Page 66 of Floored By Love

I pulled out my license, and he checked the clipboard he was holding. “Sorry, Mr. Rivera. You’re good to go.” He turned to his colleagues and said, “He’s clear.”

They relaxed, and one of them moved to the side. I assumed Cam was that way.

I saw the guys before I saw the room number. They greeted me, but I ignored them and plastered my face against the glass, looking where they had been looking. At Cam.

I felt the tears stream down my cheek once I saw him lying there. He looked pale.

“What’s wrong with him? Why’s he so pale? Why is he in that tube thing?” I asked, terrified, hearing the quiver in my voice.

Ty came up behind me, resting his chin on my shoulder, and wrapped his arms around me. I lost it and started sobbing.

“He’s going to be okay, Luke. They’ve sedated him and put him in that oxygen chamber for a few hours to help with the healing.”

“Is he burned? Can he still compete?” I asked, turning around to face Ty and everyone else.

Coach spoke up. “He’s not burned. And we won’t know the answer to your second question until tomorrow at the earliest.”

“Fuck.”

It was then I noticed the others. Woodward, Ford, Ty, Alex, and O were at the window with me. Shane was sitting with Noah across the hall, consoling him.

“What happened? Where’s Colton?” I asked, worried.

Ty was about to answer when I heard his familiar drawl.

“Right here, cowboy.”

A wave of relief washed over me. I thought something had happened to him, too.

The relief didn’t last long as I turned to see him rolling up in a wheelchair, tubes hanging from his nose, wearing a baby blue johnny.

“Not you too!” I rushed over to him, knelt and put my hand on his leg. “Are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine. This is all just a precaution.” He gestured to the tubes hooked under his nose.

“You won’t be fine after I whoop your ass.”

“Coach?!” He never swore.

“Oh, ignore him, Luke.”

“Why’s he want to whoop your ass?”

Coach answered for me. “Because Colton here thinks he’s a superhero. He ignored the alarms that told him to leave the building and instead, ran up seven flights of stairs and carried Cam down and out of the building.”

I turned to stare at Colton.

“Technically,” he paused, dramatically, “I only carried him down three flights of stairs because a firefighter took him from me on the fourth flo-”

He didn’t finish his sentence because I had crushed him in a hug. I started crying into his neck and I didn’t care. I felt his arms circle around me, rubbing slowly up and down.

“He’s going to be okay, Luke.”

I held him for another minute, letting my sobs subside. I pulled back, wiping each side of my face with a sleeve. “I want to stay with him,” I whispered.

“What’d you say, Luke?” Coach asked.

“I want to stay with him tonight,” I said, with more confidence, which got Noah and Shane’s attention. They both looked up, concerned. Alex looked confused.