Or watch her burn.
Danny and Kyle were raising her, and Cort helped guide her body back through the hole and out to the stairwell, where her body rose up and out of his sight, grief painting his upturned face.
Danny and Kyle feverishly hoisted her lifeless body up, carefully laying her in the hallway of the fifth floor.
As he waited for his own ride out, Cort heard the panic in Danny’s trembling voice over the radio. “Man down. Get an ambulance to the north stairwell and get a board up here now.” Turning to Mike he said, “go meet them and get them up here.”
Kyle grabbed the other set of rope and smacked Danny, who was kneeling over Jessica, in the arm. “Come on, man. We still have one more to pull up.”
Danny’s face was a mask of devastation, his blue eyes wracked with worry and grief, but he worked with Kyle to pull Cort up. Mike and two EMTs returned with the backboard and they carefully placed Jess on it, strapping in her limbs, then rapidly headed through the dark and smoke back to the north stairwell, and outside to safety. They loaded Jess into their ambulance, turned on their sirens and wailed off down the street towards Cade’s Valley Heritage Hospital.
Dr. Alvie Crowder jotted some notes on his clipboard as he explained to Cort for the fifth time that yes, Jessica was still unconscious; no, there were no broken bones on the X-ray; yes, she had a concussion but no sign of bleeding or swelling in her brain.
What he didn’t tell Cort about was the nasty gash in her leg that he’d stitched up, resulting from the jagged end of something that had sliced right through her thick canvas pants when she fell through the floor. Fortunately, the hospital gown and the blanket hid that bandage or Cort would have pestered the good doctor about that too.
Dr. Crowder’s face was unreadable to Cort, frustrating him to no end. Was she dying? Was she just sleeping? He had to know. He needed to know. But Dr. Bushy Brows just kept up the poker face, and Cort kept up the pacing and badgering, fatigue and temper warring in his eyes.
“Look,” Dr. Crowder pleaded at last, “sit there in that chair, hold her hand and talk to her. It will make us both feel better. I have more patients to check on, then I’ll be back.” He turned on his heel, shoving his pen into his coat pocket, and strode out of the room.
Cort’s face was grim and tortured as he scooted the guest chair up to the side of the hospital bed, oblivious to Mark gesturing for Danny, Tommy, and Kyle to leave him alone with her. As they shuffled quietly from the room, Cort lifted Jess’s lax hand and brought it slowly up to his lips, kissing it softly as if it were burned or bruised. Her skin was baby soft, and her fingernails were a shiny pale pink, and he was amazed that someone who worked and played so rough could still manage this touch of femininity that tugged at his heart like a siren song.
The rope she’d been tethered to had saved her life. Had saved Cort from watching her burn alive. Moisture welled up in his eyes just thinking of the what-ifs of that scenario.
“Jess…,” he croaked out, his voice breaking. Closing his eyes, he lowered his head, gently pressing her hand to his cheek and holding it there as he pleaded silently for her recovery. Overwhelmed by worry and fatigue, he held onto her hand as he struggled to regain his composure.
His eyes fluttered open to find hers staring at him with both compassion and relief.
“Cort,” she whispered. Large sky-blue eyes, slightly unfocused, looked up at him from underneath bedraggled hair that splayed out on the pillow. Dark circles smudged her soft satiny skin but her eyes held a calming peace and an overwhelming love.
“I’m here, Jess.” He stroked her hair and ran a finger along her cheek in a light caress.
“We made it.”
He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Yes, thanks to that foolish stunt you pulled. You saved my life.” He brought her hand up to his lips once more. “And your helmet saved yours.”
Her face clouded in sudden concern. “Did I lose it?”
Cort laughed heartily, then the laugh was replaced by agony. “I was afraid I’d lost you.” He ran a tired hand through his hair, once again torturing himself with a vision of how it could have played out. Leaning forward, he rested his elbows on either side of her and gingerly brought his mouth down to hers.
His lips were chapped and he knew he must stink of smoke and sweat, still dressed in his firefighter uniform, but he kissed her with tenderness and love, reveling in the warmth and softness of her lips. His tongue flicked in between her lips, lightly touching her tongue. Then he pulled back slightly, brushing the bangs off her forehead and gazing deeply into her eyes.
She closed her eyes, a happy look on her face.
Cort glanced up at the wall clock. 2:12AM.
“Happy Valentine’s Day, my love.” He brushed his lips over her fingers and Jess rewarded him with a smile.
“I have something for you.” Cort reached into his pocket and brought out what looked to Jess like an old box of candy hearts, slightly crumpled and dirty.
“Mmm. Old, used candy. Just what I always wanted.” A lopsided grin crossed her face.
Cort turned the box over in his fingers as he had many times before, searching for the right words. “I carried this box of candy around with me every day since last Valentine’s Day, as a reminder, and as a measure of the true cost of pursuing a dream. The training opportunity in Idaho lost its luster because it was only half of the dream. The other half was having you by my side. What should have been an adventure of a lifetime grew to be a torturous hell.”
He paused as he opened the box and peered within. Delicately, he opened Jess’s hand, palm up, and tapped a couple of the candy hearts into her waiting palm.
As she read the words on the hearts, a blush of pleasure washed over her face, and a smile of happiness touched her lips and lit up her eyes.
The candy hearts all said “MARRY ME.”
Cort searched her face for a trace of any doubts, and finding none, continued. “I’ve waited a year for this moment. I should have stuck to my guns last year and asked you then. I was such a fool. But,” he added, “there is something else in the box.”
He poured the rest of the contents into her palm, and there among all the “MARRY ME’s,” a diamond’s glitter caught Jess’s eye and she gasped. It was a ruby-encrusted ring with a dazzling heart-shaped diamond in the center.
“Oh, Cort!” Her voice shook with delight and emotion.
He picked up the ring between his finger and thumb, drawing in a nervous breath. “Will you marry me, Jessica O’Malley?”
Tears streamed unbidden down her cheeks as she gazed at him with joyous eyes. “Yes! Oh, yes! Of course I’ll marry you.”
He slipped the ring delicately onto her shaking finger and they hugged, laughing and kissing.
Cort added, “I don’t recommend eating the hearts. They’ve been through every fire I’ve been in the past year.” He sniffed at the box. “They smell like they’ve been on fire.”
“That’s okay,” Jess winked. “My heart’s been dragged through every fire I’ve been through, too. And it’s definitely on fire.”
Hearts on Fire Page 4
