I approach what I think might be the entrance I barged through earlier. It’s blocked by rubble, broken pipes, and huge shards of glass. Over my head, an exposed electrical cable dangles from the ceiling.
There’s water on the floor.
Real fear begins to lick my soul and I back up. Retreat to the contractor’s side. He’s still out cold and his silence hits me more than the death creak of the building. I crouch beside him. Check his pulse.
That fucker.
I start chest compressions, adrenaline and autopilot fighting for dominance.
Autopilot wins.Trainingwins. This isn’t the first time I’ve done this. That morbid metronome. The countdown that can end in the best or the worst day of your life.
I keep going and going and going, pumping his heart while his body can’t.
In the distance, I hear the wail of sirens, but I’m so fucked up, I can’t be sure it’s real.
Then I hear shouts.
Banging.
Boots on the ground.
And I keep fuckin’ compressing this asshole’s chest until a gloved hand pulls me back.
It’s a firefighter.
He says something to me, but I know the script, so I don’t listen.
The rest is a blur.
Oxygen masks. A stretcher.
If any of them are for me, I wave them away.
I need fresh air.
Daylight.
Fuck, I need Joss.
Your phone is broken. You want him, you gotta walk your ass home and find him.It’s a depressing thought.
An unnecessary one, as it turns out.
A firefighter guides me over the rubble. The evening sun hits my face. It’s warm. But it’s nothing compared to the golden light bouncing off the angriest Englishman I’ve ever seen.
* * *
JOSS
I punch Kai hard in his uninjured arm. Maybe it’s an abnormal reaction when the love of your life emerges from a collapsed building, dust in his hair and blood soaking his shirt, but I’ve never claimed to be normal. “You fuckingbastard.” I pull him close, holding him against me as he staggers a little. “Don’t ever do that to me again.”
Tanner and Jax are right behind me. The firefighter leading Kai to the paramedic steps aside and Tanner takes over.
He looks green as hell, but I don’t laugh. There is nothing funny about waiting across the street from a disaster zone to find out if the only man you’ve ever loved is the one coming out on a stretcher.
I’m fucking fuming. With fate, not Kai.
But still. I’mlivid.
