And thenIwas floating again.
32
JACK
THE PERFECT STORM
Aurora got out without burns, but smoke inhalation was just as bad.Thesight of her on the stretcher as the paramedic started anIVwas burned into my memory.Thecrimson color of the drug that combated cyanide poisoning was somethingIhad seen administered far too many times.Residentialfires were a special kind of bitch.
She had been taken to the hospital afterIhad pulled her out of the house.Herairway had swollen from the smoke.Luckily, they were able to get it under control without intubating her.
I felt like a piece of shit over the fact that she had to go to the emergency department in the ambulance by herself, but it was all hands on deck to get the blaze under control.
Chief had called in for a replacement for me so thatIcould drive down to the hospital inMoreheadto help her get discharged and come home.Assoon as we got back to the station,Ijumped in my truck and put the pedal to the metal.
Hospitals were the least efficient monstrosities known to man.Timemeant absolutely nothing.Usually, it drove me batshit crazy, but not this time.Iwanted her to be observed as long as possible.Iwanted every test done.Iwanted second and third opinions.Iwanted every workup possible.Iwanted no stone left unturned.
I only caved whenAuroralooked at me with weary eyes.
. . . And when the nurses threatened to have me thrown out.
Emotional and physical exhaustion plagued us both when we finally made it home.Ihad coaxed her into drinking a protein shake before she crashed in my bed, then laid with her until the sun came up.Whenthe first rays of daylight peeked over the horizon,Ithrew on boots and pants to trudge through the wreckage next door.
TheOldWhitlockplace was reduced to a willowy skeleton.Everythingwe had poured blood and sweat into over the summer turned to charcoal.Iwas hoping to find something salvageable fromAurora’swardrobe, but it was all gone.
One thing survived, though.Thatdamn plotting notebook.Iwas starting to think it was a phoenix, surviving the fire each time.
Or maybeAurorawas.
When she felt up to it, we’d comb through the disaster together.Insurancewould be out to assess the site, and she and her mom would have to begin the process of getting whatever pennies the company would offer.
That damn offer gnawed at me.
Money had been on the table.Start-over money thatIcouldn’t offer her.Ihad made her feel like shit about it.Now, it was gone and it wasn’t coming back.Sure, the property—the land—could be sold, but it would take time to get it cleared and find a buyer.
I crept into the house and set the notebook on the kitchen table.IwishIcould have saved her laptop, but she could use mine for the time being.Shewas out of a phone too.Whenwe were waiting for the discharge paperwork, she had used mine to call her mom and textWhitneyandWillow.
I slipped into the house with silent steps and headed into the shower to rinse off.Ididn’t want her to be upset by the charred smell of the house clinging to my skin.WhenIstepped out with water droplets still speckling my skin, she was stirring restlessly in her sleep.
“Don’t get up,”Iwhispered asIbrushedAurora’shair away from her face. “Justrelax.”
Her eyes were disoriented and heavy with sleep, but she tried to sit up and look at the clock anyway.
“Roar, what’dItell you?Goback to sleep, baby.I’mgetting in with you.”Iunwrapped the towel from around my waist and pitched it into the hamper.
"When did you come in?” she murmured as she settled back against the pillow.
“‘Bout thirty minutes ago.Irinsed off,”Isaid asIpawed through my drawers untilIfound a pair of boxers and pulled them on.Ichecked the tabletop humidifier that lived onAurora’sside to make sure it didn’t need to be topped off with water before crawling in beside her. “Howdo you feel?”
“Can’t sleep,” she murmured as she curled into my chest.
Alarm bells rang in my head. “Youhaving trouble breathing?”
She shook her head. “Ifeel likeI’mgonna throw up.”
“Yeah,”Isaid sympathetically asIwrapped my arms around her and rubbed her back. “Nauseais a side-effect of theCyanokit.It’swhat the paramedics gave you before they took you to the hospital.”
“What’s it do?” she murmured.
