I felt like my lungs were exploding, but I gathered all of me. All my love. Every devotion. Every hope.
I reared back and kicked it.
When it didn’t give, I kicked it again.
It burst open.
I wanted to shout in victory. In hope. I rushed, grasping Rynna from behind, my little girl still in the safety of her arms. I dragged them out onto the pavement of the back lot, as far as I could get them away from the fire, before I collapsed to my knees beside them.
I choked and coughed while around me voices shouted and sirens blared.
Someone was on a radio, calling for help in the back lot, three victims down.
But the only thing I could focus on was their ash-covered faces. Frankie clutched in Rynna’s arms. I didn’t want to touch them, worried I’d cause more damage, but I was certain my baby girl wasn’t breathing.
My already failing heart stalled.
Oh God, please, no.
Rynna dragged in violent, choked breaths, eyes wide, no coherency in their depths.
“Help!” I screamed. “Somebody help.”
Footsteps pounded around me, rushing in. Someone pulled me away. I fought to get back to them, but hands were on me, restraining. “Let them take care of them, man. You’ve got to let them take care of them.” Seth’s voice was grit in my ear.
I slumped forward, dropping back to my knees.
Fireman and paramedics swarmed. Working. A controlled, frantic storm.
My world spun, and one was in front of me, taking my pulse and asking me questions, if I was in pain or if I was having trouble breathing.
He just had no idea all my breaths were wrapped up in them. That I’d gladly give mine. Every breath. Every heartbeat. Everything. Just as long as they were okay.
I sat hunched over in the hard plastic chair, elbows on my knees, exhaustion in my bones. People hustled on the other side of the door that’d been wedged open a crack. But inside this room? Time had stopped. Nothing less than a mind-altering waiting game.
Dimness floated on the feigned peace, and that steady beeping of the monitor lulled me into a sense of security I was praying wasn’t faulty.
“You should go get some rest, man.”
I jumped when the muted voice hit me from behind. I scrubbed a hand over my face, trying to clear the daze, and shifted to look over my shoulder.
Kale stood there in his scrubs. Dude looked just about as weary as I felt. Since the second we’d rushed through the emergency room doors, he’d been running nonstop, making sure every test possible had been run on my daughter. Ensuring nothing was missed.
He’d been up all night and all of today.
“Think it’s probably you who should be taking a break,” I told him.
He let a smirk ridge his mouth. “Nah, I’m basically a super hero. Can’t keep me down. ”
Cocky asshole.
A light chuckle rumbled from my tongue. “That so?”
“Come on, look at me, you know it is.” He was all affable grins.
I turned my attention back to my daughter. Frankie was lost to sleep, tiny body tucked beneath stark white sheets.
Resting.
Whole and right.
According to Kale, things could go south up to two days after prolonged smoke exposure.
Which left me an unwilling player in this waiting game.
But Kale kept insisting I shouldn’t worry. That she was going to be fine. That he’d make sure of it.
She’d been dosed with precautionary antibiotics and breathing treatments, and Kale promised not a single base had been missed.
I’d always known it, but it wasn’t so clear what a damned good doctor Kale was until then.
“Thank you, man,” I muttered quietly. “No way I could ever repay you for what you’ve done.”
He made a sound of rebuttal. “I was just doing my job, Rex. You know she wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you and Rynna.”
Rynna.
Beautiful Rynna. This girl who’d become my orbit. My sun. My gravity.
Rynna had saved my daughter’s life. She’d put herself on the line. She fought for her. For us. She loved her in a way that was absolute.
“Almost at the cost of her own.”
Everything pressed and pulled.
This gratefulness that had taken up residence in every part of me, up against this blistering agony at the thought of almost losing her, too.
“I won’t pretend to know Rynna all that well,” he said. “But from what I do? I’d bet she doesn’t regret rushing into that fire any more than you do. Which is why I’m here. You can see her now.”
My body swayed with the harsh heave of my breath. “Can you sit with Frankie for a while?”
“It’d be my honor.”
He shuffled in, his own exhaustion making itself known. I stood and then hesitated before I reached for him. I gripped him tight, hugged him hard, hand fisted in the middle of his back. “Couldn’t do any of this without you. Thank you, man, thank you so much.”
He hugged me back, saying nothing, both of us giving a moment of silence. A moment for grief. For what might have been.
Then he stepped back. “Go. Frankie’s in good hands.”
I started for the door when Frankie shifted and released a tiny moan. Instantly, I changed directions, going straight for my daughter, who hadn’t been awake for more than a total of an hour the entire day. Kale clapped me on the shoulder. “I’ll be right outside the door. Let me know when you’re ready for me.”
“Thanks.”
I slowly sank back into the chair, every inch of me glowing when I brushed my fingers through my daughter’s hair, staring down at my world.
“Hi, Daddy,” she said, so close to managing her precious grin.
I ran my thumb over her squished-up brow, my voice so low. “Hey, Sweet Pea. How are you feeling?”
“My’s froat hurts.”
Anger pulsed, but I tucked it down.
“I know, baby. Uncle Kale is working on fixing you up so you’re good as new. Better than new. You just need to get lots of rest, okay?”
She barely nodded, her brown eyes wide in the muted light. I hated that I saw fear in them. That she’d been subjected to evil and greed. I kept brushing my thumb over her brow, letting her know I was there, that I wasn’t going anywhere.
Finally, she broke the silence, her words the barest whisper. “Daddy, I gots a secret.”
My heart fisted, threatened to fail, terrified of what she might say. Of what she might have experienced during the short time Janel had her.
Couldn’t stomach it, and honestly, I was a little worried about what I might do. What I already wanted to do. But I held all that back, because my daughter was the most important thing, not the rage boiling inside me. “What, baby? You can tell Daddy anything.”
She hesitated, like what she was going to say might get her into trouble. “I wants Rynna to be my mommy. Nots Janel.”
I choked over a quieted laugh, blinking at my sweet girl and wondering how I’d managed to get so lucky.
Edging forward, I pressed a kiss to her temple before I pulled back to meet those wide, trusting eyes. “How about we don’t keep it a secret? I say we tell the whole world.”
I’d been terrified of falling in love. Of losing someone else. Knowing there was no place inside me left to lose. Those vacancies went too deep.
But Rynna.
She filled them. Saved my world and gave me back my heart.
Rynna.
Fucking Rynna.
Little Thief.
43
Rynna
The door creaked open. I rolled my head that direction and tried to keep the tears out of my eyes when I found who was standing there. But I couldn’t. They escaped, hot rivers streaking down my face.
“Hey . . . you’re awake.” His voice was a murmur, cautious and low. Still, the magnitude of him hit me like a flashflood. Overpowering. Overwhelming.
“Frankie?” Her name felt like fire where it grated from my raw, blistered throat.
Fear and anxiety and hope.
The second I’d awoken, I’d begged the nurse for an update, for her to tell me that she was okay, for any news.
Because the last thing I remembered was Rex standing over the two of us while I’d held on to Frankie.
Instead of an answer, she’d promised me she would let them know I was awake so someone could come talk to me.