The Bee's Knees

Chapter 20

Anna's mom glared at the traffic light so hard it was a miracle it didn't burst into flames. "I wish you didn't have to see this, but I have to get back to the bakery. Everyone should still be there." Her lizards puffed up their throats as she honked her horn at the car in front of them moments after the light turned green. "Come on, move!"

Anna winced as they took a sharp right turn that made her seatbelt dig into her chest. Her bees buzzed inside the mesh bag she kept them in whenever she had to ride in a car. "What happened?"

"I don't know. I left to come get you as soon as they took care of—" Tires shrieked as her mom slammed the brakes. "Another red light?!? Give me a break!"

Anna hugged herself tightly, staring out the window so she could look at something, anything other than her mom. She'd seen her upset plenty of times before, but she'd never seen her so tense. She gripped the steering wheel as if she wanted to strangle it, and her lizards kept glancing back at Anna from atop her shoulders. What could have gotten her so stressed?

That was when Anna heard the sirens.

The distant wail of the first grew louder as they neared Sweet Surprise, and another echoed behind them, shrieking in Anna's ears until she could barely hear herself think. Flashing lights announced the ambulances' approach. The first could have been for anyone, but the one behind it sent Anna's heart to her toes.

More than twice the size of an ordinary ambulance, the second one displayed a massive red paw on the side, the telltale symbol of an emergency response vehicle tailor-made to carry large companions. Equipped with a massive bed, plenty of food and water, and heavy-duty sedatives, that specialized ambulance could safely carry even the biggest bear to the hospital so they could accompany their owner without hurting anyone in their panic.

There was only one person Anna knew whose companion would need to ride in something like that.

Anna's ears rang with the sirens' echoes as her mom parked by a fire truck. Firefighters lingered outside, passing around bottles of water and making sure everyone was doing alright. Anna's dad glanced over from where he'd been talking with a woman in a black and yellow uniform and rushed to scoop Anna into a tight hug. "Thank goodness you're alright."

She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed back just as hard. "Did the smoke detector start acting up again?"

"I wish." Her dad sighed. None of his usual energy remained, and Skippy was snoozing on top of his head, occasionally twitching his paws as if he was having a bad dream. "Something went wrong with some old wiring in the kitchen. We called for help right away, but..." His shoulders slumped. "Dad was right by where the fire started."

Anna's eyes darted to the paramedics examining her grandparents. Despite her coyote pacing in front of her and the worry crinkling the wrinkles on her forehead, her grandma looked okay.

She wished she could say the same about her grandpa.

His whole body shook with the force of his coughing as a paramedic attached an oxygen mask to his face. Bertrand huffed and puffed beside him, pointedly ignoring the bowl of water that had been set out for him.

Anna moved to go check on him, but her mom held her back. "We need to make sure the paramedics have plenty of space to do their jobs."

"But—" Anna swallowed her protest as her mom gave her patented I'm-too-tired-to-deal-with-this look. "Is he going to be okay?"

"We don't know yet," her dad said quietly.

"Okay." That was all Anna could manage to say before the tears came. Her breath came in hiccupping gasps as she sobbed. She couldn't lose her grandpa.