Through the Storm (The Montclair Brothers) (4 page)

"Sweetie, she's okay." Emma had to stop herself from disclosing too much information.

"Bullshit! I remember being in the front yard with her. I heard gunfire, and then Renee fell to the ground. I tried to shield her…
Where is she
?!" Brian tried to move his legs to the edge of the bed.

"I'm going to explain, but you have to stay in this bed. If you try getting up, you'll only fall to the floor." Emma gently pushed his shoulders back down.

"Where
is
she?!" he asked again with a stern voice.

"Renee's a couple of doors down from you. She's sleeping."

"Where was she hit? How injured is she?" Brian's eyes welled up with tears. "Answer my questions, Emma!"

"Her lung was damaged and she has a couple of broken ribs. She's going to be okay, Brian, I spoke with her surgeon." Emma wished she didn't have to have this conversation with him. Renee had become his only safe haven. Now, she had to try and fill those shoes. "Are you in pain?"

"Yeah. My back is killing me." Brian's hand was wrapped tightly around the bedrail. "Who did this to us?" he whispered; his breathing was becoming more rapid.

"Robert was in the driveway shooting at us. The bullet hit your kidney and came out of your abdomen. The doctor will explain more to you when he does his rounds. It didn't strike your spine and you're going to make a full recovery. Everyone is."
I hope that wasn't a lie,
thought Emma.

"Damn him!" Brian fiercely shook the bedrail.

"I know you want to leave, but you can't. You need a lot of medical attention, Brian. I need to give the staff some information about you, so they can provide you with adequate care. Because you're a minor, the doctors will need to contact your parents." Emma held her breath, waiting for the kid to explode.

"No! They'll make me go back home!" Brian tried to get up again.

"We're not going to let that happen. All of us are here, and we'll protect you." Emma eased him back down on the bed. She
hoped
they could protect him. So far, they'd done a horrible job. But like Tyler told her, when she'd had to disclose Renee and Brian's whereabouts, it's better to be hated, knowing her friends were safe.

"You don't understand the system like I do, Emma. If I tell the staff who I am, they'll call the cops to find out my parents' phone number." Brian shook his head and stared at the ceiling.

"The doctors have to have more information to safely treat you. You could have a really bad allergic reaction to these drugs! They were able to operate on you because it was an emergency, but I think it's time for you to be upfront with them.
We
don't even know your last name, Brian, and we've been together for a while now. What is it?" Emma pleaded.

"I really like you guys,
Em. I've never had friends before, let alone a family, but I can't risk it. If I go back to my parents, they'll kill me. You'll never see me again, and no one will know what happened."

Emma wished he'd tell her everything, but she knew how fearful he was. The first night she'd met him, he was like a scared cat. After Brian got to know her and the
Montclairs, his trust grew, and he was even able to relax around them.

"Brian, your parents can't hurt you here, and you won't be discharged until you're better. That'll give us time to build an abuse case against them. There's a lot of staff running around the halls, and they'll be in and out of your room, so your parents aren't going to have the balls to harm you while you're here. Let us call the police for you, and you can tell them about the abuse. They'll make a report and do an investigation. The cops won't let you go back home to them with those kinds of charges pending." Emma watched Brian's eyes widen again.

"No cops! I'm not talking to the staff, either. When I get better, I'm going to walk right out that front door, and I'm taking Renee with me!" Brian raised his voice.

"
Listen, just be honest with the detective when he comes to talk to you." Emma was already kicking herself for saying too much.

"Detective?
What
?! Get me my clothes. I have to get out of here!" Brian began to shove the covers off of himself.

"I'm sorry, Kid, but you can't go anywhere," said the officer as he stepped inside the room.

It took a while for Emma to calm Brian down. The nurse had come in, asked the officer to wait in the hallway, and then injected pain medication into Brian's IV. It didn't take long for him to become sleepy. Emma knew she'd have to make sure to stay right beside him until he was completely out of it, or he'd get riled up again. She leaned back in her chair and held his hand, waiting for him to doze off. She was pretty angry that the cop had spoken to Brian like he was some kind of prisoner. But weren't they all? They wouldn't be free as long as Robert remained on the loose. Emma
listened to the steady bleep of the monitor, and soon, her own eyes closed, throwing her into a twisted nightmare.

Emma ran, screaming for everyone to get out of the house, but Tyler, Renee, Jacob, Sean, Vincent, and Brian, shook their heads and lay on the kitchen floor as the fire crawled across their backs, igniting them. The first person she grabbed onto was Tyler. She pulled his arms as hard as she could, but he was stuck to the floor. "Come on, Tyler! Help me! We have to get the others!!" Tyler shook his head again, before lying his face down in a pool of blood. The red liquid reflected the fire, as it flowed from their mouths. "Please!! Get up, everyone!" The
smoke and heat were melting her skin. Chunks of flesh fell off of her arms. "Get up!!" Her words were barely audible. "I'll come with you," said Brian, as he grabbed ahold of Renee and lifted her into his arms. "I'll come too," whispered Jacob, as his lower jaw melted off his face. "…If you promise to forgive me." Just as they stood, Robert appeared behind them and started shooting. "No!!" Emma screamed.

