Chapter 40
MILES
As promised, Willow texts our family group chat when Carter is up in his room and ready to be seen.
Coop walks up with us to make sure he knows where he’ll be staying but has to leave when he gets a call from the station.
When he looks at me, I know something is off but I’m not going to say anything in front of Ivy.
She has enough going on with Carter and doesn’t need anymore stress right now.
Willow shows her how to gown up to enter Carter’s room and when they go in, I follow Coop a few steps away from the room so they can’t hear us talking.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” I ask, keeping my voice down. Hanna tries to let us have our moment but I take her hand in mine and don’t let go. She’s part of our family now—whatever is going on, she deserves to know about it too.
“After the fire was put out last night, investigators showed up to see what started it. It’s still early, but they’re pretty sure it was another case of arson.”
Hanna covers her mouth with a gasp. Knowing the fire was set intentionally makes my blood boil. Carter could have died because of someone’s sick and twisted high they get from setting shit on fire.
“The woman Carter saved, she’s going to be okay. A few officers went to speak with her and she says she remembers hearing someone in the building before the fire started. Apparently she’s been unhoused for some time and had been living in the building for a little over a week.”
“That’s heartbreaking,” Hanna says, her eyes filled with sadness for the woman.
“Did she see who the person was?” I ask, placing my hand on the small of Hanna’s back in an attempt to console her. My hand moves in small circles and I feel her lean into my side.
“No, but she heard someone. There’s a building across the street with security cameras on it. They’re pulling the footage now to see if they caught anything, that’s what the call was. They asked me if I wanted to come in and go over it with them since someone I know was impacted by it.”
“Do you think that’s a good idea?” I ask, looking at him intensely.
I know Coop is the most level-headed one out of the three of us but I also know he’s only human.
He sees Carter as much of a brother as I do, and there’s no telling how he might react if he catches the person who put one of our own in the hospital.
“I’d rather it be me than someone else,” he says with a sigh. Smacking my arm hard, he gives me a closed-lipped smile. “I’ll keep you updated. Text me if he wakes up, okay? I’ll try to make it back before dinner if I can.”
“I will, yeah. Thanks, Coop.” We pull each other into an embrace before he heads down the hallway to head back to work.
I turn to look at Hanna who looks exhausted. Dark circles are starting to form under her eyes and her hair is pulled back into a messy bun at the nape of her neck. For the first time since we’ve been here, I notice what she’s wearing.
“That’s a nice sweatshirt you’ve got on,” I muse, stepping towards her and bringing my hands to her waist.
She peeks down and looks back at me with a sheepish grin. I reach out to press her glasses up the bridge of her nose when they slip down her face.
“Thanks, it belongs to my handsome firefighter boyfriend.”
“Is that so?” My head tips to one side and my lips pull back into a smirk. She loops her arms around my center and pulls me in.
“It is so. He’s a really good guy, treats me well. Don’t even get me started about how much he loves his family, it’s almost sickening what he would do for them.”
I chuckle a few times and feel some of the tension in my shoulders dissipate. I can feel her calm energy starting to wash over me and for the first time in hours, I take a deep breath.
“I’m so happy Carter is going to be okay,” she says with her cheek pressed into my chest. I feel her take a deep breath similar to mine before speaking again.
“But I’m even happier that it isn’t you lying in that hospital bed.
I was so scared when I saw your name on my phone earlier, I thought something had happened to you. ”
I hear how her voice catches in her throat and know she’s fighting back tears. I bring my hand to the back of her head and stroke her hair, breathing her in.
“I’m sorry for scaring you. You were the first person I thought to call after it happened. You were the person I needed the most in that moment. I needed to hear your voice because when I do, I know everything is going to be okay.”
She tips her head back and looks up at me with watery eyes. “Thank you for coming back to me.”
I smile down at her. “I’ll always come back to you, beautiful. Always.”
She presses up and kisses me. My hands frame her soft cheeks and hold her close. When she pulls away, she places her head on my chest and hugs me again.
“There she is, our sweet honey bee,” a voice says from down the hall.
Hanna turns her head and smiles widely at the small group of people walking towards us.
She almost skips toward her dad who’s the only one I recognize in the group and flings her arms around his neck.
