Hero Next Door
She makes a comment to Theo about it being nice to meet him before she scurries out of the room leaving me all by myself with Theo freaking Landon. I have never felt so weird in my whole entire life.
I’ve been on my own with Theo before, I remind myself. This shouldn’t be so strange…
Although the last time that we were alone, we ended up in bed together, so maybe it isn’t the best thing to think about. Well, aside from him rescuing me from the building but I don’t remember that too well.
“Thank you, Theo,” I say quietly as he takes a seat beside my bed where Delia was sitting only moments before. His presence brings a nervousness to me that I don’t know how to handle. He makes me all kinds of anxious. “Thank you for saving me. I don’t remember much of what happened but I do recall you rescuing me.”
I hope that is the truth because it’ll be hugely embarrassing if not. But he simply smiles and nods at me. “That’s okay, you’re welcome. That’s just my job, I would help anyone who is in that situation.”
“I know, I know you would.” He is a hero, a real life hero for anyone who needs it. I understand that now more than ever before. If it weren’t for him and the other fire fighters, I would be dead in that fire. “But thank you anyway. I appreciate you putting your own life on the line to save me. And other people as well, of course.”
As he grins at me again, my heart begins hammering hard once more. He doesn’t look like he’s even noticed but of course I am very embarrassed by the monitor giving me away. I like Theo, even more now, and I think that must be really obvious. We’ve had sex, I know that we have a lot of chemistry, I know that he’s amazing to be with. I know that we get on well, that we have a lot to talk about. And now he has saved my freaking life…
“So, do you always check in on people you save?” I ask, trying to be a little bit cheeky. “Are you in the hospital a lot looking in on people you have pulled from burning buildings? You must be here all the time…”
“I only check in on the people that I like.” Oh my God, I don’t know what he means by that. What does he mean about like? Like as a friend? Like because we had sex? Like like? “And I’m glad to see that you are okay.”
I nod numbly. I think that I’m okay. “Yeah, I mean, I’m alive because of you, so that’s a bonus. I could have died in there, so that’s really something. I will have to start living a better life in future.”
“Yeah,” he replies darkly. “Getting away from that boss of yours for one.”
Does he know what happened? I don’t see how he can, but there is something to his tone of voice that intrigues me. I lean up to stare him in the eyes, to try and see in to his soul, but right now he’s giving nothing away.
Chapter 14 – Theo
“Let me take a look at your chart.” I lean across to the edge of Esme’s bed because I don’t want to answer any of her questions. I need to work out how much she is aware of before I start blundering in with my theories. “Oh good. You are doing really well considering everything that you went through. You are unhurt.”
“Am I burned?” She’s quiet as she asks me this. I can tell that it’s a real worry of hers. “Is my skin damaged?”
“A little.” The best thing for me to do is be honest. “But I don’t think there will be any permanent damage.”
“Have I been out for a long time? Because Delia said that she has been in to wait for me to wake up?”
“It was two days ago. And according to your chart you have been waking up a bit. You probably just don’t remember it much because it’s been a bit of a traumatic experience. I wouldn’t worry about anything.”
I don’t know if she is going to believe me, but at least she looks a little less stressed. “Okay great. So, I’m not in any immediate danger. That’s good to know… but I’m still worried about the police. They are going to want to know what happened, aren’t they? And it’s annoying because I don’t have anything to tell them.”
“You don’t?” I feel sad as she says this. This isn’t good news. I was hoping that Esme would remember stuff to confirm my suspicions. I’m still clinging to the hope that she can confirm my suspicion with what she knows. I mean, she was stuck in that building with that asshole while he set it alight, if I’m right. But I suppose it’s normal to not always remember the full details of a trauma. Especially right away. I can’t let my need for justice affect her. “That’s a shame, but it might come back to you over time. There’s a chance that you won’t need to anyway. There is an ongoing police investigation, so there is a big chance that they will discover the truth…”