Burning Desire Part 3
I don't own the characters,
but you all know that. This is the last instalment of this story.
Val didn't even have time to think about her life passing before her eyes as she watched the student pull the trigger. At the click, she closed her eyes tightly and gripped the desk. Tyler lying on the floor was the last image she knew she would have of him. Would he miss her? Would his life go on without her there? She hoped it hadn't all come to this. But before she knew it, the bullet had reached her. She felt the sting as it grazed her and lodged itself in the wall.
Blood trickled down her arm and stained her shirt, but she didn't even realize until a few moments later. Was this what death felt like? No, it couldn't be. Thanks to a severely disturbed student with bad aim she had lived. She was still alive. Val braced herself, eyes still shut tightly for another shot, but none came. Her arm smarted terribly but soon it turned numb. She tried desperately not to throw up and bit her lip hard in hopes of keeping her stomach from churning. Even after years of working as an EMT, pain and blood always made her sick when it was coming from her body.
Val's eyes fluttered
open to see Tyler kicking out at the student's feet. The football player became
entangled in the mess of legs and fell backwards, landing hard on his back on
the tile floor. He screamed as the pain surged through his back and the gun
flew out of his hand. It landed on the other side of the room with a shattering
clang as the student tried helplessly to get up.
Hastily, the teacher
grabbed the fallen gun and held it pointed at the student. As Tyler began to
tire of holding him down, the student was able to stand, but he immediately
sunk to his knees.
"Kill me!" He cried, sobbing and sweating as
he did. "Kill me!" He begged the teacher.
"I will not." She told him, but Val didn't
hear the rest of it. Her mind was spinning so madly that she couldn't
concentrate. She felt like she was going to faint…
Val woke because of
the pain in her arm and found herself in her bed. She vaguely remembered the
hospital and she vaguely remembered the drive home in the car. There was a bowl
of soup by her bed and Brooke was there stirring it. Steam rose from the bowl
and when Brooke realized that she was waking, she helped her eat.
"Val!" Tyler exclaimed
happily when he saw her at school the next Monday.
She didn't exactly
have a clue what she was going to tell him—how would she thank him? How on
earth did you thank someone for saving your life? Funny she'd been saving lives
for part of hers and now she was on the other end of it all. It felt weird to
be on the wrong side of the fence, not to mention to be back at school again.
She didn't think it would ever be the same. Ever. She would be a witness in the
student's trial as soon as she had fully recovered and she didn't quite know
how she would hadn't that, either. She wished with all her heart that it had
never happened; she wish that she would never have to go through this, that the
student didn't have to mess up his life, or that nobody would ever have to go
through the pain that surrounded this all.
But at that moment,
the thing was Tyler. Val had to do something for him—the image of the
note folded and lying on the floor flashed in her mind but she pushed it away.
He didn't like her like that. He was just her friend. But then why did he save
her life by risking his own? No, it wasn't that. He would have done that for
anyone: Hank, Jaime, Caitie, even Brooke.
Tears
sprung to her eyes as she approached Tyler in the hallway. It was empty since
most people were in class (they had a free period) and she was glad of that. They
stood and stared at each other for a second, but soon found themselves falling
into each other's arms. "How are you?" He asked as they pulled out of the hug.
Sniffing, she
muttered. "Better than I was before." She smiled weakly as they turned to walk
down the hallway together. For a moment, they walked in an almost comfortable silence
until Val said softly. "Thank you."
"For what?" He asked
this as though he had no idea what she was talking about.
"Stop it!" She warned
almost playfully. For a second, it almost felt as though they were back in the
old days, before all this had happened. But that was just for a second, for her
arm's pain reminded her of the event. "You know what I'm talking about. If not
for you I would be dead by now." Val said this very seriously and they stopped,
taking a seat on the bottom step of the stairs.
"No, Val. It was
nothing." He looked away, hands clasped together.
"Okay, Tyler…no. 'nothing'
is…oh, I don't know. 'Nothing' is not risking your life to save mine. I mean, I'm
asking…I guess I'm asking…well, why?" She felt as though no one could have understood
the sentence, but she didn't try to say it again. For some reason, she knew he'd
understood.
"Hey, you only live
once." He said this while he turned to face her. "What I mean is that…well,
there are only a few things you get in life that make it worth living and I
couldn't stand to lose…no, never mind."
Val's heart set itself
high in her throat. She knew what he was saying. She understood exactly what he
was saying for she felt exactly the same way. She was about to say something in
response, but Tyler continued.
"Val," he said softly
and lifted the hand of her good arm up to grasp. "If I had let you die, I would
have died. I am in love with you and I shouldn't have waited until it
came to this to tell you."
More tears slipped
gently down her face as she leaned over to hug him again. His grip was so warm
and welcoming that she wanted to stay there forever and never ever leave. "I
love you, too, Tyler Connell."
They pulled out of the
hug and Tyler took his fingers to wipe the falling tears off of her face. He tilted
forward and kissed her delicately on the lips. They both knew then that they
should have spoken up much sooner, for one wrong choice or one false move could
have broken up true love and they never would have known it.
The End. Hope you liked it!