KAITLIN GASPED FOR AIR. Rashid was up and next to her before Z moved to her other side. He held his breath as he watched Rashid check Kaitlin’s pulse before shaking his head.
“What?” Z asked. “What’s going on?”
Kaitlin moaned. Her eyes fluttered, and Z took her hand as he looked desperately at Rashid. Kaitlin’s fingers were ice-cold.
“I don’t know.” Rashid took her pulse again. “She’s still breathing, but it’s getting shallower and her pulse is weaker than it was before. I don’t know what to do.”
“Can you do CPR again?” Z asked. “It worked before.”
“Not unless she stops breathing.” Rashid had given the answer Z knew was coming. He’d spent too much time in hospitals not to. “The swelling in her legs is worse. There’s probably internal bleeding. I just don’t know what more any of us can do.”
Z gripped Kaitlin’s hand and closed his eyes.
He had done this to her. If he’d answered her message today, she wouldn’t have come looking for him. She would be healthy and whole if it weren’t for him.
“If we get her to a doctor, there still might be a chance,” Rashid said. A hand touched Z’s shoulder, and he opened his eyes to see Rashid’s looking at him. “The stretcher is almost done. It’s not very strong, but Kaitlin is light, and if we strap her to it with the electrical wire . . .”
“I can try to braid the twine and the cords together faster,” Diana said, and Tad added, “I’ll help. Rashid can finish getting the stretcher ready, and I can work with Diana. We’ll get her out of here, Z.”
Would they?
“I can’t just stand here and do nothing.” Z paced toward the window. “There was nothing I could do for my mom. Nothing at all. But it seems like the fire is under control, and the radio said the firefighters were coming in soon. Maybe I can help them by moving stuff on this side so they can get through.” He turned and headed back to Kaitlin.
“I can help,” Frankie said.
“No,” he snapped, and looked at Kaitlin’s face, wishing she’d open her eyes. But it was like his mother all over again. Shallow breathing. Eyes closed.
“Look,” Frankie said, “I can go one way and you can go the other. Two of us can check out all the stairwells faster that way while the others work on the rope. If one of us hears firefighters or spots a path that can be cleared, we can let the other know.”
Z’s knee-jerk refusal died on his lips. “Fine.”
Frankie clapped his hands together. “Let’s do it.” Frankie headed for the door and Z turned to Rashid. “Take care of her for me. She’s special.”
Rashid nodded. “I will, Z.”
Z looked at the terrifyingly slight, almost imperceptible, rise and fall of Kaitlin’s chest. “She’d want you to call me Alex.”
“Okay. Alex,” Rashid said. “But when we get out of here, you’ll have to tell me why you’re called Z.”
“I will,” Z promised. Frankie opened the door. Smoke and dust came through as Frankie disappeared down the hall.
As Z was leaving, he whispered to Cas, “I meant what I said before. I get wanting to die.”
Before she could say anything, Z ran.