The Fighting Series (Books 1-5)

by Nikki Ash

  “Yeah, I’m heading back to the house now. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  “Okay, sweetie. I’ll see you when you get here.”

  I hit end on the phone and begin jogging back to the house. Respiratory failure from smoke inhalation? It doesn’t make any sense. Where the hell was he that he was inhaling smoke?

  Seventeen

  Liz

  Three Hours Earlier

  “Bella, if you don’t get out of bed right this instant I’m going to hide Maleficent from you!” I yell down the hall to my sleepyhead daughter as I finish getting dressed.

  I have an interview at an accounting firm and, if we don’t get moving, I’ll never make it across town in time. I don’t know what I was thinking agreeing to an interview so close to when I have to drop Bella off at school.

  The first week of school went great. She was so excited to be going, she was up and ready before the crack of dawn. Now, the newness has worn off and she’s back to wanting to sleep until noon. Not happening, especially not today. I finish putting on my heels and run back to her room to make sure she’s up and getting ready. The fact that she didn’t respond to my threat of taking away her favorite movie isn’t a good sign.

  I walk inside her room and sure enough she’s still curled up in her sheets with her little head poking out softly snoring away.

  “Bella Faith! You’ve got to get up. Did you hear me? I’m going to take away Maleficent for a week.”

  She pushes her covers down just enough, so I can see her attitude peeking through. “Oh, Mommy, you can have it because it’s not my favorite no more. Dolphin Tale is my new favorite.” See? Didn’t I tell you? New movie every month!

  She starts to contemplate something, and if I wasn’t running so late, I might find it funny. Then she actually has the nerve to say, “Mommy, if I get out of bed, can we go buy a dolphin? I want a Winter! Pleeeease!”

  And with those words, I draw the conclusion my daughter could be a professional hostage negotiator, and to be honest, at this point, I probably would buy her her own dolphin just to get her out of bed, but I’m definitely not going to tell her that. Parenting rule number one: You don’t give in to the battle. You give in once and it’s all downhill. At this rate, by next week, I’ll have to buy her a car to get her out of bed.

  “Bella Faith Browning.” I’m trying hard to keep my composure because you can’t let the enemy know you’re sweating. “No, I will not buy you a dolphin, and I’m not negotiating with you. They belong in the ocean! Get up now.”

  She starts giggling. Yup, actual full-on giggling. I have no clue what she thinks is funny, but in a second I’m going to send her butt to the ocean to play with the dolphins!

  “Bella what is so funny? Please get out of bed.”

  “Mom,” she says between giggles. “I don’t want to buy a real dolphin! I want to buy a cute squishy one at the toy store. One that is grey and smooth just like Winter the dolphin. Duh! Where would we even put a real dolphin? Wait a second, can it fit in the bathtub? How big is a real dolphin?”

  Once again, Kayla, my savior, comes to the rescue.

  “How about you go to your interview and I’ll take Bella to school? I have the morning off. They’re cutting back hours at the sports center.” She’s sporting a sad smile, which tells me her loss of hours is really upsetting her even though she doesn’t want me to worry.

  God, I’m such a crappy friend. Kayla works so hard and she’s stressing out since she’s the sole provider in this house. I really need to get this job. She’s done so much for us over the years. I need to pull my weight around here as well.

  “Okay, thank you,” I say, as I glare at my darling daughter who’s back to snuggling under the sheets. I’ll deal with her later, hopefully after I’m gainfully employed.

  “Wish me luck.” I kiss Bella on the forehead and give Kayla a one-armed hug before I rush out the door, hoping I’ll be coming home employed.

  * * *

  I’m at the interview and it’s not going well. First of all, my phone keeps vibrating in my purse, which keeps distracting me. On top of that, the gentleman, Bernard, who’s running the interview is speaking in a monotone voice and looks like he’s bored out of his mind to be here. I know. I know. Do I really expect a job that involves crunching numbers to be fun? I guess not, but I think he should at least look somewhat happy to be here. If this is how I’m going to look if I get a job here... No, thank you.

