Burning Fury

XXXI

There was a moment of stunned silence as reality sunk in. Ryder let out a strangled breath and then Mr. Taylor shoved me to the floor and tried to run out of the room. I threw my hands to my throat, my blood immediately covering my hands. Mr. Taylor made it past the security guard, but my dad stood in his way. He got him in a hold, but he brought the knife down into my dad's thigh. Gem fell to my side, helping me try to staunch the blood flow. Gasping, ragged breaths tried to come out of me, but I couldn't quite get a big enough lungful. My mouth still hung open as I tried to breathe, seeing the blood move across the floor towards my friends. As if that sight unstuck them from their spots, they ran forward. Emily was on the phone with 911 while the rest of them gathered around me to try slow the blood.

Tears streamed down Ryder's face as he kept murmuring that everything would be okay. An ambulance was on the way and the security guard was going after Mr. Taylor. I could see my dad sitting on the floor in the hallway, my brother by his side. The knife was still in his thigh and I wanted to tell him not to remove it, but I couldn't speak. A crowd had gathered in the hallway, looking at my dad and trying to peek in the room, but my friends blocked the door as Gem and Ryder helped me. When the paramedics came, they yelled all the way down the hallway, trying to wade through the crowd, pulling a stretcher behind them.

Gem kept her hands on my wound as the paramedics lifted me onto the stretcher. In the style of Indiana Jones, Gem pulled her hands away and a paramedic replaced them. She sat on top of me as the two others rolled me down the hallway. Another stretcher had my dad on it and we were wheeled outside into two separate ambulances. Kai went with dad while Ryder went with me. I think I died once, because I came to without realizing I'd been out with the female paramedic on top of me, sweating and full of my blood.

The next thing I remembered was the bright, fluorescent lights of the hospital hallways rushing past overhead. I was quickly transferred to a cold table, and promptly blacked out.

---------------------------

I woke four days later. Bright sunshine streamed into the room, turning the stark white walls even whiter. I shakily put my hand up to my throat to feel stitches. I wish this had all been a dream, but the stitches were a gruesome reminder of all that had happened. Feeling along the bed, I found the call button and pressed it, waiting for the doctor. When she walked in the room, she smiled at me.

"Good morning, sunshine. How are you feeling."

I went to talk, but found I couldn't.

"It's okay, you'll be able to talk soon, just take it easy for now. I'll go get your dad."

My dad came into the room and smiled at me. He walked with crutches. My heart ached.

"Hey, doll."

He sat down in the chair next to my bed and grabbed some paper and a pen from the counter behind him to put in front of me.

"You won't be able to talk for a while, so we'll always have a notepad and pencil on hand."

My lips lifted in one corner in a sad smile.

"Do you feel okay?"

How am I supposed to feel? I wrote.

"It's okay to not be okay, doll."

Are you okay? I turned the notepad towards him and he smiled a real smile.

"I'm better than okay. You're safe, not exactly in one piece, but the doctors are confident you'll make a full recovery."

How's your leg?

"Minimal damage, just very sore."

What about Mr. Taylor? What happened to him?

He sighed and couldn't meet my eye. "They, uh...they got him. In the parking lot of the dorm hall."

What aren't you telling me? I turned the notepad towards him and tapped the words twice with the pen.

"He had a gun on him, Clover. When they cornered him in the lot, he pulled it out and shot a few security guards. When the police got there, it was a bloodbath. He killed three cops and injured six others. In the end, they had to kill him to get him to stop. He died before another ambulance got there."

I dropped the notepad in shock. As if on reflex, I shot down to pick it up but my dad was already there, putting it back in my hands.

This is my fault, I wrote.

"None of this is your fault, Clover. You need to understand that."

Three cops are dead because of me and countless more are injured. It was a mistake coming back to school, I furiously wrote.

"Clover Bree, stop. Right now. If any of this were remotely your fault, you'd be in a jail cell to prove it. You are a victim and nothing anyone says will make that less true. Do you understand?"

I nodded weakly. Where's Ryder?

"He's in the waiting room. The doctors think it would be best to only allow one visitor at a time. Do you want me to get him for you?"

I nodded and waited in silence for Ryder. He came into the room and sat in the chair my dad had just left.

"Hey, love."

I smiled.

"How are you feeling?"

I shrugged.

"The doctors say you'll be able to go home in a few days. Everyone's in the waiting room, even Gem."

How did you guys know to rescue us? I wrote.

Ryder laughed. "You called Niko Niklaus. You know he hates his full name. No one has called him that since elementary."

I was hoping that would work.

"It was terrifying seeing you like that, Clove."

I know. I'm really sorry, Ry.

"I'm just so happy you're okay."

Even though I can't talk?

"I'm definitely going to miss hearing your voice."

Good thing I'm not in love with the sound of my own voice.

Ryder snorted and lost it. The sound of his laughter made me realize everything was going to be okay.