Chapter Forty Eight
My eyes flutter open. The room is brightly lit with sunlight shining through the curtains. It doesn't have the same fruity smell that my bedroom always does, the smell of cucumber lotion or a berry scented perfume. The air smells clean and spacious but concealed.
I find myself staring at lights going in rows down the ceiling.
"Hey," a gentle voice says from beside me, "you're awake."
I turn to my left. Trace is laying in a bed next to me, smiling.
He's got tubes going into his nose. I follow the tube to see they're connected to an oxygen tank. On his left is Olivia. She's sitting up playing cards with Dylan who's at the foot of her bed.
"What time is it?"
Trace looks at the clock in front of us. I didn't see it before.
"It's almost five o' clock. You've been sleeping all day. You're mom stopped by earlier but left about twenty minutes ago to feed your dog supper. What's the last thing you remember?"
I think about his question for a moment. Erica carried to me to field where I layed in between Mason and Trace until I heard sirens in the distance.
There was a time after that when I woke up and saw a man staring at me. He had lights behind his head and a warm smile.
My head gets a small sting to it and I wince. I reach up to touch my forehead but a plastic, straw-like tube stops me.
I'm hooked up to a breathing tank too.
"Riding in the ambulance." I tell him.
He's quick to hide his reaction. I know he's surprised that I haven't been awake for so many hours but he doesn't want me to worry.
"I'm just glad you're awake now."
The door opens and Lucas, Adalyn, Cameron, Josephine, Erica, Ethan and Mason all come traipsing through the threshold.
"Damn, Emma! Took you long enough." Adalyn teases when she sees I'm up.
Mason holds up a bag of food and I suddenly realize that I'm starving. I guess it's been about fifteen hours since I ate last so I've earned the right to be hungry.
The door opens again and a doctor appears.
His eyes scan over the group of new arrivals with a look of disapproval, "You can't all be in here."
Ethan walks over to the doctor with a bite of cheeseburger hanging out of his mouth. He places a hand on the doctors shoulder and looks at him meaningfully, "We'll behave ourselves but the patients need us in here. We preform best as a team and I'm almost certain their health will have no improvement without us."
The doctor picks his greasy hand off of his shoulder and drops it. He looks back up at Ethan and groans, "Fine, but go breathe in that corner." he gestures to the other side of the room, "Your onion breath is making me nauseous."
Ethan smiles triumphantly and walks to the corner, "You can thank me later." he tells Mason on his way by. Mason just slaps the back of his head.
Charles- I read from his name tag- walks over and stands in between Trace and my bed.
"I'm not sure if you're aware yet Mrs. Kennedy, but while you were sleeping I took some blood so we could run a few tests. I took samples from all three of you and I just recently received the results."
I wasn't aware. I'm just glad he didn't wait until I was awake.
"A complete blood count test was given and everything came back good. This means that there are enough red blood cells to carry oxygen and enough white blood cells to fight infection. Your bodies will be able to heal themselves and none of you suffer from chronic burns, or any burns of that matter. The arterial blood gas determined the degree of oxygen shortage you had and Olivia had the worst. She will be prescribed six months for the use of an inhaler.
The three of you got very lucky. I hope you know that."
He gives us a smile. Charles walks out of the room and my mom walks in right behind him.
Her comforting eyes meet mine immediately.
"I'm glad you finally woke up sweetie. It's weird to have you quiet for fifteen hours, I'm only used to you sleeping for thirteen." she jokes. I roll my eyes at her humor.
I tell her what the doctor said and her smile grows.
"I'm so happy you kids are alright." she ruffles my hair.
Mom sits on the edge of my bed. I know one of my friends would give up their chair in a heartbeat if she wished to sit down, but it's just a matter of her being close to me.
Me being in a fire really freaked her out which is completely understandable. I could've gotten severely injured or worse. With dad and Laila living on the other side of the country I'm all she has left.
My mom and I have always had a close bond. I've always been close with both of my parents.
Cameron and a few others begin laughing. Erica huffs out in annoyance, "It's not that funny."
Trace and I exchange a look of pity. It's a self loathing look that tells everyone we're out of the loop.
Nothing is worse than being surrounded by laughing people without knowing what's so dang funny!
Erica see's our faces and decides to fill us in, "I told the boys that my mom is looking for a new caddie."
I don't know much about sports but my dad used to be a huge golfer. A caddie is the person who carries a players club and stuff. They give insightful advice and provide moral support, like a helpful therapist, but for golf.
Cameron bursts out laughing again and Mason follows his lead.
Adalyn gives them each a look of disbelief. She may be just as confused as I am but she'd never show it. She'll just wait for them to explain themselves.
When Cameron's laughter calms down he starts explaining, "If you take away the C and put in a D,"
Mason laughs harder and mutters, "Put in a D!"
Must I remind them that my mother is in the room?
Cameron continues, "You'll have daddy! Your mom won't be needing a caddie anymore but her husband may be needing some divorce papers."
Trace stifles a laugh but stops when I shoot him a glare.
They've been laughing for the past five minutes over something this stupid? Boys.
A few seconds later the door opens and it's the middle aged doctor again.
He hands Trace the inhaler for Olivia, "She'll need to lay low for a few months and keep her breaths short. I don't want her running for long periods of time, or doing anything that will cause shortness of breath."
"Yes sir, we can do that."
The doctor walks over to my mom, "Emma needs to take the rest of the day easy. I don't want her doing too much of anything." my mom chuckles to herself and I roll my eyes, "She shouldn't be exerting herself for any reason."