"You're having a nightmare,
Em, wake up." She felt a touch on her arm as she jumped to her feet and tried to run.

Tyler grabbed her, pulling her into his arms. "Let's step out here, so we don't wake Brian up." He kept one arm around Emma as he escorted
her to the lounge and helped her to sit down.

"Oh, Tyler!" she choked. "It was awful. I couldn't…save…anyone."

"It's okay, Emma. We're all going to be fine." Tyler put his hand under her chin and lifted it. He took a tissue out of a box on the end table, and dried her face.

"Tyler, your clothes—" Emma looked down at his bloody shirt and jeans.

"I know. The nurse brought me some things to clean up with. I tried to call you a couple of times, but you didn't answer, so I got worried and came up to check on you. Are you okay?" Tyler asked, looking into her eyes.

"I was in Brian's room and I fell asleep. I didn't hear my phone ring. Tyler, we have problems. When Brian woke up, he saw the officer, who told him he couldn't leave. The staff started badgering him with questions and made him panic. You have to talk to Brian, and let him know we'll protect him from his parents." Emma was breathing fast as she stood up to pull at Tyler to follow her.

"We'll make sure we're there when he wakes up." Tyler held her hand as they walked towards the unit.

"Is Jacob okay?" Just like she'd felt torn about whose bedside she should be at, she knew that her boss did too.

"He's on this unit now too, but Sean and Vincent are with him. Jacob's holding his own. He's a Montclair." Tyler winked, but his eyes looked distant, as he continued down the hall with Emma.

The first room they passed was Renee's. She was sleeping, but it didn't take long for them to hear Brian's raised voice coming from nearby.

"Come on, Emma, let's go." Tyler picked up his pace.

When they entered the kid's room, June was at his bedside with some water, washcloths, and towels. She was explaining that she just wanted to clean him up some and change his gown.

"I'm just trying to help you, Brian. I'm not the police. I'm in your corner, okay?" June spoke softly as she rubbed her hand over his matted hair.

"Hey, Brian, how're you holding up?" Tyler walked over to the bed, and asked the nurse if he could have a few minutes.

"Tyler, you have to help me get out of here!" Brian grabbed ahold of his wrist and held on tightly.

"You can't run anymore, Brian. After the fire and the shooting, the hospital contacted the police. The detectives will be up to talk to you today. I promise not to leave you alone with them." Tyler sat on the edge of the bed.

"They'll make it appear like I ran away for no reason, just like they did before!" Brian buried his face in the pillow.

"Vincent is a great attorney, and he'll make sure they don't step on your toes. Besides, I'll go to jail again before I let them send you back to your parents, okay?" Tyler stood up, reached inside the warm water and picked the washcloth up. He ran the bar of soap lightly over the cloth.

Brian looked up at Tyler quizzically, but didn't say a word.

"Close your eyes," Tyler calmly instructed, and then softly wiped Brian's face and neck off. He pulled down the sheet to the boy's hips, and
then placed the clean gown on his body.

"Give me a couple of towels, Emma, and some clean water," said Tyler as he pointed to the bathroom.

Emma sat the water down on the table, and then handed him the towels. She watched in awe as Tyler ran the damp washcloth through Brian's hair. She'd had to change the water three times, for him to rinse all of the blood from the kid's hair. He found a comb in the drawer of the nightstand, and slowly combed Brian's hair back from his face. She was so close to weeping from witnessing the compassion in this man's heart.
Tyler Montclair just bathed a runaway teen and didn't flinch
, thought Emma.
Everyone should take lessons from him.

"Do you feel better?" Emma asked as she put a clean sheet on top of Brian and gave him a new pillowcase.

"Yeah, thanks," he mumbled as a tear slid out of the corner of his eye.

Emma could tell that he'd never been shown compassion or received care like this. Tyler hadn't skipped a beat, and it appeared like he knew exactly what to do. He must have realized the only way to get Brian to acknowledge how much he cared, was to do the unexpected…to do something that the teen's parents had probably never done; take care of him. With the gentle bath, Tyler got
Brian to let down his walls and not be afraid to be vulnerable. Emma knew that when Tyler said he cared, and would help, he meant it. She could only imagine what a great job this man had done at raising his younger siblings.

Without thinking, Emma leaned down and kissed Brian's cheek. "Brian, would you feel better if I just stayed here with you?" Emma knew then that she couldn't allow herself to feel torn. Three of her friends had been wounded, but there were also three others who could tend to them. Brian was young, inexperienced with hospitals, and frightened. He had so much more to lose than the rest of them. If he got sent back to his parents, he'd suffer a fate way worse
than being shot. His torture could last for years, again, before they finally killed him.

"What about Renee?" Brian's cheeks reddened.

"I'll take care of Renee," said Tyler. "I'll make sure she continues to heal. Besides, when you two start feeling better, you can visit each other. My brothers, Sean and Vincent, will stay with Jacob. We're a family, Brian, and we take care of our own. You're a part of that." The nurse brought in a blanket and handed it to Tyler. He laid it gently on top of the sheet.

"Other than Renee, no one's ever given a shit about me." Brian looked out the window.

