“Let them do what they need,” the medic instructed as she stepped beside me, resting her hand on my shoulder.
“He’s… he’s…”
“Going to be okay. They’ll get him out,” she attempted to assure me.
“You can’t promise that.”
“Yes. I can. Look.” She smiled, pointing toward what was left of the barn doors.
Two firefighters decked out in full turnout gear emerged from the smoke, half dragging Jake between them.
A gasp escaped me as I slumped forward onto my knees.
The medic and the firefighter who’d been left to look after me took off to where they were pulling Jake out, doing what needed to be done.
Sawyer and Nash stepped back from the flames and fell back on the grass.
The barn could burn.
Jake was out, and everything would be okay.
ChapterTwenty-Nine
Jake
Rubbing my eyes, everything was blurry.
“Where am I?” I gritted out through a sore, dry throat.
“Hey there,” an angel’s voice echoed, and I felt warmth on my arm.
Blinking again, the bright light hurt my eyes, and I tugged at the tubes in my nose, only to have my hands battered away.
“Leave them, Jake. It’s oxygen,” Kellie explained as my eyes settled on her beautiful face.
She’d been crying. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her cheeks red, and her hair everywhere, but she’d never looked so beautiful.
“Cassie?” I gulped.
“Is fine. You saved her, Jake. You saved our baby girl, and I can never thank you enough…” Kellie started but quickly dissolved into a blubbering mess.
Without caring about anything else, I reached for her and tugged her onto the bed beside me, wrapping her in my arms. She smelled like smoke, and her weight pressing down on me was excruciating, but I wasn’t about to complain. We were both here, and Cassie was safe. Nothing else mattered.
“Shh…” I tried to soothe her, hating the sobs that were wracking her body.
“I could’ve lost you. I could’ve lost you both.”
“But you didn’t.”
I know Kellie needed my words, but right now, every single one was more painful than the last. I’d been in shitty situations before. I’d been caught in a stairwell when the roof collapsed. I’d been climbing through a second-story window when all the glass on the side of the building blew out. But this was worse. This time I’d gone in wearing nothing more than a pair of pajama pants, boots, and my heart on my sleeve. This time it’d been personal, and I’d been stupid.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I attempted to assure her.
After a few quiet moments, Kellie settled in my arms, and I asked her what had happened. She’d told me I’d been unconscious when they’d pulled me out, and I’d inhaled too much smoke. They did what they could on the scene before rushing me to the hospital. Our moms and Cassie were waiting for the call to tell them they could come down, not wanting to upset Cassie seeing me all hooked up to tubes. It sucked. I wanted her here with me, but at the same time, I understood. Today had been a lot, way too much for me to even wrap my head around, so I wasn’t sure how a four-year-old would make sense of it.
“My knee…”
“Your knee was dislocated.”
