"What?" Wilkin and I say at the same time.
Reeve pushes to his feet and charges toward the kitchenette. "Granny made Grandpa put in an emergency button when they got a bit older in case anything happened to him. It's here, under the sink."
"What does it do?" Wilkin asks.
"I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I think it sends an alert to the house." He opens the cabinet door and falls onto his hands and knees. I'm in a lot of pain, but real talk, the sight of Reeve's ass in sweatpants from this angle is better than Ibuprofen. "Okay. I've found it. I'm pressing it. There." He returns to us.
"Now what?" I ask.
"Now we wait," he answers.
20
Wilkin
Thankfully, we don't have to wait too long. Jett isn't exactly the world's easiest patient—shocker, I know—but Reeve has been wonderful, tending to him without overfussing and keeping the conversation light and breezy. I've mainly stayed out of the way, glancing occasionally at Jett's knee, which only seems to be getting redder.
Ten or so minutes after hitting the emergency button, I hear something, a faint whirring sound. "Shhh, you guys… You hear that?"
They both stop talking. Reeve races over to the window and sticks his head out. "It's the helicopter," he calls out triumphantly. "Granny must've received the message and gotten someone on staff to fly out here."
"Talk about dramatic," I say.
Jett smiles. "Who, me?"
His eyes stay on me, and I'm struck by how much we have to say to one another. But this isn't the right time. What we have todo now is get him out of here safely and to a doctor as quickly as possible.
Reeve races over. "We'll get you to a hospital in no time."
Jett smiles appreciatively. "Thank you. I honestly don't think I would have made it through the night."
"No need to thank me," he says before taking off out the door.
But there is. There's so much to thank him for…not to mention so much to talk to him about, too. We may have only met him a few days ago, but I can already tell he isn't someone I'm ever not going to have in my life. He's a keeper. Just need to figure out what that looks like exactly.
The helicopter gets closer and louder.
"I'm going to go outside and check it out," I say to Jett. "Will you be okay by yourself for a minute?"
"Of course. Go."
I dash off and join Reeve outside, his hair flying about like crazy as the helicopter blades hammer the air and whip everything around. A few seconds later, it touches down, the deafening roar fades, and the blades slow until they finally stop.
"Who do you think it is?" I ask.
"I'm thinking Granny called her neighbor, Steve. He’s ex–Navy SEAL. I don't think anyone else would be able to?—"
He stops in his tracks as a shadowed figure climbs down from the helicopter.
"Holy shit." My eyes bulge, and I bring a hand to cover my gaping mouth. "Is that…your grandmother?"
Reeve coughs, completely lost for words.
"I'll take that as a yes. Come on." I tug his arm, and together we race toward her.
"Granny, what are you doing here?"
"What does it look like I'm doing? The alarm came through. I came as quickly as I could. Now what's the emergency?"
