Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 77005 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77005 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“I can talk about it. It doesn’t bother me anymore. I just never know how other people will react… that’s why I don’t. Most people have one of two reactions. I either see pity on their face. Or I see the relief that it wasn’t them… nobody ever thinks it can happen to them.”
Watching me closely, he waits for me to speak again.
“I loved being a paramedic. I thought I would do it forever. I was good at it, too.”
“I don’t doubt it,” he says with absolute sincerity.
I can see that night––the sounds and the smells––as clearly as if it happened yesterday. Memories are tricky like that. It’s usually the worst ones we remember best.
“I rolled into the parking lot of my old building around 2 a.m. after a double shift. I was living with my fiancé at the time, but his place was in North Hollywood and my dad’s apartment was ten minutes away on Van Nuys… I texted Jaime and told him I was too tired to drive and I’d be home in the morning… I parked my car and walked to the elevators… A homeless guy I knew from the neighborhood was walking back and forth in between buildings.
“I knew him. He was usually sweet.” I lick my lips, nerves making my mouth dry. “Yes, he had mental health and drug issues, but he was never aggressive––not with me.
“Anyway… I was tired and distracted, but the guy obviously needed help. I thought, he’s probably tweaking. I’ll check him out and be on my way. As soon as I got close enough, he punched me in the face. I don’t remember anything after that.”
I do remember the physical pain and the months of rehab, however. The panic attacks and the fights with Jaime about getting on anti-depressants; I didn’t want to and he was practically insisting that I do it. All the talks I had with my dad about going back to work; he wanted me to take more time off and I was desperate to do anything other than sit around and think.
I peel open the suture kit and get to work closing the cut on Shane’s chorded forearm. “He kicked me so hard he broke my shoulder, three ribs, collapsed my lung, and snapped my tibia in two. Then he ran into oncoming traffic and got hit by a bus… he died on the scene.”
I finish with the sutures and run my fingers along the edge of the silicone patch to make sure it adheres properly. Shane grabs my wrist with the opposite hand and squeezes softly. We stare at each other until the tension between us nearly snaps in two, my heart beating so hard it hurts.
I swallow, and the air between us shrinks. So does the distance. He leans in, his attention trained on my mouth with the focus of a sniper. His fingertips on the hand attached to the injured arm skate gently up my bare thigh to the edge of my short shorts, leaving a third-degree burn in their wake. Then he tugs on the hem, pulling me closer.
Aidan bursts through the door of the office and frowns. “Are we working on the barn or are we sitting around making cartoon eyes at each other?”
Shane leans away and stands, while my face flushes a deeply embarrassed cherry red. Aidan watches us like he just caught the fox raiding the chicken coop.
I follow Shane out the door and hear Aidan scream, “Is it something I said?”
Chapter 15
The barn is done. And it’s not just done being repaired, Shane and Aidan threw in a few upgrades because they were ‘already at it.’
Mother Goose Rescue now has a brand new state-of-the-art wash stall with infrared lights, hot and cold running water, and perfect drainage. If you’ve ever managed a barn, you understand. I still haven’t gotten a bill for the materials and I’m starting to suspect that I won’t be getting one. I’ve asked the store to send it to me a thousand times and still nothing. All that’s left to be done now is to fix the cracks in the exterior stucco that the earthquake left behind and then it should be good for another hundred years.
A strange sense of peace has settled over the place. Shane and Aidan have started to mend their relationship––it’s been argument-free since the day they came to blows. Love looks to have permanently set up shop at Harris Ranch. Darby is always here now and is often found helping to care for the animals. I suspect Mona wants to tell me that he’s moving in and doesn’t know how to go about it.
Three more weeks and life will change for all of us. Aidan will have fulfilled all the court mandated requirements and Shane… Shane will go back to being a nomad. As for me…