Page 50 of Five Minute Man
“Max!” she called out desperately, sending her into a coughing fit that had stars swimming behind her eyes. “Max!Where’s my dog?”
Those strong hands kept her from moving too much. “Black and white husky? Freaky eyes?”
“Yes, yes, that’s him. Have you seen him? Is he okay?”
“He’s fine,” the EMT said. His voice was commanding, yet deep and soothing. “One of the firefighters is checking him out. Smart dog. He’s the one who led us to you. They’ll bring him over in a minute, but you have to let me check you out first, okay?”
Thank God.Her breath came out in a whoosh of relief. Max was okay. She couldn’t bear it if something had happened to him.
The acrid scent of smoke still hung in the air, burning her nose and throat with each breath. Turning her head to the side, she saw the smoldering remains of the small wooden shed. It and its contents were now reduced to nothing but a damp, charred pile of junk.
“Ma’am, look here, please.” The guy with the kind brown eyes shined a tiny pen light into her eye.
She felt it clear through to the other side of her skull, as if he had just jammed a big knife right into the socket. She shut her eyes tightly and tried to wrench away, but he must have anticipated the move because he cupped her jaw with one of his hands and kept her from moving too far.
“I’m sorry about that,” the man said, sounding like he really meant it. “I’ll be as gentle as I can, all right?”
Holly nodded, the sharp pain down her back making her wish she hadn’t done that. She tried to remain still and quiet while the EMT did his thing. He was only doing his job; it certainly wasn’t his fault she was a major wuss when it came to handling pain.
He was quick and efficient, assessing her injuries with the skill of someone who had done this more than a few times. Despite his gentle touch, she couldn’t help crying out when he hit upon some particularly tender parts.
While he worked, she tried to distract herself by thinking about something else. Right at the top of the list of Other Stuff to Think About was what the hell had just happened.
Things were still pretty fuzzy around the edges, but there had obviously been an explosion, and before that, a fire. But how? And why? Sure, she stored a couple of single-gallon gas containers in there for the mower and the weed-wacker and stuff, but like the equipment, they were practically brand new. She’d had to buy all that stuff when she got the cottage.
She stored a couple of rags in there, too, for checking the oil and whatnot, but so what? She kept the windows slightly cracked in the summer, and the place was drafty enough to disperse any fumes or vapors that might have built up.
Had something spontaneously ignited? It did happen occasionally, though it was rare. Or maybe a mouse or something had chewed into some wires? There weren’t any outlets in the shed, but a previous owner had run a line to install a work light.
“Hey, Jason,” said another, familiar-sounding voice, pulling her back from her thoughts. “Ambulance just pulled up. How is she—holy shit! Holly, is that you?”
Holly forced her eyelids open again—they kept shutting without conscious effort—and saw Adam’s nephew in full firefighter gear, sans face mask. “Brandon?”
Damn, but the kid was good-looking, even more so in his uniform. She wished she could have snapped a picture for Liz. He had the makings of a great romance novel cover model.Maybe my next hero should be a fireman,she thought dizzily.
But wait, he was a waiter, wasn’t he? And going to school to be an engineer? What the hell was he doing dressed as a fireman?
“I volunteer at the firehouse a couple hours a week,” he answered.
She realized she must have spoken her thoughts aloud. Well, that explained the slight upturn of his lips, even though his eyes looked worried.
“My dad was a volunteer fireman, and I took all the training in high school so I could go out with him on calls. You okay?”
No wonder Adam is so proud of the kid, she thought.
She nodded, more carefully this time, though she felt anything but okay. “Fucking awesome,” she said, her brain too muddled and her body in too much pain to waste the effort on a filter. “Crap. I don’t need to tip you for this, do I?”
He chuckled, though his handsome face still held genuine concern. “Jason’s going to take good care of you, Holly. He’s the best. Just listen to what he says, okay?”
“Okay,” she breathed. It wasn’t as if she had a choice. She could barely move without agonizing pain.
“Brandon, can you call Liz for me? Her number’s in my cell, which should be in my pocket ...” Holly tried to move her right hand, the only one that appeared to be working, across her body awkwardly to pull out her phone. Jason saw her struggling and helped her out, handing the phone to Brandon.
“Do I need to go to the hospital?” she asked, trying to focus on EMT Jason. He was still a little blurry around the edges. “Wow. You have amazing eyes. Very kind.”
There was definitely going to be a fireman-slash-EMT in her next novel. She had read somewhere that firemen ranked number one on the list of female fantasies. How had she not yet tapped into that?
Jason smiled back at her with even, white teeth. “Thanks. And yes, you need to go to the hospital for some x-rays. The good news is, they’ll be able to give you something for the pain there, too, once they know what you got going on.”
“Oh, I got it going on,” she mumbled, making him laugh.
Pain meds. That soundedwonderful. Holly was not a big fan of pain.
But she couldn’t just leave.
“Someone needs to take care of Max ...”
“I’ll take good care of him, Holly,” Brandon assured her. “You just take care of yourself, okay?”
“Okay ...” Holly let her eyes close as they lifted her onto a stretcher.
