Page 115 of Phoenix

I don’t know what is happening. I don’t know why she’s here, but now that she is, I’m not letting her go.

We walk side by side, granted a little slower due to my fucking leg, all the way down the hallway to a smaller ballroom on the other side of the building.

“What is this place?” she asks, looking around at the tall walls and floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook the botanical garden in the back.

“It’s an event center. It used to be a train depot, but they converted it years ago. Now it’s used for ceremonies, proms, weddings.” I unhook Arya’s leash, allowing her to roam the small room freely, then I tuck my hands into my pockets.

I watch Nora explore the room, all the way to the windows where she simply stares out.

“It’s so beautiful.”

“One of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.” She thinks I’m talking about the garden, with its roses and lilies, but I’m not. I’m talking about her. With her black dress and her red wedge heels.

She turns to face me, giving me a perfect view of her face, with her signature red lips and light makeup. Her shoulders rise and fall as she inhales deeply. She’s nervous.

“Come sit with me.” I carefully limp my way toward a table in the corner and lower to the seat. She comes to take the seat beside me.

“First thing I want to ask is, are you all right?” She is staring down at her hands, sliding her thumb over her tattoo.

“I am. My leg is a little fucked, but it will be perfectly fine in the end.”

“What happened, Case? Amelia told me what she knew, but I want to hear it from you.”

I reach across the table to take her hand in mine. “You knew about the storms, right? Well, it caused incredibly intense flooding. The worst I’ve seen in my life. I was on shift down by the river. Long story short, a nine-year-old boy had gotten trapped in the storm drain. He went in to get something he had dropped. He slipped, hit his head, and couldn’t get out.”

She squeezes my hand but doesn’t speak.

“I went in after him. The water was rushing through and it kept rising. I knew I didn’t have time to be afraid. I managed to get him most of the way out, but I slipped. I fell into the water and the current slammed me into a wall. Rebar went into my thigh. Nothing major was damaged. In and out, really, like a bullet. Just some muscle repairs and stitches.”

“And Arya?”

“She used her rescue training and pulled the boy the rest of the way from the drain, then came in after me. I thought we were gone, Phoenix.” My eyes meet hers. “I really did.”

She wipes her eyes with her free hand and sniffs. “I’m so happy you’re not.”

“Is that why you came back? To make sure I was okay?”

She nods. “But it’s more than that.”

I scoot my chair closer and turn hers so we are facing one another.

“Talk to me.”

“I’m so sorry for leaving you the way that I did. I was a coward, and I feel horrible about it.”

“It hurt me, badly, but if it’s what you wanted, I was letting you go.”

“I didn’t want that. I was scared...so scared.”

“Of me?”

“Of losing you. I was scared to love you because you could leave this world in an instant with your job.”

“Baby, anyone can leave this world at any time, regardless of their job, but that doesn’t mean we stop living.”

“I quit my job... put my apartment on the market.”

My heart begins to pound.

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