A Thief in the Night

Chapter 4

I can see the orange flames blaring from the corner of my eyes, and I start to panic, as the smoke started to invade my lungs.

I turned to my side and shook Oliver awake, coughing a few times, and when he woke up, he quickly jerked up, eyes wide.

"We need, to... get out of.. here" I say, my voice raspy from all the smoke.

My eyes begin to water from the heat, and I try ignoring the pain as I help Oliver stand up.

Once he is standing, I look around to see that half of the house has already been devoured by the scorching flames, I feel my heart hammering in my chest as I stare down the flames.

I vaguely hear something banging on one of the boarded windows from the opposite end the fire is, and I quickly move Oliver and I to that window.

"Help!" I yell as I realize that someone is outside the window.

More grunting and the sound of wood breaking came from the window, but it wasn't breaking fast enough. The flames are getting closer and closer to where we are standing, and the heat is unbearable.

I jerk my head away from the fire as I see someone's elbow break through the wood on the windows, and I quickly help to try and pull of the wood.

Some more wood was breaking, and soon enough I could see outside.

A crowd has formed from outside the window, a distance back careful not to get too close to the burning building, and two other guys are breaking the boarded windows.

Once the opening was big enough for us to climb through I grabbed Oliver and shoved him out the window.

A pair of hands grabbed onto Oliver and pulled him out of the house and into safety.

"Come on hurry!" a voice yells and I look up to see that it was Darry.

I quickly start to climb through the window, but something landed on my foot.

It burned and stung and ached all at the same time. I let out a painful scream as I feel more heat creep up on my now exposed skin.

"Grab her!" Darry yells as he grabs my one arm and starts to pull, as the other guy in a leather jacket grabs the other one.

With three hard pulls I was sliding out of the window just as the building was falling down, collapsing into a burning hell.

But it wasn't over.

I wasn't out yet.

I feel the blistering heat all around me as I open my eyes to see that the building has fallen on to of me. Lucky enough I was just caved in, so nothing was actually on top of me, but that didn't stop the flames or the pain.

I felt my arms being pulled again, and slowly sliding out before I passed out.

***

The sound of annoying beeps woke me up from my slumber.

I opened my eyes and looked up at the ceiling, which wasn't the old rotting ones, but instead a white one.

I jerk up remembering the accident to see my legs covered by a blanket, and a figure sitting in a chair beside me.

The sudden jerk made me wince in pain as the discomfort set in from my wounds, and I looked to my side where there was a little weight stopping me from going all the way up, and saw Oliver.

He was clinging onto me like a needy koala, softly breathing as if he were asleep.

I know where I am now. 

The beeping. 

The IV's.

The smell.

I'm in a hospital.

My heart started to beat faster as the figure stood up, but suddenly relaxed when I saw Darry.

This sudden feeling of comfort rushed throughout my aching body as I stared down Darry's figure.

He looked the same as all those times I quite literally ran into him, but now instead of getting scared or bothered by his face, he's making me feel safe.

He wasn't sweating like he was on the afternoon I stole lunch bags, and his face was clear and smooth.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Darry asks in a soft voice, "honestly, I thought it would be worse" I say, my voice hoarse.

"How long have I been out for?" I ask thinking to hear an answer of three hours at most.

"Two days" he says, putting his hands in his jean pockets.

My eyes bulge, "two daYS!" I yell, my voice cracking, and I quickly swing an arm to my throat from the slight pain.

"Yeah, you passed out, and hit your head on something" he says.

That's when I felt the pain in the back of my head, I must've hit it when I passed out.

"I couldn't have been in here for two days, Oliver couldn't have stayed here for two days" I say distressed at the thought of Oliver staying in the hospital over nights.

"We looked after him" he said, unweary of how I would react.

I wasn't mad at him. 

I was happy that Oliver didn't have to stay in a hospital over night, and was grateful that someone was looking after him, keeping him fed, and keeping him company.

So I couldn't shoot a smart ass comment because I didn't want to.

"Thank you" I say meaningfully as I look him in the eye.

The corner of his lips started to curve upwards and I gave him a confused look, "you've never thanked me before" he says. The words made me feel guilty over the past times he has helped me, and I felt bad for never thanking him before now.

"But you're welcome" he adds.

I was about to say something before I burst into a coughing fit, covering my mouth, I continue to painfully cough.

I saw Darry from the corner of my eye looking worried and panicked, and he quickly rushed to my side, grabbing a glass of water off of the stand, and handing it to me.

I take the water and start to drink the cool liquid, and feel the pain ease away.

I drink all of it before handing the empty glass back to Darry.

"You okay?" he asks concerned.

I nod my head "yeah" I answer as I look back down at Oliver, who is still sleeping peacefully.

"When you said we looked after Oliver, who did you mean by we?" I ask, "my two brothers and me" he said.

Right the two who were standing a distance behind Darry when I attempted to steal from them.

"You know. You two are welcome to stay with us for as long as you need" he says kindly.

"I couldn't possibly do that" I say, "it's no big deal, I'd rather know that you two have a place to stay, then to have the extra room. It's no big deal" he says looking me in the eye.

I look back at Oliver, and watch as his chest slowly moved up and down.

I wouldn't be doing this as much for me, but Oliver needs a place to stay for a while.

So that was the only reason why I looked back up at Darry, and replied, "okay".