Fire Always Burns - By Krista Lakes Page 0,60

Audrey nodded and giggled, grabbing his hands. Ray's smile was the happiest I had ever seen. He kissed Audrey with so much excitement and emotion it was hard to look at them without being blinded by the light of their joy. I looked over at Andrew confused. He smiled and whispered into my ear.

"When Ray asked Audrey the first time to marry him during the band practice, she said no. That's when he said, 'Then I'll be here, marking time for as long as you need me to.'"

"You mean they're getting married? That's why they were fighting?" I blurted out. Audrey and Ray looked at one another and started laughing, tears rolling down their faces. I looked perplexed at the two of them, waiting for an answer.

"Yes, Holly, we're finally getting married," Audrey finally managed to get out. She kissed Ray's cheek and stood up smiling. "But, you young lady, are going for an X-ray."

"Can I go with her?" Andrew asked, his soot smudged face smiling. Audrey nodded and moved the curtain aside, stepping out to let the blue-scrub lady in. Ray's eyes followed her like she was the light of his world, a smile permanently carved into his face.

We left the two of them in my curtained room, holding hands and giggling. Andrew held my hand as the gurney glided silently down the hall.

"I don't get it. Why were they fighting?" I asked, my mind still jumbled by pain and medication.

"Ray asked Mom to marry him. She kind of freaked out. I asked her about it on the ride home from the amusement park. She felt like she was in high school again and like everything was going too fast and she was missing out on things. I think she just realized that by saying no, she was missing out on an even better thing," Andrew explained patiently.

"Oh. Well that makes sense," I said matter-of-factually. Andrew laughed.

"We should put you on this medicine more often," he chuckled.

"Why? You want your mom and Ray to get married more often?" I countered. The woman in the blue scrubs snorted and she and Andrew laughed. We had arrived at the X-ray room, so she helped me sit up and slide onto the table in the center of the room.

I lay very still, listening to the X-ray machine hum and chirp. I could see Andrew behind a plexiglass window, smiling at me. I closed my eyes and let happiness flow through me. I may be broken, but I was going to get fixed.

Chapter 17

A cheer went up. The fire was retreating, forced to consume itself instead of the landscape. Tears of joy mixed with the ash still raining from the sky. The fire wasn't defeated, but hope glowed in the eyes of the people. A renewed energy, a promise of success gave energy where there was none before, powered the hoses and shovels. They would be victorious.

"Thanks Aunt Heather, we'll be there soon," Andrew said into his phone. He turned and smiled at me, pushing the wheelchair towards the exit. "Aunt Heather is all ready for us to come stay with her. She has a bed made up for you on the ground floor so you don't have to go up the stairs."

I smiled as he pushed through the doors and out towards the car. Andrew helped me hop into the passenger seat, gently guiding my ankle into the car. The doctor had put a cast on my ankle and I had to check with an orthopedic specialist in a week, but I was able to go home with pain medication. Since I no longer had a house to go home to, Andrew's "aunt" had volunteered to take us in. She had been watching the fire on the news and had called with an offer of a place to stay the minute she saw the evacuations.

"Mom says she is going to stay up here. The clinic is short staffed and she wants to stay and help, so it will just be the two of us at Aunt Heather's," Andrew said conversationally as he pulled out towards the highway.

"Sounds good. I'm excited to meet this Aunt Heather. I bet she has lots of great stories about your mom," I said, relaxing into the seat. I had just taken more pain medication, but it hadn't kicked in yet. My ankle was beginning to ache, so I shifted in my seat trying to get comfortable. "Have you heard anything more from my Dad? I remember talking