There's Fire: A Friends to Lovers Romance (Where There's Smoak Book 5)

by Nadine Hudson

  Brooke

  I watch Deb fussing over Conner and it makes me smile. She loves him so much. And I get it. He’s easy to love. Plus, he’s her only son. Her only child. She almost had a breakdown when he told her he wanted to be a firefighter. She couldn’t stand the thought of her baby boy being in harm's way.

  I rest my face in my hand and listen to Deb ask Conner question after question. She’s so sweet. She continues talking as she digs into her purse looking for something. I look at Conner and watch his eyelids start to close slowly. I sit up in my chair and whisper to Deb, “I think he needs some rest.”

  Her eyes flash back up to his face and she smiles, “Oh. I think you’re right. C’mon, Ted. Let’s let him sleep.”

  “I’ll walk you guys out.” I follow them out of his room but look back at Conner and hit the lights before heading out to the waiting area.

  Gabe and Bobby are still here and they both stand up as soon as we come through the doors.

  Deb turns to me. “We’ll be right down the street if you guys need anything okay? You’ll let me know if anything happens right?” She doesn’t even give me the chance to answer before pulling me into a tight hug.

  “Of course,” I finally answer, hugging her back. She releases her grip on me as Bobby and Gabe approach us.

  “I’ve kept the rest of the guys updated and let them know that they aren’t letting anyone back but family right now and that he’ll probably be discharged tomorrow anyway,” Gabe explains to us.

  “Thank you Gabriel. I don’t know what we’d do without you.” Deb pulls Gabe into a hug. It’s so strange to hear Gabe being called by his full name. I’ve never heard anyone do it besides Deb. It makes me smile.

  “Brooke, we’re going to head back home. Do you want a ride?” Bobby asks me.

  “Umm, actually I think I’m going to stay tonight.” I look down at my clothes, “And I’d hate to ask but would either of you mind grabbing me some clothes from my house?” I felt guilty even asking. They both look exhausted.

  “I’ve got you covered, Brooke. Come with me,” Bobby says with a smile.

  I follow him out of the hospital and into the parking lot. He pops his trunk and pulls out his to-go bag and hands it to me.

  “They might be a little big on you but it’s just sweat pants and a t-shirt so you should at least be comfortable.”

  “Thanks, Bobby. This is perfect!”

  He gives me a you-got-it nod before climbing into his car.

  “Take care of our boy tonight alright? Call me if you need anything.”

  ****

  The hospital is eerily quiet when I get back inside. I wrap my arms around myself and rub up and down my arms. I look around when I reach the waiting room. Conner’s parents must have left when Gabe did. There is a man sitting by himself in the corner but other than him the room is empty. I reach the doors to get back to Conner’s room and press the button on the wall. The doors open moments later and I head back the hallway. I pass the nurse’s station and there’s one nurse sitting there with her back turned to me. I approach the desk and see her playing on her phone.

  “Excuse me,” I say when she doesn’t acknowledge me standing there. She looks up at me and seems annoyed. Seriously?

  “Could I get a blanket and a pillow in room 303, please?”

  “Sure.” Is all she says. I walk away from the desk and turn down Conner’s hallway. When I get to his door I open it slowly and quietly so I don’t disturb his sleep. I know he needs rest. I slip inside, set Bobby’s to-go bad down on the floor, and I can hear a woman’s quiet voice on the other side of the curtain. Probably a nurse coming in to check on him. I’ll give her a minute.

  I cross my arms in front of me and wait by the door for her to finish up. As I stand there I listen to her talking.

  “Your vitals are all looking good. You seem to be recovering well.”

  I smile from behind the curtain at the good news. Based on how quietly she’s talking I think she’s talking to herself. He must still be asleep.

  “This wasn’t supposed to happen,” I hear the voice say. What? “I never meant for you to get hurt. You were supposed to end up with me. I love you, Conner.”

