Everything hurt.
Hell, even breathing was painful.
But none of that compared to the feeling of Johanna standing beside his stretcher crying like she thought she’d lost him. That messed him up completely.
Blaze stared up at her through rain and flashing lights while she held his face with shaking hands like she couldn’t stop touching him now that she knew he was alive.
And all he could think was… she came.
Blaze reached for her, soot-streaked fingers curling around her wrist while paramedics continued checking him for injuries.
“Hey,” he murmured softly. “You’re here.”
Johanna shook her head once like she physically couldn’t calm down yet. “You could’ve died.”
The crack in her voice punched straight through his chest.
Blaze ignored the medic trying to examine his shoulder and focused entirely on her. “But I didn’t.”
“That’s not the point.”
The medic pressed against Blaze’s ribs and he hissed sharply.
Johanna instantly turned toward the paramedic. “Be careful!”
The fierce panic in her voice almost made him smile despite the pain.
“We’re all glad to see you,” Ryan muttered nearby.
Blaze glanced toward him briefly before looking back at Johanna. “Jo, baby.”
Her eyes found his again immediately.
Blaze tugged gently on her wrist until she moved closer beside the stretcher. “I’m okay.”
“You arenotokay.”
“Mostly okay.”
Johanna let out a watery laugh that broke apart halfway through. The sound twisted painfully through him. Because he knew this fear. Knew exactly what it felt like standing on the edge of losing somebody you loved before you got the chance to fix things. He’d been living with that feeling since Johanna had found out about Seattle.
Blaze lifted one hand slowly and brushed rain-soaked curls away from her face.
“You came to me.”
Johanna stared at him like he’d asked something impossible. “Of course I came.”
Like there had never been another option.
Blaze closed his eyes briefly against the emotion hitting him.
“I thought…” Her voice dropped. “I was afraid that the last thing you’d remember would be me pushing you away.”
The confession landed directly in the center of his chest.
Blaze shook his head immediately despite the pain.
“No.”
