Page 58 of Half Baked

Position’s good, easy down.

Easy down.

Easy down.

Swimmer’s ready.

I haven’t heard Hayden at all. But I recognize that last voice, it belongs to Wes. And I already know the swimmer he’s referring to is Hayden. I grip Fitzy’s arm and my knuckles are white. Our mayor looks down at my hand, and I see worry in his eyes.

“Maybe we should turn this off?”

“No, please don’t. Please,” I beg.

He nods hesitantly, patting my hand. The grateful smile I flash feels more like a grimace, but he doesn’t seem to notice. Dropping the conversation, we turn our attention back to the radio.

Roger, swimmer deployed.

Swimmer away.

I hold my breath as white noise crackles over the radio, filling the silence that stretches on. Then I hear Wes’s voice once again.

Swimmer’s okay.

A long exhale escapes me. For now, he’s okay.

We listen in tense silence for each update. One saved. Then two. Three. Four. Five. Hayden keeps sending them to safety, all the while keeping himself in treacherous conditions.

Six saved.

Lost visual on the swimmer, I hear Wes say. No. No, no, no. Sickness floods me as tears threaten my eyes.

The torrent of rain and crackle of the radio are the only noise as the minutes stretch on. I hold my breath. I can’t lose Hayden before I truly have him.

“Breathe,” Fitzy murmurs beside me. “Just breathe, Poppy.”

I’ve got him! Swimmer at five o’clock. Looks like he found our seventh soul.

Wes’s voice is the most beautiful sound I have ever heard as he confirms that Hayden is okay. He reports that the seventh teenager is safe with them. And then he reports that the swimmer is back in the helicopter.

I feel the iron knot in my chest loosen and finally take a deep breath, attempting to send release through my muscles. Hayden’s out of the water. He’s okay.

“Fitzy, can you take me to their department?”

“You got it, kiddo,” he replies warmly, throwing the car in reverse. It’s a short drive, but visibility is nonexistent once we get moving. I can’t even imagine what they’re experiencing in the helicopter right now.

Is he actually okay? Or is the flight back dangerous too?

We finally pull into the fire station that has the new addition for the air sea team and I’m peeling off the raincoat and returning it to our mayor before he comes to a stop. Once parked, I thank him and jump out of his car. I can see the helicopter landing around back, and ambulances waiting for the teenagers. At the back corner of the station, I find a place where I’m out of the way but will be able to clearly see Hayden once heexits the helicopter. I just need to see, with my own eyes, that he’s here and okay.

I wrap my arms around myself, soaked and freezing once again. Despite the storm, I’m prepared to wait all night if I need to. But it’s only a matter of minutes before all the teens are unloaded and then he’s there.

Jumping down to the ground he has his wetsuit stripped from his chest and tied around his waist, and a T-shirt clinging tightly to him. His hair is slicked back, and he’s breathtakingly handsome and intoxicatingly in command of the operations.

Lifting his gaze beyond the commotion, Hayden’s eyes catch on me, as if sensing my presence. “This is your show now,” I hear him shout to Wes. He breaks into a brisk stride, pushing past everything to head my way.

My heart is in my throat. I’m desperate to have his hands on me. To be able to grab for him and feel that he’s physically back here on land. But when he reaches me, he doesn’t hug me. Instead, Hayden grips my shoulders, a frantic look in his eyes.

“What are you doing out in the storm? And dressed like this? You’re frozen! This isn’t safe, Poppy!”

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