rubbed my back gently.
"She's waiting with Mrs Peterson on the porch."
"How are you feeling, sir?" A paramedic came up to me and I looked up.
"A bit better."
"He's still coughing." Jacob filled in what I hadn't said.
"Okay. We'll keep an eye on you for now but you shouldn't need to come into the hospital today. We will get you to come in next week to just check you haven't gotten any internal damage, though."
"How's the kid?"
"He'll be okay. He's got some second degree burns on his arms and legs that we'll treat when we get him to the hospital. You did a very brave thing for that boy."
"Thanks." I smiled through the mask, coughing again.
"Guys, we've got another kid coming out." A fireman called from the burning house and seconds later another fireman ran out with a young girl screaming in his arms. I could see one side of her body was badly burned and I turned my face towards Jacob, not wanting to see it.
"It's okay. There was nothing you could do, baby." He murmured quietly.
"That poor family."
"Papa!" I looked over to see that Penny had gotten away from Mrs Peterson and was running towards me. Jacob jumped up and rushed over to her, scooping her into his arms so she didn't get in the way.
"Penny, I thought you were staying with Mrs Peterson."
"But papa's sick." She pointed at me over Jacob's shoulder. I smiled at her but I don't think she saw it through the oxygen mask on my face.
"Papa's okay. He just breathed some of the smoke from the fire so the paramedic is watching him."
"She can come here." I called as loud as I dared, coughing again when I finished. Jacob carried Penny over and she sat beside me.
"Are you okay, papa?"
"I'm alright. What about you? Are you scared?" I knew my voice was muffled but Penny figured out what I was saying.
"No. I'm not scared. Papa, is that boy okay?"
"I think so. The paramedics are looking after him."
"Good." She hugged me tightly. The three of us fell silent for a while, watching as the events unfolded around us.
The two parents of the house were brought out a few moments later, the mother passed out but, strangely, seemingly unharmed and the father screaming in pain, trying to grab at his leg. I heard the son calling out for them but paramedics rushed the whole family away to the hospital before they could see each other.
It was a long time before the firefighters began to pack up, the flames finally gone and a strange silence settled over the neighbourhood. A paramedic came over to me again and asked how I was feeling.
