CHAPTER 11
Heat surrounded Kian, forcing him awake. He had no idea when he’d fallen asleep, but for one brief heart stopping moment, he thought Alec was there but all he had to do was open his eyes to realize two things. One, Alec wasn’t there. Two, the blinding light above him had him wishing he’d never tried to open his eyes to begin with.
It didn’t help that the light glared against the white porcelain in front of him. Squinting, he tried to figure out where he was. It took Kian several seconds to understand he was staring at a toilet. What he didn’t understand was why?
He tried to lift his head but the move caused the dull throbbing in his head to morph into a hammering that had Kian moaning. Groaning, he raised his hands to his temples to keep his head still as he willed the throbbing to stop.
Loud crackling noises filtered into the room but he couldn’t make out what was causing them. His head was pounding too much. Was that sirens he was hearing?
He groaned again. Great. The first time he got drunk, someone called the cops. Sure, Kian was over 21, but he also couldn’t afford to be caught at some huge drinking party. He might lose his academic scholarship.
The need to get out of there before he ended up in jail had him reaching up to the counter so he could pull himself upright. His arms and legs shook from the effort when he finally succeeded in getting to his feet.
Coughing, his stomach lurched. He just barely managed to lean over the toilet when his stomach emptied its contents. God, how much had he had to drink?
It didn’t help that his eyesight was hazy making it hard to focus. Kian needed to get out of there. Maybe splashing some water on his face would help to clear his mind. He’d also made sure to swish out his mouth in case someone tried to stop him and smelled the awful scent of vomit.
He stood at the counter and grimaced when he saw his reflection in the mirror. Damn but he looked like hell. His hair was all over the place and his eyes were bloodshot, a clear sign he’d been drinking.
There wasn’t much he could do about that. He turned on the faucet but only a small trickle came out. Not sure what was happening with the water, Kian cupped his hand under the small stream. Needing to get rid of that horrible taste on his tongue, he rinsed out his mouth first.
By the time he got his hand under the faucet once more, there were only a few drops of water coming out. Sighing, Kian turned it off. There wasn’t much point in fighting with the slow water when he needed to get out of the house without anyone seeing him. The longer he stayed in the bathroom, the greater the chance he’d be found.
Head still fuzzy and sight foggy, it was almost as if there were a mist of clouds obscuring his view. Slowly, he turned and went to the door.
But when he reached out to grab the handle, he couldn’t hold back a scream as he jerked his hand back. His brain was having a hard time with what he’d felt or what his eyes were taking in at the moment. Shocked to see his hand was completely red and starting to blister, Kian wasn’t certain what to make of it.
He shook his head, unable to comprehend what that meant. His gaze went from his hand to the door handle as if trying to figure out a mystery. Slowly, he placed his other hand against the wood of the door.
Intense heat had him once more yanking his hand back.
What? He stared at the door as if it was something alien and his brain scrambled to make sense of it. That’s when the scent of burning wood finally pierced his alcohol addled brain.
Oh my God, there’s a fire. Did anybody else know? Horror started to cross his features. Did anybody know he’s up here? Kian looked around the small bathroom to find a way out.
“Help!” he screamed, praying someone heard him.
It was at that moment that his brain finally came back online. He just didn’t know if that was a good thing or not for it also meant, to his horror, he was beginning to understand just how much trouble he was in.
He had woken because the heat had been intense, but instead of it being another dream about Alec, it was a fire. The sirens that were faintly heard over the roaring sounds of the fire had to have been fire trucks.
Kian was going to die there. The smoke, which he’d thought was the alcohol causing him to not see, was rolling under the door causing him to cough uncontrollably. This couldn’t be how his life ended. Fear coursed through him and he screamed as loud as he could.
Tears coursed down his face. He didn’t want to die but it didn’t seem to matter when he saw flames starting to lick along the door, consuming it.
“Help. Please, God, help me.” He was screaming for all he was worth but there was no way to know if anyone could hear him or if they could, would they be able to get to him? Coughing, almost choking from the smoke, he covered his mouth with a towel hanging on the shower rod.
Getting lightheaded, he stepped into the small shower sitting down screaming as much as he could when he wasn’t coughing. He stared at the door as if magically someone would come through it to save him. Seconds later, it was as if a mirage appeared when a figure appeared through the flames.
Alec.
As if out of a dream, Alec walked through the door. No. Not the door, but the blaze that had burned through the wood like it hadn’t even been there.
Bending down, he felt Alec’s arms gently lift him up into the safety of his embrace. This couldn’t be happening. Maybe he was dying and his mind was blocking the pain by giving him something to hold onto. Completely willing to give into the delusion, Kian didn’t waste any time to wrap his arms around Alec’s neck and tucked his head against that chiseled chest. “If you aren’t real, don’t let me wake up.”
“Shh. I will get you out of here.” The deep rumble of Alec’s voice soothed the panic that had taken over when Kian realized he was going to die.
A part of him had hoped this wasn’t some elaborate hallucination, but when Kian watched the flames part, like a curtain opening, letting them pass without the blaze touching them, he knew none of this could have been real. Alec continued to walk through the house, the fire creating a path for them to follow to an exit.
It wasn’t until they stepped out into the cold night air, that Kian began to wonder if he hadn’t imagined everything. But the fresh air that he was finally able to take in caused his lungs to demand he get rid of the smoke he’d inhaled. Coughing increased as he struggled to catch his breath.
Alec strode to one of the waiting ambulances. He lay Kian on one of the stretchers, his hand gripping Kian’s left hand, the uninjured one, as he talked to a paramedic. “I found him a little too close to the house, passed out.” Suddenly, an oxygen mask was placed over Kian’s nose and mouth. “Also his right hand is burned,” Alec told the paramedic.
