by Maya Banks
A few minutes later, a nurse came out and looked over at them. “Are you Toni and A.J.?”
They were on their feet immediately.
The nurse gestured them back. “Matt wants to see you both.”
Toni rushed into the small exam room and immediately fell on Matt, hugging him fiercely. He winced and gently pushed at her. “Let me breathe, sis. If you don’t let up, I’ll have to put the O2 back on.”
She let him go and stood back up beside A.J.
“You okay, man?” A.J. asked, relief flaring in his eyes. He’d been as worried as her she realized now, but he’d hidden it well.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Doc says I have a few bruised ribs, but otherwise, I’m right as rain.”
Toni squeezed his hand tightly, unable to speak around the knot in her throat.
“Hey, how’s Simon?” Matt asked, worry evident in his voice.
“I don’t know yet,” she said quietly. “They haven’t let me see him.”
“Don’t worry,” he said, squeezing her hand in return. “He’ll be fine I’m sure.”
“Steph’s on her way,” A.J. spoke up.
Matt groaned. “She may never let me up.”
“You got that right,” Stephanie announced from the door.
Toni turned to see her rush forward, panic, relief, anguish etched in her face. “I’ll see you later on,” she told Matt as she stepped away from the bed.
A.J. walked out with her, leaving Matt and Stephanie alone.
“I’m going to ask about Simon,” she announced. “I can’t take it anymore.”
She flagged down a nurse in the hall who went to inquire about Simon. In a moment she returned. “You can go in and see him. He’s awake now.”
Toni ran to the room, her heart pounding in her chest. At the doorway, she stopped and stared, drinking in his appearance. He was
propped against a pillow, his large body incongruous with the small bed. His clothing had been stripped, a sheet pulled up to his mid-drift. Some of the soot had been cleaned from his face, but streaks still shone on his tanned skin.
With a cry, she launched herself at him. He caught her against him as she reached the bed. He enfolded her in his arms as she buried her face against his chest. Her tears fell rapidly now, wetting his skin.
“Hey,” he said softly, trying to pick her head up. “I’m okay. Don’t cry, sweetheart.”
She raised her head, tears blurring her vision. She ran her hands over his face, reassuring herself he was alive. “I was so scared,” she said in anguish. “Oh God, Simon. I almost lost you.”
“I’m not going anywhere, baby. Don’t cry. It’s not good for the baby for you to be so upset.” His hands soothed away the tears, and he pulled her face to his, capturing her lips in an emotional kiss.
“I love you, Simon,” she declared, not caring what he thought of her revelation. “I’ve loved you forever. And when I think about what could have happened today, it nearly kills me.” She sobbed openly, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing him tightly against her.
She ran her fingers through his hair then over his face, touching him, reassuring herself he was whole. She leaned her forehead against his, trying desperately to compose herself. They closed their eyes, and he wrapped his arms around her waist, running his hands over her back.
A noise from the door had Toni jerking away. “Sorry to interrupt,” A.J. said with a grin. “I wanted to see how you were doing, Simon.”
He walked further into the room, and Simon situated Toni beside him on the bed, tucking her under his arm.
“I’m doing okay,” Simon replied. “How are you? How’s Matt?”
“I’m fine. Just a bit of smoke inhalation. Matt’s got a few busted ribs, but he’s all right, and Steph’s fussing over him.”
Simon grinned. Toni turned to him. “What did the doctor say about you?”
“He cleared my spine. Said I got a knock on the head, probably from falling debris, but nothing serious. He said my lungs will feel like crap for a day or two from all the smoke, but all in all he said I was lucky.”
She shivered, unable to contemplate the alternative. Her fright, the unspeakable agony she’d endured as she waited to hear Matt and Simon’s condition was rapidly catching up to her. She shook almost uncontrollably. Simon’s arms tightened around her, and he and A.J. exchanged worried glances.
“I need to go to the bathroom,” she said shakily. Her bladder felt near to bursting, and she desperately needed to compose herself.
“Want me to go with you?” A.J. asked, looking doubtfully at her.
She smiled. “I’m fine. Besides, I don’t think it’s a good idea if you go into the ladies’ bathroom.”
“If you aren’t back in five minutes, I’m sending him in after you,” Simon said firmly.
She struggled down from the bed and tested her shaky legs. She wavered on the way to the door, feeling a hysterical urge to laugh.
A.J.’s hand gripped her elbow as she passed him. “I’m fine,” she said brightly. “Really. I just need to use the bathroom. I’ll be fine.”
Simon watched her go, a combination of worry and awe occupying his thoughts. “She loves me,” he said softly when she disappeared from view.
A.J. snorted. “You’ve only just now figured that out? Where’ve you been, dude? I think you suffered more than a knock on the head.”
“No, she told me. She said it. She loves me.” He couldn’t keep the incredulity from his voice. It seemed monumental. She loved him.
A.J. laughed. “You’ve got it bad. That little brunette has you twisted in knots.” His expression grew serious. “You scared the hell out of her today. You scared us all,” he amended.
“I hope she wasn’t too upset,” Simon said. Her tear-filled eyes were more than he could bear.
A.J. rolled his eyes. “Let’s see. The guy she loves is carried out of a burning building and rushed to a hospital. No. I don’t think she was too upset.” He paused and looked intently back at Simon. Simon realized then that A.J. had been just as worried.
“I’m okay, man. I swear it.”
“You took a few years off my life when I had to go back in after you,” A.J. admitted. “All I could think about was what if I couldn’t get you and Matt out. I sure as hell wasn’t going to leave you in there.”
“Thanks, A.J.” Simon reached out and grasped A.J.’s arm. A.J. hesitated then he wrapped his beefy arms around Simon, nearly squeezing the breath out of him. “You’d do the same for me,” he said gruffly.
“Damn straight,” Simon said with a nod. He frowned. “Maybe you should go look for Toni. She didn’t look too good when she left.”
“Don’t mess this up, Simon,” A.J. said quietly. “You know how she feels now. Don’t wait too long to do something about it.”
Chapter Twenty-One
She loved him. It was only beginning to sink in on him. The enormity of what she had said. He remembered all too clearly her earnest declaration, her heart in her eyes. It had humbled in a way nothing else ever had.
Simon sat back on the couch, watching Toni and A.J. haphazardly decorate the Christmas tree. Since he and Matt had been released two days ago, Toni had all but moved back in to fuss over them. He liked having her back around. He’d missed her even though he had spent so much time at her new place. And in her bed.
She loved him. He marveled at how such a sentiment made him feel. Starla had professed love for him, but it hadn’t made him feel like this.