Page 82 of Memories with Fire

“Hailey.” The sound comes out choked, relief clogging my throat, and I launch into what should be a sprint.

If it weren’t for being tackled to the ground, I would have been at her side in five seconds. I would have had her face in my hands. My lips at her forehead. My eyes roaming all over to take in all the places she needed medical attention.

Instead, a man sits on top of me, telling me to cooperate, pulling my arms behind my back, while everyone else around me is shouting. All I can do is crane my neck as far as possible to look up at the stretcher stopped just inside the ER.

Hailey.

Breathing. Alive. Conscious.

“You,” Priscylla screeches to my right, and I have just enough time to turn my head to see her coming at Hailey. The next words are chilling as she screams, “You’re supposed to be dead.”

“No,” I shout, struggling on the ground, the terror from before gripping my heart in its clutches. “Hailey!”

Nate catches the charging woman by an arm, then manages to secure the other, locking them both behind her and ceasing any attack. My face rests against the ground, and I blow out a breath, while the man sitting on me pushes a hand against my back and tells me to stay down. Then his weight lifts, and I raise my head to find him, and a new security guard who rushes up to them, taking Priscylla from Nate.

“Luke?” Hailey says, her voice a soft caress over my frayed nerves and thrumming blood still pumping furiously through me. It isn’t loud, but she’s been a part of me for so many years that I’d know her even if my name was just a whisper on the wind.

Craning my neck once again, I look towards the stretcher. “Everything’s okay, Freckles. You good? You okay?”

“I’m fine—why are you?—”

“Let’s go. Up on your feet.” The security guard is back, and he’s grabbing me by the arms, trying to hoist me up to my knees so I can stand up. Protests and shouts erupt in the room again, but the guy isn’t having any of it, and finally he yells to everyone, “I’ll detain you all if you don’t stop until we figure this out.”

“Guys, it’s fine,” I tell Nate, Hailey, Jordan, and Debra, who I’m only noticing, now that I’m upright. “Let the man do his job.”

My eyes lock on Hailey, and having a moment to study her, my heart stutters. She’s normally pale, but this takes it to a new level. Ashen, maybe a little green, and her eyes only open to slits. I force every emotion deep down into my soul, and flash her a dazzling smile that I know will bring my dimples out for her. The last thing she needs to worry about right now is me.

I glance over my shoulder at the guard who has a hand locked around my bicep, only to realize it isn’t the guard who initially tackled me. In fact, it isn’t a guard at all. It’s a cop, and now that I’m looking around the room, I realize there’s a couple of them.

“Alright, hot shot. We’re gonna go figure out what the hell is going on here,” he says, turning me in the opposite direction of Hailey.

My jaw clenches, and I resist the urge to fight. Every instinct screams at me not to leave Hailey, especially with Priscylla in the vicinity, but she’s safe. Priscylla is cuffed too. Both of us restrained might be the safest thing for everyone right now, because as the cop leads me past her, the rage bubbles inside and my hands clench into fists behind me.

“No, why are you taking him?” Hailey shouts, making me all but forget about the woman who tried to hurt her. “It wasn’t him! It was her! She was the one that started the fire and trapped me and my mom. She’s the one that hit me. It wasn’t Luke. Please don’t take him. Please.”

I look over my shoulder to comfort the woman pleading with the cops. At the same time, a chorus of “Hailey!” goes up in the air. There she is, scrambling off the stretcher, darting towards me, and I join in the shouts of her name, but she doesn’t listen. I freeze in place, the cop holding me taking a moment to look over his shoulder as well.

“Hailey,” Nate says, and for the third time today, he’s grabbing someone to stop them from doing something very stupid. His arms wrap around her, and he pulls her into his chest. “Let them figure things out. He’ll be back. Okay? Take a breath.”

Tears slip down her cheeks, but she doesn’t fight against Nate. I hate that it’s not me with my arms around her. Hate that she’s once again crying. Hate that I can’t be the one to console her after everything she’s been through.

“But it wasn’t me,” Priscylla erupts, a few feet away. “That woman pushed me down the stairs. I’m the victim here. She tried to kill me. We need to make sure our baby is okay.”

“Find her a doctor and get her checked out,” the cop holding me says to one of the others, then pushes me forward. “Separate all of them and start interviewing. What a goddamn mess.”

With one last look over my shoulder at Hailey, I let the man take me away from her, once again letting my heart disappear.

CHAPTER 28

HAILEY

“I’d really liketo keep you overnight,” the ER doctor, Dr. Verdeem, determines after another look at my CT scans. I know him well after years working as a paramedic.

Shaking my head, which probably would have made me sick an hour ago, I push back. “I’m fine. It’s just a concussion.”

“Severe concussion,” my mother reminds me from her seat in one of the few private rooms in the ER. I’m not sure if they gave it to me because it gets darker than the curtained areas, or because of what happened, but I’m not complaining. “It’s notjusta concussion, Hailey.”

“With your history, I don’t think it’s a bad idea to admit you and keep you overnight, just to be on the safe side,” he agrees, glancing towards my mom. “I can’t force you to stay, but at the very least, I’d like to monitor you for a few hours.”

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