The Rose Boys

Chapter Twenty-Four

It was noise, a rhythmic, continuous beeping that woke me. I opened my mouth to tell Ben to turn his game off but my throat was as dry as parchment paper. I managed a raspy, breath and tried to open my eyes. The bleeping in the room quickened it's pace and the legs of a chair scraped noisily against the hard floor below it. Feet slapped the ground and a door was swung open, I could feel cool air from wherever it lead blow over my face and arms.

"She's awake." Darren's voice filled my ears and suddenly I could feel my own heart beating in my chest. Thump, thump, thump. My eyelids fluttered open and the light stung my eyes so much they watered. It was like I'd never seen the light before. "January!" 

His face in mine was one of the happiest things I could think of. Darren looked tired, that was for sure, dark bags lined his eyes and his lips were arched in that half-smile I thought I'd never see. "Am I dreaming?" I managed to get out, no more than a whisper. "Is that really you Darren?" 

I leaned forward to sit up but Darren reached out and pushed my shoulders down. "No." He said with a shake of his head. "You need to stay down." 

I wriggled in his grasp and nearly screamed as a wave of pain shot through my side and moved though the rest of my body. "Wha-?" I meant to reach down and feel my side, pull the thin, white sheet that covered me to see why exactly my side hurt so badly but Darren caught my wrist in a large hand and held it down on the mattress.

"No." He said, more firmly. "Do you remember what happened January?" 

I shook my head, slowly becoming more and more aware of the various tubes in and out of my body. The last thing I could remember was smelling cookies. I couldn't remember much after that though. Something about motorcycles and old buildings. All I could think about was sunlight streaming through the cracks in an old building. It made no sense to me whatsoever.

"You were in an accident of sorts." Darren searched for the right words, his dark eyes looking into mine. "An old friend of mine wanted to get revenge for being wronged when we were younger and his Mother ended up being much more angry about everything than he was. She-she stabbed you in the side with a knife." He looked so sad, the words barely managing to come from his mouth as his face twisted with pain and guilt. "I tried to save you, I tried to push her away before she stuck you with the knife but I was too late." 

I was a little shocked. "That happened to me?" 

Darren nodded. "When I pushed her away from you, she stumbled backwards into the old Barn they had on their property. The whole thing came down, it was like something out of a horror movie. One second she was standing there and the next... Well, when the dust cleared there was nothing but a caved in Barn." He shuddered. "I feel so awful but it's what I had to do to try to save you." 

Darren had never looked so upset. I reached over and placed a hand on his arm. "It's alright Darren, you did what you had to do." My throat was dry, I seemed to almost choke on the words before they made their way out of my mouth. "I'm thankful for everything you've done for me." The past few days were slowly coming back to me, I remembered her now. With the scent of her in my nose and the sharp pain of the knife in my side. His eyes met mine, bright with emotion.

"Thanks January." He smiled but it didn't seem to reach his eyes. "I really don't know what I would have done if you hadn't of woken up." 

"You would have continued on without me." I answered quickly, slowly shifting on the mattress to sit up. Darren rose to stop me.

"Here," he said, reaching over to press the the up arrow on a remote that sat on a nearby table. The top half of the bed began to slowly rise. "How's that?" He asked as I reached a comfortable incline. 

"Perfect, thanks." I couldn't believe he was still here after everything that had happened. I held a hand out and he took it in his large, warm hands. 

"I have something for you." He smiled, his hand in the pocket of his dark blue blazer, red rose stitched on the collar like every other shirt he wore. He pulled his hand out and a flash of red caught my eye, I gasped as he slipped the ring back onto my finger. 

"You got it back." I smiled. "Thank you." 

"I meant what I said." Darren spoke after a brief pause. His dark eyes were on mine, I felt as though he was looking right into me. 

"Said about what?" I asked, confused. 

His hands were still clutching mine, his face so serious. "Once you get better we are going to leave, we are going to go some place where nobody knows us. A place where I could wear a rose on my collar and no one would know who I am or where I'm from." 

I smiled. "You don't really mean that Darr-"

"I do." He said frustrated. "I almost lost you once January, I'm not going to lose you again. As soon as you are better, we are gone. You say the place, we will go there. I'm done with my family and my inheritance. All I want is you." 

I shook my head. "Don't do this Darren. I don't want you to regret anything because of me." 

"This was a long time coming, January. Now I just have something that drives me to do what I actually want. I want to do this to be with you. I want to Marry you, I want us to be together for as long as humanly possible. We were meant for each other." 

"What about the other Rose Boys?"

"What about them?" Darren shrugged. "I'll tell them where we're going, I'll keep them updated. They can visit if they want. All I need is you." 

"This sounds so crazy." My heart hammered in my chest like a giant taiko drum. "I can't believe you're serious." 

"Well, I am." He shrugged. "And I'm serious about us. Now what do you say, will you join me?"

I nodded. "Of course I will. I'll go wherever you want me to." 

Darren smiled. "I'm so glad to hear you say that January." 

"Me too." 

"Are you all packed and ready to go?" My Mom asked, bumping past piles of boxes stacked haphazardly in the cramped hallway. "I can't believe you're leaving us." 

I shook my head. "I'm ready to go, I can't believe Dad got promoted."

Mom beamed. "I know, he was pretty under qualified for his job already, that dummy's lucky they actually took the time to train him on what to do." 

Mom and Dad didn't know but I did. The Johnson Family wanted to get back on Darren's good side. They had a big talk about him taking over the family business since there was no one else to do so. Darren told his Mother and Father that the two of us were leaving the country, we were going to see the world without business, wealth or drama following us. It was going to be the two of us in the world, out to see everything.

He said that while we were out seeing the sights that were out there to offer, he would think about coming back and taking over his Parent's Legacy but only when he was ready and when the two of us were satisfied with what we've done. 

My Mom stepped forward and pulled me into yet another hug. "You're much too young to be leaving for another country with a rich boy." She said, observing me at an arm's length away. "You know I was kidding when I said to find a rich boy to get us out of the slump we were stuck in, right?" 

I smiled and shook my head. "You were not." 

She laughed. "You're right and you did your Mother proud." A honk from outside broke us apart. My Mom grinned and my brother Ben poked his head into my room. "Follow your heart baby," She grinned. "You can always find your way home."