Chapter 15
Nikki sprinted toward the crowd at the end of the road. The dark-haired woman from the church followed behind, but slower, and she kept tugging at her hair so it obscured half of her face.
“Isabel,” Nikki said, slowing, but not for long. “Hurry.” The text message she’d gotten from Ty said he thought the fire was near Joey Stone’s place, but he wasn’t certain. Now that she could see it, she nearly fell. “No.” If Gideon lost his dad now…
She’d stopped at the diner when she saw Gideon’s truck there, but Katrina had said he left to see where the fire was. She couldn’t see him anywhere here, and the fire was visible through the apartment window.
Isabel had caught up and was clinging to her arm. Nikki dragged her forward as she approached the flames. “He can’t be in there. Please tell me he’s not in there.”
A broad-shouldered man in his sixties caught hold of both women and pulled them back. “Careful,” he said. “We don’t need any more injuries today.”
The mayor was an imposing man up close. Nikki put an arm around Isabel as she moved away from him. “I wasn’t going into the fire.”
“You never know. People don’t always think straight when they’re in distress. Isn’t that right, Isabel?”
Isabel tightened her grip on Nikki’s arm.
“Shouldn’t you be doing something to put this fire out?” Nikki said, shifting to put herself between the mayor and her friend.
“The firetruck is on its way. There’s nothing else to do but make sure everyone stays safe,” he said.
“Was anyone—” She swallowed back her fear. She wouldn’t let him see her afraid.
“Inside?” he finished for her. “Almost.”
“What’d you mean?”
“That new guy in town… What’s his name?”
“Gideon?”
“Yeah, that’s him.”
“He’s not new. He grew up here.”
“He’s new to me. He went inside.”
“Why?”
“To save Mr. Stone. Probably not worth the risk, but what can you do? Some people are reckless.”
“Are they okay? They’re not inside?”
“Not sure how they’re doing. Didn’t look good when they left. They’ve been taken to the hospital in Oakbridge.” His attention shifted over her shoulder.
“Thanks for the information,” Nikki said and pushed Isabel in the opposite direction from Fairfax .
“That’s it?” Fairfax said. “Isabel, you’re not going to say hello?”
Nikki tried to keep moving, but Isabel stopped. “I heard about the fire,” she mumbled, pulling at the hair in her face.
“That’s why you’re here? That’s why you came into town? Because of the fire?”
“Yes.”
“You shouldn’t have come. I thought you were at the farm. It’s dangerous here. It must be distressing.”
Nikki glared at him. “She’s fine.” But he wasn’t looking at her.
He reached a hand out toward Isabel. “Why don’t I get you out of here?”
“I told you, she’s fine.”
Fairfax smiled at Isabel. “Come on. Let me take you home.”
Isabel let go of Nikki.
“You don’t have to go with him,” Nikki said.
“It’s okay. I shouldn’t have left the farm.” She took the mayor’s hand, and he pulled her close, wrapping her arm around his and locking it there. Nikki wanted to rescue her, but her friend had made her choice.
“Isabel?” Nikki tried one last time, but the other woman didn’t turn as Fairfax led her to his car. He whispered to her before he opened the door and she shrank but didn’t look back.
Nikki made a fist, but all she could do was press it against her hip. How could so much go wrong so quickly?
Once Isabel was inside the car, Nikki turned back toward the fire. All she could do was hope and pray that Gideon wasn’t hurt bad enough to take him out of God’s plan.
The smell of smoke still filled Gideon’s nostrils when he awoke. Just like when he’d had the dream about the totems burning. With his eyes still closed, he relaxed back into his pillow. It had all been a dream. Probably the worst one he’d ever had, but his dad was safe. He was safe.
He cleared his throat, sending a searing pain through his chest, which was then set alight by a coughing fit. He choked for breath, pushing himself up in the bed, but his arms were tied down.
His eyes wouldn’t open, and he couldn’t reach his face to see why. He pulled harder, finally touching the grit that coated his eyelashes.
“Let me get that.” It was a woman’s voice, soft—but her grip on him wasn’t.
“Nikki?”
“She’s in the waiting room. Lean back for me or you’ll hurt yourself.”
Then he remembered. He’d woken up in the hospital when they’d first brought him in. He’d tried to ask them about his dad, but every time he moved the oxygen mask, they pulled his hands away.
“My—” His voice was scratchy, and it hurt to speak, but he tried again. “My dad. Joey. ”
She continued wiping at his eyes with a wet cloth until she’d cleared them. “There. How’s that?”
He blinked, and her blurry figure got clearer. She was a matronly-looking woman in blue scrubs.
“I can see, but they burn,” he said, reaching for them again.
