Chapter One
Ashley
As I wake up, my mind is in a haze. I can still feel the heat from inside the burning apartment, but I don’t think I’m still inside. As I open my eyes slowly, I discover that I’m lying on a stretcher by an ambulance.
“She’s waking up!” someone says. “The oxygen mask is working.”
I blink several times as I process that I’m out of the building. I didn’t notice the mask over my mouth and nose before, but now it’s obvious to me as I breathe in and out. I sit up slowly, feeling a little dizzy, but a paramedic puts his hands on my shoulders to encourage me to lie down again.
“It’s okay. You’re going to be just fine,” he tells me. “You were rescued from the fire by the fire department. Just in time, it seems.”
My eyes gaze over at the burning building. A number of other tenants from the apartment building are stood together or are being treated by the various paramedics who arrived in the ambulances. No one appears to be hurt.
“Try to relax,” the paramedic tells me again. “Everyone is accounted for. You were the last one out. You were lucky the firefighter found you when he did.”
And suddenly, my memory isn’t so foggy anymore. I can remember the strong grip of the fireman’s arms around me as he carried me out through the flames. I remember looking up and locking on to his intense, blue eyes. I remember how my heart jolted, and it had nothing to do with the danger surrounding us. No, I was captivated instead by him. His fireman’s jacket clung to his arms where I could feel his muscles working. His eyes set tight and determined as he took me out to safety. I recall clinging to him, breathing hard, wondering if we’d ever make it out alive. As the cool air hit our faces and we made it outside, my last thought was of how I never wanted to leave the safety of his arms again…
Some time has passed since then, I can’t tell how much. The firefighters are out of the building, dousing the flames, but I can’t see the man who saved me. More ambulances turn up and a few people leave in them, but my ambulance doesn’t seem keen to take me anywhere, which I’m glad for.
Lying before the burning wreckage of my home. None of my belongings will survive, I know that much. But the only thing I can think of is my handsome savior.
It must be the smoke inhalation driving me crazy. Why am I worrying about a man when I nearly died today? I’ve never once taken enough interest in a guy to think about him for more than ten seconds. Now, this man I don’t know is consuming my every thought. It’s crazy, but I want to feel his arms around me again. I want to feel his lips exploring mine. My heart is racing like crazy and I can feel myself breathing heavier against the mask. The paramedic returns to check on me.
“Are you okay? Are you able to breathe okay?” he asks me. I nod, even though it’s not true. But it has less to do with the fire and more to do with the man of my dreams. I can’t exactly explain that to a medical professional. But even as he checks me over again, I can’t stop thinking about my knight in shining armor. I feel anxious to know where he is, to know that he’s safe. His job is so dangerous...if he doesn’t make it out, then how will I ever feel okay again?
By the time the flames have been put out, the building is a charred carcass of what it once was. I feel a pang for everything I’ve lost, but I know that everything in my life can be replaced. I’m just glad that I backed up the novel I’m writing on the cloud. It’s a sad thought that there’s nothing special in my life…
Except perhaps the fireman who saved me.
After a while longer, the paramedic returns to see me. He lifts the oxygen mask away from my face.
“You were very lucky. You didn’t inhale much smoke at all. You’ll be okay to go home soon,” he tells me. I sit up, feeling a little woozy.
“Thank you...I want to thank the man who helped me out of the building. Do you know how I can find him?”
“I don’t think you need to. He’s on his way over.”
My heart swells and I look up. There he is. Now that he’s removed his visor and his bulky firefighter’s jacket, I can truly see how built he really is. He’s even more handsome than I remember but older than I recall. He must be at least forty, twice my age, at least, but it doesn’t put me off in the slightest. Somehow, I know that this man right in front of my eyes is the man I’m meant to be with.