“Whoa! Hey!” The patrolman holstered his flashlight and grabbed his cuffs. “Hold it right there.”
“No, officer, it’s okay.” Nathan waved while he held his nose with his other hand. “I deserved it.”
“Fuck, yeah you did,” I retorted. I’d liked to punch him again, but knew I wouldn’t get away with doing it twice in front of a cop.
“I don’t know what’s going on between the two of you.” The officer pressed one hand against my chest while still holding his cuffs in the other. “But I’ll let you off with a warning if you promise to get the hell out of here. We’ve got a crime scene to process, and I don’t have time to fill out the paperwork your little fist fight would gift me with.”
I shook my head. “I’m not going anywhere until I know my girlfriend is okay. They just pulled her out of the back office.”
“Well it looks like they’re loading her up and taking her to the hospital to get checked out.” The cop hooked his cuffs back onto his belt.
“Which hospital are they taking her to?” I fidgeted. It burned like hell not to charge over there and jump into the ambulance with her.
“I don’t know.” The cop shrugged. “Probably Mercy General.”
Good enough for me. I swung around and jogged to my pickup. And if he was wrong, I’d try to keep close to her ambulance. Fuck traffic laws.
I ducked into my driver’s seat and jumped as the passenger door swung open.
“I’m riding with you,” Nathan drawled as he sat down and pulled the seat belt over his chest.
I opened my mouth to protest when Sabrina’s ambulance pulled out of the parking lot. “Whatever.”
I cranked the engine and pulled out behind them.
We got about four blocks down the street when my cell blared a warning tone. Shit. I recognized that sound. Not that I gave a fuck. It didn’t mean shit compared to Sabrina’s wellbeing.
Nathan’s phone gave the same tone a few seconds later.
“What the hell is that?” Nathan asked as he pulled his phone out of his back pocket.
“If I had to guess, I’d say there’s a fire at your shop too.”
“What? No!” Nathan scowled at the message on his phone.
“I wouldn’t worry about it. Your system is live and whatever fire is there is probably already out. And if not, the fire department has already been dispatched. Nothing to worry about.”
“Fuck that. Didn’t you hear the cop back there? They considered the restaurant a crime scene which means arson. If our shop is going up too, it’s definitely arson. Fuck!” Nathan swore as he punched my dashboard.
I didn’t care. I was too busy making sure we didn’t get t-boned as I followed the ambulance through a red light.
Nathan’s anger quickly turned to fear as he white knuckled the oh-shit bar over his head when I blew through another red light.
“Hey.” He laughed shakily. “How about we get there in one piece?”
I grunted in reply, watching the ambulance in front of me like it was gonna disappear into a puff of smoke or something. Shit, that was a bad analogy. But still I didn’t want to lose it. I had to see Sabrina. Hold her. Make sure that she was still breathing.
“I uh, also know I need to apologize for how that whole thing went down last week at the shop with Sabrina and your guys’ miscarriage. Oh, shit! Fuck!”
A horn blared on our right as I blew threw another red light.
I grunted in reply. I didn’t have the capacity to pay attention to Nathan right now; I was too busy driving. And watching Sabrina’s ambulance.
Praying that she was okay.
“Anyhow.” Nathan cleared his throat. “I want you to know I am sorry. Sabrina told me that it wasn’t any of my business. And I should’ve waited until you stood up before I punched you the first time. That was a really shitty thing to do.”
“What the fuck?” I pulled into a handicap space next to the hospital’s front entrance then turned to Nathan. “That was the shittiest apology I’ve ever heard.”
“Heh.” Nathan laughed. “Didn’t think you were even listening.”
“I wasn’t. Not really.” I pushed my door open.
“Give me your keys.”
I paused. “What? Why?”
“You go see about your girl, and I’ll move your truck into a legal spot, so it’ll be here when you need to take her home later.”
I sat back in shock for a second. I guess we really were good. That or he was going to jack my truck, but I didn’t think that was the case. Either way, I didn’t care. I had to get to Sabrina.
I tossed him my keys. “Thanks, man.”
