*****
No one noticed anything except the flame and debris falling to the ground. Harper stood in the middle of the panicked masses - unmoving, unfeeling, unaware of anything except the chaos.
Then suddenly a deafening roar shook the ground beneath her. Tiny specks of flame fell all around her and Harper looked up.
In the middle of the building, a huge cloud of smoke and soot burst into glorious being and it was descending fast; the building was crumbling and it was coming down. Harper wanted to run, but her feet had grown roots and had pinned themselves to the ground.
"Ma'am, come with me. We have to go now. Ma'am?" a fireman said to her.
But she could not move. She continued to gaze up at the ever growing grotesque cloud of dust and flame. The fireman didn't wait for her to answer but instead grabbed her arm and dragged her away from the falling debris.
She was suddenly jarred out of her terror-induced trance and her feet began to move by themselves. She glanced behind her and immediately wished she hadn't. A huge cloud of gray darkness seemed to be chasing her down the street; it moved faster then her feet could, and it enveloped her and the fireman in a matter of seconds. Darkness closed around them in a dark shadow.
The fireman's hand slipped from her arm and, though she couldn't see him, Harper knew he had left her. She wrapped her arms around herself and crunched into a protective ball. The air was deathly silent and at the same time it was completely loud. The smoke was everywhere and Harper could not see three feet in front of her. The dust clung to her lungs, coating her throat and filling her nose.
Her surroundings were getting fuzzy. Through the dust and the fog in her mind, Harper thought she saw the fireman walking towards her. In an instant, he was by her side saying something, but all she heard was, "Hang on, Ma'ma, hang on. You'll..."
And then all went black.
She became partially conscious under the bright lights of a hospital room with nurses buzzing all around her. Her ears hummed and her vision blurred and she faded back to the blackness.
She did not know how many times she dozed in and out of darkness, but when she became fully conscious, her surroundings were very different then when she had passed out. She was propped up in a hospital bed with clean blankets and pillow cases; the room itself was clean and white, and there were flowers everywhere. She sat up a little dazed with her mind buzzing.
How long had she been asleep? What had happened after she went out, and what had happened to the woman she had helped? Was she okay?
The door opened suddenly and a trim nurse walked in. "Oh good; you're awake. I'll tell the doctors immediately." And she turned to go.
"Wait a minute. How long was I asleep?"
The nurse turned back to Harper. "You've been in a mild coma for almost a week; the doctors said it was all the smoke you inhaled."
Harper didn't reply but just nodded. A week. A whole week she had been out. She began to wonder if it had all been worth it.
-
Five days later Harper was well on her way to recovery and was preparing to leave the hospital. The 911 attacks had made national and worldwide headlines. The terrorist group called Al Qaeda had attacked not only theTwin Towers, but also the Pentagon and was suspected of attempting an attack on Washington D.C. In total, the attacks killed 2,996 people.
Harper sat down on the edge of the bed. She could not stand for long without feeling dizzy. And the number of dead swayed her to nausea.
Though it was quiet, Harper heard the door open. She turned around. Sitting in a wheelchair with a cast on one leg was the young woman she had saved. The woman wore a huge grin on her face.
"The doctors told me you almost died!" Her smile had faded but her eyes were still filled with joy.
"I just wanted to thank you even though you deserve so much more. I would have died if you hadn't found me."
Harper was speechless. Without words, she walked over to the woman. Bending down, she hugged her with all the strength she had.
"You are very welcome."
The End...
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