Chapter 2 - THREE MASKS FOR FOUR PEOPLE
Ellie woke at White Plains Hospital with oxygen tubing beneath her nose.
Her maternal aunt Grace sat beside the bed.
“Where’s Noah?”
“Down the hall. He’s okay.”
“Mom?”
Grace hesitated.
“They’re talking to the fire department.”
Ellie turned toward the wall.
She did not ask about her father.
Grace noticed.
An hour later, Mark and Caroline tried to enter.
A hospital social worker stopped them.
Because Ellie had already told a nurse exactly what happened.
Dad shoved me.
Mom said they could only save one.
They took Noah.
They left me.
Mark immediately claimed panic had distorted Ellie’s memory.
“I thought she was right behind us.”
Caroline agreed.
“We were dealing with two terrified children.”
Grace stared at her sister.
“You told Ellie you could only save one.”
“I don't remember saying that.”
Ellie heard from inside the room.
She sat up.
“You looked at me when you said it.”
Caroline stopped talking.
The burgundy emergency bag had survived.
A firefighter had found it beside the laundry exit.
Three masks.
Three names.
No mask for Ellie.
Mark offered an explanation.
“Noah has asthma. The masks were prioritized for whoever needed them most.”
“Then why is your name on one?” Grace asked.
Mark looked at her.
“And Caroline’s?”
Nobody answered.
The fire investigator requested the bag.
That changed Mark’s expression.
“It’s just emergency equipment.”
“Then you shouldn't mind us documenting it.”
Across the hallway, Noah cried whenever someone mentioned the fire.
A pediatric social worker sat with him.
Grace was passing the doorway when she heard Noah ask:
“Am I gonna get Ellie in trouble again?”
The social worker answered gently.
“Why would Ellie be in trouble?”
Noah lowered his voice.
“Because she gets blamed when I burn stuff.”
Grace stopped walking.
The social worker noticed her and quietly closed the door.
Grace stood there staring at the wood.
Again.
Noah had said again.
The fire investigator came down the corridor fifteen minutes later.
“Ms. Bennett?”
“Yes?”
“We’ve identified the likely room where tonight’s fire started.”
Grace expected basement wiring.
A furnace.
A candle.
May you like
Instead he said:
“Your nephew’s bedroom.”