  My heart begins to pound inside my chest. Her words cause a flame to ignite inside of me. It’s her! She’s the one who’s been helping Ian! I rip open the curtain and find a slender figure standing beside his bed. My entrance makes her jump clearly catching her off guard. She’s wearing a sweatshirt and with her hood up and with the lights in the room turned out I can’t see her face. But I can see her hands. She’s touching him. She’s touching his face. Rage builds up in my body as I scream, “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

  My words startle Conner awake and he quickly looks around the room. “What the hell is going on?” He blurts out.

  Her face turns to me but it’s still too dark to see any of her features.

  “You stupid bitch! You aren’t supposed to be here. You always ruin everything!” The woman screams as she moves quickly toward me. I can feel my heart pounding as my adrenaline rushes through me and I brace myself. I think she’s going to hit me but instead she tries to push past me. I try to get a grip on her arm but she turns and lands a punch against my mouth. A metallic taste covers my tongue.

  I spin back around but she’s gone. I rush into the hallway to chase after her but I hear the door to the stairwell closing as soon as I’m out of Conner’s room. Shit. She’s gone. I walk to the door she just exited from and make sure she left.

  ****

  Conner

  Brooke’s words jolt me awake. I can hear the panic in her voice. I frantically look around the room but my eyes are struggling to adjust to the dark. I can’t tell what she’s yelling at until I see a dark figure beside me rush toward her. What the hell? I watch the person rush out the door and Brooke disappears close behind. Damn it! I look around at my restraints of tubes and wires trying to figure out how to get out of the bed but it’s no use.

  I spot the nurse call button on the side of the bed and press it. “Brooke!” I call out but she doesn’t answer me. I start to panic. What the hell is she thinking? She could get hurt. The nurse rushes into the room moments later.

  “Did you see Brooke?” I blurt out. The nurse looks back at me confused. “The woman that was here with me.” I clarify. “Did you see her? Someone was just in my room that shouldn’t have been. She chased after them. She could be hurt. She could be…” I don’t even get to finish my sentence when I see Brooke come back into the room. She’s breathless.

  I let out a sigh of relief. “Oh thank God.” The nurse turns on the lights and my eyes close instinctually. When they open again I can see Brooke’s face. Her lip is bleeding. “Shit. What the hell happened? Nurse, can you get her something?” I snap, harsher than I intended. Startled she nods her head quickly and rushes out of the room.

  Brooke watches the nurse carefully as she leaves the room then rushes to my bedside, grasping my arm. “Conner, she was here. She was in here with you when I came back from walking your parents out. The one who’s helping Ian. You’re right. It is a woman.” I feel her grip on my arm tighten as she talks. She’s practically shaking and I just want to hold her in my arms and squeeze the fear away.

  “What? Well, did you get a good look at her? Did you recognize her?”

  She puts her head down. “I couldn’t see her face but her voice sounded familiar. The way she talked to you…” She trails off like it physically hurts her to continue.

  “Hey,” I say tilting her face up to look at me, “What did she say?”

  “She said she loved you and that she never meant for you to get hurt. That you should’ve ended up with her. Conner this is all my fault.” I watch tears start to fill her eyes and I pull her against me.

  “Don’t say that. None of this is your fault.” I hear her start to cry into my chest. There’s only one person that has told me she loves me and would be crazy enough to try and pull a stunt li
ke this. “Rachel,” I say quietly into Brooke’s hair. I hear her sniffle and feel her start to pull away.

  “What?” she asks looking up at me.

  “It’s gotta be. She always thought you were the reason I wouldn’t be with her. She was definitely unhinged. It’s one of the reasons I ended things with her. And I remember her telling me that she was a nurse. She would have to be a nurse at this hospital. It’s the only one close to her town and it would explain how she was able to get in. She would have a badge.”

  Everything was starting to add up. The threats against Brooke, the brick through my window. She must have seen us together that night. But there was still something that didn’t make sense. “How did she end up teaming up with Ian? How did they even know each other?”

  I watch Brooke’s eyes grow wide. She must have just figured out the answer to my question.

