Page 60 of Built of Flames
“Mitch?”
Bella forced her eyes open to find Mitch leaning over her. There wasn’t any smoke. They weren’t in the garage apartment.
Mitch leaned down to kiss her forehead.
“You’re real?”
He grinned. “I’m real and so are you. We’re at the hospital. You had surgery to repair a broken arm.”
Broken arm? She didn’t remember that. Mitch’s face was hard, and she reached up to touch his cheek. Her shoulder twinged and his face hardened again.
“You’ve got a burn on your shoulder, too. It’ll be tender for a bit. I’m sorry I didn’t figure it out quickly enough. I’m so damn sorry.”
His face crumpled, and Bella stroked his jawline with a smile. “How did I get here?”
He blinked at her with a slight frown. “Ambulance.”
“And how did I get to the ambulance?”
“I carried you there.”
Warmth filled her. “You found me. You saved me. Thank you.”
Mitch’s eyes softened, and he leaned down to kiss her cheek. “You did a hell of a job saving yourself. Good job of slowing Kent long enough for us to get there.”
She leaned back on the pillow. Mitch sat beside her, then angled her bed up so she was sitting. “Want a drink?”
More than almost anything. But that was too much to get out, so she nodded instead.
The liquid soothed her throat, which was probably sore from both the smoke and the surgery. “Tell me what happened.”
Mitch put down the water and held her hand in his. “We got a call to a house fire on the other side of town. When we were halfway there, we realized it was Roberto’s house.”
Panic raced through her, and she struggled to sit up. “Roberto? Is he okay? Where is he?” Her voice sounded like a frog and everything hurt, but she had to get to her mentor.
Mitch stood and gripped her shoulders lightly. “He’s fine. Bella, relax, he’s fine.”
The beeping from the machine was rapid, and she wanted to scream at it to shut up. “Where is he?”
Mitch kissed her lightly. “He’s fine. Breathe. He’s fine. He wasn’t there. Remember, he’s away fishing this weekend.”
The door banged open and two people in white coats flew in. The man immediately moved to the machine, and the woman came to her side and glared at Mitch. “What is going on here? What are you doing to upset her? Ms. Martinez, lean back. You’re just out of surgery. You shouldn’t be upset.”
Bella let them ease her back on the pillows. When the doctor tried to order Mitch from the room, she grabbed his hand. “It’s fine. I panicked about my friend. I thought he was in a fire, but Mitch tells me he’s okay. Is he okay?”
She wasn’t sure how much they understood with her scratchy voice, but the woman stopped ordering Mitch out. Then she turned to Bella. “No one was seriously injured in a fire today. You had the worst injury with the broken arm. Your shoulder has a first-degree burn as well. You’ll need rest and time to recover. Your throat will be sore and you need to speak as little as possible. And avoid stress.”
The doctor turned to glare at Mitch. “You can stay as long as Ms. Martinez’s vitals stay in control.”
When the doctor walked out, the nurse, Duncan, grinned at them. “Dr. Iminez can be pretty intense, but she’s the best. If I were you, I’d follow instructions. I’ll update your other visitors that you’re awake in about ten minutes. Make the most of it.”
He patted her leg and then left them alone.
Bella opened her mouth to ask another question, but Mitch laid his finger over her lips. “Let me talk. I’ll tell you everything.”
She nodded and waited, wishing she could have a proper conversation.
“We knew Roberto was out of town, but we cleared the house, anyway. Then we wondered if it was a ruse to get us away from you. We tried calling and texting you. Then Christo and I got in the truck and headed across town. We were halfway there when we got the call about the fire at our address.”