Damn. Sean had always been the one I trusted with my life, ever since we were kids, and once again, he had proven himself. But the weight on him—the burden of losing Kate, Enya, of losing Christopher—was crushing. I could see it in the way his shoulders slumped, in the tired lines around his eyes. He had survived, but the cost had been immense.
“Where the hell did you find an ice-plowing machine?”
Sean shook his head, a wry smile on his lips. “It was stashed away, a few meters west of the entrance where you and Emma walked through.”
Another painful silence stretched between us.
“Sean,” I said quietly, “you did everything you could. You got them out.”
He looked away, his jaw tightening. “Not all of ‘em,” he mumbled, the grief in his voice raw and unguarded.
I knew there was nothing I could say to make it better, but I squeezed his arm again, offering the only comfort I could. “You did more than anyone else could’ve done.”
Sean didn’t reply, but the strain in his shoulders eased slightly.
Inhaling deeply, I let the crisp summer night air fill my lungs. The coolness was a welcome relief, a brief reprieve from the chaos that had been consuming us. “I’ll deal with the families,” I said softly. “You take a few days off. Let me know when you’re feeling up to it again.”
Sean nodded, his expression still tight with the burden of everything he had been through, but there was a flicker of relief as well.
“How areyoudealing with everything?” he asked gently but probing.
I exhaled, the breath heavy as it escaped me. How was I supposed to answer that?
“She nearly died in my arms, Sean,” I said, my voice rough, fighting to stay even. The memory of it was still fresh, vivid in my mind—the fear, the desperation. “I had to fuckingbreathefor her, just to bring her back.”
Sean’s eyes softened, sympathy flickering in their depths as he nodded slowly.
And then, almost without warning, the words that had been sitting on the tip of my tongue, buried beneath layers of denial and fear, slipped out.
“I’m in love with her.”
The confession fell from my lips before I even realized I’d said it. There was no hesitation, no second-guessing—only the simple truth, raw and undeniable. My chest tightened as the reality of it settled over me, and suddenly everything felt clearer, even though nothing had changed.
Sean’s gaze softened further, and his smile, though small, was tinged with sadness. “I know,” he said quietly, the words carrying unexpected understanding.
He didn’t need to say anything else. There was no surprise, no judgment—just acceptance.
I dropped my head into my hands. “I’m fucked.”
Sean’s voice dropped to a whisper. “She still loves James, ye know.”
“I know that,” I snapped, more cutting than I intended.
“Just sayin’. Don’t get yer hopes up.”
“Trust me, they’re not,” I muttered, the harsh reality settling in like a weight on my chest. “Even if James weren’t in the picture, I’ll always be the guy who maimed her arm. That’s not exactly something you come back from.”
“Did ye tell her the truth about Coastal?” Sean asked quietly.
I shot him a sharp look. “You really think I’d do that without consulting you first?”
He gave me a sad smile, his attention drifting to some distant place only he could see. “She’ll never forgive ye.”
I shrugged, though the truth of it stung. “Seems that way, yeah.”
Sean nodded, his voice soft. “I’m sorry.”
“I know,” I said, because what else could I say?
