Hot for Love (Bachelor Billionaire #2) (2 page)

“
You'll
be okay,” he said calmly. “I'm going to get you out of
here. Everything is going to be fine.”

Josh
moved as fast as he could. He kept her held against him as much as he
could. She coughed and opened her eyes slightly. He talked to her
calmly the whole way out.

“
Calm
down,” he said. “Make sure you stay calm. You are going
to be fine. I am going to keep you safe.”

Josh
made sure to keep her calm. She coughed a few more times. He was
hoping that she would be okay. The woman grabbed his arm and pulled
herself into him. She had on tiny shorts and a tank top. He knew she
had to have been in bed when the fire started. He could not see her
face. She had black in her hair and on her face. Josh was so glad he
ran inside to look for her. He knew he couldn't let himself think
about it.

Once
he was out of the building, he ran her over to the ambulance. Josh
let them know that her leg may have been injured pretty badly, as he
went to hand her to them. She grabbed him tight.

“
They
are going to help you,” he said. “Everything is fine
now.”

He looked at her and
was so thankful that he found her. What would have happened if he had
not gone in there? He finished making sure they had her and took off
back to the fire. Concentrate, he told himself. She was going to be
okay. The woman from the sidewalk stopped him and thanked him for
going in to save the woman.

***

Lisa
heard someone calling. She yelled back at them, but no words came out
of her mouth. It was black and smelly. The pain in her leg was so
strong. She couldn't get up. Everything went black again. She felt
something. The pressure on her leg went away. It hurt so bad. She
could hear someone. Who was it, she wondered? She tried to open her
eyes, but they wouldn't open. There were arms. Someone picked her up.
Her eyes opened a tiny bit and she could see a helmet. She could feel
herself cough. There was a voice, a soft, calm voice. It was a man.
His voice was soothing. She coughed again. That smell, what was it?
Who are you, she asked? He didn't answer. There was something on her
face. What was on her face, she wondered? She felt herself cling
tightly to him. What was going on? She had to figure out who he was.
It was black again. Stop it, she thought. The voice kept talking to
her and telling her she okay. She coughed again.

The
air was better. For some reason, she felt a little better. She opened
her eyes a little bit and saw the helmet again. Lisa wanted to see
who it was, but she couldn't. Her cough was a little stronger. She
felt him start to let go and grabbed him tight. Lisa was afraid to
let go.

“
They
are going to help you,” she heard the voice say.

She
let go and felt someone moving her around. Lisa could hear sirens
again. What was going on?

Lisa
could hear a woman talking to her. She could feel movement like she
was in a car or something. Slowly she was able to open her eyes all
the way. She was feeling better. The air was clear. Ouch, shit, she
thought. Her leg hurt so bad. What was wrong with her leg?

“
Don't
move your ankle,” the woman said. “Keep it still.”

Lisa
could see the woman. She was sitting next to her.

“
Who
are you?” Lisa asked.

“
I'm
Beth. You're in an ambulance,” the woman began. “We are
taking you to the hospital.”

“
What?”
Lisa questioned. “Why?”

“
You
were in a fire,” the woman said. “I think you might have
a broken ankle. Something fell on your leg during the fire. We are
almost there. Everything is going to be fine. We just want to make
sure your ankle isn't broken and have you checked out from the fire.”

Lisa
thought back and ran through her dream in her mind. None of it was a
dream. She remembered the smell of smoke, beeping, red lights, and
sirens. It was all real. The man who talked to her must have been
real too. She remembered not being able to move. Someone had saved
her. Lisa suddenly realized she could have died. She did not move as
they took her into the hospital.

Her
body ached so bad, but she was so glad she could breathe. She waited
patiently as the doctors moved around her as they spoke. They asked
her a million questions about her breathing, her leg, and the rest of
her. She was tired. Lisa wanted to rest. It seemed like they were
with her forever. They told her they were sending her for tests. The
doctor wanted to make sure she was okay from being in the smoke for
so long, and she needed an x-ray done of her ankle. They were pretty
sure it was broken. Whatever had fallen on her, fell directly on her
ankle. Moving around so much on the way out of the fire could have
made it worse. When they brought her back from her tests, they told
her that she would be admitted no matter what. They had to keep her
overnight.

Lisa
was scared. She did not know what to do. An overnight hospital stay
freaked her out. None of her family lived around her, and she was not
close to them at all. The only person she wanted to call was her
friend Becky. They had met when Becky moved into the apartment next
to hers. Becky was from another state and did not know anyone in
Pennsylvania. She had moved there for a new job. The two of them had
become close friends. Once Lisa had a hospital room, she picked up
the phone and dialed Becky's number. She was so glad she had it
memorized. It was three o'clock in the morning. She hoped that Gavin,
Becky's fiance, would not be upset that she was calling so late.

By
the time someone answered the phone, Lisa was crying. Becky was half
asleep when she said hello. Lisa could not stop the tears, as she
mumbled into the phone. She knew the words were coming out all messed
up, so she tried to slow down. As soon as Lisa told Becky she was in
the hospital and that there was a fire, Becky told her she was on her
way and hung up.

