Chapter 21
790words
This place held so many memories of him and Tania.
He remembered spotting Tania, so innocent, in the crowd during a lecture he gave long ago. She reminded him so much of Lucy, even the tiny mole by her eye was in the same spot.
He pursued Tania like crazy.
However, Tania kept saying no. Eventually, Samuel's chase was not about his first feelings anymore. He just wanted to win her over.
Samuel stopped outside the science building.
In Lucy's second year away from home, Samuel, who often tried to win Tania's heart, was passing by the lab when he saw a fire.
Through the smoke, he spotted a girl who looked just like Lucy!
Thinking Lucy had come back, he did not think twice and ran through the crowd to shield her.
However, when he realized it was Tania, not Lucy, he felt a twinge of regret. Saving Tania did not seem worth such a risk.
Yet, there she was, safe in his arms, so he whispered sweet words and won her over.
Samuel was about to stroll down the tree-lined path when an alarm from the lab building pierced the air.
He turned to see smoke pouring from the fifth floor.
Ignoring it, he planned to think back on old times with Tania.
Then he saw Elias's car and Elias himself, looking worried and fighting his way into the building.
Samuel knew instantly that Tania was in there!
He pushed through the emergency exit and ran up the stairs.
He knew the lab well and where Tania usually worked.
He found her dashing into a room, ignoring the danger.
Samuel blocked her way.
"Tania, we have to get out! Your life is worth more than anything!"
However, Tania shoved past him, "My new drug data is on that USB in there. We have to save it!"
Samuel paused, shocked, for a few seconds.
Tania was gasping for air, the smoke choking every breath. She urged Samuel to push the door open with all his might. "Quick! I spent so much time verifying that file! Samuel, if you want to live, grab the USB drive!"
With those words, Tania passed out.
Samuel did not even glance back at the room. He scooped Tania into his arms and bolted for the stairs.
However, he was slowing down, his steps heavy.
His leg, injured from a car accident that morning, was bleeding through his pants.
Looking down at Tania, unconscious and frowning in his arms, Samuel bit his lip and kept moving, stumbling right into Elias on his way up.
He passed Tania to Elias.
"Don't tell Tania I saved her," Samuel said, then turned to go back up.
Elias called out, "There's still time to get out! Come with us."
Samuel shook his head. "Tell Tania when she wakes up that she was alone on the fifth floor when you found her. I left her to find the USB drive she mentioned, the one that could save her life. You're the one who saved her.
"Elias, I hope you and Tania have a long, happy life together. She deserves you more than me."
Samuel walked into the heart of the flames, the heat so intense he could barely keep his eyes open.
There it was, the USB drive on the desk, with Tania's neat handwriting spelling out "Samuel" from a happier time.
His phone rang, it was Elias.
"Grab what you need and head to the end of the hallway. The fire ladder is there, waiting. You can still make it."
Without a word, Samuel hung up and tossed his phone into the blaze.
Flames crept up his pants, but he felt no pain. Instead, he reached out and grabbed a journal off the shelf.
That room was filled with Tania's notes, all her work on a medicine just for him.
He had been there lots of times but never really thought about what Tania did in that place.
Then, everything there was the only proof that Tania had truly loved him.
Tucked in the journal's pages were little notes Tania scribbled when she was worn out.
[Super tired today. Slept only fifteen hours this week, but thinking of Samuel keeps me going.]
[Big breakthrough with the research! I'm so happy. I'm going to grow old with Samuel. I know I can.]
[Can't wait to finish the medicine and surprise Samuel. It's what I'm looking forward to the most.]
[Mom asked if I'd regret leaving the Russell family for love. No way. Samuel's my everything, and we're in this together.]
Samuel did not get to read the rest.
He and the notes, full of Tania's secrets and dreams, went up in flames together.
