It’s too hot.Nightmares sneak into my dreams, but not the same horrible memories of humiliation and pain I suffered ten years ago.My neighbors scream at each other and pound on the walls.An alarm screeches in the distance, but roaring and crackling drowns it out.
I jolt awake as the smell of smoke sneaks under my blankets and invades my nostrils.Sweat pours down my entire body.
The fire must be close.Too close.Terror holds me immobile until I take stock of my person and confirm no flames lick at my skin.
Following pure instincts, I tuck my blankets tighter around me and scoot across the bed.When I peek over the edge, smoke billows into my cocoon.With a curse, I push my body onto the floor, clinging to the blanket over my head, and land with a painful thud.
I roll onto my belly and angle my head toward where I hope the door is before lifting my blanket just long enough to confirm I’m going in the right direction.
Bright red and yellow flames lick up two of the four walls of my apartment.Black smoke fills my entire room.
Using my elbows and knees, I army crawl across the floor.
Wood cracks over my head.
I imagine Brennan calls my name from far away, but the roaring of the fire drowns him out.With regrets filling my heart and smoke burning my lungs, I inch forward, demanding my body move faster, but my limbs grow heavier and heavier.
My door splinters and bursts inward.Wood rains down on me as massive shoulders fill the doorframe.Covering his mouth and nose with his arm, Brennan stands in my doorway.
A half-sob, half-choke escapes me.
He can’t see me.I reach out from underneath my blankets to grab his ankle, but he’s too far.My fingertips barely brush his sweatpants.
Strong arms lift me off the floor.
I black out.
Horrible visions of Brennan’s flesh burning has me fighting tooth and nail to regain consciousness.I wake coughing and flailing, ready to either drag my stupid fiancé out of the flames or resuscitate him if he dares try to die on me.
Brennan’s relieved curse pierces through my panic.I grab his soot-covered face and cry through hacking coughs as my body expels the black smoke trapped in my lungs.
After an ambulance ride and a handful of hours in the hospital, I’m too exhausted to argue when Brennan tucks me into his backseat and holds me in his arms as a stranger drives us to his penthouse.
Sensing my need for a little space, he allows me to shower and change in peace before carrying me to his bed and joining me under the blankets.
We both drop into exhausted slumber.
I sleep until my subconscious registers his absence.With the curtains drawn, I can’t tell what time it is, and with everything I own most likely burned to ashes, I have no phone to check the time.
I push myself into a sitting position and curse as my back gives a familiar pinch.Blood gushes from between my legs.I rush into the bathroom, lock myself in the water closet, and hang my head in mortification at the mess I made of the pants I borrowed from Brennan.
Realizing I most likely stained the sheets, too, I press the heels of my palms to my eyes and take a deep breath but end up trapped in a fit of coughs.
Brennan knocks on the door.
“Let me in, Audrey,” he demands.
I wheeze and shake my head.
“No, I’m okay.”
“Are you sure?”he asks.
“Still breathing.I’m fine, but can I borrow another pair of pants?”
His pause fills me with dread.
“Of course, baby doll, but tell me what’s wrong so I can help.”
