by Jay Gill
I didn’t believe what I was hearing. How could this be? “You go. I’m right behind you.”
Rayner didn’t need to be told. He leapt into the car, threw it in gear and accelerated away like a Formula 1 racing car driver out of the starting grid.
I ran to my car and jumped into the driver’s seat, slinging my seatbelt around me. All eyes were on me as I turned the car around. “Seatbelts,” I insisted. “Get your seatbelts on, and make sure the dog is secure.”
“James, you’re frightening us,” said Monica.
“What on earth’s got into you, Jamie?” asked Mum, leaning urgently forward. “What’s going on?”
I checked everyone had their belts on before screeching out of the garage forecourt. My breathing was rapid as I spoke. I really didn’t want to say it in front of Alice and Faith, but I had no choice. “Our house is burning. It’s on fire.”
I could hear Faith begin to cry. She and Alice held tight to Nana Hardy.
Monica mouthed as quietly as possible, “Jenny?”
I shook my head and widened my eyes. I half-whispered, half-mouthed, “Inside. She’s trapped.”
Mum, who was sat in the middle of the back seat, saw what I had mouthed. She gasped, “Oh, dear God. No!”
Chapter Thirty
I raced through the traffic, all of us hoping the fire was some kind of terrible mistake. Apart from Faith, who was sobbing, everyone in the car was silent, lost in their own fearful thoughts.
As we got closer, the knot in the pit of my stomach grew. I could see thick grey smoke rising high into the sky. I could only pray Jenny had been able to flee the inferno in time. I turned into our road and saw neighbours standing in the street, helplessly watching as the fire raged. Rayner’s abandoned car was on the pavement next to the house, the engine still running. Rayner himself was nowhere to be seen.
Nothing could have prepared me for the true horror of seeing up close our home engulfed by fierce flames. Raging flames that were fanned by a midday breeze.
I parked a good distance from the house and opened the door to get out. “If you decide to get out of the car, stay well back,” I told Monica. As I spoke, a booming explosion inside the house made us all jump. Faith began sobbing louder. Everyone’s eyes fixed on the billowing smoke. In the background, the sound of sirens from approaching fire trucks caught my attention.
I got out of the car and sprinted across the street towards the front of our house. The downstairs windows, broken from the heat, glowed as flames consumed everything inside. Flames licked what had once been the front door, leaping and dancing around the doorframe. I needed to find Rayner and Jenny. I looked to the upstairs windows for any sign of Jenny. Nothing. The windows were open. Smoke poured out.
Behind me, the first fire truck pulled up and blocked off the street.
I ran to the side of the house, raising my arm to protect my face as the heat of the flames fought to push me back. “Rayner!” I yelled. I got no reply. I moved along the side of the house. “Jenny!”
As I rounded the side of the house, I found Rayner hosing himself down with water from our garden hosepipe. He was blackened from smoke, coughing and wheezing, barely able to stand. He’d already been in the house and the heat had driven him back. He was readying himself for another attempt.
“Jenny’s in there. I heard her,” he shouted. He let the water run over his head.
I looked up at the top windows.
“She’s stopped calling. I’m going back in.” He dropped the hosepipe, pulled his jacket over his head and turned to run back through the shattered patio doors and into the inferno.
“No!” I yelled. “It’s suicide. The fire brigade is here.” I reached out to grab him, but Rayner’s big arm swept me aside like I wasn’t even there. I fell hard on my back. As I got back up, I could only watch helplessly as he charged forward and disappeared into the smoke and flames.
I looked up at the windows again. I needed to get up there.
From down the side of the house appeared two of the fire crew. The first crew member looked at me while the second spoke into her radio.
“Are you okay, sir? Are you hurt?” asked the first crew member.
“I’m fine.”
“Do you know if anyone is inside?”
“There’s a woman trapped inside. Her name is Jenny Rayner. She’s upstairs, I think. Her husband just ran in through there.” I pointed at the doors, which were charred and framed by flames.
