Page 112 of As Long As You'll Have Me
“Oh no,” I hear him quietly gasp.
“I think his family could use a little George and Richie magic, if you know what I mean?”
“We’re on it, honey bee. What hospital are you at?”
I explain the details of where he can find us and tell him that I’ll keep him updated if anything changes. My dad has never failed to come through for me when I need him and I want to share that with Miles and his family. I want him to know that no matter what happens, I’ll be there for him just like I know he would be there for me.
40
MILES
As promised, Willow texts our family group chat when Carter is up in his room and ready to be seen. Coop walks up with us to make sure he knows where he’ll be staying but has to leave when he gets a call from the station. When he looks at me, I know something is off but I’m not going to say anything in front of Ivy. She has enough going on with Carter and doesn’t need anymore stress right now. Willow shows her how to gown up to enter Carter’s room and when they go in, I follow Coop a few steps away from the room so they can’t hear us talking.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” I ask, keeping my voice down. Hanna tries to let us have our moment but I take her hand in mine and don’t let go. She’s part of our family now—whatever is going on, she deserves to know about it too.
“After the fire was put out last night, investigators showed up to see what started it. It’s still early, but they’re pretty sure it was another case of arson.”
Hanna covers her mouth with a gasp. Knowing the fire was set intentionally makes my blood boil. Carter couldhave died because of someone’s sick and twisted high they get from setting shit on fire.
“The woman Carter saved, she’s going to be okay. A few officers went to speak with her and she says she remembers hearing someone in the building before the fire started. Apparently she’s been unhoused for some time and had been living in the building for a little over a week.”
“That’s heartbreaking,” Hanna says, her eyes filled with sadness for the woman.
“Did she see who the person was?” I ask, placing my hand on the small of Hanna’s back in an attempt to console her. My hand moves in small circles and I feel her lean into my side.
“No, but she heard someone. There’s a building across the street with security cameras on it. They’re pulling the footage now to see if they caught anything, that’s what the call was. They asked me if I wanted to come in and go over it with them since someone I know was impacted by it.”
“Do you think that’s a good idea?” I ask, looking at him intensely. I know Coop is the most level-headed one out of the three of us but I also know he’s only human. He sees Carter as much of a brother as I do, and there’s no telling how he might react if he catches the person who put one of our own in the hospital.
“I’d rather it be me than someone else,” he says with a sigh. Smacking my arm hard, he gives me a closed-lipped smile. “I’ll keep you updated. Text me if he wakes up, okay? I’ll try to make it back before dinner if I can.”
“I will, yeah. Thanks, Coop.” We pull each other into an embrace before he heads down the hallway to head back to work.
I turn to look at Hanna who looks exhausted. Darkcircles are starting to form under her eyes and her hair is pulled back into a messy bun at the nape of her neck. For the first time since we’ve been here, I notice what she’s wearing.
“That’s a nice sweatshirt you’ve got on,” I muse, stepping towards her and bringing my hands to her waist.
She peeks down and looks back at me with a sheepish grin. I reach out to press her glasses up the bridge of her nose when they slip down her face.
“Thanks, it belongs to my handsome firefighter boyfriend.”
“Is that so?” My head tips to one side and my lips pull back into a smirk. She loops her arms around my center and pulls me in.
“It is so. He’s a really good guy, treats me well. Don’t even get me started about how much he loves his family, it’s almost sickening what he would do for them.”
I chuckle a few times and feel some of the tension in my shoulders dissipate. I can feel her calm energy starting to wash over me and for the first time in hours, I take a deep breath.
“I’m so happy Carter is going to be okay,” she says with her cheek pressed into my chest. I feel her take a deep breath similar to mine before speaking again. “But I’m even happier that it isn’t you lying in that hospital bed. I was so scared when I saw your name on my phone earlier, I thought something had happened to you.”
I hear how her voice catches in her throat and know she’s fighting back tears. I bring my hand to the back of her head and stroke her hair, breathing her in.
“I’m sorry for scaring you. You were the first person I thought to call after it happened. Youwere the person I needed the most in that moment. I needed to hear your voice because when I do, I know everything is going to be okay.”
She tips her head back and looks up at me with watery eyes. “Thank you for coming back to me.”
I smile down at her. “I’ll always come back to you, beautiful. Always.”
She presses up and kisses me. My hands frame her soft cheeks and hold her close. When she pulls away, she places her head on my chest and hugs me again.
