Chapter 19
Everything hurt.
Hell, even breathing was painful.
But none of that compared to the feeling of Johanna standing beside his stretcher crying like she thought she’d lost him. That messed him up completely.
Blaze stared up at her through rain and flashing lights while she held his face with shaking hands like she couldn’t stop touching him now that she knew he was alive.
And all he could think was… she came.
Blaze reached for her, soot-streaked fingers curling around her wrist while paramedics continued checking him for injuries.
“Hey,” he murmured softly. “You’re here.”
Johanna shook her head once like she physically couldn’t calm down yet. “You could’ve died.”
The crack in her voice punched straight through his chest.
Blaze ignored the medic trying to examine his shoulder and focused entirely on her. “But I didn’t.”
“That’s not the point.”
The medic pressed against Blaze’s ribs and he hissed sharply.
Johanna instantly turned toward the paramedic. “Be careful!”
The fierce panic in her voice almost made him smile despite the pain.
“We’re all glad to see you,” Ryan muttered nearby.
Blaze glanced toward him briefly before looking back at Johanna. “Jo, baby.”
Her eyes found his again immediately.
Blaze tugged gently on her wrist until she moved closer beside the stretcher. “I’m okay.”
“You are not okay.”
“Mostly okay.”
Johanna let out a watery laugh that broke apart halfway through.
The sound twisted painfully through him.
Because he knew this fear. Knew exactly what it felt like standing on the edge of losing somebody you loved before you got the chance to fix things.
He’d been living with that feeling since Johanna had found out about Seattle.
Blaze lifted one hand slowly and brushed rain-soaked curls away from her face.
“You came to me.”
Johanna stared at him like he’d asked something impossible. “Of course I came.”
Like there had never been another option.
Blaze closed his eyes briefly against the emotion hitting him.
“I thought…” Her voice dropped. “I was afraid that the last thing you’d remember would be me pushing you away.”
The confession landed directly in the center of his chest.
Blaze shook his head immediately despite the pain.
“No.”
“Blaze—”
“No.” His grip tightened gently around her hand. “The last thing I remember thinking about before that roof caved in was you.”
Tears spilled down her cheeks instantly.
Blaze looked at her for a long moment while chaos continued around them and none of it mattered. Not with Johanna standing here looking at him like he was her entire world.
Blaze swallowed against the tightness in his throat. “You know what else went through my head in there?”
Johanna shook her head silently.
“That I can’t leave you like this.” His eyes held hers steadily. “I can’t leave you believing I’d ever choose anything over you.”
Emotion moved violently across her face now.
Love.
Fear.
Blaze understood that.
Trust took time.
Especially after years of wounds neither of them had fully healed.
A paramedic stepped closer again. “Sir, we need to transport—”
“Give me a minute.”
“Blaze,” Johanna whispered immediately, “you need to go.”
He barely heard her. Because suddenly this felt too important.
Blaze reached for her hand again and held it firmly despite the rain pouring around them. “You listen to me carefully.”
Johanna’s breathing shook.
“I don’t care about Seattle.” His voice stayed steady now. Certain. “I care about you.”
More tears slipped loose down her face.
Blaze brushed his thumb across her knuckles slowly.
And as rain poured across the ruined house and emergency lights flashed around them, Blaze realized with complete clarity, he loved this woman enough to stay.
Now he just had to convince her he meant it.
* * *
The ambulance ride to the hospital felt surreal.
Rain battered the roof overhead while paramedics monitored Blaze’s vitals and Ryan followed behind them in his truck.
Johanna sat beside the stretcher. Every few minutes her eyes moved over him again like she still needed proof he was breathing.
Blaze noticed every single time. “Baby.”
Johanna looked up immediately. “What’s on your mind?”
A watery laugh escaped her despite everything. “I’m making sure you’re alive.”
“That’s fair.”
Johanna was holding his hand so tightly he doubted circulation still existed in his fingers.
Not that he cared.
The medic checking his shoulder glanced between them with poorly hidden amusement. “Are you two married?”
Johanna answered immediately. “No.”
Blaze answered at the exact same time. “Not yet.”
Johanna turned toward him so fast the medic laughed out loud.
Even injured, Blaze grinned. “There’s that laugh.”
“Blaze Carter,” she whispered, horrified.
“What?” He winced slightly as the ambulance hit a bump. “Near-death experiences make people honest.”
Johanna shook her head, but warmth appeared in her eyes.
Good.
Because he needed her breathing again.
The hospital emergency entrance glowed harshly against the storm-dark night when they finally arrived.
Everything moved quickly after that. Nurses checked his vitals, ordered X-rays, and evaluated injuries that included cracked ribs, a dislocated shoulder, smoke inhalation, and a cut above his eye that required several stitches.
Blaze endured every question, examination, and painful adjustment with surprising patience, largely because his attention remained fixed on the woman sitting beside his hospital bed in soaked clothes, looking emotionally exhausted and unwilling to let go of his hand.
Before sunrise, the storm had finally started calming outside.
The emergency room lights dimmed slightly while most of Sheraton Beach slept.
Johanna sat curled quietly in the recliner beside Blaze’s bed, wearing hospital scrubs and one of his firehouse hoodies Ryan had brought over from the station.
Her curls were a mess, dark smudges of mascara lingered beneath exhausted eyes, and she looked like she'd been through her own kind of disaster tonight.
Even so, Blaze had never seen anything more beautiful.
“I’m here, Jo.” His voice softened. “I love you. I’m not going anywhere.”
For a moment, Johanna said nothing.
She stared down at their hands tangled together beneath the blanket, her thumb moving slowly across his knuckles as emotion gathered in her eyes.
When she finally looked up, her gaze locked onto his.
“I love you too.”
The words came out barely above a whisper.
But they hit Blaze harder than the collapsing ceiling ever had.
His breath caught.
Because in all the years he'd known Johanna, through first love, heartbreak, and every lonely mile between them, he'd never stopped hoping to hear those words again.
Tears shimmered in her eyes.
“I never stopped,” she admitted softly. “I tried. God knows I tried. I told myself I was angry. I told myself I was over you. I told myself a lot of things.”
A shaky laugh escaped her.
“But I never stopped loving you, Blaze.”
He closed his eyes briefly, overwhelmed by the simple miracle of hearing her say it.
When he opened them again, Johanna was still here, looking at him.
Still choosing him.
“I think I'm realizing something,” she said quietly.
“What?”
She glanced down at their joined hands before lifting her eyes back to his. “I've spent so much time acting like loving you was the dangerous part.”
Blaze stayed silent.
Johanna's voice trembled.
“But almost losing you made me realize something else.” She swallowed hard. “Not loving you would hurt so much worse.”
Emotion rushed through him so fast he had to look away for a second just to get himself together.
Then he lowered his head and pressed a kiss against her temple.