Quiver & Burn (Surrender to Them 5)

Jett

A few days later

“Okay, easy does it.” I held my arm around Brylee’s waist as we stepped off the elevator.

“I’m not an invalid, I can walk.” She pushed my hand away and gingerly took a step forward.

“You’re going to get help whether you like it or not.” Rand walked up and grabbed her by the waist before she could take another step.

“Fine.” She grumbled and let us help her towards the apartment.

After the first night in the hospital, Brylee seemed to be in good spirits. We talked more with the doctor and learned that while she did suffer from carbon monoxide poisoning, her body was strong enough to fight off the worst of it once they got her in the oxygen chamber. The doctor was amazed by her resilience. Medicine and technology could only do so much—the rest was her sheer determination and willpower. She still needed a few days in the hospital for observation, but she improved almost every day. She definitely would have walked to our apartment on her own if we let her. I’m not even sure she would have cared if she fell down—she would have just gotten back up and kept walking.

“You made the newspaper this morning.” I picked up the latest edition of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and tossed it on the table in front of Brylee.

“Whoa.” Brylee leaned forward. “They used a picture from high school?”

“Blame your mother.” I rolled my eyes and sat down next to Brylee on the couch. “They asked her for a picture that’s the one she gave them.”

“I have so many pictures on Facebook,” Brylee grunted and sighed.

“I’m going to guess your mother doesn’t spend much time on Facebook.” Rand chuckled and sat down in the chair, but turned it to face the couch.

“I guess I can say goodbye to my career as an accountant.” Brylee leaned back against the couch. “I’m the woman that took down Dunkirk Accounting. Nobody will want to hire me after that.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” Rand leaned over and pushed a cell phone across the table. “Your phone has been blowing up and based on the number of companies that end with the word accounting, I’m guessing you’re going to be fighting them off with a stick.”

“Wait, where did you get my cell phone?” Brylee leaned over and picked it up.

“One of our buddies at the police station found it when they were securing the perimeter after the fire. I guess Mr. Dunkirk tossed it as far as he could throw it.” I shrugged and leaned forward. “The doctor said you need lots of fluids, so I’m going to get you a glass of tea.”

“I guess I should call my parents and make sure they made it home okay.” Brylee scrolled through her phone and put it to her ear.

It took every bit of Brylee’s willpower and determination to fight off the effects of the carbon monoxide poisoning, but it took a lot more than that to convince her parents to let her stay in Atlanta with us. They wanted to put her in the back of the car and not stop driving until they were back in Cedar Grove. Rand and I had to swear on our own lives that we would make sure she was safe, and her father seemed like he might actually collect that debt if anything happened to his daughter. After everything we went through, we definitely weren’t going to let her out of our sight until she was fully recovered. Her parents seemed like they sort of understood that we might be involved in some way, but I don’t think they knew it was with the both of us. It seemed like her mother couldn’t tell us apart half the time and called us by the wrong name. Her father didn’t speak to us much, except when it was about Brylee.

“Okay, they made it home safe.” Brylee hung up her phone and started looking at her voicemail. “Holy crap, that’s a lot of messages.”

“I told you.” Rand chuckled and nodded.

“You’ll have plenty of time to sort through them in the next few weeks.” I walked over and handed Brylee her glass of tea. “Drink up.”

“Next few weeks?” Brylee raised her eyebrows in surprise. “I can’t even pay my rent this month if I don’t find a job.”

“You don’t have to wo

rry about that.” I shook my head back and forth. “I talked with the landlord and he’s willing to cut you a break—or…”

“Or?” She tilted her head to the side.

“Or you can just move in with us. You’re going to be staying with us until you recover anyway. Why don’t we just make it permanent?” Rand nodded quickly. “After our lease is up we can see about getting a bigger place so that it isn’t so cramped, but it’ll be fine until then.”

“You want me to—move in.” Brylee swallowed hard and looked down at the floor. “Wow, that’s a huge step.”

“The circumstances aren’t ideal, but we know how we feel about you.” I reached over and took Brylee’s hand. “We didn’t need this tragedy to make us realize it, but it has made us extremely conscious of how important what we have is.”

“Some people might call us crazy for rushing into this, but I don’t give a fuck.” Rand reached over and took her other hand. “We love you.”

“I care about the two of you more than you’ll ever know, and it’s not just because you saved my life. As soon as I woke up at the hospital you were the first thing on my mind. If that isn’t love, I don’t know what is.” She lifted her head slowly and smiled. “I love both of you.”