Carved

CHAPTER 29

ELLA

Everything goes black. 

I was trying to roll over and crawl to Dylan after I was untied.  I don’t know how Ian was able to get away from Colton and Jake. The fire and smoke was starting to come towards us.  I grab the board and push it away with all of my strength, but still manage to get hit by it when my attacker loses balance and tries to pull me down with her as she falls from the loft.  I could feel the blood trickling down my face as I look down to see rods sticking out of her body from a stack of construction materials. My hands hold onto the ledge as my weakened body dangles over the same deadly materials.

I try pulling myself up, but grow dizzy and lose strength.  I'm barely holding on now. Louis rushes to me having difficulty getting footing over the pile of hay.  I knew I was going to go down. Louis grabs me and struggles getting footing on the slippery hay to pull me up.  The hay falls over my face as he tries keeping his hold.  

"I got you, Ella.  Don't look down." Louis says in a begging voice.

Finally, he gets me up and pulls me into a tight hug full of relief.  I pull away knowing we need to leave, but fear combats all of the relief we just felt.  Dylan is no longer on the loft with us. I crawl to the ledge calling Dylan’s name and see Dylan and Ian on the concrete ground.  Neither of them were moving. I pray there was enough hay to soften the blow when they hit the ground. I could hear some rustling from behind me, but my world was at a standstill waiting for Dylan to move.   My world began to spin. I don’t know what happened next. Everything went black. I don’t know if Dylan was okay. I didn’t know if we all made it out of the fire. We could still be in the barn. I just don’t know.

  I start to hear people yelling, but I can’t open my eyes.  They are arguing about being allowed to see me. I can hear Whisper crying and saying I’m like a sister to her.  She should be allowed in. Dex is arguing and saying I’m like a sister to them all. My dad is calm when he tells them I need my rest and they will need to come back.  I don’t know what happens after the darkness consumes me again.  

Again, I can hear voices, but this time they are more serene.  No, not serene, calm. I will never use that word again. I despise it.  I recognize Whisper’s and my mom’s voice again. They are talking about a funeral.  News got out and now Benji is saying he will make sure there are no DylDoes at the funeral.  The funeral? No, no, no. Not Dylan. It can’t be Dylan.

“How do you think we should tell her when she wakes up?  It will be difficult for her and she has been through so much already.”  The sadness drips from Brittany’s voice.

My body shuts down again before I hear any more details.  I still don’t know if Dylan, Colton, Louis or any of the others are okay.  Whose funeral were they talking about? Images of Dylan lying in the hay not moving assault me.  I want to scream and cry for him. Not my Dylan. Please not my Dylan. Be with me. Please, be with me.      

I blink from the bright light above me.  The pain is unbearable. It hurts to finally being able to wake up, but I need to open my eyes.  I need to know what happened. I keep blinking and trying to force my eyes open. When everything comes into focus I find myself in a hospital room.  Alone.  

A few minutes go by before the door opens.  A pretty nurse with her black hair pulled back into a low bun walks in.  I can hear yelling out in the hall.  

“Hi, Sweetie.  I’m glad you are finally awake.  You have a lot of people that love you very much.  To the extreme, I would say.” She looks out towards the door and a smile crosses my face before I remember everything that happened again.  

A doctor comes in to check my vitals and we go over everything that happened.  When he starts to tell me about the others the large group of my friends and family run through the door.  The nurse attempts to calm them down and threatens to throw them out if they keep it up. Another nurse comes in to assist.  She looks at me with an extremely saddened face before she leaves.