As he yelled, “The mother just passed out,” to Eric, Gabe’s attention was so focused on her that he waited a moment too long to hurdle the smoking beam.
He heard the loud crack a split second before a chunk of ceiling came flying down straight onto his forehead. He hit the ground as hard as the beam had hit him. Darkness swam before his eyes.
The last thing he heard was the motion alarm on his belt going off.
Chapter Two
Megan Harris woke up with her daughter in her arms. They often snuggled at night after a late movie or if Summer had a bad dream, but something felt different. Not just the bed, but the itchy spot on the inside of Megan’s elbow and the way her throat felt raw and abused.
She smelled smoke in her hair, in Summer’s hair, and she scrunched her nose up at the dark scent of fire that felt like it was seeping from their pores.
She woke fully with a gasp, her eyes flying open in the hospital room. There were two narrow beds pushed together side by side, but Summer’s was empty, her daughter obviously choosing to climb in with her at some point during the night.
The fire.
Oh God, the fire.
She’d almost lost—
No. Summer was right here, in her arms.
Megan pulled her daughter closer and Summer shifted to look up at her.
“Mommy?”
“Hey there, baby.” The words came out rough and ragged. As if she’d swallowed fire. Which she pretty much had. Megan kissed her little girl on the forehead and each cheek, following those kisses up with a puckery smooch on her soft little lips. “How are you feeling?”
Summer gave a little wiggle. “Okay, but I want them to take this itchy tube out of my arm.” She lifted up her left arm and looked at Megan’s. “We match.”
Smiling through the tears that insisted on falling, she agreed, “We do,” then held up four fingers. “How many fingers am I holding up?”
“Six.” Her daughter’s crooked grin told her she was teasing. “Four.” Summer held up one finger. “What about me?”
“One,” Megan said with a kiss to the tip. “How about we call the doctor and see about getting set free?”
A smiling middle-aged doctor came in shortly after Megan hit the call button, clearly pleased to see them awake and doing so well. The doctor quickly checked their vitals, smiling as she wrote on their charts. “You’re welcome to stay here a while longer if you’d like, but I’m happy to say it doesn’t look like either of you have any of the serious aftereffects of prolonged smoke inhalation, probably because you’re both young and healthy.”
Megan shot a glance at Summer. “Thanks, but I think we’d both like to head home.” A moment too late, she realized she didn’t have a home to go back to.
The doctor gave her a sympathetic look. “I’m sure you’d like to get washed up and changed.” Before Megan could remind her that they didn’t have any clean clothes to change into, the doctor brought over a bag. “The hospital keeps a stash of clothes for people in your situation. I’m so sorry about what happened to you, but I’m very glad you’re both doing so well.”
Tears threatened again. She was in a situation. How she’d hoped that her situations were behind her.
Well, she thought as she ruthlessly pushed more tears away, she and Summer had survived the first situation five years ago and they’d survive this one, too. Heck, they already had survived, hadn’t they? Now it was just down to details.
If there was one thing Megan knew how to do, it was details. Her work as a CPA meant she was a master at taking the often messy financial details of her clients’ lives and transforming them into clean, well-organized accounts and spreadsheets. She’d simply have to do that for herself now.
Thankfully, she was religious about backing up her clients’ files. She’d be okay there, at least, once they’d found another place to stay and she was ready to get back to her job.
Before leaving, the doctor reminded them to take it easy for a few days and to check back in with her if they had trouble breathing, had coughing spells, or felt dizzy and confused.
When they were alone again, Megan told her daughter, “I’m going to take a shower and then you can go on in and clean up.”
Summer nodded, reaching for the remote control and turning big, pleading green eyes on her. “May I watch TV?”
Even though Megan was usually strict about not watching TV during the day, she quickly decided that something mindless would be a very good thing for her daughter right about now. She nodded, ruffling Summer’s short blond hair before scooting off the bed. “Just for a little while.”
“Yay!”
As Megan headed into the bathroom toward what was going to be the best shower of her life, she was glad to know that, where her very resilient daughter was concerned, it looked as if she was going to be okay.
Only, as she stood under the warm spray that was slowly washing away the black smudges of smoke on her skin, along with what she realized were the charred ends of her hair, she didn’t have any idea how long it was going to take her to feel okay, too. Not with the visions of what might have happened to them running through her head one after the other, mental pictures of their ordeal that were blurred with the dark edges of a thick, black fog.
And yet, despite how exhausted and drained she felt, she could never forget the heroic firefighter who had pulled them out of their flaming apartment. He’d risked his life for theirs. Once she and Summer were back on their feet, she would go find him. Not just to say thank you, but to find a way to repay him for the incredible gift he’d given them.