Page 15 of AJ’s Fire

I’d thought it was a mirage at first because he wasn’t supposed to be there, but as I cleared the flames, the first person I saw was the only person I wanted to see. Jackson was there, crumpled on the ground, screaming and crying and forcibly being held back. I had no idea what he was doing there on his day off. I was just so grateful he was. I collapsed in his arms and buried my head in his shoulder. He told me he loved me, and when everything had calmed down and it was just him and me in a hospital room, I told my best friend I loved him right back.

For some reason those memories were tied into the wispy dreams I’d been having while my brother drove us to Hampstead Valley for the holiday.

I exited the car, and Vera barely stirred as I unbuckled her, lifted her out, and carried her to the front door. "Time for bed, princess; you know your grandparents are going to have us up early so we can have breakfast before the parade,” I whispered.

My stepmom, Nat, was awake, beaming and alert at an ungodly hour, waiting for her granddaughter to arrive. She stretched up to kiss my cheek, pulling back to shower her granddaughter with heart eyes before ushering us inside.

“The pullout couch is open in the den. Put her down in there.”

“The den?” I croaked.

Nat nodded. “Yeah, Josh’s friend is here, so I gave them the gym.”

The gym was really a guest room, but at some point it had housed a treadmill and an exercise bike, and as a result, our family will forever call it the gym.

Nat followed, and as I set Vera down, she fussed over her, removing her shoes and tucking her under the blankets. The front door opened and closed, and it sounded like Jamie headed upstairs. Maybe he planned to take a shower after the long drive. I can’t say I blamed him.

Nat and I quietly exited the room and headed for the nearby kitchen. My throat was dry and harsh from the events earlier in the day, and I needed a glass of water. My half-brother Josh was sitting at the island scrolling on his phone.

“’Sup, superhero.” He barely glanced up.

“Hiya, Josh,” I responded in my scruffy voice.

“Shit. It sounds like you sucked ten dicks.”

“Joshua!” Nat chastised, but she was laughing as she said it.

Josh ignored our shocked expressions in favor of whatever was happening on his phone. Knowing my little brother, he was probably checking out his options on some hookup app. It was something he and I had in common. Watching him, I only then realized that I hadn’t really paid any attention to my favorite hookup apps in quite some time. My stomach tightened as it had been doing for months, except Jackson and his smile were nowhere around.

It was late, and I was exhausted after an eventful day and a long drive. I ignored everything else in favor of focusing on my health. I headed for the refrigerator, giving Josh a little love tap across the back of his head as I walked past and said, “Ten dicks,” while shaking my head at him. He swatted my arm away, still without looking up.

Nat shook her head lovingly at us and may have muttered “boys” before asking, “Bad one, today, huh?” The intensity in my stepmother’s eyes was almost as bad as the blaze she was asking about.

I crooked a smile. There were very few secrets in the Marchetti-Gordon household. It was practically impossible to keep one from my stepmother. “You heard?” I turned around as she responded, grabbing a glass from the cabinet and filling it from the dispenser on the refrigerator.

“Jamie let us know why you’d be late. You went to the hospital?”

I turned to her and took a sip before I answered. My throat was still raw and painful despite the drink. I was not looking forward to being in pain as I ate Nat’s Thanksgiving dinner the next day.

“SOP, Nat. I’m fine. I promise.”

“Okay, because on that show …”

I laughed, shook my head, and interrupted her. “Please do not mention the widow-maker's heart attack to me ever again. I am fine; I was properly suited up. Which includes oxygen. I was checked out at the hospital, and there is nothing to worry about.”

“Okay, okay,” she whispered. “Where’s Jamie?”

“I heard him head upstairs when we were getting Vee situated. I’m guessing he’s in the shower?”

Josh looked up then. “You did tell him we changed the sleeping arrangements, right, Ma?”

“Shit! Did I? Yeah, no. I may not have.”

Josh shrugged. “Dev’s probably still up reading or doing homework or whatever he does on that tablet of his, twenty-four hours a day.”

“Still …” Mom said as she rushed from the room. Josh and I looked at each other and followed her up the stairs.

One of the nightstand lamps was on when we entered the gym to find my brother staring down at a rumpled, sleepy-looking guy I vaguely recognized as Josh’s friend Devon. Devon was sitting up in the bed, with blankets tucked all the way under his chin as if he were embarrassed, which made sense since his slumber had been interrupted by a room full of Marchetti-Gordon family members.