Page 6 of Thorns and Ashes
“TellBillyI said hi,” I tease as she gets into her car and stifles a laugh. Billy is part of the crew she hangs out with. He’s a volunteer firefighter and works at all the DuPonce establishments. He’s been visiting the cafe more frequently and seems to have a thing for her. From what I can tell, she keeps giving him the runaround, but he’s a persistent one.
The trek to my place is slightly uphill. On its own, it’s not a problem, but after long days, my feet already hurt, my body is sore,and all I can think about is getting back to the duplex. It didn’t matter when I still had my car, but even that became a casualty of the destruction my father left behind. I parked it on the street one day during my shift, right in front of the big window, and watched helplessly as a tow truck hauled it away. Every walk up this hill since then has hardened my resentment toward my father, but has also given me glutes to die for. Yay for silver linings...
Finally, taking a deep breath as I make it up my front porch, I step into my half of the duplex, making a mental note that my door still needs fixing. I set my jacket on my crooked coat hanger and laugh as it slowly topples over.
“Whatever.”
Leaving it there, I take in the mismatched furniture that was in place when I got here and all that I’ve collected from everyfreesale or throwaway I could find. It’s not much, but at least it’s mine, and no one can take it from me.
I was left with nothing but my bag full of clothes, standing on the sidewalk as they seized the mansion, the boat, the jet, and basically every other comfort I’ve ever had. All our houses, my apartment in the city, all of it gone, leaving me here.
Callie’s family is close to finishing the renovations on the other side of my duplex, so I’ll probably have a neighbor soon. I’m not sure if that fact excites or worries me. You never know who you’re going to get, and the last thing I want is to have to share a wall with someone annoying or weird. It would be the cherry on top of this nightmare. But who knows? Maybe karma is done screwing with me, and I’ll end up with someone whom I can actually become friends with. You know, someone who doesn’t make a habit of sleeping with my boyfriends or care how much money I have.
One can dream, right?
Too drained to give it another thought, I drag myself into the shower like I do every day after work. Maybe if I crank thewater hot enough, it’ll melt the ice lodged in my chest and wash off the everlasting aroma of coffee that’s basically become my new perfume. I close my eyes and stand there, letting the heat pour over me until the water loses its bite.
When I finally step out, I inhale deeply before wiping a hand across the fogged mirror. The woman staring back at me looks nothing like the version of myself I thought I knew. She’s a stranger wearing my face. And even with steam curling around the room, that cold I can never seem to shake is still there, settled deep, like it’s part of me now. Maybe it always has been.
Chapter Two
Levi
February
“Levi, Levi!” I hear what sounds like my best friend Tom saying, but that’s not possible. Tom lives in Upstate New York. He lives in New York, and we’re in... Wait, we’re not in Oregon... No, Krystal and I are in California... We’re fighting the wildfires and...
I open my eyes, confused, trying to clear the fog in my head as I thrash around in a hospital bed. The pain is overwhelming, and panic shoots through me as I try to remember what happened and why I’m here.
“Calm down!” he says, but nurses are already flooding the room, grabbing at my arms as if they’re strong enough to stop me.
They do their best to calm me down, but that’s not happening. I’m connected to a mess of IVs, and there are bandages wrapped up and down the left side of my body.
What the fu—
Suddenly, it all comes flooding back. The fire, the tree, the wall falling, Krystal... I search the room, but when I don’t see her, my eyes lock onto Tom’s.
“Where is she?” I’m pleading for an answer, but he doesn’t give me one. He looks at me, lost for words, frozen when he should be on the other side of the damn country. For that reason, his being here doesn’t bring me any comfort. Instead, it’s shooting off every warning bell in my mind, warning me that something is wrong.
“Mr. King, I’m Dr. Saez. You were in an accident. There was a structural collapse where you and your crew were putting outthe fires,” the doctor says, but I don’t bother acknowledging him. I know what the hell happened. I was there.
“Tom, tell me where she is,” I rasp, fighting past the dryness of disuse and sudden fear that’s coursing through me. The pain doesn’t matter right now. Nothing matters more than this answer. I don’t want to hear another word from anyone but Tom. I need to hear she’s okay. That she’s in another room, bandaged up like me, but healing.
“She saved you, Levi,” he whispers, barely audible, voice cracking around the words.
“No,” I shout, shaking my head violently, refusing to believe what I know he isn’t saying. “Tell me she’s okay, Tom! Tell me!”
I yank the IVs from my arms and whatever other wires I’m attached to off of me until the room sounds like a cacophony of alarms going off.
Fuck it. If he won’t answer me, I’ll find her myself.
“Krystal!?” I yell over and over. I am trying to get out of bed, ignoring the pain, but it’s threatening to knock me back out and blurring my vision.
The nurses scramble. The doctor calls for haloperidol, a sedative.
Shit. No. I manage to throw a leg over the side of the bed, but when I push off, pain sears up my arm, over my shoulder, and across my chest. I fall back onto the bed, writhing but still determined, not ready to accept what I already know in my heart is true.
“Krystal!” I yell louder like a man desperate to hang on to the only happiness he’s ever known as a nurse injects me with a needle quickly. The sedative kicks in fast, and I’m too injured to fight it. Against my will, I calm down, my mind growing foggy again. Before the sedative pulls me under, I look at Tom one more time.
