Rette Mich

*Danielle*

We all piled into Tom's Cadillac Escalade and headed to the hospital. Tears continued to stream down my face. I sat on Bill's lap, holding him close. I rested my head on his shoulder, letting the tears still flow freely. He massaged my back soothingly, constantly telling me everything will be okay. But that's the problem - he doesn't know that everything will be fine! None of us do!

"Shh. Don't cry." He whispered again, kissing me on my cheek. He wiped my tears as we began to approach the hospital. My heart started beating faster and faster.

"I'll go park and meet you guys in there." Tom said, stalling the car in front of the Emergency Room entrance. We all filed out of the car and ran in the emergency room. Inside, we found Gustav sitting in one of the blue chairs. He kept his head down, trying to hide the redness of his face.

"Gussi!" Lainey gasped, running towards him, "How is she?"

"They wouldn't let me in with her." He mumbled, his voice still thick from crying. Lainey leaned over and hugged him. "It's all my fault." He murmured.

"No it's not!" Deanna raised her voice. He picked his head up a bit.

"I was right there. I could have saved her."

"The fire was beyond your control though!" Deanna argued. Tom walked in, running towards Lainey. He held her tightly against his body as he pecked her on the lips.

"How is Gus holding up?" He whispered

"Not too well." Lainey replied back.

We all sat there for what seemed like, or could have been hours. We tried comforting Gustav the best we could, but the truth is, we were all nervous as hell. Soon enough, the doctor walked out of the ER hallway, taking off his mask.

"Gustav Schafer?" He asked, Gussi stood up.

"That's me," He mumbled. "How is she?"

"She just got out of surgery and she is still unconscious. She is very lucky, we just spared her life. We are holding her in intensive care for the time being." The doctor explained.

"Can we go see her?" I asked

"Only two people at a time." Everyone looked towards Gustav.
"I'll go with him." I offered. I turned to Bill and kissed him on the lips. A tear glistened in my eye as I let out a heavy, nervous sigh. I look right into his eyes as he wiped the tear away. "Everything will be okay." he whispered. I held him close and pulled away. I walked down the hall with Gussi, checking the room numbers and the occupants.

"She's here." He mumbled. I looked in the window, Kris looked terrible.

"Are you sure you wanna do this?" I asked. He nodded and took a deep breath as he opened the door hesitantly. The room was dark and cold. There was hardly any light except some from a small lamp in the corner. The bustling of the machines made everything even eerier. A heart monitor beeped and struck reality in our faces.

Kris lay on her bed, breathing heavily. Her forehead was stitched closed from where she go hit with the burning debris. Her mouth was covered with a mask that connected her to a ventilator. Her face was paler than usual, making it seem as if she was dead.

"Oh my God." I whispered, covering my mouth almost instantly from shock. I fought back the tears, trying to stay strong. I wish Bill were here, right now.

Gustav sat on the bed next to her motionless body. He wiped stray hair from her fringe out of her face as tears welled up in his eyes.
"I'm sorry." He whispered

"Gussi. This isn't your fault." I protested.

"I could have saved her. I was right there. She was in front of me. I was going to get her but I couldn't!" He argued, raising his voice a bit.

"Calm down. She's alive, isn't she?" I tried saying as calmly as possible.

"She doesn't look it." He mumbled.

"I'm going to get Bill." I said, frustrated. I'm tired and I'm worried and I just couldn't deal with this shit.

"Danielle." Bill breathed, running towards me. "How is she?"

"She looks dead, and Gustav isn't holding up too well either. I left him alone with her so he can pour his heart out or whatever." I said

*Gustav*

There she lay on the hospital bed, holding on for dear life, basically. I felt tears welling up in my eyes, but I held them back as best as I could. It doesn't matter what everyone else said, it's my fault she is like this. I sat down on the bed next to her, arguing with Danielle. She left to get Bill. I just needed to be alone with her. None of my friends can make this better. I just needed her to be okay again. I continued weaving my fingers through her hair, her body still.
I held her hand tightly, still being careful.

er eyelashes fluttered slightly as she let out a small groan. I looked over to her to make sure this wasn't my imagination.

"Kris?" I asked quietly. She let go of my hand and placed it on the bed. She tried sitting herself up, but fell back on the pillow. Her eyes were in small slit. She pulled her mask off carefully.

"G-gussi?" Her asked. I actually let a small tear fall from my eye as I hugged her, trying not to hold her too tightly or touch the burn marks on her bare arms. "W-where am I?" She asked, scared.

"You are in intensive care. Do you remember anything?" I bit my lip.

"All I remember is smoke clouding my vision. A-an-and you calling my name." She stuttered. Kris attempted sitting up again, only this time keeping most balance. Her arm twitched slightly and she fell on my chest. "I'm sorry," She whispered, she wrapped her arms around my neck. I held her tightly against my chest. She let out a small whimper. I loosened my hold on her, she continued to hug me though.

"Oh. She's awake. How are you feeling, Kris?" The doctor asked walking in. I still held her close to me.

"My chest hurts a bit, but I'm okay now."

"You barely cheated death there. You got a pretty bad burn on your arms. We also found your breathing very hard and your throat closed up a bit." I cringed upon hearing that.

"That's because I have asthma." She said calmly.

"Well, the smoke inhalation must have triggered your asthma. I'm glad to see you are okay though."

"I'm happy to be alive." She said, looking into my eyes.

"I'll leave you two alone." The doctor said,finally walking out of the room. But no, we weren't alone, because moments after, the rest of the group ran in, hugging Kris.

"I'm so glad you are okay!" Danielle gushed. Deanna held Georg close with a sigh of relief.

"We didn't think you were going to make it" Tom added. I glared at him. Lainey slapped him in the arm, glaring at him.

"I'm so glad you made it through." Lainey sighed, grabbing Kris tightly. Kris let out a small yelp. Lainey let go quickly. "Hehe. Sorry."

"Can I be alone with Gustav for a minute, you guys?" She asked. As if my command, they all exited the room and waited in the hallway on a bench. We watched them all go out the door. The second Tom slammed the door shut, Kris jumped and wrapped her arms around me again.

"I don't know what I would do if you didn't pull through." I sighed

"I'm alive, I'm okay." She reassured me, looking me in the eye. I leaned into her and kissed her lightly on the lips. "I love you." She rested her head on my shoulder.

"Ich liebe dich."

"Fur immer." She whispered. And it will be forever and always.