He swallowed hard. “I’ll never get comfortable with the idea of seeing you in danger, but I’ve accepted it’s something I’ll have to deal with. I know it’s part of a package deal, like my being a firefighter is for you. I need you to promise that you’ll always remember there’s someone who needs you to come home every day.”
Lexi gazed at him for a long time, tears running down her face. It took everything in Dane not to close the distance between them, wrap his arms around her, and kiss them away.
Please don’t let it be too little, too late.
But then she got up and came over to sit beside him. A moment later, she leaned in to kiss him, and if her lips were a little wet with tears, he wasn’t going to complain.
“I promise,” she said when she pulled away, her voice barely above a whisper as she looked him straight in the eye. “But you have to make the same promise as well. Because you’re very important to me, and I don’t want to think about what life would be like without you in it.”
Dane smiled, relief flooding through him. “I promise.”
Lexi kissed him again then rested her forehead against his with a groan. “I want to spend the rest of the day kissing you like this, but I told the patient Trent and I dropped off at the hospital the other night that I’d stop by and see him. Do you want come with me then afterward we can come back here and hang out?”
“Actually, I promised Jax and Skye I’d stop by and help set up some stuff for the wedding tomorrow,” he said. “But I’d love to hang out after that. If you’re sure it’s okay?”
Her lips curved into a smile. “It’s definitely okay. I know we’re both probably still a little gun shy over everything that was said, but I want us to get back to where we were before. Spending our day off together is a good start.”
They agreed to meet back at her place at four then Dane walked her to her car. Before she got in, Lexi pulled him down for a long, slow kiss. “I’m glad we worked stuff out. It’s only been a day since we saw each other, but I really missed you.”
Dane knew exactly what she meant.
* * * * *
Lexi was still smiling as she walked into the hospital. Despite her conversation with Trent, she’d avoided Dane at the station the other night then left as soon as her shift was over. She’d almost called him a dozen times since, but they needed to talk about things face to face. After tossing and turning for the past two nights, she’d gotten up that morning intending to go over to Dane’s place since he obviously wasn’t going to make the first move. But then he’d shown up at her door.
She’d wanted to drag him into her apartment and kiss him until they were both out of breath, but she’d restrained herself. The wait had been worth it. The things Dane said to her today had made her cry for a completely different reason than they had the other night. His words had made her heart do somersaults in her chest.
Lexi didn’t care that she and Dane had only been dating a little while. She was in love with him, plain and simple. Like Skye had said, who someone fell for or how fast didn’t have to follow any rules.
Stepping off the elevator, Lexi made her way to the nurse’s station. The blond woman handling the desk looked up from her computer as she approached. Lexi explained that she was a paramedic with DF&R then asked if the nurse knew which rooms Debra Wallace and Jessie Strickland were in. She’d only promised Jessie she’d visit, but since she was there, she wanted to check on Debra, too.
The nurse tapped on her keyboard, then stared at the computer screen. After a moment, she shook her head. “I don’t see room numbers for either patient.”
Lexi frowned. “Were they released already?”
The nurse typed something else into the computer. “It doesn’t show that they were released.” More typing. “That’s odd.”
“What’s odd?”
“The records don’t say anything about their status at all. A few notes about insurance and what their injuries were, then nothing.”
Lexi took her cell phone from her purse and dialed Melinda, She hated bothering her friend, but she couldn’t shake the funny feeling building up in her stomach. It was silly, but after what had happened to Wayne last week, she had to know.
“Hey Melinda,” she said when her friend answered. “I’m at the nurse’s station on the fifth floor. Can you come up here for a minute?”
“Yeah. I’ll be right there.”
Melinda looked like crap when she stepped off the elevator. No shock there. With the exception of a few catnaps here and there, her friend had been working for the better part of the past forty-eight hours.
“You look terrible,” Lexi said.
“Nice to see you, too,” Melinda responded with none of her usual spark. “There’s a flu bug going around and half the nurses are down with it. Everyone who can walk is pulling multiple shifts. What dragged you down here on your day off?”
“I came to see the two patients Trent and I treated Tuesday night—the woman from the car on the overpass and the homeless veteran the street racers hit.”
Melinda stared at her like she had no idea what Lexi was talking about then her eyes widened. “That was Tuesday night? I’d completely lost all track of what day of the week it was.”
“Can you help me figure out where they are?” Lexi asked. “I assume they were released, but I’ll like to get addresses so I can go see them and make sure they’re doing okay. I’m especially worried about Jessie. I’m not sure that guy has a place to go.”
