by J P Books
But I can’t talk. I can only look at him. At the beautiful angel.
And then I hear the beeping again.
NO! No, I don’t want to go back into the fire, I shout…
I jolt awake, my heart racing and the sound of beeping creating an auditory source of terror for me. It’s dark, and there are weird lights all around me.
I’m not in my bed and I can’t breathe right! Something’s covering my face. I panic as my hands flail against the plastic mask on my face. The beeping sound grows frantic.
Suddenly, there’s light, and voices, and I can see women in pink coming towards me, but nothing is making sense.
I don’t know what the women do, but the world gets hazy again, and then they disappear…
The next time I open my eyes slowly, they feel dry, and stuck together, as if I had cried myself to sleep. I try to remember if I had cried last night and couldn’t come up with any memory that might explain my sore eyes.
After a few seconds, I realize I’m still not in my own bed.
This wakes me up completely, and I sit up, instantly regretting the movement as my head feels like it’s about to explode.
I groan in pain and bring my hands to my head, trying to steady it. A weird feeling of déjà vu makes me check my face for mask. Nothing. Just my face.
Did I get drunk last night? I wonder, confused.
“You’re awake!” I hear Larissa squeal, way too loud for the condition of my head.
“Yeah, I’m awake,” I say, with a touch more grump that I would usually give. My vision clears and I look up to see Larissa and Stephanie looming over me, both with wide eyes about to pop out of their head.
I look at the room, confused and once again instantly regretting the slight movement.
“What’s going on?” I ask, completely bewildered.
My roommates look at each other silently.
My eyebrow goes up as high as it can go and I stare at them, demanding answers but not sure how to ask the right questions. And why does my throat hurt so much?
“There was a fire,” Stephanie says softly.
A fire, I repeat, in my mind. A fire. The beeping…I remember the beeping.
It slowly starts to come back to me. The weird dream, the women in pink. The beeping and the smoke and…
“How’d I get out?” I ask abruptly, remembering the angel of my dreams and wondering how much of what was coming back to me was dream and how much had actually happened.
Before they can answer though, the doctor walks in.
“And how are we feeling this morning, miss Thompson?” he asks with way too much forced cheer.
“Confused,” I answer simply.
“Yes, yes, I guess you would be,” he smiles at me and I feel like a patronized child. “You were extremely lucky, no burns at all. A little damage to your lungs from all the smoke you inhaled, but you should be fine to leave us later today.”
“Thanks, doctor,” I manage to mutter, wanting so many more details, but preferring to get them from my friends, not some stranger who might decide to prick me with a needle any minute.
Thankfully, he seems to get the message. He taps his board smartly and says goodbye, leaving Larissa and Stephanie to swarm me once again.
“Ok, start at the beginning and tell me everything,” I say.
Apparently, there was some kind of electrical short which started the fire just down the hall from our room. The news is buzzing about it, wondering if there’s going to be a bunch of kids suing the school, even though no one was hurt.
I guess parties are good for something after all – I was the only person left on our floor that night. Stephanie assures me I’ve become a celebrity overnight.
Great, I wince. Just what my reputation needs. The girl who’s so lame she’s the only one left in a building that nearly burns down and she needs to get rescued because she wasn’t smart enough or quick enough to get out on her own.
I want to ask again about how I was rescued exactly, but the girls are still ranting about how all our stuff is ruined and no one is allowed to stay in our building. The college is trying to sort out alternative accommodations, but anyone who has any family or friends in town is being urged to find their own place to stay.
Great, I cringe once more. My family lives hours away and I don’t have any real friends aside from Stephanie and Larissa. Where on earth am I going to stay when I get out of here?
There’s too much to take in and I don’t know which questions to ask first. Larissa has already called my parents, which is a relief. At least I don’t have to worry about them for the moment.
I still want to know how I got out of the building and I’m just about to ask when I look up and see my angel standing at the door with another – equally heavenly – man.
For a minute, I assume I’m hallucinating but when the girls snap their mouths shut and stare at the men in the doorway I realize they’re real.
The two men clear their throats and knock hesitantly on the door, obviously out of politeness more than anything, since we’ve clearly noticed their arrival.
My angel waves and steps forward a bit. “Hi,” he says. “I’m Logan, and this is Drake,” he gestures towards the other man.
Real men then, I think to myself, not actual angels.
“We helped with the fire last night. We wanted to make sure you were ok,” Drake finishes for his friend.
“You rescued me,” I state, even though I meant it to be a question.
The men look uncomfortable, but nod.
Suddenly, there’s a flurry of activity as Larissa and Stephanie grab their purses and remember that they’ve got somewhere to be. Stephanie winks at me from behind Logan and Larissa pinches my shoulder as she hugs me goodbye.
“We’ll be back girl, you take it easy, ok?” Her grin threatens to tear her face open. And then they are out the door, tossing a chorus of “we love you” over their shoulders and giggling like schoolgirls.
As if that wasn’t obvious and embarrassing.
CHAPTER 5
Drake
She’s gorgeous, I think to myself as Logan and I awkwardly pile into the room after her friends left in a blur.
