Gabe rushed to his side. “Are you okay? What happened?” Gabe placed his hands on Travis’s shoulders and surveyed him for injuries.
Travis removed his oxygen mask and immediately started hacking. Gabe placed the mask back over his mouth and nose. “Take some deep breaths.”
Travis inhaled, then exhaled, and his coughing abated. He chanced to remove the mask again. Deep red blotches covered Travis’s face and neck. Tears filled his wide, scared eyes. Gabe wrapped an arm around his shoulder as Travis shook against him.
“I’m okay.” His throat sounded raw. He leaned into Gabe.
“Good. I know you’re scared, but I’ll stay with you.”
Hospital staff rushed by them, trying to deal with the overwhelming number of patients.
“Are the others all right?” Travis’s voice had the rasp of a whiskey-drinking, two-packs-a-day seventy-year-old.
“I don’t know.” Gabe squatted down to Travis’s level. “Can you tell me what happened?”
Travis coughed, then drew in a stuttering breath. “I was making up a lab with Mr. Smyth and a couple of other students. He was doing a demonstration under that hood thing with the clear sides. He was mixing chemicals. And there… there was an explosion. And….” Travis paused for another round of dry, chest-aching coughs. His eyes misted over. “The sides of the hood blew out.” A sob escaped. “Mr. Smyth’s shirt caught on fire and smoke filled the room. It burned to breathe, and… I… I fell down… couldn’t catch my breath.” His sobs were interspersed with hacking coughs as Gabe took his hand.
“It’s okay. You’re going to be okay. You’re safe.”
He shook his head. “Mr. Sawyer….” Travis hiccupped and shuddered.
Tight bands squeezed around Gabe’s chest at hearing the name, and all the blood seemed to drain from his head. “Mr. Sawyer?”
Chapter 18
TRAVIS FLEW into another coughing fit, and Gabe forced the mask back onto his face, then urged him to lie back onto the gurney. “Rest, Travis. I’m going to find Ms. Messier and see if everyone is okay.”
Travis grabbed Gabe’s wrist, and his eyes widened with a moment of terror. “Gregg.”
Gabe frowned. “What about Gregg? Was he in class with you?”
Travis nodded with a look of desperation. “He was sitting next to me. Please, find out if he’s okay.” Travis tried to sit up again, but Gabe held him back.
“I’ll go find Gregg right now, and then I’ll come back and tell you what’s going on. Okay? But you have to stay here and keep the mask on.”
Travis surveyed Gabe’s face, then nodded.
“Did someone call your dad?”
Travis shrugged and closed his eyes as a nurse came up to the gurney.
“Travis, I need to take you for a chest X-ray.” She unlocked the wheels on the gurney. “Are you his father?”
Gabe shook his head. “I’m his….” Gabe wondered if he should identify himself as Travis’s counselor.
“He’s my counselor.”
Just as Gabe was going to ask the nurse about Travis’s dad, the man came through the crowd. “Travis, are you okay?” His father’s voice was unsteady, and he was pale.
Travis’s eyes filled as he wrapped his arms around his father. Gabe stepped back as the nurse filled him in on his son’s condition. Gabe waved as they moved toward X-ray, promising to find Travis later.
Running a shaky hand through his hair, Gabe went in search of Gregg and Julia and, God help him, Brandt. Was he hurt? How bad? Gabe could barely breathe as the bands around his chest tightened more. Gabe fought his way to the counter, where an overwhelmed receptionist scurried about. As he tried to flag her down, an arm grabbed him.
He turned, and Julia engulfed him. “Thanks for coming.”
Gabe wrapped his arms around her. “I saw Travis. He said there was an explosion in the lab. Dan and Gregg… are they all right?” He couldn’t get the words out to ask about Brandt.
Julia pulled back, wiping a tear from her cheek. “I just got here. The fume hood that should have contained the explosion failed. Flames burned Dan’s arms and stomach. Travis and Gregg and another student in class inhaled the fumes. The smoke filled some of the other classrooms too. We had to evacuate the entire building. It’s a mess.” Julia wrapped her arms around herself. “Is Travis okay?”
