Page 152 of Run
We stare at each other for a long moment.
“I should go try to get him out,” the officer says, tipping his head toward the garage, but making no move to get up. I can see the flames reflected in his eyes that are glazed from the smoke as he stares at me. “Do you want me to do that?”
I pause, looking at the garage that is now completely engulfed in flames, then back at him, and I shake my head, silently pleading. I lick my dry lips, and reach out to touch the ink on his arm. “I remember you.”
He looks between Ethan and me and gives a tight nod.
Ethan groans, and I turn and let him lay back in my arms. I feel how cold he is and realize just how much blood he’s lost.
“Ethan, stay awake.” I turn to the officer. “How long?”
“The ambulance should be here any minute.” He reaches over and places both hands against one of the wounds on Ethan’s side.
“Ethan, baby.” I stroke his face. “Please, please don’t leave me.” Tears cascade off my face and land on his skin.
He groans, reaching one hand in the air, searching for me. I take it and he brings our joined hands to his chest. “Never.”
It’s only a moment before the ambulance pulls up, with the fire trucks right behind it. As EMTs are loading Ethan onto a stretcher, I hear a loud crack and the roof of the garage caves in, sending embers and ash into the sky.
CHAPTER 49
ARI
Steam wafts from the paper cup that Officer Diedrick—Rick, he said to call him—hands me. “It tastes like poison, but it’s hot and it’s strong,” he says, sitting down next to me in the uncomfortable hospital chairs.
“Thanks.” I bring the cup to my lips and slurp a small sip, cringing. “You’re right. It does taste like poison.”
Ethan is in surgery. The doctor told us the upper penetration missed his liver but the lower one nicked his kidney, which is why he lost so much blood. He ended up needing a transfusion, but the doctor assured us he’ll be fine.
By “us,” I mean me and his mom—and Fonz, Sophie, and the Millers. I’ve already seen all of them and answered whatever questions of theirs I could and accepted their hugs and tears.And then I left them in the waiting room while I went in search of some air and space.
The police contacted Lena, but I haven’t heard from her.
I’ve already been examined. I have a sprained wrist, a butterfly bandage on the side of my chin, a goose egg on my temple, many bruises and lacerations on my arms and back, and I feel like I was run over by an eighteen-wheeler.
The doctors had to sedate Ethan as soon as we arrived because he wouldn’t let me out of his grasp and they needed to treat us separately. Now I’m taking this time while he’s knocked out, hiding in the patient area, to just … breathe. If I was worried about his nightmares and his overbearing need to protect me before, I’m outright horrified about how this evening’s events are going to stoke that fire.
“I’m surprised you remember me.” Officer Rick’s voice pulls me out of my thoughts. Turning toward him, it’s like I’m seeing him the way I did several years ago. Taking in the strong, sharp line of his jaw and his light hair.
I put the godawful coffee on a side table and place my hands on the seat on either side of my thighs as I nervously kick my feet back and forth. Without looking at Officer Rick, I answer him. “You’re linked to a memorable day in my life, so I’m not sure I could ever forget you. Especially not now. Now you are linked to two very memorable days in my life.”
He shifts in the seat next to me, leaning his elbows on his knees and holding his paper cup between both hands. “It was a memorable day for me, too—back then.” I turn my head to look at him. “Not sure why. I mean, yeah, I was young, new to the force, but I had been on domestic assault calls before. For some reason, you stuck out to me. Ethan did, too …” He trails off, lost in thought. “I dunno, there was just something so tragic about it all. Your upbringing, your stepmom’s pathetic response. And theway that seventeen-year-old kid looked at you like you were his whole world.”
He sips his coffee, grimacing. “When the dispatch came through tonight, I wasn’t sure it was the same address, but once I pulled up I knew it was the same place. I’ll never forget that house. And when I saw you standing in the garage, I couldn’t believe it. And then when I heard you say his name, and I realized it was Ethan, too …” Officer Rick chuckles. “I think I might have gotten goosebumps.”
“That was probably just the smoke.”
“Nah,” he says, taking another sip of coffee. “Holy shit, this is terrible.”
His phone chimes, and after discarding the coffee, he pulls it out of his pocket and scrolls through something, then clears his throat. “Firefighters recovered the body.”
I swallow, pull my lips between my teeth, and nod. “That would be a dead body, right?”
He nods.
A quiet moment passes before I speak again. “Thank you, for not going back inside. I know that was—”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he interjects, tipping his head to look me in the eye.
