Her smile was gentle, but deep lines of worry creased around her eyes. “He just got you back. Trust me, he’ll be just fine.”
Nine
The ride to the hospital was eternal. Then trying to get someone to allow me near him took another million hours. At least it felt like it. I wasn’t family so they wouldn’t give me any details.
The rest of the firemen were still working on the blaze so I couldn’t even ask them to find out for me. The mansion had a carriage house at the back and the fire had spread due to the winds off the water. One other person got hurt dragging Jake to safety, but he was in the burn unit.
I’d convinced my mom and sister to go check with the nurses’ station again just so I could have a minute to myself. Well, me and another woman about my age who was about to gnaw her fingernails down to the quick. She seemed vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t concentrate long enough to keep a thought in my head.
Was Jake burned?
Was he hurt?
Who had saved him?
I stared at my paint-splattered sneakers, forcing my breathing to level before I freaked out in the middle of the waiting room. I gripped my hands so hard to make them stop trembling that my knuckles went white.
“Ma’am.”
I looked up, my heart rate swinging into dangerous territory. Ben Sullivan stood in front of me, his hands wrapped in white gauze.
I popped to my feet and grabbed his wrist. “Ben. Are you okay?”
He winced and eased his hand out of mine.
“I’m sorry.”
He gave me a gentle smile. “I’m okay. Just superficial burns. I had to take my gloves off to move some debris off the chief.”
I closed my eyes and felt the room sway.
“Hey, hey. Relax. I can’t really catch you right now. He’s fine. I promise. One of the beams that fell on him—”
“God.” I sat back down.
Ben crouched in front of me. “It wasn’t that bad, just knocked his mask off so he got a little smoke inhalation. He’s fine—honestly. They just had to get him cleaned up and had to get his O2 stats back up.”
“But he’s okay?”
He nodded.
A tall, leggy blond with pink streaks in her hair stood up on the far side of the waiting room. “Are you talking about my brother?”
Ben rose. “Are you Kayla?”
She nodded.
His gaze quickly tracked her then hit the floor and bounced over her shoulder. Obviously, he was trying not to check her out.
Man, Kayla was Jake’s sister. She’d just been a kid when I moved away. Definitely not the case anymore.
Ben cleared his throat. “Jake sent me down to get you.”
My chest constricted. “Just her?”
Ben shook his head. “He didn’t know you were here.”
“Why wouldn’t I be here?” I popped up again. No watery knees this time.