Austin gulped with unease.
“What is it?” Austin asked, she was beyond exhausted right now. She knew the anesthetic in her system helped with the pain, but the amount of emotional tears she had shed since the fire far outweighed the tears she had lost over the years. She couldn’t cope with a battle, not even a tiny debate. She had no energy as it was, how could she handle whatever it was Diane was prepared to deliver?
“I want you to leave,” Diane started as she put her hands on the end of the bed. She stood strong and powerful, towering over Austin’s weakened body. “When you’re better, I want you to leave like you did before, and never come back. Pack and leave in the middle of the night. I will even pay for a ticket to whenever you want. Staying in this town is no longer an option.”
“I can’t,” Austin said as the tears built. She didn’t want to be alone anymore, nor did she want to run away from her family who had just accepted her back. She couldn’t do that to them or herself again. She couldn’t leave like a ghost in the night. It almost killed her once; a second time would be less forgivable. “I won’t. I won’t leave. I won’t,” she could feel hysteria beginning to build up from within her soul as it screamed out in displeasure and fear.
“It’ll be easier for everyone involved,” Diane pointed out to Austin. “Natasha can come back, life can resume and you’d be a memory. You do realize that was what you were? It won’t be hard for us all to move on again, forget you were even here. Life was running smoothly before you disrupted it all. Natasha regrets everything, but she and I won’t let you win this one, Austin. Especially not when you threw it all away once before because of whatever reasons, and I will make sure Natasha and Tyler get that life they have been planning. He’ll forgive her.”
Austin knew she wouldn’t agree to this, so she refused to listen. Leaving again was out of the question. “She wasn’t even pregnant,” Austin said as she became even more agitated, “Was she?” she watched the solemn look sober up and mask the older woman’s face. Austin felt her nerves snapping. “Then why the hell should I leave when I have done nothing wrong but want my life back? Why should I leave when you’re daughter is the liar?”
“You threw away your life, Austin. You were the one that chose to leave everything behind and I think it’s time you did that again. It will be the best for everyone involved in the long run and you never know, you might finally get over Tyler Armstrong.” Diane took in Austin’s heartbroken stance, but didn’t find it a reason to heed her outbreak. “You lost out, Austin and no one else is to blame but you in that matter. Now I know you nearly died and everyone is rallying around you, but how long is that really going to last?” she scoffed a laugh at her question, “I know you think you have everyone back, Austin, but six years is a long time to be gone and a lot of things changed. There isn’t a life in Point Arena for you anymore. You no longer belong in this town. They’re all feeling guilty right now, and when that leaves them they will cast you aside and force you from town.” She could see Austin breaking down, the seed of doubt pulsating as it readied to explode. She knew it was only a matter of using the right words to break Austin all together. “No one cares, Dear. They’re just playing with you to make themselves feel less guilty for that damn house burning down. I mean your brothers and Tyler handled that house too, they must be feeling real guilty for letting this happen. I know this hard to hear, Austin but, someone needs to make you see reality. After all, I can see it’s what you think.”
Austin closed her eyes as her heartbreak became too palpable for her to handle. She knew all she needed was a savior right now and she didn’t care who it was. She just wanted Diane to get away from her, for someone to take her venomous words away. She was fighting to not believe the words, but with each new breath it was getting harder to not believe one thing – Nobody cared. They were here filled with guilt. If she ran, she saved herself feeling neglected and left out. If she ran, she would never have to feel that.
Then, the voice that broke the air was tense and red hot with anger. It wasn’t the voice of a person who was here out of remorse. The voice of mother was exactly that – the voice of her mother – stern and ready to pounce on whoever dare hurt her child. “Get out,” Jane spoke after opening the door and hearing the words spoken and the scene that was being created. Like any good mother, Jane was ready to attack. “Get out of here now before I get the nurses to get security. I am trying, with everything I have, to stop myself from laying a hand on you, Diane.” Jane walked to place herself beside Austin’s beside, “I didn’t hear everything, but what I did hear will come back to haunt you, mark my words. I am not here out of guilt. I am here because I woke up to the errors of my ways. I hate myself for it happening this way but, I love my daughter and I want nothing more than to take her pain and make it my own. Right now, you are causing my daughter more stress and pain, and I won’t tolerate that! So you either leave yourself, let security help or I’ll help you. Trust me; the latter won’t be pleasant.”
