Page 49 of Maggie’s Match

Rick smiled up at her. “At least I’m still alive to correct my mistakes.”

She nodded. “Yes, at least you are.” She brushed a tear from his face. “Are you in pain?”

“No, they’ve put something on my burns. They x-rayed my wrist.” He motioned to his right hand. “It’s broken in two places.”

She looked down at the white gauze and only now realized it was a cast.

“What else?” She looked at him.

“First- and second-degree burns to my left leg. They say I was lucky I had boots on. My other burns are first degree.” He held up his other hand, then motioned to his head. “I guess I got lucky you guys showed up so quickly.”

“We didn’t get there quickly enough. We could see the fire as we climbed into the truck to head out there,” she explained. “It felt like we were driving through molasses as we crossed the field. I just knew you were trapped inside before we even got there. I begged Bent to open the doors. Bryson was worried there’d be a back draft and flames would shoot out the doors.”

“I’m thankful you did open the doors.” He sighed and his eyes went foggy, probably from the medicine.

“We’ll talk more later,” she said, seeing him drift off.

“Okay. Stay with me?”

“Always.”

“My family?” he asked. He fell asleep before she could answer.

In all her worry, she’d forgotten to call his folks. She pulled out her cell phone and called them while her eyes remained glued on Rick.

When she was done filling them in on the fire and Rick’s condition, she called Becca and let them know how Rick was doing.

“Bent’s already here waiting with us. They bandaged him up and gave him some meds. He’s goofy and unscarred. Can we come back?”

“They’re going to give him a room of his own for tonight,” she said as the nurses started preparing him to move. She asked the nurse what room they were taking him to and relayed the number to Becca.

“We’ll meet you there,” her cousin said, and hung up.

Maggie followed the nurses through the hallways, into the elevator, and onto the private floor.

Her aunt and cousins were standing outside the door waiting as they rolled Rick inside.

When the nurses left, Rick opened his eyes.

“How are you doing?” her aunt asked him.

“Flying,” he mumbled.

“Me too, cuz,” Bent said from the corner of the room where he’d been pushed into a chair.

Both of Bent’s hands were wrapped up, much like Rick’s were.

“Got these pulling your sorry ass out of a burning building,” Bent added with a chuckle. “Still, it’s not so bad that they needed to keep me long.”

“Thanks for that,” Rick replied with a smile.

“They act like this is some sort of joke,” Becca said, rolling her eyes.

“It’s the drugs,” Bridget supplied. “They need them for now. I can’t imagine how much pain they’ll be in later.”

“The barn?” Rick asked.

“Gone,” Bent said. “Dad’s there filing a police report. Like that’ll do any good.”