Hey, so sorry its been so long since my last upload - i've finished school for the summer now, so providing work doesn't get to hectic, chapters may be a little more regular.
Thanks for all the support (:

People were running down the corridors in a mad panic as smoke began to fill the school. Tumbling out of the fire doors and into fresh air was a great relief as Nat took a deep breath to fill her lungs. Miss Koreshi, who was right behind her, did the same.

Some order was restored as the teachers tried to organise the students into lines and take registers. That was then totally reversed when Mr Lawson shouted: "Has anyone seen Miss Mason?"

Everything else seemed to happen in double speed as panic rose in Nat's throat.

There were shouts as Donte Charles and Mr Clarkson found Chlo Granger in the girls' toilets and then screams Bolton Smilie pulled Miss Shackleton from the building. But no Miss Mason.

Then as suddenly as time sped up, it slowed down again until it was moving at a snail's pace.

The fire service had arrived by that time and were trying to stop Mr Lawson from running back into the school.

Her mum was in there somewhere…

Eventually, there was a commotion by one of the ambulances, as the fire fighters brought out another person. Nat could just see the woman's light brown hair - the same as hers as they carried her into the ambulance. There were some shouts like 'she's not breathing' and 'get the defib' and then they shut the doors.

...mum…?

Jasmine wasn't standing too far away from Nat when they pulled Rachel's lifeless body from the fire. She made her way over to her as quickly as possible, through the crowds of students. She could see Nat beginning to sway as realisation sunk in.

She caught her just in time.

Miss Koreshi turned Nat away from the ambulance and the blazing school, so she was instead, facing the car park.

Jasmine rubbed circles on Nat's back as she cried silently into her shoulder.

Around them, students began to disperse as their parents came to pick them up and ambulances rolled away with any students or teachers who were ill or injured. Soon only a few students and tecahers were left. Mr Lawson made his way over to where Miss Koreshi was stood with Nat - who had stopped crying and was instead, sat on the ground, her head in her hands.

"Is there anyone we can call for you?" He asked the girl.

Jasmine shook her head and stepped away so they could talk away from Nat.

"I've asked her that already. She's got no extended family that she knows of apart from her sister. Who I think, someone should probably call."

Eddie nodded, "if you get me her number - I'll call her. In the meantime, what do we do with Nat?"

"When she's ready, I'll take her to the hospital. She's still in quite a lot of shock I think, unsurprisingly."

Eddie dialled the number that Jasmine had found on Nat's phone and took a deep breath. He felt sick.

Hello? Who is this?

"Is this Samantha Mason?"

That's me.

"My name is Eddie Lawson, I work with your mum - is this a good time?"

I'm on my way to a lecture, is it important?

"It's about your mum…"

Has… has something happened?

"There was a fire at the school today and your mum has been taken to hospital."

Oh god, is Nat okay?

"Nat's fine. Physically anyway. She's in quite a bit of shock understandably."

He heard Sam audibly breathe a sigh of relief at the other end of the phone.

When you say mum's in hospital, how bad is it?

"I honestly don't know but it's probably best that if you can come, you do so. I'm sure the hospital will call you when there's news."

I'll be on the next train, can you tell Nat I'm coming. Which hospital is it?

"Rochdale infirmary, I think."

Okay, thank you

Eddie ran a hand through his hair as Sam hung up. Rachel had said her daughters had grown up fast - she was right.

...

The smell of hospitals had always revolted Nat, it was something she associated with pain and suffering and this time wasn't any different.

She was sat in what they called the 'relatives room' but it was really just a cupboard with a few chairs in it. Her only comfort came from Miss Koreshi who hadn't left her side throughout.

She was glad that Sam was coming, but she didn't now what she'd say to her. Sam had actually called a few times already, but she hadn't answered. She couldn't bear speak about any of this.

A nurse had come in a few times and offered her a drink or to show her where the vending machine was - but that wasn't what she wanted. She just needed to know her mum was okay but they weren't saying anything about that. Which surely meant there wasn't any good news.

The anxiety bubbling away in her stomach was making her feel very nauseous and she was suddenly feeling really exhausted.

Someone was shaking her shoulder.

They were saying her name too.

What did they want? She just wanted to sleep!

But she recognised that voice, she'd heard it somewhere before.

Sam!

