Watch What Burns (21 page)

Natasha merely laughed at Austin. "Say bye-bye to this woman, Gracie. Mommy's taking you home now."

"Mommy!
Mommy! Help me!" Gracie only cried, striving for Austin's protective grasp.

"Don't take her!" Austin called out, her voice pained and weak. "Please," she wept, reaching out weakly for her daughter. "She's just a child. Please, Natasha."

It was a fruitless attempt as Natasha left without another word; Grace's screams growing distant until Austin heard a door slam shut and the car drive away.

"Please give her back," Austin whispered out her plea for a
savior before regretfully closing her eyes.

“I’LL be right back with them both,” Nicolas laughed as he kissed Jane while they stood together at the front door. “You might want to work on waking the beast.” He nodded his head in the direction of Tyler as he lay snoring on the couch. “If he’s not awake when we get back then I’m letting his daughter loose on him.”

Jane laughed at the thought of Grace clambering all over her father, but she knew deep down, Tyler would love the wakeup call. Looking back to her husband, she was more than a little thankful for him being such a protective and strong man towards his family. It didn’t matter how they aged, how their lives evolved, or how they settled into their own futures, he was always the man that picked them up after the biggest fall, and still fought in their corner as their greatest supporter.

It made her appreciate having her family back together in one piece. All the bad memories were banished when she saw how happy they were and how connected they were now. She appreciated him more in that moment with how cool he played it, even after Sienna and Cassie’s attack. She guessed knowing they were going to be okay allowed him to keep a level head and remain stoic and sane.

“Go get our girls so we can head to bed,” Jane pushed him, wanting nothing more than to crawl into bed after this long and tiring day. “Tom and Cassie should be here soon and then we can all settle for the night.”

“I’m going,” he replied, stealing another kiss from her before rushing away from the house. As he crossed the road towards the Armstrong house, he saw James leaving the house in a similar hastened pace.

“Hey Nick,” James called out as he threw a large bag into the back of the car and closed the door. “Where are you off to?”

“Austin’s down at the house grabbing some clothes. Stupidly forgot my key so I had to run back,” Nicolas mocked himself for what he had done. “What about you?”

“Oh Cassie phoned begging for her own clothes,” James told him, a mirthful note to his voice. “She’s getting released in the morning, but she wants her own
pajamas.”

“Can’t that man of hers not come and grab her things?” Nicolas asked, raising an eyebrow. “I mean, usually Mark’s more than up for obeying her wishes.
Why the sudden resistance?”

“She doesn’t want him to leave her,” James replied, giving Nicolas an all-knowing look. “We’ve seen our daughter’s act that way often enough with their men, we should have guessed. I have no problem with running this stuff to her. Knowing she’s safe is enough for me.”

“You’re telling me,” Nicolas responded with a light chuckle. “We found out that Sienna’s been keeping a major secret.” Nicolas watched the look on James’ face morph, pressing for more information. “It’s not public knowledge yet, but Sienna and Michael have been dating for nearly two years and neither let on.”

“You’re joking?” James asked, his eyes widening with shock. “Wow, they were good at keeping that quiet. Especially when he comes to stay here like he normally does.”

“I know, but it is good to see my daughter being taken care of like she deserves,” Nicolas responded with much certainty. “Right, I better go and get Austin and that granddaughter of ours before Austin starts to panic.”

When a bright flash of lightning struck, James automatically looked up to the sky. “Bad storm’s coming,” James remarked as the sky lit up in the distance. “C’mon, if we’re quick we can be back without getting too wet.”

“You don’t have to come,” Nicolas protested, knowing that Cassie would be expecting her father.

James shrugged. “I’ve got no problem with seeing my granddaughter.” He laughed at the comment, knowing how he and Nicolas literally doted on Grace and loved her without any boundaries.

Walking down the road, the two men barely spoke, trying to outrun the storm that was beginning to ignite the small town they lived in. As the rain started, the pair ran the few hundred yards left, until they reached the drive, and Nicolas suddenly halted on the spot unable to go further as he began to feel apprehensive at his daughter’s house before him.

