• 653 words • female reader • big angst •
Requested by: @Samuel_Seabury_simp
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The flames burned higher and higher. Sirens were wailing and people were screaming. The Newsboys Lodging House was going up in flames.
The newsies had all evacuated outside. They stood there very alarmed at what had just happened.
Racetrack was fanning himself with his hat. Jack had his arm comfortingly wrapped around a frightened Crutchie. Skittery was trying to comfort the younger newsies. And Blink and Mush were making sure no one was hurt.
Jojo fidgeted with the small bag of coins in his pocket. Counting. Making sure he had every penny.
But then he noticed something wasn't right. He looked around, now counting every newsie. There was someone missing. (Y/n), his girlfriend. She had come over to visit them all earlier this evening, before the fire started. But she was still inside.
His heart started racing and his breathing became heavy. Racetrack must've noticed this, because he placed his hand on Jojo's shoulder. "You okay?" he asked.
"(Y/n)'s still inside," Jojo said.
"Shit," Race said. "We gotta tell the firemen!"
But Jojo wasn't listening. He bolted inside the building, ignoring Race calling out to him to stop.
"(Y/n)! Where are you?" he asked, coughing as he entered the building.
Jojo ran up the stairs as fast as he could. Luckily they were still intact. He checked every floor for (Y/n). He found her on the top floor.
She was lying on the ground, unconscious. The bed on her right had already turned to ashes.
Jojo quickly made his way over to her, careful not to get himself burned. When he got to her, he checked her pulse. She was still alive. Barely.
He carefully picked her up in his arms. Her dress was covered on soot, and her sleeves were burned off. She had really bad burn marks on her arms.
Jojo stood up. One of the bunk beds collapsed next to him. Quickly, he moved away from the growing flames and towards the stairs.
His vision was getting blurry. He made his down the stairs, but the bottom was already going up in flames once he reached the last flight.
Jojo didn't know what to do. He held (Y/n) closer to his chest.
Meanwhile, outside, Race had hurriedly went up to one of the firemen. "Please, help!" he said. "There's a girl still inside, and my friend went back in to go get her."
The men made their way into the building. When they entered, they heard Jojo screaming for help.
They walked to the stairs, and sprayed water on them. As the flames became smaller, but still not entirely gone, one of the firemen instructed Jojo to hand (Y/n) over to him. Jojo gently placed her into the fireman's arms.
Jojo could feel himself getting weaker. A fireman helped him safely get down the stairs. That's the last thing he remembered of that night.
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Jojo woke the next morning in the New York General Hospital. He groaned as he moved his head around to look around the room.
A nurse walked into the room. "Good," she said. "You're awake."
"W... what happened?" Jojo asked her. "Is (Y/n) okay?"
"Well, due to all the smoke you ingested last night, you passed out. But you'll be fine and you'll be able to leave this afternoon."
"And (Y/n)?" Jojo asked again. "Is she okay?"
The nurse bit her lip.
"Please tell me. She's my girlfriend."
"I'm sorry, sir. But she didn't make it."
Jojo's eyes filled with tears. "No..." he stuttered out. "N-no... that's... that's not possible."
"I'm sorry for you're loss," the nurse said quietly, before leaving the room.
Jojo sat alone in his hospital bed, processing what the nurse just said to him. He wiped the tears that began to stream down his face. "I'm sorry (Y/n)..." he whispered to himself. "I'm sorry I let you down..."
The end
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A/N - Sorry if this is bad, I'm losing motivation to write.