He watched as she ran past the barricade and although he knew he should stop her, that it wasn't prudent or safe, he found himself running behind her towards the mass of sirens and rescue personnel.

"You've got to get up there," Victoria screamed, her composure and poise long abandoned. "There's smoke coming out of the window…that's their window…that's where they are. You've got to get to her. My baby…" She breathed in, feeling as if her chest couldn't contain the breath. She clutched at her throat, the smell of the smoke outside was oppressive, she could only imagine what it must be like within the walls of that building…where Katie was.

She turned to look into Billy's eyes and found him staring. He said nothing, his eyes fixated on the man being hoisted up towards the window. His heart pounded inside his chest, his legs threatening to give way. The words sounded garbled…

"We need you to move back, sir…Please, move back."

He took a breath, turning to look at the source, staring directly into his eyes. "Not until they're out," he said firmly. "Not until they're both out."


"Lean forward, sweetie." Phyllis pressed Katie as close to the window as possible, hoping the air would help cut through the thick smoke that quickly filled the room. She leaned forward behind her, her eyes closing in grateful thanks as she saw the man scaling the side of the building.

"Oh," she breathed before sputtering and coughing.

Katie turned back, her eyes full of worry.

"It's okay. It's alright." She ran her hand through the little girl's soft, blonde hair. "You see that man down there. He's gonna help us get out of here, okay? He's gonna carry us down."

"From all the way up here?"

She could hear the slight tremble in her voice despite her attempt at a brave face.

"Yeah, it'll be fun." She stopped, her mind trying to think of something, anything, to make this sound less daunting than it actually was… "you know what?" Her face brightened a bit as she looked into the pale blue eyes that stared at her. "It's like the rock wall at the park. Your Daddy showed me pictures of you climbing it. He told me all about how brave you were and how proud you were about getting all the way to the top. This is just like climbing down…it's just like climbing down a really big rock wall."

Katie rubbed her eyes, the smoke now beginning to take over the room, "It's harder to climb up," she said succinctly. "Down is easy."

"That's right." She managed a half laugh, as she pressed a quick kiss to the little girl's forehead. "Down is easy."

A face appeared at the window and Phyllis moved the chair as close as possible. "Thank God," she said aloud as she struggled to pull herself up. "What do you need me to do? How do we do this?"

"One at the time?" He said, his eyes scanning the smoke filled room.

Phyllis nodded. "Here." She lifted Katie, holding her out towards him. "Get her..Get her out now."

"Noooo," Katie held onto her hand, her eyes brimming with tears. "You come too. I don't want to go by myself."

"You have to sweetie. It's okay. I'll be there in just a minute. You go see your Mommy and Daddy on the ground, okay?"

Katie hesitated for a moment and finally released her hand, as tears streamed down her face. Phyllis turned, watching as the smoldering jacket began to flame.


"Katie!" Victoria rushed over to the side of the gurney, throwing her arms around the little girl. "Oh my God, Katie! Let me look at you." She pulled back long enough to give the little girl a cursory once over before throwing her arms around her again.

"Is she okay?" she asked the paramedic, who nodded kindly at her as she continued her routine checks.

"You okay?" Billy leaned in, pulling the little girl in for a tight hug and holding her close for a moment as his eyes already started to scan the area for Phyllis.

Katie nodded. "I'm okay, it wasn't as bad as the rock wall," she said quietly. "You don't have somebody to carry you on the rock wall."

Victoria furrowed her brow in confusion. "What are you talking about sweetie? What rock wall?"

"Phyllis said when the man got me it would be like the rock wall in the park…"

"Where is Phyllis?"

Victoria looked up, noticing Billy pacing back behind them. "Billy, Katie's talking to us."

"I know that," he said, "but she's okay and Phyllis isn't out." He turned back towards Katie, kneeling in front of her. "Sweetie, where's Phyllis?"

"They said one at a time," Katie said quietly.

Billy drew in a deep breath as he stood up slowly. Phyllis was still inside.

Jack walked over from the other direction. "Where's Phyllis?" he asked, the concern obvious in his voice. "She's not?" He pointed towards the window, the swirls of smoke now thick black clouds.


Her chest burned like the fire was inside her as she struggled to find a pocket of fresh air. She leaned towards the window sill, struggling to brace herself enough to lean towards the outside edge, needing as much of the outside air as she could get—feeling as if each breath gave her another moment.

Her ankle continued to throb and one look at it confirmed it was broken, the bone now twisted at a completely unnatural angle. She forced the chair closer, bracing against the window again as she pulled with her good leg. Suddenly she felt the wheels of the chair shift, the momentum of her weight causing the chair to move backward and she was helpless to stop it. Her body fell from the seat and she found herself on the ground, unable to find anything within reach on which to pull up. The smoke was now so thick that each breath became increasingly difficult and it would be so much easier to just close her eyes.