Gabe ran his hands over his face. “I don’t know. He can’t stop coughing. They took him for X-rays when his father arrived. Travis wanted me to check on Gregg.”
Julia’s eyebrows disappeared under her fringy bangs.
Gabe shook his head. “I know. His biggest nemesis and he wants to make sure he’s okay.” Gabe could only shrug.
Julia bit at her lower lip and avoided looking at Gabe. Gabe closed his eyes, gathering his courage. “Travis said something about Brandt.” The lump in Gabe’s throat grew as Julia shook her head.
Please no….
“He saved them. You know the science lab is across the hall from the gym. The kids in his gym class said they heard the explosion, and Brandt ran into the science room. The classroom door was closed, so the fumes were strong. I’m not sure what chemicals Dan was using. Brandt carried Dan and the students out one by one.” Julia’s anguish cut right through Gabe. “Brandt collapsed in the hall, and when the ambulance took him, he was still unconscious. I haven’t heard anything else.”
Gabe took in a deep breath. The shaking started in his hands, partially from relief that Brandt wasn’t dead, but also from the knowledge he’d been hurt and he didn’t know how badly.
So help me, if I cry here….
He wasn’t sure what to do. He wasn’t family. Really, in terms of getting medical information, he wasn’t anybody, and that roiled his gut. “I sh-should find out about Gregg. Can you find anything out about Brandt, please?”
Julia nodded. Gabe squeezed her arm, then moved toward the receptionist. The hallway was slowly clearing. Gabe prayed those students had gone home and were unharmed.
The receptionist said she would find out what she could about Gregg. After another hour of pacing and hand-wringing, Gabe was able to see Gregg and then Travis. Both boys, including the third boy in the room, David Ware, were under observation due to chemical burns in their lungs. Barring any complications, a full recovery was expected. Gregg and Travis had both been relieved to hear the other was okay. Something funny was going on there, but Gabe didn’t push it—yet.
Dan Smyth hadn’t been so lucky. Second-degree burns covered his forearms. Luckily, the fireproof gloves and goggles had protected his hands and eyes. His stomach had third-degree burns and would require skin grafts. He was being shipped to the burn unit at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington. And Brandt—the big strong man who’d manhandled Gabe into unadulterated bliss and carried four people out of danger—the ex-soldier, was struggling to breathe, his already scarred lungs unable to get in enough oxygen. They feared he might eventually require a breathing tube. Currently, he was being prepped for transport to Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital in Plattsburgh. When Gabe had asked what “already scarred” meant, Julia hadn’t known.
Since Gabe couldn’t claim family status, or even partner status, because really he wasn’t sure, he’d been shut out. In fact, he had no clue if Brandt’s parents had even been contacted. Julia’s only statement to Gabe was that the emergency contact in Brandt’s employee record had been called. Gabe was nobody to Brandt at that moment. What if he needed Gabe? Would they come and get him?
After thirty minutes of Gabe checking on the few students left, finding out when their parents would arrive, and pacing, anything to keep his mind from the worst scenario, they were informed that Brandt was in the ambulance and heading out. That information had Gabe sprinting to his car for the forty-minute drive to Plattsburgh. Forty minutes alone in the car, forty minutes to think and catastrophize. And man, could he take a situation and bring it to the worst conclusion ever.
GABE SAT in the partially padded waiting r
oom chair at CVPH, legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles, arms folded over his stomach, and head tilted back. Three hours and he’d heard nothing. The ER nurse said when Brandt was stable they’d tell him that Gabe was there for him. That did no good for Gabe’s nerves.
His phone rang. Julia. “Hi.”
“Any word on Brandt?”
He rubbed his face. “Nothing. They keep telling me they’ll let him know I’m here when he’s stable. I don’t even know what that means. How’re things there?”
“A mess. I’m back at the school to oversee the cleanup. The rest of the students have gone home. Travis, Gregg, and David should be out tomorrow, barring complications. School will be closed for a couple of days.”
“How’s Dan?”
He heard her huff. “I spoke with his wife. Carrie said he’s resting, and a burn specialist is coming in to discuss treatment soon. He was lucky his hands and face were protected.”
