Run to Me

Happy Endings

You weren't sure if the tears pouring down from your cheeks were from the smoke or the desperation that tore apart your chest. The smoke now blanketed the entire house and the heat was beginning to kiss your skin uncomfortably, sweat beading under your clothes. Coughing, sweating, and still groggy from sedation, you pushed down the hall and around the corner to the kitchen. 

You stopped into the doorway, fear rooting you into place. The flames had grown high enough to reach the ceiling of the kitchen, eating a hole into it. The gas stove had started a fire and must have spread to the alcohol and chemicals that Diane kept in her kitchen, causing an explosion and making the fire more dangerous more quickly. The room felt like an actual oven and it was so hot that the hair on your arms felt singed. The smoke was so thick and dark, it was nearly impossible to see and you weren't sure Diane was even in the room.

"Diane?" you croaked out, your throat burning from the smoke you had breathed in. You swallowed dryly, fearing that Diane wouldn't be able to hear you.

You were shocked by how loud the actual fire was, and the sound of the wooden frame of the house being consumed by the fire sounded like a guttural cry.  You were going to have to move further in to see if Diane was still here. 

You got on your hands and knees and tried to stay low. Even though the visibility was a tad better down there, the air quality still was not. You began coughing, your chest feeling like it was full of straw. You tried to draw in a full breath, but it was so painful that you cried out. No one would last long in this smoke and you certainly would last much less time due to your asthma. You needed to find Diane and you needed to find her now or you would both die in this house. 

You forced yourself forward, your lungs screaming and your eyes stinging beyond belief, feeling in front of you for the woman. It took a moment but eventually your brushed against those soft auburn locks. 

There you are, you thought with relief.

You crawled forward and felt around until you found her shoulders and laid her onto her back. You couldn't see well so you got only mere inches from her faces and looked her over.

"Diane?" you whispered, your voice officially hoarse. 

It took a couple of seconds, but eventually Diane's eyes fluttered open. You couldn't help but laugh with relief and kiss the side of her face as she looked back at you. Her face was covered in soot and she was bleeding and disoriented, but she was alive. She was still here and you would find a way to get her out. 

"Y/n?" she reached up and touched your face. You smiled and nodded, knowing  she was confused as to why you came back.

"I'm not leaving you here Diane. I love you," you said. You watched as tears fell from her eyes and you knew that they weren't from the smoke, but from you.

She smiled and nodded, sloppily sitting up. You both knew now was not the time for sweet nothings. You helped Diane onto her hands and knees and had started moving forward out of towards the exit when a monstrous cracking noise  rang out through the kitchen. 

You both screamed as the ceiling rained down around you, covering the room in rubble. Suddenly you felt a sharp pain in your forehead and legs. You craned your head around to see your legs were pinned under a smoldering beam, the fire crawling up the length of it and towards you. 

You tried desperately to get out from under it, wriggling and pulling your body as hard as you could, but the beam was too heavy and you were too weak. You cried out, unwilling to accept you were pinned and that the fire was beginning to bite at your ankles, climbing closer to you by the second. 

Diane stumbled out from the rubble around her though, almost untouched by the falling debris. She looked at you, eyes frantic from fear. You reached out to her like a small child and she grabbed your arms and yanked, but you didn't budge. She pulled as hard as she could, but all it did was cause you more pain.