Hello again! Long time, no update! Did you like the cliffhanger I left you on? No? GOOD MWAHAHAHAHAHA! You'll hate me for the cliffhanger in this one too then...I got a little choked up whilst writing this. Tee hee. xD
Chapter 11- Beggars Can't Be Choosers
Gerard
Christie had just thrown Tyler out of her bedroom window, and a fireman and I had caught him. He took him to the newly arrived ambulance and I turned my attention back to the raging fire. Christie had disappeared from the window, and my fear, along with the heat, intensified. My cell phone then beeped, and I checked the text. It was from Christie…
I love you
No, no no no no no! She was not going to die!
"CHRISTIEEEE!" I screamed, my tears streaming down my cheeks. Suddenly, a huge roar of flames blew out of each window and doorway. The sheer force of the explosion sent me flying backwards. "NOOOO!" I got up and started running towards the building, but two strong arms pulled me back, restraining me. "GET OFF; I NEED TO GET TO CHRISTIE!"
"Shh, Gerard! The fire fighters are going to get her!"
"Mikey?"
"Yeah, it's me. Gee, listen to me; she's going to be okay."
"Are you blind? Her house just exploded with her inside it. This is not-o-fucking-kay, Mikey!" To this he had no response, he just held me tighter, rocking me back and forth as we sat on the grass. After a while, he said something that chilled me to my core…
"Gerard, don't look up. Stare at your hands, the ground, anything! Just don't look up." My natural instinct of course was to disobey, and look up. I wish I had listened to Mikey…
A fireman had Christie in his arms, limp and lifeless. Burns engulfed her exposed thigh where the fire had singed her clothing. Her body was blackened with soot and ash, and blood from several gashes on her head and body stained her blistered skin. She looked like something from a horror film.
"Christie…" I whispered. Slowly, I removed myself from Mikey's grip and made my way over to the ambulance where Tyler and Christie where both being treated. Tyler had come around, though his breathing was laboured. They began hooking Christie up to several machines, muttering things about 'BP' and shit. I sat with Tyler and squeezed his hand.
"Sir, you can't be in here!" a paramedic said.
"He's my son, she's my girlfriend. I'm fucking staying." He simply nodded before proceeding to place two pads on Christie's chest. He picked up two handles…A defibrillator. Fuck, she was dying…
"Charging 360…aaand…CLEAR!" several paramedics stood back as shocks ran through her burnt and battered body, making her spasm uncontrollably. The heart monitor made no change. Come on, Chris! Don't give up on me! Don't give up on your son! I silently prayed.
"Again. Charging 360…aaand…CLEAR!" another shock, more spasms…Only this time, the heart monitor seemed to create a steady rhythm of beats…
"She's stable," the paramedic turned to me, "she's not well, and there's still a very high risk that she might no make it. Now I need you to tell me; is there anyone else in that building?" I shook my head, and squeezed Tyler's hand even tighter.
"Dad…" he groaned.
"Shh, you need rest sweetie." More and more tears soaked my shirt.
"Don't…Don't give up on-on h-her. Sh-she loves you too m-much…"
"I won't, I promise kiddo. I love her too. And, I love you. We're going to get through this as a family." He smiled at me, weakly.
"Th-thank you, Dad." I leaned over and kissed his forehead.
The beeps were getting on my nerves. Simultaneous beeps, one after the other. One week and three days after the fire, Christie was still in a coma. Tyler had been discharged with no serious injuries. Mild oxygen starvation, they had said. Mikey took care of him while I was at the hospital. When I went home, he went with me.
When I was at the hospital, I just stayed by Christie's bed, talking to her. I told her what Tyler and I had had for dinner the previous night, what computer games we played; stupid stuff like that. This particular day, I had become desperate. I sat at her side, crying and begging whilst holding her lifeless hand.
"Chris? Please, baby! You've gotta wake up! We only just got back together! I don't want to lose you again, and Tyler needs his Mommy! We need you. I can't lose you again!" I sobbed. It had all become too much, and I burst into tears, sagging my head. But I soon quietened down when I felt a strange sensation in my hand. Had it just been…squeezed?