Barry's POV
"Barry there's a massive fire down at Jitters. We tracked Megan's phone there." I hear Dr. Wells inform me as I run in search of Megan.
"Got it." I may sound calm, but I'm freaking out. I hope she's okay...
I reach Jitters and find multiple buildings on fire. I quickly run and get the trapped people out to safety. Fire trucks and ambulances arrived, blaring their sirens and stopped in front of each building. I ran to Jitters, noticing a crowd a few yards away and I spot Iris. I run up to her, disguising my voice and face as I approach.
Iris sees me and runs up. "Megan's still in there!" Her voice cracks and tears streamed down her face.
I look back at Jitters. There is no word to describe the place. It was basically burning to the ground. If Megan is still in there, she'd be lucky if she survived. I run into the burning building, not caring for the fire or the smoke that stung my eyes.
I could hardly see anything; the fire blazed like a wall to prevent me from going anywhere and the smoke clouded my vision. I spotted something a few feet in front of me. It was Megan.
Megan was coughing and didn't move from her place on the ground. "Megan!" I call out before rushing over to pick her up and run out of the building.
She was covered in ash and I could see she's been injured. She had first and second degree burns on her arms, face, etc. Her hair was singed, no longer the flowing brown hair that reached the middle of her back; it was a little over half the length now. Megan was struggling to breathe and wasn't at all focused on her surroundings. I hurry to the hospital, getting her into the ICU.
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~~~3 days later~~~
Megan's POV
Ugh. There is no way possible for me to describe to you how much pain I'm in. Searing pain spreads throughout my body, giving me a pounding headache. I can't move a muscle.
I swear I can still smell smoke, but I'm not in Jitters anymore. Bright light seeps through the cracks of my eyelids, my eyes were barely opened. It's obvious I'm in the hospital. Again. Geez, why do I always end up here? I hate visiting doctors, let alone going for a check-up.
I hear someone sniffle and feel the person gently take ahold of my hand. Which resulted in even more pain that spread from my fingertips and up to my shoulder. The pounding headache worsens to the point where I could pass out at any time. I try to shout, but all that came from my mouth was a soft groan. A tear escaped my eye and I felt a hand wipe it away. Once again, searing pain passes through my cheek.
"You awake?" I hear Barry ask quietly by my ear. My eyelids slightly move up, but for some reason, when I opened them, I could only see out of my left eye.
"Barry..." I mumble.
"Are you in pain? Should I get the doctor?" He bombards me with questions. Gosh, there was so much worry in his voice; more than there ever was before. Usually, I would say I'm fine, but everything hurts.
"Mhm." I agree. I feel the bed lift up slightly as Barry walks out of the room to get the doctor.
A few minutes later, he comes back with the doctor. "What do you feel, Ms. Ortiz?" The doctor speaks in an accent I can barely understand.
"Like all hell broke loose." I speak in a brittle voice.
"Well we'll give you another dose of antibiotics and you'll feel much better." He inserts more of the medicine into the IV that went into my wrist. I barely noticed I was hooked up to an IV, but now that I realized it, I felt nauseous.
Those of you who have an irrational fear of needles, you people aren't the only ones. I'm completely freaked out by the idea of shots and anything that has to do with needles piercing skin. An IV is a completely different story. The fact that the needle is literally underneath my skin, terrifies me. I haven't told anyone of this, so yeah, I'm left alone freaking out in my head.
"Why can't I see out of my right eye?" I panic. Yes I know, late reaction, but I thought it would wear off after a few minutes, but it was like I was half-blind.
"The fire burned your eye enough to blind you. I'm sorry, but it's not fixable. We were able to repair most of your eye so it would look okay, but there's too much damage to get your sight back."
I can barely breathe. I won't be able to see anymore with both of my eyes?! I quickly try to ignore the fact and look around to distract myself.
I examined my arms. They looked nothing like how they used to. Before, my skin was a golden tan. Now, large areas of my skin are light pink; scars made by the fire that nearly killed me. Did my face look like this, too? I begin to get self-conscious.
The doctor leaves the room as I get lost in my thoughts. "Sorry about your vision, Megan." Barry says. I don't respond.
I sense him watching me, so I look up at him. I really want to sit up, but I doubt he'll let me. "What?" I ask.
"You look...different."
"Gee, thanks." I mutter in a sarcastic tone.
"Not in a bad way. Just different. You still look the same, but different." I raise an eyebrow and he laughs. "I'm not good with words."
My eyes widen and I gasp, remembering a song that had those words in it. "Do you know the song, 'Runaway With Me?'
"Yeah, why?" Barry seemed to know what I was getting at. "I'm not going to sing it, if that's why you're asking."
"Aww! Why?" I whine.
"I'm not much of a singer." He shrugs.
"Oh come on, Barry. You may not be much of a singer, but I can tell you can sing really good."
"Oh really? And why do you think that?" Barry says, the smile never leaving his face.
"I'm psychic." I put my fingers on the side of my head and stick out my tongue, earning a chuckle from Barry. "Hey, where's Iris?" I change the subject because of my curiosity.
Barry scratches the back of his neck and thinks for a moment. "She feels guilty for not staying behind to help you. Said that you told her to leave and wouldn't take no for an answer. She thinks you wouldn't be quote, 'the way you are now' if she stayed with you."
"Do I really look that bad?" He shakes his head and I roll my eyes. "My own friend admits I'm ugly because of the fire." I sit up, not feeling as much pain because of the antibiotics. "I wouldn't be surprised if you think so, too." I croak.
Barry sits down beside me. "You're not ugly. Iris doesn't think you're ugly. Quit telling yourself that. You're still the same person you were yesterday. You're still beautiful to me." He lightly kisses my cheek.
"Ow." I jerk back. Barry's eyes widen.
