Numbers 3: Infinity by Rachel Ward

morning, and she was pushing all the time, poking her nose into our business. She was the one who got Mia drawing.’
    ‘Do you think she knew what it meant?’
    ‘No, I don’t think so. Adam, we’ve got to protect Mia. She’s special – even more than we thought. She’s different.’
    ‘Her number’s different, too.’
    ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘It shimmers in my head. I’ve only ever seen one other one like it.’
    ‘Who? Someone here?’
    He pauses, like he doesn’t know whether to tell me or not.
    ‘You don’t have to tell. I don’t want to know people’s numbers.’
    He’s silent for a moment, looking away from me, towardsthe door. He’s wrestling with something inside, and I know not to push him, so I turn the conversation back to Mia.
    ‘We don’t know what really happened in the fire, do we?’ I say.
    ‘No.’
    ‘You were there. What do you think happened? Can you remember?’
    He rubs a hand over his forehead.
    ‘I sent Nan out through the flames. I thought she’d be okay. Her number was a good one. And we stayed to find Mia.’
    In my mind, I’m there with him now. I can hear the crackle of the flames, the splintering of timbers all around us, I can smell our singeing flesh and hair.
    ‘She was hot, wasn’t she?’ he goes on and his voice trembles a little. ‘Really hot. We all were. You went out and I held Mia, tried to shield her from the flames. Then I just walked through the fire. I didn’t see Nan, or nothing.’ 
    ‘I did.’
    ‘What?’
    I’ve never told him this before.
    ‘Well, I didn’t see her, but I heard her voice. I felt her hand.’
    He leans towards me and grips my shoulders, hard.
    ‘Why didn’t you ever say?’
    ‘I wasn’t sure if it really happened. But I think it did. I was confused, disorientated in the fire, but someone grabbed my hand and pulled me round so I was facing the right way. I heard her voice, “It’s this way. Only a few steps more …”’
    He lets go of me and flops back in his wheelchair, staring at me, mouth half-open.
    ‘She was there with you. She touched you. So why didn’tyou get her number?’
    ‘I don’t know. My number wasn’t that day, was it? Mia’s was. Maybe Val reached out to her, too.’
    I’ve got tears in my eyes now, and so has he.
    ‘She reached out to you,’ he repeats. ‘I never thought … I never thought I’d lose her.’
    ‘I know. I’m sorry. It feels like my fault somehow. I feel guilty, I don’t know why. But we’re so lucky to have Mia. It’s a miracle we’ve still got her and we have to protect her, Adam. We have to keep her number secret, keep her safe.’
    ‘Yeah, you’re right. What she done, what happened to her – it’s dynamite. We got to keep it quiet, just you and me. And we gotta get her out of here.’
    And that’s when the cell door blasts open.
    Light floods in from the corridor as half a dozen soldiers burst in. They don’t look at us, they don’t speak. Before I can blink, they throw Adam out of the wheelchair and pin him to the floor.
    He’s down, face pressed against the concrete. Someone’s digging a knee into the small of his back, pushing the air out of him. I can see he’s in agony. I’m screaming, Mia too.
    ‘Daddy! Daddy!’
    ‘Adam!’
    I’m so focused on him, I don’t notice Saul coming in until a deep, sharp voice cuts through the shouting and screaming.
    ‘Take him away.’
    He’s standing there, arms folded, but he’s not looking down at Adam. He’s looking at Mia and me. I can’t help thinking about the night by the fire, when he woke her up to look at her. I hated him then, and I hate him now. I draw Mia closer to me.
    It takes half a dozen of them to carry Adam out. Hecompletely loses it after Saul comes in – shouting at him, kicking out, his anger blotting out the pain from his injuries.
    I’m screaming, but it doesn’t make a blind bit of difference. I can’t believe I’m losing him again. I’ve only just got him back. I can’t