Relief washed over me. “Thank you so much, doctor.”
* * *
I satby Bryn’s side for hours, silently praying for her to wake up though I knew how selfish it was because she would be in unthinkable pain once she awoke. I just hated how we’d left things. I hated that our last conversation had been so volatile. It was awful to think those might be the last words we ever spoke to each other.
Most of her was covered by blankets, and I was so thankful for our protective gear. I knew that even though her leg and arm had been badly burned, it could have been a lot worse. I played out every scenario possible for her rescue situation. I wanted to know everything—who found her, how they got the beam off of her, if they were able to get everyone else out of the building. None of the details really mattered, it just was the only thing I had to think about. It was all I had to hold on to.
“Hey.” Her low raspy voice broke through my racing thoughts.
“Hey there, beautiful.” I leaned closer, gripping the side of her bed.
“How bad is it?” she asked, tears filling her soft eyes.
“It could have been so much worse, baby. You did such a good job. I am so proud of you.” I brushed hair away from her smoke-stained forehead, trying to find a way to really comfort her. I had never felt more helpless or useless in my entire life.
“All I could think about was that the last words I spoke to you were so angry and I would never get to tell you the truth.” She started sobbing, and all I wanted to do was take her into my arms and never let her go.
“Shhhh, don’t worry about it, babe. You’re going to be fine, and we can fight again and this time make up like we should have this morning.” I kissed her forehead gently.
Putting her hand on my cheek, she whispered, “I love you.” Her words were barely audible. I stared into her eyes, ready to say it back to her, relieved that we were finally on the same page and admitting it, but I was rudely interrupted by the last person that I wanted to see.
“Is that just the morphine talking?” Camden’s voice came from behind us and I wanted to deck him on the spot.Way to kill a perfect moment, douche canoe!
Bryn shook her head, staring at me, completely ignoring her roommate. “Mitch, I mean it. I truly do love you so much and I am so sorry for everything I said this morning.”
I looked over at Camden before turning back to Bryn. “That’s all I needed to know. I love you too. So much, baby.” I kissed her deeply, smelling all the smoke and ash on her.
“What the fuck just happened?” Camden was apparently not going to leave this alone.
“Cam? Can I have a minute?” I stood up, ushering him away from Bryn.
“I think I need to talk to my best friend actually.” Camden tried to push around me to get back into Bryn’s bay.
“I wasn’t really asking, Cam.” I put my hand on his chest. The next words that came out of my mouth coated my lips like honey as I triumphantly squashed Camden’s crush on the woman that I was madly in love with. “We’ve been seeing each other ever since I moved here. That’s how Bryn knew who I was when I first came to the fire station. She told you the truth, that we met at the tattoo shop, but she left out some juicy details. But here’s the difference between you and me—I would never tell a damn sole about what happens between that woman and myself because it’s no ones’ fucking business what we do behind closed doors.”
Camden nodded a few times, his lips pulling into an odd smile. Without warning, he pulled back and punched me right in the jaw.
I staggered back a few steps, holding my cheek with one hand, the other in the air. “I am not going to fight you, man. At the end of the day, Bryn thinks of you as a brother, and that’s enough for me to forget about this little outburst of yours.”
“Little outburst? That’s what you think this was?” He spat at my feet. “You’re a fucking piece of shit.”
“Cam!” Bryn’s raspy voice called out as loudly as she could.
I followed on his heels as he went behind the curtain of her bay.
“Cam,” she cooed as he took the seat next to her.
“Yes?” I could see him melting as he looked at her. Right then I saw the heartbreak—he was in love with her too.
“Don’t be a dick to Mitch. I should have told you about him but you getting mad isn’t going to stop me from being with him.” Her eyes were locked with mine as she spoke to Cam.
Camden sneered at me as he got up. “I don’t have to like this.”
I shrugged. “And I don’t have to like that she lives with a dude that wants to fuck my girl. We’re all making sacrifices here.”
Camden huffed off, throwing a hissy fit all the way down the hall. Once I knew he was good and gone, I went back to Bryn’s bedside.
“I could get used to hearing you say that,” she said as she smiled over at me.