Page 83 of Controlled Burn

“Yeah, I’ll need to contact Nadine and let her know, but I’ll stay with him. If that’s okay.”

I glanced over at Keith’s parents, not sure if that would be okay or not, but his mother just nodded her head and gave me a reassuring smile.

“Okay, after I see him, I’ll run by your place and get you a change of clothes and drop them off.”

“Thanks, Dad. Can you grab my e-reader, too?”

He chuckled. “I already planned to. I can’t imagine you going twenty-four hours without a book.”

“Did they say how long it would be before he could return to work?” Samuel asked, and to anyone other than a former chief, that might sound rude or uncaring, but Keith’s dad understood the logistics of staffing a fire station, so he didn’t even blink.

“No, he didn’t say. I assume they’ll tell him that when they discharge him, but it’s gonna be a while with a broken leg. Will you be able to cover it?”

“Yeah, I think so. Andy has really proven himself to be an asset. Don’t you think, Robert?” Samuel looked at my dad.

“He has. No doubt.”

Samuel nodded. “I thought so, and we can always request a temp if it’s going to be too long.”

Micheal’s face sobered, and he looked at Samuel and Robert. “I owe you guys. I’ll never be able to thank you enough for what you did for Keith. I won’t forget it.”

Before either man could respond, a nurse stuck her head in the door. “Mr. Brooks is in his room. If you’ll follow me.”

We all went with her as she took us down the winding hall to an elevator. Once we were on board, she looked at us. “He’s really tired and still pretty groggy, so let’s keep the visits short, okay?”

I figured I could make my case for staying with him later, so I nodded along with the rest of them. The doors opened, and we followed her to his room. Seeing my big strong Daddy lying there in a hospital bed hooked up to some kind of pump was hard to see, but his chest was moving up and down with each breath, and that was what mattered.

“Mr. Brooks, your family is here to see you,” the nurse said, and he slowly opened his eyes.

His gaze moved slowly around the room, from his dad to his mother and sister, and then to Samuel and Robert. He had a dopey-looking grin for each of them, but when his eyes landed on me, that dopey grin transformed into a smile.

“Rabbit,” he choked out, lifting his arm towards me.

I stepped up to the side of the bed so he could reach me, and he wrapped that one arm around me, tugging me close. I wasn’t really sure the nurse would appreciate me being all over him, but I went with it, letting him pull me into a hug. I leaned down next to his ear so no one else could hear me and whispered, “It’s so good to see you, Daddy.”

I stood up and went to move back so everyone could have a chance to talk to him, but he twined our fingers together and kept me close while he shifted his attention to his family.

His family all took turns telling him how much they loved him and how happy they were he was okay. He hugged his mother with his free arm and motioned for his sister to step up for a hug, as well.

“It won’t kill you to hug your big brother just this once. You know, since I almost died and shit.”

She glared at him with her arms crossed. “Don’t you even say that, you jerk.” But her voice betrayed her as it cracked on the last word. She might try to act all big and tough, but she loved her brother. She looked at him for a second as he lay there, still holding his arm out. “Fine.” She stomped forward and fell into the hug. I let go of his hand, and he wrapped both arms around her as she cried. Then she pulled back and swatted him on the chest. “Don’t you ever do that again, you hear me?”

“I second that,” I said.

“And I third it. The motion has passed. You aren’t allowed to scare us like that ever again,” his mother added.

He reached back over for my hand and brought it up to his lips, locking eyes with me. “I’ll do my best.”

“You do that,” I said.

He got an expression on his face like he’d just remembered something. “Did anyone find a dog? Please tell me he didn’t get hurt in the fall.”

Samuel stepped up closer to the bed. “That dog was with you upstairs in the fire?”

“Yeah, he was tied up on a leash. I’d just barely gotten him loose before the floor gave way. I was hoping he would find his way out on his own.”

My dad chuckled. “Andy has him back at the station. He’s fine. No way was that little guy leaving your side. He was right there with you when we found you.”

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