"I hate this," Ryan murmured.
"I know, but Beth is my life, Ry. I can't have Courtney ruining my relationship with the woman I want to marry and have children with," Sean explained.
"Reasonably, I know, it's just … can't you give her a chance to apologize," Ryan pleaded.
"She tried to, but it always turns back into her and how she felt and how it affected her. Do you think she could ever sincerely apologize?" he scoffed.
His brother shrugged. "I would hope."
"Yeah, well, we'll keep hoping, but I'm not in a forgiving or forgetting mood right now," Sean said.
"But if you get married, you'll have to invite her to the wedding," Ryan warned.
"No necessarily, Ry." Sean ended the conversation by stalking out the kitchen. He didn't want to talk about his cousin any longer.
It was difficult for Sean to fall asleep that night. To say he was ecstatic was an understatement. Life had taken a direct turn into settling down and giving him a goal and perspective since meeting Beth. His mind raced with future images. Beth in a wedding dress. Beth pregnant. Beth holding their newborn. Beth standing beside him as they opened their office. Everything surrounded Beth. Beth, Beth, Beth. What a sap he'd turned into. If he confessed this to Ryan, his brother would ride him ruthlessly.
Finally, around midnight, Sean dozed off with visions of Beth dancing in his head.
"Sean!" Ryan screamed.
He bolted upright. "What the fuck, Ryan!"
"It's Beth, she's in the hospital," his brother rushed out while jumping into a pair of pants.
"What?" he breathed, unsure he heard him correctly.
"There was a fire at her house, Sean," Ryan said gravely.
"Is she … " he couldn't finish, choking on the words.
"Don't know how she is. Her mom just called bawlin'. Get up. We need to get there." Ryan rushed down the hall barking at the girl from last night to get out.
Fumbling out of bed, Sean grabbed his pair of jeans off the floor, pulled on a tee shirt, and jumped into his shoes. Running on autopilot, he dashed out the room, down the stairs, and grabbed his car keys off the hook. A large hand snagged them out of his grip.
"I'll drive," Ryan demanded, bolting around him then out the door to the car.
Sean raced after him to the passenger's seat. "Hurry."
"I'll get us there in once piece, Sean," his brother said.
They squealed tire out of their driveway towards the city. The entire ride Sean prayed his girl was tough enough to survive a fire.
For hours Sean paced the burn unit's waiting room. He called every doctor he knew working at Mercy Hospital to try and get him information, but it was three-thirty in the morning and no one answered their phones. Jill and Michael Connors were distraught. The look of pure terror on Beth's father's features mirrored his own.
Beth's home was destroyed. Engulfed by flames. The firemen believed it was electrical, but the fire marshal would be on the scene in the morning to determine the cause. His brave girl had been in the middle of the fire, apparently fighting to get out of the house. Neighbors had been woken in the night by the sounds of crackling flames and breaking glass. When they'd investigated, they found her home consumed by flames. Horrified, a few had watched Beth unsuccessfully try to break out of her bedroom window. Three men in their early twenties rushed into action and climbed her porch then broke through the glass. Two of them pulled her lifeless body out of the bedroom and onto the small roof. That's when other men from surrounding homes joined in to get her to safety. Each of the three guys received gashes and burns to their extremities, but nothing that would be permanent. As they'd pulled her to safety, an ambulance and fire departments interceded and immediately worked on an unconscious Beth. That was the extent of info they'd received. None of it good.
Ryan had bought everyone coffee, but all the cups remained full, sitting off to the side.
Stopping at the window, Sean stared off at the dark sky, the lights from the city illuminating the skyline. His fear of losing Beth crept up his spine, into his heart, and took over his head. What the hell would he do if she didn't survive? How could his heart be so full of love and hope when he'd gone to sleep, only to wake up with the possibility that it might be gone that quickly forever?
A small figure appeared next to him, startling him out of his dire thoughts. Courtney placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"Can I get you anything?" she quietly asked.
