Page 65 of The Fallen
“LANDON!” Willow screams, but it’s too late. I can already see both him and Blake running into the building, and then it hits me - Scott and Seffi went to show the paramedics the way in.
I lie here, unsure what to do and knowing the only thing I can do is protect Noah from the debris and ash still falling from the building. Ivy comes over to me, picking Willow up on the way, and we all wait to see what's going to happen next. Tears fall from all of us, and all I can hear is the sound of both of them calling for their partners in that inferno.
I shake as the fear, adrenaline, pain and regret wrack my every thought. Everything’s gone wrong, and now Seffi’s at risk because of me, too. I don’t know what to do, don’t know how to fix anything at all or make it better. I thought it was done and over. Lewis is gone, but this must have been what he meant by too late. His one last attempt at hurting us.
My hands grip Noah’s body, holding him close as if that’s all I’ve got left in me, and look at the destruction unfolding. The old building creaks and groans under the flames, the sound of wood splintering and cracking seeming to fill the air.
“Oh, thank God,” Ivy eventually shouts, running towards the far corner. Blake comes out holding Scott, his arm supporting him. “Where’s Seffi?” she shouts. They both cough and splutter, and he nods back the way he’s just come from. I stare on, hoping, willing and praying until I eventually see a filthy Landon come straight out the door behind them with Seffi safe in his grip.
Every muscle relaxes from the relief, my fingers softening a little on Noah, and then I remember he’s not safe at all yet.
My wild eyes keep searching the debris, hoping, with everything I have, that the paramedics weren’t inside there, too. Landon’s on the phone, his arm wrapped around Willow. Ivy and Blake are together and safe, Scott and Seffi breathing and alive. It’s just me again and Noah.
“Oh, God, please don't let him die,” I mumble, still staring at the house and drive. “Where are they?”
It seems like a full five minutes go past, all of them laced with regret and tears before I finally hear the sound of sirens coming up the drive.
Blake moves towards the paramedics as they come around the corner and starts talking with them. The words gunshot wound and lost a lot of blood ring in my head, but I stay focused, willing Noah’s eyes to open so I know he’s safe too.
They don’t.
“Come on, Neve.”
It's Blake that pulls me to standing, and we let the paramedics treat him, watching as they swarm over his body urgently. There's so much blood, but I swallow the tears that don’t seem to give up and stay focused on Noah's face. He'll be alright. He has to be.
Landon reappears by my side. “Do you want a ride to the hospital?”
Surprising he’s even thinking of leaving, considering the flames that are still petering out from Tallington, but I’ve only got one priority again now. “I’m going with Noah,” I state, no room for negotiation.
“It would be better if you came with us. Let them look after him,” he presses.
“No, Landon.” I turn to him so he can see just how serious I am about this. “I want to stay with him. Iwillstay with him.” The idea that he’ll be alone eats away in the pit of my stomach, just like all the other guilt I’ve been carrying around. After everything we’ve been through, I’m not going to leave him now. I might have chosen my family, needing to fix my mess, but that didn’t negate the feelings I have for Noah. He made it an ultimatum. And who does he have besides his brother to be there for him?
My heart gives a little beat as if answering my internal question. He has me. I want to be there for him, and I don’t care if that path might end in heartache.
Landon studies me as if working out a puzzle he can’t solve and then nods and turns away towards Tallington and the rest of the paramedics looking at Seffi.He sighs and looks over everyone, brushing the grime off his clothes, then looks back at the building as Willow walks towards him.
“What are you going to do?” I call after him.
“Wait for DCI Jenkins, again, and the fire brigade, and then see if we can salvage something from this mess.”
“Miss, if you want to come, we’re taking him now,” one of the paramedics says as they push Noah on the gurney.
I stare at the building for a few more moments, take in the flames and broken beauty, and then jump after them to follow as they load Noah into the back of the ambulance. My thoughts flit back to Landon the second the door closes us inside, and I watch on as a woman starts pushing needles into Noah's skin.
There’s so much mess left to deal with. The fact that my brother just killed the man who killed our father, and now our family home’s been wounded by some sort of revenge that tried to kill us all, is only the beginning of it. Still, I can’t think about that now. Noah needs me, and I intend to be there for him. I just hope my family might find their understanding when I’m ready to talk to them again.
~
The hospital waiting room is cold and uncomfortable, and the chair digs into my back as I try for patience and fail. I’ve been in this room for hours, and I still don’t know anything more than he’s been taken to surgery.
The good news is that he’s going to be okay from what the doctors said earlier. And while that is the most important information, I can’t get rid of this … apprehension that’s festering inside of me. It's like it’s not quite over somehow. There can’t be anything else, though. Surely?
“Mrs Locke?” I jump from my seat as the doctor enters.
“Yes, yes … is he okay?”
“He’s in recovery. He’s fortunate. The bullet missed his organs, but we had to do some repair work to his intra-abdominal vasculature to stop the internal bleeding.” She gives me the highlights, and I release the breath I feel like I’ve been holding all this time.
