Wind was taking out some of the gas smell, but it was still awfully thick. My eyes were smarting and I felt strangely light-headed. I heard a man’s voice in the corridor saying, “There’s a terrible odour of gas,” then a woman’s voice, and then I heard the sound of steps running down the corridor, and the clerk’s voice saying, “The police will be here, also an ambulance. Here, break that door down. The man inside has been overcome.”
I figured that was the best I could do now. I heard the sounds of bodies slamming against the door. I ran towards the window and dropped down to the floor. I closed my eyes and, as though in a daze, heard the door crash inward and people were running towards me. Someone picked up my shoulders. Someone else picked up my feet. I was carried out to the corridor. People were running around, and a woman was screaming.
I felt fresh air on my face, and Bertha Cool saying, “Here, put him out on that window ledge. Hang on to his feet. He may drop.”
I inhaled great lungfuls of fresh air and opened my eyes. People were milling around. I heard the clerk say, “Poor chap. It was his aunt—” There followed a confused interval of blurred half-consciousness, and then I heard the sound of a siren. A few minutes later, officers from a radio car were in charge. After a while an ambulance came. People went into the room and came out.
I looked up into Bertha Cool’s face and said, “Remember to give them her name. She’s Amelia Lintig of Oakview.”
“It’s on the register, lover,” Bertha said.
“Be sure to see they get it right,” I said.
After a while I tried my legs. They were a little wobbly. A man in a white coat said, “How are you feeling, buddy? Think you can get down to the ambulance under your own power?”
“I want to stay here with my aunt,” I said.
Bertha Cool said, “It’s only partially the gas. He’s been under a terrific strain worrying about his aunt. He knew she was despondent.”