Then she imagined a helpless man alone, unable to move, unable to call for help, waiting in soiled sheets and discomfort.
Her heart made the decision before her mind did.
She opened the door.
A sharp smell of unclean linen and antiseptic hit her first. The dim lamp revealed Richard lying in bed, eyes wide, breathing shallowly. His blanket was tangled. His skin was pale and clammy. He looked terrified.
Savannah rushed to his side. “Oh my God. Mr. Keller. I am here.”
His eyes locked onto hers, pleading.
She swallowed hard. “I know I promised not to come in. But no one deserves to be left like this.”
She gathered fresh towels, warm water, and clean clothes. Her hands trembled as she worked, but she moved gently, speaking softly so he would not feel ashamed.
“You are safe,” she whispered. “I will take care of you.”
When she reached to remove his shirt so she could clean his back, her fingers froze.
There, across his shoulder and upper back, stretched old burn scars. Thick, uneven, healed over decades. Among them stood a tattoo. An eagle with wings spread, clutching a blooming rose.
Savannah felt the room tilt around her.
That image lived in her memory. It had lived there since childhood.
Suddenly, the past rushed forward.
She was seven years old again, trapped inside a burning apartment in Phoenix. Smoke everywhere. Sirens screaming outside. Her small hands pounding on a door that would not open.
Then a stranger burst through the flames. A man wrapped her in a wet blanket, lifted her in his arms, and carried her through fire that scorched his own skin. She remembered clinging to his neck, smelling smoke, hearing his voice telling her to hold tight.
As she lost consciousness, she saw his shoulder. The same eagle. The same rose.
She woke in a hospital later. Firefighters told her that a man had saved her and disappeared before anyone could get his name. She never knew who he was. She only knew she was alive because of him.
Now she stood beside Richard Keller, shaking.
She touched the scar gently. “Was it you,” she whispered. “Were you the man who pulled me out of that fire.”
Richard’s breathing changed. Tears formed in the corners of his eyes. With immense effort, he blinked slowly once. A yes.
Savannah covered her mouth, sobbing silently.
At that moment, her phone rang. Matthew’s name lit the screen.
She answered with a trembling voice. “Matthew.”