“No, I think it sounds nice having your own place. But why’d you finally show it to me?”
He contemplated the question for a moment. “I was sittin’ in the house and wanted to escape. Every time I want to get away, I think of this place. I always come up in the summer. I’d never been in the snow and I wanted you to see it too. I wanted you to see my favorite place.”
He shared his favorite place with me. The admission burned in my chest; a painful combination of friendship and the Masons always giving something to me. I wasn’t sure what to say back to him. “You don’t have to share everything with me.”
“I know, but I want to.” His sincere blue eyes spoke more than the words.
“What were you escaping by coming to the treehouse?”
“It’s before you came to live here,” he said quietly.
“You were like eight.”
“I know, it’s stupid,” he paused, letting out a deep breath. “Parents wanted their kids to be friends with me, you know, to have a way in with my family. They were always just droppin’ in at the house. They’d act stupid. All of it just to have connections with my parents. I hated it. I’d leave when they came over and sneak out here. It lasted for a while then ya’ll came to Sprayberry.”
“What difference did that make?”
“Everythin’.” The embarrassment reflected bright on his cheeks in the light of the flames. “You’re different from all of ‘em. I didn’t need to hide out anymore. I had you.”
“Oh,” I whispered, hearing his answer that wasn’t really an answer. This wasn’t news about his family. I had lived in Arlis long enough to witness the dynamics. People wanted to use the Masons. With power, came the great burden to distinguish real friendships from those who wanted to coat tail on another’s pot of gold, or in their case, oil.
I didn’t see my family any different than the others. Yet, Jess saw me as the opposite; I was his savior when in fact, his family was ours. The idea required more thought at a later time when I wasn’t stranded in a snowstorm.
I watched the flames jump around in the metal bin until my sleepy head fell against Jess's shoulder. My nose tucked close to his hair that still smelled like soap, despite the smoke in the tiny room. In the moment, I was cold but felt safe next to him. Sometimes, I just pretended his last name wasn’t Mason.
“Jess!” I screamed, jerking awake. A log exploded in the fire, causing it to shift and knock over the metal bin. He threw the blanket off as the flames spread up the fabric.
“Come on!” Jess grabbed my hand and pulled me up. “We gotta get to the hatch!” The room filled with smoke and the old boards soaked up the flames. “Don’t let go of my hand. I’m gonna slide around the outside wall.”
I followed Jess blindly as we scooted through the haze to the exit. Something exploded, sending a wave of flames in our direction. I doubled over coughing as the heat scorched my face. Jess pushed me through the door and I hit the landing platform on my stomach. I rolled over and screamed as Jess struggled to get through the hatch with his coat sleeve on fire.
“Go!” Jess pleaded as he beat his glowing arm against the landing floor. “I’ll be right behind you!”
“No…I’m not going!”
“Now!” Jess shoved me off toward the ladder.
I slipped down the steps, desperately watching for Jess. At that angle, I couldn’t see the top of the platform. Jumping the last ten feet, I fell backward into a drift. The whole house burned bright in the cold air with Jess still on the platform. I pulled myself out of the snow and climbed back up the steps. Orange glowing boards fell all around me. Something struck the back of my head, knocking me down in the snow. The pain radiated down my spine then everything went black.
My body moved slowly through the snow. Ice caked around the waistband of my jeans. Opening my eyes, the flames burned hot in the distance. It hurt to move my head. Jess struggled to take another step; his hands pulling under my arm pits, dragging me away from the tree house.
“Don’t, you’re hurt,” I muttered.
“Nah…just a little.” His sweet face gritted up in pain. “Let’s…g…get further a…away.”
Everything went out of focus. For a moment, I didn't see anything but darkness. Feeling around my head, I located the knot just on the backside. I looked back up at Jess, smelling the scorched flesh. The image of his burning body stayed seared in my mind. Turning to the side, I saw something awful.
Jess made it a few more steps before sinking down in the snow. Crawling up beside him, I took a good look at his arm. My stomach lurched seeing the bloody, oozy mess mixed with melted fabric. I stared back into his sad, blue eyes.
“Maybe we should put snow on it.”
“Ok,” he mumbled.
I patted a handful of white fluff into the charred arm. I was afraid to push too hard. What if I knocked off part of his skin? The idea caused bile to form in the back of my throat. Taking another clump, I added a new layer, seeing the blood darken the ice. “Feel any better?”
“Yeah.” He half-smiled as a tear trickled out of his eye. The water froze on his cheek. My chest hurt, seeing him cringe in pain each time I touched his arm. I stopped packing the burn with snow. Jess needed a doctor.
“I don’t know what else to do.”
“It’s almost numb now,” he muttered. “It shouldn’t be long now. They’ll see the fire and come lookin’.”
Scooting closer to his side, I wrapped my arms around his shaking body. We clung together in the snow, waiting to be rescued. The smell of his burned skin lingered in the air.
It wasn’t long before two beams of light headed in our direction. The big four-wheel-drive truck barely stopped before both of our fathers came running toward us out on the meadow.
The burns and the head injury landed us both in the hospital. Tomorrow, Jess would see a specialist in Dallas. They held me overnight for observation for a concussion. Dr. Mason arranged for us to share a room in side-by-side beds. Once again, I slept in the Arlis hospital, but this time as a patient.
Tonight scared me. It scared me in ways I didn’t want to think about as I watched my friend stare up at the ceiling. I knew he was still in pain.
“I’m really sorry,” he whispered softly.
“It’s ok.”
“No, it’s not. I do stupid stuff sometimes. I get caught up in the moment and I…I know we joke ‘round but you’re my best friend.” The blue eyes glistened in the dim room as he rolled over to face me. “You wouldn’t wake up after you got hit. I kept shakin’ you and you just laid there. The boards were fallin’ everywhere…and I was scared. I don’t know what I’d do if somethin’ happened to you.”
An odd pain stabbed me in the chest. I sucked in a deep breath. Every time I closed my eyes, I pictured his body covered in fire. I pictured the orange flames eating up his skin. I pictured a life without Jess. The image hurt. It hurt deep inside my chest in a way nothing else could reach me.
“I would cry,” I whispered.
“What?” His voice cracked like it often did these days.
“I would cry for you, Jess.”
Chapter 15
Today, 10:52 p.m.
The hospital still has the same wallpaper. I notice this as I open my eyes. The dim moonlight illuminates a man sitting in the chair; his hand resting across a knee.
“Dad?”
“Hey.”
Wiggling my hand, I move it free of the restraints. I lift it up to see ugly red marks across the blue stars inked into the skin on my wrist. Bruises speckle the rest of my arm, disappearing under my sleeve. I hurt in every possible way a body could hurt. I hurt from my skin to my soul.
“What time is it?”
“A little before eleven.”
“What’s happening? I want the truth.”
“You need to get cleaned up and we can talk.” His face constricts on the words.
“Stop it.”