“I only came to see Austin that was all,” Diane replied sweetly, acting as if nothing had transpired at all. “Nothing else. I just wanted to see that she was okay.”
Having been alerted to the disturbance beginning to erupt, Austin’s doctor had made a direct beeline for her room, and what he found unsettled him. He could see how this distress was affecting his patient. Not only was Austin a mess of tears and having difficulty breathing, but her heart monitor was no longer a steady beat. She was becoming unstable and he was not going to tolerate it. “Ladies, take this outside. This doesn’t continue in this room and certainly not in Austin’s presence. She does not need this additional stress right now,” the doctor told them, his gaze on them dark and serious. He had seen families react like volatile atoms in these situations, but he could tell this was different.
“Out,” Jane growled and moved back to offer the door for the Diane to exit, “Now.”
Once Diane was out, Jane looked to her daughter and knew where she was needed more.
And it certainly wasn’t in the corridor. Giving her husband a look that said it all, he reacted how she hoped. He immediately got up to see that Diane left. Turning back to Austin, Jane actually hoped that Tyler was going to man up and arrive soon. It wasn’t just her family that Austin needed, but it was him as well.
Austin needed to see that guilt wasn’t why they were here. It was love.
Chapter Thirty-Five
HAVING made it back to the hospital after hours of mindless wandering, Tyler hadn’t dared go near the room. He just sat in the corridor, pensive and quiet. He wanted to go in there and make up for lost time. He wanted Austin back, and he wanted the truth. God damn it, he wanted that beyond anything else in the world right now. He also wanted Austin unhurt and happy, but he had to deal with the fate life had given them.
“I don’t think it’s wise you being here,” Tyler heard Jane’s voice carry through the air, drifting closer to him. The moment his eyes were set on her hardened expression he shot up to his full height. “It was your fiancée that seems to be the one that caused this. What I just witnessed makes her a hell of a lot guiltier in my eyes.”
“I didn’t do this though. I wasn’t behind anything. I didn’t mean for this to happen when I left that house,” Tyler defended as he felt his nerves fraying and his willpower to just carry on was reaching an end. He was being punished for Natasha’s actions – present and past – and he wanted that to stop. He had no idea what had happened now, but he was sure what he was going to hear wasn’t going to suit him.
Jane crossed her arms over her chest, “It was your fiancée’s mother who came by today and set Austin off.”
Tyler looked over at Austin as she lay uncomfortably watching her brothers and sister interact, “What do you mean? Why was Diane here?”
“It wasn’t to drop flowers off,” Dean cut in as he came out of the room and approached the pair. “Mom, she’s restless and we don’t know how to calm her. Every time we think we’ve manage
d to she gets worked up again.”
Tyler looked between mother and son and felt his heart begin to pound so loudly his hearing became impaired. “What did she do?” Tyler asked before Jane could speak, his tone heating as no one seemed to want to tell him. He hated being the outcast.
Jane’s face knitted with worry as she looked passed her son and into the room. “She just needs to be left to rest that’s all she needs right now. We can’t do much more than be her support,” Jane commented absentmindedly as she tried to work out how to help her daughter the most.
“Can someone please tell me what the hell happened?” Tyler cut in exasperatedly as no one seemed to hear his pleading. He was panicking now, his mind conjuring up worst case scenarios and torturing him to the point of insanity. “Please.”
