3. Evelyn
THREE
EVELYN
A ringing in my ears is what I heard as I started to open my eyes and look around me. I couldn’t believe what I was looking at. The hood of a very dusty car. I groaned, lifting my head. I could see the cookies I’d been packing up all over the hood, too.
“What the—“ I started to cough, the air thick with dust.
My bakery.
But it didn’t look like my beautiful bakery. No, it now looked like it was in a war zone thanks to a car that had driven right through the window. The same car I was pressed against, caged between that and the wall.
I saw the man get out. Older, his face weathered.
His eyes were wide and obviously freaked as he stumbled out.
I could see his mouth moving, almost like he was saying something to me, but I couldn’t make out the words over the loud ringing in my ears.
One of my employees rushed through what was left of the front door, her ear pressed to a cell phone as she climbed over the car and straight to me.
“Evie,” she mouthed as my eyes grew heavier, my body completely numb. Or maybe that was because of the adrenaline rushing through me. “Evie!” she shouted but was quickly pulled away, replaced by an all-too-familiar face.
The big, surly, grouchy paramedic I had been thinking about nonstop since he’d walked into my bakery stood there, his face fierce and intense.
“It’s you,” I whispered just as my hearing slowly started to come back to me.
His beautiful brown gaze softened, almost like he was relieved I recognized him.
His eyes skated over me. He was assessing the situation, and when they locked with mine, there was an ease in them that made me feel like everything was going to be okay.
“What did you do? Refuse this guy service?” he playfully teased, and I felt my lips lift.
“You know I’m never one to deny someone of something sweet.
” I winked, feeling particularly flirty.
I guess it took a near-death experience for me to get some game.
“So… do you think you can get me out?” I asked, trying to mask my fear.
I didn’t want to think about just how stuck I might be.
I tried to take stock of my body, wiggling my toes and trying to stretch my back some.
I had feeling all over my body. I wasn’t exactly stuck or pinned, and thankfully, nothing seemed to be going through me.
But I was pinned too tightly to get out.
His eyes locked with mine in a way that made me feel like I was the only one in the world. Everything and everyone melted away. “I promise,” he said ,and I believed him.
“Ron!” a guy called, and I looked over his shoulder to see a tall, light-haired fireman get closer.
“Nate.” His eyes were on mine. “Gonna need your help, bud,” he said without looking away. The warmth in his eyes made me feel better. If he wasn’t freaking out, things were probably not as bad as I thought. Right? Or was this part of his job? He was trained not to freak out.
“Got you, brother,” the fireman muttered. Another fireman showed up, and together, they assessed the situation. Ron hopped up on the counter and tried to get as close to me as he could.
He asked me a couple of questions before they hurried to move me out.
Someone whispered something about gasoline dripping, and they started to move quicker.
Through it all, I never looked away from Ron, and he didn’t look away from me too long.
I didn’t know if it was the feelings I had been trying to avoid when he came into the bakery or the moment, but there was something oddly calming about being around him.
I trusted him like I had never trusted anyone before. Literally with my life as he worked with the fire department to get me out.
Before I knew it, I was in Ron’s arms, my head resting on his shoulder. He lifted us up and over the counter, grunting that he had it when the first fireman who had showed up to the scene offered to help him. His long strides didn’t falter as he led us outside.
“You know, I could walk,” I said softly, but he grunted as a response before sitting me on the waiting gurney. “Wait, what’s all this?” I asked.
“Just lie down for me, okay? We need to check you out.”
“Check me…” I wiggled my toes and patted myself down. I was sore from being stuck, but it wasn’t like I had been hit or was bleeding. Or I didn’t think I was. “I don’t need all this,” I argued. His brows bunched.
Suddenly, I felt dizzy.
Like my heart was beating way too fast for my chest to handle.
“Baby, just let us check you over?—“
“Ronnie—“
“And at the hospital, they will?—“
“Hospital?” My eyes widened, and something came over me. My hand took his hostage. “I don’t like hospitals,” I whispered, feeling like the world’s biggest chicken.
“Hey, it’s just to make sure everything is okay. I’ll be with you, okay? This is just precautionary,” he said in a soothing voice, but as much as I tried to cling to it, I couldn’t shake off the fear.
“She’s panicking, bud,” Nate muttered behind him.
“Evie. Baby girl, look at me,” he ordered sternly, and I found myself doing what he asked. “I need you to breathe for me.”
“But…” I looked all around me.
My bakery. It was destroyed. Everything I had worked so hard for was just… gone. There was a literal car inside of it. Police cars and two fire trucks were there as well as another ambulance.
“Oh god…” The dizziness came in full force. It felt like it was impossible to catch my breath. “Is something worse off? With me, I mean? I really don’t feel that bad. A little banged up—” I tried to sit up, but he didn’t let me. “Are you not telling me?—“
“Evie, baby, look at me,” he urged, and I blinked.
The hand I was holding moved up to his chest. “Breathe with me,” he ordered, his voice rough.
His chest rose, and I inhaled, holding it for a moment until he exhaled and I followed him.
Matching breath for breath until the dizzy spell mostly went away.
“Good girl. That’s my girl,” he praised. I felt the anxiety start to fade away as something else started to bloom inside me.
That’s my girl. His words volleyed in my head like a lifeline I needed to hold on to. It was probably what he said in the moment as adrenaline rushed through both of us, but I couldn’t get myself to shrug off the sentiment. How many times had I thought about being his girl?
“We’re just going to make sure there is nothing wrong. Okay?”
“Promise?” I asked, knowing just how unfair it was to do that.
This was just his job. I was just another patient, probably one of many during a single shift.
But there was something about the way he looked at me, spoke to me, that felt different.
Like maybe I wasn’t just one more call of the day to him.
“Promise, baby. I would tell you if I was worried about anything,” he said, and I believed him.
“Okay,” I whispered, relaxing and lying back on the gurney. He hopped in the back with me, taking the seat next to me as his partner in front drove us with lights and sirens to the hospital.
It wasn’t until a lot later that I realized he never let go of my hand.
Not through the drive and not while the staff in the emergency room looked me over.