~~~~
Fear engulfs me when I see her lying still. She lets out a moan and starts to sit up on her elbows. I give thanks as I reach her.
“Lily!” I’m at her side looking her over for any injuries. I don’t feel anything that would be alarming, but I want her to be examined by a doctor— a female doctor. Then it hits me, she’s only wearing a light tee shirt and some pajama pants; she’s got to be freezing. I take off my coat and wrap it around her.
“Trent,” she sighs with confusion, shivering from the cold or the shock. Trying to soothe her, I rub her back. It works and she leans into my arms, but it gets my dick hard again. I feel like a bastard. She’s in pain and my dick still wants to own her pussy.
“Bunny, we need to get you to the doctor.” She only lightly nods. “Is there anyone else in the house?” I ask. I don’t want to leave her, but I can’t let someone in her family to burn to death— if there’s anyone alive after that blast. I’ve only seen things like that in movies.
She shakes her head at me and stutters, “No, they just left…” She shudders again, fear shining through her eyes as she looks at the burning home.
“Does anything hurt?” I ask while my eyes look over her again. She is my responsibility now. That’s it. I’m not letting her go back to her family. They can’t take care of her properly.
“Not too much. I feel everything. So I don’t think I’m paralyzed.” She moves her legs to show me she’s okay. God, I don’t want to think about if she hadn’t needed to go to her SUV.
“Okay, I’m going to pick you up and get you to the hospital.” I scoop her up in my arms and place a soft kiss against her hair. She may have made it out of her house, but now she’s mine, and I’m not letting her get away. Fate brought me here to her side, and I’m not leaving it.
I set her down in the passenger seat and strap her in. Pausing, I stare at her, thanking the heavens that I didn’t lose her. I walk around to the driver’s side and as I open my door, I take one last look at the massive flames that have knocked out all the windows.
Taking her hand in mine, I hold onto it tightly, afraid to let it go. The tension in her body lessens and she whispers, “I was about to go shower…when I realized I forgot my bag with the body soap.” Her sobs are soft, but they break my heart. I pull over to the side of the road and hear fire engines approaching. I let them pass by, but wonder who called them because I haven’t made any calls. Perhaps it can be seen from the town or they have some security system. Something about the situation is giving me trepidation. It might just be that it was a close call. I could’ve lost her, and it sits heavy in my heart.
We get into the ER and I tell the receptionist that there was an explosion up at the old Carmichael Estate. “She was just outside the house when the blast went off and needs to be seen.” They make quick work of getting her into an examination room and I wait with her because even though she doesn’t know me, she asks me to stay.
“Make it a female doctor or nurse that comes in here.” I look directly at the male nurse that escorted us into the room.
“Trent,” she says with a soft “don’t embarrass me” pout. It’s cute, but it’s not up for negotiation.
“Don’t ‘Trent’ me. I’m a private person, Lily. I like to keep whatever belongs to me well protected and from now on you belong to me.”
“Why were you there?” That’s a valid question, but I can’t give her the truth. If I tell her that I had a sudden urge to see her and decided to sit outside her house like a stalker, I’m sure she would call the cops on me.
“I was on my way home because I forgot some documents when I thought I’d come meet your father and the rest of your family. I’d just pulled up when you were coming from your SUV.”
“I can’t believe this happened. They were going to town to get some food while I took a shower.”
“They who, Bunny?” I ask because she only mentioned a father earlier.
“My father, step-mother, and two half-brothers. I wonder if they know and think I was in the house when it happened.” Something about the way she says it is off, almost as if she doubts they will care.
“We’ll contact them,” I tell her to calm her down. She’s been through a lot today, and I don’t want to make it worse.
The female doctor and a nurse I requested came in. “Hello, there Miss…”
She gives them a small smile and says, “Lily Mason.”
“Lily, can you tell me if anything hurts?” the doc asks.