Page 283 of Her Reluctant Hero
She’d made some effort to wipe the soot from her face, but she’d done it in a hurry because a black ring circled her hairline and soot darkened the curves of her ears. Her nose and eyes were red from smoke, her skin tight with first degree burns and her pretty hair hidden under filth and blood, part of it shaved away to accommodate the stitches.
When she noticed he was awake, she gave him the most beautiful smile, one he’d feared he might never see again. She was safe. He touched her cheek lightly, then reached for the mask.
“I hate this thing.” He nearly choked on his own words.
“You need it.”
Peyton moved back. They were in a hospital room. The one thing he hated worse than flying was being in the damned hospital.
“Your oxygen level was real low up on the mountain and you passed out.”
He rubbed both hands over his eyes, smelled soap. “How long ago?” Damn, it hurt to talk.
“Well, it’s almost nine a.m. now. You were out all night.”
He tried to sit up, only to be pushed back by a determined female. “Sweetheart, I lie still for too long, I’m not going to get up. Last time I lay down this long, it took me a week to walk right again.”
She twitched the sheet and blanket in place, making him feel like a damn invalid. Only Peyton could get away with babying him right now.
“You’re going to be fine,” she murmured. “They’ll probably let you go home tomorrow, but not back on the fire.”
“No problem there. Maybe I’ll see if they still have the motel room available. We’ll bring our own protection this time.”
He tried for lightness, but something was wrong. Her mouth stretched in a tight line, an expression he hadn’t seen on her before.
“Kim?”
She shook her head. “They don’t know where she is.”
“Worried?”
An energy was running through her. He could feel it from here as she fiddled with the blinds, the IV lines, hell, the water pitcher. If he had more strength, he’d grab her hand to stop her. Finally she sat in the chair beside him, but energy still vibrated through her.
He waited, not wanting to encourage her. His instincts told him whatever it was, it wasn’t good.
He always trusted his instincts.
“You jumped out of a plane,” she said at last, her hands folded in front of her.
That was why his ankles and knees hurt, damn it. “Yeah.”
“You jumped out of a plane to save me.”
“Peyton—”
“What am I supposed to do with that?”
“You don’t have to do anything.” He reached for her, and she straightened.
Fear seized him, stronger than the fear that had gripped him on the mountain. She was ready to walk. When had he started imagining a future with her? It hadn’t been before their first night together. Then he’d figured she would walk away. But now, he couldn’t let it happen. Comforting her was one thing, but he had the paralyzing feeling she had gone beyond needing comfort. She needed convincing. Did he have the power? “I’m fine. I’m not going to take any more chances. What we’ve got is too important.”
She stared at him as if she was looking at his ghost—or Dan’s.
“Nothing changes, does it?” she demanded, her voice choked. “You could have died up there and I had no way of stopping it. I was right there when Dan died. I had gone through EMT training. And I couldn’t stop him from dying.”
He pulled himself up on his elbow, not without some effort, but he was seeing red. “Peyton, Jesus, he was shot in the face. He died before he hit the ground. Nothing you could have done would have helped him.”
She opened and closed her fists, trying to gain control of herself. Her eyes had glassed over and he knew she was seeing it again. He cursed himself for his bluntness, tried again.