She grabbed his wrist. “Hold on a second. One thing at a time.” After untangling the tubes and wires, he was mostly free again. “There. Go slow.”
He twisted his arm and looked at the cannula, blinking again to better his focus, but his eyes had cleared as much as they were going to. “You didn’t answer me about my dad.”
“If you pull that out,” she said, looking at him from under her eyebrows. “You’ll answer to me. Now, sit tight for a minute so I can check you over.” She took his arm and pressed her fingers to his wrist, checking his pulse. “I’ll let the doctor know you’re awake again,” she said as she added a note to his chart. “Lift your arm, please.”
He did, and she wrapped a wide strap around it.
He cleared his throat. If felt and sounded like gravel scrapping his lungs. “Are you not telling me on purpose? If he didn’t make it, I want to know.” The pump vibrated as it tightened around his bicep. “Please.”
“All I can tell you is that he’s awake.”
“So, he’s alive.”
“Yes.”
“But not doing well?”
“I’ve told you everything I know.”
“I’d like to see him. ”
“You can talk to the doctor about that. Right now, I need you to rest. Can I get you anything?”
“Water would be good.”
She nodded, her short ponytail bobbing as she went to retrieve his drink.
“I heard what you did,” she said when she returned, dragging a tray table around to hover over his lap. She poured water from a pitcher into a paper cup and set them both on the table. “Brave, but stupid.”
“My dad would have died.”
“I’m not saying I don’t understand why you did what you did. I’m just saying. You both could have died.”
“I’d do it again.”
Her lips pursed. “I bet you would. The doctor will be around soon. You know where the call button is?”
“Yeah.”
“Ring if you need anything.”
“Thanks.”
He sipped the water, and the cool wash threaded down his throat. It soothed but also irritated. He leaned back onto the pillow and closed his eyes. Moments ago, he’d wanted to jump out of bed. Now he was exhausted.
“Gideon?” The voice was followed by a gentle knock. This voice he knew for sure.
He opened his eyes without moving his head and saw Nikki standing in the doorway, a lopsided smile on her face. “The nurse said you were awake.”
“Hey.” He pushed himself up in the bed. “Come in. Please.”
“You’re okay? ”
“I seem to be. All my fingers and toes work, so that’s a good start.”
“You should be taking this more seriously. You could have died. It was stupid, Gideon. Really, really stupid.”
If tears hadn’t been edging her eyes, he would have given her a hard time. Instead, he said, “I know. You’re not the first person to tell me that.”
“Sorry.” She looked away for a second and took a steadying breath. “When I got to your dad’s place and couldn’t find you, I thought—Even when I heard you got out, I was still freaked out.”
“Why don’t you sit?”
She let a dark blue backpack she was carrying slide off her shoulder and onto the floor at the end of the bed. “I brought you a change of clothes. Thought you would need it. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Thank you. Why would I mind?”
Her cheeks pinked. “I had to go to your room at the motel.”
“You broke in?” He was kind of impressed.
“I know the guy at the desk. Went to high school with him. He let me in. I thought that with your dad in here too, you wouldn’t have anyone else to do it.”
“I don’t. Thank you.” He watched her wring her hands as her eyes darted around the room. “Everything’s okay, Nikki. I just inhaled too much smoke.”
“I know. It’s not that. Uh, it doesn’t sound like anyone else was hurt. I didn’t know if you’d heard.”
“Yeah. I did, but they haven’t said anything about the damage to the surrounding buildings or how bad my dad is. ”
“I don’t know about your dad, but the fire took out half the block before they got it out.”
“Who’s they?”
“Firefighters. We were lucky. They had to come from here. It could have destroyed a lot more.”
“From here? Right. It just occurred to me that I haven’t the faintest idea where I am. All I know is Asher doesn’t have a hospital or a fire station.”
“We’re in Oakbridge. If your injuries had been worse, they would have flown you to the city.”
“I don’t remember there being a hospital in Oakbridge.”
“I think they built it ten or fifteen years ago.”
“Shows how out of the loop I am.”
Nikki was still scanning the room, barely making eye contact with him.
“Is it me?” he said.
“Is what you?”
“Do I look really bad? Did my eyebrows get singed off or something?” He touched his face. “Nope. Still there.”
She laughed uncomfortably. “No. You look good. I mean, uh, normal. Your hair’s a mess, but besides that, you look like you.”
“Then why won’t you look at me?”
She shook her head. “It’s not you. It’s…it’s not important right now.”
“Is it the fire?”
“You need to focus on betting better. There’s plenty of time to worry later.”
“Worry about what? ”
“I told you, it’s not important.”
“Is it the church?”
“No. It doesn’t have anything to do with any of that.”
“Now you’ve started it, you’re going to have to finish. Otherwise, I won’t rest.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to put any more pressure on you.”
