A phone buzzes. Tanner’s, not mine.
“It’s Jax,” he says. “I’ll call him back.”
I pull away with a faint grin, still craving the embrace I’ll have to wait all night long to enjoy properly. “Don’t keep him waiting on my account. I’m not going anywhere.”
“For real?”
Tanner spins my earlier words back on me, but before I can answer him, or myself, Molly barrels through the back door.
She’s clutching the cordless bar phone, her enormous eyes rounder than flying saucers, face as alabaster pale as I’ve ever seen it. “Jax called,” she stutters. “He said the construction site opposite Wildfoot collapsed, and—and—”
“And what?” Tanner shoves away from me and bears down on her, dwarfing her tiny frame. “What is it?”
Molly’s terrified gaze flits to me. “Kai was inside.”
26
KAI AND JOSS
KAI
I hate dust. Not a big fan of compound fractures either, but hey, at least it’s not my leg.
It’s a small comfort. I secure the annoying worker’s pulverized tibia, thankful for the fact that I’ve never balked at the sight of blood. His. Mine. It’s everywhere, mixing with the rubbly detritus to create a horrifying rust-colored paste.
Yuck.
My ears are ringing. Did I hit my head?
I’m honestly not sure. All I know is that this damn-fucking wall collapsed, and I saw it coming weeks ago.
You should’ve done something.
I did. And look where it got me? Bleeding from the…shoulder? Maybe? With a KO’d patient to deal with who’s also a nuclear-level dumbass.
Lucky me.I’m trying to be annoyed, I really am, but all I really feel is guilt that I don’t know this asshole’s name, and that I didn’t do something about the wall sooner.
The building gives a shuddery groan. I glance up as more dust rains down on me.It’s a supporting wall. This whole place could come down.
Yup. But I’m relying on Jax to call it in and the fire department to do their thing before that happens.
And I’m relying on Mr. Pipekicker to stay alive in the meantime.
I check his pulse. It’s thready, shock setting in from his horrendous leg injury and who knows what else on the rest of his body.
Is he breathing?
Barely. I swipe at my phone again, trying the smashed screen for any signs of life.
There are none and I have no idea where the worker’s is. Crushed beneath him, probably.
Come on, Jax. I know he saw the wall come down. He must have—he was right fuckin’ there.
Another ominous rumble shakes the fragile structure above us. I grit my teeth and stand.Fuck this. I’ve spent too long wishing my life away. I’m not losing it to a bullshit building collapse.
I shuffle through the mess, so turned around that I’m not sure I’m heading the right way—to the front of the old liquor store. The wall was big and it’s almost entirely caved in. There’s shit everywhere and the blood dripping down my arm is more than I’m expecting.You’re fine. If you were gonna pass out from blood loss, you’d have done it already.
It’s an interesting take on how the body works, but if it keeps me upright, I’ll take it.