“Yeah.”
They were both silent, neither seeming to know what to say.
“Do you need me to come there? Hang out with you?” She would if he needed her.
“No. No sense in both of us sitting here doing nothing.” He just wanted to zone out and wait.
“Okay. Call me when you know how he is.”
“I will. Talk to you later.”
Gabe clutched his phone. He wasn’t leaving the hospital until he saw Brandt. Just that morning they had been laughing and joking, planning another evening together. He opened his text app and scrolled through the dozens of text messages they’d shared over the last week. Truthfully, that only served to remind him of what a short amount of time he’d been with Brandt, even if they’d spent nearly all their time in the last three weeks together. He sighed and leaned back to wait.
Dozing lightly, his head filled with images of Brandt with that adorable smirk, those hazel eyes twinkling as he gazed at Gabe, his husky voice whispering in Gabe’s ear. Damn, he felt totally lost and alone. When the emergency doors slid open, Gabe looked in that direction. A tall man in a rumpled uniform—with a white shirt sporting several rows of colorful service bars, blue pants, and shiny black shoes—pulled the cap off his shorn head. The man walked confidently to the receptionist. Tall with broad shoulders, trim waist, graying temples, strong jaw, and light blue eyes, the soldier commanded attention.
“I was called and told Brandt Sawyer was brought here.” The deep Southern drawl was surprising.
The receptionist clicked away on the keyboard. “And you are?”
“Lieutenant Colonel Lucas Gage, ma’am.” He had that same authoritative tone, the same confident air as Brandt.
The receptionist nodded. “You’re listed as his emergency contact. Mr. Sawyer was moved to a room not too long ago. If you follow this hallway and take the first set of elevators to the third floor, the nurses there can direct you.”
The stoic man’s shoulders rounded a bit. “Is he okay?”
The receptionist gave the soldier a sympathetic look. “The nurses can fill you in.”
He nodded and turned toward the elevators.
Gabe rushed after him. “Excuse me. Lieutenant Colonel Gage?”
The officer snapped around, stopping Gabe in his tracks. “Yes?”
Gabe wiped his hands on his trousers, then held one out. “I’m Gabe Reynolds. A friend of Brandt’s.”
He eyed Gabe’s hand in much the same way Brandt had at their first meeting. Gabe waited. Finally the man took Gabe’s hand into a firm grip. “Call me Lucas.”
He nodded and felt like prey as Lucas’s eyes assessed every inch of him. His face gave nothing away. Lucas stuck his hand into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone. Gabe wasn’t sure what he was doing as he clicked away at the screen. When he looked to Gabe and back to the phone and then repeated the pattern, Gabe wanted to shake him. Couldn’t he see how freaked out he was?
“Ahh, that’s you.” Lucas turned the phone and showed Gabe the selfie he’d taken at the baseball game with Brandt and the twins.
Gabe worked hard to suppress the swelling pressure behind his eyes.
“Brandt sent me that picture a couple of weeks ago. Said he’d met someone who, and I quote, ‘sucker punched him in the gut.’ I have to say the man’s never been, well, sucker punched before.”
Gabe tried to smile, but his body was going to explode at any moment. “I need to know he’s okay.”
“Come with me and we’ll see how he’s doing.”
Gabe swallowed repeatedly, pushing that lump down. Feeling as if he finally had control of his raging emotions, Gabe looked up and nodded, wishing he could release the tension overwhelming his body.
As they headed toward the elevators, Lucas asked, “Do you know what happened?”
Lucas pressed the Up button, and as they waited, Gabe filled him in on what Julia had told him about the explosion. When the doors opened, Gabe stepped in after Lucas.
“That’s Sawyer. Always charging into danger. We’ve been friends since we were stationed together at Fort Benning about a hundred years ago.” He chuckled and shook his head. “The man doesn’t have an ounce of fear in that thick head of his.” He scowled. “Fucking hero.”