“That’s weird,” Nicolas muttered under his breath as he saw the front door wide open, all the lights out and no life beyond the doorframe. He looked to James who looked overcome with unease, and knew his gut was screaming in anticipation for a reason. Gulping deeply, he hastened his speed, and rushed up the driveway. He felt his heart plummet to the floor the moment he ran up the steps to the porch. He prepared himself to tread carefully, willing to seek out Austin and Grace, but the sight before him killed his plan in one swift blow. “Austin!” Nicolas yelled and ran towards his daughter as she lay thrown haphazardly onto the stairs.  He looked to James who stood with wide eyes and horror marring his face. “Call for an ambulance, and try and find Gracie.” He looked to his daughter, fearing the worse before looking back to James. “And get Tyler down here
now
!”

Roused by the sudden company around her, Austin groaned awake, reality hitting her. “Give her back,” she whispered as she struggled in vain to open her eyes. “Don’t take her,” she began to cry, her sobs making her body convulse with pure agony.

“Aus, it’s me. It’s your dad,” Nicolas cried out to her, trying to suss what to do to ease her pain. He had barely caught her words, but the first thing he needed was to calm her. “Austin, what happened?” he asked her, watching her. He had no idea what to do, but hearing James calling for an ambulance told him his place was right beside his daughter. He watched her intently, the bruises and abrasions on her already terrified him. He had barely been gone fifteen minutes and it seemed part of his life was tumbling down on him.

“Gracie’s,” Austin gulped, trying in vain to steady herself, “Gone.” It was all she could master right now, and she hated herself for being so inept at even speaking coherently. Feeling lucidity failing her, she strained to look to her father. “Dad,” she cried out in a small voice.

“What, baby?” he asked, leaning in, trying his hardest to not run from the house.

“Find her,” she whispered out. “Please,” she cried again, each new sob was wreaking havoc on her body. The pain was becoming unbearable, but she fought the encroaching darkness as it began to wrap around her and drag her to an unpleasant rock bottom.

“James is on it, but right now, you need to keep those eyes open, baby,” Nicolas pleaded heavily with Austin. He didn’t know where to touch her, but when he inched closer, he realized she had a bullet wound to her shoulder. Acting calm, he pulled his sweater off, rolling it into a ball before pushing it against the bloodied wound. He watched Austin’s face scrunched up with pain and he tried his hardest to keep her relaxed. “Shh, Aus, I’m just trying to stop the bleed to your shoulder.” He watched the tears fall down her bruised face and he closed his eyes before persevering with his act of bravery. “Tyler is on his way up to the house.” He looked up to James, not knowing if he had managed to do that part, but when James nodded and took off around the house, he knew everything was falling together. He just needed to be the strong father Austin loved. “James is going to search the house for Grace.”

“Natasha took her,” Austin cried weakly, her voice beginning to trail off from its pained and heavy note as Austin felt the urge to give into the darkness waiting for her. “She took her from me.” Suddenly her eyes opened a little wider, her gaze straining to watch her father. “Tell T-Tyler I’m so-sorry. I tri-tried to
sa-save her. I tri-tried.”

“You tell him,” Nicolas responded with a harsh tone, but he knew Austin was fading before his eyes and he had no idea if it was blood loss beginning to render her unconscious or if she was literally slipping away from them all for good. “Aussie, you tell him.
You keep your eyes open and fight with us to get Gracie back.”

As her eyes fluttered shut, her fight waning into nonexistence, Nicolas bowed his head in defeat. He prayed that an ambulance would arrive soon and he could look at trying to save his granddaughter. He knew they would all fall apart if they didn’t find her soon. If Natasha won this, their family would never be the same.

“Nicolas!” Tyler bellowed as he ran towards the house. “What the hell hap-” Tyler didn’t finish his sentence. He stalled within the doorway as he saw his wife and immediately his knees weakened and he found himself needing to use the wall to support him. “No,” he managed to say. “God no!” he cried out and pushed himself towards Austin, dropping to his knees beside her body. Ignorant of his father and father-in-law, Tyler grabbed his wife’s hand in his and shook it. “Aus, baby, wake up. You can’t let Grace see you like this.”

