Page 17 of Saving St. Nicolas

The next time I wake up, my head is no longer hurting, but my throat is still raw and dry. I look over, and this time, I can see Riley. She’s currently sleeping in the chair in the corner of the room. I can see the black soot from the fire smeared on her face and her dress. Her heels have been kicked off and are laying under the chair.

I grab the blanket from the end of my bed, and walk over to her, stretching the cords and IV line that I am attached to, to cover her up. I can’t help lightly caressing her cheek, but quickly pull my hand back when she moves.

I walk back over to my bed, fixing the lines, and grabbing the cup of water on the table and downing it. I get back into bed, but I can’t go back to sleep. My eyes drift over to Riley, and I can’t help taking in every one of her facial features as she sleeps. My hands inch to hold her, and trace every line of her curves. I don’t know how long I will be able to fight these feelings for her.

ChapterSix

RILEY

Iknow the moment Mike wakes up, but I keep my eyes closed, pretending to be asleep. I feel when he lays the blanket across my body, then he lightly caresses my cheek. I have to move, I can’t allow him to keep touching me, even though I want him to.

I move a little bit and he quickly pulls his hand away. I listen to him walk back toward the bed and grab the cup of water that was beside it, then climb back into the bed. I know he’s watching me, I can feel it, so I continue pretending to be asleep.

I think back to the Christmas party and the events that happened. I heard the pop of an explosion and saw the tree go up in flames. I watched as he tossed Payton to Jake and the tree falling on him.

I didn’t know at the time that St. Nicolas was Mike, I just knew I needed to get the tree off of him before he suffered any burns. The room was filling with smoke quickly, and I could hear him coughing.

I grabbed the closest cloth napkin and shoved it in a glass of water, then carried it over to him. Cover your mouth with this,” I told him.

“Get out of here before you get burned,” he said between fits of coughing.

“Shut up, and let me do my job,” I muttered as I quickly pushed the tree one way with my foot and pulled him the other way until I had him cleared.

The fire crew showed up to put the fire out and help me get St. Nicolas out to the ambulance.

Once he was on the stretcher, we took his beard and hat off. I finally saw it was Mike, but Leia confirmed it when she ran up crying about her brother. We got him loaded into the ambulance and they placed an oxygen mask on his face.

“I think he hit his head hard, when he landed on the floor,” I say, and the EMTs nod.

Leia jumped in the back of the ambulance with him, while Noah and I rode to the hospital in the car.

I was so happy when he woke up but could tell he was in pain. I watched him sleep after the nurse gave him some medicine, content to hear the heart monitor, allowing me the comfort to know he was okay and would be.

An hour or so later, when he finally went back to sleep, I quietly grabbed my shoes and left the room. I can feel the soreness under the bottom of my foot where I used it to push the tree off Mike. I know it’s burned, but only first degree, nothing that some burn ointment won’t heal within a few days.

I look at the clock hanging on the wall and see it’s five in the morning. I know Leia will be coming on shift in an hour, I would prefer she didn’t find me here. I call an Uber, not the one I used earlier, since it’s so late, he was probably off shift.

Fifteen minutes later, the Uber picks me up outside the emergency room. I climb in, laying my head back on the seat.

“Rough night, huh?” he asks.

“Yes, thankfully everyone is okay,” I say.

The rest of the car ride is silent, and when he drops me off, I thank him. I open the door, then shutting and locking the door behind me, I head straight for the bathroom, knowing I need a shower.

I walk in the bathroom, looking in the mirror for the first time and see all the black soot on my face. I never once thought to check while I was at the hospital. God, I look a mess. I quickly heat up the water, undress, and jump in the shower, allowing the soot and events of the evening to fall down the drain.

My body relaxes under the hot water. I know if I stand here long enough, I will fall asleep, so I quickly wash up, get out, put some ointment on the bottom of my foot, and jump into bed. The adrenaline dump long gone, I pull the covers around me and allow sleep to finally take me.

It’s afternoon by the time I convince myself I need to get up. I have so many questions about the fire and want to stop by the firehouse. I make some coffee, and as I’m getting dressed my phone rings. I look at the caller id and see Leia’s name.

“Hey Leia, how is everything today?”

“Good. Mike is being released from the hospital shortly, though the doctor told him to take it easy. I wanted to call and see how you were doing?”

“I’m good. I’m on my way to the fire station to see if anyone has any answers to what caused the fire,”I tell her, slipping my coat and boots on.

“Yes, I would like to know as well. I mean, thank God no one was seriously injured, but that was scary.”

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