“He should have been more careful,” shesaid.
“We all have our moments. Any other day, that could have beenme.”
She nodded, likely knowing he was right, but it must’ve been hard for her to see her son injured in that hospitalbed.
“Anyway, we can all be appreciative that they’re only keeping me for observation, so we gotlucky.”
Luck?What kind of fucking luck wasthat?
Although, knowing the details of how they’d lost Crawford, I knew luck was right. It could have been so much worse. He could have beengone.
And that thought tore through my heart, terrorized mysoul.
In the time we’d been together, I hadn’t had to deal with the real consequences of his job. Sure, I’d known he was working, but he’d always been fine. So in my mind, he could have had any job, and while I was nervous, until that moment, it hadn’t really registered forme.
I could only imagine what it did to Nance and Keegan, who still looked rattled but as though trying to mentally assure themselves he was still with us, and that was what mattered. Zed swung by, profusely apologizing to Jace again, who generously talked him down from his guilt as they swapped stories about errors Jace had made in his early days. I called Carter and Elliott to give them a heads-up about the news, and the hours ticked on by before I headed out to grab coffee for everyone. I noticed Beau and Ash in the waiting area, chatting with Serena. I checked my phone to see if she’d messaged. Shehadn’t.
“Serena?” I asked, approachingthem.
“I came as soon as Iheard.”
“Where did youhear?”
She glanced around. “It’s all over the news,Dax.”
“The news? Like…thenewsnews?”
“There was a bit on CNN…and a few local stations are coveringit.”
“Of course they are. How silly ofme.”
I’d expected the local news and even the paps outside, but fuckingCNN?
As much credit as I gave to Jace before we’d begun his campaign, I had underestimated just how popular he’dbecome.
Or maybe I was so rattled, I wasn’t using my goddamnbrain.
I chatted with Serena about his condition as she helped me grab some coffee. With one hand on my phone, I googled Jace’s name to see what the top storieswere.
Hottie Firefighter Injured in HouseFire
Hottie Firefighter’s Injury Evokes Memories of Adoptive Father’sPassing
“Shit,” I said, realizing he and his family would end up seeing these sorts of stories. Up to that point, Crawford’s passing had been an annotation to his story, a footnote even, not the center of attention. But apparently, the media had found a connection worth mining, one I well knew was at the heart of serious pain within Jace’s family, and for goodreason.
I tried to figure out how I was going to break the news to them as Serena and I headed back to Jace’s room. I opened the door and spotted Keegan with the TV remote in his hand, his, Nance’s, and Jace’s eyes on the TV, their expressions revealing that they’d already discovered the news, in the worst waypossible.
I slid into the room, Serena in tow, to see the headline at the bottom of the screen: Jace Kruse Hospitalization a Reminder of Crawford Kruse’sDeath.
Fuck.
36
Jace
Like when theaccident in the house fire had unfolded, I lost all feeling as the news dredged up the nightmare from my family’s past. I wanted to turn the TV off or break the goddamned thing, but there was no point turning away from it anymore now than there had been all those yearsearlier.
Keegan was the smart one. As the story continued, he excused himself to the restroom, leaving me, Nance, Dax, and Serena to watch the tragedy unravel. I couldn’t look at Nance. I didn’t want to see her reaction to the old photos they displayed of Crawford from various news clippings and even from hisyearbooks.
