Audacious

Chapter 11: I Can't Hear You

I look Jace in his cold, dead eyes. I somehow find the strenghth to lift my shaking hands to his scared face. I cradle his jawbone in the palms of my hand and whisper to him, "It's okay. We're going to be okay." He lifts his left hand up to my face, tucking a stranded hair behind my ear.

"Kiera," he says in a concerning voice. "You're so warm. Do you feel okay?" He relocates his hand to my forehead, checking my temperature.

"I feel a little clammy and light headed but that may just be from the tranquilizer dart that one of the gaurds shot into my leg." I move my gaze down to my trembling leg that still aches detrimentally.

"Oh my goodness, Kiera! These have poison in them!" he gasps. "I leave you alone for ten minutes and this is what happens," He mutters, looking away from me and at the dart. He begins to pick at the dart lodged in my leg and yelp in pain. "It's okay, I'm right here. I just need to get it out so I can clean the poison out of your blood. I nod with a nasty grimace. He reaches back down and begins to count, "One...Two..."

"Owww!" I scream. "What happened to three?" I ask, irritated. He shrugs and continues to work on my dying leg while I lay on the ground looking at my surroundings. Earlier today everything in this room was so elegant and graceful, now it's full of ashes, fire and dead bodies. I look down to Jace to make sure he's not looking and when I see that he's not, I let one single tear fall down my cheek. I wish more than anything to crawl up by a fire with my Mom, Dad and Damon and just cry. Let everything that has been happening in my mind fro the entire day just fall out of me. My mind can't handle the pain much longer.

"Okay, it looks clean enough now. I wrapped it up so it won't get infected but I think it may hurt for a while to walk. Do you need me to carry you?" He asks.

"No, no. I'll be fine. I need to be fine." I stand up with a grunt and he's right. My leg burns like the fires of hell and I buckle down in agony. He reaches out his arm, requesting his help to get out. I decline his offer and get back on my feet, limping as I move forward. He grabs my shoulders, holding me up as my body begins to droop back towards the ground like the scarecrow form The Wizard of Oz after he has been taken down from the post. I give him a sympathetic smile and carry on. After I walk a couple feet, my legs ally begin to forgive me and smoothly stride forward.

I finally make it out the door to a new living hell. So many bombs go off that I begin to count there pauses.

BOOM! 1...2... BAM! 1...2...3... KABOOM!

I look at Jace who is as scared as I am and grab his face once again. He looks to me and I begin to speak. "I know it may feel like all hope is gone, but I think we both know as well as the back of our hands that we can survive this. I know it." His eyes move back in forth from my eyes to the bombs and then finally settle on me. "Just in case this is my last day with you...," I pull him forward, hugging him until my grip is so tight it hurts. He accepts my hug and wraps his long arms around me, protecting me from the scary world around us. His body heat clings onto me, adding onto the steaming hotness of my sick leg. I look up at his gleaming eyes and he looks into mine.

"Just in case," he says and extends his neck down to me, pressing his lips to mine. I begin to think about if I had ever thought of him in this way before. I think hard and come to the conclusion that I hadn't. But I'm glad I did.

I pull away, taking a couple steps back and he whispers, "This won't be our last day. I promise." And then the oddest thing happens.

I fly.

At first I think I must be unconscious again from the dart, but then when my body slams into a cold, hard wall I realize that this is reality. I pry my eyes open and everything before is multiplied by four. Jace, the explosions, my hands. Jace seems to be on the floor as well but he is on his hands and knees, where as I am on my back. All four of Jaces mouths open and they look as if they are calling me. I wait and wait for his cry to reach me but all I here is ringing. Loud ringing. I smack my ears multiple times, telling them to wake up. I hear nothing. I don't hear the Jace. I don't hear the bombs. And one this is for sure. I definitely don't hear hope.

I open my mouth and I think I scream "Jace" because Jaces lips look as if they are saying "Kiera". I suddenly feel an even worse problem when I attempt to rise again. My back is shattered. I scream (or at least think I do) in torture. For a moment I am actually convinced that my back is one fire and then I turn to see that my clothes are still okay. Jace comes rushing after me, reaching his arms out he grabs my waist and throws me over his shoulder. Oh my...OH MY GOODNESS! JACE! OWW! I scream in my head. I guess my thoughts are all I have. All I want is to hear his voice. As of right now it seems as if the only voice I'll be hearing is my own. For a long time.

Jace swerves down flaming corridors, blazing chambers and up and down burning companionways. He finally reaches a room that must have been previously bright white before the fire came and painted it death black. He carefully lays me on a cot, being extremely cautious with my broken back. Is life over? I ask myself. Is this the end of the long but dreadful road for me? Most importantly, am I satisfied with my ride down this road?

Jace runs around, searching for a doctor or nurse of some sort and comes back with nothing. He looks frustrated yet scared. I just want to cradle him in my small arm and tell him that everything is okay and that we're going to live. But I don't know if that's the truth.

He looks to me and says something like "What...we...now"? I make a questionable look and he repeats himself. "What are we going to do now?" I shake my head and he sits beside me.

I hope that I say, "Jace, somethings wrong with me." I think I successfully accomplished that because he answers.

"I know."

I again try with the little flake of hope and might I have left to say, "No. I think I'm deaf."