  “The first week Ian was here we were at Micky’s,” she explains. “I pointed to everyone around the bar and told him who they were and how I knew them. Rachel was there. I told him that she was one of your girls.”

  I lower my eyes at her.

  “Well, I mean, she was at that time. But I also told him how I thought she hated me. He must have reached out to her after everything happened. It couldn’t have been too hard to convince her. Especially if she thought she would get you in the end.”

  I nod my head in agreement. It makes sense. The nurse comes back into the room holding a pillow, blanket, a swab and a bottle of something.

  “Do you still need this?” she asks, looking at Brooke. I watch Brooke test the lump on her lip with her tongue. The bleeding has already stopped.

  “No, I think I’m alright. Thank you. But I’ll take those.”

  The nurse nods and hands Brooke the pillow and blanket. “Is there anything else I can get for you? I’m going to call a supervisor and security.”

  “No, that’s all. And thank you.” The nurse nods again and quietly leaves the room.

  Brooke turns back to me and I take her face in my hands. I softly rub my thumb against the bump on her lip and look it over. My eyes travel around her perfect mouth, her soft beautiful lips. I want to kiss the blemish that Rachel has made. I want to kiss away all of her pain.

  “We need to get some sleep. We can call Jerry in the morning. Hopefully this will help them find Ian and figure this all out,” Brooke says quietly before pulling away from my grip.

  “Okay,” I breathe. I watch her crawl up into the chair and wrap herself with the blanket.

  “Good night,” she whispers to me.

  “Good night.”

  Four

  Brooke

  I hear the door to Conner’s room click shut and it startles me awake. My eyes flicker open and I see a nurse standing beside his bed checking the machines. It’s morning already but I feel exhausted. I hardly slept at all last night. The thought of Rachel being able to come and go as she pleases freaks me out completely. Every little noise made me jump.

  I stretch my arms over my head and yawn. The nurse looks at me and smiles gently. “Good morning,” she says quietly.

  “Good morning,” I answer. “How’s he looking today?”

  “He’s looking good,” she says as her eyes travel down his body. Really? She clears her throat. “I mean he’s looking like he’s feeling good,” she clarifies just a little too late. “As long as the doctor is good with it he should be able to go home today.”

  I grin at her. It’s okay. I know how sexy he is. Normally a knot would form in my stomach when I saw another woman checking him out but for some reason that didn’t happen this time. Maybe it’s because I know he loves me. I don’t feel threatened anymore.

  The nurse finishes up and scurries out of the room. I think she is embarrassed about being caught checking him out. I slide my chair so it’s right beside his bed. I rest an elbow on the edge and sit my face in my hand as I admire him. I watch his solid chest rise and fall as he pulls in one slow breath after another. His perfectly sculpted bicep is propped behind his head and his hair is a hot mess.

  I smile while watching him sleep. How is it possible that he can look this damn good in a hospital gown? I slip my hand under his blanket and reach around until I find his free hand. I pull it out from under the blanket and twist my fingers with his. Not holding his hand just playing with it. This feels so good. So right. I just wish we could be in my bed instead of a hospital room.

  I feel his grip tighten around my hand. I lay my head down and let it rest on our hands.

  “I love you so much. I can’t believe I almost lost you,” I whisper as a stray tear escapes from my eye.

  “Yeah, it’s just too bad it took two psychopaths trying to kill us for you to finally admit your feelings for me.”

  My head jerks around and I see him looking down at me. A sexy-as-hell smirk on his face. I grin back at him.

  “I’m just as surprised as you are,” I tease. “I thought it would have taken a lot more than that but then again, you are the whole package,” I muse, trying to sound as sarcastic as I can. I release his hand and sit up in my chair. Everything has been so crazy around us lately I just haven’t had the time to process our relationship. But after last night, after feeling like I had a hole punched through my chest where my heart should be there’s not a single doubt in my mind that I want to be with him.

  I want to leap into his arms right now and get completely lost in him but I know now isn’t the time. I push the thought from my mind and change the subject completely. “Do you think Jerry will be in by now? It’s eight o’clock.”

