BDEFML 13

Chapter 13

Instinctively, I squeezed my eyes shut and lay flat on the floor.

Clang!

Something hit and made a sound above my head.

Curious, I slightly lifted my head.

I saw a long wooden stick lying diagonally, blocking the pile of trash that was falling down.

‘Looks like I used up all my luck here.’

Feeling the heat from the fire getting closer, I sweated coldly.

“Lopez!”

Then, Chester’s desperate voice came from beyond the debris.

I quickly came to my senses and didn’t hesitate to crawl out of the debris.

Chester, who was lying flat as if he would enter the pile at any moment, stretched his hand toward me when he saw me.

“Grab my hand!”

I grabbed his black, ash-covered hand without hesitation.

Then he held me tightly and pulled me out of the debris…

Crash—!

The debris collapsed as if it had been waiting for me to escape.

“Th-thank you, Chester.”

If I had been a little later, I might have been crushed…

Thinking about it made goosebumps rise.

I hurriedly stood up with his support.

Chester looked at me with a strangely distorted face, but now was not the time to worry about his feelings.

“Let’s get out quickly! It’s dangerous if we stay here!”

“…Okay.”

I tightly grabbed Chester’s hand and walked quickly.

Because of the strong flames, I couldn’t run since the path was hard to see.

Avoiding the threatening fire, we kept moving forward.

Soon, voices of people talking could be heard.

That meant the exit was right in front of us.

“Run! I think we can run now!”

Chester and I started running toward the direction where the noise came from.

The thick gray smoke cleared, and people became visible.

‘Exit!’

Tap, tap…!

Rumble—

When I looked back, the pile of trash was collapsing at high speed.

Chester and I gritted our teeth and swung our arms and legs hard while running.

Not long after, we finally escaped the incinerator safely.

“Haa… haa!”

After bursting out through the smoke and almost falling, clean air filled our lungs instead of the heavy, stuffy air.

Chester and I inhaled deeply and looked at each other.

We were dirty and messy, but I smiled brightly.

“We made it out safely!”

“Yeah… we got out…!”

Perhaps relief that we were alive flooded in, and Chester couldn’t hide his happy expression either.

At that moment, teachers who were running from far away carrying water buckets found us in front of the incinerator and turned pale.

“Oh my god, Lopez! Chester!”

“Did you just come out of that incinerator?”

“How could this happen…!”

The happiness was only for a moment.

Maybe because the tension was released.

I couldn’t react to the teachers who were running toward us with worried faces.

My vision became blurry, and strength left my body.

* * *

When Lopez collapsed, Chester, who was holding her hand, quickly caught her.

“Lo, Lopez!”

Luckily, he could support her before she fell to the ground.

But Lopez’s body, which he was holding, was unusually hot.

The sweat flowing from her forehead was hard to tell whether it was from the heat or from fever, but one thing was certain.

Lopez’s condition was not normal.

Pale-faced, Chester cried out.

“Lopez’s body is too hot!”

Gale rushed over and checked Lopez’s condition.

Seeing her hair dripping with water, he sighed.

“You poured water over yourself!”

Gale quickly took off his gown and wrapped it around Lopez.

It was relatively safer to splash water on the body if one wanted to enter a fire.

But it was too reckless for Lopez, who was already suffering from a fever.

“Put out the fire before it spreads more!”

“Bring more water buckets!”

“And lots of sand!”

Everyone was confused by the sudden fire.

“Teacher Carrington! Hurry! Why did the fire suddenly….”

At the teacher’s muttering, Carrington jumped as if burned by fire and shouted.

“I will stop the fire from spreading, so please stop the children from coming closer!”

Leaving the chaos behind, Gale carried Lopez and checked Chester.

Now that he looked closely, Chester was also in a terrible state.

Gale asked worriedly.

“Are you okay, Chester?”

“I’m okay… But Lopez’s hand….”

Chester bit his lips hard, trying not to cry.

He didn’t know how scared he was inside that fire.

Chester felt as if he would die from fear.

In that situation, Lopez appeared.

Even while suffering from severe fever and unable to stand properly, Lopez never let go of his hand.

‘And she even… pushed herself and got trapped instead of me…’

Chester clasped his hands together as if remembering the warmth that still remained.

Gale frowned when he saw Lopez’s bright red palm.

It wasn’t serious, but it was a burn.

“Chester, can you walk?”

“Yes.”

“Then follow the teacher.”

Chester tightly held the gown wrapped around Lopez and ran to the infirmary with Gale.

Soon, after arriving at the infirmary, Gale laid Lopez on the bed.

Lopez’s body was still burning like a fireball.

Chester looked at Lopez with complicated eyes but carefully squeezed a wet towel and placed it on her forehead.

Thanks to Lopez quickly noticing the fire in the incinerator and coming, he didn’t inhale much smoke.

Because she immediately put out the fire on his sleeve, he had no wounds.

Not only that, she even pushed him away from the collapsing debris and trapped herself.

‘…I didn’t do anything for her.’

Instead, he had openly disliked Lopez.

She was the one who tried to frame his favorite Medina and drive her out of the orphanage.

But when the fire started, the first person who ran to save him was Lopez.

“Teacher, if someone loses their memory, do they really change that much?”

Hearing the sudden question, Gale looked at Chester for a moment and smiled quietly.

“Well… is that important? Whatever it is, I think we should look at the person as they are now.”

“….”

The person who is here now.

Chester silently stared at Lopez with a complicated expression.

At that moment, a loud noise was heard as Medina and Klein rushed into the infirmary.

“Chester!”

Perhaps they ran immediately after hearing the news, because sweat droplets were forming on Medina’s forehead.

Seeing Chester sitting like a criminal in a messy state, Medina hurriedly checked him.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

Then Klein, who noticed them, froze when he saw Lopez.

Lopez’s hair, soaked with sweat, was sticking to her forehead.

Her breathing was rough, and her face was bright red.

One arm was wrapped with bandages.

After checking Lopez’s condition, Klein’s face turned pale.

“Hey, why is she like that? You’re fine, so why is she like that!”

“She was… saving me….”

Chester couldn’t finish his words because his throat tightened, and he lowered his head.

Klein alternated his gaze between Lopez and Chester, feeling his chest grow hotter.

He didn’t know why, but it felt unpleasant and nauseating.

He couldn’t tell whether this feeling was anger, sadness, or helplessness at not being able to protect Lopez.

Medina stuttered and asked Gale.

“T-teacher. Is Lopez going to be okay?”

“Ah, that…”

Before Gale could answer, Lopez’s lips slowly opened as she woke up.

“Please say that I am healthy.”

Her voice was hoarse.

Chester and Klein’s faces twisted as if they were about to cry.

But they couldn’t say anything, only moving their lips silently.

“….”

“And please add that everyone should hold hands and go outside together.”

Lopez sniffed her protruding nose.

Everyone flinched and became quiet.

After a few minutes of watching each other move carefully, they heard Lopez’s steady breathing again, meaning she had fallen asleep.

Only then did Gale signal them.

“Go now. I will take care of the rest.”

But the children did not move.

Chester looked at Gale with a determined face and said:

“I also need treatment, teacher. I want to be treated here.”