It could have been much worse.
We both knew that.
After a while, Tyler asked:
“How did you find out?”
“I went to the station.”
His eyes closed.
“Oh no.”
“With balloons.”
He groaned.
“And cake.”
“Amanda.”
“Your favorite.”
He laughed and immediately grabbed his ribs.
“Please don’t make me laugh.”
“You don’t deserve cake.”
“That’s cruel.”
I squeezed his fingers.
Then I remembered Captain Reyes’s strange first question.
“You don’t know yet?”
Something about it still bothered me.
“Tyler.”
“Yeah?”
“Why did Reyes seem like there was something else I was supposed to know?”
Tyler’s expression changed.
I recognized guilt immediately.
“What?”
He looked down.
“The warehouse wasn’t empty.”
“I know. Reyes said everyone got out.”
“Not exactly.”
My stomach tightened again.
“There was a little girl trapped upstairs.”
I said nothing.
“The floor was unstable. Reyes ordered us out.”
“Tyler…”
“I could hear her crying.”
He finally looked at me.
I stared at him.
“You disobeyed an evacuation order?”
“Yes.”
“You walked back into a collapsing warehouse?”
“Yes.”
“For a child you didn’t know?”
His eyes filled.
“I couldn’t leave her.”
My anger cracked.