The fireman turned to his partner. “It’s true. Only it’s two people inside. Husband and wife.” The pair got themselves ready, putting on their breathing gear. I then watched with amazement as each of them stepped into the burning house after Rayner.
Two more fire crew arrived, carrying a ladder that they leaned against the back wall beneath the window. I wanted to climb the ladder with them. I felt completely helpless. In seconds, one of the fire crew had scaled the ladder and climbed in through the second-storey window. I watched with eyes watering and stinging, my face sore from the heat and my throat raw from the acrid smoke.
At the top window the fireman remerged. He was holding the motionless body of Jenny. His partner was already waiting at the top of the ladder. I watched with my heart in my mouth as Jenny was passed, legs first, through the window. With her legs over the shoulders of the fireman on the ladder, her back resting on the ladder, the fireman moved slowly, rung by rung, down the ladder, Jenny sliding down with him. Reaching the bottom, the fireman laid Jenny down and checked her vitals.
“Is she going to be okay? Is she alive?” I couldn’t help myself.
“Stand back, please, sir. For your own safety. Get right back.”
“I’m a police officer, a detective chief inspector,” I blurted.
“I don’t care who you are. Get back to a safe distance.”
I did as I was told. I watched as the second fireman joined the first and they both worked on reviving Jenny. I couldn’t tell if she was breathing. Her bare feet and legs were blackened, raw and burned. From as far back as I was, and with the firemen attending to her blocking my view, I had no idea how badly she was injured.
Through the patio doors came the other two crew members who’d gone inside searching for Rayner. They’d found him and were half-carrying him out, his arms slung over their shoulders. He was barely able to walk, his legs giving way beneath him. He stumbled and had to be half-dragged to safety. Getting clear of the house, they laid Rayner down beside Jenny. An oxygen mask was put over his blackened, swollen, tear-stained face.
Rayner lay on his back, eyes shut, gasping for air. The only movement came from his hand as he slowly reached out for Jenny, his fingers searching for her, not resting until they found her hand and held it.
Chapter Thirty-One
Waiting for news at the hospital was unbearable.
“Sit down,” said Monica. “Your pacing is driving me mad.”
“Why haven’t we heard anything?” I fumed.
Monica’s phone bleeped. “It’s your mum. She says the girls are fine. She’s asking if we have any news.” She started tapping out a reply. Alice and Faith were being looked after by their Nana at her home, and I was grateful once again that the girls had this relatively peaceful port in what seemed to be a gathering storm.
“I’m going to go and find someone. This is ridiculous.” I stormed out into the hall where I ran straight into Dr Jakub Kowalski, the plastic surgery and burns consultant who’d been assigned to Jenny. I backed up into the waiting room.
Kowalski took off his round spectacles and cleaned them on his shirt. “You are friends of Mr and Mrs Rayner, yes?”
“We are,” said Monica, who was now standing beside me. I could feel her trembling. She took my hand and squeezed it. “How are they?”
“Have you heard from their family?” asked Kowalski. “I really need to speak to the immediate family first.”
“I’ve spoken to the parents. They’re on their way. They’ll be here in the next two
to three hours. Jenny’s mother, a little later. Listen, Jenny and Gabriel Rayner are our family, maybe not by blood, but they are family. I’m a detective chief inspector, and Detective Inspector Rayner is my partner. I need to know if they are going to be okay.” Kowalski didn’t need to know I was retired. “Gabriel Rayner is also my best friend. They were in my house when this happened. So, please, tell us how they are. Please.”
Kowalski put his glasses back on and looked at the two of us. “I suppose, under the circumstances.” He gestured to the seats, and we all sat down. “Mr Rayner is being treated for smoke inhalation and minor burns. He’s on an IV for dehydration. We’re also giving him antibiotics for possible lung damage.”
“Lung damage?” I asked. My mouth suddenly felt dry.
“It is precautionary. Nothing serious. I would expect Mr Rayner to be back to his normal self in a few days. He’s been very lucky.”
