Page 68 of Four-ever Single

“Hey, are you okay?” Nate asked, rushing over and bending down beside me as he quickly checked for injuries.

I sat up and shook my head, trying to make sense of it all as I held my arm.

“We need to get you checked,” he noted calmly, helping me up. “I think you might have broken your arm.”

“I need to call Jones and tell him what happened,” I blurted out, my eyes blinking faster than my brain could process words.

“I think we should focus on taking care of you right now,” he replied, swallowing hard as he looked away.

He was hiding something from me.

“What?” I asked, moving to stand in front of him so he had to look at me. “What aren’t you telling me, Nate? Why can’t I call my husband?”

He gently grabbed my other arm and moved me out of the way while the cops dealt with Todd.

“We’ll take you to the hospital and have someone check your arm,” he repeated, still not looking at me. “Let me talk with the police chief real quick and see if it’s okay for you to go. They can do any questioning there.”

He turned to walk off, but I grabbed his arm and yanked him back.

“Say it,” I demanded, pinning him with a look. “Say whatever it is you’re trying to avoid telling me.” The pain in my arm continued to radiate through me, nearly unbearable as I tried to ignore it. That wasn’t important right now. Whatever he was keeping from me was.

Something was wrong. Seriously wrong. Had Todd gotten to Jones before he came for me? Did something happen at work? Why wasn’t he telling me anything and acting so weird?

He scrubbed a hand down his face and rubbed his lips together before looking me in the eyes.

“We responded to a fire at Lia’s, and unfortunately, Jones was injured. He rushed in before we could stop him and the building wasn’t secure. Part of the ceiling collapsed around him, and he was trapped under a wood beam. He’s been taken into surgery, but they’re unsure of how bad his injuries are. He inhaled a lot of smoke, and it took some time before they could pull him out...”

He kept talking, but I couldn’t hear anything over the ringing in my ears as I fainted.

Forty-Six

Bella

“I’m fine, really,” I said for what felt like the hundredth time as someone tried to check on me. After the adrenaline wore off, I realized how not fine I really was not knowing if Jones was going to be okay. I’d gotten to the hospital over two hours ago with Nate and had already seen a doctor to confirm my arm was broken. They had wrapped it and gave me some pain meds, but that was the least of my concerns. There still wasn’t any news about Jones as the surgery was taking longer than they expected. Lia couldn’t tell us much other than there were complications, and they were trying to stabilize him.

Kensy was already at the hospital when I got there, sitting in a room filled with worried firefighters concerned their brother wouldn’t make it. I tried to sit with her, but it was impossible to stay still, so I chose a corner in the small room and paced back and forth until we had an update.

Finally, a doctor came out with a clipboard and a worn-out expression etched deep on his face.

“Family of Matthew Jones?” he asked, looking around the packed room.

I rushed over, feeling Kensy by my side as she held my hand and Capshaw stood on the other side. Both supporting me in ways I didn’t know I needed.

“I’m his wife,” I said, feeling the words catch in my throat. “I’m Bella Sanchez, soon to be Jones, but we just got married on Saturday, and I haven’t had time to change my license.” I reached for my purse to pull out my ID, but he lifted his hand to stop me.

“That’s fine. You don’t need to prove it.”

“Okay,” I whispered, rubbing my lips together anxiously as I waited for an update on my husband.

“He suffered multiple injuries and underwent surgery to repair as much damage as we could, as well as stop the internal bleeding. He’s stable right now but has a long recovery ahead of him. We’ll keep him for several days to monitor him, possibly longer if needed.”

“But he’s okay?” I asked, desperation heavy in my voice as it cracked.

The doctor nodded and offered a sympathetic smile.

“He’s fortunate to be alive. A nurse will come out shortly and let you know when you can see him. I’ll check in later to see how he’s doing.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Capshaw said, shaking his hand as sighs of relief echoed around us.

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