Taylor began to panic as the kitchen had erupted in flames. She tried to pull herself towards the door but it was hard work using only her arms. Once she looked back, she realized that the fire was getting dangerously close to her. The heat was intense.
"Alex!" She heard Walsh call
"Billy!" She cried in return
"Hang on, I'm coming!" Walsh yelled
Taylor's skin started to get warm, the fire was growing rapidly and she was getting scared.
"Oh God!" She thought to herself. "That's my alarm. How far did I fall?"
She began running through questions in her head but her thoughts were drowned out by the sound of the alarm and the roar of the fire.
"I've got to get out of here." She said.
Taylor tried to move when she realized that she couldn't. She was trapped.
She could feel the heat from the fire that was now above her, and tried to protect herself from other falling debris. The glow was the only light she had in the darkness of the hole she fell into.
"Help!" She cried
She wasn't sure if the cry was in real life or part of a dream. All she knew was that she was in intense pain.
Walsh burst through the front door and quickly looked around to see if he could find Taylor.
"Alex!" He cried out as he saw her lying on the floor.
"Thank God! Billy." She cried as he bent down to pick her up.
"My legs are on fire." She pointed out
Walsh quickly tried to pat them down with his bare hands to put the flames out. Burning himself in the process.
He scooped Taylor up and went out the door. As he did so, he could hear the approaching sirens. Once he was well clear of the house, he laid her in the yard.
She was writhing in pain.
"Are you okay?" He asked
"My legs are burnt pretty bad aren't they?" She asked
Walsh looked at her legs and then back at her.
"You can FEEL that?" He asked
She winced in pain as he tried to pull her pants away from one of the burns.
"Hell yes I can feel that." She replied
Walsh laughed slightly as the first engine pulled up.
"You can feel that?" He asked again
Taylor thought for a moment. "Oh my God!" She cried out
The ambulance was next on the scene followed by another engine and a ladder truck plus a Battalion Chief. Walsh watched as the firefighters quickly went to work to battle the blaze.
"Are you Walsh?" The Chief asked
"Yes sir." Walsh replied
"How'd this happen?" The Chief asked
"I knocked over a candle that was on the kitchen table." Taylor said as the medics got to her.
"Looks like second or third degree on the legs." One of them said
"We're going to need to alert the burn center." The other replied
Walsh forgot about the pain of his hands as he watched the medics work on Taylor's legs. Finally the Chief looked at him.
"You better get those hands, and you head looked at son." The Chief said
Walsh went to touch his forehead when he felt the pain in his hands.
"My Jeep." He said
The Chief looked at him. "That's your Jeep in the tree?"
"Yeah, I swerved to avoid some kids running out into the road." Walsh replied
"We'll take care of it." The Chief said. "Now go before that bus leaves without you."
"Thanks." Walsh replied as he went down the street towards the bus that Taylor was moved to. "Room for one more?" He asked the medics
"Wow, you look like you got a couple nasty burns there." The one said
"Yeah." Walsh replied
"Come on." He said as they got up into the ambulance
Shane was walking around in the kitchen when the phone rang.
"Squad 5-5." He said as he answered it.
He got a shocked look on his face.
"Wait a minute, Alex Taylor AND Bill Walsh?" He asked
He shook his head; all of the other guys in the house took notice when they heard the names.
"Okay, thank you." Shane replied
"Who was that?" Jimmy asked
"Hang on a second." Shane said as he went towards Lieutenant Johnson's office.
"Lieu, you need to come out here." Shane said as he moved into the lounge and turned on the news.
"That's Taylor's house." Kim said
"Yeah." Shane said when he noticed everyone gathered around.
"That was one of the medics from Battalion 87." Shane started. "They're transporting Billy and Alex to New York-Presbyterian Hospital… to the burn center."
"What?" DK asked in shock
"Apparently, a candle in the kitchen fell over and started the blaze. Alex was trapped inside and Billy rushed in to get her out. That's all I know right now." Shane said
The Squad was in shock at the news.
"Lieu, we should get up there." Jimmy said
"Let me call Headquarters and see if I can get someone to cover for us." Lt. Johnson said
Walsh walked into the Burn Center holding his hands up in front of him. He followed the stretcher that Taylor was being wheeled in on, and listened as the paramedics rattled off the details.
"What's that?" One of the Doctors asked as he saw Walsh
"Burns to the hands." The one paramedic replied
"Alright, she goes to room 1, put him in 3." The Doctor instructed
"Alright." The one paramedic replied
Walsh hesitantly went with a nurse to the room he was assigned.
"She'll be okay, she's got good doctors working on her." The nurse said to reassure him.
"Yeah." Walsh said still watching to see if he could see what was going on. "She was paralyzed below the waist. Told me that she could feel her legs on fire."
The nurse looked up at him surprised.
"Sit right there, I need to go make sure the doctors know that." She said
He craned his neck around to see what was going on, but he couldn't tell. His nurse returned to him.
"Okay, let's get you taken care of." She said as she unwrapped the dressings the medics had put around Walsh's hands.
He winced in pain a little and the nurse took notice.
"How'd you do this?" She asked
Walsh snapped back to reality realizing that she had asked him a question. "Patting down the fire on her legs."
"Wow. That took a lot of courage." The nurse replied
"I'm a firefighter, so's she." Walsh pointed out, almost snapping at the nurse.
"Oh." The nurse said in reply.
It wasn't long until Beth Taylor made her way into the ER, looking around frantically.
"Hang on a second." Walsh said to the nurse as he stood up to go to her.
"Beth." He said
She turned quickly.
"Billy! They told me Alex got burnt in a fire." She said still frantic
Walsh nodded. "She did. They're in there working on her now."
"Oh God!" She put her hand over her face as she walked towards the window of the trauma room. "How bad is she?"
"I'll be honest, it's bad." Walsh said trying to hide his hands. "But she can feel it."
Beth looked at him. "She FELT the burns to her legs?"
"Yeah, she could feel it." Walsh replied
"What about your hands?" She asked noticing his failed attempts to hide them.
"They'll be fine." He replied.
They stood and watched as the doctor's worked on Taylor. The nurse came back out to Walsh.
"Mr. Walsh, we really need to take care of your hands." She said
Beth looked at him as he reluctantly went back to his room. Her focus then turned to her daughter lying on the hospital bed once again.
"Why?" She asked herself as a tear fell down her face