The
doctor came in and sat next to Lisa's bed. He told her, she had a
badly broken ankle and would need surgery. She was so scared. Lisa
had never even been in a hospital before, so the thought of surgery
terrified her. The doctor told her that everything else was okay. She
was happy to hear that. It could have been so much worse.

Lisa
thought back to the man with the helmet. He saved her life. She had
to find him and thank him. Lisa owed him her life. Without him, she
might not have made it. She sat and cried.

Becky
came through the door and ran to her. She hugged her so tight, as she
began to cry. Lisa looked up at her.

“
Why
are you crying?” Lisa asked.

“
You
scared the crap out of me,” Becky said. “What the hell
happened to you? You look like someone beat you up, and you're
covered in black.”

“
Do
I look that bad?” Lisa asked.

A
second later, Gavin walked through the door. Lisa saw his eyes widen
and mouth drop open when he looked at her. He walked over without
saying a word.

“
I
am so sorry for waking you guys up,” Lisa said. “You were
the only person I wanted to call.”

“
Don't
apologize for waking us up,” Gavin said. “What happened?”

Lisa
told them about being asleep and dreaming. She told them about being
stuck, the smell, the blackness, the sounds, the voice, the helmet,
the arms, how she couldn't open her eyes, and how she finally woke up
in the ambulance. She could only remember bits and pieces of things.
Lisa told them the doctor said she needed surgery on her ankle. She
tried to remember things to tell them, but everything was so
confusing to her.

“
You'll
have a private room while you are here,” Gavin said. “I
am going to go and talk to your doctor. We will make sure you have a
good surgeon. Everything will be okay. Don't apologize for calling
us. We care about you.”

“
They
told me that I can't work for probably twelve weeks,” she
sniffled out. “The doctor said that I won't be able to walk
while the plane is moving like that. I don't know what I'm going to
do.”

“
We'll
figure that out,” Becky said. “The most important thing
is that you're okay. What happened? How big was the fire?”

“
I
don't know. I can't remember much,” Lisa said.

“
I'm
going to call Josh,” Gavin said. “Maybe he knows
something about it.”

Becky
sat on the bed and hugged Lisa.

Josh
was exhausted. He was finally home. The night had been long. It was
the first time in a long time that a fire had such an effect on him.
He took off his clothes and turned the shower on full blast. Josh
stood under the steaming, hot water and let it roll over his face and
down his body. He was so tired and stressed. Seeing that woman
trapped under the wood had really bothered him. He knew he wanted to
save lives. That was important to him. If he wouldn't have talked to
that woman outside, they never would have known there was someone
inside. She would have died in that fire. He remembered running
through the burning building, trying to get out with her in time.
Josh heard his cell phone ring and jumped. He hurried to wash off,
turned off the shower, grabbed a towel to dry off, and put it around
his waist.

It
was four o'clock in the morning. Who would call him at that time of
night? All he wanted was to go to sleep and try to forget about the
fire. He was so glad that he had gotten her out and knew he would end
up checking to make sure she was okay. Josh turned his phone on and
saw that the call he just missed was from Gavin. What the hell was he
calling me in the middle of the night for? He hurried to call him
back.

“
Hey
Josh,” Gavin said. “I hope I didn't wake you up.”

“
I
was just getting ready for bed,” Josh responded. “Is
everything okay?”

“
There
was an apartment building on fire tonight. Do you know anything about
it?”

“
I
just got home from there,” Josh said. “It was really
bad.”

“
What
happened?” Gavin asked.

“
There
was an empty apartment. They had some electrical done in it today. A
fire started in the wall and spread to the next apartment,”
Josh said. “We didn't know anyone was still inside. A woman
outside told me she thought there was someone in there, but was not
positive. There was a woman trapped. If I wouldn't have gotten to
her, she would have died. Something fell on her leg and she couldn't
move. I think she broke her leg. She was out of it and couldn't
really hear me talking to her. It messed me up. I don't know. I got
her to the ambulance and then went back to the fire. They took her to
the hospital before I was done. I hope she's okay. This was the first
fire in a long time to mess me up. I can't stop thinking about it.”

“
What
shape is the apartment in?” Gavin asked.

“
It's
bad. I doubt anything will be salvageable. There was so much smoke
and fire. I don't think she would have made it much longer. How do
you know about the fire?” Josh asked.

Josh
could hear talking on the other side of Gavin's phone.

“
Where
are you?” Josh asked.

“
I'm
at the hospital.”

“
Why
are you at the hospital?” Josh asked, as he cut him off. “Is
everything okay? I'm on my way.”

“
No,
don't come right now. You need to sleep. It sounds like you've had a
rough night,” Gavin said.

“
Gavin,
what's going on?” Josh asked, with his voice shaky.

“
The
woman in the fire,” Gavin said. “You were the one that
found her?”

“
Yes,”
he answered. “There was a woman outside crying. I asked her
what was wrong. She said she thought her neighbor might be home, but
she wasn't sure. I took off running after I told one of the guys I
was going in. Why?”