  My phone vibrates in my purse again, and he looks at me with a brow raised, daring me to answer it. What the hell, I’m not going to take this job anyway. What if it’s an emergency?

  I excuse myself for a moment to take the call. “Liz, thank God you answered.” I glance at the screen, but it doesn’t have a name on the caller ID.

  “Um, yes, it’s me. May I ask who’s calling?”

  “Liz, it’s Bentley. Listen, there has been an accident. Kayla and Bella are both in the hospital. I was here getting my hand checked out and saw them come in the ambulance. You need to get here right away.”

  Without bothering to explain anything to Bernard, I grab my purse and, with the phone still to my ear, run out the door with a million horrible thoughts going through my head. “Okay, I’m on my way. Bentley, are they okay? What happened?”

  “I don’t know. I’m not family so they won’t tell me anything. Apparently, you’re Kayla and Bella’s only emergency contact and they’ve been trying to reach you. I would get down here now.”

  After telling him once again, I’m on my way, we hang up.

  As I drive down the highway, I feel like I’m having a panic attack. Not having any idea what’s wrong causes me to consider every worst-case scenario possible, and as a mom, those scenarios are really freaking scary.

  After going at least twenty over the speed limit, and running every light and stop sign on the way, I make it to the hospital and run up to the front desk in a panic.

  “Hi, I need to find out what’s happened to Kayla Peterson and Bella, I mean Isabella Browning. I was told they were brought in by ambulance. Do you know where I can find them?”

  The nurse gives me a small smile and types on her computer. “Isabella Browning is the children’s wing, room 245C, and… Kayla Peterson is in the patient recovery wing around the corner, room 156R. It says here they were brought in for smoke inhalation.”

  My heart starts beating even faster, my lungs feeling like they’re having trouble working. It’s suddenly hard to breathe. Oh God, my poor baby and Kayla. “Smoke inhalation? What happened? Are they okay?”

  “I’m sorry, ma’am. Unfortunately, I can’t answer either of those questions. It does say both are stable. If you want to head to the children’s wing, the nurse there can fill you in.”

  I thank her and head to the children’s wing first. I hate that I can’t go to both of them, but I know Kayla would understand the need to get to my precious baby first.

  When I reach the second floor, the sound of a child crying causes goose bumps to prickly my skin. Every mother knows her child’s cries. Not only is it the sound of child’s cry, but it’s a cry of pain. I pick up my pace and rush into her room, and what I see, breaks my heart. There are what looks like two nurses and a doctor standing over Bella while trying to hold a mask over her face. She has an IV in her arm and she’s thrashing around crying. The nurse is trying to soothe her, but isn’t having any luck.

  I make my way to her bed and lock eyes with my little angel. Her eyes are red and blotchy and filled with tears. Her cheeks are stained pink, telling me she’s been crying for a while. The doctor and nurses try to speak to me, but the only thing I can focus on is getting to my baby and hugging her. I wrap her into my arms, holding her close, and attempt to inhale her shampoo, but it doesn’t smell right. I can’t think at the moment what it smells like, though. She’s okay and that’s all that matters right now. I can feel her pulse and her heart beating, and that means she’s okay.

  Bella sobs against my chest, her h
ot tears spilling onto my skin. I pull my face back a little, trying to kiss away those tears as I rock her back and forth the best I can from next to her bed, murmuring softly into her ear, “It’s okay, baby. It’s okay. Mommy’s here.”

  She finally calms down and the doctor begins to explain what’s going on. “I can’t give you the specifics of what happened since the police and firemen haven’t come in yet, but according to the EMT’s that brought your daughter in, she was in a fire.”

  I gasp and look down at Bella to reassess her. She looks okay. I do a mental inventory of her body parts, looking for any indication she was in a fire. Her arms look okay and her face is perfect aside from the tearstains. I pull the bedding down to check her legs and everything looks okay. When I get a closer look, though, I notice she has soot all over her hair. I sniff her again, recognizing what I smelt is smoke, like what you smell when you sit around a campfire too long.