“Don’t mention it.” Nathan hopped out and circled the truck. “I’ll see you in there.”
Leaving Nathan behind, I jogged through the emergency entrance and headed straight for the registration desk.
“Sabrina Wagner?” I asked the bored-looking woman behind the glass wall. “She was just brought in by ambulance from the diner fire.”
She blinked placidly at me. “Name and relationship.”
“Really? I just fucking said her name. Sabrina Wagner. Brought in by ambulance. I’m her fiancé.”
I didn’t even feel guilty for lying. I knew how this stupid game was played.
“I don’t have her in my system.” The woman shrugged and leaned back in her chair. “Are you sure you have the right hospital?”
“Yes! I watched them load her off the fucking ambulance out front. Sabrina Wagner! Look again!”
“Sir, you have to calm down,” she bit out. “Or I’ll call security.”
I tried to take a deep breath, but it didn’t ease my anxiety or anger at all. “Sabrina Wagner. She just came in. Please. I just—I can’t…”
My eyes burned. I was going to lose it. She had to be okay. They brought her here just as a precaution, right? She’d been talking to me on the phone only a few minutes ago. I couldn’t lose her. I couldn’t.
“Sabrina from the fire at Bette’s?” A man to my right asked.
I turned and took in the paramedic standing next to a tall gurney. “Yes. Sabrina Wagner. Is she okay?”
He hitched a shoulder and gave me an apologetic smile. “Not allowed to say.” He turned to the registrar. “She’s in bay 3.”
“Thank you!” I shouted as I ran past him toward the heavy door beside the registrar’s desk. I pulled, but it didn’t budge.
“It’s locked, bro. Only Karen can let you in.” The paramedic said before he wheeled his gurney toward the entrance.
I turned back to the registrar’s window and found Karen staring back me, clearly not impressed.
“Name?”
“Seriously? Sabrina Wagner! Why is that so difficult for you to comprehend?” I felt like my brain was about to explode.
A sneer curled her top lip. “Your name.”
“Logan Carter. I’m her fiancé.”
“Congratulations. Fill out these forms then I’ll let you through.” She pushed a clipboard through the narrow opening. “Next!”
Seriously? Paperwork? What the hell? This was a fucking emergency. I didn’t have the time to write a fucking report.
But the person behind me shouldered past me and started talking to Karen.
I turned back to the sea of chairs behind me and sat down without seeing anything. I felt like I was going to lose it. I kept seeing her smoke smudged face as she was loaded on that damn gurney. So close and yet so far.
I was in the middle of a goddamn nightmare.
I closed my eyes, but I still saw her face. And that damn smell. Smoke mixed with acrid burning. So different and so similar to the fire two years ago that took Jay. I hadn’t been close enough to the diner to hear it, but now—with my eyes closed—that sound was encompassing. A roar like thunder but with a whoosh that you just knew spelled trouble.
My chest grew tight. My breath left me in uneven pants. I could feel it closing in on me. Travis? Where was Travis? Jay!
I couldn’t breathe.<
br />
“What the hell are you doing out here?”
I blinked my eyes open, and I was back in the waiting room. Nathan stood in front of me with a ferocious frown. There was no fire. No silver fire shelter suffocating me. I was in a hospital waiting room.
Sabrina!
“They won’t let me back there until I fill out some damn forms. I don’t—I can’t—”
Nathan grabbed the clipboard from my hands. “Don’t sweat it, bro. I’ve got it. I’m on the same insurance as Sabby. We’ll have these forms filled out in no time.”
He sat beside me on a hard, plastic chair, bent over the form with his wallet out. I stared at the floor between my shoes, my leg twitching with nerves. We both ignored his constantly ringing cell phone.
After what felt like forever, he pushed the clipboard at me. “Done. Let’s go.”
I grabbed it and ran to the front of the line. “Done. I need to see her.”
“We need to see her,” Nathan piped up over my shoulder.
“Relationship to the patient?” Karen drawled.
Nathan lifted a hand. “I’m her brother.”
“Fiancé,” I replied.
