A sob erupts from inside me, and I can't stop the tears from falling down my face.
"What's wrong?" he asks.
"There's a fire," I stutter.
"Get out,” he says immediately.
I take a deep breath, trying to pull myself together. Panicking is not going to help me right now. “I can't. My battery has been taken from my car. The road is blocked. I can't walk out of here. I can't go anywhere. I'm surrounded, Jason.”
“I'm coming. Give me your address.”
"No!" I scream into the phone.
"You're my old lady, Mama. That means something. Tell me where your house is."
I start to cry in earnest now. There's no way that I can let him come up here. "No, I won't let you come here, Jason. It's a suicide mission. I just had to tell you that I love you."
I sob and hang up the phone, putting it in my pocket. There's nothing I can do, but I'm not a quitter. I can't just sit here and wait for the flames to come for me. I at least have to try.
I run to the opposite side of my house and turn on the water hose full blast. I spray at the flames that are getting closer and closer, but it doesn't do anything to stop them. I can’t give up, though. Even though I can feel the heat from the fire, I don't stop. My phone rings, and I almost ignore it, but I pull my it from my pocket and look at it. Emery is calling. Damn it, why didn't I think to call her and the girls? I know I need to say goodbye to them. I'm sobbing when I answer the phone. “Emery,” I start, but she interrupts me almost hysterically. "Get to your roof, do it now."
"What?" I ask her in surprise.
"Listen to me, Tara, we don't have time. I need you to do whatever you can do to get to your roof. They're coming for you."
I pocket the phone and go inside my house and climb up to the top floor. I tug and pull on the rope to open the attic door and climb up to it and then knock out the window with my foot. I climb out the broken window and grab on to the roof above. With my feet out on the windowsill, I pull myself the foot up onto the top of the roof. From here, I can see the flames surrounding me, and in the distance I can see the fire truck coming, but I don't think they're going to make it in time.
Chapter 15
Jason
I've seen a lot of things in my life, horrible things that I'll carry with me until the day I die, but absolutely nothing can compare to seeing Tara standing on the top of her house with flames on the ground all around her.
Tara may have refused to give me her address, but I was able to get it easily enough. As soon as my brothers and Walker and Nash found out what was going on, a plan was put together. Emery was able to tell us how to get here, and Walker flew me here in his helicopter.
I urge Walker to go faster, even though I know how ridiculous it sounds. He’s going as fast and safely as he can.
As we get over top of her, I drop the ladder down. She grabs on to it instantly and starts to climb. As soon as she's within reaching distance, I grab both of her arms and pull her up into the helicopter. I sit on the floor, my arms wrapped around her, and I hold her close to my chest. I can't believe I almost lost her.
She looks at me and opens her mouth to say something, and then her head drops back. I scream her name and put my hand at her neck to feel for a pulse. It's beating fast and steadily, so all I can imagine is she passed out.
I hold on to her and talk to her as soothingly as I can as Walker flies us to Jasper Hospital. He lands on the helipad there, and I carry her off of the helicopter.
There's a gurney waiting for us, but I refuse to let her go. I walk her through the hospital and take her into the room and lay her gently on the bed for the doctor to evaluate her. With one hand on her shoulder, he checks her out from head to toe.
When my patience has worn out, I yell at him. He's writing something on the clipboard in his hand. "Tell me, Doc, is she going to be okay?"
"Yes, she's going to be fine. This is pretty common when you're in an extreme situation such as this. It's going to take her a little bit for her body to recover, but she'll be fine."