“Thank goodness,” said Monica. She sighed with relief. “And Jenny?”
“Mrs Rayner…” Kowalski unnecessarily straightened his glasses. “Her situation is more serious. She remains unconscious and heavily sedated in intensive care. Due to swelling in her throat, we are assisting her breathing. Aside from the smoke inhalation, I’m sorry to say, she has extensive burns to her legs, feet and back. They cover at least twenty percent of her body.”
“No. Oh my God,” said Monica, putting her hands to her mouth. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She took a tissue from her pocket and wiped them away, determined to be strong. “She’s pregnant. You know that, right?”
“Yes. We were made aware of that. Though we can’t be certain…” He chose his words carefully. “There are no guarantees as to how Mrs Rayner’s body will react after such trauma, but I see no reason why the baby should have been harmed. Unfortunately, at this stage, it’s all a bit of a waiting game. Only time will tell.”
“When can we see Jenny and Rayner?” My voice crumbled as I spoke.
“You can see Mr Rayner right now. Mrs Rayner is still being treated and assessed. In all likelihood she’ll require skin grafts. My team are currently working to prevent infection and are doing what they can to reduce scarring and ensure she regains as much function as possible to joints where burns have occurred. It’s going to be a long recovery. After all her treatment, which will take many months, she’ll require physical therapy exercises and emotional support and follow-up care, but we will discuss that with her at a later date. I’m sorry I don’t have better news. In some respects, she’s lucky. Here in Bournemouth we have one of the leading plastic surgery and burns units in the country. My team are highly specialised experts and incredibly experienced in treating this sort of trauma. Right now, they’re both in safe hands.” A nurse came to the door. “I’ll leave you for now. We can talk again, if you wish. Speak to one of the nurses and they’ll take you to Mr Rayner’s room.”
It was all too much to comprehend. The consultant’s words were swimming around in my head, yet none of what I’d heard seemed real. My emotions felt like they’d travelled the world’s most terrifying rollercoaster. We’d been swept up in the joy and celebration of hearing that Jenny and Gabriel would soon be parents and had been sent crashing down into the devastating prospect of Jenny’s life being altered forever. I looked helplessly at Monica. She couldn’t contain her emotions any longer and burst into wrenching sobs. She buried her face in my shoulder, and we held onto each other.
“I need to stay strong. For Jenny. For Rayner,” said Monica after a few moments. She sniffed and impatiently wiped her eyes and nose. “Jenny especially will need us to stay strong.” She cleared her throat and adjusted her hair. “Right. No more tears. At least not in front of them. Let’s go and see Rayner.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Rayner was sat up in bed when Monica and I walked into his hospital room. He was negotiating with a nurse.
“Nurse Chukwu, if you won’t remove this IV, I’m going to do it myself. I’m not staying in this bed while my wife is fighting for her life somewhere in this hospital. I need to be with her. She needs me.”
“Hello, buddy,” I said. “You causing trouble?” I tried my best to be upbeat, but my words sounded flat. Rayner’s hospital gown stretched tight across his broad chest and muscular arms. His hair was scorched off in places; there were white padded dressings on the right side of his jaw. His hands were wrapped, and his right forearm was encased in crepe bandaging. I was shocked. To steady my nerves, I reached out and placed my hand on the small of Monica’s back.
“Mr Rayner,” began Nurse Chukwu, sounding exasperated.
“Stop acting like you know what’s best for me,” interrupted Rayner.
“I do know what’s best for you. So do the doctors.”
“I just want to see my wife.”
“She’s in intensive care right now.”
“You said that. That’s why I need to see her,” said Rayner. “I’m taking out the IV and then, if I have to, I’ll search this entire hospital until I find her.”
“It’s important you keep the IV in for at least twenty-four hours. You’ve been badly injured. Your body needs fluids, antibiotics and time to heal. When the doctor says it’s okay to see your wife, we’ll arrange for you to visit her in a wheelchair. The IV stays in.”