“Tell me.”
It took her a couple of seconds to give in. “Do you remember the woman who came into the back of the church before you left?”
“Yeah. Dark hair, slight build.”
“She works for Fairfax at the main farm. She works in the kitchen.”
“Okay.”
“She’s from Mexico, and she’s here illegally.”
“You said he has a few.”
“Yeah.” Her voice faltered, and she grunted. “I wish I could stop getting so emotional about everything.”
“You’ve been through a lot, and it’s clear this is bothering you.”
“I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
“Yes, you should have. How’d you meet her?”
Nikki wiped her face. “I met her at the markets a little over a year ago. She was missing her family, and somehow, we started up a conversation and then a friendship. I didn’t know until recently that she was…in a relationship with him.”
“Fairfax?”
“Yeah. ”
“You think he’s taking advantage of her?”
“I didn’t want to. I wanted to think the best for her sake, but she’s my age, so he’s old enough to be her dad.”
“If they’re both adults, that’s not against the law.”
“I know.”
“And he may be a bad guy, but that doesn’t mean he’s not as susceptible to love as the rest of us.”
“And I took all of that into consideration. Especially because she said she was in love. She said she thought they’d get married, and she could become a proper citizen. He made her a lot of promises.”
“Promises you don’t think he’ll keep?”
“I don’t care about that anymore. Not after what’s happened.”
“Which is?”
“She got pregnant. She was so excited because no matter what happened to her, her baby would be an American citizen. And she was so sure Fairfax would be over the moon. She thought it might be the thing to really settle him down and make him set a date for the wedding.”
“I take it he wasn’t impressed? Did he tell her to get rid of it?”
Nikki took a deep breath and held it for a moment before she said, “I didn’t hear from her for a couple of weeks, which wasn’t unusual, but she came to see me today.” She pressed her hand against her mouth before she continued. “When he found out, he beat her so badly that she lost the baby.”
Gideon closed his eyes. “That’s terrible. ”
“Since then, he’s been really rough with her. She had a black eye when she turned up at the church.”
“That’s why she hid her face.”
“Yeah.”
The monitor beside Gideon was beeping faster.
“I shouldn’t have told you,” she said when her eyes diverted to the sound.
He ignored her concern. “Where is she now?”
“I don’t know. I got a text from Ty about the fire, and Isabel and I rushed over, but Fairfax was there. When he saw her, he dragged her away. I didn’t want her to go, but there was nothing I could do.”
“You don’t think he suspects your involvement with the totem poles?”
“I don’t know. It’s hard to tell. He already doesn’t like me much. He knows I don’t like him.”
“He didn’t threaten you at all?”
“No.”
“And Isabel went with him without any protest?”
“She’s afraid of him, so she’s obedient. But I’m worried. Things have already gotten worse for her, but what if seeing her with me pushes him over the edge?”
“It won’t do any good jumping to the worst-case scenario. Give it some time to cool down, then see if you can speak to her again.”
“I called her while I was here. She answered and told me she didn’t want to speak to me again. I’m sure Fairfax was in the room with her.”
“Maybe she doesn’t want to make any more trouble. ”
“Her English is good, but the way she spoke, it didn’t sound like her. I feel so helpless.”
“I know. I wish I could do something. Anything.”
“You did save a man from a burning building. I think you’re allowed a few minutes of respite.”
“Still, whatever I can do to help, I will. I hate to think that a man like that can get away with treating people the way he does.” The prophet’s words came to mind, but he pushed them away. He didn’t have the energy to process what may or may not lie ahead for him.
“He’s been getting away with it for a long time. But we have to remember things are changing. We can’t get discouraged by the way things appear.”
“After the fire and what happened to Isabel, you really believe that?”
“I’m trying.”
The doctor entered and nodded a hello to both of them. “It’s good to see you’re awake again, Gideon. How’s your breathing?”
“Better.”
“Good.”
“I should go,” Nikki said. “Give me a call when they let you out of here, and I can pick you up.”
“I will. Thanks. And don’t worry. We’ll figure out what to do.”
The doctor watched her leave, then said, “Everything okay?”
“Yes and no.”
“Is it insurance? I heard your dad lost his business and his home in the fire. That makes it tough. ”
“Yeah.” Gideon hadn’t thought of that but doubted his dad would have any insurance except what was required for his business, which he’d probably let lapse because he now worked in secret.
“Try not to think about that right now,” the doctor said. “It’s important you focus on your recovery.”
“If only I had that luxury.”
“I’m telling you, if you allow yourself to get stressed, it will take longer to get back on your feet.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
But what was foremost on his mind was that the list of people he was responsible for was growing. If God didn’t come through, he would let a lot of people down.