Still - h.s (au)

Chapter 13

Grace

"Someone help me please!" I cry out while I move in further into the flaming room, feeling drops of sweat falling down my forehead due to the intense heat that was in here. The flames were burning more intensely than ever, and it was almost impossible to breathe. I wanted to reach for the body I had just spotted behind a bed but it was hard to do it without the equipment because oxygen was very scarce at the moment.

I look back seeing one of the firemen who was helping me just a couple of minutes ago coming in my direction. "You need to go, now! It is too dangerous for you." He demands moving towards the lifeless body. The chance that it was Harry was small, but it was the last chance I had. Anyone who is on the other side of the room is trapped, as it is impossible to reach that side because the ceiling had fallen in the middle of the corridor blocking the way.

As much as I wanted to do more, there was not much I could do now. I was not fireproof and if I remained inside I would end up not being able to breathe or even get burned. Besides, it is very likely that this whole part of the building will collapse, burying us dead. I decide to follow the order of the firefighter exiting what was left of the hospital, coughing intensely as soon as I was able to breathe again. At a distance I see Martha running in my direction as soon as she sees me.

"Are you out of your mind?" I hear Martha saying to me before putting a blanket over my shoulders. "You could have died!" Her arms hug my body and I happily let her comfort me. To be honest I don't even know what gotten into my mind to think that I was able to go inside and save people. It was beyond my capacities as a nurse, but I had to try and save Harry. Even though I have failed deeply at it.

"He cannot be dead..." I cry against her shoulder. How is it possible that I am feeling this devastated by someone who I have known for so little time? But knowing he is dead is making me feel broken inside, as if my heart had been ripped off my chest and crushed into small pieces. "He could not have died this way... He had his whole life ahead of him." I should never have left today, I should have stayed by his side like I usually do and then I would be able to save him. Or maybe we would be both dead at this moment.

"Shh... I'm so sorry, Grace." Martha doesn't even try to convince me that he might be alive because she knows it would be impossible to have survived this.

When I finally step away from her, I turn my head to face the entrance of the building where the patients I had helped were being taken out. I approach them while they are being put in an improvised tent just in front of the hospital. We were prepared for a bombing, and in the case it happened the only thing we could do was to build a field hospital as quickly as possible to heal the wounded.

"How are they?" I ask the two nurses who are accompanying two of the patients. When I dragged them out, they were unconscious, most likely dead. But if they were dead, they would not bring them here to be taken care of.

"Barely holding on, they need oxygen." Even though I am not working, I decided to help. They are going to need every hand they can get. And it will help me take my mind out of Harry, and how broken I am inside. I have to hold back tears from coming out of my eyes when I see several patients coming inside this tent.

Hopefully, the firefighters will be able to put out the fire soon enough and we will be able to use the other half of the building that was not hit by the bombing. But for now, it is too dangerous to be there, because we don't know if the building will collapse. "I need help here!" I hear someone asking and I hurry to help them.

When I get to the bed there is a firefighter who helps me put on a white apron before touching the patient, and I quickly wash my hands on a basin with water and soap before she puts some gloves on my hands as well as a mask. It is really easy to forget about these basic hygiene rules when everything is this chaotic.