Nat's eyes flew open and she jumped up to hug her older sister. She help onto her for a long time and forced herself to remain strong - crying wouldn't solve anything now. Miss Koreshi excused herself, to give them some privacy. As soon as she left, Nat let go of Sam and looked her dead in the eyes.

"There's something I need to know. Did… did you know mum was a prostitute?"

Shock and surprise flooded the lines of concern on her sister's forehead. "She never told me explicitly, but I kinda worked it-" she stopped mid sentence and did a double take, "-how did you?"

Nat shook her head, "that's not important. I just needed to know whether it was true. But I suppose that doesn't really matter now, not if she doesn't…. not if he doesn't make it."

With her sister by her side, Nat felt herself felling a little less scared, anxious and worried. When the kind nurse came in with the doctor, she felt herself brimming with nerves and fear but as Sam gripped her hand tightly, she knew she had to be strong.

She saw her sister gulp and try and speak, but no words came out.

"How is she?" Nat asked, instead.

"She's not out of the woods yet, but she's a fighter your mum. She is heavily sedated at the moment whilst we wait for the burns team, who will most likely take her into theatre. She has partial thickness burns over most of her body and some full thickness burns on her torso and back that will probably need extensive skin grafts. In the meantime, while we wait for them, you can go and sit with her if you like?"

Sam nodded slowly, Nat could tell she was unsure of what state their mum might be in.

"Do you have any questions?"

"Is… is she in pain?" Nat asked cautiously.

"No, I very much doubt that. It's like being in a very deep sleep."

The girls couldn't think of any other questions so the nurse led them down to 'resus'. She stopped before showing them in.

"All the machines and wires will probably look very quite scary but I promise you they're only there to help her breathe and to make sure that she isn't getting any more poorly, okay?"

She was right in thinking that all the equipment looked scary, once Nat was through the door, and was able to see everything that was going on and how fragile her mum looked, she stopped dead - unable to move. She was trying really hard to keep herself from collapsing on the floor in tears. Had she not known her mum was alive, she would've thought she was dead. Had she not known that it was her mum, she wouldn't have even known - apart from her light brown locks, there was nothing to recognise her by as most of her body was covered in dressings or such like.

Sam hadn't made it much further into the room before she stopped too. It was as if they were magnets repelled by a force of a magnet of the same pole.

Their mum, who was usually so strong was suddenly looking so weak and fragile. No matter how hard she was fighting on the inside, all the girls could see was a frozen lump on the bed - looking almost like a mummy.

In the end, it was the nurse that persuaded them to move.

"Go on, there's a chair either side so you can both hold her hand. Just because she's unconscious doesn't mean that she won't be able to sense your touch."

They sat there for a long time in silence gripping their mum's cold hands for comfort, looking down at the bare floor. Neither girl knew how to put anything they were feeling into words, they had had so much to get their head around in a short space of time - especially Nat.

Eventually, the nurse came back and said that the burns team were ready for Rachel. Nat didn't want to let go of her mum's hand but eventually she managed to pull herself away speaking for the first time since she entered the room:

"I love you mum, forever and always."

The nurses managed to persuade both girls to go home.

"It's getting late and you've had a very long day. Your mum won't be out of surgery until morning and I promise I'll call if anything happens. Now go get some rest!"

Neither sister had enough energy to argue.

As they were leaving, Miss Koreshi caught them in the hallway. Nat couldn't believe she was still there.

"Do you guys need a lift? I've just been making sure all the kids here had someone with them."

Nat nodded, "yes please." They could feel the question lingering in the air but Nat wasn't sure she could answer it.

"Mum's just gone into surgery, with the burns team. They say… they say she'll… she'll be alright…" Nat bit her lip as she forced herself to hold back tears - she had to be strong.

They weren't at all hungry when they got home so instead, they both went straight to bed.

No matter how long Nat lay there, she just couldn't seem to fall asleep. So many worries and anxieties were racing through her mind. She just wanted her mum.

In the end, she considered that maybe sleeping in her mum's bed would bring her some comfort. As she opened the door she saw a lump in the bed as if her mum was in fact sleeping there. She blinked a few times, thinking she was delirious before realising that it was actually Sam. She climbed into the bed next to her and Sam put her arm around her.

"Seems we both had the same idea eh?"

With the comfort of her sister beside her, Nat finally fell into a deep sleep in the early hours of the morning.