Page 12 of Burned By Love

“I don’t need an ambulance,” Jonathan mumbled as West walked behind the paramedics.“I’m fine.”

“Unless it’s your job to assess your health, you’ll have to let the professionals do it.Hell, even if you were a doctor, it would be better for someone else to check you out.”

“I’m sure there are people who need paramedics more than I do.”

“Maybe so, but between the smoke inhalation, the two explosions, and the shelf that fell on you, I don’t want to risk it.”

“A shelf fell on him?”the second paramedic asked.

West was pretty sure he’d worked with them before, but he didn’t remember their names.They didn’t matter right now.Only Jonathan did.“And part of the ceiling.”

“He’s definitely going to the hospital, then.”

“He’s right here and doesn’t need to be fussed over,” Jonathan complained.

Both the paramedics and West ignored him.“I’ll make sure he goes,” West said.

“You can ride in the ambulance with your boyfriend,” the first paramedic said as they reached the rig.“It should keep him happy until he gets to the hospital.”

West waited for Jonathan to explain that they weren’t together and that West definitely wasn’t his boyfriend.He’d seemed so wary of him today and back at the tattoo shop that West wouldn’t be surprised if Jonathan never wanted anything to do with him again after today.He’d been thinking about going to the shop to ask for Jonathan’s number, but all of that was over.He wouldn’t bother Jonathan.

“This is ridiculous,” Jonathan continued, grousing as they helped him settle on the gurney.“I’m okay.I’m not in pain beyond what’s normal, considering what happened.Nothing’s broken.”

“You breathed in a lot of smoke,” West said gently.“And the doctors will want to make sure you didn’t get hurt when the shelf fell on you.You’re going to the hospital whether you want it or not.”West would carry him there himself if he had to.

Jonathan wrinkled his nose.“I could just walk away.No one can force me to go.”

West arched a brow.Jonathan was more stubborn than he’d expected.“Are you sure about that?”

* * * *

JONATHAN WOULD’VE THOUGHTthat after getting confirmation that West was a dragon shifter, he’d be freaking out pretty badly.Dragon shifters were bad news, so he should want to get away from West as quickly as possible.

He wasn’t thinking about that.He didn’t want to get away from West.

It would’ve been easy.Jonathan just had to tell the paramedics that West wasn’t his boyfriend, and they would kick him out.For some reason, though, Jonathan kept his mouth shut.He was going to the hospital whether he liked it or not, and he didn’t want to go alone.

West sat by Jonathan’s side and took his hand, linking their fingers together.He kept glancing at Jonathan as if he expected him to start screaming and to push him away, but Jonathan clung to West’s hand as he tried to breathe.His lungs felt heavy, and they made a distinct rattling sound that he usually only heard when he was sick.

Okay, maybe he did need to go to the hospital.

It wasn’t only his lungs.He felt like he’d been squished like a pancake, and in a way, he had been.That shelf had been fucking heavy, and he’d been pinned to the floor.He would still be there if West hadn’t been with him.Hell, he’d be roasting if he hadn’t crossed paths with West today.

But Westhadbeen with him.He’d saved him.

Maybe not all dragon shifters were bad, after all.

Jonathan had always known that.Sal was a dragon shifter.He was mean and abusive, but he was only one man.Just like most humans were nice people, most dragon shifters were probably perfectly fine.Jonathan had met the worst of them, and it had tainted the way he saw all dragons.

But West was a dragon shifter, too, and he’d helped people today at the store.He’d saved Jonathan’s life, along with at least a few others.Sal wouldn’t have done any of that.He would’ve run out of the store as soon as he realized something was wrong.Hell, he wouldn’t have been in the store in the first place because he didn’t do his own grocery shopping.He had people who did that for him.

West was a dragon shifter and a firefighter.He’d saved lives today and many other days, and he was looking at Jonathan with concern as if he cared about him.Jonathan wanted to believe he did, at least for a moment.The world would still suck tomorrow when he woke up from what felt like a dream, but right now, he could complain and whine and have West take care of him.

It probably wouldn’t last long.They barely knew each other, and Jonathan hadn’t been great to West, even when West had tried talking to him.West probably just wanted to make sure that Jonathan got to the hospital, and once Jonathan got there, he’d leave.Jonathan wouldn’t argue.He didn’t want to do this alone, but he didn’t have to do it with West.He could call Caleb or Christy or one of his other friends.

He didn’t want to.

The ambulance ride was silent.He could hear the beeping of the machine that monitored his heart, which was strangely reassuring, even though he could feel his heart beating in his chest.He closed his eyes and breathed in and out, careful not to take a deep breath because it hurt like hell when he did.He was exhausted, which didn’t make sense because he’d only woken up an hour and a half ago.Today had been messy, something he hadn’t expected when he’d decided to go to the grocery store.

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