Chapter 28
SOFIA
With Lincoln helping me barrel our way through what felt like hundreds of onlookers, we made it to the woman who had screamed for help in less than a minute. It still felt like way too much time had passed, but we’d moved as fast as we could.
“Get back,” I cried as Lincoln shoved the last remaining people out of our way. “We need space. Linc. Make them move.”
I knew he didn’t have to listen to me, but I also knew he would. Releasing the iron grip he’d kept on my hand, he turned around and put out his arms.
As he worked on getting the people to back the hell up, I dropped to my knees on the sand. The man lying in front of me had silver hair and a gray tinge to his skin. I estimated him to be in his late fifties or early sixties, but he seemed fit enough.
Come on, sir. Work with me, okay?
“Is he your father?” I asked the woman without looking up at her. My hands moved of their own accord, flying over him to check his vitals.
“Yes,” she replied, her voice tight with terror. “Is he going to be okay?”
“I don’t know yet, but I’m going to do everything I can.” I touched my fingers to his clammy throat. “I’ve got a pulse. It’s weak, but it’s there. What his name?”
“Michael,” she said shakily.
“Thanks. Michael? My name is Sofia. I’m a medical student, but I’m going to try to help you, okay? We’ve called for a doctor, but so far, no one has come forward.”
There was no response from him, but I kept murmuring while I worked. His daughter told me to go ahead, and I took her word as his. Truth be told, I was just as fucking terrified as his daughter. I’d never had to do anything like this by myself before, and I suddenly wasn’t sure I could.
“What can I do?” Lincoln called from where he was still trying to keep the crowd at bay.
I looked up to catch him glancing at me over his shoulder, his brown eyes hard with determination. There was also a worried crease between his brows, but he was calm and in control.
“Get an ambulance. There are always ambulances nearby at events like these.” At least I hoped there was one. I might not have graduated yet, but even I knew there was only so much I’d be able to do for this man without any equipment.
Lincoln nodded and fixed his gaze to mine for the smallest fraction of a second. He gave a tiny, almost imperceptible nod before whipping his phone out of his pocket and doing as I’d asked.
All my anxiety and self-doubt left me the moment I saw that nod. Somehow, I knew it was meant to reassure me, and the look in his eyes confirmed it. How he’d known I needed it, I didn’t know.
But I supposed he was used to chaotic situations where life or death hung in the balance. Whatever it was, seeing and feeling that reassurance from Lincoln cleared the haze from my mind.
Everything I’d learned about heart attacks and first response came flooding back to me, and I systematically worked my way through it.
Every time I was unsure about something, I’d look up and he’d already be there for me.
Even as he kept the ever-growing crowd from crushing us and as he barked into his phone.
I had to admit he was fucking fantastic in a crisis, but I had no time to think too much about it. I merely played with it in the back of my mind whenever I started feeling flustered.
Within either minutes or hours, I saw blue and red lights flashing and heard sirens piercing the sounds of the festivities around us. Not once did I stop performing CPR, keeping my count and my focus until a paramedic fell to her knees beside me.
“Thanks, doctor,” she said. “We’ve got it from here.”
“I’m not a…” I trailed off when I realized she wasn’t listening to me at all. Her partner was offloading a gurney, and with Lincoln’s help, policemen were managing the crowd.
As I stood up, I met the wild, tear-filled gaze of the victim’s daughter. Her body trembled like a leaf, but she managed a wobbly smile as she reached out to squeeze my hand. “Thank you so much. We’ll never forget this.”
“Good luck,” I said, returning her squeeze before letting her go to follow her father and the paramedics to the ambulance.
“You did good, Sofia.” Lincoln’s deep voice rumbled in my ear as a pair of muscled arms wrapped around me from behind. I recognized the feel of them immediately and sank back against his powerful chest. “You think he’s going to be okay?”
Covering his forearms with my hands, I nodded as we watched the paramedics loading Michael into the back of the ambulance. “He should be fine now. His pulse was getting stronger while I was busy. I’m hopeful that he’ll make a full recovery.”
Lincoln’s front pressed against my back, and he rested his head against the side of mine. “If he does, it will be thanks to you.”
“You helped,” I said, closing my fingers around his warm skin. “A lot more than you might realize. I started freaking out for a minute there.”
His stubble pricked against my temple, but then it was replaced by the soft press of his lips. “You got it together when it mattered. It’s okay to freak out. The important part is getting your shit together, which you managed flawlessly.”
“Well, I’m not sure it was flawless.” Over and over again in my mind, I replayed everything I had learned. It had come back to me so easily after that initial panic had passed, but now I worried that I’d skipped something.
At the same time, I felt this weird sense of calm and rightness that reassured me from inside out that I’d done everything I could. Lincoln’s lips brushed against my temple when he spoke again, like he wanted to talk but also didn’t want to let me go. I knew because I felt the same way.
“Bullshit. It might not have felt flawless to you, but it sure as fuck looked it. I’m impressed, baby. You kicked ass tonight.”
Before I could reply, a man approached us through the retreating crowd. He held a camera in one hand and a notepad in the other. A pair of round-framed glasses were perched on his nose and his cheeks were flushed with excitement.
“I’m Douglas Green with the Chronicle. I witnessed what you two did here tonight. Do you mind if I get a picture? I’d love to write an article on the couple that saved the fourth of July.”
Lincoln tapped my side, silently letting me know it was up to me. I didn’t like the idea of being in the paper, but the guy looked at us with such hope in his eyes that I couldn’t say no.
“Sure. How do you want us for the picture?” I reluctantly started to move away from Lincoln, but Douglas waved his hand at me.
“No. Please stay just like that. It’s perfect.” He beamed a smile at us before lifting his camera to his eye. “You’re a gorgeous couple. This is going to be a great shot.”
