Ch 3

"Dammit!" Sabrina said in a panic. Loud enough for Emma to hear

"You said a bad word!" Emma exclaimed confused as to why Sabrina was suddenly so frantic.

"I know. I'm sorry. I'll put a quarter in the swear jar when we get out of here." If we get out of here, Sabrina thought silently. She was looking everywhere on the generator in front of her for an off switch. A cord. Anything. But there was nothing. It must have been set up on a timer, she thought to herself. She was wrong. Britt and her mother had intended to kill them after all. That realization almost brought Sabrina to her knees. This is not how it's supposed to end. Not for her and definitely not for her little girl.

"Ok Emma" Sabrina said rushing back to the door where Emma was sitting. "You're still my big girl, right?"

"Yes" Emma replied.

"Ok. I need you to do me a favor" Sabrina reached for one of the bottles of water.

"I'm not thirsty." Emma said annoyed.

"I know I know. I don't need you to drink it. Hold on." Sabrina looked around the room again to find any kind of material that wasn't covered in soot and dust but didn't see anything. She looked down at the multicolored floor length maxi dress she was wearing and decided it would have to do. With her bare hands she began pulling at the bottom of her dress along the seam. Tearing it all the way up to her knees.

"What are you doing?!" Emma asked puzzled.

With a section the size of a hand towel ripped off, Sabrina took the bottle of water and drenched it in her hands. "Ok, Mija. This is what I need you to do for me. I need you to put this over your face. Make sure it covers your nose and mouth, ok? I need you to breathe through this. Can you do that for me?"

"But why?" Emma questioned.

"I know it sounds silly, but do you trust me?"

"Of course"

"Ok then. Put this over your face and breathe. Whatever you do, don't take it off. Do you understand?"

"Yes" Emma replied.

"Ok, stay here by the door as far away for that machine as possible. I'll be right back." Sabrina sprang to her feet again and felt the room spinning. She knew what she was inhaling. She knew it wouldn't be long before she succumbed to the odorless gas. She regained her bearings enough to begin canvassing the empty room again. She wasn't sure what she was looking for but there had to be something in there that she missed. She began praying to every God in heaven. Every angel up above. She began praying to her mother.

Then out of the corner of her eye, she saw specks of light coming from the opposite corner. It couldn't be. Could it? She stumbled over to inspect the mysterious light. There it was. She kneeled down to get a better view. Moonlight. She hadn't noticed this tiny window along the baseboard of the floor before because it was covered in black paint. Luckily it had just enough missed spots to let the light of the outside shine in.

"Bingo!" She exclaimed "Now how am I going to break it?" She looked back at Emma's beautiful face as she held the wet cloth over her nose and mouth. Such a good girl. So angelic. She was everything Sabrina could have wished for in a daughter. Smart, funny, loving. She was hers in every way that mattered. She would give her life for hers. And she was going to.

Sabrina ran over to the generator to grab the filthy cloth that lie on top and began to wrap it tightly around her foot and ankle.

"What are doing?" asked Emma

"Breathe through the cloth, Emma!" Sabrina snapped. The first time she had ever raised her voice to her. Back at the window, Sabrina felt all of her senses beginning to numb. She laid down in front of the window and starting kicking with all her might. The first contact her foot made with the window sent a shockwave of pain through the length of her leg. She tried to muffle her cries and kicked again. More pain. Just when she thought she couldn't take anymore, she heard Emma cough across the room. She wanted to run to her but she couldn't. She took a deep breath, held it and kicked again.

The noise of glass shattering was a welcomed sound. As was the breeze now coming in. Sabrina turned around and tried to clear as much glass away from the frame of the small window as she could. "Emma, come here quick" she said. Emma ran to Sabrina as she asked, still holding the cloth over her face. "Listen to me, I need you to crawl through there and run, ok?"

"Run where?" Emma questioned.

"Anywhere, sweetie. As far as you can. Look for light, ok? For a house or a car. Just run and find help. Ok? Can you do that?"

"But what about you?

"I'll be ok" Sabrina said looking down at the opening knowing she wouldn't be able to fit through it. Tears began streaming down her face "Listen to me ok. I know you're scared and confused. And I know I'm asking a lot of you and I'm sorry. But you are the bravest little girl I know. I know you can do this for me. Run as fast as you can, ok?"

"But I don't want to leave you." Emma began to cry. Somehow she knew what Sabrina was really asking her to do.

"Emma…" Sabrina started. Trying to fight off the cloudiness that was filling her head "You need…. You need to find your Daddy, ok? He needs you more than anything else in the world. If I could go with you, I would. So I need you to find him. Find him and tell him how much I love him. You and your Daddy…. You're not just in my heart, you are my heart. You're my whole entire heart. I love you both so so very much."Sabrina couldn't stop the tears from falling if she tried.

"To the stars and back?" Emma asked, reciting her and Sabrina's special saying.

"To the stars and back, Mija." Emma wrapped her arms around Sabrina's neck so tightly that she almost lost her balance. Sabrina placed a kiss on Emma's forehead, "Now go" she said as she helped Emma crawl through the broken window.

When Emma was finally out and running, Sabrina tried to inhale as much fresh air as she could. But it was too little too late. Her eyes were already heavy. Her body beyond weak. She leaned up against the wall to take pressure off her sore and possibly broken foot and looked up. She wasn't sure if she was hallucinating or if her life was flashing before her eyes. She saw her and Patrick's entire story playing like a movie on the ceiling tiles above. From the first time they crashed into each other to the first time he had ever pressed his lips against hers. She could almost feel the touch of his hand on the small of her back. She could almost smell the scent of his cologne on her clothes. She had never loved a man this deeply. He and Emma were her world. They were a family and everything Sabrina never knew she was ready for. She looked forward to game night every Friday. To kissing Emma's scrapes when fell off her bike. To singing her back to sleep after she had a nightmare. To waking up in Patrick's arms.

I was a lucky girl.

That was her last thought as the movie on the ceiling stopped playing and her world faded to black.