IGNITE

Twelve

I knew I had to be dreaming. There was no way that this alterante universe existed. Axel was staring at me, not yelling at me or poking jokes, just staring at me. He was dressed in a tux, and when I looked behind him I saw pews and pews of people. "Well say it!" a few people from the crowd yelled at me. Say what? Where was I? I looked down at myself and saw I was dressed in a very poufy wedding gown. Axel looked at me confused. "Lenny?" he asked. I looked around. Something wasnt right. I looked around the church and everyone started to get hazy. "lenny?!" Axel started yelling at me, but his mouth wasnt even moving.

I smelt it before I saw it, black smoke filled the church and soon I couldnt breathe. I tried to tell everyone to leave but all that came out was hallowed breaths. My lungs were filling with smoke, I hit my knees and all I heard was Axels voice yelling my name.

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I woke up to being pulled from a bed. I hit the floor and my brain scrambled to clear. "LENNY!" Axels voice called again. I was forced into a sitting position and when I opened my mouth to speak, I inhaled a big breath of smoke. I coughed and Axel hauled me up into standing position. "Come...on," he said coughing. He threw a shirt from the floor at my face and I covered my nose and mouth. It didnt help much.

Rhett had taken me back to Axels house and had set the house on fire, just like he had done mine. He was crazy. The bedspread of the bed I was recently laying on was going up in flames, and the far side of the room, already was. I couldnt get my body to move. I was dizzy and couldnt breathe, I started to fall. "No you dont!" Axel snapped, he forced me back into standing position. "Walk damnit, we're almost to the door." he said his voice husky, from smoke inhalation.

After what seemed like forever, we made it to the door, but as soon as he opened it, part of the roof collapsed, sending me sprawling backwards, and pushing him out the front door. I hit the floor with a thud, my head bouncing off the tile. And it took me a moment to realize the burning sensation wasnt my bodys reaction to the rough impact, but from a piece of the roof landing on my legs.  I scrambled back, shaking my leg, causing the flames to climb higher. I couldnt even scream, my throat was to scratchy.

I clawed at my leg, trying to put the flames out. But as soon as it went out, the wall behind me caught fire, torching up my shirt. Stop, Drop and Roll didnt even register in my head, especially when the entire house was on fire around me. I couldnt think, I could register anything but white hot pain. My back was searing and I smelt burnt hair. and right when my vision starting blanking out on me and my breathing came in raspier breaths, I was pulled, literally dragged from the house and outside of it.

Axel doused me with the hose and the welcoming cold mixed with the pain from the burns and I screamed, finding my voice. He dropped the hose and ran, sliding next to me. "Oh shit," he cried. "Holy fuck, its okay the ambulance is coming," he told me. I could hear the tears in his voice. That wasnt the Axel that I knew. "He tried to kill you, Im going to kill him. He is dead!" I heard Axel mumbling. My body refused to function and I just let myself succomb to darkness again.

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A steady beep beep filled my ears and I groaned. I was having a good dream. Something about Axel telling me he loved me and he didnt know what he would do without me I opened my eyes, trying to find my alarm. It wasnt time for work yet. I was too tired. When I opened my eyes, I found that I wasnt in my bedroom, I wasnt even at home. I was hooked to machines, in a hospital and Axel was next to me. "Hey sleeping beauty," he said softly.

Then everything came crashing back to me at once. The party, the drugs, the fire. I wasnt feeling anything at the moment and that I soon realized was because I was hooked up to a drip of morphine. "How bad?" I asked, my voice cracking. Axel bit his lip. He was still sooty. I must not had been out for long. "3rd degree burns on the lower extremeties, youll need skin grafts..." he started. He looked at my face. "Your hair had to be cut and your face...youre still beautiful Lenna, believe me, I havent wanted you more than I do now. A little cosmetic surgery and youll be fine," he whispered.

"i need a mirror," I demanded. I wanted to see what he saw. He hesitated at first, then dug in the nightstand drawer. "I had them bring one, I knew you would ask," he told me as he handed it over. I took a breath and then looked. My hair had been cropped short. a good 8 inches was gone, leaving me with a horrible ear length bob. and my face. I didnt know how he saw it as beautiful. The entire left side was red and shiny. I looked like I had sunburn. They were blistering and it wasnt attractive. I threw the mirror across the room and he flinched.

"Its nothing that we cant get fixed, Lenny," he tried to reassure me. "Im disgusting," I whined. I knew it was low, I was alive and that was all that really mattered. Axel grabbed my hand and kissed it. "Youre far from disgusting. Maybe a little whiny but Ive heard worse. Lenny believe me when I tell you that your beautiful. Nothing can change that. Not even a burn on your face. I love you," he told me.

"You love me?' I asked him, I need clarification that my hearing wasnt shot to. "Yes, as soon as I saw you on the bed, flames around you, it wasnt just a marriage deal anymore. I cant live without you," he told me.

"Leave," I snapped. His head recoiled like I had slapped him. "What? What did i do?' he asked pitifully. "GO!" I screamed. He backed away from the bed, tears in his eyes. I knew this wasnt the right thing to do. But I didnt want him lying to me. He didnt love me. He felt sorry for me.