I know my mom is thinking, 'like she does anything anyways' and she's got a point. But now I'm supposed to be doing even less than nothing. I don't know if I'm thrilled or upset.
My mom has a tendency to take doctors orders to the extreme. She might even try carrying me up the stairs so my heart rate won't increase. I'll just have to hope that she'll be chill about the entire thing because I'm already not looking forward to the conversation regarding the fire alone. Adding a lecture about how I should 'elevate my back so my blood can flow properly' or how I should 'take good breaths so my yawns won't be as frequent', won't be pleasurable to the mix.
"Trace," Charles directs, "you're going to be laid off from football for the rest of the season. You should be able to start sports back next year, but now for you'll have to call it quits. I'm sorry."
The doctor said he was sorry but his face holds the opposite of remorse. He probably tells people news like this all the time with which the patient replies begging and pleading to not quit the team while the doctor stands there and tells them it's necessary. I feel his pain. Arguing is a bore.
"Everyone is free to leave." The doctor says with a smile for the first time.
Even though I was nearly burned to death less than twenty four hours ago I feel okay. Nothing about me is burned or damaged and I'm grateful for that.
Mom, on the other hand, no longer understands the concept of personal space. She helped me into the car, strapped me in, drove ten miles under the speed limit to avoid hurting my neck in case she needed to come to an abrupt stop, helped me out of the car and helped me onto the couch.
I even mentioned that I had to pee. I realized that was a mistake after she offered to help.
She's been babying me so much, but it's perfectly perfect. I'd rather her care too much than not enough. Right now, she's caring too much and it's amazing.
"So before I ask about the caddie situation," my mom starts and I know where the dreaded conversation is ahead, "why were you in a burning house?"
I know the answer seems obvious. We were inside and an accident happened that we were unaware of so once we smelt the smoke we darted for the exit. That's the scenario that most people would assume without even needing to ask, but not my mother.
She knows me well enough to know when I'm hiding something before I even have to speak.
"I was upstairs getting more blankets when a fire work must've landed too close to the house. I smelt the smoke before anything and knew it was time for me to get out of there. Just as I was about to flee the scene I remembered Olivia and Trace were in the house too so I met up with them and we all got out together."
Okay, so that wasn't a complete lie. Olivia and Trace were actually in the house.
I feel bad for lying to my mom but if she knew the truth she'd call me insane and I'd be grounded for a year. She'd never understand how I could be dumb enough to run into a burning house to save a boy I'm not even dating.
Mom cocks her head to the side. She's testing me, trying to see if I'll fess up without her having to call me out on my lie.
If I just wait her out maybe she'll start to think I'm telling the truth when she realizes I'm not coming forward and confessing.
Finally, I sigh out, "The truth is I was outside with Josephine when she saw smoke coming from the kitchen window. Cameron ran out telling us the house was on fire and while everyone else ran to the field to take cover, I ran back inside the house. I know that it was stupid and I could've been killed but I don't regret it. If I didn't go back in then Trace and Olivia probably would've never made it out."
That's not entirely true either. Trace would spend his last breath getting Olivia out and I know he'd fight his hardest to throw her outside, but even the toughest quarterback has his breaking point. There's only so much you can take before your body just shuts down.
Mom gives me a knowing smile, "I knew you went back in."
I furrow my eyebrows, "How?"
One of the guys must've told her. I know Mason was tripping when I rushed back inside so maybe he spilled the beans to my mother.
"There's some things a mother just knows. The danger you put yourself in to save that boy, I knew about it before you even woke up today."
She grabs my hand and places them in her lap, "I'm not saying that what you did was acceptable because it's not. You're my little girl and I'd never want you risking your life for anyone. But I understand why you did it."
She does? How could she possibly understand why I did it when I don't even understand?
Running into a burning house unequipped and walking out alive isn't very likely. Not even his best friends were going to run inside and help them get out because chances are it'd just get you killed before they could even reach him.
They hoped and waited for him to come out himself and as soon as he did they were there to help. But they'd never go in and die for no reason when he'd still be trapped regardless.
That's how they saw the situation.
But I held onto the small piece of hope that I'd be able to get him out. Before I went inside I saw him in my mind. He was struggling to get them both out but the fire was getting thicker and hotter the longer he took. He wasn't able to make it.
That alone was enough motivation for me to risk everything to change the pictures that just flew across my mind.
"I don't know why I did what I did but I'd do it again in a heartbeat." I tell my mom and she nods.
"I know you would," she pauses for a moment to gather her thoughts, "Okay, look sweetie. Trace is a great guy and he's always done right by you. He'd never do anything to hurt you and I've seen proof of that. If you want something then I suggest you go after it."
Wait... is she saying that I want Trace?
He's smart, outgoing, so handsome that it brings me to my knees but most importantly he's here. He's always been here every single time I needed him to be.
People come and go from your life all the time. That's one of the worst and greatest things about life. You never know what's going to happen next.
Last night Trace and I could've both died in that fire but instead we made it out alive. We got a few cuts from the broken glass but nothing that won't heal in a few weeks. We were only able to do it because we stuck together and fought.
Even if things turned out different I'd still go back in the burning house. I'd never let the boy I've grown to care so much about stay trapped in there.
"I think I understand why I did it." I tell mom with new confidence. She smiles kindly, "I like Trace."
Authors Note:
Hello! Thanks for reading and don't forget to vote!! Have a great day and stay safe!
Welp... Emma finally admits it! Let me get a "hooray" if you were surprised! Lol!