FITCH MANSION
The night air is cool, but all Andy
can feel is the heat radiating from the house. His stare is unbroken as
he watches the house falling to the flames, giving in under the heat and
the intensity and being stripped down to a charred shell of its former
self.
He hears Maggie finish the 911 call
and realizes that he is already listening for the sound of sirens.
Maggie comes up behind him and rests
a warm hand on his shoulder. "Everything's gonna be fine."
"I hope so." He risks a momentary
glance away from the burning house and finds her deep, brown eyes. He feels
a flicker of comfort -- just a flicker -- and says, "My mother is in there
somewhere. I should have--"
She silences him with a squeeze on
his upper arm. "You never would've been able to get to her. The fire department
will be here in a minute. They'll get her out."
"They have to. I can't lose her this
way."
Maggie is about to rest her chin
on his shoulder when he moves, taking a step closer to the mansion.
"And Brent, too," he says. "They
have to get him out."
"They will."
A moment passes as his mind echoes
the sentiment, offering it up to Heaven as a prayer, and then he shakes
his head. "I don't understand how this happened. What could have started
this?"
"I don't know. I don't know ... Maybe
it was a wiring thing or something. It could have been a million things."
"Yeah." Andy breathes in deeply,
trying to replace the smoky feeling that has spread through his body with
some fresh air. "Where is the damned fire department? They need to get
out of there!"
They just watch the blaze rage on.
Seconds trickle into minutes as Andy awaits the screech of sirens but hears
only the sounds of the house crumbling -- until three bodies come straggling
around the corner and down into the driveway.
"Mother!" Andy cries. "You're okay!"
"Yes, yes," Katherine says with a
relieved smile. "I was trapped in the guest bedroom. Nick and Ryan -- they
saved me."
Andy can't ignore the complacent
grin that moves under Nick's mustache, but he tries to ignore it for now.
"I'm so glad you're safe," he says,
drawing Katherine into an embrace. But he hardly has time to feel her in
his arms before the sound of rapidly approaching sirens interrupts.
"Thank God," he says under his breath,
turning back to the mansion. The flames are even wilder now, and the only
image in his mind is that of Brent, pinned underneath the chandelier.
"We should have gotten him out,"
he says sharply, looking back at Maggie. "There's no way he's going to
get out all right now."
Maggie offers another comforting
touch, but he can feel her own lack of certainty in her fingers.
END OF EPISODE #209
What did you think of the blaze?
Is Brent going to get out okay? What will these developments mean for the
Fitches and the Morianis? Please come share your thoughts over at the Message
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