Kian hadn’t even realized he’d closed his eyes until he felt Alec’s hand leave his. He opened them to search for Alec, to beg him not to leave, but he was already gone.
“Sir, we need you to sit still. Let me tend to your hand,” the paramedic instructed kindly.
He showed them his hand but he kept looking around for Alec. Where had he gone? Shivering, the cold started to seep through his skin. The next thing Kian knew, he was in the back of the ambulance heading to the hospital. When a nurse asked who should be called, the only person he could think of was Kavi.
“Oh my God, Kian, are you okay?” Kavi exclaimed when he saw the oxygen mask and the hand wrapped in enough gauze that it looked like a giant sledgehammer.
Pulling the mask away, Kian reassured his friend. “I’m fine. Just a little too much smoke.”
“I looked everywhere for you. When I couldn’t find you, I ran back to the house praying you’d left early.” Pulling a chair up next to the bed, he sat down next to Kian. “When you weren’t there, I made Brandon go back to search for you, while I stayed at the house in case you were on your way back. I’m so sorry for making you go to that party.”
Kian had to admit it was nice to have someone worry about him. Not that he had meant for it to happen, but still, it was the first time he could remember anyone caring enough to worry. “I’ll be fine. It’s not your fault.”
Brandon walked in and stood behind Kavi with his hand on Kavi’s shoulder. “Thank God you got out. Are you okay?”
Weakly, Kian answered, “I’ll be fine. Just a lot of smoke inhalation. They want me to stay overnight for observation.” Sensing his friend’s discomfort, Kian changed the topic. “So what started the fire?”
Kavi rolled his eyes, sighing dramatically. “Some idiot decided to show off his ‘cooking skills.’” He made air quotes, “He tried to make that onion volcano you see in the Japanese restaurants.”
Not having been to one, Kian had no idea what his friend was talking about. Those places were too pricey for one of his foster families to take him to and he didn’t make enough money to treat himself. He was lucky when one of his foster families bought him fast food. Brandon must have noticed Kian’s confusion as he said, “You know, by slicing an onion, taking out the inside rings, then stacking it so it’s hollow in the middle.”
“Anyway.” Kavi’s tone told Brandon he was annoyed to have his story interrupted. “The idiot poured alcohol in the middle and lit it on fire. Not what I would call smart in a room of drunk people with lots of alcohol everywhere.”
“Yeah, someone saw the volcano and apparently became fascinated by the flames. He bumped into the table to get a closer look, causing the fire to skid across the surface and onto the floor.” Brandon was so excited to tell the story, he didn’t pay much attention to Kavi’s irritated look.
But Kavi quickly took back control of the story. “People panicked, especially once the rug caught on fire. Lord knows that rug had to be soaked in alcohol from all the college parties over the years.”
“Are you guys talking about the fire?” A guy in the next bed with a couple of stitches on his forehead overheard the conversation. Because of the influx of people from the fire, each room in the emergency room had several people being treated, mostly for smoke inhalation. “What a bunch of dumbasses. I heard the people right around the fire were so drunk no one thought to try and put it out.”
Fortunately, they had managed to get everyone out before it had spread to other homes. Unfortunately, it had destroyed the house where the party had been.
“So where were you?” Brandon asked.
The question took Kian by surprise. He’d counted himself lucky to have survived. If it hadn’t been for Alec, he would be dead right now. That didn’t mean he wanted anyone to know. Hell, for all he knew he’d been hallucinating the whole time.
Kavi’s hand touched his. “We looked everywhere for you, what happened?”
Alec had always seemed unusual but to walk through fire? Until he understood it, that wasn’t something he was about to tell anyone. The problem with that was he was a terrible liar.
“I was passed out upstairs. Alec rescued me.” Kian hoped if he just kept to the bare facts he might get away with it. He just left out a few details.
“Whew, that boy deserves another chance after that.” Kavi told him. He had told his best friend what happened at Halloween and that he didn’t want to see Alec again.
A nurse came in and told Kavi and Brandon it was time to go. “You can come back tomorrow,” the nurse assured them.
Kavi bent over and kissed Kian’s cheek. “I’m so glad you’re okay. We’ll be back tomorrow to take you home.” With Brandon’s arm around him, Kavi left, leaving Kian to wonder how he was going to get Alec to tell Kian how he’d saved him.
The first time Kian had a chance to do that had been Monday. Before hiking class, he’d waited outside class but Alec hadn’t shown up until five minutes after class had started. Determined, Kian was prepared to chase Alec down after the lecture was over. But he’d managed to bolt before Kian even had a chance to stand up, much less make it to his side.
The rest of the week had been the same. Alec was avoiding him. There hadn’t been much he could do about it as his work schedule and classes didn’t allow him much free time to find Alec.
But all he could think about was that fire. At night, no matter what he tried, the nightmares of no one saving him wouldn’t stop. He’d wake up to images of the blaze engulfing him. Sleep became something he shied away from in order to not have to keep envisioning his death.
That left him with a lot of time to think about Alec and those flames. Every single second played through Kian’s mind like a film on repeat. There were times when he thought he might be losing his mind. A fire parting to let them through? That just couldn’t be possible, could it?
If it had, how? Was it something Alec had done? It had to be. There was no other explanation. More determined than ever to confront him, Kian switched his schedule so he had all day Saturday off.
He woke up early and went down to sit outside his classroom by seven in the morning. If Kian had to, he’d wait all day long, but he was going to talk to Alec. More importantly, he would find out how he’d saved him.