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"Oh, my God, Jake. We heard. How is she?" Fancy cried, not even bothering with hello.
"En route to Baton Rouge General. I didn't see any burns but she took in a lot of smoke. Won't know the damage until they get her to the hospital."
"Oh, my goodness. I can't believe it. We haven't told Charlie yet. I don't even know what to say. That poor child has been through the ringer with his father dying, his mother doing whatever it is she did, and now his sister..."
“Don't say anything yet. Let me get there and see what's going on and I'll call you." Jake accelerated up the on-ramp to I-10, heading toward Baton Rouge and the specialized unit that handled burn victims. The ambulance moved fast but the drive time allowed him to rein in the terror at having watched that roof fall, knowing Eva was inside. He'd never felt close to crumpling to the ground the way he had minutes earlier. Jake had never known how much it hurt, waiting to see if someone you loved would come out the other side. In that moment all reason had fled and instinct took over. He had to get to her.
Paired with the terror was the albatross of regret he'd been wearing since Saturday afternoon. He'd lied to her. He'd said they were a mistake... because everyone told him they were.
Who did that? Who let other people tell them how they should feel? What they should do?
Yeah, Jake had almost blown it.
But God willing, as soon as he was allowed to see Eva, he'd make it right. He'd tell her how stupid and insecure he'd been. He'd tell her that he was scared to love her but even more scared not to love her. He'd weep at her feet and beg her forgiveness for letting anyone stand between what they had.
Jake had never loved a woman in his life... outside his family.
But he loved Eva.
And come hell or high water, he'd make her understand that.
THE HOSPITAL EMERGENCYwaitingroom was full. Tons of teenagers stood around, tapping on their phones. Jake pushed through them and caught a guy wearing scrubs sitting at the triage desk.
"Hey, I just followed that ambulance in. Two burn victims from Magnolia Bend."
The man looked up at him slowly, raising his eyebrows. “And?"
"I need to get back there. That's one of our fire fighters."
The man shrugged his shoulders. "I'll go check. You can sit-" he looked around "-somewhere out here. They're all from one of the local high schools. Quarterback got hurt bad in practice."
Jake opened his mouth to tell the man he wasn't about to sit down, but he'd already disappeared into the recesses of whatever lay behind the desk. Jake slapped his hands on the counter and glared at the spot the man had occupied.
Behind him he heard a few girls crying.
A few older guys in coaching shirts stood around looking worried.
Yeah, he probably looked the same way... except Eva wasn't a star player. She was the woman he loved.
The double doors swooshed open and Clint rolled in, followed by his father, Murphy.
What the hell?
Clint spied him and maneuvered through the crying girls. "How is she?"
"What are you doing here?" Jake asked.
"Fancy called me."
"Why?"
Clint made a face. "Because Eva's my friend. I care about her. I want to be here for her."
Jake stared at Clint for a few moments. Murphy placed his hand on the back of Clint's chair. United front.
The man in the purple scrubs came back. "They're really busy back there. You're gonna have to wait.”
"But I'm her... partner. You can't keep me from going to her. I'm, like, her family."
