Bayward Street (25 page)

I couldn’t move. I stared at the roof as the smoke filled the room and began to descend.

It was too hot. I was sweating profusely as my body fought to keep itself cool. It was a losing battle. The fire was coming, and my only hope now was that I would pass out from the amount of smoke I was inhaling, well before the blaze burned me up.

I was barely even aware of the pain that was shooting through my back.

Maybe it was broken.

I just knew that I felt heavy. My brain couldn’t figure out how to get up. It was hazy and confused.

Before the past few weeks, I probably would have just laid here. Content with the fact that my struggle in life was done. I’d been tortured, beaten, manipulated, and bullied. I’d been through hell and back on more than one occasion. I would have been okay with giving up, not having to live another day would have almost been a gift because, in my mind, things were never going to get better.

But they did get better.

I found Heath.

I found two parents who took me in and treated me like their own.

I found a family who were willing to do whatever it took to make my life better.

I found my friends a place that they could go to call home. So they wouldn’t have to struggle anymore.

I found love.

Unconditional, true love.

I found my better.

And now that I could see it and feel it, I couldn’t give up.

Sometimes you have to know there’s something better out there in order for you to fight for it.

Tears trickled down my cheeks.

I tried to tell myself that I’d fought too hard to lose everything now. I needed to stay awake and inhaled as much air as possible.

“
Help!
” I screamed, choking, as my desperate pleas filled the room. The taste of the smoke in my mouth made me want to vomit.

I heard a crash from inside the house. Maybe it was collapsing.

I tried again. “
Help!
”

I tried to move and managed to roll onto my side, but my whole body cried out in pain.

I was getting dizzy, and things were starting to fade.

“
Help!
”

“Fable,” Heath’s voice cleared the darkness in my head. Or maybe the darkness had taken over, and I just heard what I wanted to hear. “Fable, I’m coming.” His voice was coming from outside the window. He was real. He was there.

I knew he’d never be able to fit through that window.

“The window is too small,” I cried out.

I could hear other voices. “She’s in the office. We can go through the side door into the kitchen.”

It was Liam’s voice.

“Kids, get away from the house,” a deep voice boomed.

“Go,” Liam yelled.

There seemed to be a lot of activity now. People yelling orders, heavy footsteps down the side of the house. It was a few seconds, and there was banging on the door.

“Fable unlock it,” Heath called through the wood.

“I can’t move,” I screamed back. I could feel my legs now, but my whole body still refused to budge. “I can’t stand up.”

There was coughing and voices. “We’ve gotta break it down.”

“With what?” Braydon. “Heath, don’t!”

There was suddenly a loud bang. The door flew open, smashing back against the wall, and Heath flew through the space. His body was bent over, and he was clutching his shoulder.

“Mother fucker,” he cursed. His arm hung limply at his side. He’d used it to break through. His eyes finally met mine and he dropped to his knees. Braydon and Liam ran through after him, covering their mouths with their shirts and trying to crouch low to the ground.

“Let’s go,” Braydon exclaimed.

“My arm is fucked,” Heath said.

“I’ll carry her.” Liam rushed over and pushed his arms underneath my body, groaning as he lifted me from the floor. “Come on.”

Braydon went ahead, and Heath ran behind us. When we stepped out of the hallway, I realized just how close I was to burning up. The fire practically licked at our skin as it engulfed the walls down the hall. We turned the opposite direction, though, slipping through another door that led into a laundry room and then through to the kitchen.

Two firemen in suits stood just inside the door, they crowded us as we rushed through the kitchen door and out onto a path that led down the side of the house and out to the front yard.

The fresh air tickled my throat and my lungs, I fought to get as much in as possible, but it only made me cough even more.

“Get her to the ambulance,” a deep voice shouted from behind me.

I caught sight of the house. It lit up the night sky with a bright orange glow. Firemen rushed everywhere, some held big hoses, doing whatever they could to calm the raging blaze. There were people scattered everywhere. Some lying on the grass away from the house, others sitting at the curb holding oxygen masks to their faces. There was yelling and crying and devastation everywhere.

Liam rushed me over to one of the many ambulances and a male EMT quickly cleared the gurney.

“She was stuck inside,” Heath explains, coming to my side, still clutching his arm to his body. “She said she couldn’t move, she was lying on the floor.”

The EMT moved around me quickly, talking to me, asking me questions and stabilizing my body. Two other nurses joined him, and they went about immobilizing my body and my neck. They placed a thick collar around my neck and told me not to move.

Next came the oxygen mask.

