Glass moves through the air like rain. I hit the ground. For a second, I lose Saoirse. Then I hear her coughing. I crawl toward the centre.
“Saoirse!”
“I’m here.”
She is alive. I reach her. Behind us, part of the eastern beam gives way. My father is pushing Kareem toward the exit when it falls. Everything happens too fast. Kareem clears it. My father does not.
“Baba!”
I run. Saoirse is beside me. We pull at the broken section until my hands tear. Kareem helps. When we finally move enough of it, my father is still conscious. Barely. His eyes find mine.
“Emre.”
“No.”
There is blood beneath him. The dream. Not some unknown man. My father.
“No.”
I reach for his neck. A pulse. Weak.
“He’s alive.”
Saoirse calls for the medics. The building shakes again. No one comes. The stairwell is blocked. My father tries to speak.
“Listen.”
“No.”
“Emre.”
“Save your strength.”
His hand closes around my wrist.
“You always tell buildings where to carry the weight.”
My vision blurs.
“Baba, please.”
“Do the same.”
His grip weakens.
“No.”
I press my hands against his chest when his breathing stops. Once. Twice. Again.
“Come on.”
Saoirse touches my shoulder.
“He was breathing.”
“He’s not gone.”
The words sound exactly as they did in the dream. The room disappears around me. I keep pressing.
“Come on.”
Nothing.
“Please.”
Nothing. Saoirse says my name. I know what she is about to say. I cannot hear it. Something inside me tears open.
“NOOOOOOOOO!”
The scream leaves me exactly as it did at 3:27 in the morning weeks ago. For one second, I am in the dream and the dream is now. Then my father’s last words come back. Carry the weight. The building shakes. Saoirse is crying. The network is still open. I look at my father. Then at the room. I cannot save him. But there are hundreds of people still inside whatever is happening to this city. I stand. Saoirse looks at me.
“You know how to close it?”
“No.”
I take her hand.
“But I know how to build.”