Nathan didn’t even look twice at me.
Karen grunted something then gestured at the door I failed to get through the first time. “She’s in Bay 3 on your right. Wait for the buzzer.”
Buzz.
Nathan and I ran for the door and pulled it open before the buzzer ended.
We entered the actual emergency room to a slew of curtains, people running everywhere, beeps, and shouting. I didn’t know where to look, where to go.
“Over here.” Nathan slapped my shoulder as he walked past me. Like he’d been here a ton, he unerringly led me to Bay 3, which apparently was a fancy name for a bed with a curtain around it.
Nathan stopped at the edge of the curtain and tilted his head for me to go first.
“Sabrina?” I called as I pulled the curtain aside.
She was on her back on the bed with an oxygen mask over her face and her eyes closed.
For a split second I thought she was dead and everything around me slowed as I held my breath.
Then her eyes opened.
I scooped her into my arms and hugged her with everything I had.
“I can’t believe you’re here. I was so scared.” I hugged her tighter. “I am so fucking sorry. I didn’t mean to run away from you and my problems. I swear I’m done with that. I’ll do anything to make it up to you. I need you in my life, angel. I love you. I’m so fucking sorry.”
Sabrina’s body convulsed in my arms as she coughed.
And coughed.
And coughed.
I was about to call for a nurse or doctor or anyone who could help her fucking breathe when her coughs finally eased.
She blinked up at me through watery and painfully red eyes. “Say that again.”
“I’m sorry, angel. I swear I’ll do anything I can to make it up to you. I’m done running from shit, I swear. Maybe we could go see my therapist together or something? Help me learn how to deal with shit?”
Sabrina shook her head. “Not that. The part where you said ‘I love you.’”
“What? You’ve heard me say it before.”
She shook her head again, and I swore that tears flew from her eyes. “I’d know if I heard you tell me that you loved me. I thought I heard you say it on the phone when I was in the middle of the fire, but I wasn’t sure.”
“Shit. Yes. Of course I love you.” I reached out and cupped her dirty cheek in my hand as I tilted her chin so she would meet my eyes. I needed her to see how much I meant what I said. “I’ve always loved you. I loved you two years ago when I left; I was just too much of an idiot to say it or do anything about it. And I love you now. Hell, I’ll love you a hundred years from now. You’re it for me, angel.”
Tears streamed down Sabrina’s cheek. “I love you too.”
She pulled the mask off her face and reached up with her other hand, clasping me behind the neck to pull me down to her level. I met her half way and kissed her with everything I had. Our mouths moved against each other, sealing our love in a kiss so sweet it brought tears to my eyes. We kissed despite the buzzing emergency room around us. We kissed even though I heard a rapid beeping, faster than my own pulse.
We kissed as Nathan rudely cleared his throat behind me.
“Uh guys?” Nathan’s voice sounded somewhere to my right. Not that I gave a fuck. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but a very pissed-off nurse is headed this way.”
I kept kissing Sabrina. She didn’t even try to pull away from me.
“Ms. Wagner, I don’t believe that’s the best use of what precious little air you have right now.” A strident, feminine voice came from over our heads.
Sabrina pulled away with a groan and buried her face in my shoulder.
The nurse’s eyes sparkled as she continued. “I mean, I get it—he is ridiculous attractive. But how about you save your oxygen for breathing until a doctor signs off on more strenuous activity?”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Sabrina
They admitted me for observation despite my weak protests. Or maybe because of them. I was out of the fire, but I swear I felt like my lungs were burning every time I took a deep breath. Which was inevitably followed by a hacking cough that already made my abs hurt. Fuck me, this wasn’t fun.
But I loved that Logan stayed by my side the entire time. Holding my hand. Patting my back when I hacked up a lung. Looking at me with eyes shining with love.
It almost made up for the chaos of my family showing up.
Almost.
I was being wheeled through the corridor with Logan holding my hand and Nathan trailing behind my bed when Mom blasted through the hall doors.
“Oh my god! Are you all right? Where are they taking you?” Mom all but pushed Logan out of the way so she could run alongside my bed in his place.