Heath, Bray, and Liam stood by me the whole time, reassuring me with soft words and reminding me that I was okay.

“Okay, we’re ready to go,” the male EMT announced. He looked to Heath. “Get in. You’re going to need that shoulder looked at, but we need to get Fable to the hospital.”

“We’ll meet you there,” Bray said, leaning over to give me a kiss on the cheek before he and Liam shot away.

Heath nodded, holding my hand as they pushed me inside the ambulance and shut the doors. The lights and sirens came on, and we were out. The soft orange glow of the fire disappeared into the distance.

Heath talked to me the whole way to the hospital.

“I thought I’d lost you… again.”

“We couldn’t find you.”

“Liam said he saw Jay taking you down the hall.”

“I can’t lose you, Fable.”

His words began to blur together, but the soft hum of his voice relaxed my body. He was here. Everything was okay. I’d made it.

The ride to the hospital seemed almost peaceful as I finally let my body rest. I didn’t need to fight anymore. Heath was here. Braydon would be at the hospital. Helen was coming soon. They were all there. They would fight for me. They’d help hold me up if I started to sink. I could rely on them to be there.

I closed my eyes and let go.

When we pulled into the emergency department, the chaos started again. Doctors and nurses rushed around me. The EMT that had brought me in rattled off everything he knew about the situation.

Smoke inhalation.

Numbness.

Possible spinal injury.

I watched Heath the whole time as he stood by my head. He was my anchor. His eyes widened, and he looked down at me in horror as they spoke.

“Hope you guys are prepared, there’s a lot more coming. Not quite as bad as this. Possible fatalities, too,” the EMT explained as he followed us down the corridor. They pushed me into a room and immediately began hooking me up to machines. The guy looked down at me. “You’re in good hands now, honey.” He smiled softly before shooting back out the door. No doubt he would be doing a few more trips back and forth from the party.

“Sir, how about we get that arm checked?” a nurse asked softly. I could hear her approaching Heath, but with my neck in the brace I could only move my eyes.

“I’m not leaving her,” he answered tightly.

She came into my vision as she moved closer, approaching Heath with her hands in the air. “That’s okay, we can do it right here if you’d like.” She gestured to the chair that sat beside the bed. He seemed to look between me and the chair for a minute.

“Heath…” the sound of my voice was muffled under the oxygen mask, “…let her look.”

He frowned. He let go of my hand and grabbed the chair with his good arm, pulling it next to the bed and placing his hand back in mine.

The nurse looked down at me and smiled. “I’ll get a chart and a sling so we can make you a little more comfortable.”

The next few hours moved by in a blur. Doctors came and went. Nurses hooked me up to all kind of machines. They sent me to a room with a big tunnel thing to take an X-ray. They tested my reflexes and the feeling in different parts of my body. Heath was taken away to be checked over properly, and Braydon took his place, telling me all about how he had gotten one of the med students phone numbers. Helen came in with motherly confidence, and I cried as she washed off some of the black soot that had collected on my skin. Everyone tried to reassure me that I’d be okay. Second opinions were asked for, but after hours and hours, the same conclusion came in the end.

Just nerve damage.

I had feeling in my legs and toes, but my back ached like fuck.

“Blunt force can jolt the body and cause temporary paralysis. You’re very lucky,” the doctor explained. A collective sigh of relief seemed to fall over the room. “I’m going to recommend some pain medication. And I would like to keep you in for a couple of days just to monitor swelling or any problems that may arise.”

“Okay,” I answered quietly.

“I don’t think the smoke has done too much damage, but we’ll also need to keep an eye out for any sign that you have carbon monoxide poisoning. So, if for any reason, you find you’re breathing differently, or you’re struggling, tell someone right away.”

He nodded and turned to walk away.

“What about Heath?” I rasped. My voice was scratchy and raw.

“I can’t discuss—”

“I’m his mother, so yes you can discuss,” Helen snapped. Heath had demanded she stay with me while they took him out for X-rays. But he’d been gone for over an hour and a half now.

The doctor looked unsure but eventually gave in to a determined mother’s glare. “Heath has a dislocated shoulder. I’m about to go and put it back in.”

Helen rushed after him as he headed out the door.

“Fuck.” Braydon groaned, taking the seat at my side and hanging his head.

“What?” I asked. “That’s fixable, right?”

Braydon nodded. “Yeah, but that’s weeks and weeks of rehabilitation.”

My throat tense. “He won’t be able to swim?”

He looked up at me with sad eyes. “He won’t be able to swim.”

I didn’t like the quiet of the hospital room.

