But he was alive.
Oh God.
He was alive.
The breath tore from her so violently she doubled over with one hand pressed against her chest while sobs broke free uncontrollably.
Michael caught her before she fully collapsed. “There you go,” he murmured quietly. “Breathe.”
But Johanna barely heard him.
Because Blaze was moving.
Trying to force himself upright despite two paramedics ordering him to stay still. His eyes searched frantically through the chaos until they landed on her.
And the second they did, everything else disappeared.
Johanna watched emotion tear visibly across his face in real time, fear, relief, and love so raw it nearly brought her to her knees again.
“Jo.”
Even through the chaos surrounding them, she heard him clearly.
Blaze tried getting off the stretcher immediately. One of the medics shoved him right back down.
“Absolutely not.”
“Move,” Blaze snapped roughly while still trying to look past them toward Johanna.
Ryan grabbed his shoulder hard. “Sit your stubborn ass down.”
Johanna stood there in the rain crying like her entire world had nearly ended.
“Johanna.”
His voice came rougher this time. Needier. Like seeing her standing there shattered had cracked something open inside him completely.
Johanna pulled away from Michael and ran. Straight through the rain, straight through the smoke, and straight toward Blaze.
Blaze pushed himself halfway upright again despite the paramedics protesting while Johanna reached the stretcher and grabbed his face with both trembling hands.
“You idiot,” she sobbed brokenly.
Blaze looked up at her, pain, relief, and love colliding openly across his face. “Hey, baby.”
The tenderness in his voice shattered what little composure she had left. Tears streamed uncontrollably down her face while she touched him everywhere at once, his shoulders, his face, his chest, like she needed physical proof he was still here. Still breathing. Still hers.
“You scared me,” she whispered through broken sobs.
Blaze’s expression softened instantly despite the pain tightening around his eyes. “I know.”
Rain streamed down their faces while emergency lights flashed across the wet street around them, turning the storm into a blur of red and blue reflections.
And suddenly Johanna didn’t care about fear, emotional self-protection, or convincing herself loving Blaze was too dangerous. Because standing there believing for one horrifyingmoment that he might die had stripped everything down to one brutal truth.
Loving Blaze terrified her but losing him would destroy her completely.
Chapter19
