Double Jeopardy Chapter 5 (standard:mystery, 10185 words) [5/13] show all parts
Author: Sarah Spenser	Added: Jun 22 2005	Views/Reads: 2624/1944	Part vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
This picks up from the fire!

5. Ultimate Peril 

Connor sat at his desk perusing through files. He wished he didn't have
to work tonight, he wanted to be with Allison, but Charlie was really 
pushing him hard on this Batano case. As he thought of Chad he wondered 
what Allie was hiding. When he had told her what Slim said, she had 
become defensive, was she really hiding something from him? No, he 
thought his mind was probably playing tricks on him. Besides, that was 
highly uncharacteristic of Allison. She usually told him everything. 
Connor heard a muffled voice coming from his police scanner and turned 
up the volume. He wanted to be near in case any serious calls came in. 
“Three alarm fire at 24 Fallcrest Drive. All units in close proximity 
please respond to 24 Fallcrest Drive.” Connor's heart stopped, their 
apartment building. He quickly grabbed his keys and coat and headed out 
the door. 

Ernie woke to the roar of the fire, the entire apartment was nearly
engulfed in flames. At first, he was groggy, and thought it was a 
dream, but when he heard Scarlet squawking, he immediately knew 
something was wrong. “Oh my God! Allison!” he shouted her name as he 
made his way down the smoke filled hall to the bedroom. “Allison?” he 
raced over to the bed and shook her. “Allison, wake up! There's a fire! 
We've got to get out of here!” but she didn't respond. She was 
completely unconscious. “Allison?” still nothing, fearing the worst, 
Ernie picked her up and carried her out in to the fresh air. People 
were screaming, and they were practically stampeding to get out of the 
building. Ernie heard the wail of children, and the wail of sirens as 
he stood holding Allison. He tried to bring her around, but nothing was 
working, was it too late? Connor would kill him, he thought as he raced 
over to one of the ambulances. “You've got to help me!” he said 
frantically. “What's the problem, sir?” one of the paramedics asked 
stepping over toward Ernie. “I can't wake her up! Her name's Allison.” 
He looked into Allison's eyes and recognized her immediately. “Okay, 
did you find her like this?” “Yes! She hasn't regained consciousness! 
You've got to help her! Please ...” “Sir, calm down! Just have a seat. 
What's your name?” “Ernie.” “Okay, Ernie, we're going to take care of 
Allison. Just relax, son.” Ernie sat on the curb and watched as fire 
fighters tried to control the raging inferno. Police were everywhere 
helping residents, Ernie heard footsteps and before he knew it, Connor 
was standing in front of him. “Allie? Oh my God! Allison? Can you hear 
me, sweetness? What's wrong with her? Do you know she's pregnant? What 
the hell happened?” “Who are you?” “I'm her husband, Connor.” “Okay, 
apparently, Ernie found her and got her out. He  found her like this. I 
didn't know she was pregnant. We're doing everything we can.” “That's 
not good enough!” “Sir, calm down. We're trying everything we can. 
She's taken a lot of smoke, we're going to have to get her to Fallwood 
General.” “Ernie, where's Scarlet?” “Oh my God!” “You idiot! You let 
this happen!” “I didn't set the fire!” “No, but I'm sure you had a hand 
in it! This didn't start until you moved in! Allie's going to be 
heartbroken if anything happens to Scarlet.” Connor ran at top speed 
towards the blazing inferno. Against fire fighters orders, he raced to 
their apartment 3A and grabbed Scarlet from his cage. He also grabbed 
his carrier and dashed outside as fast as possible. 

He looked at the lifeless animal now resting in his arms. Allie would be
beside herself. He knew that if she were conscious, Allison would've 
saved her beloved Scarlet. “Scarlet? Can you hear me? Squawk! Do 
something!” but he remained still. “Can you do something to help him?” 
Connor asked one of the paramedics. “A bird? Are you nuts?” “Please, I 
know it's an odd request, but my wife's pregnant she'll be beside 
herself if he dies.” “I'll see.” Connor went back to check on Allison. 
She was still unconscious, Ernie was coughing uncontrollably and Connor 
worried about him. “Get this man some oxygen! He's coughing 
uncontrollably.” A paramedic came over and put an oxygen mask over 
Ernie's face. Allison had been fitted with one several minutes earlier. 
“Everyone stand back!” one of the fire fighters yelled. “Get everyone 
out of the way! The building's going to blow up!” people scrambled 
hurriedly, ambulances moved rapidly until they were a good distance 
away from the building. Connor climbed in beside Allison holding her 
hand and talking to her as the ambulance moved farther away from the 
building. “Allie, it's going to be all right. Everything's going to be 
fine. I love you, just hang on, we're on our way to the hospital.” 
Ernie sat tight lipped as Connor talked soothingly to Allison. The 
ambulance was flagged down by one of the residents of the Fallwood 
apartments. They were now loaded to capacity with injured passengers. 


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