I hated that I couldn’t get up and walk around or even go to the toilet without someone with me. It was frustrating to not be able to do anything for myself.

But what was even more frustrating, was that I still hadn’t seen Heath. Helen had gone to find me some food and Braydon had taken off too.

I wanted to see him so bad it hurt, feeling guilty, and that feeling was weighing me down.

I just needed to know that he’d be okay.

Hearing a throat clear, and as if he’d heard my pleas once again, he was standing in the doorway. He stood straight and strong, but it was the sling around his neck holding his arm in place that brought tears to my eyes.

“Hey,” I muttered, trying not to be overcome with emotions.

He stepped inside and shut the door behind him. “How you feeling?” he asked as he came closer.

The doctors had finally taken the annoying neck brace off, but they were still demanding that I stayed as still as possible for now, and not do anything that might hurt my recovery further. This meant having to stay lying there on the bed as he approached, despite how much I wanted to throw myself to my feet and bury myself against his body. That was where I felt at peace and comfort. His arms were where I felt at home.

He pulled the chair up right next to the bed and sat down, immediately reaching for my hand. “Sorry, I took so long. The police are downstairs and wanted a statement. I expect they’ll probably be heading here soon, but Mom is trying to fight them off, saying you need to rest.”

I smiled softly. Helen was a strong woman, but when it came to her kids, she was like a momma bear protecting her cubs. Nothing was about to get past her. “How’s your arm?”

“Sore,” he answered casually like it was just a bruise or a minor scratch.

“Heath…”

“No,” he said sternly. “I can see inside your head. You don’t get to feel guilty about this. It wasn’t your fault.”

I’d had a long time to sit here alone and think about what had happened. It was driving me crazy. “I could have stopped her sooner if I’d just told you what was going on from the start. I could have asked for help. I could have told you about Flick’s little crush and maybe she wouldn’t have snuck out to go to that stupid party—”

“You could have
died
, Fay,” he cut in. “I don’t give a flying fuck what happened before then. It doesn’t matter. You’re okay, I’m okay.”

“But you’re not okay,” I exclaimed. “Your arm is going to take weeks and weeks to heal. And even then it might not be quite what it was. What if you miss out on being picked for the Olympic team? What if your future—”

“You are my future,” he growled. “If I hadn’t have busted down that door, we could have lost you.
I
could have lost you. Swimming or no swimming, a future without you would be fucking pointless anyway.”

Tears fell onto my cheeks as I stared into the two blue eyes that I’d fallen in love with. Some might call it teenage infatuation or puppy love, but they would be wrong.

This was more than love.

This was finding the one person in the entire world who saw you for who you are. It’s about not caring whether the world came crashing down around you because you would stand on the final piece of rubble with them and smile. Because nothing around you matters if they’re there.

I’d felt pain, but when I looked into his eyes, all I saw was blue sky. And I was flying.

I opened my mouth to tell him how I felt, but there was no such luck.

“Hola, love birds,” Braydon announced his presence as he flung the door open and strolled in.

I shook my head and laughed softly while Heath just rolled his eyes, but even he couldn’t hide his smile.

“Where have you been?” Heath asked his brother.

It was now about 7:00 a.m. and I think the adrenaline from last night was starting to wear thin. None of us had slept more than the couple hours before I got the phone call from Flick.

Flick, who I still hadn’t seen.

Helen said Lucas had taken the girls home and stayed with them while she came to the hospital.

Braydon hefted himself onto the end of my bed. “I had to do some shit.” He shrugged. “You tell her about Jay?”

I looked back to Heath whose eyes turned to meet mine at the same time. “What about Jay?”

“She got arrested,” he said.

“What?”

“Yeah, apparently a couple girls came forward and said they were in the locker room and saw Jay beat on you,” Braydon explained. “They were too scared to come forward until they heard you were pressing charges and Jay had been suspended.”

“They came forward?” I said, not sure if I’d heard right.

“Payton is going to tell the police what Jay did to her, too. And we’re going to back her up since we saw it,” Heath said, squeezing my hand. “They’ve got plenty more proof that all the stuff that happened was because of her. She’s going to get what she deserves.” His voice was cold and uncaring. I wanted to feel bad for her. After she told me about her mom leaving and her and her dad having to move, I almost understood why she was so desperate to hold onto something. But then I remembered.

“She dragged me into that room and locked the door,” I said quietly, noticing the way that both the brothers’ bodies tensed. “I saw the window, and we pushed the desk under it to climb up. She climbed through, but kicked me off before she made it all the way out.”

Heath clenched his jaw.