Two other people, a man and a woman, stand and wait for her to embrace them too.
Turning around, she walks back to stand by my side and they follow.
“Miles, this is my family. You’ve met Richie.” She nods in his direction and he gives me a friendly nod. “And this is his partner, George, and my mom, Melissa, but you can call her Mel.”
Melissa steps closer and pulls me into a hug. “It’s so lovely to meet you, Miles. Richie has told me you’re quite the catch.”
“Thanks a lot, Mel. He didn’t need to know that,” Richie deadpans, glaring at his ex-wife.
“He also told me that you were very good looking. It’s a good thing he only dates men his age or I might be in trouble,” George adds with a hint of humor in his voice.
“I’m sorry, but did someone forget to tell me that it’s ‘gang up on Richie day?’ I’ll just see myself out, I guess,” he groans, tossing his arms into the air. Hanna starts to laugh and it seems to be contagious. It isn’t long until we’re all laughing.
“It’s lovely to see you all,” I say, glancing between the three of them. “I don’t mean to be rude but, uhm, what are you doing here?”
“I asked them to come; I hope that’s okay,” Hanna says at my side.
“We brought food,” Richie says, holding up a brown paper bag.
“And coffee,” George adds with a smile.
“And the willingness to run errands or make calls while you’re here,” Mel finishes. “We’re here to help however we can, even if that’s only to sit with you while you wait for answers.”
“They’re here to take care of you,” Hanna starts, biting her bottom lip. “You and your family take care of other people all the time. I thought it was time someone took care of all of you for once.”
Looking down at her, I can’t believe she’s mine.
That she had the thought and care for not only me but for my family to notice that we could use a little love and support.
We’re a strong group of people, but even the strongest people need a little help sometimes.
I’m about to speak when the door to Carter’s room opens and Ivy and Willow step out.
We all turn to face them and Ivy looks at us, confused.
“What’s this?” she asks, removing her paper gown and discarding her isolation gear.
“Hanna’s family is here to make sure we all eat and are taken care of,” I explain, wrapping an arm around Hanna’s shoulder and pulling her into my side. She embraces me and smiles at Ivy.
“We brought food, coffee, phone chargers, magazines. Everything you want while you’re camping out in a hospital,” Richie explains with a wide smile.
Tears well up in Ivy’s eyes at their gesture of kindness. True to Ivy form, she walks up and pulls the three of them into a hug. “Thank you for helping our family.”
Seeing our two families coming together like this makes my heart squeeze.
It’s all I ever wanted as a kid—to have a family.
A big family. One that’s filled with endless love and care.
And somehow, I managed to find that in not only my family but also in Hanna’s.
I kiss her on the forehead, and rest my chin on her head, soaking in the moment with her.
“While I’d love to stay, I have to get back to work. I’m off in another hour and will come back down to check on Carter. Will you all still be here when I am done?” Willow asks, looking between me and Ivy.
“I don’t plan on leaving unless someone physically removes me,” Ivy says matter-of-factly. She might be old but she’s stubborn as a bull so I know she means what she says.
“I’ll be here too. The firehouse knows where I am and Trev has things covered for me.” She purses her lips at me and nods her head.
“I think I saw a private room down the hall, maybe we could use that to eat,” George offers. The group nods in agreement and begins to follow him and Hanna’s family down the hall. She takes a few steps but stops when she doesn’t see me coming too.
“I’ll be right there,” I assure her. She glances at me and then to Willow who’s standing a few feet from me with her arms crossed in front of her chest. She doesn’t say anything, just gives me a knowing smile and nods. When she’s gone, I turn to look at Willow.
“You okay?” I ask, feeling the weight of my words sitting on my chest.
She wraps her arms around herself tighter and keeps her eyes on the worn linoleum floor.
I can see she’s clenching her jaw and chewing on the inside of her lip.
Willow has lived through a lot—losing her mom and then her dad.
It made her strong but also forced her to grow this hard outer shell that she uses to protect herself.
To keep herself safe. Growing up, she and Carter had this relationship that was different from the rest of us.
He’s the only one who seems to be able to get her to come out of that shell and let her guard down.