Page 125 of Burn It Down

“He’s in bed,” Cassie argues. “And trust me when I tell you that not even death could keep these two apart. So, you’re wasting your time and breath. In fact, you might as well just move Jake in here and free up his room for someone else because now that he’s found Dylan, he won’t be leaving my brother’s side.”

The nurse looks like she’s about to argue, but I catch her eye over Jake’s shoulder and shake my head, pulling him closer.

“Fine, but you two had better get a pen and paper because neither of you should be talking right now."

I flash her a grin and a thumbs up.

Of course, as soon as she’s gone, Jake starts talking.

“I was so worried. I woke up and no one would tell me where you were. I didn’t know if you’d gotten out.”

“You saved my life.”

“I had those fucking doors installed. I almost ended your life!” His whisper is vehement and the self-loathing is evident.

“The door wasn’t the problem, the fact that it was locked, was.”

“But you could have taken a hammer to a regular door and gotten out. Can you ever forgive me?”

“It’s not your fault,” I tell him, my throat tearing open anew. I rub his back and he places his head on my shoulder, his hand splayed across my heart. I kiss the top of his head and with him curled into me, we both fall asleep one more time while our bodies try to fight their way back to normal.

A few hours later, knuckles wrapping on the door wake us both.

None other than office Dowdy steps into my room.

Wanting to appear slightly more put-together than I currently feel, I ring the nurse and ask Officer Dowdy to give us a minute.

“Can you please track down a toothbrush and toothpaste?”

“Oh, one for me too, please?” Jake whispers.

Because our vitals are looking better, the nurse doesn’t balk when we want to shower and put on the real clothes my sister brought us from the house, but she does tell us for the tenth time, “Fine. But youhaveto stop talking or I’ll have the doctor sew your mouths shut.”

Although it feels like days, we find out we’ve only been here a little over thirty hours and apparently, the officers were notified as soon as we were stable.

Reentering our room, moving slowly, but feeling much more human after my shower, Jake and I sit side-by-side on the small couch. My dad and sister come back into the room with freshcups of coffee and take the hard plastic chairs on the opposite side of the room.

Officer Dowdy looks uncomfortable. “I had hoped I could speak with you alone,” he says to me.

“My mind’s still a little cloudy. I’ll need their help,” I tell him calmly, still trying to keep my sentences short. I grip Jake’s hand tighter, silently communicating that I still don’t trust this guy.

An annoyed look flashes across Officer Dowdy’s face, but he nods once and flips open his notebook.

“What can you tell me about the events before the fire?”

“Officer,” our nurse starts, coming into the room, “these gentlemen need to stay silent. Please keep this brief.” She then hands whiteboards and markers to Dylan and I. “Use these. If I hear a single peep out of either of you, it’s going to get ugly.”

Over the next hour, me, my dad, Cassie, and Jake take turns answering questions. Jake and I use the whiteboards like good patients.

Officer Dowdy seems particularly interested in my sister since she was the last one in the office, but he doesn’t understand the bond Cassie and I share.

“You’re wasting your time,” I snap aloud when he keeps hammering Cassie, waiting to see if her story changes.

Once we’ve answered all his questions, my dad pipes up one more time. “Dyl, the cameras.”

My dad’s statement piques the cop’s attention.

“I’m not sure how much help those cameras will be since the computer downloading the images was melted during the fire, but I’ll take anything you have.”

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