Page 68 of Unexpected Love
Chapter 28
Cal
Wind and rain pelt my bunker jacket. The drone of a chainsaw buzzing through yet another downed tree fills my ears for the third hour in a row.
Out of nowhere, a spring storm blew in, and high winds and rain have been wreaking havoc all night.
“Clear.” Jackson pushes through the last bit of a tree trunk that’s fallen on a pickup. The guy inside gives us a thumbs-up as he sits up as much as he can. The entire truck bed is crushed, but miraculously, the tree missed the cab.
Relief is a heady feeling washing over me.
It’s four a.m. after a hellacious night. The monotony of the work has drowned any adrenaline left in my body, and my brain has finally shifted into all the things I managed to not think about since Jules left the station. Our relationship, for starters.
Maybe I was wrong to assume that she was all in, but the signals were there. Although, what do I know? It’s not like I have any frame of reference, no role models to look up to.
But the more I think about the way she acted when we started the conversation that shouldn’t have happened, the more I wonder if we are on the same page at all.
“Look out,” Jackson screams.
My head jerks in his direction just as a giant limb crashes into me. I’m flipped to my back and pinned in an instant.
Pain bursts across my chest, my abs.
I can’t draw a full breath. Can’t see anything beyond green leaves and tree bark. But my helmet’s still on and absorbed most of the impact.
Yelling pierces the air, and footsteps draw close.
I’m trying not to panic, but I can hear it in my crew’s voices.
“Cal, buddy.” Jackson skids to a knee by my head and grips my hand. “Don’t move.” His voice is nearly overshadowed by everyone else yelling directives. I try to shift, because fuck, it hurts.
“No, don’t move,” Jackson barks.
Voices surround us. Some I recognize, some I don’t.
“Someone get some ropes and stabilize that limb.”
“Fuck,” I groan. And Jackson’s attention swings back to me.
“Okay, Cal. Just hang tight, man.” Jackson is calm and professional. I must really be fucked up if he’s channeling his guru voice—the one he uses when shit hits the fan and he needs the scene to be calm and controlled.
“How bad?” I croak, unable to draw a full breath.
Jackson squeezes my hand. “Not shitting you. I can’t tell. There’s a huge fucking limb, as big as a tree trunk, barely hanging on. I can’t see your body below the neck. Where’s it hurt?”
“Chest. Can’t. Breathe.” My eyelids are so damn heavy. I just want this pain to stop, to suck in a giant lungful of air.
“Hurry the fuck up,” Jackson screams.
An image of Charlie smiling and happy flitters through my mind. And Jules holding Charlie. I focus on their faces and try to take shallow breaths.
I will not pass out.
I will not…
“Well, hey there, sleeping beauty.”
My eyelids flutter open. Kate stands over me, a stressed-out fake smile on her face. I’m attached to something and can’t see her below the neck.
