Carter had just come home from a 24 hour shift. To say he was exhausted would be an understatement – he could hardly keep his eyes open and his walking was suffering a lot. Finally, after much fumbling around, he found his apartment key and unlocked the door. He forced himself to walk the extra few feet to his bed. He quickly undressed, and put on a t-shirt and sweat pants. Then he settled down and was asleep within seconds.
He was awoken several hours later by the sound of a loud and persistent bell. He groggily sat up and looked at his alarm clock – it was 3.30 am. He hadn't set it for that time. Suddenly it registered in his brain. It was the fire alarm!
He thought of Betty and her cigarettes He could bet good money that she was the culprit. How many times had he warned not to light up around that oxygen tank? Why did she not listen? Now, it looked like a lot more than her life was at stake...
He grabbed a pair of shoes, and a coat, and ran to the door. The flames hadn't reached his floor yet. Thank God he was only on the first floor; he could easily jump out the window if necessary. He didn't think it would come to that though as Betty lived on the fourth floor. But what if it wasn't her? No, he couldn't think of that just now. He had to get out.
He opened the door and started sprinting down the hallway. Smoke engulfed him as he reached the stairs. "The kitchen" people were yelling. "It's coming from the kitchen". Carter nodded to no one in particular and continued running down the stairs, pressing his coat to his mouth to act as a barrier between him and the fumes.
When he came to the ground floor, he could see people screaming and running from the burning kitchen. He mustered all his remaining energy and ran from the burning building. When he was out, he collapsed on the ground, panting and coughing alternately.
"Are you ok, sir?" asked a fireman leaning over him. Carter nodded still panting. "I have to go back in – I'm a doctor, I can help".
"Lie still for a minute, sir" said the fireman soothingly. "Everyone else is fine. There was some sort of party going on the first floor. The whole building was there."
"Oh, I wonder who I slept through that."
"Beats me. Why weren't you there?"
"Night shift" said Carter, starting to cough. "Just got home ... tired".
"Let's get you checked out." said the Fireman. He helped Carter stand and sat him on a bench.
Carter started wheezing and coughing. He found that once he had started, he couldn't stop. He switched to doctor mode and quickly reasoned that he was suffering the effects of smoke inhalation. He knew that he needed oxygen and should get to a hospital so he could get a chest x-ray. He tried to communicate this to the Fireman but he was too weak to say anything.
"Tom" he said, beckoning over a man with a blackened face from the smoke.
"Call an ambulance please?" he asked quietly, so Carter wouldn't hear.