by Emma Nichole
“I won’t let you die out here, baby… I promise,” I tell her, even though she can’t hear me, then I slice into the seat belt across her lap, cutting it into two pieces.
As expected, her body begins to slide down from the seat, but I grab her, as best I can, guiding her down until she’s lying on top of me.
Cradling the back of her head, I roll us to the side so I can help Grady get her out.
“Grab her legs!” I tell him, trying my best to protect her head and body because I just don’t know how extensive her injuries are.
“I’ve got her, I’ve got her!” he shouts back, as he begins to pull her free.
I don’t want to move, not even a little, until I can see she is completely out of harm’s way.
The moment her feet clear the window and Grady confirms she’s clear; I begin the slow process of extracting myself from the car with careful precision.
A crack of thunder sounds through the air and lightning flashes with the loudest snap I’ve ever heard in my life, just as my legs clear the window frame.
“Isaac! Look out!”
Snap.
Crash.
Chapter 25
Sawyer
Beep.
Turn it down.
Beep.
It’s so loud. My head is killing me.
Beep.
Wake up, babe.
That voice. It sounds so distant in my head. So far away it’s like it didn’t even happen, like I’m imagining it.
I swear I can feel him. Whenever he’s close by, my heart races and my skin heats, like they know he’s around... like they’re waiting for his touch or attention.
Beep.
I just want to talk to you.
There are muffled sounds, movement, whispers... a door.
I blink my eyes open, but close them just as quickly because the light over my head is so bright that it’s shocking.
“Lights,” I say, or try to say. I’m not even sure the words come out. My mouth is so dry I can’t even move my tongue. It’s essentially stuck to the roof of my mouth and my lips feel dry and tight.
“Sawyer?” another voice, a different one, calls to me.
“Lights,” I say again, louder this time. “Bright.”
“Lights. Okay, I’ll turn them off. I’ve got it.”
I can hear the shuffling of feet and the click of a switch before darkness washes over my eyelids, giving me the sanctuary to open them without fear of pain.
I blink once, twice, then look around. A hospital room. I take stock of my body, trying to focus. Where am I hurt? How badly am I hurt?
I look down at my chest; my right arm is in a splint, lying across my body right under my chest. I feel like I’ve been repeatedly punched in the face, and my head is killing me, but all in all, I think I’m okay. It’s not lost on me how lucky I am to be breathing right now.
“Sawyer?” the voice says again, this time closer... much closer.
“Liv?” I turn my head toward her and see her standing against the door, dressed in leggings and a baggy tee. She must have just come here from bed.
“You scared the shit out of me.” She places her hand on her chest then begins to cry. “You can’t do that to me. Never again.”
I can feel a tear slip from my eye and leave a wet trail down my cheeks. “Water?” I ask.
“Yes. They left you a pitcher.” She pulls the rolling tray closer to me and pours water into a paper cup from one of those white and pink water pitchers that apparently come standard in every hospital.
She guides the straw between my lips and I suck the cold liquid into my mouth. It’s so refreshing and needed I swear I can hear my tongue sighing in relief.
“Thank you,” I say, then reach for her, wanting my friend to come closer, to hug her so she knows I’m all right.
She shakes her head. “You have so many tubes and wires. I can’t.”
“Liv, you’re not scared of anything. Come here, please.”
I pat the small side of the bed for her to sit next to me. There’s an IV stuck in the top of my hand that I hadn’t even noticed before, but it’s not attached to anything. Thank God. That makes me queasy.
She very gently half-sits on the bed next to me, and I lay my hand in her lap to hold her hand.
“Every single worst-case scenario ran through my head when I found out.” She stares at my hand as she talks. “You’re my best friend. I was so scared you were going to be so hurt, or worse.”
“But I’m okay, so no more tears.”
“How long have I been here?” I look toward the window. It’s still dark out.
“Just a few hours. You lost consciousness for a while. You hit your head really hard. The doctor said you have a concussion and a fractured arm. You’re pretty beaten up, but you’re incredibly lucky. Once they got you here, they gave you something in your IV for pain and I think that just kept you asleep for awhile. They did some scans to check your head, but said besides the concussion, there isn’t any swelling or bleeding. And when you hit the steering wheel, it cut your forehead open pretty bad. Sawyer, they said there was so much blood.” She looks down at our hands.
“That explains the throbbing.”
“Do you remember what happened?”
The lights flash in my eyes, the tires screech in my ears, my stomach drops as the car flips... It’s vivid in my mind, until that moment… after that, there’s nothing.
“Not really. I just remember swerving and then waking up here.”
The door to the hallway pushes open, sending light slicing through the room and revealing the black silhouette of a very backlit man that nearly fills the entire doorway. He’s stock-still... unmoving until he speaks.
“Ah, I’m glad to see you’re awake, Ms. Westbrook,” he says, as he steps into the room. He’s an older gentleman with a balding head, a white jacket synonymous with doctors, and a stethoscope around his neck. “I’m Dr. Wilder. I’m a trauma physician here in the emergency department.”
“Hi,” I say weakly.
