Protected by Love - Nick Jones

Chapter 17

After watching the building melt, Nick gently pulls Mel with him back toward the road. They walk slowly, now feeling the extent of their injuries. Both of their heads snap up at the sound of police sirens. Mel lets out a breathless laugh.

"Dalton and Wade made it!" She looks up at Nick.

"They fucking made it." Nick whispers, happily.

The police cars and ambulances race down the road toward them, Blake's car in tow. The leading police car stops in front of them. A window is put down, showing an older police officer.

"Melissa Felton, Nicholas Jones?" He asks.

They just nod in exhaustion. Before the cop could do anything else, Mel's name was yelled. Her head snaps up to see her brother, scrambling out of Blake's car. He starts running toward her. She lets go of Nick and runs. They meet in the middle in a hug. He squeezes her softly.

"I was worried we didn't make it in time." He whispers.

For the next few hours, the ambulance is now taking care of Nick and Mel. They've already spoken to the police about what happened. So Mel is now sitting up in the chair, sideways, while Nick is sitting on the floor of the vehicle. He's leaning against her legs as Mel is getting her finger stitched up. They want to take Nick to the hospital to get his thigh looked at. Dalton and Wade are leaning against the ambulance doors, talking with them.

A police officer walks by them with Dalton's camera in a bag.

"Hey! That's my friend's camera!" Nick calls out.

Dalton quickly turns around.

"That's my camera man."

"Sorry, son. This is now evidence." The officer says, before walking away.

The Sheriff walks up and looks at the four young adults.

"You guys okay?" He asks.

No one answers. Nick and Mel just stare up at him while the other two shake their heads, thinking the same thing. 'Did you really just ask that?'

"Well don't worry. We'll get you to the hospital." The Sheriff nods.

"How could no one have known about all of this?" Mel asks, softly.

"Truth is, this town's hard as well to get too. It's been abandoned for years, ever since that sugar mill shut down. Hell, it ain't even on the map anymore. We found all those cars in that old factory. Those Sinclair boys pulled people off the interstate for years. If these boys didn't come when they did, we wouldn't have ever known." He pats Wade and Dalton's arms.

"Excuse me, sir." Another officer walks up. "Louis wants to talk to you."

"Yeah? Excuse me." The Sheriff walks away.

Nick stands up and kisses Mel's head.

"Dalton, come with me."

Nick and Dalton walk away for a minute. Well, Nick limps away. Wade looks down at his sister.

"You know...I'm probably gonna go on a vacation to New York." He says.

"Really?" Her eyes widened.

"She was still my girlfriend and I wanna see what the fuss is all about." He nods.

"I think she'll like that." Mel smiles widely.

"Let's get you to the hospital, you guys have had a horrible night." He kisses her head.

She nods and smiles slightly. Nick and Dalton walk back. Dalton kisses Mel's cheek.

"We'll follow you in Blake's car."