sent me into some kind of frenzy that I didn’t quite understand. They started to wheel her toward the ambulance. I got up to the side of them, my gaze taking her in where she was strapped to the board, oxygen covering her mouth and nose, her face blackened with soot and ash.
But her eyes were open.
A striking green.
Wild and full of fear and brimming with something else that twisted through me like a drug.
Shock and hope.
Alive and real.
Relief slammed me.
Overpowering.
Our gazes tangled, the woman staring up at me as they wheeled her for the ambulance. The connection riding through the air made me stumble back a step, and my guts twisted in this feeling that this was where I’d been purposed to be.
What the fuck?
But I guessed that’s what happened when you were in a life and death situation. All senses were heightened. Her life in my hands, like her spirit had known it.
It was terrifying and gratifying. Horrifying and beautiful.
With a lump in my throat, I watched as they wheeled her the rest of the way to the ambulance, its lights flashing through the night as the team continued to work on the fire that ravaged the house.
They loaded her and shut the doors.
Breaking the connection.
I slumped back, my head spinning, not sure what to make of this feeling that tugged at the middle of me.
The siren blipped as the ambulance started down the quaint neighborhood street. Onlookers had gathered, some with nothing but more than morbid interest and others who had shed tears of genuine concern.
I scrubbed a palm over my face like it could break up the intensity. This wired sensation that buzzed through my blood and hammered my heart.
I felt something nudge at my legs, and I looked down to find a tiny puppy whining and doing circles at my feet. She was grey and white. Probably some kind of pit mix. Blue eyes turned to stare up at me.
I gulped, knelt down, and petted her head. She snuggled closer.
“Hey, sweet girl. Who do you belong to?”
Except I already knew, didn’t I? I had no idea how she’d gotten out.
Escaped.
I looked around. No one was there to claim her or take care of her.
I scooped her up and pressed her soft fur to my nose, the tiny thing sooty and smelling like smoke.
She gave me a tiny bark and licked my face.
My chest tightened.
“It’s okay. I’ve got you. I’ll get you back to your momma.”
As I watched the ambulance disappear into the night, the buzz in my blood grew louder.
And I knew I was far too eager to see her again.
TWO
Derrick
“SHH…IT’S OKAY, sweet girl. Just a couple more minutes.” Gigi whimpered, pawing at me and nuzzling her nose into my arm. I sat in my truck outside the hospital. Nerves rattled through me like the coming of an earthquake.
She was being released today. Three days later. I’d been assured she would make a full recovery.
Yeah. I’d kept tabs on her. Mostly for Gigi.
“Right, girl?” I said aloud as I scratched behind her ears.
She whined. Clearly calling bullshit.
“Okay. Fine.”
I had to admit a little bit of that was for me, but I’d been unable to slough the nagging need to check up on her and make sure she was fine. I felt responsible for someone in a way I hadn’t in a long, long time.
I’d passed along my number and told her to text me whenever she was ready to take care of her dog. She’d texted back and asked me to meet her here.
My chest tightened when I saw an orderly pushing a woman through the double doors in a wheelchair. Brown hair in the messiest knot I’d ever seen, and she was obviously wearing clothes that weren’t hers, because the sweatshirt swallowed her whole.
But her face—I would recognize it anywhere, even if it was no longer covered in ash.
That feeling I’d been fighting for the last three days intensified.
Something so confusing I couldn’t process what it meant.
Intense relief at knowing she was fine. That we’d gotten to her in time.
All mixed up with it were these sparks of excitement. Something that propelled me forward. Made me itch. Like I was standing on the cusp of change.
Didn’t help things that she was fucking stunning.
Gorgeous.
I took her in from across the lot.
I’d been fighting the images my mind had been conjuring for days, and then she had to turn around and be even more beautiful than my fucked-up brain had hoped to imagine.
Just looking at her,