Page 73 of Protecting his Heart

Evan

Evan reached for the handle to the back door, just as he heard a crash of glass, when he was thrown five feet in the air away from the house with a blast of heat so powerful, he doubted he’d ever feel cold again. When he hit the ground, he blacked out.

****

He groaned, coughed and groaned again when his body told him not to move or even breathe. What the fuck had happened? Where the hell was he?

“Evan? Evan!” someone shouted, and he strained to hear whoever it was.

He rolled to his back, blinking up at the sky as pain caused his lungs to stop working while he got the pain under control again.

“What the fuck happened?” he croaked. At least, he thought he did.

“Thank fuck.” Evan blinked again, and Nick’s face appeared in front of him. “You with me now, Evan?”

“Yeah. I think. What happened?”

Nick’s mouth twisted, and he glanced over his shoulder towards something. Evan followed his gaze, but all he saw was black smoke circling to the sky.

“An explosion.”

In a rush of memories, everything came back to him, and he scrambled upright, staring at the rubble of the house he and Owen had been casing. His breath stuttered as he took in the pile of bricks that sat in front of him. His chest ached, and he couldn’t breathe.

“Evan, fuck! Brett, I need help here!” Nick turned back to him. “Evan, breathe for me, man. Fuck.”

A slap on his cheek made him blink, giving him an excuse to turn away from the disaster that waited for him to acknowledge.

“Breathe, Evan,” Nick repeated.

Evan stared at him as he followed his breaths, the lightheadedness finally receding a little. Brett crouched beside him.

“Where’s Owen?”

Acknowledging what had happened was obviously something he had no choice about, but he couldn’t say anything. He just pointed. At the house. Or what was left of it.

Brett followed his finger and cursed, racing back to the fire engines that stood nearby. Evan couldn’t hear what they said, but more people came running, some with protective equipment, some without, and they started digging through the rubble.

Nick slid his arm around him and helped him to stand. “We need to get you checked out.”

Evan already knew he had a concussion, what with the dizziness and ringing ears, and plenty of scrapes and bruises littering his body, but he didn’t care. He needed to find Owen. There was no way he could’ve survived that explosion, but if nothing else, he needed closure. He needed to be able to bury him alongside his sister. His steps faltered as he thought of Sally. This would destroy her. Burying one child was bad enough, but now she had to bury a second one.

Evan didn’t get as far as the ambulance when shouts sounded from behind them. He paused, making Nick stop, too. They faced the team, watching as they all congregated on one area of the rubble. When two men reached down and pulled, a body came free.

Evan’s knees went out from beneath him, and Nick helped him to the ground again. He stared at the body being carried closer. It was Owen. He was covered in dust and grime, but Evan realised his eyes were open—and not in the bad way.

“Fuck,” Evan gasped, his eyes filling as his brain caught up with what he was seeing. “How the fuck is he alive?” he wheezed, close to breaking down and losing it.

Nick grabbed him and pulled him upright again. “I have no fucking idea. Come on. Let’s get to the ambulance so you can see for yourself.”

Each painful step reminded Evan of what had happened.

“Nick! Nick! What happened? Is this a royal attack again?” Malachi yelled from behind the tape that had been put up at some point. Nick ignored him, so Evan followed suit.

When they finally reached the ambulance where Owen was being tended to, he’d decided that running a marathon had nothing on this. The paramedics wouldn’t let them into the ambulance because they were still working on fixing Owen up, but his boyfriend’s gaze never left his.

“Are you okay?” Evan mouthed.

Owen nodded and winced, saying something to the paramedic, which made them look at Evan and nod back. The paramedic helped Evan onto the seat at Owen’s head, leaving Nick outside, and continued tending to Owen while they talked. Unfortunately, due to the ringing in his ears and the dizziness, Evan couldn’t decipher most of it. He felt himself listing to one side, and the next thing he remembered, he was horizontal next to Owen, staring across the small space between them.

---