"I can't deal with you right now," he snarled.
"I know. But do you need anything?" she asked.
"I need Beth to be all right? Can you do that for me? If you're able to perform that miracle then maybe I can find myself able to tolerate you," he snapped. Hurt flashed through her eyes, and a piece of him felt satisfied that he was able to draw that reaction from her. He knew he was lashing out but didn't care. Someone or something needed to experience the pain and helplessness he had running through his veins. "Why are you here?"
"Ryan called," she quietly answered.
Glancing behind him, his brother sat in a waiting room chair across the room, eyeing their interaction. His brother looked no better than he did.
Scanning the area, no one from Courtney husband's entourage hovered over her.
"Where's your harem?" he said snidely.
"Derrick doesn't know I left," she answered, her gaze swinging to the floor.
He snorted. "I'm sure that will go over well. There better not be a scene here, Courtney, or I'll have your ass."
Opening her mouth to reply, whatever it was she was about to say, she changed her mind and closed her jaw. "I'll sit over there if you need me." She motioned to a corner chair.
"Whatever." He turned back to his future in-laws, who had curious looks on their faces. They knew about the fight at the family dinner, but they didn't know who exactly his cousin was.
He watched Courtney slink over to a seat next to Ryan, who grabbed her hand and squeezed. Even after three in the morning, she resembled a blonde goddess taking her throne. Sighing, he let his body slump into a chair and his head fall back against the wall. Closing his eyes, he tried to let loose of the anger spewed towards his cousin. Right now he wasn't in a good place, and having her there made her a direct target.
Visions of his last minutes with Beth assaulted his memory. Her lying naked on top of him. He'd made sure his bare skin was the one that received the rug burn. That ebony hair of hers spread out across his chest, the feel of it like feathers against his hot skin. Those little sounds of contentment that left her lips she probably had no idea she made, but he revered. A gurgling noise escaped his throat. What if he lost her?
The door opened and a doctor came out into the waiting room. "The family of Elizabeth Connors?"
Mike jumped up. "We're her parents."
"I'm her fiancé," Sean interjected.
"Why don't you have a seat?" The doctor said and motioned to the corner. He eyed Ryan and Courtney.
"They're family as well," Sean assured him.
"Dr. Millen?" the man asked.
"Yes," he answered, trying to remember if he knew the man.
"Dr. Randall." He held out his hand.
"How's Beth?" Sean took the proffered hand.
Taking a deep breath, the doctor pulled up a chair and sat down across from them. "She's on a ventilator. We had to intubate her." Sean noticed the man spoke more directly to him. "Her oxygen levels were gravely low. The blood gas confirmed the carbon dioxide in her hemoglobin was dangerously elevated. She received oxygen in the field immediately from the paramedics, which hopefully helped, but we need her oxygen levels to start rising."
"Will she be all right?" Mike choked.
"We're not sure. We have to keep a close eye on those oxygen levels with the blood gas testing," the doctor answered.
"What about brain damage?" Sean whispered.
Jill gasped.
"Dr. Millen, first things first, we're trying to save her life. We don't know how long she was unconscious, but what we do know is that her blood levels showed that the paramedics got the oxygen into her system. That's a good thing. But we don't know the extent of damage to her lungs or brain yet," he answered sympathetically.
Sean felt himself go numb. This could not be happening. Vaguely he was aware of someone sobbing behind him, of Mrs. Connors collapsing into her husband's body, of Mr. Connors' tears falling down his stress-lined features. But nothing registered except for the fact that there was so much wrong and only a glimmer of hope that something was right.
19
Endless days and nights seemed to blend together while Beth lay unconscious in the burn unit. While her lifeless body worked on healing itself, she'd developed a slight fever and had to be placed on IV antibiotics. Sean explained to her parents that wasn't uncommon. Her body was fighting the overabundance of carbon dioxide in her lungs.