"Sorry. I forgot."
"It's alright." The room became quiet for a few minutes. Then I face Barry. "Jaycee's taken care of, right?" My voice was filled with hope, but it soon faltered when I saw the look on his face.
"She got away because it was her and her dad's plan. She was a distraction so her dad could get to you." He explains.
"Do they know I'm still alive?"
"As far as I know, they think you're dead."
"Then it needs to stay that way."
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A few hours later, I was released from the hospital. Barry and I were walking down the street. I almost ran into a pole; not my fault that I'm half-blind! Seeing out of one eye throws my vision out of wack. Basically all eyes were on me. Everyone stared at my skin, covered in light pink scars and my hair, which was burned unevenly at the tips. I was wearing an old T-shirt and jeans, so my arms showed the ugly marks. I even saw a mother cover her kid's eyes like I was a monster.
Is this how it's going to be for the rest of my life? I stuff my hands in my jean pockets. If they lived in my shoes, they wouldn't be thinking I have some sort of skin condition.
I felt a hand on the small of my back and peer up at Barry. He had a kind smile on his face; reassuring me everything was going to be alright. Something about him always calms me down.
We enter Barry's apartment. Apparently he thinks it's better if I stay with him at his place than at mine. If Jaycee or Jack saw that my house was still occupied by me, then they would finish the job once and for all.
My skin still tingled and burned at the slightest touch or movement. It literally hurt to wear clothes. My mind thinks back to earlier about everyone staring at me as I sit down next to Barry on the couch. How bad did I look? I haven't even seen myself in the mirror. I stand up, even though my body screamed at me for sleep.
"Where are you going?" Barry pouted. Huh, I guess he likes me sitting by him?
"The bathroom." I answer without looking back and close the bathroom door behind me, locking it in the process. At one point, I almost ran into the door frame.
I place my hands on the bathroom counter, taking in my appearance in the mirror. What I saw made my vision blurry and salty tears fell down my cheeks.
The iris of my blind eye was no longer the beautiful sea-blue it used to be. Instead, it was pure white. The pupil was still intact, so in a way my eye was both creepy and cool-looking. I didn't know what to think about it, but it's not the reason I'm crying.
My cheeks were pink, obviously because they were now blanketed with burn scars. Same goes for my nose and forehead, practically my entire face. The tip of my right ear wasn't there; the fire must've caused too much damage to the top of it. My eyes didn't have the long eyelashes anymore and my eyebrows...lets not get into that subject. They weren't singed off or anything, they just look awful. Bruises showed up on my cheek, jaw, and a large one was on my neck; I can thank Jack for those. When I lifted up my shirt, a bruise covered the scar on my side. I can thank Jack for that, too. My hair was a mess. The ends were singed horribly to the point where it was shoulder length. It no longer held the luster and shine that I loved.
No wonder those strangers looked at me like I was a freak. More tears fall as I search for scissors. When I found them, I took a handful of my hair.
Snip. Snip. Snip.
Strands of hair fell to the bathroom floor as I kept cutting. I gave myself a really bad haircut, so I continued to cut my hair until I had a pixie cut. It didn't look as bad as I thought it would.
I clean up before walking out of the room. Barry looked my way with his eyes widening in shock. "Did you just...?"
"Yes." I say without emotion.
"Why?" He stands up and walks until he was directly in front of me.
"First, because my hair was completely ruined. Second, it makes me look less like a freak." I cross my arms, pain running through them.
"You don't look like a freak. You shouldn't even care what other people think." Barry lectures me.
"Oh please. Look at my eye. My ear. My face. These scars." I point out my physical flaws. "I agree with those people." Something warm slid down my cheek. I thought I stopped crying?
"Just because you have flaws doesn't mean you're not beautiful. It just makes me love you more for who you are. If that's even possible." He smirks before pulling me in for a kiss.
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I was trying to sleep, but I couldn't. My skin burned, preventing me from relaxing. "Barry?" I whisper in the dark room. It was probably around midnight.
"Hm?" He was still awake, too?
"I can't sleep." My tired, raspy voice was barely recognizable.
"What would help you fall asleep?" He turns on his side to face me. In the darkness, I thought I could see a small, tired smile on his face.
I think for a moment before responding. "Can you sing to me?" I ask sleepily.
I heard Barry take a deep breath. "Yeah, sure. Since you want to hear so badly."
I suppress an enormous smile when he agrees.
"Let me catch my breath." he says the lyrics like he's done it a million times before. "This is really hard. If I start to look like I'm sweating, well, that's 'cause I am," he continues. "I'm not good with words," I smile, remembering him saying that earlier today. "But that's nothing new. Still I have to try to explain what I want to do. With you. With you."
His voice...there is no way possible to describe his singing. It was beyond amazing. I close my eyes and continue to listen.
"Run away with me. Let me be your ride out of town. Let me be the place that you hide. We can make our lives on the go. Run away with me. Texas in the summer is cool. We'll be on the road like Jack Kerouac, looking back.
"Megan, you're ready let's go, anywhere." I blush when he replaces 'Sam' with my name. "Get the car packed, throw me the key, runaway with me."
I listen intensely at how he hit the notes just right. It was... wow. Amazing. Fantastic.
"...Megan I know it's fast. I'm in love with you. Megan it's crazy but, Megan I'm crazier, for you. I have these plans, Megan I have these plans of a house that we build on a bay when we run away."
As Barry finished 'Runaway With Me,' he cautiously and carefully wrapped an arm around me, making sure he didn't hurt me. My eyes grew heavier, and I end up drifting asleep to the sound of his voice.
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Did you guys watch the video of Grant Gustin singing the song? I just had to put that in this chapter!!!!
*Fangirls at the ending of chapter*
Sorry for grammar and spelling mistakes!