Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
JULIET
It’s so fucking cold in here.
I’m shivering, and my teeth are chattering. My legs both went numb long ago. I don’t have any idea how long I’ve been suspended up here, but it got dark a while ago, and let me just tell you right now, it’s scary as fuck in a secret attic after dark.
The noises are the worst. The skittering. The creaking. At one point, I thought I heard voices, but it turned out to just be me talking to myself.
I might be going crazy.
Or going into shock.
Maybe this is what hypothermia feels like because I’m so damn cold.
Every once in a while, my phone will ping with a text, or Brooks’s ringtone will start to play because he’s trying to call me, and it makes me cry because I know he has to be worried. If the roles were reversed, I’d be terrified and tearing the world apart to find him.
He’ll find me.
Eventually.
Will I still be alive when he does? I mean, I know that sounds dramatic, but no one knows the attic exists, and I didn’t tell anyone that I was coming over to the house.
So stupid.
For about the tenth time, I try to wiggle my way back up, but the piece of wood that cut the hell out of my leg is still embedded in the skin, and when I try to work it back up, it hurts all over again.
Not to mention, I’m so cold that I’m numb in half of my body, and my arms don’t want to work.
The dark is the worst. If it were light outside, it would still suck, but it wouldn’t be this scary. This creepy.
That’s an understatement.
“This is terrifying.”
Something skitters over the floor behind me, and I gasp, then let out a whimper.
“Go away,” I say, but my voice is scratchy because for the first hour or so, I screamed my ass off.
No one came.
My phone rings, and when I look down between my legs to the floor below, I see that it’s Chad returning my call.
“Sorry, Chad. I’m a little hung up.”
I giggle at the thought. I’ve officially lost my marbles. And when something moves next to me, I scream, flailing my arms, hoping that I knock whatever the hell it is across the room.
“I want out of here!” I yell and try to drag myself out of this hole once more, gritting my teeth when the wood drags through my flesh. “Fuck, that hurts.”
I’m tired. I kind of want to sleep since I’m so cold. My eyes are so heavy, and my body is tingly. I can’t feel my lips anymore.
And my fingertips feel funny.
Suddenly, something crashes somewhere in the house, and then I hear Brooks scream out, “JULIET! JULIET!”
Oh God, he’s here.
“Help!” I try to yell, but it comes out as a croak. “Help!”
I clear my throat and try again.
“HELP! UPSTAIRS!”
Footsteps thunder below me. More than just Brooks is here.
“Help!” I cry out again, tears running down my face now. “Please help.”
“Jules?”
I’m looking down between my legs, and I can feel when someone runs into the room. I’m over the pink bedroom. Suddenly, I can see the glow of a flashlight, and then it’s shining up into my eyes.
“Ah!”
“Baby! Fuck, how did you get up there? You’re bleeding!”
I’m hyperventilating again. Sobbing. “Stairs. Back bedroom.”
He runs away, taking the light with him, but then more people are below me with more flashlights.
“We’re all here, Jules.” That’s Blake’s voice. “We’ve got you, pretty girl. Take a deep breath for me. I see the blood. Where are you hurt, gorgeous?”
“Leg.” I swallow hard. “Hips hurt. So cold.”
“You’re cold?” he asks. God, his voice is so calm.
“Yeah. T-shirt.” My voice sounds weird to my own ears.
“Fuck, we need blankets,” he calls out to someone.
I’m shaking again, and then I hear Brooks behind me. I didn’t hear him come up the stairs.
“For fuck’s sake, Wildfire.” He doesn’t sound mad. He sounds like he can’t believe what he’s seeing.
“I’m s-s-sorry. I just wanted to look, and—”
“You can tell me later,” he says gently. “I have to walk carefully. It won’t do us any good if we both fall through. Are you okay? Talk to me, baby.”
“Please don’t fall.” I can’t see him. I want to see him so bad. “Brooks, don’t you dare fall. I will be so fucking mad if you hurt yourself. It’s not safe up here. Just pass me some blankets and come back for me when it’s light out tomorrow morning.”
Oh God, please don’t leave me here all night.
“You’re delirious,” he says. “If you think I’ll leave you here like this, you’re hurt worse than—”
“Brooks.” My voice cracks. “Please hold me. Can’t you just hold me?”
“I’m coming. Talk to me, baby. How badly are you hurt?”
“So cold. I’m so c-cold.”
He shines his light over to me. “You’re only in a T-shirt? Shit, it must be under forty degrees in here.”
“So cold.” My voice is smaller. “Please get me.”
“Holy fucking shit.” That’s Beckett behind me, at the top of the attic stairs. “We shouldn’t all be walking on that. We’re too big, Brooks.”
“I’m taking it slow,” Brooks tells him.
“We’ll go get ladders,” Bridger says. “And see if we can pull her through from below.”