Jane looked at Tyler and saw how worried and devoted he was and she knew she couldn’t keep him at arm’s length forever. With a sigh, she finally spoke to him, “Diane was trying to make a plea with Austin to leave when she was better. Told my daughter that her family were here out of guilt, that you’re here out of guilt,” Jane started and looked back at Austin. “Diane was standing over Austin’s bed literally torturing her with her vile words and the next thing we knew Aussie’s blood pressure’s spiked and the doctor stepped in.” Looking to Tyler’s distraught features, Jane knew he had to hear it all, not only the pieces he wanted to hear. “Austin told me that Natasha wasn’t pregnant at all. That when she asked Diane the look she received said it all. Ever since she hasn’t been able to calm down enough to rest like she should be.”
“I don’t know what’s best for her right now,” Dean spoke up, his tone full of worry and concern for his baby sister. “I just want to get past these couple of days and get her on the road to recovery.”
“Mom,” Daniel called out as he left the room with Sienna and Tom right behind him, “Aussie wants to talk to Tyler.” Everyone looked at him and he shrugged, “She saw him out here and said she needed to talk to him now.”
Looking to a man she had deemed a son years ago, Jane smiled a little. She had to give him the benefit of the doubt, “Don’t stress her out.”
“I won’t, I just want my life back,” Tyler admitted softly, “That’s all.”
“Go then,” Jane gave him a warm smile, trying to give him the confidence to take this opportunity and use it wisely. The moment she closed the door, she prayed she was doing the right thing.
Standing in the room, he found that suddenly his throat was dry, his words sticking to his mouth. Clearing his throat, he tried to muster the strength and courage to do this right. He allowed his gaze to fall upon Austin’s after trailing up her body and he felt his heart slam into his chest harder than ever. His procrastination to say or do anything caused Austin to speak first.
Austin’s eyes narrowed on Tyler for a moment, “Did you know she lied about the baby?” she breathed the words out in one nervous exhale. “And did you know that Diane sent Natasha away?”
“No,” Tyler told her honestly. “I didn’t and I still don’t know what to think. It’s like everything is getting crazier by the minute and now look where we are. I know that Natasha looks guilty and I will get to the bottom of this, Aus. I can’t do this anymore. I can’t live a life with her when she built it on lies. She stole you from me. She made you leave me. I made you leave me. I can’t do this life without you anymore and I will do whatever it takes to get you back.”
Tyler watched Austin fight with her inner demons for a moment. He could see the struggle she was in, he knew he had to nip her doubts in the bud now or let her get lost to them forever. He had to speak now or forever be a mouse instead of a man. He didn’t want to carry on being the fool of Point Arena.
“I understand this is hard for you, but this is hard for me too, Austin. I lost out too, and now I can’t stop blaming myself for the reason why you left,” Tyler said, his tone going up an octave or two with his heated frustration. “I pushed you to leave; I helped you on your way. I didn’t know why you left, so I blamed you. I thought you left because you didn’t love me, but it was you thinking that I didn’t love you. It was never that. I was young and thought that if I didn’t take my chances then I’d lose them all.” Tyler took a shuddering breath, his eyes dropping in shame, “I did lose them all. I lost the one thing I loved most, I lost you.”
Austin gave him a tired, painful grin. “I came back didn’t I?” she asked him and looked him in the eyes. “It might be passed a simple apology, but I really did come back because I’ve missed you and always loved you. I can’t stop my heart from wanting you, Tyler, as much as I could want it to, it never will.” She didn’t realize she was crying as she spoke, “It’s always going to be you, no matter who you love.”
“It’s always going to be you,” Tyler started and saw her losing grip on her emotions entirely. “I love you, Austin, and I will spend every day proving that to you. I will make sure everyone knows the truth. I will make you realise that I meant nothing I said when I said I hated you.”
“You don’t have to,” she told him doubtfully. “Really, there’s no need. You’ve got a life.”
