Free The Parting Glass by Emilie Richards Page A

case,” Megan said. “I think he would have heard me if he was in the apartment. I’m sure he would have. He probably came through and you just don’t remember.”
    Probably wasn’t good enough. Even though Josh was fully capable of finding his way outside now, he might not understand the urgency. They had played down the gas smell, so as not to unduly scare anyone. Panic was an even worse threat.
    Niccolo decided to agree, at least outwardly. “I’m sure you’re right. Help the rest of the people down to the Shoreway, okay?”
    “You’re not going back inside, are you?”
    If Megan thought he was going back in, she would insist on coming with him. Niccolo asked forgiveness for lying to her on their wedding day. “No, I’m going to see what’s going on up above. I sent Winston to find a phone and call the fire department.”
    Megan hesitated.
    “Please, go on,” he assured her. “I can take care of myself.”
    “Shouldn’t I come with you?”
    “I think you should stay with our guests. Jon, will you and Casey help Megan make sure everybody gets to safety?”
    Jon knew Niccolo was lying. Niccolo could see it in his eyes, but he nodded. “We’ll take care of it.”
    “I’ll join you the moment I can.”
    “Okay.”
    Niccolo watched them go. Rooney had already made the climb, and no one was left at the mouth of the tunnel. He waited until Megan’s view was obscured; then he started back inside and climbed the steps up into the tunnel. “Josh?”
    He tried again to remember if Josh had gone back inside. He started down the tunnel shining his flashlight on the floor just ahead of him, listening carefully. “Josh?”
    He was almost at the entrance into the cellar when he heard an explosion. A split second afterward the world went black.
     
    He awoke sometime later. Time had stopped for him, and when he opened his eyes he didn’t know where he was, or even who. He was lying on his back, staring up at a poorly plastered wall. The room was dark, but a beam of light shone at the wall’s bottom. He wasn’t in any real pain, although he was afraid if he moved too quickly that might change. He lay still, trying to put his thoughts together.
    He’d heard a noise. He thought he remembered flying through the air, but how could that be? Unless he was dead. He’d heard afterlife tales of tunnels, of moving rapidly toward a bright, healing light. But if this was the afterlife, it was highly overrated. The floor beneath his fingertips was clammy. The air he breathed was smoke filled. Despite years in the priesthood, he’d never been a big fan of the biblical version of Hell, and he discounted that possibility immediately.
    “Nick?”
    He heard a woman’s voice in the distance. At the sound of his name, memory rushed in to fill the void. He had gone back inside the tunnel to find Josh. There had been an explosion…. He tried to sit up, but immediately his head began to throb. He decided against moving for the moment.
    “Nick?” This time the voice calling him was a man’s.
    “Here,” he croaked. “I’m here. I’m okay, I think.”
    He heard footsteps, quick ones, and loud enough to make his head throb harder. He realized the light that illuminated the bottom of the wall was a flashlight. His flashlight. He had dropped it. He felt for it until he had it in his grasp. Then he shined it on the wall, hoping to guide his rescuers.
    “Here,” he croaked again.
    He waited. His vision was blurry, but as he stared at the wall, his eyes began to focus. Above him was an image. He struggled to focus more closely. A woman gazed down at him, an image as familiar as his own.
    The footsteps drew closer, but now he paid little attention. He drew the beam along the edge of the image. Up, down, across. It was pronounced, certainly not the result of his injury. He was not looking at something that wasn’t there.
    The Virgin Mary was looking down at him, and she was weeping.
    “Nick, my God, are you all right?”
    He