And then I remembered Danny.
The roar of his voice, the look on his face as the flames took him?—
My heart lurched, the monitors beeping to life with warning.
“Black Cat.”
My name in his voice instantly soothed the ache in my chest as I turned my head, eyes burning to find him.
“Eli.” I croaked, voice broken, reaching for him as he slid his fingers through mine, bringing them to his lips to kiss. He had soot on his face and was wearing his uniform, without his turnout gear on, his eyes were bloodshot but locked on me like I was the only thing in the world.
Travis moved behind him, looming, his face carved from stone but his eyes soft, raw, and wet.
“You’re safe,” Eli whispered, as Travis stalked around the bed to sit at my hip, lacing his fingers with my free hand like Eli had. “You’re safe now.”
“He’s dead—” I swallowed, trying to soothe my broken voice. “Isn’t he?”
Tears stung my eyes as Travis nodded solemnly. “He died in the fire.”
“It's not your fault,” Eli voiced, drawing my attention back to him. “I know that you’re feeling guilty for the loss of his life, even if he deserved it.”
I felt tears slide down my cheeks into my hair. “It was horrific.” I cried, feeling that familiar, overwhelming sense of panic trying to overtake my body and my mind. “I was so scared.”
“I never should have listened to Weller,” Travis cursed, lifting my hand to his mouth and holding it there as he closed his eyes to take a deep calming breath. “You should never have left my sight.”
“He would have done it anyway.” I whispered, shaking my head, “He was crazed with insanity. He would have waited and hurt you if you’d been with me.” I took a shuddered breath, “And I wouldn’t have survived that.” His eyes opened, looking at me, and I glanced over at Eli, leaning on his elbows right next to me to make sure they both understood what I meant. “I survived this, but I would have walked into those flames willingly if he had hurt you to get to me.”
Eli leaned over and kissed my forehead, “You barely survived as it is.”
I looked down at my body, to the massive white bandages covering my lower legs. “How bad is it?”
“Second degree.” Trav replied, wiping a tear off my cheek. “From calf down. But the rest is superficial. And it will all heal. Physically, you’ll heal with time.”
“I’ll heal.” I reiterated, coughing a little through the dry ache in my throat, “All of me will heal. Want to know how I know?”
“How?” Eli asked.
“Because you walked through fire for me.” I tried to smile at him, but it barely made it to my lips. “You found me,” I turned to Travis. “You saved me. And you’re here now. Which means I can do anything I want to do. And I want to heal.” I forced my lips to keep moving even as my eyelids started to fall when exhaustion pushed against them. “I want to embrace this life we’re building, the three of us. I don’t want to live with a guarded heart or askeptical mind. I want to love you. I want you to love me.” Trav’s hand tightened in mine, and Eli leaned his forehead against mine.
“We do, Black Cat.” Eli vowed, “We love you so fucking much.”
“I love you too,” I found the energy to smile with my eyes closed, and then Travis leaned over, brushing his lips against my cheek.
“I love you both, Shade.” He whispered, “Get some rest now, and in the morning, we can start living our fairytale.”
“Mmh,” I whispered, “Emmie will be so happy to have her knights in shining armor in real life.”
Eli chuckled, it sounded brittle, but I was hopeful that it would warm as time went on. “With our luck, Toby will make us kiss frogs to prove our worthiness.”
“Don’t leave me,” I sighed, hoping the words came out clear. “Please.”
“We’re not going anywhere, Shade.” Travis said firmly, kissing my cheek again, and I nuzzled into him, feeling both of their lips against my face and temple.
“Good.”
It took a week of begging,borrowing, and pleading to get my release paperwork completed by one very stern-looking nurse. She was the kind of nurse that gave the best care, because she was too scary for her patients to defy and mess around with their own recovery.
She also threatened that if I misbehaved at home, she’d take on the role of my home health nurse, visiting me daily athome for bandage changes, and I shivered at the thought of her standing in my bedroom.