  Conner glances at the clock on the wall. “Yeah, he’s probably there. You want to call him together?”

  “Yeah.” I pull out my phone and dial his number at the station before putting it on speaker so we can both hear.

  “Hello. You’ve reached Officer Wise.”

  “Officer Wise. Uhh, hi. This is Brooke Tyson and Conner Smoak.” I can feel my voice shaking as I speak. I don’t know why I’m so nervous all of a sudden. Conner must’ve picked up on it because he spins the phone in his direction and starts talking.

  “Hey Jerry. Listen, we have more information for you.”

  “Okay, well I’ve got some information for you too. You want to go first or do you want me to?”

  “Go ahead.”

  “Okay, well we got Chief Joe’s report from last night's fire and it looks like he’s writing it up as arson. You think this could be the work of our guy?”

  “I’m pretty positive it was Ian. I also think he jumped on our radio channel last night and got us to go back into the building to save someone who was never there to begin with.”

  “Damn.” Jerry says in disbelief.

  “Yeah, anything else?”

  “Umm, oh yeah. I called into the station Ian used to work at in New York City and then I called into the station he was supposed to be transferring to and get this… he hasn’t shown up at either of them. Neither company has even heard from Ian.”

  My blood runs cold through my body. This whole time we’ve suspected it was Ian but hearing it practically being confirmed out loud just makes it that much more real.

  “Well, I think we know who is helping him. I need you to look into a Rachel Bardelli. She’s a girl I used to date and I think she’s been working with him.”

  As terrible as it sounds I am slightly impressed that Conner even knew her last name.

  “What makes you think that?”

  “She showed up in my hospital room last night.” Conner’s eyes flash to me. “And she punched Brooke in the face, then ran out.”

  “Holy shit, Conner.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay, well give me some time and we’ll check it out. I’ll let you know if we find anything.”

  “Okay, thanks Jerry.”

  “Yep, you bet.”

  ****

  Conner

  There’s a knock at the door and shortly after Dr. Reynolds enters the room. She’s looking down
at a file that she brought with her and flips through some pages. “Good morning, Mr. Smoak,” she says optimistically. “How are you feeling today?”

  “I feel good. Thanks. A slight headache but other than that…” I trail off. I just want to get out of here.

  “Good. Good,” she nods reviewing the chart at the end of my bed. It looks like your test results all came back normal so that’s a good sign. I’m still waiting on the results of one more test but as long as that comes back normal we can schedule your discharge for this afternoon.”

  “Great. Thanks.”

  “Sure,” she smiles. “I’m gonna take a listen to your heart and lungs again quickly while I’m here” She starts to move toward me and unwraps the stethoscope from around her neck. “Have you tried to get out of bed yet?”

  “Uh, yeah. To use the bathroom earlier.”

  “Uh huh,” she says as she presses the cold tool to my chest then my back. “And did you have any trouble with stability? Any dizziness or nausea?”

  A little. But I’m not telling her that. I just want to get out of here.

  “Nope. All good.”

  “Great. Well if you’re up for it you have some visitors in the waiting room. I’m open to having them come back if you’re okay with it?”

  “Sure. Thanks.”

  “Names given to reception were Gabe and Joseph? Do they sound familiar?”

  “Uh, yeah. They’re co-workers. You can send them back.”

  “Great. Will do. And I’ll let you know as soon as we get the results back from your last test.” She turns and walks out the door.

  I look back at Brooke but her eyes are still pointed down at the floor.

  “Hey…you alright?”

  She lets out a deep sigh and says, “Yeah. I’m just worried. I feel so helpless. I wish there was something else we could do to help find Ian and Rachel.”

  “Well there’s not much we can do while I’m stuck in here.” I say lifting my arms and showing off the IV needle sticking out of my arm. She gives me a small smile.

  “I know. I just can’t stand going on like this. I mean, hell Conner, we’re basically living in fear until they find them. We’re completely at their mercy.”