A watery laugh escaped her despite everything. “I’m making sure you’re alive.”
“That’s fair.”
Johanna was holding his hand so tightly he doubted circulation still existed in his fingers.
Not that he cared.
The medic checking his shoulder glanced between them with poorly hidden amusement. “Are you two married?”
Johanna answered immediately. “No.”
Blaze answered at the exact same time. “Not yet.”
Johanna turned toward him so fast the medic laughed out loud.
Even injured, Blaze grinned. “There’s that laugh.”
“Blaze Carter,” she whispered, horrified.
“What?” He winced slightly as the ambulance hit a bump. “Near-death experiences make people honest.”
Johanna shook her head, but warmth appeared in her eyes.
Good.
Because he needed her breathing again.
The hospital emergency entrance glowed harshly against the storm-dark night when they finally arrived. Everything moved quickly after that. Nurses checked his vitals, ordered X-rays, and evaluated injuries that included cracked ribs, a dislocated shoulder, smoke inhalation, and a cut above his eye that required several stitches. Blaze endured every question, examination, and painful adjustment with surprising patience, largely because his attention remained fixed on the woman sitting beside his hospital bed in soaked clothes, looking emotionally exhausted and unwilling to let go of his hand.
Before sunrise, the storm had finally started calming outside.
The emergency room lights dimmed slightly while most of Sheraton Beach slept.
Johanna sat curled quietly in the recliner beside Blaze’s bed,wearing hospital scrubs and one of his firehouse hoodies Ryan had brought over from the station. Her curls were a mess, dark smudges of mascara lingered beneath exhausted eyes, and she looked like she'd been through her own kind of disaster tonight. Even so, Blaze had never seen anything more beautiful.
“I’m here, Jo.” His voice softened. “I love you. I’m not going anywhere.”
For a moment, Johanna said nothing.
She stared down at their hands tangled together beneath the blanket, her thumb moving slowly across his knuckles as emotion gathered in her eyes.
When she finally looked up, her gaze locked onto his.
“I love you too.”
The words came out barely above a whisper.
But they hit Blaze harder than the collapsing ceiling ever had.
His breath caught.
Because in all the years he'd known Johanna, through first love, heartbreak, and every lonely mile between them, he'd never stopped hoping to hear those words again.
Tears shimmered in her eyes.
“I never stopped,” she admitted softly. “I tried. God knows I tried. I told myself I was angry. I told myself I was over you. I told myself a lot of things.”
A shaky laugh escaped her.