Emma turned his face so she could look at him. She knew the kid wanted to break down and cry, especially after everything he'd been through, but Brian had learned to man-up long ago. "Well, it looks like you got yourself a roommate." Emma sat down in the chair beside of him.

"I'm going to go check on Jacob and Renee, but I'll be back to visit you in a couple of hours, okay?" Tyler smiled when Brian nodded his head.

After Tyler left, Emma watched as Brian stared at the empty wall.

"Would you like to watch television or something?" she asked, trying to break his trance.

"Do you think Tyler meant what he said?" Brian turned to look at her.

"Yes, he really meant it. When Tyler says he'll do something, you can take him at his word. I would know, because he rescued me too."

"How?" he asked as he squinted his eyes.

"I don't normally share this story, but because I know some of your painful past, it's only fair that you know some of mine." Emma took a deep breath. She'd tried so hard to put that phase of her life behind her, and she knew it'd be painful to talk about it again. She'd have to be strong while revealing it, because Brian would have to do the same thing for the authorities at some point today. She waited a
minute before speaking, to make sure she kept her composure.

"
It's okay, Emma, you can tell me. I won't say anything to anyone." Brian looked at her with compassion in his eyes.

"When I was nine years old, my mother died from breast cancer. I felt lost. I had no siblings, but I would have done anything to have a sister to lean on." She closed her eyes and pictured her mother's gorgeous face and long red hair. "My mom and I were incredibly close. My father was an alcoholic, but he'd stopped drinking a couple of years before my mother got sick. Once she was diagnosed, all hell broke loose." Emma looked down at her hands,
smoothing out imaginary wrinkles on her scrub pants.

"What do you mean?" Brian prompted.

Emma wanted to end her story and run off to the bathroom, until she felt Brian's hand wrap around her shoulder. She was so surprised by this young kid's comforting gesture; she knew that she'd have to tell him everything. If Emma withheld her past, so would he.

"After her diagnosis, my father began to drink heavily. He drank until he passed out. I made sure he ate and I took care of the house, while babysitting part-time for a neighbor. Unfortunately, I didn't make much money. My father had a good job, installing phone lines, but
when he stopped showing up to work, they fired him. The thirty dollars I was able to make a week, wasn't enough. We lost our house."

Emma got up and slowly walked around the room. "My father got us a seedy motel room in a bad part of Miami. I'd sleep on the floor with a blanket, while he'd pass out in bed or on the chair." She stopped and looked briefly back at Brian. "It wasn't long before he found out how much money he could earn by selling drugs. He never took the stuff, but his drinking remained out of control. I continued to take care of him, though. I'd walk to the
laundromat every evening with a bag stuffed full of dirty clothes, and then I'd pick us up something to eat at a small restaurant on my way home." She briefly closed her eyes. "Our motel room always had people running in and out of it, but I couldn't ask any of them for help, and I certainly didn't have any friends to turn to." Emma looked over at Brian and chuckled.

"You?
No friends? I can't even believe that no one wanted to be your friend." Brian returned the laughter, but his eyes looked sad.

She sat back down in the chair next to his bed. "I'd pushed all of my classmates away. It would have been awful if they found out where I was living, and I didn't want to risk being sent to a foster home. Regardless of my situation, I felt it was my duty to fill my mom's shoes and take care of
him. But what had started out as acts of kindness, became expectations. He'd get mean."

Emma turned towards Brian, and saw that she had his undivided attention. "After years of moving from one scuzzy motel to another, I was getting tired. I'd given up all hope of ever having a different life. But one day after school, I met this really nice boy. He was super sweet, and he'd asked me out. I figured, as long as I had him pick me up down the street, he wouldn't know where I was living." Emma could picture her father sitting in urine-stained pants in a small chair by the bed.

"I didn't realize he was following me while I walked home that day. He wasn't being a stalker, or anything like that, but he was trying to catch up to me. When I got to the motel room, my father came stumbling out of the door. He accused me of stealing fifty dollars from him. I didn't, nor have I ever, taken anything that didn't belong to me. Imagine my horror when the boy came up behind me and uttered my name in shock. My father promptly swung at him and he took off running."

Emma was growing more tired the longer she talked about the skeletons in her closet. No matter what, she'd have to finish this for Brian.

"Did you ever see him again?" he asked.

"When he saw me with that boy, he called me all sorts of names. He then took everything I owned from the motel room, and threw it into the parking lot. He told me I was dead to him, before locking the door. I waited outside to see if he'd change his mind when he sobered up some, but in the morning, after I'd been sitting there all night, he came outside, glared at me, and kept on walking. I knew then that he meant it. I never saw the boy or my father again."  Emma felt a smile spread across her face.

"Where did you go?" Brian asked, while readjusting himself some in the bed.

"I went to the ocean. I'd never felt so scared and alone in my entire
life. I was only seventeen. I ended up on a pier with every intention of jumping off of it. I couldn't imagine feeling the way I did, another day. When I got to the edge of the pier and stepped onto the railing, I felt hands grab me around my waist. I was pulled back down to the ground faster than I could blink." Emma couldn't help but laugh at the memory.