  I bring my attention back to the doctor and he continues. “When she came in, she was coughing very badly. We hooked her up with a saline drip to make sure she’s hydrated and when you walked in, we were trying to get her to put an oxygen mask on to help the oxygen flow. We did a scan and her lungs are clear. She’s very lucky, ma’am. The man who saved her covered her face with a wet wash cloth, which kept the smoke from entering her lungs.”

  I feel like I’m in a nightmare. I have no idea where Kayla and Bella were or why they were with a man who needed to save Bella. “Thank you, doctor…”

  “Dr. Maven. Please let me know if you have any questions. I’d like for your daughter to breathe into the oxygen mask as much as possible and we’re going to keep her overnight to monitor her to be on the safe side.”

  He gives me a smile, and I shake his hand. I sit next to Bella and thank God she’s okay, and that’s when I remember Kayla.

  “Um, nurse...” I look at her nametag. “Nurse Holly. Is there any way you can stay with my daughter for a few minutes? My best friend was brought in with my daughter at the same time and I have no idea how she’s doing.”

  “Absolutely. I’ll be happy to keep Bella company while you go check on your friend.” She turns to Bella and bribes her with an iPad to play with if she can put on her oxygen mask for a few minutes. Bella gives in, of course, because, really, what child would turn down the chance to play electronic games? I give Bella a kiss on her cheek and tell her I’ll be back soon.

  I head down the hall to the adult recovery wing and press the button on the elevator to go down. I need to call Bentley to thank him for getting ahold of me and to let him know where Kayla’s room is. As I’m getting on the elevator, I’m staring down at my phone, and without realizing it, I run straight into the wall. Only, it’s not actually a wall, but a beautifully fit man, and that man is Cooper standing in front of me. My breath catches and he looks just as confused to see me.

  “Did you come here to see Bella?”

  “Um, no. I came here to see my dad… well, not see him… Wait, Bella is here in the hospital? Is she okay?”

  He visibly begins to panic, so I grab his hand to calm him down. “Yes, she’s here, but she’s okay. I don’t really know what happened. I was actually just heading to see Kayla. This is all so crazy. Both of them were brought in by ambulance. Bella inhaled smoke, but the doctor said she’s okay. However, they’re keeping her overnight to be on the safe side. I haven’t had a chance to see Kayla yet, so I don’t know how she’s doing or what the heck happened. I guess some guy was there and saved Bella. I really need to find out who he is and thank him. The doctor said he saved her life.”

  When I notice that Cooper has visibly paled, I stop rambling. “Cooper… are you okay?”

  Eighteen

  Cooper

  I can feel my heart shatter. I mean, I can actually feel the pieces falling apart as Liz tells me our daughter was brought to the hospital. I don’t even know this little girl, but I can feel it in my heart and in my bones when she tells me about what happened. To think I could have lost her before I even got to know her. What was I thinking taking time to consider whether I should be in her life? I’m her father. It’s not her damn fault I was raised in a shitty situation. That little girl deserves the world and she deserves for her father to be in her life. I have so much to make up for.

  “…I guess some guy was there and saved Bella. I really need to find out who he is and thank him. The doctor said he saved her life.”

  I suddenly feel sick when I hear Liz speak these words. What are the odds that my dad’s cause of death is the same reason my daughter was brought into the hospital? Something is definitely off. It’s all way too much of a coincidence. She stops talking and looks at me closely, then asks if I’m okay.

  I clear my throat. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay. If you’re going to see Kayla, who’s with Bella?”

  Liz straightens up, and it hits me I just asked that too harshly. She probably thinks I’m judging her. I quickly back track before she flips out. “I’m just asking because I can go stay with her if you want. I mean, if it’s okay… you know, while you go make sure Kayla’s okay.”

  Her body relaxes and she gives me a small smile, but it isn’t her usual happy one. It’s got a sad tilt to it.

