made it impossible to take in any more air. She bit back a pained gasp when the shelving unit on top of her shifted, causing the cold, hard metal to dig deeper into her side and leg until finally–
“I got it!” Deb announced as the pressure crushing down on Sloane was suddenly eased.
“Go get help!” Sloane said around a cough as she opened her eyes to find Teddy sitting next to her, crying and looking absolutely terrified as he struggled to breathe through the smoke.
“Okay!” Deb yelled as Sloane reached over and grabbed one of the bottles of water that went flying when the shelf tipped over.
“Take off your shirt, sweetie,” Sloane said, giving him a reassuring smile as she opened the bottle and waited.
Coughing, Teddy quickly pulled off his Iron Man T-shirt and held it out to her. She poured the water over the shirt, completely soaking it. “Put it over your face and breathe through it,” she told him, and once he did that, Sloane said, “I need you to lay on the floor and get as far away from the smoke as you can.”
“I’m scared,” Teddy whispered even as he did what he was told.
“You don’t have to be scared. I’m here,” Sloane said, struggling to stop coughing as more smoke filled her lungs.
“They’re gonna send us back to Grandma,” Teddy said as he curled up next to her as much as the metal braces on his legs would allow him to.
“No, they’re not,” Sloane promised him as she wrapped her arm around his trembling body and held him close.
“Yes, they are. I heard Kim talking to the social worker,” he said, sounding terrified and she didn’t think it had anything to do with the fact that they were trapped in a room filling with smoke.
“You and Deb are going to come live with me.”
“You promise?” he whispered after a slight hesitation.
“Yes,” Sloane mumbled, forced to close her eyes as she struggled to breathe.
“What if they don’t let you?”
“Why wouldn’t they let me?” she asked, giving his trembling body a gentle squeeze. “Besides, I’m going to need help with the baby when it comes,” she said, praying that Deb was able to find someone in time.
“A baby?”
“Mmmhmm, and I’m going to need you and Deb to help pick out names,” Sloane murmured, her voice sounding slurred to her own ears.
“What about Chase?” came the softly whispered question as she struggled to open her eyes as her lungs stopped pulling in air and–
He loved her.
She knew it even if he didn’t. It was in the way that he touched her, the way that he smiled when he looked at her, the way that he held her and made love to her, and…
She should have said yes, Sloane thought as she found herself starting to drift off.
Chapter 43
“You can’t do this!” came the high-pitched screech that met Chase when he climbed out of his truck and found himself sending Thomas a sympathetic wince when he saw Amy throw herself at him in mid-tantrum.
Poor, dumb bastard, Chase thought, chuckling as he made his way to the station where half the crew was standing outside, watching the show.
“Seriously dodged a huge fucking bullet,” Adam said, shaking his head in wonder as he watched Amy drop to her knees as she begged Thomas to take her back.
“Please don’t do this! I love you!” came the hysterical scream that followed Thomas as he walked away.
“If he takes her back, I’m going to have to kill him,” John said, shaking his head in disbelief as he reached over and shook Chase’s hand.
“I think you’ll have help,” Chase said, chuckling.
“How is Sloane? I heard that she wasn’t feeling well last night,” John asked with a warm smile as he gestured for Chase to follow him to his office.
“She’s doing better,” Chase absently said, wondering how he was going to fix this.
She loved him and he…was fucking broken, he realized, biting back a sigh. There was no doubt in his mind that he could do this, but he wasn’t sure that it was going to be enough for Sloane. She deserved more and he honestly wasn’t sure that he was going to be able to give it to her. He’d take care of her and the baby, make sure that they never wanted for anything, but…
He couldn’t give them more than that.
“Good,” John murmured as he closed the door behind him and gestured for Chase to sit down. “How are the classes going?”