“We saw her run out from behind the house,” Braydon explained, realizing his brother was too angry to even speak. “Liam came over and asked where you were. We didn’t know and then he said he’d seen Jay pull you down the hallway before he got pushed outside. There were police there and wouldn’t let anyone back in.”

“We figured she’d come from around the back of the house, so we were headed there.” Heath slotted in, lifting my hand so his lips brushed against it. “Then I heard you yelling.”

“We would have run straight past the window,” Braydon said, looking over at Heath. “We wouldn’t have been able to find you.”

Tears once again began to fall from my cheeks. I reached out holding my hand out for Bray. He put his hand in mind and I squeezed it tightly.

“Your family has made me feel so many different emotions these past few weeks. If it weren’t for you guys, I would’ve laid on that floor and let the fire consume me. Because I really had nothing left.” I sniffed. “You guys gave me a reason to not give up, and because of that, I’m still here.”

I looked between the boys. They meant more to me than life could describe. Both their eyes shone.

“Aww, man,” Braydon groaned. “I’m going to look like a wimp now.” He attempted to clear his throat and got up off the bed.

“I won’t tell anyone.” I giggled.

He groaned. “Yeah, but these guys probably will.”

He pushed the door open, and in rushed a group of people that made me want to leap off the bed and throw myself at them.

Layla sprinted over to me, and threw herself on top of me, not even caring that mine and Heath’s hands were still clutched together underneath her.

Lee followed, Andre, Coop, and Phee crowding around the other side of me.

I laughed hysterically. “Holy shit!” They all smiled down at me. “What are you guys doing here?”

Layla finally released me and stepped back. “Rich boy came and told us what was going on.” She smiled over her shoulder fondly.

“You’re welcome.” Braydon grinned as he stood back and let my friends surround me. “I just thought… hey… what would Fable—”

“He said it was Heath’s idea,” Layla interrupted.

Heath laughed.

Braydon folded his arms across his chest and frowned. “You couldn’t help yourself could you? Just
had
to burst my bubble.”

Layla rolled her eyes. “I’ll blow you another one later.”

Braydon’s eyes sparkled, and the corner of his mouth turned up in a smirk.

“Okay, so whose ass are we beating?” Phee asked, a mischievous glint in her eye. “‘Cause I grabbed my knuckle dusters before we left. I’m ready to go.”

“Me too,” Lee agreed. “My pimp hand is feeling extra strong today.” He brought his hand back and swung his open palm. It connected with a slap against Layla’s butt, and she squealed.

Everyone laughed.

I started to cough through all the laughter. My lungs still aching from all the smoke.

Heath pushed up from his chair and moved in next to my head. His hand brushed the hair away from my face until I finally felt like I could breathe again.

“Seriously,” Layla said, her face now completely serious. “Where is she?”

“In jail,” Braydon answered, stepping up and placing a hand around her wrist. “It’s okay,
Xena Warrior Princess
. Jay is out for the count.”

Layla seemed to relax, and I noticed she didn’t shake off Braydon’s hold.

I took the moment to ask about the elephant that was in the room, but that no one had yet to mention. “Where’s Kyle?”

“Rehab,” Lee answered sadly.

“What?”

Layla sighed. “When Bray took me back to Bayward Street last week, I told everyone about this house and us finally getting out of that place,” she explained with a smile. “Kyle flipped his lid.”

Lee hung his head, and I reached out and took his hand in mine. “Braydon had a few words with him. Turns out he wasn’t just drinking, he was shooting up too. He was stealing alcohol from the club and exchanging it for drugs.”

My heart ached. This person I had looked up to for so long was broken, and I hadn’t been there to help.

“Heath and I talked to Mom. We offered him the chance to get sober, and if he did, he could have a place in the house.”

Lee had tears streaming down his face. I could only imagine what he was feeling. He and Kyle were never apart. They had a bond that was unbreakable. But he’d had to watch his twin tear what little life he already had to shreds and go down a path of destruction.

The Carsons didn’t have to help. They could have turned their back and simply said no. But they didn’t. Because the love they have for their family and for others is so pure. It’s not a gimmick. It’s not something they’re doing to get noticed in the press. They do it because they care.

“All right, you lot,” Helen shouted as she walked in. “Time to let the girl rest.”

They all groaned but said goodbye as each of them trudged out the door. Helen herded them out like cattle before throwing me a grin over her shoulder.

Heath hadn’t moved.

“You’re not leaving?”

He dipped his head and pressed his lips against mine. “Nope. Nowhere else I wanna be.”

I smiled. “I could think of a few places you’d want to be other than the hospital.”

“Not if you’re not there.”