He didn't pretend to have an answer for that.He only held her through the next small wave of dizziness and kept himself between her and the worst of the view, his body a shield she hadn't asked for but couldn't bring herself to refuse.
Diaz approached after a minute, her steps measured and deliberate, notebook tucked away in her jacket pocket.Anderson peeled off toward one of the engines, calling instructions to his crew.
"Sabrina," Diaz said.
She straightened slightly in Colby's hold, but he kept his arm where it was, his palm still a warm point of contact at her back.
"Yes," she answered.
"We'll have the lab results as soon as possible.I'll update you the moment we know more."
"Okay."
"In the meantime, I'd prefer you not stay on-site for too long.There's debris that could shift without warning, and you've had a rough night."
"I'm not leaving until it's out," she said.
Sabrina felt Colby's chest move under her hands as he drew breath to argue, then let it out slowly instead.He glanced at Diaz."She nearly fainted a second ago."
"I did not," she muttered.
Diaz's gaze flicked over her face, taking in the pallor there, the dark circles under her eyes, the fine tremor still working through her frame."You look like you spent the night in a fire."
"She did," Colby pointed out.
"I'm aware."Diaz crossed her arms, her expression softening just slightly around the edges."You stay back from the structure, understood?You can stand here with Landon, but if you wobble again, you're in the truck.No arguments."
"I'm fine," Sabrina said.
Both of them looked at her with identical expressions of disbelief.
She sighed."I'll sit if I have to."
Diaz seemed to accept that compromise."Don't touch anything.Scene's still active."
"We won't," Colby said.
Diaz nodded once and walked away, heading toward one of the patrol cars where an officer waited with a tablet.
Sabrina watched her go."She's very reassuring."
"She's very thorough," Colby said."You want thorough on your side right now."
"Do I have her on my side?"
"You have Copper Moon on your side."His voice carried that quiet certainty again, the one that made her want to believe him even when everything else felt impossible."That includes her.That includes everyone here."
The engines' lights kept rotating in slow, hypnotic turns, reflecting off the wet ground where water had pooled.Another section of the interior wall crumbled inward, sending up a small cloud of ash and debris.Anderson signaled his crew to dampen it again.They moved with practiced ease, their motions synchronized by years of working together.
Sabrina stayed where she was, her weight a little more relaxed against Colby's chest.He didn't seem to mind.Didn't shift away or check his watch or give any sign that he had somewhere else to be.His heartbeat thudded steadily under her ear, an easy counterpoint to the distant noise.
"I'm not leaving," she repeated, more to herself than to him.
"I know," he said."I'll be right here with you."
She believed him.For the first time since the flames had woken her, since she'd stumbled through smoke and heat and terror, she believed someone when they said they weren't going anywhere.
She tightened her grip on his sweatshirt for just a second, then loosened it again, allowing herself that small admission.
