She gives me a soft smile and then wraps her arms around my waist. As she hugs me, her body shakes with soft sobs. I can’t even begin to imagine how emotional she must be, and I have no words to comfort her, so I put my arms around her back and rub circles to try to soothe her, just letting her cry it out.
After a few minutes, she calms down, then backs up and gives me a shy smile. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I’m glad you want to be a part of our life. That makes me very happy. I better go check on Kayla.”
Her phone rings from her back pocket, and after looking to see who it is, she answers the call. “Hey, Hayley, I’m so glad you called… Yes, we’re at the hospital now, but Bella and Kayla are in different wards… Great, thank you so much… Okay, bye.”
She turns to me and looks a little calmer. “That was Hayley. Bentley called her and told her we’re here. She’s going to come and stay with Kayla tonight, so I can be with Bella.”
“That’s good. I’ve only known Hayley for a few months from the gym, but she seems really nice. She’s a good asset to the gym.”
“I can’t believe she’s been working with you the last few months and I had no idea you were working with her.” She laughs softly.
“Yeah, it’s crazy. Do you mind if I join you in visiting Kayla? I think Bentley is in there with her.”
I need to get to the bottom of all this, and since Kayla was there, I’m hoping she’ll help me get some answers. Luckily, Liz agrees to me joining.
We get to Kayla’s room and Bentley’s sitting by the side of her bed, holding her hand. Kayla’s eyes are closed, and I can’t help but think the worst. She must hear us approach because she opens her eyes and starts crying, and although she looks devastated, at least she’s alive and okay enough to cry. Liz runs over to Kayla and gives her a hug. They both cry for a few minutes and then calm down.
“Oh, God, Liz. I’m so sorry. I don’t even know what happened. After you left, Bella asked for ten minutes more in bed so of course I gave in because I’m a softy. I went back to my room to browse the online classifieds to see if there’s anybody looking to hire a physical therapist. I must have dozed off because the next thing I know the fire alarm was going off. I immediately ran to Bella’s room to check on her and to see what was going on, but when I stepped into the hallway the whole apartment was filled with smoke. I ran to Bella’s room, but it was empty. I started freaking out. I checked her closet, under her bed. I screamed her name several times.
“That was when I started to choke on the smoke, but I swear to you, I kept looking. I went to the bathroom to see if she was in there and I couldn’t find her anywhere. By then I heard the fire sirens so I knew they would be there soon, but I kept looking.” At this point, Kayla is crying hysterically, tears pouring down her cheeks.
“I started to panic and ran to the kitchen. The smoke was just too much and I blacked out. She could’ve died and it would’ve been my fault. I’ll completely understand if you hate me. I hate myself. I just don’t know what happened. Nothing was on. It doesn’t make any sense. Anyway, the next thing I knew I was in the ambulance and they were giving me oxygen. I told them there was a little girl in there and they said she was already out. I thought maybe she got herself out, but the EMT said some guy got her out. I don’t know who, though, maybe a neighbor. I’m just so thankful she got out.”
“It’s okay,” Liz says. “I could never be mad at you. Yes, things could’ve ended badly, but thankfully they didn’t. I know you would give your life for Bella. I’m just so glad you’re both okay.”
As they’re talking, there’s a knock on the door and in walks a police officer with two firemen. Hopefully we’ll get some answers from them because right now I have some crazy thoughts going through my head.
“Hello, ma’am. I’m officer Jim Kelley and these two gentlemen are the ones who showed up to your home to put out the fire. This gentleman, here”—he points to the guy on the right—“pulled you from the fire.” They both give a small nod and smile. “I’m glad to see you’re okay. Is it okay to speak to you in front of everyone?”