Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 102361 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102361 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
“Yes, my love.”
“Can we have babies?” I press my lips together and look back to see his face. “I want babies. And we’re not getting younger, and I just—”
“You want to talk about this now?”
“I’ve been thinking about it a lot.” My voice is a whisper.
“Wildfire, I’ll give you all the babies you want. Absolutely, let’s have a dozen kids, but we have to get you out of here first.”
I bite my lip, and then I hear a commotion below me.
“Okay, Jules, we have ladders down here,” Bridger says. “Beckett and I are going to be next to your legs and hips, trying to see how we can get you down. I hope these aren’t your favorite jeans because they’re torn to shit.”
“I can live without them. Thank you,” I call down to them.
But someone tries to move my injured leg, and it makes me cry out as pain lances through me.
“I’m going to dismember whoever just hurt my wife,” Brooks bellows. “Be careful down there!”
“They can’t help it,” I say while tears track down my cheeks. “It’s deep, Brooks. It’s really bad.”
“Hey. Wildfire, you look at me. It’s going to be okay. Do you hear me?”
“What if it’s not okay?”
“That’s not an option. Guys? How does it look down there?”
“We’re going to get a saw to get this wood that’s in her leg. Her hips are hung up on the two-by-fours on either side of her, which have not given out.”
“See? I have birthing hips. Saved my life. Or a broken leg,” I say, trying to lighten the mood, but Brooks’s face is mutinous.
“It’s not safe to pull her up into the attic,” he growls at his brothers.
“We can cut the wood around her hips and help her down,” Bridger says, his voice perfectly calm. “We’ll run the electrical across the street from your house, like we did for this light. I had guys from the fire station bring our extra-long cords over.”
“You guys didn’t have to do all of this.”
“Uh, Jules?” Bridger says. “You’re my sister. You’re part of our family and community. Of course, we’re going to do whatever we need to do to get you out of here as safely as possible. You’re going to be okay, and we’re not going to injure you any more than you already are. Blake’s still down here with all kinds of medical junk to help, too.”
“As soon as they get the wood separated from the ceiling,” Blake calls up, “I’m going to have to remove it and cover the wounds so you don’t bleed anymore. We’ll treat you for any infection at the hospital. Are you bleeding anywhere else?”
I swallow. “Before they went numb, my hands were bleeding from catching myself in the fall.”
Brooks growls next to me, and I try to offer him an encouraging smile.
“We need to warm her up better,” Blake says. “She’s still too cold.”
“If this goes as planned, we’ll have her out of here in less than thirty minutes,” Bridger tells him.
“I’m so scared,” I whisper. Brooks is still inching along, and he’s finally close enough to take my hand in his. He brings it up to his lips, careful not to hurt the scrapes on my palm.
“Blake,” I say loud enough for him to hear.
“Right here, gorgeous.”
I swallow hard, and Brooks squeezes my fingers. It’s warming up, and it feels good even though my palm aches.
Blake was always a flirt. I kind of love that we have a doctor in the family.
“This is going to hurt, isn’t it?”
Chapter Thirty
BROOKS
“Yeah, pretty girl, I’m not going to lie to you, this is going to hurt. Actually, I can work on getting an IV going and put some pain meds in it. I can also get warm fluids going. That’ll help warm you up. I’m going to run out to the ambulance, and I’ll be right back.”
“He’s smart,” Jules says as she glances over at me. Fuck, her eyes are still so scared. They were glassy when I first got up here, with cold and shock and fear. All of that is still there, but with me here next to her, she’s calming down a bit.
I hate that she’s in this filth. It’s so fucking dirty up here. I saw a squirrel run across the other side, and there’s definitely some feces up here.
I do not want her anywhere near this mess.
“Blake will get you set up,” I assure her. “Baby, we’re going to burn this house down. We’re not going to live here. At the very least, I’ll sell it as-is.”
“You’re taking my house away?” Her beautiful blue eyes fill with tears again, and it’s almost my undoing. “No. Please, Brooks, it’ll be okay.”
“Baby, it’s so much work, and it hurt you.”
“It’s not the house’s fault.”
“I’m back,” Blake calls out. “Beck and Bridge are getting what they need to cut you out of there, so that gives us time to make sure you’re not in pain, sweet girl. Unfortunately, I have to put the IV in your foot.”