“My leg,” I call out. “I’m cut, and the wood is still inside me.”
“Baby,” Brooks says, his voice full of anguish.
“Ladders,” Bridger says again, and I hear them clomping back down the stairs.
“I’m going to be here a while,” I whisper.
“I’m with you.” His voice is getting closer, like he’s not up on his feet, but maybe … crawling? “I’m making my way over to you, Juliet.”
“I’m really tired,” I reply.
“Don’t you dare fall asleep.”
“We have blankets down here,” Blake calls up. “I’m bringing them up to you guys.”
“You have to be careful,” Brooks yells back, but someone’s already on the stairs. “Just throw it over.”
“Shit, that’s a long throw for a blanket,” Blake says grimly.
I can’t see anything, but they must make it work, because suddenly, Brooks says, “Okay, baby, I’m going to toss this your way. I’m not too far from you, but I can’t put it around you myself.”
“Okay.” I manage to get my fingers to work to scoop the clean blanket around me, and I shiver. “Legs are numb.”
Suddenly, someone must have set up some kind of light in the room below because the attic is illuminated and cast in shadows from a bright light below.
I twist so I can see Brooks, and his face is … devastated as he takes me in.
“God, baby, I want to scoop you up and get you the fuck out of here.”
He’s closer than I thought, and I stretch out, hoping he can hold my hand.
Brooks tries, but he’s about three inches too far away.
“I need you.” My lips tremble as I start to cry. “I need you to touch me.”
“I know, baby. The guys have to get a look at you from below so we can figure out how we’re going to get you out of here.”
There are flashing lights coming from outside, and my eyes widen.
“Bridger called in the fire trucks?”
“Probably an ambulance and some cops, too. Chase Wild’s been helping us find you. We made the girls stay outside, and they’re not happy about it.”
“I don’t want the pregnant girls in here,” I reply, shaking my head. “Brooks?”
“Yes, my love.”
“Can we have babies?” I press my lips together and look back to see his face. “I want babies. And we’re not getting younger, and I just—”
“You want to talk about this now?”
“I’ve been thinking about it a lot.” My voice is a whisper.
“Wildfire, I’ll give you all the babies you want. Absolutely, let’s have a dozen kids, but we have to get you out of here first.”
I bite my lip, and then I hear a commotion below me.
“Okay, Jules, we have ladders down here,” Bridger says. “Beckett and I are going to be next to your legs and hips, trying to see how we can get you down. I hope these aren’t your favorite jeans because they’re torn to shit.”
“I can live without them. Thank you,” I call down to them.
But someone tries to move my injured leg, and it makes me cry out as pain lances through me.
“I’m going to dismember whoever just hurt my wife,” Brooks bellows. “Be careful down there!”
“They can’t help it,” I say while tears track down my cheeks. “It’s deep, Brooks. It’s really bad.”
“Hey. Wildfire, you look at me. It’s going to be okay. Do you hear me?”
“What if it’s not okay?”
“That’s not an option. Guys? How does it look down there?”
“We’re going to get a saw to get this wood that’s in her leg. Her hips are hung up on the two-by-fours on either side of her, which have not given out.”
“See? I have birthing hips. Saved my life. Or a broken leg,” I say, trying to lighten the mood, but Brooks’s face is mutinous.
“It’s not safe to pull her up into the attic,” he growls at his brothers.
“We can cut the wood around her hips and help her down,” Bridger says, his voice perfectly calm. “We’ll run the electrical across the street from your house, like we did for this light. I had guys from the fire station bring our extra-long cords over.”
“You guys didn’t have to do all of this.”
“Uh, Jules?” Bridger says. “You’re my sister.
You’re part of our family and community.
Of course, we’re going to do whatever we need to do to get you out of here as safely as possible.
You’re going to be okay, and we’re not going to injure you any more than you already are.
Blake’s still down here with all kinds of medical junk to help, too. ”
“As soon as they get the wood separated from the ceiling,” Blake calls up, “I’m going to have to remove it and cover the wounds so you don’t bleed anymore. We’ll treat you for any infection at the hospital. Are you bleeding anywhere else?”
I swallow. “Before they went numb, my hands were bleeding from catching myself in the fall.”
Brooks growls next to me, and I try to offer him an encouraging smile.
“We need to warm her up better,” Blake says. “She’s still too cold.”
“If this goes as planned, we’ll have her out of here in less than thirty minutes,” Bridger tells him.
“I’m so scared,” I whisper. Brooks is still inching along, and he’s finally close enough to take my hand in his. He brings it up to his lips, careful not to hurt the scrapes on my palm.
“Blake,” I say loud enough for him to hear.
“Right here, gorgeous.”
I swallow hard, and Brooks squeezes my fingers. It’s warming up, and it feels good even though my palm aches.
Blake was always a flirt. I kind of love that we have a doctor in the family.
“This is going to hurt, isn’t it?”