He peeks over my chart again then adjusts his glasses. “You gave everyone quite a scare, but I’m happy to report that you’re going to be just fine. You took a nice bump on the head and you’ve got some cuts, scrapes, bruises, and that fracture in your arm, but overall, you made it out of this fairly well. As long as your vitals stay steady and there isn’t a change on the scan I’d like to do tomorrow morning, we’ll have you out of here by dinnertime tomorrow. How’s that sound?”
“That sounds perfect to me,” I tell him.
“Good. Now, I’d better go tell that boyfriend of yours you’re awake. He’s been pacing the waiting room for hours.” He laughs as he exits the way he came.
I nearly sit straight up, and I think I would have if I were able. “What? Isaac is here?”
Olivia nods. “He was the one who called me. He and his station were the first on site, sweetie. He pulled you free.”
My bottom lip begins to tremble and wet, hot tears fill my eyes as I try to process it all.
“Is he okay?” I ask in a husky tone, my dry throat and impending cry making it even deeper.
“I’ll go get him and you can see for yourself.” She bends to kiss my forehead before leaving me alone for a few moments to prepare myself. The last time we spoke, it was in anger. I have so many things to say, so many things to take back.
I can hear the loud footfall, like someone is running down the hallway before it stops just outside my door… and pushes it open.
He’s backlit, of course, just like Dr. Wilder was, but that doesn’t last long.
He takes another step into the room so the small light shining from the bathroom reveals his face to me. He’s filthy, covered from head to toe in a thick layer of mud and dirt.
We are completely alone with a giant elephant in the room and a desperate need to just be near one another. It’s a living, breathing being: our feelings for one another. I was foolish to ever think for one second I’d ever be abl
e to live without him.
“You saved my life,” I tell him simply.
“I would have given mine to make sure I did.”
I shake my head. “Don’t say things like that to me. I can’t even think about that.”
He takes another step closer. “Sawyer, you don’t seem to understand, I love you that much. Hell, maybe I didn’t even understand it until I saw you in that car. I would have laid down my life, done anything, to get you safely out of harm’s way.”
I purse my lips together as tears begin to fall. “I shouldn’t have left you. I should have just listened to you.”
“And I should have told you the truth from the moment I found out, but I didn’t. I don’t want to live with the weight of woulda, coulda, shoulda on my shoulders, and I don’t want you to either. I just... I love you Sawyer. It’s simple really. I love you.”
“Please come here. Please don’t stay so far away from me.” I reach for him with my uninjured arm.
“I don’t know where we stand, baby,” he says, as he sits down in the chair right by the bed and cups my face gently in his hand. “That’s why I stayed out there and let Olivia be here with you. I didn’t know if you’d even want to see me, but now that I have you within reach again, I’m not giving up. I’m here. I’m right here with you, and I’m not leaving until you tell me to, and if that’s what you still want, I’ll go. It’ll tear me into pieces, but I’ll go.”
I swallow the knot forming in my throat. “I was so angry at you. So angry and hurt that I was blind. All I knew was I felt so... embarrassed and confused. I felt like I had done something wrong to my brother by falling in love with you. I know that doesn’t make any sense, but it’s how I felt. For five years, I healed through letting my anger toward you—a person I didn’t know—build. Then you were placed in my path to teach me a lesson, I think. You see, you’re my hero. You were my hero then, that day in my house, and you were my hero tonight. You didn’t let my brother die. My brother’s choices killed him. Blaming you was easier than blaming him.”
He rests his hand on the side of the bed, hiding his face from me, but I can hear the sound of him crying, even if he doesn’t want me to.
“I saw that car and thought you were gone.”
“I could have never been gone. You wouldn’t have let that happen.” I touch his head. “Look at me.”
He lifts his head and uses his very dirty sleeve to wipe his face. “Don’t tell anyone I cried. Especially Caleb,” he tries to joke.
“Your secret is safe with me on one condition.”
“Name it.”
“You kiss me and tell me you love me. As long as we have that, I think we can handle anything.”
Chapter 26
Isaac
It’s been two weeks since I thought I lost her twice.
Once standing in the middle of the truck bay and again on the side of the road at the hands of a distracted driver, but somehow, the universe knew we weren’t finished with each other yet.
Minus the bump on the head, a few scrapes, cuts, and a fractured arm, she came out relatively unscathed.
Because of my blatant lack of regard for my safety in the rescue, I was awarded a two-week paid suspension. I’m not mad though, because I wanted to be near if she needed anything, and selfishly I was still riding the “she took me back” high. I wasn’t ready to give that up yet.
“I want this damn thing off,” she groans, fidgeting with her sling. “It’s annoying. I need my hand back.”
“Two weeks.” I pass by her on the sofa and kiss the top of her head then lean against the far wall, just watching her with an amused grin.
“Don’t you miss sex? I miss sex. People have sex with splints on all the time. Get this thing off me and we can have sex right now.”
“We had sex last night,” I remind her with an arched brow.
“We did, and it was incredible, but imagine how much better it could have been if I could have used both of my arms and hands.”
