Page 31 of Fighting for You

“Stay right here,” Lance orders.

“Where is Ryder?” I ask again.

He looks at me and I can see it in his eyes that he knows I’m not going to stop asking until I get an answer. He runs a hand through his dark hair and sighs. “We don’t know yet. After the explosion, I lost all contact with my men in there. Matt was just located by the south dock. He is being checked out right now by paramedics. He’s got burns on his arms and a pretty nasty head wound, but he is alert and talking,” he says.

My eyes travel to where Lance now looks and I see a guy covered in black soot. It is hard to tell his hair, skin, or eye color from all of the debris covering him. Without thinking, I ran over to him. Lance calls out my name, but right now, I know I am not his biggest concern.

I get to Matt and he eyes me carefully. “Meghan?” he asks, his voice scratchy and hoarse.

I nod and smile, tears streaming down my face. “Yess.”

“Ryder hasn’t shut up about you since you two met. He has shown me your picture a million times,” he says, trying to laugh but he ends up coughing.

“Where is Ryder?” I ask frantically.

One of the paramedics holds up his hand. “Miss, I need you to step away from the patient. I need to continue working on his wounds,” the man says.

“It’s ok. Her husband is still in there,” Matt says to the man.

I raise my eyes at the mention of my husband. I go to protest, but Matt gives me a look that makes me clamp my mouth shut tight.

“Oh, well, I guess just for a minute,” he says, and then walks over to the ambulance.

“Husband?” I ask.

“If I said girlfriend or friend, he would have called for a cop to remove you. Besides, Ryder will marry you once he is out of there,” Matt says.

My heart beats loudly in my chest. “I need him to be ok,” I cry.

“Ryder is strong. He has been through worse than this. Just give him time. We never leave a man behind and I am not leaving this place until Ryder comes with me,” Matt states firmly.

Everything in my being believes him. I just have to hold out faith that Ryder is somewhere in there, trying with all of his might to get out.

All I can do is stand there helpless, watching and keeping my eyes glued on the blazing darkness all around me. My ears are alert, listening for the sound of Ryder’s voice.

Suddenly, I hear a loud commotion and I rush to the fence, my fingers touching the scorching hot metal.

“We have a body.”

I hear and all at once, I fall to my knees.

Chapter 28

Ryder

My eyes slowly pry open and all I can see is a raging fire blazing all around me. Everything I see is engulfed in flames. Am I dreaming?

The searing white pain from the intense heat around me, tells me I am very much awake.

I go to move, but my body screams in pain. I think back for a moment, and all I remember is a loud blast and then everything went dark.

Reaching for my phone, I dial the only number I can think of. Meghan. If I die here right now, her voice is the last that I want to hear. If I am able to survive, it will be because hearing her voice will give me the strength needed to find a way out of here.

The phone rings over and over again. The phone falls from my hands and I can barely hear Meghan when she answers. Her voice is frantic, but it’s the strength I need right now.

As I open my mouth to say her name, something catches my eye. Nathan is lying just a few feet away from me and he is starting to move. He must have been in the blast, too.

Rolling to my side, I grunt as pain radiates throughout my body. All I can see right now is blazing flames lighting up the early morning sky. Nathan rolls over, too, and we lock eyes.

---