Chapter 3
SILVER
I’m lying in a lounger beside the town pool, soaking up the sun. A splash of water nearly reaches me, and Mom’s voice rings out with a warning. “Stop it. You’ll get my phone wet.”
My brothers wear nearly identical grins. “Get in, Silver. Let’s dive for rings,” Simon calls.
“I’m trying to even out my tan,” I reply, rolling onto my back.
“You’re already crispy,” Sean says.
Mom smiles at me from her adjacent lounger. “Go on and swim. It’s getting too hot.”
As the words leave her mouth, the heat seems to increase.
It’s odd, not beating down from above, but swelling and pushing in on all sides.
The air grows thick with it and my mouth is suddenly too dry to answer.
Everyone has disappeared from the pool. When I look back at Mom, she’s still smiling but it’s too wide and she’s frozen in place, a vacant look in her eyes.
Her skin begins to glow red and thin tendrils of smoke rise from her hairline. I try to call her name, but I can’t speak. Her ominous smile remains while blisters bubble up on her skin. She’s burning. We’re all going to burn. I can’t scream or make a sound. It’s so hot, I can’t breathe.
We need to get to the pool. If we can get under the water, we’ll be fine. I reach for her hand to pull her with me.
A sharp bang makes my entire body jerk and yanks me out of one nightmare and into another. This time when I try to scream, my deep inhale is strangled off as I choke on the stifling acrid air. I fight to get the blanket off me, confused and terrified.
“Silver!” Lee shouts, and I try to look in the direction of his voice. My eyes burn every time I open them. Where am I? What’s happening?
I force my eyes to stay open long enough to focus but all I can see is a curtain of gray as the smell of smoke finally registers.
The house is on fire! Before I can move, strong arms lift me.
Lee cradles me against his chest and rushes out of my bedroom.
The air turns into a hazy veil in the hallway and clears a little more in the living room, giving me a glorious breath.
“You’re okay. I’ve got you,” Lee says.
My eyes pour, but I get a glimpse of the ceiling where thick smoke rolls across like a living monster, reaching out for us. It surrounds us again for a few seconds before we reach the front door.
Night air has never felt so good. Deep, refreshing breaths make me cough but clear my lungs. Lee runs down the steps, still holding me in his arms, and his deep voice booms. “Call the fire department!”
“I did!” Sharon, my neighbor across the street, yells back.
“Goblin!” I utter, remembering her in a panic. “My cat. Put me down!”
A loud crash echoes down the block as Lee sets me on my feet. He grabs me around the waist, not letting me move while we watch more of my roof cave in. “You can’t go back in there!”
Oh god, this isn’t happening.
Red lights begin to chase each other across the darkened houses, and more of the neighbors come out to see what’s going on as the fire truck parks out front and the firefighters jump out.
“Is anyone else inside?” one of them asks.
“No, no people. My cat…I don’t know how this happened!” My brain just can’t wrap around what I’m seeing. A half hour ago, I was stretched out on my bed, looking forward to Lee showing up. Now, I’m losing everything.
The firefighter instructs Lee to take me over to the ambulance that’s just arrived while they’re hooking up the hoses.
“I’m fine. I don’t need—” A coughing fit interrupts me, and Lee steers me toward the waiting paramedic.
“She was asleep, choking on the smoke,” he tells him.
“Do you feel dizzy or lightheaded?” he asks and has me sit down.
“No. I just need some water.”
My throat is dry and sore. He clips an oxygen monitor on my finger and continues to ask questions while Lee jogs over to his truck, then returns with a bottle of water. He texts on his phone while the paramedic checks me over.
“Do you feel short of breath? Your oxygen looks good.”
“My chest feels a little achy, but I can breathe fine.” A shiver runs through me, and he wraps a blanket around my shoulders. I’m glad I chose to go to bed in my little pajama shorts and a tee shirt. At least I’m not out here naked or in lingerie.
“We need to take you to the emergency room. You need tests to see the extent of the smoke inhalation,” he says as the second paramedic joins him.
“No, I don’t need an ambulance.”
“I’ll take her,” Lee tells them.
Doubt lives on their faces but one of them regards him. “Soon. Some symptoms don’t show up for a few hours. If her airway swells, she won’t be able to breathe.”
“We’re going. Right now,” he says, grabbing my hand to help me to my feet.