“Ty,” Nicolas gasped to his son-in-law. When he looked up, Nicolas felt his heart clench painfully at the words readying in his throat. “Natasha took Grace. She’s gone.”

“Gone?” Tyler asked, only able to wheeze the word out from his throat as it began closing. “No, no,” he cried desperately and looked down at Austin. “Sunny, wake up. Please. I need you to wake up and tell me where Grace is. Please,” Tyler begged with her and allowed his head to bow forward, his tears running freely, some dropping onto Austin, meddling with the blood on her. “Please, Aus. I need you.”

Tyler thought he was hearing things as the ambulance turned up, and Austin groaned out weakly. He watched her open her eyes, then consequently blink and strive for consciousness before she recognized him hovering above her.

“Ty-ler?” she rasped his name out, splitting the syllables to his name up as she struggled to keep her eyes open. She panicked as he gazed down at her and she faltered all over again. The look on his face told her this moment was still dire - for her and for Grace. “I’m so-so sorry,” she whispered at him, her ability to stay awake not lasting long. Her consciousness was intermittent for the most part, and Tyler tried his all to keep her with him.

“You’ve got nothing to be sorry for,” Tyler told her, his voice caught in a seemingly tight vice as he strained to speak. He wanted to plead with her, but the moment the EMTs ran in he was immediately
shunted away from the situation, only now aware of his father giving information to Steve about Grace being abducted. He hesitated, unable to leave his wife when he was weak and unable to do anything for either her or their daughter.

“You need to step back, Sir,” the medic on Austin’s right pushed Tyler away.

Suddenly James turned to see Nicolas moving away slowly, but Tyler remained stock still, getting in the way. “C’mon, son,” James said pulling Tyler away from the EMTs so they could work quickly and efficiently.

“We need to hurry. She’s not going to last long if we don’t hurry,” the other medic said, speaking to his partner who forced Tyler away, as he continued to try to stabilize Austin’s state of health. Making it completely impossible for Tyler to remain beside his wife and force himself to believe all would be okay.

Tyler sunk down against the wall, hands on his head, his eyes staring straight at his wife’s face. Her eyes watching him, the look in them distant as she weakened and the medics worked harder. When her eyes fell shut and she became still, Tyler felt his heart shatter - was he about to lose the two greatest loves of his life in one swift go?

***

Tyler sat slumped forward on one of the plastic chairs in the hospital waiting room. He had his father and Austin’s around him, Sienna and Cassie were still unaware about what had happened only hours prior. In his hands sat his photo of his family, the snap shot only taken a few months before. He kept it in his wallet, and right now, it was serving as his sanity. His thumb ran over the smiling face of Grace, as his eyes roamed over the still shot of Austin kissing his cheek while her lips still held a bright, laugh filled smile.

He needed that life back. He needed it to breathe, to function,
to
live
.

“She’s okay,” Tom spoke on approach, cutting into all the tension, making Tyler jump up. “I would love to say she’s resting, but she’s not. She’s distraught and it’s not healthy for her.” He watched them all just stand silent before him, and it unnerved him. However, he decided to carry on, using his medical knowledge as his security blanket right now. “It was a relatively minor surgery,” Tom remarked, knowing that to anyone without the same key knowledge as himself, any form of surgery was major. “They removed the bullet and stopped the bleed all in quick succession. There were absolutely no complications and once the bleed was stemmed, they stitched her
up and brought her up to recovery. She’s got a nasty concussion that is being monitored, but she is already awake. She’s got a lot of bruising and tenderness, especially up her back which coincides with her falling down the stairs, but nothing life threatening. We have to watch out for any problems, but in a few days Austin should be able to go home.”

“Thank God,” Nicolas said, breathing freely for the first time since finding her.

“She can’t have many visitors, and right now, she doesn’t need them. She is too much of a mess, and in her condition, she needs to be resting. She is going to become unstable quickly if she doesn’t calm down.” Even as he said that, he felt stupid. Austin wouldn’t be able to calm until Grace was back in her arms, safe and sound. He looked directly at Tyler, his eyes saddened and heavy with grief.  “She needs you, and I would say you need her.”

“Where is she?” Tyler asked Tom, his tone desolate and void of any emotional output.