Page 50 of Right in Front of You

“I’m going to burn in this house and be with you, Daisy.”

“And I’m not going to let that happen, my love. Not today.”

“Why? Why won’t you let me die? I tried so hard and failed so many times. Life was so much simpler with you.”

“That’s because we were young and without responsibilities. Besides, it’s not your time yet. I need you. Molly needs you, and you’re going to need her.”

“How do you know that?”

And how did Daisy need me?

She rolled her eyes in true Daisy style, “Hello? I’m dead. I know things.”

“Well, it doesn’t look like I’m getting out of this one, babe, so I’ll be seeing you permanently soon, beautiful.”

“You need to wake up and be the man I know you are.” She blew me a kiss and faded out into the thick black cloud. I tried to catch the smoky outline of her lips, but it disappeared before I could reach it with my hand.

“I said wake up, Carter.” Molly’s voice vibrated in my ears as I felt clean air fill my lungs. It burned deep into the tissue of my chest. I opened my eyes slowly. The shock of bright light forced me to shut them again.

“Come on, big boy. You can do it.”

Big boy?

I wanted to chuckle, but my body felt heavy and constrained. A memory of hot pain flashed through my mind, and I flinched. Where was I? Why was Molly here? Did I sleep at her house? No, I was pretty sure I’d remember that.

“How are you feeling, Carter?” she asked.

Fine,I wanted to say. A little sore, I think. But my throat was dried up. I felt my cracked lips with the tip of my tongue, and then something touched my mouth.

“Drink some water. You’ve been out for a while. Do you remember anything?”

I tried to open my eyes again, this time fighting against the bright light until I focused in on Molly’s beautiful face. I shook my head slightly to signal a ‘no.’

“Well, you’re at a hospital. You’ve been here for three weeks now, sedated, because your body needs to heal, and the doctors couldn’t have you moving.”

What the fuck happened?I opened my eyes wide, hoping that Molly would understand my question.

“There was a fire…” she started, and I tuned her out. Memories of my house burning came rushing back: bright flames, black smoke, crackling wood, shattering glass, a roaring blaze. How did I get out? Did Nick make it out with Mackenzie? An ache in my lungs forced me to take in a sharp breath. I wanted to get up and get them, but my legs were fastened to the bed, and so were my arms. I looked to Molly. There were so many questions I had that I didn’t know where to start, so I decided to do so with the most important one.

“Mac?” I managed to ask.

“She’s well, and so is Nick. You saved her life, but the smoke got to you. Nick went back in to get you. He’s fine as well. You were unresponsive for a long time, but you’re good now.”

I let go of the tension in my shoulders. My body relaxed as I looked to Molly to continue. She gently took my hand, and I noticed that the tips of my fingers were the only part of my entire arm sticking out.

“You sustained some burns, Carter.” I followed her gaze as she looked over my arm, then onto my torso. I assumed I was bandaged there as well. In fact, my leg felt tighter than it should have, too.

“Three weeks?” How could so much time have passed and I had no recollection of any of it?

“You’ve been in and out of consciousness for two weeks now. In an induced coma the first week. You might not remember much because of the morphine. They removed your feeding tube yesterday and eased the drugs so you could be more aware.”

I took another sip of water through the straw she was holding to my lips.

“I don’t remember.”

“That’s normal. Some memories may come back and some may not, but you’re good. Everything’s going to be good.”

Hearing Molly trying too hard to convince me sounded as if she were trying to convince herself, which made me wonder about the severity of my burns.

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