I turned and glared at Nathan. “Really? You couldn’t let me get settled in my room first?”
“You were in a fucking fire, Sabby.” Nathan shook his head in bafflement. “What the hell kinda reception did you expect?”
I sighed. He had a point. Not that I was going to acknowledge it. I was still letting him grovel over the whole sucker punch fiasco. I’d already mostly forgiven him, especially since he’d shown up here with Logan. But I loved letting him stew.
“I’m fine, Mom. Nathan’s biggest fan here—” I nodded to the orderly who had fallen all over himself when he recognized Nathan back in the E.R. “—is taking me to my room. They’re keeping me overnight just for observation. But I’m fine. I never even saw flames.”
“Oh, thank god.” My mom reached for my hand as we paused next to the elevator. “I was so, so worried. I knew there was a chance you were still inside, and then Nathan called and said they were taking you to the hospital. I couldn’t believe it. I’m so glad you’re okay, pumpkin. I love you.”
I smiled wearily at her. “I love you too, Mom. I’m sorry you were worried. I didn’t mean to still be there, but I fell asleep, and then—it doesn’t matter. I’m fine. How’s the restaurant?”
Mom shrugged. “It’s too soon to know for sure, but I’m guessing it’s a total loss.”
“Oh, Mom. I’m so sorry. That restaurant is your life.”
“No, the five of you are my life. The restaurant is just a job. I’ll rebuild or find somewhere else to work. As long as you’re okay, that’s all I care about.”
Warmth spread through my chest as I smiled up at her. She smiled back and squeezed my hand.
The elevator opened and she fell back as the orderly wheeled me inside.
“We got room for one more,” Nathan’s superfan smiled.
“We’ll wait for the next one,” Nathan hollered back.
The orderly sighed. “Fifth floor. Room 524.”
As the doors slid shut, I heard my mom say, “Who the hell are you?”
I closed my eyes with a
curse.
Logan.
I left him alone with them.
I really hoped he still loved me since I couldn’t be there to protect him against my family. Because where there was one…it felt like twenty. And he’d be trapped with at least two of my family members in the elevator.
Oh god.
Ten minutes later my hospital room door opened and Logan walked through with wild eyes. They calmed somewhat when he saw me, but not totally.
“Everything okay?” I whispered when he came to my side.
“Fine. Just glad to see you.”
“I bet,” I whispered back just before the door opened and my mom and Nathan came inside.
Followed by Maddie, Ryan, Austin, and Dylan.
The whole family was here practically. Only Austin’s fiancé, Rachel, and Hope were missing, presumably taking care of their kiddos.
I sagged back in my bed. “I get that you guys were worried about me, but I’m fine. I swear. I just need to get some sleep.”
I’d been through almost literal hell. I was exhausted. Between drama with my mom, the fire and almost dying, and then making up with Logan, I just wanted to sleep. For a whole day at least.
“We’ll get out of your hair in a minute,” Austin replied as he bent down to kiss my forehead. “Just had to see with my own eyes that you are all right. We were worried about you, Sabby.”
“I know, I know. But as you can see and Nathan could’ve told you, I’m fine.” I accepted a cheek kiss from Ryan and Dylan. Maddie waved from the back of the pack. “How’d you guys even get in here? It has to be way past visiting hours.”
Nathan scoffed. “Do you seriously think we’d let a little thing like visiting hours keep us out?”
“Besides we spend so much money here, we should have our own wing by now.” Ryan laughed, referring to all the times the guys had ended up in the emergency room either because of their fists or their clumsiness or that time a motorcycle gang tried to kill him.
“Actually we wanted to give you some news before you saw it on the morning talk shows.” Austin rubbed the back of his head with one hand then dropped it to his side with a sigh. “George Burns was the one who set the fire. They caught him trying to burn the shop down too. Only the new system we installed alerted us and the authorities before he could do any real damage. Thanks for that, by the way.” He tipped his head at Logan.
Spark: A Bad Boy's Second Chance Romance (Burns Brothers Book 3) Page 20
