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IN FIRE SCHOOL the instructors taught them about how painful it was for a victim to breathe when suffering from smoke inhalation.
Eva now knew firsthand that it was terrible.
Her lungs felt burnt to a crisp and breathing was torture, as if she was underwater. Her throat still had some swelling, so speech was difficult and she could barely whisper anything to her doctors and nurses. However, calling Jake a dumbass was imperative.
'Cause he was one and deserved it.
Jake kneeled with his hands over his face. She’d seen the tears, the worry, the torture. Her heart swelled a bit at his utter desolation. But still, he wasn’t getting off that easy.
"I know," he said, rising and swiping at his cheek.
"You do?" she whispered.
He nodded. "Before I throw myself at your feet and beg for mercy, tell me how you are."
"Good," she said, clutching her throat. "It's hard for me to talk, but the doctors think I was lucky. I'll have to do some breathing treatments. They're about to take me to a hyperbaric chamber. They say it helps reverse the damage. I wanted to see you before they did any more tests."
Jake nabbed a small stool in the corner and sank down beside her. He tentatively took her hand. "I'm sorry."
"You should be."
"I know. I was wrong and I was unfair to you and- "
She pressed a finger to his lips. "You were there. I heard you."
"Yeah, you think I'd let a fire keep me from my Eva?"
"I failed," she whispered, thinking of the roof collapsing, of Jimbo beneath her... not breathing.
"No, you didn't. You did what you were trained to do, baby. Dutch was there because that's what we do. We're a team. This team didn't fail. We got Jimbo out and we knocked out the fire."
"Is he dead?"
"I don't know. They're working on him. They would have pronounced him at the scene if there was no chance."
Eva brushed the dampness from her eyes with the hand not attached to the IV and tried not to get upset. Steady breathing was needed. "You're right."
Jake smiled then. "You know I like being right."
"Charlie?"
"He's good. With my mom. She wasn't going to say anything to him until I saw how you were doing."
"I'm okay."
“I’ll call her. Get her to bring him up here."
''No." She shook her head. Charlie didn't need to see her like this. It would scare him. After all she'd gone through in facing death and staring it in the eye, she kept thinking about what would have happened to Charlie had she succumbed. She was his guardian, and she had a responsibility to him. Protecting him was her job, which meant she had to also protect herself. He needed her.
"He needs to see you're okay. We can't just tell him you were hurt in a fire and not let him see you. Mom will wait until the morning. By then, you'll be cleaned up," he said, wiping her cheek with his thumb, smearing the soot.
Then he tipped forward, burying his face into her side. His broad shoulders shook, and Eva was shocked to realize that Jake was sobbing. She ran her fingers through his soft hair.
For a good minute he cried, his hands clutching the white sheet covering her legs.
Finally, he looked up, his eyes so blue against the redness. Eva had never seen a man cry, and her heart melted into a pool of sweet, sweet love for Jake.
"I love you, Eva."
