Page 150 of Love Unavoidable
“You don’t think that’s kind of rushing things? Maybe going out of order?” I ask.
“Has anything with us so far gone in some kind of ordinary, predictable order? And who’s to say whether or not something is rushed. How do you feel?”
“I love you,” I tell him.
“I love you,” he says. “I don’t want to go to sleep without you. I don’t want to wake up without you. It’s all I thought about yesterday while . . .”
“While what? Actually, how did you break your arm? I didn’t ask you that. Kat just shared you were hurt.”
“I fell, at a site, when we were on a call.”
“At a fire?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh my gosh, are you okay otherwise, were you burned, did you fall in fire?”
“I had my gear on, it was fine, more knocked the wind out of me than anything.”
“Why? What did you fall on?”
“The floor. It’s fine. I’m fine.”
“What aren’t you telling me?” I look at him. Then over at Spence and Tenley. “Hey, Spence?”
“Yes, dear?”
“How did Ethan hurt his arm?”
“I already told her I fell,” Ethan calls out to Spence.
“Oh yeah, it was epic, I wish I’d been there. Whoosh, through the roof, bam through the second story floor, and thunk to the first story. Knocked him out good. His PASS went off and everything.” Spence makes sound effects as he talks, using his hands for emphasis.
“Ohmigod! Ethan! You fell through a roof?” I touch him everywhere at once. “Are you okay?”
“I bruised some ribs, have other tender spots, but I’m fine,” he says.
“What’s a PASS?”
“Personal alert safety system.”
“What happens to make it go off?”
“Look, gorgeous. This is my job. You know that. I’ll tell you these things but you gotta promise not to freak out, okay?”
I think about it, he’s right. I knew it was his job. It’s not like he’s springing something new on me. I nod. “Okay.”
“When a firefighter is immobile for too long, or if something goes wrong with his equipment, the device goes off. It alerts the other firefighters on the scene and is also a way for them to find you in case you get . . . separated or something.”
“Oh, that’s good then, right?”
“Yeah, it’s great.”
“Okay.” That appeases me. I mean, I will totally worry about him at his job, but he doesn’t need to know that. I yawn.
“Tired?” Ethan asks.
“I am.”