Heat rushed to my cheeks, but before I could correct him, Lincoln spoke up. “Thanks. We still want to catch the fireworks, so can we make this quick?”
“Of course.” Douglas immediately started working on a few shots, asked us some basic questions, and then said his goodbyes.
Once he was gone, Lincoln gave me another hug before taking his hand in mine. “How about we go for a walk while we watch the show? The main display will be starting soon.”
“Sounds good to me.” His fingers slid between mine, thick but somehow also slotting perfectly between them.
“How are you feeling now?” he asked as he led me away from the remaining throngs of people gawking at us. “Coming down from an adrenaline rush like that gets to a lot of people.”
“I’m fine,” I said, lifting our hands to sling his arm around my shoulder. I liked feeling the weight of it there. “If anything, I feel like tonight opened my eyes a bit.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, his tone even and measured.
“I’ve been putting off graduating early because there was nothing driving me to do it. Now, I feel like I’ve remembered why I even started studying medicine in the first place. It’s my calling.”
“It looks that way to me too,” he rumbled, but he seemed preoccupied.
We walked down the beach without letting go of one another. I didn’t know where his head was, but I wanted to know.
Bangs sounded in the air, followed by colorful lights bursting into the inky night. Fiery blooms exploded among the stars to the oohing of the appreciative crowd. Walking along the shore as we were, we had an unobstructed view as more fireworks cut through the black sky.
Some shot straight up into the air before showering their sparkles high above our heads. In between those, others soared or twirled before they extinguished to black. A whiff of gunpowder filled the air, and I felt Lincoln’s chest expand as he drew in a deep breath.
“I love that smell,” he murmured, and my ears perked up. “It reminds me of being on the gun range, of training, and of going on missions.”
Thousands of questions popped into my head, but this was the first time he was opening up without being prompted by me. The need to listen eventually trumped the desire to have him answer my questions.
“I was born to be a SEAL,” he was saying, his fingers tightening around mine and his gaze on the vast black ocean beside him. “It’s weird, considering that I admittedly have a problem with authority. But the job itself? Getting to do that makes it worth having to deal with the military hierarchy.”
“It’s not that weird.” I kept my voice low as we watched the water lighting up with shapes dancing across the sky. “I mean fine, joining the military when one has a problem with authority seems counterproductive, but I don’t really believe it is.”
“Maybe not, but even my mom thought I wouldn’t last very long.” A hint of amusement sneaked into his tone, and my heart began fluttering in my chest. He hadn’t really told me much about his mom or his career. Now he was delving into both?
“Yeah?” I asked. “Why is that?”
He chuckled, hugging me closer to his side. “Because she knew I’d be labeled as a troublemaker. A lot of people think I’m a misfit until they see me in action. Personality-wise, I’ve never been a good fit for the military.”
“But you’re good at your job, and you love it. Shouldn’t that mean more than your attitude toward authority?”
When he laughed this time, the sound was dry. “To the military? No. It doesn’t mean more. Have you met your father?”
“You definitely aggravate him,” I agreed. “But I don’t think that’s always a bad thing.”
“I’ve been told I’m needed for my quick thinking and leadership skills. It’s just too bad the speed of my thinking is so often not linked to that of the superior officers who find me aggravating.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to ask him again about pursuing the ranks into a true leadership role, but I bit the question back. “Tell me about your parents. You said your mom didn’t think you’d last this long?”
“She told me she’d be surprised if I lasted a year.” A fond smile touched his lips. “To be fair, though, the first year was fucking tough. After that, I think I just got used to being the misfit until they really needed someone to clean the fuck up.”
“How about your father?” I asked cautiously,
Lincoln sucked in a sharp breath but didn’t go off on me again. “I don’t know him. Mom raised me by herself.”
“She must have been one hell of a woman,” I said after pausing for a moment. “Want to tell me more about her?”
He nodded and continued to tell me about his mother and her secret passion for reading small-town romance novels. Strangely, I felt like I would have gotten along with her. I was sorry I hadn’t met her before she’d gotten sick.
Later on, after the fireworks display was over and the band had stopped playing, Lincoln and I headed back to his truck. Before we climbed in, he came to stand in front of me and brought his enormous hands to my face.
“Thank you for a really memorable fourth of July,” he said. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget this one.”
“I won’t either.” It had been too memorable in too many ways to forget anything about it. Not least of which was the moment we were in right then.
Lincoln’s eyes darted from mine to my lips, his pupils dilating as he leaned forward. His thumbs stroked my cheekbones, his gaze lingering on my mouth before he dragged it back up to mine.
Time slowed. It was as if we were about to have our first kiss. That same anticipation and exhilaration rushed through my veins, but it was more than just that.
He lowered his head until there was only a fraction of an inch separating his lips from mine. His breath fanned my face, smelling sweet from the ice-cream cone he’d just devoured on our way back to the parking lot.
My heart pounded. Every nerve ending came to life and hummed with the anticipation of feeling his lips pressed against mine once again.
My eyes closed. My breathing sped up. Linc’s breaths mingled with mine. When he leaned in to close the last bit of space between us, I realized what was different about the kiss.
In the past when I’d kissed him, I knew I liked him and was having fun with him. But this time when his soft lips touched mine and he kissed me like the music had started to play, I knew I more than just liked him.
I wasn’t just falling for him, either.
I fell.
Right there in the glow of the old streetlamp in the parking lot at the boardwalk I’d visited a million times before, I stopped falling.
It was no longer in progress.
Right then and there, I fell for Lincoln Dobbs.
A soldier.
A SEAL.
A man whose fate was in my father’s hands.
Dear Lord, please let this not have been the dumbest darn thing I’ve done.