to giggle at how frightening we all looked.
Once in the curtained room, Audrey came in and hooked me up to the monitors and put a plastic oxygen tube in my nose. She relaxed a little as she asked me questions and found my vitals were steady. Andrew and Ray listened and added to my story as I told her what happened. Audrey gasped and looked back and forth at the two of them as I told her how they saved me. My own personal heroes. Audrey looked like she was debating strangling them both for risking their lives or hugging them for saving me.
The woman in blue scrubs returned with a plain white t-shirt for Andrew. Then, she shooed the males out of the room to let me change into a hospital gown. I felt better after laying down and not breathing toxic smoke, but still beaten and tired.
She was gentle, but I still held my breath as she maneuvered my torn shorts over my ankle. It was so swollen and painful that I yelped despite her best efforts. I made her check the pocket for my mother's picture. She handed it to me and I held onto it like it was a winning lottery ticket.
As soon as I was decent, Andrew was back holding my hand and distracting me from the pain. The blue-scrub lady brought me a warm washcloth and I wiped the grime off my face. It felt luxurious.
Audrey came in and started an IV, pumping drugs and liquids into my system. She specifically refused to look at Ray, focusing only on me. The drugs hit my system and I felt loopy; the pain was still there, but I no longer cared. Pain didn't matter anymore.
"Holly, we are going to take you down for an X-ray to look at your ankle in a few minutes. You doing okay for now?" Audrey said as she hung a bag of fluids above my head.
"I'm better now. Audrey?" I felt the medicine making me bold. I couldn't stop the words from pouring out of my mouth, "Why are you fighting with Ray?"
The room went quiet except for the constant beeping of the machine recording my vitals. It reminded me of crickets chirping after a joke. Everyone was staring at me.
"Holly, that's not really important right now. You just rest," Audrey finally said, patting my good leg gently.
"No. It is important. You two were happy and no one can give me a straight answer why you aren't together and happy." The words just poured out of me. Andrew squeezed my hand, and looked expectantly up at his mom.
"She's right mom. Doped-up Holly has a point. Neither one of you has given me a reason that actually makes sense. You say it's his fault, he says it's yours. So I want to know why you aren't together," Andrew said firmly.
Ray dropped his eyes to the floor. Audrey played with her pen, biting her lip.
"Andrew, this is between Ray and I. This is not the time or the place to discuss our relationship," she said firmly, her voice taking a chastising tone.
"No, this is exactly the time," I interjected stubbornly. "I saw fire today. Once you light a fire it has to burn and it doesn't care if this is the time or place. Fire either burns brightly or it fizzles into nothingness and smoke. Without the fire, there is no light. So, are you two burning or fizzling?" I demanded. I wanted an answer. Andrew looked at me and I shrugged. I might be confused from the drugs, but it had sounded poetic in my head.
"I'll be here, marking time for as long as you need me to," Ray said softly into the quiet room. Audrey's hand suddenly went to her throat as her eyes filled with tears.
"Ray," Audrey whispered dropping to her knees in front of him. He looked up at her, his smile shy and timid. He looked so much like Tyler that I wondered if their shyness was genetic. There was a sweetness in his eyes that I couldn't look away from. Audrey looked at him for a long time, her eyes searching his face. She started to smile, her eyes going bright like she had just discovered the answer to a difficult puzzle. "I should have said yes a long time ago."
She leaned forward and kissed him lightly. Ray's face lit up like the Fourth of July before he caught himself and looked at her seriously. "Really?"
"Yes, really,"