Disclaimer: I do not own Girl Meets world, nor any of the characters used.
Everyone watched as the world seemed to go into slow motion, the short blonde being thrown across the vehicle and landing in a heap on the floor, falling unconscious as her head hit the back window.
Lucas ran to her "Maya!" He yelled; Lucas was about to pick her up when Cory stopped him.
"Lucas, no." He warned, holding his hand in front of the teenager "You could hurt her, you have to wait for the ambulance." But there was no time, a fire had already started at the front, and although Josh and Topanga had evacuated everyone out the bus, including Riley, with some restraining, Maya was badly hurt and they didn't have time to wait for an ambulance.
"SHES ALREADY HURT!" Lucas yelled, barging past Cory as he scooped up Maya, burning the two of them as he carried her out, Cory quickly following after him.
As the class, Riley included, watched Maya being carried out of the flames, Zay and Farkle noticed her jacket had caught alight down her sleeve. Quickly they ran to Lucas, the small girl in his arms, taking off their coats and smothering the flames.
Cory had no idea what to do, he had been trained in first aid as a requirement to be a Middle School teacher but this was way above his pay grade, his class had just been in a bus crash, Maya, his best friends' daughter, was seriously hurt and was clearly burnt. Quickly, he ran to his family, seeing nothing more important than making sure Riley and Topanga were okay, but Riley didn't care, she ran to Lucas, seeing Maya in his arms, burnt and broken. And then Cory heard his daughter yelling something that he wouldn't soon forget.
"DAD, MAYA'S NOT BREATHING!" She screamed, holding her best friends' hand as Lucas laid her on the side of the freeway.
Josh ran over, hearing those words and running through the students now all circling Maya on the side of the road. "She's right." He declared, seeing her lifeless form for himself as everyone finally made an opening for him to scoot through and see to Maya.
As Josh made his way to help Maya, Topanga and Cory tried to organize the students, pulling everyone back and telling them to all remain together whilst they awaited an ambulance.
Quickly he undid the zip on Maya's, now burnt, jacket, exposing her blue flannel shirt and stationary chest; immediately he started chest compressions, but was quickly stopped by Lucas "Get off her!" Lucas yelled, aggressively pulling Josh back.
Josh squared up to Lucas, he had dealt with people like him at NYU, and they were older, so no way was he going to let some 9th grader push him around "Do you want her to die, Lucas?" He said bluntly, rage coursing through his body "Because that's what will happen if you don't let me near her." He raised his voice, giving Lucas a quick shove back before returning to Maya.
Hearing these words made Riley freak out, which of course made Cory freak out "Josh!" Cory shouted at his younger brother, getting agitated with the fact that Maya's life was now in the hands of his 18-year old brother and there was nothing else he could do but wait.
"Wait a minute." Josh stopped.
"What?" Cory asked, a little confused, trying to go a little closer to Maya but Topanga held him back, knowing Cory would freak out if he saw Maya like that, she already had and it wasn't a pleasant site. The small girls hair tangled with blood, visible cuts on her face from splinters of glass, but worst of all, an image that she could never take back, an image that she didn't want her husband nor her daughter to see, Maya laying on the floor, dead, those words coming out of Riley's mouth like a curse "MAYA'S NOT BREATHING!" Topanga replayed the words over and over again in her head as she tried to keep the rest of the class calm, Cory included.
"Shut up, Cory." He shouted, getting stressed out with the situation, he was barely a kid himself and now Maya's life was in his hands? Josh once again hovered his ear over Maya's face, placing his fingers around her wrist as he listened for a sign of life "I think I've got a pulse." He said suddenly, his eyes sparkling with triumph as he held the unconscious blonde's hand.
There was nothing they could do after that, it was too dangerous to move her again, they just had to wait for the ambulance to arrive. As they waited for the ambulance they all stood there in silence, watching as Maya slept on the side of the road, but she wasn't sleeping, she was still fighting for her life, at any second she could just slip away from them again. Josh couldn't take that risk, he sat there beside her, holding her hand, his fingers around her wrist as he felt her weak pulse under his fingertips; the only life line she had.
Her lips were starting to turn blue from the cold, but they couldn't even zip back up her coat, her burns were too severe and no one wanted to risk the possibility of giving her an infection; she had burns all up down the left side of her face, running around her ear and to her neck. Her left arm covered and her chest too; they had happened when Lucas carried her through the flames, her coat had caught alight and the cheap material melted into her skin. Lucas had burns too, but it was mainly just his hands as he had a flame retardant coat and he got out the fire quickly; but Maya, even when she was out the fire, her coat was alight, burning her soft flesh underneath.
