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A Dragon.
I was a full-fledged, horn-bearing, fire breathing Dragon.
“Ahh!”
“Braxton!”
The scream erupted from my mouth at the same time that Nick yelled my name, and the paradise was also ripped away from me, making me crash back into reality. My eyes snapped to my hand while the guys rushed to my side. Steam viciously poured onto angry red, blistered skin.
“Shit!” I shouted again, ricocheting from the coffee station, and gripped my arm tightly as I began to shake from the pain. Swiftly plunging the towel into the ice bin, I wrapped it around my scalding hand with a handful of ice cubes against it, trying to stop the burning.
“What happened??” Nick asked, reaching my side first and guiding me to the back, to sit on a chair.
I wanted to answer him, I really did, but I had two major problems. One, I felt my legs giving out from the waves of pain coursing through me. And two, I could still hear the Dragon roar reverberating through the mountains from the agony.
How the fuck was that possible? I was losing my damn mind, that was how.
Teeth clenching, I rocked on the chair while gripping my arm tightly to my chest, trying to withstand the sensations. It felt like someone had pushed a hot iron right through my hand.
“I closed the shop,” Josh added, rushing into the back. “I’m calling 911.”
“No.” I argued instantly. “I’m fine.”
He glanced at me like I was insane. “What the hell are you talking about? We heard the steam go off on you and your skin literally sizzled. Not to mention you screamed your fucking head off, dude. That has to be at least a second-degree burn.”
“And I saw your skin blistering,” Nick argued, glancing at Josh. “I’m calling Nonno.”
“Stop!” I fought them, trying to get them off me. “I’m fine. Don’t call Mr. Di Rossi and go open the door before he fires me. I just need a moment; the burn is not that bad,” I chided, but the bite was missing from my voice. My form still trembled from the shock.
“Nope.” Nick turned, pulling his cell from the back pocket and quick-dialed his grandfather.
Damn it. “Why did you close the café?” I argued with Josh, who glared at me.
“What the fuck do you meanwhy? We had to help you, you jackass!”
Forcing myself to take slow breaths, I leaned back on the chair, unconsciously pressing a fist to my chest while rushed Italian words echoed in the back. Nick was talking to Mr. Di Rossi.
“You could have just kept working without me,” I weakly argued. “I can handle it. I put ice on it immediately and it's almost numb. I just need a few minutes.” The water from the melted ice dripped onto my pants and the floor, but I didn’t dare touch that towel.
“Shut up.”
“Is he conscious? Did you call 911?” I heard my boss ask in the back, those being the first words he uttered in English.
“We tried to call but he doesn’t want us to. He’s fighting with Josh because he closed the café so we could help him and check on him.”
“Lui è proprio un bischero!”
“I agree!” Josh yelled back.
“You don’t even know what he’s saying,” I grunted.
“No, but that sounded like an insult, and you deserve that right now for being so stubborn.”
“Put him on the phone,” my boss ordered and I cringed, seeing Nick turn the cell screen towards me. Paolo Di Rossi’s face was on the other side, and he seemed livid. “Sei diventato pazzo?!”he asked, brown eyes wide.
“He asked if you went crazy,” Nick translated.
“Almost, Sir,” I answered, cringing with the throbbing coming from my hand, though I hadn’t lied before, it was becoming numb.
