Afew paps,likely freelancers who lived in or around Fever Falls, waited outside the hospital. It aggravated me that they’d arrived before Nance, Keegan, andme.
Since the media frenzy with Jace had begun, I’d been able to handle the press and the expected attention, but in that moment, getting to Jace was my primary concern. Keeg had said he was okay, but I needed to see that he was safe before I could feel it in myheart.
As we headed inside, the paps called out questions, which only served to further disorient Nance and annoy Keegan. Up until then, the press had worked in our favor, been on our side, but I knew as well as anyone how easily that fandom turned on a person. Because privacy wasn’t a thing the public understood. Truly, once you stepped into the realm of public figure, even the law recognized a shift in your rights as a citizen. While Jace and I might’ve signed up for the attention, Nance and Keegan certainly hadn’t. They were caught in the crossfires of this endorsement deal, and it tore me apart to see what should have been a private moment for them beinginvaded.
“Nancy, Nancy,” a man with a camera called out to her to get a response. She glanced around, confused, but I was mostly pissed that whoever the fuck it was clearly didn’t even know her well enough to call her what any of her friends wouldhave.
“Come on,” I said, guiding her into the lobby, where we inquired about Jace, and then we were escorted to hisroom.
As we hurried through the halls, I kept reflecting on visiting Serena in the hospital in the past…after ODing. I remembered being ushered to her room, fearing the state she’d be in. It roused so many powerful emotions within me, and when the nurse opened the door, when I saw Jace chatting with another nurse as well as Ash, Beau, and Zed, I was so worked up, I wanted to kick Jace’s ass for making me worry. It wasn’t his fault, but I’d be damned if anything could have made me feel as protective over that ass than in that moment when Keegan told us he washurt.
“Dude, I just feel like this is all my fault,” Zedsaid.
“Don’t do this to yourself,” Jace insisted before they all turned together to us. “Oh, a party? For me?” Jace joked, smiling, but I could see the tension in his expression as we approached, his eyes shifting between us as he seemed to be working to ascertain ourconcern.
We hurried to the bed. Nance put her arms around him, and Keegan tried to act cool, but Jace pulled him in. While I waited my turn, Jace gazed at me and smirked, though I could tell by his somber expression that it was forced. “Oh, come here, Dax,” Nanceinsisted.
I joined them, offering a hug, touching my nose against the side of Jace’s face. As worked up as I was, I was relieved he wasokay.
“Sorry about the scare,” Jace said. “Not sure where my phone is, but I was trying to call on Beau’s phone, and apparently the reception is shit inhere.”
Nance started tocry.
“Come on, Nance. Aren’t you gonna rag on me about notcursing?”
“You can curse today,” she said as shesobbed.
As I pulled away, I saw his eyes fixed on hers as he teared up too. I could only imagine what this brought up for them all, considering their past with Crawford. Even Keegan was having a hard time not gettingemotional.
“I think we’re just gonna step out for a second, give you all some space,” Beau said, and he, Ash, and Zed slipped out thedoor.
The nurse who’d been in the room with Jace already, an attractive blond, approached me. He lowered the clipboard in his left hand to his side and shook my hand with his right. “Hi, I’m Linc. Wish we could be meeting under bettercircumstances.”
“Tell me aboutit.”
“How’s he doing, Lincoln?” Nanceasked.
We took seats beside Jace’s bed, and Linc explained his condition. “He has a fibula fracture and needs a boot for his leg right now, but he should be good as new in no time. However, we’re keeping him until we can get an MRI and scan for more severe ligament damage that might have occurred during the fall he took on thejob.”
He turned his attention to Jace. “In the meantime, enjoy the pain management and free food, but don’t be scaring us like that anymore, okay, HottieFirefighter?”
A boisterous laugh erupted from Jace at the play on his celebrity nickname. “Thanks, Doc,” he said with a wink. “Go on now to the patients who really need the help…and maybe some eyecandy.”
Linc snickered. “Alright. You guys let me know if any of you need anything. Nance, I trust he’s in goodhands.”
By the way she inhaled, it seemed as though she’d taken her first decent breath since we’d heard the news. The nurse’s cool bedside manner had gone a long way in calming usdown.
“Thank you, Lincoln,” Nance said, and he saw himselfout.
As soon as the door closed, she turned her worried gaze back to Jace and asked, “Whathappened?”
It was the question lingering on all ourminds.
Jace took a prolonged breath, and I could tell he didn’t want to get into it, but surely he knew there was no way Nance was going to let him get away with that. “The fire was creeping through the house pretty fast,” he said. “It got up under the bedroom we were in, and as Zed was scanning the rest of the room with the thermal-imaging camera, his foot pushed through the floor and must’ve gotten stuck in some wiring. He was panicking, and while the crew was working on a window removal for a victim, I headed over to help him. I managed to get his leg free, and as he lurched to get out, he sort of shoved me. I lost my balance, and there was a bed nearby, and my foot slammed against the edge of this wooden frame. Hit it just wrong before I took a fall. It was more like the Two Stooges of Firefighting than anythingelse.”
I could tell he was trying to make light of it for our benefit, something I could more than understand considering how wrecked Nance looked overit.
“The woman we were rescuing is in a room here too, and as you can see, Zed made it out justfine.”
