The Unwanted Wife's Return (Ex-Husband Wants Me Back) novel Chapter 148

Out of the Smoke

3RD POV:

The sight of him made several people gasp audibly.

His shirt was completely ripped and half-burnt, the fabric sticking to his skin where it had melted slightly from the heat. His hair was soaking wet with sweat and covered in black soot. His face was smeared with ash. His arms were shaking violently under Hannah’s weight, trembling with exhaustion and probably pain, but he held her as though she were the last piece of earth keeping him alive. Like if he let go, he’d fall into an abyss.

Hannah was completely limp in his arms. Her head hung back, resting against his shoulder. Her face was grey with ash, making her look almost corpse-like. Strands of her beautiful hair were singed and burnt, plastered to her forehead with sweat and blood. Her clothes were blackened and torn, barely recognizable as clothing anymore.

Smoke was still curling off both of them, rising into the night air as if the fire was still trying to claim them even now.

For one brief moment, the entire world stood absolutely silent.

Then reality crashed back in like a tidal wave.

Everyone present gasped. Some people screamed. Some started crying immediately.

“Oh my God…”

“They’re out! They’re out!”

“Somebody help them!”

Martin screamed Elijah’s name and started running toward them, his long legs covering the distance quickly. ” ELIJAH! Oh God, Elijah!”

Jacob covered his mouth with both hands, his eyes wide with shock and relief and terror all mixed together.

Lucas stood completely still for a moment, frozen in place. From where he was standing, he could see Hannah’s face. Her closed eyes. Her slack expression. Her chest that didn’t seem to be moving.

He heavily doubted she was alive. The thought hit him like a physical blow, and he felt his knees weaken.

Martin reached them first, his chest heaving, a sound breaking out of him that was half-sob, half-relief. “Jesus Christ, you’re alive. You’re both alive. Oh thank God…”

Lucas followed on shaky legs, his breath caught in his throat, tears already falling freely down his cheeks. Because seeing Hannah like that, so still, so lifeless-looking in Elijah’s arms, cracked something deep inside him that he didn’t know could break.

He sobbed openly, not caring who saw.

Jacob took a shaky step backward, his hand still covering his face as if he could physically shove back the terror that was lodged in his throat. The reality was hitting him now. They were out. They were alive.

Everything dissolved into absolute chaos in seconds.

Firefighters rushed forward from every direction. Medics who’d been waiting by the ambulance sprinted over with their equipment. People who had been clapping and cheering just seconds earlier were suddenly screaming in panic.

A paramedic, a woman with short blonde hair and quick, efficient movements, dropped to her knees in the dirt beside them. She checked Hannah first, pressing two fingers against her neck, searching for a pulse.

“I’ve got a pulse!” she called out. “Weak but present! She’s alive!”

But Hannah’s breathing was dangerously shallow. Too shallow. Way too shallow. The smoke had clearly ravaged her lungs.

“Are they okay? Is she breathing? Is she going to make it?” Lucas asked desperately, firing off questions in the space of about thirty seconds. He was watching everything with wide, terrified eyes as they worked on Hannah.

Another paramedic, an older man with a gray beard, leaned over Elijah, He tapped his cheek gently but firmly. Elijah? Sir, can you hear me? Can you open your eyes for me?”

Elijah coughed weakly in response, and ash and soot spilled from his mouth. His voice when he spoke was completely hoarse, like sand scraping against metal. Damaged from the smoke and the heat.

“She…” he choked out, barely able to form words. “Is she alive? Is she breathing? Please… you have to help her first. Don’t worry about me. Just make sure she’s okay. Please.”

The paramedic working on him smiled slightly despite the grim situation, touched by the obvious love and concern Elijah was showing even while he was clearly in terrible condition himself.