“No, wait!” Relief pours through me when I see a familiar black cat. Goblin comes running across the neighbor’s yard, and the weight on my chest lightens, despite the sight of my house engulfed in flames.
Thank fuck.
Lee pauses to talk to one of the firefighters standing nearby while I cuddle Goblin to my chest, then leads me to his truck.
Another glance at the surreal sight of the house I worked so hard for being eaten alive hits me like a punch in the stomach.
Tears prick at my eyes while my face is buried in Goblin’s fur.
At least I didn’t lose her. “She doesn’t smell like smoke at all.
She wasn’t even in the house. I’m so glad I put that cat door in last year. ”
Lee glances over at me as we pull away. “Do you still feel alright? No trouble breathing?”
“No, I feel okay.” A numbness settles over me. My house is burning. Everything I have will probably be gone. I just took out a home equity loan and I’m not even sure how any of that will work now. This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening.
No matter how many times that phrase beats against my brain, it remains untrue. It was the same words that kept coming out of my mouth the night Mom died of a sudden stroke.
His phone beeps as we stop at a red light, and he checks it. “Arlow’s on his way to your place to keep an eye on things and let us know when the fire’s out. Calli’s meeting us at the hospital.”
It’s second nature for me to reach in my pocket for my phone, but of course, it isn’t there. It’s probably a molten mess by now. “She doesn’t need to come to the hospital. I won’t be there long, I’m sure.”
Then where am I going to go? The reality of that strikes me like a physical blow. Lee must see it in my expression because he reaches over and takes my hand while he’s driving. “You don’t need to panic. It’s going to be okay.”
“If you hadn’t shown up in time.” My words come out in a faltering whisper. I was saved by a dick appointment.
“Don’t do that. You have enough to deal with. You don’t need to add the what ifs to it.”
“You saved my life.”
He doesn’t seem to know how to respond to that and we finish the short drive in silence.
I’m taken back to a small room as soon as we get to the hospital.
The tests they want to run don’t take long, but they insist that I stay for a few hours for observation.
Calli shows up after I’ve had the last scan.
There isn’t really room in the tiny space for two visitors so Lee steps out to check in with Arlow.
She grabs me in a long tight hug. “I’m so sorry. How are you doing?”
“I feel okay. They’re just waiting on test results.”
“Do you know what might’ve started it?”
“I have no idea. My stove wasn’t left on or anything.
I know my flat iron was unplugged. I need to call my insurance company.
Get my truck from your place. I don’t know when I’ll be able to get back inside.
For clothes, at least, if they aren’t all ruined.
And get a new phone. I can’t get much done without that.
Goblin is still in Lee’s truck.” I rub my hand over my face with a ragged sigh.
The thought of it all is overwhelming when I’m already exhausted and shaken up. I could’ve died.
“One thing at a time,” Calli says softly, rubbing the back of my hand. “You don’t have to figure everything out tonight. I’m going to take Goblin home with me for now. Are you sure you want to stay with Lee? I know I have a houseful, but we can grab an air mattress.”
“What? Why would I stay with Lee?”
She blinks at me, surprised. “He said you were. You two didn’t discuss it?”
“No. I’ll get a hotel room for a few days while I figure things out.”
Lee steps inside the room, hovering by the door as Calli replies, “Do you have your driver’s license? Or your credit card? I can get you a room if they won’t let you check in without them, but you shouldn’t be alone. Come home with me.”
All my identification, debit card, and credit cards are in my purse which was hanging on the peg by my front door the last I saw. I’m not going to Calli’s when Arlow has a whole family reunion in progress.
“I can grab some cash from the diner. The guy who runs the Stay Inn knows me and I’m sure—”
“You aren’t going to a hotel,” Lee interrupts gruffly. “The doctor said to keep an eye on you and I’m going to. You’re staying with me.”
I’m too exhausted to argue or wonder why he’s so adamant. It’s close to two in the morning and it feels like I’ve lived a year in the last few hours. It doesn’t matter where I crash tonight.
“Don’t bully her into it,” Calli protests.
“No, it’s fine. Just for a few nights,” I relent, glancing at Lee. “Thanks.”
His only response is a curt nod. “Arlow called. The fire is out but there can be flare ups from hot spots so nothing can be done there until tomorrow.”
We’re interrupted by the nurse with my discharge papers and instructions. “All your test results look good. You can go home. Be sure to come back if you develop any shortness of breath.”
Home. There’s never been a time in my life when I didn’t know where home was.