Escaping Reality (The Secret Life of Amy Bensen #1)(67)

I blink against black and white dots, and a wave of nausea overcomes me. Throwing

away the blankets, I rush to the bathroom and go down on my knees in front of the toilet. A pinching sensation pierces my head and everything goes black again.

I cough against the smoke, flames licking at my doorway, and there is nowhere to go.

“Amy!

“Mom! I’m in my room!”

“Stay there. We’re coming for you.”

I wait, and the sounds of the fire eating away at wood have my bones rattling. “Mom?”

Nothing.

“Mom?”

She screams and I suck in smoke at the horrific, blood-curdling sound, coughing with the impact and trying to cry her name.

“Mom!” I finally manage. “Mom!”

She’s still screaming. And screaming. “Mom!”

“Amy!”

My brother’s voice rips through the hallway and the hell I am living, bringing with it hope. “Chad! Get Mom! Help Mom!”

“Listen to me, Amy,” he shouts, but all I hear is my mother, still screaming.

“Mom! You have to help her. Chad, help her!”

“Listen the f*ck up, Amy. I can’t get to you. Go to the window.”

“Mom!” I shout.

“Amy, damn it, go to the window or you are going to die.”

Die. My mother is dying. I want to go to her but the flames climb closer, inside my room.

On wobbling legs, I go to the window.

“Are you at the window?” Chad shouts.

“Yes. Yes.”

“Open the window and jump.”

I do it. I open the window and look down into the darkness below.

“It’s too high.”

“You were a gymnast for years.”

“Who quit because I was afraid of heights!”

“Jump, Amy, and make it count. Do it.”

My mother is no longer screaming. My mother is— “No!” I shout. She can’t be dead. “I can’t jump. I can’t jump.”

“Jump, Amy. Jump now or I will come through the flames and die trying to get to you.”

I gasp. “I’ll jump. I’ll jump.” I climb out of the window and I look back toward the flames and then forward. I hold my breath and jump.





Chapter Twenty


“Amy. Amy. Wake up. Please, baby. Wake up.”

I blink through a sticky sensation on my face. “Liam?”

“Yes. Thank God. You scared the hell out of me.” He grabs a towel and presses it to my head.

I focus on the red stains on his light gray t-shirt. “I’m bleeding?”

“You hit your head and cut it open. We need to get you to the ER.”

I grab his arm. “You’re here. How are you here?”

“Yeah, baby, I’m here and I shouldn’t have left you alone.”

Any reply I might have had is lost to the roll of my stomach. “Oh,” I gasp. “I’m going to be sick.” I grab for the toilet and Liam holds my hair back and manages to keep the cloth on my head as I embarrassingly throw up. “I really don’t want you to see me like this.”

“Nonsense. Can you hold the towel to your head so I can get you some clothes?”

“Yes.” I take it from him. “I’m good. You’re sure I need stitches?”

“One hundred percent.”

I squeeze my eyes shut against the sound of my mother’s screams echoing in my mind.

And I hear Chad calling my name. Amy. Amy. But I wasn’t Amy then. I was Lara. Why was he calling me Amy? Is my mind trying to tell me something, or am I so removed from my past that there is nothing but Amy left? Jump. Jump now.

“Amy.” I jump at Liam’s hand stroking down my hair. “Easy. Are you okay?”

“Yes.” But I’m not. I want to tell him everything. I want to tell him more than I want my next breath, but that nightmare has reminded me how very real the danger I am in is, and I am not clearheaded enough to decide what that means for him. For us. “I’m dizzy.”

“I’m guessing you have a concussion. Can you stand up so we can get you dressed?”

“Yes.” He helps me to my feet and I feel pathetic when he has to practically put my shorts on me and then tie his shirt at my waist. He drops sandals at my feet and I slide into them. He puts the toilet seat down. “Sit.

Let me call for a car service before we head downstairs.”

Ten minutes later we exit the hotel and the doorman pulls open the passenger door of a black sedan for me. My head is spinning and my stomach is queasy and Liam helps me into the car.

“Amy. What the hell?”

Liam and I both turn to find Jared standing there. “Did he touch you?” He glares at Liam.

“You son of a bitch, did you hit her?”

“No!” I exclaim. “No. Jared, I fell.”

“Back the f*ck off,” Liam growls. “I would never touch her, but I will you.”

“Amy?” Jared asks, and he seems sincerely worried. “Did he touch you?”

“No. I told you no. He wasn’t even here when it happened. He just flew into town and found me passed out.”

“Let’s go,” Liam orders me. “Blood is seeping through the towel. You need those stitches.”