“I’m OK,” Claudia murmured. “I’m fine.”

“Sit down here for a moment,” the nurse instructed. “You’ve had a nasty shock. Take deep breaths and I’ll bring you some water.”

Andee and Graeme found them in the waiting room, and as there was no one else holding vigil for a loved one that night they had the place to themselves.

“Can you tell us anything?” Claudia implored when nurse Alex returned.

“Someone will be out to speak to you shortly,” she promised. Her expression was kindly and sympathetic, but grave. “There are tea- and coffee-making facilities in the corner there, feel free to help yourselves.”

Graeme did the honors while Andee sat with Claudia and Jasmine, ignoring the vibrations of her phone and doing her best to reassure them.

The door opened and Claudia shot to her feet.

A tired-looking middle-aged man in green surgical scrubs and oversized clogs and with sweat pouring from his face introduced himself. He wasn’t smiling, but he didn’t appear frighteningly solemn either. “Andrew Brown,” he said, shaking Claudia’s hand as she stepped toward him. “Please excuse my appearance. It’s important that we keep the operating room warm for burns patients.”

“How is she?” Claudia asked brokenly.

“I’m afraid she’s suffered extensive injuries to her face, neck, and left arm,” he replied. “They’re what we term deep dermal, possibly full-thickness burns into the bottom layer of the skin. It’s difficult to say how deep—only time will tell—but it’s serious.”

“But she’ll survive?” Claudia urged, tears starting down her cheeks.

“We’re still waiting for results of the tests she was given on arrival to find out if she has any deeper organ injury, and how much damage the smoke has caused to her lungs. She was given a tetanus shot in the emergency department and PlasmaLyte—a salty solution—to keep the circulation topped up. At the moment we’re cleaning the wounds and removing the nonviable matter . . .”

Jasmine clasped a hand to her mouth. “Can she feel anything?” she wailed, horrified.

He smiled. “She’s anesthetized, fast asleep, pain-free,” he assured her. “However, the depth of the burns means that her nerve endings are injured, so it could be that even if she was awake she wouldn’t feel that much in those areas.”

Not wanting to think about how it was going to be later, if there was going to be a later, Claudia said, “How much longer will she be in surgery?”

“She’ll be moved to intensive care sometime in the next half an hour, but I should warn you that further surgeries will be required. However, one step at a time. We’ll assess the situation in the morning and hopefully we’ll have more to tell you then.”

Claudia didn’t know what more to ask; she was dizzy again and losing her thoughts.

“Will we be able to see her?” Jasmine asked.