One Step Forward

Chapter 25. PTSD

Mya's POV

Smoke started filling the bathroom. I looked around for a cloth of any kind, but found nothing. I took my shirt off and put it over Lilly's mouth. "Try not to take too many breaths. A neighbor will see the fire, and the fire department will come," I said.

Lilly looked at me with a panicked expression, and I could tell she didn't believe me. The floor felt hot beneath our bare feet. He was so insane that because he couldn't have us, he was going to kill us. He was going to burn this house down with us inside, and he knew there was no way out.

We stayed in a corner of the bathroom as far from the door as we could. Smoke filled my lungs. Both of us coughed, but my shirt was helping Lilly a little bit. Lilly curled herself into my lap, and I held onto her tight. 

At this point, I knew we were going to die, so I thought about happy things. I thought about Linc, Darren, Dom, and Lindsey. I thought about my parents, and of course, Lilly. I got to experience love, marriage, and true happiness. I grew as a person and learned to accept what I couldn't change. One of the things I learned is that true love can withstand the test of time and distance. For a long time, I regretted spending all that time away from Lincoln, but then it hit me—we needed that time apart and that experience to come back together stronger, and we did. 

The regret of my choices faded. My choices brought me back to Linc, and Lilly got a chance to see what a real father is. I didn't want to die, but at least I died at peace with my choices in life. I didn't regret meeting Damen, because it brought me back to my beautiful daughter. Damen wasn't going to force me to sleep with him even if it killed me, and some strange part of me was proud of my strength in that.

As my lungs burned with smoke, my vision started to become hazy. I did everything I could to hold on for as long as possible. The last thing I heard was Lilly saying my name, but then everything went black. 

Death was strange. It felt like nothingness for a long time, like a long sleep, but with pain. There were moments when I felt pressure on my chest. Light would flash and be gone again. There were muffled sounds, and then nothing again.

***

Beep. Beep. My eyes fluttered, and then I coughed. My chest burned, and my eyelids felt like they weighed a hundred pounds each, but I managed to finally lift them. Wherever I was, it was dark. A machine sat behind me, beeping noisily. My arms were bandaged, and wires were sticking in different directions.  

In the dark, I saw a figure sitting in the chair beside my bed, and I realized quickly it was Linc. 

"Linc," I tried to say, but my voice was so hoarse, it came out like a whisper. I saw a small empty cup on a little table beside the bed. I grabbed it and chucked it at his head. 

He straightened up and glanced around, and then he saw me. "Baby," he murmured. "Thank God you're awake." He stood up so fast that he almost lost his balance. 

"Where is Lilly?" I asked before he could kiss me. "There was a fire. What about the baby? Am I still pregnant?"

"As far as the pregnancy goes, they said everything looks normal, but they can't guarantee there won't be problems. You're so early on yet. The baby had a good heartbeat when they did the ultrasound. You're just a little over seven weeks. Lilly is okay. You got the worst of it. I was the first one there, so I took her out first. When I came back for you, things were getting worse inside and falling apart. I almost didn't get you out. I almost couldn't get out. I—" he stopped and shook his head as if admitting to a great shame. "I'm so sorry. If I could've carried both of you, I would have. It was almost too late for both of you. That place was barely still standing by the time I got there."