Having to smile at her disbelief, Tyler knew he was going to have to fight to clear her name, to make her stay, to make her believe that Natasha and him were through. He had to make her realize where his heart had been, because it hadn’t been in Point Arena. It had been right there with her. “When you’re more up to it, Baby Girl, we need to chat. A proper chat that is,” Tyler told her as he stood in his spot, never closing the gap at all.
“I know,” she told him sincerely. “I guess you, of all people, deserve to know the truth.” She looked down as her eyes burnt with tears again and exhaustion swept through her. “I thought that baby would bring you back to me, but it didn’t. It proved that I had lost you for good.”
Tyler’s hands on the end of the bed gripped tightly, “Not right now, Aus. I need you to get some strength back and get better. That talk can wait.”
“Just know that I wished I had told you,” Austin told him ashamedly, she regretted her actions. “Every day I wished I had.”
Watching her, Tyler wished he could just look after her as if they were nineteen again. He wished he could swoop in and hug her and kiss away her woes, but for now, he had to just sit and watch from the sidelines. “You get some sleep and I’ll come by when you want me too. I have something I need to take care.”
Austin knew that Tyler hadn’t changed much in the time since she had left, “Tyler?” she weakly called out when he put his turned to leave.
“Yeah?” he asked quietly as he tried to keep his voice smooth as though not to show her he was breaking down.
“Don’t do anything you’ll regret,” she told him exhaustedly and finally closed her eyes.
Tyler looked back and watched her for a moment. He lowered his head as he left the room and didn’t speak to any of the Pearson family, he just walked out, ready to find the truth and clear up his messy past.
He knew he was going to lose everything but he wanted the truth – from Natasha and from Austin.
Chapter Thirty-Six
FIVE days?” Tyler questioned at first, “It’s taken you five fucking days to come back!” he shouted looking at Natasha as she stood in front of him. He had literally become literally crazed, spending every waking moment on a manhunt. It had been five days since he had watched his life burning down before him. He had spent the last three days following up on every lead possible to find Natasha. He hadn’t even seen Austin. He just became obsessed. So much so, when he came to Natasha’s parents’ house he had brought backup. He was more than happy to find her walking up the front yard to the door.
“Mom thought it was better for me to get away,” Natasha replied and made her tone of voice almost whiney trying to gain some sympathy. She was still a victim in her world.
“Bullshit,” he bit the bullet and waded in with interrogating the truth out of her. “Why did you ever have to lie?” Tyler ask
ed her brokenly, “About Austin, about being pregnant, just about everything. Was that all I was worth? Was I only worth a bunch of lies to get back at someone?”
“No, never,” Natasha gasped, putting on a convincing act as she stepped towards him. “It wasn’t about you, it was about me. I said I was pregnant to get you to stay with me! That was me, not you!”
“Well you sure made it feel like the fucking other way around!” Tyler told her, not tempering his anger for that moment. He had become a fireball of emotion and now he had the person he needed, he was unable to hold back.
“Fine,” Natasha sighed and knew she had to tell him the truth to be able to get anywhere. “I was jealous when I saw how happy she was that night. Talking about that baby like it was the best news ever.” Natasha began and looked at Tyler and saw him trying to remain strong as he was finally delivered the truth. “I heard her say she was going to you and would take you home right away so she could tell you. She couldn’t wait to tell you, you were going to be a dad and I snapped. I wanted that happy smile off of her face once and for all. I told her that you had bought me a necklace just like the one you had brought her that she worn every fucking day and when she fought back I just pushed her out of my way. She fell awkwardly onto the back of a bench. I told her I would tell you that she said to stay out late and I did. Next thing I know Point Arena was without Austin Pearson. It was like all my dreams had come true.” Natasha hadn’t meant to make it sound like she was gloating, but it did, and she was ashamed of that fact.
“And the house? All the evidence points to your involvement,” Tyler asked her through gritted teeth. He was trying to keep his anger on a leash because otherwise, he knew he was going to lose it completely. “Why did you ruin that too?”
A Fire That Burns Page 18