Gabe remained silent since he didn’t know anything about Brandt’s past. When the doors opened, they proceeded to the nurses’ station. Gabe hung back as Lucas gave his name to the male nurse manning the station. A loud crash echoed through the hall. Gabe and Lucas both turned. A distraught red-haired nurse ran out of the room with a frown. She walked quickly down the hallway and stopped at the nurses’ station. Her bright hair clashed with her lilac scrubs.
“If he doesn’t calm down, I’m going to tie his ass to the bed.”
The male nurse Lucas had been speaking with curled his lips into a smile. “The cavalry has arrived. Meet Lieutenant Colonel Lucas Gage.” He pointed to the soldier.
“Excuse me?” Lucas frowned.
The red-haired nurse came around the counter, hands on her ample hips. “You’re here for Brandt Sawyer?”
Lucas shifted uneasily. “Yes, ma’am.”
“I know he used to be in the military. Do you outrank him?”
Lucas’s eyebrows rose. “He’s not in the military anymore, ma’am.”
“Did you outrank him?” The impatience practically dripped from the words.
“Yes, I did. But I’m not sure what that has to do with now. Is he all right?”
She huffed. “I have a feeling he’s never been all right. That has to be the most stubborn and downright prickly man I’ve ever met. I thought maybe you could order him to shut up and follow orders or something.”
Gabe closed his eyes and thanked God. Brandt had to be okay if he was giving the nurses such a hard time.
Lucas covered his mouth, feigning a cough, but Gabe could see the corners of his mouth twitch. “Not sure he’ll listen to me.”
“We also need to find someone named Gabe before the nurses revolt and he finds himself on the wrong end of an enema.”
Gabe raised his hand and rushed to the desk. “Me. I’m Gabe.”
She gave Gabe a sympathetic look. “He says you’re his partner. You must have the patience of a frickin’ saint.”
“Is he okay? Can I see him?” He just needed to see him with his own eyes. See he was all right.
“He’s been given breathing treatments for the chemical burns in his lungs, which is complicated by a fair amount of old scarring, and with the burns, the amount of oxygen he’s absorbing is low. But he still has enough energy to keep trying to get out of bed and leave.”
Lucas chuckled. “He’s a horrible patient.”
“Can I see him?” Gabe was so close, and this nurse stood in his way.
“Be my guest. Don’t forget your chair and your whip.” She left, grumbling something under her breath.
Chapter 19
LUCAS TURNED to the other nurse. “What room, sir?”
“Second door to your right. Just follow the crashing sounds.” T
he man chuckled and went back to his chart.
As they neared the room, Gabe heard Brandt trying to shout. “Get away.” Pause. “Enough blood.” Pause. “I want out of… here.” His voice sounded weak and gravelly.
Lucas placed a hand on the partially opened door and rolled his eyes. In an instant, he hardened his face and pushed the door open.
Brandt reclined on the bed, his arms pulled tight to his naked chest. A nasal cannula delivered oxygen. A sheet covered his lap, and his chest was bare. His menacing scowl was directed at a young man in blue scrubs. A wild look of confusion and fear in his eyes, the man cowered a safe distance away from the bed.
“Stand down, Major!” Lucas’s voice boomed through the room, and Gabe felt the vibrations through his own chest and froze in his tracks. The man in the blue scrubs spun around.
Brandt immediately looked to Lucas and pretty much stood at attention (as much as one could when in bed). His chest rose and fell in exaggerated movements.
“Major, you will sit still, shut up, and allow this man to draw your blood. Is that understood?”
Brandt’s jaw tightened as he appeared to struggle not to glower at the officer who outranked him—or used to outrank him. “Yes, sir.” He dropped his arms.
Lucas nodded to the frightened phlebotomist. “Go ahead, sir. He won’t give you any more trouble.”
The man’s head snapped between Brandt and Lucas. Tentatively, he moved toward the bed. Quickly spreading out the supplies from the kit on the nightstand, the man prepped Brandt’s arm, then ripped open a package containing the needle. Brandt sighed heavily and turned his head away from the needle-wielding man. That gave the scared man some confidence, and he quickly drew the blood. Took all of thirty seconds, and then he fled the room.
Happily Ever After Isn't Easy Page 14