  “I would like that Cooper, but…” She stops for a second to consider what she’s going to say next and then sighs loudly. I can tell she’s exhausted, so I don’t give her a chance to explain. I get it. I might be Bella’s dad, but she doesn’t even know me.

  “You don’t have to finish your sentence. I completely get it. She doesn’t know me and seeing me would only confuse her. It’s okay. I’m really glad she’s okay. I was actually meaning to call you. I’ve thought about everything the last few days and I’d really like to be a part of your and Bella’s life, if it’s still on the table, that is.”

  She gives me a soft smile and then wraps her arms around my waist. As she hugs me, her body shakes with soft sobs. I can’t even begin to imagine how emotional she must be, and I have no words to comfort her, so I put my arms around her back and rub circles to try to soothe her, just letting her cry it out.

  After a few minutes, she calms down, then backs up and gives me a shy smile. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I’m glad you want to be a part of our life. That makes me very happy. I better go check on Kayla.”

  Her phone rings from her back pocket, and after looking to see who it is, she answers the call. “Hey, Hayley, I’m so glad you called… Yes, we’re at the hospital now, but Bella and Kayla are in different wards… Great, thank you so much… Okay, bye.”

  She turns to me and looks a little calmer. “That was Hayley. Bentley called her and told her we’re here. She’s going to come and stay with Kayla tonight, so I can be with Bella.”

  “That’s good. I’ve only known Hayley for a few months from the gym, but she seems really nice. She’s a good asset to the gym.”

  “I can’t believe she’s been working with you the last few months and I had no idea you were working with her.” She laughs softly.

  “Yeah, it’s crazy. Do you mind if I join you in visiting Kayla? I think Bentley is in there with her.”

  I need to get to the bottom of all this, and since Kayla was there, I’m hoping she’ll help me get some answers. Luckily, Liz agrees to me joining.

  We get to Kayla’s room and Bentley’s sitting by the side of her bed, holding her hand. Kayla’s eyes are closed, and I can’t help but think the worst. She must hear us approach because she opens her eyes and starts crying, and although she looks devastated, at least she’s alive and okay enough to cry. Liz runs over to Kayla and gives her a hug. They both cry for a few minutes and then calm down.

  “Oh, God, Liz. I’m so sorry. I don’t even know what happened. After you left, Bella asked for ten minutes more in bed so of course I gave in because I’m a softy. I went back to my room to browse the online classifieds to see if there’s anybody looking to hire a physical therapist. I must have dozed off because the next thing I know
the fire alarm was going off. I immediately ran to Bella’s room to check on her and to see what was going on, but when I stepped into the hallway the whole apartment was filled with smoke. I ran to Bella’s room, but it was empty. I started freaking out. I checked her closet, under her bed. I screamed her name several times.

  “That was when I started to choke on the smoke, but I swear to you, I kept looking. I went to the bathroom to see if she was in there and I couldn’t find her anywhere. By then I heard the fire sirens so I knew they would be there soon, but I kept looking.” At this point, Kayla is crying hysterically, tears pouring down her cheeks.

  “I started to panic and ran to the kitchen. The smoke was just too much and I blacked out. She could’ve died and it would’ve been my fault. I’ll completely understand if you hate me. I hate myself. I just don’t know what happened. Nothing was on. It doesn’t make any sense. Anyway, the next thing I knew I was in the ambulance and they were giving me oxygen. I told them there was a little girl in there and they said she was already out. I thought maybe she got herself out, but the EMT said some guy got her out. I don’t know who, though, maybe a neighbor. I’m just so thankful she got out.”

  “It’s okay,” Liz says. “I could never be mad at you. Yes, things could’ve ended badly, but thankfully they didn’t. I know you would give your life for Bella. I’m just so glad you’re both okay.”

  As they’re talking, there’s a knock on the door and in walks a police officer with two firemen. Hopefully we’ll get some answers from them because right now I have some crazy thoughts going through my head.