“Bloody wheelchair. Not a chance.” Rayner lifted the bedsheet and swung his legs around to get out of the bed. His gown flapped open and Monica averted her eyes. “Where is she? I want to see Jenny now. There is no way on earth you’re stopping me.”
Nurse Chukwu moved like lightning around the bed. Monica and I jumped forward too.
“Whoa! Hang on. Listen to the nurse,” I said. If the big man stumbled, I didn’t fancy our chances of catching him. Rayner put his feet down, attempted to stand and fortunately thought better of it. He reached out and grabbed a cardboard sick bowl. “I’m fine, I’m fine,” said Rayner in between vomiting. “Ah, my head’s spinning.”
Finally, he submitted and lay back on the bed. Monica poured him a glass of water.
“This is bullshit,” said Rayner. “What have they given me?”
“You’re in shock,” said Nurse Chukwu. “Dizziness and nausea are common. I’ll see what I can find out about your wife. Rest, Mr Rayner. I’ll be right back.”
“Thank you, nurse,” said Rayner. He flapped his hand in a feeble attempt to wave.
Nurse Chukwu wrote some notes on Rayner’s chart and left us alone.
Rayner put down the sick bowl and looked at us with a fear in his eyes like I’d never seen before. His voice sounded scared and small, like a child’s. He said one word. “Jenny?”
“We don’t know any more than you. She’s in intensive care,” I said. I was searching for the right words. I was trained to handle situations like this, I’d done it far too many times, but this was different: this was Rayner and Jenny and...
“What about the baby? Nobody will tell me about our baby,” said Rayner.
Monica stepped forward. She placed a hand tenderly on Rayner’s shoulder. She spoke softly, confidently and reassuringly. “Jenny does have serious injuries, but the doctor we spoke to said she and the baby are going to be okay. He sounded very optimistic. They’re both receiving the very best care.” Monica looked at me as if to say that was all the truth Rayner needed to hear right now.
“I tried to get to her,” said Rayner. Tears filled his eyes; he swiped them away bitterly. “I couldn’t see anything because of the smoke. I couldn’t get through the fire. The heat was so intense. Fire everywhere I looked. I couldn’t get through. I should have done more. I should have driven faster back to the house. I shouldn’t have left her this morning. If…”
“You can’t blame yourself,” said Monica. “You did all you could, and more.”
“You risked your life,” I said. “You ran into a burning house. Even the fireman, in all their gear, struggled. It was an inferno. I don’t know how you did it.”
We were all silent for a moment.
“I have no idea,” I said. “The fire service will investigate. Don’t you worry about that. All that matters right now is that you, Jenny and the baby focus on recovery.”
Voices behind us made me turn. It was Rayner’s parents, Keith and Winnie. “Oh, my boy!” said Winnie. Monica and I stepped aside to give them some room.
“James,” said Keith. I shook his hand.
“This is Monica,” I said.
“Nice to meet you,” said Keith. He stood beside us.
We watched as Winnie fussed over the injured giant. She was in floods of tears as she checked him over, touching his dressings and inspecting his cuts and scratches and singed hair, all the while asking him questions.
“We’re going to go,” I said to Keith. “Give you some time alone.”
“Good lad,” said Keith. “Speak later, perhaps.”
Quietly, Monica and I waved our goodbyes and left the Rayner family alone to comfort one another.
“We should get back,” said Monica once we were in the corridor. “Check the girls are okay. I don’t think we’re going to hear any real news about Jenny for a while. We can come back later. It’ll give the families some time together.”
Neither of us wanted to leave, but Monica was right. We let the nurse at the ward desk know we were leaving.
In the car on the way home, my mind kept coming back to what Rayner had said about the fire, ‘…your front door being on fire. It was burning on the outside … the outside … outside.’ If the fire had been started deliberately, then I needed to know, especially with Fischer at large. But surely Fischer wouldn’t risk coming at me like this? He’d be crazy to do that. I now wondered whether keeping his escape to myself was a mistake; I should’ve told Rayner.