At last, the ambulances came, instantly the paramedics noticed Maya by the side of the road, Josh kneeling next to her, holding her hand, his fingers wrapped around her wrist and Riley opposite, holding her best friends hand like if she even let go for a second, Maya would slip from her reach again. No, not again, Riley had almost lost her once today, she wasn't going to witness that again.
Josh and Riley had to be pulled away from Maya, well, Riley anyway, Josh understood why he had to go, it was so the paramedics could help Maya but Riley was too upset to really know what was going on "No, let me see her!" She yelled tearfully, being pulled back by her uncle. Josh finally dragged Riley away, she refused to go back to her parents, she was too mad at them, she had heard Topanga telling Cory to sit down when he tried to get Maya back in her seat, and after what happened that made her angry.
Not as angry as Lucas, though, as soon as Josh pushed him away from Maya, he stormed off, wandering off into the small collection of trees behind the freeway. Zay and Farkle exchanged worried looks, lasting barely a second before the two ran off after him, Farkle giving Smackle a quick, reassuring peck on the cheek before following after Zay.
The two boys found Lucas beating up a tree, kicking it as hard as he could, grunting angrily as he punched it several times, making bark fall off and giving him grazes and splinters across his knuckles. At the force, they just saw Lucas hit that tree, they thought "that had to hurt," they would be surprised if he hadn't broken his hand on top of the burns.
"Mate, come on," Zay tried to talk him around "the ambulances are here now, you need to get checked out."
Lucas stopped punching for a moment "And, Maya?" He asked, out of breath.
"She's alive." Zay nodded.
"Barely," Farkle added, Zay elbowing him in the side "oww," he complained "what was that f…" Farkle noticed Lucas had returned to the tree "ooh." He said in realisation.
"No," Lucas shook his head "it was MY fault," he said through gritted teeth "I should have been there for her."
"No, it wasn't," Farkle sighed sadly "Maya wouldn't have listened to any of us."
"Look," Zay took a risk, standing in between Lucas and the tree, Lucas stopped quickly, averting his punches "no one cares whose fault it was, the point is Maya needs us, ALL of us." He told his best friend firmly before preparing to walk away "now, are you coming or not?!" He raised his voice, still walking back towards the road as Lucas paused to think and ran to follow Farkle and Zay back to the crash.
By the time the boys had walked back, Riley was shaking. With fear, from the cold, she didn't know, she didn't care "No, let me see her!" She yelled again and again, watching over Josh's shoulder as Maya was intubated, that was exactly why Josh pulled Riley away, he didn't want her to see Maya like that, but she did.
"NO!" She screamed, dropping down to the floor in despair, Farkle quickly running to comfort her she thought they were hurting her, Josh knew that Maya would have had to be intubated but he didn't want Riley to know that "Riley, listen to me." Farkle spoke softly in Riley's ear as she cried into his shoulder, trying to draw her attention back to him as she continued to snivel and watch from afar.
Her eyes caught Farkle's and she just stared through him, afraid of what was going to happen to her best friend "They're helping her, okay?" He told her firmly. She looked over at them strapping Maya to a back slab as they prepared to take her to the ambulance, she already had tons of wires coming from her and she wasn't even at the hospital yet "Okay." She smiled the best she could, trying to assure him that she was okay now.
She stood up, wiping her eyes with her coat sleeve as she ran towards her parents, the three of them hugging one another as they cried; they had completely forgotten about the rest of the class. Fortunately, the paramedics hadn't, there were three ambulances in total, the first ambulance dealt with Maya, and Maya alone, the second ambulance was the truck driver and Lucas, and finally the third ambulance was slowly making its way through all the students; checking for any signs of injury or shock.
A paramedic tried to treat Lucas' burns, or at least put his, clearly broken, hand in a splint, but he refused, all he wanted to know was how Maya was.
They had always tried to stay strong for Riley when something bad happened to Maya; when she had an appendicitis, when she ran away and they didn't hear from her for a week, but this time was different, not only were they scared of losing Maya, but they were afraid they were losing Riley too, the moment Riley refused to go to her parents was when Cory and Topanga could no longer hold back their tears, maybe they would have stayed strong if Riley had come to them instead, or maybe not, maybe this was the time when they could no longer handle seeing Maya broken.
Author Note: Yes, this chapter's called "Smoke and Fire" I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist :)
Oooh, did you enjoy it, do you think Maya is gonna be okay?
Thanks for reading, please don't forget to review, I had such kind reviews the other day, it was so heart-warming to see. Although, I don't just want you to always tell me how much you're loving it, then I won't be a good writer, I'd like for you to tell me what you don't like about a certain part or how I've portrayed a character or something because then I can become a better writer for you and for myself, it's a win, win! :D
To let me know, and also confuse everyone else, if you do leave a review and you have read right until the VERY end of this then leave the word "Peaches" somewhere in it lol :P
