Part One
"Shawn, no!" Belle screamed after Shawn as he ran into the burning building. She watched in horror as he entered the flaming building. She wondered whether or not she should go in after him.
The two had plans to meet up at the Brady pub with Philip to study for a test, and had both come across the restaurant on fire. The fire didn't consume the entire restaurant, but the second floor of the building was almost completely consumed, and Belle could see through the first floor windows the smoke that filled the restaurant. A crowd had gathered, many of whom were customers who had run out, and sirens could be heard in the distance. But Shawn's grandparents, owners of the pub who lived above it, and his infant brother, JT, were still inside.
Belle paced for a few minutes, on the verge of panicking. Idly she wondered where Philip was; she looked for him in the crowd but didn't see him. Maybe he's in the fire, too, Belle thought. Breathing heavily, she looked back at the fire. The firefighters were only just starting to arrive. She knew it probably wasn't smart, but finally she decided to go inside and see if she could be any help. She made towards the door but a fireman grabbed her arm and stopped her.
"I'm sorry, miss, but you can't go in there."
"My best friend and his family are in there!" she shrieked. "And I think one of my other friends is in there, too."
"We'll find them, all right? You stay out here, your friends don't need you putting yourself in danger." He joined the other firemen approaching the door.
She nodded solemnly. "Okay," she whispered, wanting to believe it. She watched the firemen enter the restaurant and resumed her pacing. After a few minutes, Bo and Hope ran up behind her.
"Belle!" Hope exclaimed. "Where's Shawn?"
"Have you seen my parents or JT?" Bo added, his arm around Hope's shoulder.
"They're all inside," Belle told them miserably, on the verge of tears.
"Oh God," Hope muttered, her breath catching.
Philip came out just then, escorted by a fireman. He was coughing and his clothes were filled with ash. Belle, Bo and Hope rushed over to him as a paramedic put on an oxygen mask.
He took a few breaths with the oxygen and then removed the mask to talk to the three, who were looking at him anxiously. "I don't know how the fire started," he explained, his voice hoarse. "I couldn't find them." He coughed harshly and looked around. "Where's Shawn, Belle? Weren't you guys coming together?"
Belle wanted to kick him. For months know she'd been avoiding telling Shawn that she liked him as more than a friend, and Philip knew it. He was always making insinuations about them, as a joke, and even though she knew he hadn't meant it that way now she didn't want to deal with it now.
The four waited nervously together; Philip refused to go to the hospital, insisting he was fine. No more than ten minutes later, another fireman came out carrying JT. "I need some paramedics!" he yelled as Hope and Bo ran up to him.
"What's going on?" Hope cried out. "Is he all right?" The paramedics crowded around the baby and Hope was ignored.
"There's two adults coming out who will need oxygen! They were trying to reach the baby. There's a teenaged boy unconscious up there still," the fireman continued. "He got hit by a falling beam, but he saved this little guy."
"Shawn," Belle whispered in horror. Philip squeezed her shoulder. Bo barked at some people to get Shawn out of there. Some fireman and paramedics with a gurney ran back into the pub as PopShawn and Caroline walked out. They looked relieved to see JT was okay.
Belle hardly listened as Caroline explained that Shawn was the one who found JT. She watched Bo's parents step into an ambulance and a paramedic joined them with JT. The poor baby was screaming his lungs out.
Hope decided to go along in the ambulance with him. "I'll see you at the hospital," she told Bo as she gave him a quick kiss. "Pray for both of our sons."
After a couple more minutes, Bo, Philip and Belle waited side by side, Shawn was brought out. He had an oxygen mask and a neck brace on and was still unconscious. As the paramedics loaded him into the car, Philip decided to ride with him, and the paramedics treated him as a victim too and forced him to sit on a stretcher with an oxygen mask on. Belle and Bo were told that only one of them could ride in the ambulance.
"You get in," Bo told her. "I have a car. I'll see you soon!" With that, he dashed to his car.
Belle climbed into the ambulance and sat aside as the ambulance pulled away, and the paramedics were busy working on Shawn. Her throat got caught and she just barely was able to muffle a cry as she looked at Shawn on the gurney.
Belle walked into the hospital right behind the gurney carrying Shawn, Philip next to her. The doctors whisked him away. Philip and Belle met up with Hope in the waiting room.
"How's JT?" Belle asked as she and Hope hugged.
"I don't know. He's been screaming, which I think is a good sign. Where's Bo?"
"He's driving the car over here because only one of us could ride in the ambulance."
Hope nodded. She saw Bo run in and the two hugged. "How are they?" Bo asked.
"I don't know," Hope answered with tears in her eyes. "Shawn just got here, and the doctors haven't come out with news on JT yet."
Belle sat down on the couch. She looked up to the ceiling, thinking about Shawn. Then she clasped her hands, bowed her head and prayed. "Dear, Lord, please let Shawn and JT both be okay. I promise if Shawn is okay, I'll tell him how I feel. I won't act like a scared wimp worrying about if he feels the same way or not. Just let him be okay."
