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They drove to the hospital, listening to the fire calls on Devon’s radio that confirmed her worst fear: the injured firefighter was Charlie. The hospital emergency room was packed with Saints, and suddenly Lila felt so alone. No one had thought to call her because they didn’t know about her.

“His ex-wife is here,” Devon whispered. “Are you going to be okay?”

“I’m okay,” Lila said, wiping her eyes. “Dev, thank you for coming with me. I know this isn’t easy.”

When the family saw Devon had arrived, they flocked to him, answering his questions with the little information they knew. Then Clare appeared in the sea of faces and reached out her hand. She was accompanied by a portly, middle-aged man, and Lila guessed if she’d bring her boyfriend to the hospital where her ex-husband was fighting for his life, she was not going to think Lila was a threat.

“I’m Clare,” she said, taking Lila’s hand. “I saw you at the house the other day. These two young men are my sons.”

She introduced Oliver and Paul to Lila, and thank God, they weren’t anyone she knew from a one-night stand.

Then Clare continued, “This is what we know. He was overcome by smoke and is unconscious, but he’s alive. He has a breathing tube in right now, and they’re treating him for burns and smoke inhalation. No one has said anything about the severity of his burns.”

“Thank you,” Lila replied, choking back tears.

So this was the dreaded ex-wife, being kind, keeping her informed. She’d never forget Clare after that day, always treating her with the respect she deserved as the mother of Charlie’s children.

Big Mike came over to Lila and Devon, distraught, and unabashedly hugged Lila, acknowledging her. “Your mother told me you’re the new girlfriend,” he whispered. “Don’t let on that I talked to her, okay? Roberta would be hurt. Welcome to the family, Lila. You know we’ve had enough tragedy to last a lifetime.”

They were interrupted by a doctor coming into the waiting room, asking for next of kin. The cries that went out, gasps and moans, quickly had him rephrasing his request. “He’s improving! I just need his next of kin so I can explain some of the care we’re giving Charlie.”

Clare pointed to Big Mike at that point, and Big Mike pulled Lila along with him. “Come on. I’m not making decisions alone,” he said.

“I’m not sure he’d want me to see him in his condition,” Lila said, when the reality was she was afraid to see him in bad shape and had no idea what they would be confronted with.

“If I know my brother, he’d want you there.”

They followed the doctor to the ICU, and there Charlie was, his hands tied down, his face still blackened by the soot of the fire. Bloody, raw areas showed through that were a good thing because that meant the burns were not full thickness. His hair, his beautiful silver hair, was singed. The smell was nauseating, and Big Mike retched. Heartbroken, Lila tried not to cry. Big, strong Charlie.

“The smell reminds me of my son Mike,” he said, crying again. “He was badly burned.”

Lila embraced him, an arm around his midsection. There was nothing to say. One fire had taken the life of his son; a second fire had injured his brother. That was enough trauma for this family.

“You can stay with him,” the doctor said. “We encourage the family to stay.”

“I’m not up to it,” Mike cried, anxiety mounting. “Are you okay staying with him?”

Lila wasn’t sure she was up to it either, but there was evidently no one else. Was this what commitment was about? At that moment, she longed to be home alone, with the shades pulled and the gate locked. Watching Tilly the dog while Devon worked was all the charity she was capable of giving.

Mike hugged her, accepting her silence as a yes, and left the room, his shoulders shaking.

A nurse came in and pointed to a comfortable-looking chair. “You can sit down,” she said, pressing a button that lowered the bed to chair height. “We have a beverage and snack station out by the nurses’ desk. You’re welcome to help yourself. A burn specialist is coming in a moment to evaluate Chief Saint’s burns. They’ll determine at that time if he needs to be in isolation.”

“Oh, I thought they’d have done that in the ER,” Lila replied, confused.

“They take care of acute needs down there. Are you his daughter?”

“No, no, I’m not his daughter. I’m just the girlfriend.” She was afraid to minimalize it, afraid to say the truth, ‘I’m just the date. We practically just met.’ Afraid the ex-wife would come in and start making decisions for him if she wimped out. No. She was going to stay strong. She was going to grow up.

“Well, just the girlfriend, you’re doing the hard thing, staying. So thank you. No malice intended about the daughter comment.”

“None taken.”

She nodded to the chair and left the room. Lila sat down, looking at Charlie. This was not the Charlie she knew, the one who was handsome and coiffed, neatly groomed, who smelled good, and whose breath was fresh, his tongue icy cold when it slid into her mouth.

This Charlie was vulnerable, reduced in size, lying in this bed with all the medical devices surrounding him, the apparatus both intimidating and frightening.

She’d never had the opportunity to examine him like this, had never seen his feet, which peeked out from the sheets, bare. They were big, his toenails neatly trimmed like she’d expect them to be. His hands were huge, and seeing them tied up at the sides of the bed alarmed her. When the nurse returned, Lila asked why he was tied down.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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