Page 15 of Born a Hero

Chapter Fifteen

Dena watched Liam and Bryce chatting and saw their handshake. She knew how Liam felt because she experienced the same overwhelming gratitude when she thought of how Bryce had saved her and Justin.

Knowing her sweet boy was Bryce’s son, she became slightly terrified at the thought of telling him the truth. Looking back at her lack of options in letting him know about her pregnancy, she wondered if he would say that she hadn’t searched as hard as she might have.

Problem was, she’d never looked at all. The thought of admitting that scared her silly. Yet, the facts were undeniable. How could she look? She hadn’t known of her condition until she’d moved to Seattle and used up every penny she had to get there.

Plus, she didn’t have a name or which hospital he worked at. All she knew about him was that he was a hard-working resident, trying desperately to get his degree.

And a coming baby certainly wouldn’t have been welcome news. Especially with a stranger – a woman he’d only met once. Because it had been her choice to keep her child, she had always felt that the full responsibility lay with her.

On the other hand, she’d never expected to run into him again. Nor had she ever in a million years imagined her longing to be revived. That her body might have its own memories of just how wonderful that night had been.

They’d had sex more than once, and he’d hugged her to him the rest of the time. Playfully, they’d talked about all kinds of silly things but not real facts about themselves.

Now she wondered what had prompted her to ever allow that one man such access to her very soul. None of the others back then had ever gotten through her shields. They’d just been ships in the night and other than the certain kind of release they offered; she wanted nothing else from them.

When she met Bryce, it had been months since she’d been with anyone else. The last man she’d allowed privileges turned out to be a loud-mouthed jerk, and she swore she’d be a lot more discriminating in the future.

Then during those St. Patrick’s Day festivities, she’d met her prince. It had been different with him the moment they met. That man had sunk through her very skin, and she’d yearned for him to return. She went back to the bar the next night and then the next, feeling abandoned and knowing she had no right to be.

Furious with her neediness, she blew it off by telling herself he didn’t matter… none of it mattered. But his maturity and focus on his goals made her ashamed of her useless lifestyle.

So… she didn’t smoke or take drugs again. Instead, she took all her money and bought a bus ticket to Seattle where an old friend lived. She’d promised herself she’d strive hard to better herself there. A person she felt proud to be.

Once she got into the swing of things, everything began to work out for her. She got a job in a daycare center where another friend helped her get her caregiving degree. And... best of all, God rewarded her with Justin.

Chapter Sixteen

“Bwyce, come and see.”

Justin appeared at his shoulder looking upset and reached for his hand. Glad that the boy felt safe with him, he accepted his offer and went to where Justin drew him.

“Look.”

He followed the boy’s pointing finger and saw immediately what the problem was. A small dog that looked to still be a pup had somehow gotten himself up on what appeared to be a Rubbermaid tub cover. It lay in a sodden heap, shivering with cold and whining from fear. The poor bedraggled little treasure was alone and frightened to death.

“We need to save him, wight?” Justin’s voice urged him to agree.

Just then Dena moved in beside them and took in Justin’s worry immediately. “Honey, you can’t ask Bryce to go out in that cold water again. The puppy will be fine. He’s on top of the cover.”

But Bryce knew that with the wind blowing stronger now, anything could happen to the poor soaked baby. Without thinking about what he was doing, he began to make plans to go back out into the water and didn’t see that Justin had ignored his mother’s words and had beaten him to it.

The boy had just jumped from where Bryce had opened the glass pane to see better and was now floundering, his gasp from the icy coldness penetrating. Bryce grabbed one of the floaters and followed, not worrying about anything else.

He stretched for the boy and tried to lift him upwards to where Dena leaned out to grab him, but Justin clung to his neck and fought to stay with him. “No. No. I want the puppy.” He arched his cold little body away from where Dena reached out with her trembling hands and dread-filled eyes. “We need to save the puppy.”

Seeing that the wind had actually pushed the plastic boat closer, Bryce, with Justin entwined around his body, kept hold of the floater for balance while kicking toward the dog. Reaching out with the other arm, he was able to grip the edge of the now swirling plastic. Somehow the wind had picked it up, making it turn.

He lost hold and watched in horror as it swirled away. He heard Justin’s cry of distress and knew he had to go after it and this time grip it tighter.

Only by doing so, it tipped the whole thing and the puppy slid off into the water a few feet from them. The poor animal didn’t seem to know what to do, it just kept its little legs paddling.

Finally, Bryce got close enough to scoop the pup up from underneath and holding both the boy with the floater and the puppy, he thrashed his way back to the window.

Liam stood waiting for him to get close enough. “You need some help out there, bud?”

“No. Just grab the pup. I’ve got Justin.”