need to have, but she’s young and healthy, right? Oh God, please don’t tell me something wrong. Is she okay?”
“Jesus,” Natalee snapped. “Just go talk to her!”
My heart dropped to the floor as I thought of Hailey’s mother. As far as I knew, she’d been healthy until the factory work got to her lungs, but what if there was something deeper genetically. It would explain why she ran away from me.
“I don’t care what is going on,” I resigned myself. “We will get her the best treatment possible.”
“Oh, for Christ’s sake. Would you just go talk to her before you get all dramatic? My God, I thought you were a rancher, not some pussy-foot poet. Good Lord, man, get your shit together.” She turned to Walker. “Are all of you Wheeler men this broody? Do you all assume the absolute worst?”
He chuckled and shook his head. “No ma’am, some of us just shoot it straight. It’s not entirely his fault, though. You can’t have the looks and the brains.”
“I guess we know who got what,” Natalee joked.
“You know what I think?” I offered. “I think the two of you would make the perfect pair. Maybe that’s why you are both so hung up on my relationship with Hailey. Might be there is a little bit of us in the pair of you as well.”
Natalee snorted, Walker, spitting his drink halfway across the bar, yet both their cheeks blushed to different hues of red.
“I’m sorry, I thought you were trying to win back your wife. Or are you going to stay here and play matchmaker?” Walker asked.
Ignoring them both, I dashed out the door and raced back to her apartment. I cleared the steps in a matter of seconds and quickly pounded on her door. There was nothing from the other side. Something pungent hit my nose, the sickeningly sweet mixture of whatever the hell flower was growing in the hallway and burning meat hitting me like a wall. I gagged, a puff of smoke coming from under the door.
Panic took over as I tried the door. It was cool to the touch but locked. I pounded harder, yelling frantically for Hailey. When no answer came, I dropped down to my knees on the concrete. The gap in the warped door offered a slim view into the apartment through the smoke, but I could make out a form on the floor several feet away.
With one heavy kick, the fragile door splintered, and I dove into the room, my head low as I fought the smoke. Within thirty seconds, I was carrying Hailey down the metal steps. She was breathing but not conscious as I laid her gently on the bed of my truck. My eyes stung, tears flowing from the smoke and seeing her limp body.
“Come on, Hailey,” my voice caught. “Please, come back.”
A woman screamed, and I jerked my attention away from Hailey begrudgingly. The brief moment of panic was quickly overpowered by what I saw. The building was quickly engulfed in flames, yet no alarms sounded. With a final glance at Hailey, I ran back toward the building and up the steps, kicking in every door along the way as I yelled at the tenants to get out and call the fire department.
The narrow building had five stories. By the time I reached the fifth floor, I could barely breathe; each gasp sent pain through my lungs. The bandana wrapped around my face did little to protect me. When the last resident was off the floor, I followed them back down, checking the fourth before a fireman came barreling up the steps.
He pulled me behind him, the handle of his ax acting as a guide as the harsh Texas sun came into view. My eyes were completely blurry now. I could still hear the flames licking at my ears as they rang. I took a deep breath, burying the pain it caused long enough to tell the fireman the fourth and fifth floors were cleared. With a final gasp, I pointed to my truck. The man’s body shifted. Through the ringing, I heard him yell at another man whose figure I saw dash in Hailey’s direction.
The pounding in my head intensified until it seemed like the pain alone was causing darkness to close in around me. I reached for the fireman, his muffled voice now sounding far too distant. As I lurched forward and felt the man catch me, the world faded to darkness. All I could think about