“We need to deploy fire shelters!” Becket shouted.
Gently, he set Sky onto the ground and took the shelter from his pack. He shook it out quickly and placed his feet inside.
The flames continued to close in on them, and Sky’s eyelids began to flutter.
Teddy disappeared beneath his shelter with Bella, while Becket dropped down on top of Sky, tucking the floor panels of the shelter beneath her, the material completely covering their bodies.
“Stay awake for me, honey,” he whispered.
He slipped his arms through the hold-down straps and gritted his teeth as the fire blazed over them.
A minute, maybe two, passed before he felt something heavy hitting the shelter.
The retardant drop.
Thank fuck!
Still, Becket didn’t move. He remained over Sky’s body, holding the shelter down for long minutes, until the forest around them quieted and he was sure they were safe.
Finally, he lifted the shelter to see Teddy doing the same. Becket looked back down at Sky…but she wasn’t moving.
He quickly turned her over. “Sky?”
Nothing.Fuck. He felt her pulse. Faint but there, and she was breathing. But he needed to get her to an ambulance, and he needed to get her there fast.
He pushed to his feet. “We need to go,” Becket shouted. “Now!”
* * *
Warmth seepedinto Sky’s hand. It was a familiar warmth. One she wanted to tug closer. Wrap around her entire body.
But God, her limbs felt heavy and weak.
Her eyes were too heavy to open, so she tried to lift her hand, but it seemed impossible too. Why did moving feel so hard right now? And what was that high-pitched beeping? It pricked at her ears, so loud, the beats at regular intervals.
The warmth on her hand moved, squeezing.
She scrunched her eyes in concentration and forced her thumb to move. Swipe across the back of the hand that held hers.
A sharp intake of air sounded, then a voice.
“Sky?”
Becket.
The beats of her heart stumbled over one another, a new urgency to wake up burned inside her.
Finally, she forced her eyes open. At first, everything was a blur. She shut them for another second, then tried again. That’s when he came into focus.
“Beck—” Her lungs spasmed into a round of painful coughing. When she tried to sit up and cover her mouth, she was met with an oxygen mask and a firm hand on her shoulder.
“Whoa, easy, honey.” Gently, he urged her to remain still. “You need to rest. You inhaled a lot of smoke.”
Smoke. The single word made it all come back to her. Rosemary. Bella. The fire.
She grabbed at her mask.
“Sky—” Becket warned.
