Leo’s little sanctuary—the place he’d created to heal from his grief—is unsalvageable.
“It could have been a lot worse,” I murmur. Chuck Baylin might have been less nosy. Leo might have been in his bedroom instead of the living room.
I might be holding a body instead of a breathing man, and…
No. I can’t go down that road.
Swallowing against a heavy throat, I shift over and let Axel and his team do their job. It’s hard watching them put Leo up on the stretcher, but before they can start wheeling him away, I grab Axel’s arm.
“He’s had a seizure. Maybe grand mal. I couldn’t time it with everything going on. He’s not epileptic. It’s from a TBI.” I have no idea how much Axel knows.
Axel nods firmly. “Got it. You wanna ride with us?”
I’m on duty, and I’m not supposed to leave the scene, but I nod anyway. “Let me tell Cam.”
Axel gives me a quick chin jerk, then hurries Leo toward the ambulance as I begin to peel away my coat. Camilo catches my eye as I get closer.
“You riding with them?” he asks.
“Will I be fired if I do?”
He’s quiet for a beat. “Will that make a difference?”
“No.”
He sighs, sounding like Darth Vader in his mask, and then he shakes his head. “Go. We’ll talk later.”
He didn’t answer my question about being fired, but frankly, I don’t care. I love these guys with all my heart, but I know this isn’t my forever.
My forever might be the man being loaded up into the back of the ambulance, and I want to be with him. Dropping the coat at Kelsey’s feet, I give her arm a quick squeeze, then rush past Logan and Teo, around the back of the truck, then jump into the ambulance, where Axel’s partner is slapping some hydrogel pads on Leo’s calves and feet.
The burns don’t look as bad under the bright ambulance light, though they’re angry and red and definitely going to take a while to heal.
“You riding with us?” the guy asks me.
I get myself comfortable beside Leo. “Yeah.”
“You know him?”
He’s limp, but his breathing is even, and I can see on the machine that his vitals are steady. He’s a little tachy, probably from the pain, but he’s going to be fine.
“His brother works at the station,” I eventually say. “I’m North. You’re new, right?”
He nods. “Benson. Benny,” he adds.
I say nothing as he gets the doors closed, and the moment we’re on the road, I pull my phone out of my pocket and call Easton. It’s a risk. I have no business distracting him on a scene, but he needs an update.
“Tell me he’s okay,” Easton breathes in my ear. The background of his call is quiet, which is probably a good thing.
“He’s okay. He had a seizure, and I think some candles got knocked over.”
“Why the fuck was he burning candles?” Easton shouts in my ear.
“Power went out. Don’t start,” I say when he sucks in a breath. “Mr. Baylin got him almost all the way out of the house before the fire got to him.”
“Thank fuck. How bad is it?”
“Second-degree burns on both legs,” I say. “Not sure how bad the seizure was. We’re on our way to Harmony Creek General right now.”
