Pressing into Noah, pushing as hard as I can from the prone position without forcing myself backwards, I gasp for air and gain an inch.
Gasp and gain.
Fuck, he’s so heavy.
“Better … survive … this … youbastard.”
His weight vanishes from my grip, and I rip my head up in time to see his boots flying by my face. The toe of one goes sideways, making contact with my temple and—
Quiet.
Chapter 40
Tristen
That familiar pulse ofpain in my chest is the first thing I recognize.
The second?
The sound of wailing sirens surrounding me.
The third is the pinch in the hollow of my elbow that sends me straight up on the gurney to rip at the tubing inserted into my veins and taped to my skin.
“Whoa,whoa, there, my guy. Chill out.”
“What—” It croaks out so rough that I clear my throat and immediately regret it as pain lances through my neck up to my ears. “What is it?”
“Saline. Just saline.”
My first reaction? Not the relief I was hoping for, but the disappointment that it’s not morphine.
I swallow and it goes down like rocks.
“Where?” I ask the EMT, my sight finally landing on him, the nameFarrinstitched into his uniform.
“Hospital. Barren Ridge.”
I shake my head. “Take me back to the firehouse.”
Half of the words break as they grate over my raw vocal cords, but he seems to get the gist.
“Bad idea.”
“So was that buzzcut,” I mutter and tip my head to his short-cropped hair.
It doesn’t look bad; I’m just being an asshole.
He huffs anyway.
“Aw thanks. I’ll tell my barber next time I look in the mirror.”
I attempt to snort, except it hurts all the way to my toes and I end up groaning instead. Falling back to the gurney with another pain-filled grunt. “Fuck.”
“Sure about that destination request?”
It takes me a moment to respond with a nod. “Firehouse.”
Farrin stares at me for a long beat, one of those loaded ones that I feel more than see, before he sighs and crouches and climbs closer to the front of the bus. I don’t hear what he tells the driver, but when I feel the pull of the bus shift like we’re turning around, my insides clench up.