I feel immediately guilty for thinking about her like that, but I can’t help myself. She’s just been through what was probably the most traumatic night of her life and here I am objectifying her.
She is gorgeous, though. Even in a hospital gown, with her hair still mussed from sleeping and just a little smudge of soot left lining her face.
I realize I’m staring when she hesitantly thanks us for rescuing her.
“I don’t know how to thank someone properly for saving my life,” she says, sounding sweet and innocent. “I spend the majority of my days reading and writing and all of a sudden, I can’t think of any words that are big enough to say thank you for what you did for me.”
“Please, don’t thank us,” Logan moves over to her. “We’re just so glad to see that you’re ok. We were worried about you and the paramedics last night didn’t tell us much. They said you’d be ok, but we needed to see it for ourselves.”
She smiles at him, looking sort of mesmerized and I feel a little twinge of jealousy, but I can’t think of anything else to say.
We’re all at a loss for words, it seems, because a very awkward silence sets in.
I’m just about to suggest that we leave, even though it’s the last thing I want to do, when a nurse comes in.
She looks a bit surprised to see us standing there but walks purposefully up to the girl.
“I need to know where you’re planning on staying tonight, so I can draw up your discharge papers. I can’t let you go without an address.” The nurse hands a piece of paper to Nicole, who’s eyes are wide, and she looks slightly stunned.
“Um, I, um…” stammers, staring at the paper and pen she’s now holding. “I don’t know where I’m going to stay yet.”
Her ch
eeks get pink and she avoids making eye contact with anyone in the room. Her shyness makes me want to wrap her up and protect her from the world. She seems so frail, and yet I get the feeling she’s stronger than Logan and I put together, though I couldn’t explain why.
“Just write it down when you have it figured out,” the nurse says. “I’ll come back to check on you later.”
She narrows her eyes at us as she leaves the room, as if we’re intruding on her patient and shouldn’t be there. We probably shouldn’t, but I don’t want to leave.
Nicole looks up at us shyly and I can’t stop myself from smiling down at her. I don’t know anything about her except her first name, but I’m drawn to her. I must forcibly stop myself from going over and taking her hand.
“I just found out that I can’t go back to my dorm,” she starts to explain. “I don’t have any relatives in the city and my friends all live on campus too. I’m sure the University will arrange something…” her voice trails off.
Listening to her trying to assure us that she’ll be fine tugs at my heart.
Somehow the filter between my brain and my mouth has disappeared and I find words coming out that I hadn’t planned on saying. Wouldn’t have said, if I’d thought about them.
“I have a spare room, if you need a place to stay.”
As soon as the words are out, my heart starts to race.
I must sound like a total creep, I cringe inwardly. What kind of strange man offers a young woman a room in his apartment?
I can’t take it back now, without sounding even worse, so I just smile, confidently doing my best to look trustworthy.
“You’re so generous,” she says, her face going red. “I couldn’t possibly impose like that. You’ve already saved my life once, but you don’t have to feel obligated to me in any way.”
I don’t know what it is about her, exactly, but I think I’m more nervous right now than I was running into the burning building last night. My heart’s racing at the slightest glimmer of hope that she might stay in my apartment.
“It wouldn’t be an imposition at all,” I try to assure her. “And I don’t feel obligated, but I do want to help. You’ve had such a horrible experience. I can’t even imagine how you must be feeling right now.”
I look over at Logan, who’s giving me an incomprehensible look, and feel a bit sheepish. “We’re firefighters,” I shrug, “It’s in our blood to want to help and make people feel safe. I’d be honored to have you stay with me as long as you need to.”
My heart continues to race.
“That would be incredible,” she says quietly, and my heart lurches into my throat. I can’t stop myself from grinning like a kid on Christmas. She sees my enthusiasm and smiles back, still looking a little surprised and confused. “If you really think I wouldn’t be in your way, you’d be saving my life all over again.”
“You wouldn’t be in my way at all, I’ll be glad of the company. It gets quiet on our days off.” I reach out my hand for the piece of paper and pen she’s still holding.
Logan picks up the conversation while I write my address, name and phone number on the slip of paper.
I leave it on the table beside her bed and try to tame my excitement down to more respectable level.
I’m wracking my brain for something else interesting to say when Nicole lets out a huge yawn. She slaps her hands over her face and looks embarrassed, but Logan and I both chuckle.
“You must be exhausted,” I say. “We should let you get some sleep.”
“We’re really glad you’re ok,” Logan adds, and pats her leg underneath the hospital cover.
“Thank you,” she says sincerely. “I feel like I’ve slept for days and also not in weeks. My brain is just a little bit bewildered still, I think, but I just can’t thank you both enough. I feel like I’ve found guardian angels.”
Her face gets pink again, and she looks down at her lap. God, she’s cute.
“I don’t know about angels,” I answer, “But we’ll both do our best to live up to the guardian title.”
Smiling, I encourage her to call me whenever she’s ready to leave the hospital, and Logan and I head out into the corridor.
We walk in silence, both of us lost in our own thoughts until we get out of the elevator.