I smirk, thinking back to last night when she was on her side with me tucked in perfectly behind her, thrusting myself in deep. I bit and sucked on her ear and neck, telling her how perfect she was and how much I loved her.
“I don’t know, last night was spectacular as it was, but if you’d rather hold off on any more until next week...”
“No! Don’t you dare, Isaac Black!” She points at me like a teacher scolding a misbehaving student. “I’m just whiny and annoyed.” She plops back into the couch.
I chuckle and sit next to her, prompting Herbert to hop down from his perch on the window and climb into my lap, which has turned into his favorite place to be. Sawyer hates it. I love it.
“You know what kind of sex is the best sex?”
“Doggy style with all four limbs in use?” she whines.
“Well, yes, but I was going to say morning sex.”
“That’s random, but I agree.”
“Wouldn’t you like to have morning sex... anytime you wanted?” I stroke Herbert’s back and look toward her.
She stares at me blankly, not even blinking for a second before rapidly blinking and looking away. “Did you just ask me to move in with you?”
“I did. You are only renting, and don’t think I haven’t heard you casually mentioning that your lease is ending. Sawyer, I want to see you in the mornings when you’re all messy and sleep rumpled. I want to be here when you come home after a long day. I want us to cook together and sleep together every night. I want the morning sex and the bickering then makeup sex. I want it all, Sawyer, everything. I want it with you.”
“Are you ready to have Herbert ruling the house?”
“I’ve already gotten him a litter box... and a cat hammock thing that I think he’ll like and—”
She cuts me off with a kiss to my lips before pulling away with a smile then drops her forehead to mine.
“Yes. Herbert and I would love to move in with you.”
With a fist raised in the sky, I pull her back to me and take her lips once again.
The last thing I was expecting to happen to me was to fall in love, let alone with someone I was supposed to leave behind once the job was finished, once the flames were doused.
But some flames never burn out; some can’t be tamed or muted.
Some are branded on you forever, and sometimes you don’t even know it until you least expect it.
We were placed in each other’s paths for a reason, and I’m ready to spend everyday of forever never taking that for granted.
Epilogue
Ten Months Later
Sawyer
“Keep your eyes closed, Sawyer. I swear, if you ruin this surprise...”
“I’m not peeking, I promise.” I reach out in front of me with one hand as I walk blindly, only being guided by his hand in mine.
“I have a question for you,” Isaac says. “There’s a step. Be careful.”
I carefully step up, noticing under my feet that we’ve gone from a soft, grassy surface to a hard, concrete one.
“I have an answer, hopefully.”
“Do you remember telling me the story of how Jason always wanted to go skydiving, but he was never able to?”
“Of course I do.” My heart constricts even now at the thought of it. “It’s all he ever talked about.”
“Okay, stop here,” he says, then releases my hands. “Keep your eyes closed.”
I can sense him moving to stand right in front of me. I can smell some kind of fuel. It smells kind of like a garage wherever we are. Not familiar at all.
“What’s going on?” I ask, eyes tightly shut.
“You still owe me another date, remember? You agreed to five and I don’t think we ever got those officially.”
“I’ve been on plenty of dates with you, Isaac.” I laugh. “Where are we?”
“I want to do right by Jason, even though I never met him. Open your eyes.”
I do as he asks and it takes me a moment to figure out where we are.
It’s a large airplane hangar with a small, yellow plane being tended to by two men in flight suits. I spin around to look and take it all on.
“What? What’s happening?”
“Jason never got to experience something he wanted. He never got to fulfill this dream because other things clouded his mind. I want to give you the chance to close that loop for him, to do this for him, in his memory, in his honor… on his birthday.”
My lip begins to tremble and I cover my mouth with my hands. I’m overwhelmed. I don’t know what to say.
He pulls something from his pocket and walks around to stand behind me before clasping a necklace around my neck. It’s long and hangs just between my breasts. I reach down to look at the pendant, and it’s a locket. When I open it to see what’s inside, my knees nearly buckle.
My favorite picture of Jason, in his flight suit, and I waiting for his turn to go indoor skydiving.
“Now, he can go up with you.”
My heart feels like it’s going to pump out of my chest. The only thing I want to do is throw myself at him, and so I do. I jump into his arms and wrap my legs around his waist, burying my face in his neck.
“Where did you get this picture?”
“I had a little help from your mom. She was my accomplice.”
“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,” I sob. “You have no idea how much this means to me.”
To some, it may be silly, but to me, it means the world.
“I love you, baby.” He cups the back of my neck and pulls my lips to his.
“I love you too,” I murmur against the kiss, but don’t dare break it. Honestly, I would probably let him have me right here on this cold concrete if we weren’t interrupted.
“Ahem.”
I break the kiss then uncoil myself from his body, turning to find a very cute strawberry blonde woman in a full flight suit and a pretty smile on her face.
“I’m sorry,” I tell her, wiping my face. “I’m a bit emotional.”
“Sawyer, this is Emerson Malone. Grady’s sister-in-law. She owns Wings Out.” Isaac motions to the large sign I didn’t even notice before. “The skydiving school.”