“You lucky bastard,” Logan breaks the silence and I look up at him surprised. He’s grinning at me and I just stare at him without understanding.
“Don’t play dumb,” he says and punches my arm. “She’s gorgeous. If you hadn’t beaten me to it, I’d have offered my place.”
Slowly I realize that I wasn’t the only one to be taken in by Nicole, and I answer his grin with one of my own. Feeling quite pleased with the situation, Logan and I get back in my truck and leave the hospital.
CHAPTER 6
Logan
I pull up to the guest pick up area 10 minutes before I was supposed to be there, but Nicole’s already waiting at the curb. I see her instantly and am so grateful that Drake asked me to pick her up while he got a room ready for her.
I’m beyond jealous that she’s staying with him, but more than anything just relieved to know she’ll be well taken care of.
I can’t figure out if it’s natural for Drake and me to feel this protective simply because we saved her life, or if there really is something special about her that we’re both drawn to.
I park and hop out of the truck, smiling and giving a little wave to Nicole. She looks a little surprised to see me, but not disappointed, I hope?
“Drake is just getting a few things ready at his apartment,” I explain as I go to grab her small bag for her. “He asked me to pick you up, I hope you don’t mind?”
“Oh gosh, mind? No! I’m so grateful to you both, I don’t even know how to thank you enough!” she answers, and I feel a warming in my stomach, appreciating the fact that she feels safe enough with both of us.
I put her bag in the back seat and hold the door open for her. She blushes – it’s so easy to make her blush and she looks so cute with pink cheeks.
“Trust me, you’re doing Drake a favor. He’s always complaining about paying good money for a spare room he never uses, so he’s more than happy to have someone stay over.”
We settle into the truck and I pull out of the hospital, heading towards Drake’s apartment.
“I would have thought his wife or girlfriend might object to having a stranger stay in the spare room,” she says timidly, obviously fishing for information. I feel an immediate sinking in my stomach, knowing that she’s prying into his personal life instead of mine, but she’s just so darn cute that I can’t even really mind.
I laugh a little and answer, “No, no wife. No girlfriend. We’re both bona fide bachelors, just waiting for the right woman to come and sweep us off our feet.” I figure it can’t hurt to share my own single status with her as well, just in case.
“What about you,” I ask. “You said your friends all live on campus…does that include a handsome boyfriend?”
She snorts and her face turns beet red. “No. No boyfriend. Definitely no handsome one. My roommates tend to capture all the hearts before the guys have a chance to even notice me in the background. It’s ok though – I’m told university boys aren’t worth the time, and I’m pretty focused on my studies right now.”
“Your roommates? Are those the girls who were with you when we came to the hospital?” I ask, finding it hard to believe any man could fail to notice Nicole, no matter who happened to be in the way.
“Yeah. Larissa and Stephanie,” she answers. “They’re gorgeous and really fun. Much more dateable than I am.”
I look over at her to see if she’s joking, but she’s studiously staring at the floor by her feet. “I’d say that’s a matter of opinion. I’m sure they’re nice and all, but I can’t imagine any man turning down an opportunity to have a date with you.”
I wouldn’t have believed it possible, but she goes even mor
e red in the face. Can she not know how gorgeous she is?
She looks a bit uncomfortable now though, which makes me feel bad, so I try to take off some of the pressure. I don’t want her to feel like I’m harassing her.
“I don’t know about university boys, but Drake and I will be more than happy to steal your attention away from your studies for a few nights, if you’re feeling up to it. I’m sure your teachers won’t expect any assignments coming in right away.”
“No, they don’t,” she confirms. “When Steph and Larissa dropped of my bag today, they said that the entire University has been given a week off, with students in the dorm being put on standby as to when they’ll be expected to get back to a proper schedule. I’m officially on holiday, I guess,” she smiles over at me, getting her confidence back.
“Well, that’s great news for us,” I say happily. “We’ve got all night and all tomorrow off before going in for our next shift. Drake’s a good-looking guy and all, but I’d much rather feast my eyes on a beautiful woman for a change!”
She giggles, but I don’t think I’ve made her uncomfortable this time.
It’s only a few more minutes before we pull into the parking lot outside of Drake’s building, and by the time I run around to open her door for her, I think I’ve finally succeeded in getting her to flirt back, just a little bit.
“My goodness, chivalry runs deep with you, doesn’t it,” she says when I open her door for her.
I make a mock bow and grab her bag for her once again, leading the way into Drake’s.
He buzzes us in and Nicole murmurs appreciatively at the niceties of the building. He does have a pretty swank apartment, I’ll give him that.
I walk in like I own the place. The truth is, unless we’re at work or Drake is out on a date, I pretty much live here too. As far as I know, I’m the only other person to have ever used his guest room, and a little piece of me wishes I was sharing it with Nicole tonight. Ok…more like a big little piece of me.
“Hi!” Drake comes into meet us enthusiastically. “How are you feeling?”
The look of concern on his face proves it’s not just small talk – he’s still worried about her. I curse myself for not even thinking to ask her myself, even though I picked her up from the hospital. She just looked so great standing there – so shy and full of life at the same time.