CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - CASEY
I was cold, and my back ached like hell. I could feel every nerve in my body urging me to slow down, to collapse into the ashes and rest. But I knew instinctively that if I were to give in to the overwhelming temptation to sleep, I might never wake up again.
This place was so empty, so bereft of life besides me. And that made me wonder… maybe I wasn’t a sign of life. Maybe I was just another fixture of this lifeless plane, wandering around too stubborn and oblivious to know I was gone. It sure seemed like I was meant to let go. But something inside of me flickered like a tiny flame, keeping my soul just warm enough to stay vigilant. To stay awake. No matter how far I trudged, how thick the muck around my knees got, I had to keep moving forward. Towards what? I didn’t have a clue. Perhaps it would always just be more of the same: that blank canvas I was stuck inside. I was lost. I didn’t have a compass or a map, and there was no sun or moon in the sky to help orientate me in the least. Just the whiteness, the emptiness, the silence, and me.
As I walked along, my memories stretched backward behind me to grasp at something, anything to remind me why I was still keeping upright. Something to fight for. Something to believe in. Something to make the struggle worthwhile.
Sometimes all I could think of was the desire to keep helping people. To come to my senses and step back into the real world; where I could run into burning buildings; I could rescue little animals trapped in dangerous predicaments. I could keep baking for my coworkers, keep shaping wood into furniture and carvings. More than that, a desire to love stoked that tiny, struggling flame inside of me, urging me to carry on. It was too soon to give up. My life was not even half over, and there was so much left for me to do.
I had a heart, a beating heart filled with potential and adoration, and it was too early on in the game to toss it away. I had a mother who loved me, who worried over me. I had a father, however distant, who undoubtedly cared whether I lived or died. Chief Reyes, my boss who was more like a doting uncle, a mentor as I grew up and became a man in my right. He would be crushed to lose me. Even my therapist, Dr. Waltham, appeared in my memories to beckon me onward, cheerleading me along as I waded through the mire, desperate to find my way back home. There was too much to do, too many people still to love and protect. I could not leave all of that behind just yet, no matter how hard it was to keep moving.
A face swam at the forefront of my mind, the handsome face of a man I could have sworn came straight from my wildest dreams and fantasies.
Luke.
That charming smile. Those bright green eyes. The sharp curves and angles of his face, that powerful jaw that seemed to have been carved from the smoothest marble by the hands of the ancient masters. His voice, deep and thrumming like a bass guitar, sending shivers of delight down my spine. The comforting warmth of his touch, like standing in direct sunlight. He was more than I could ever have asked for, and I would be damned before I let him slip out of my grasp so easily.
His voice punched through the blank expanse like a knife, jolting me closer to awake. At first, I couldn’t make out the word he was saying. Two syllables. Yearning and fear. Pleading with me, with something bigger and worse than us both.
My name.
Casey.
Casey.
“Casey,” came a soft, desperate voice from off to my left. The whiteness faded to dark and suddenly I became intensely aware of a variety of things. The beeping of a machine, quickening along with my heart beat. The acrid smell of bleach and cleaner, that slightly sickly smell that lingered in the halls of… a hospital.
I opened my eyes, and the first sight I drank in was the face of an angel. The angel smiled, and warmth rushed over my body. I was weak, but he gave me strength. He reached for me, cupping his big hand over my cheek. I leaned into his touch, starved for it, desperate to be close to him again. His thumb lightly traced the curve of my bottom lip, and I winced a little, noticing how parched and cracked my lips felt.
“You’re awake,” Luke said gently. “And most importantly, you’re alive.”
There was relief and awe in his voice. I tried to clear my throat to speak, but at first nothing came out. I panicked for a moment, thinking maybe something terrible had happened to my voice box. Why couldn’t I talk? But Luke just shook his head.
“It’s okay. Your lungs got pretty clogged up with smoke. You’ll have to take it easy on the talking for a little bit until it clears up. Not that you’re much of a chatterbox to begin with,” he added playfully.
I smiled, even though I could feel my lips stinging with the effort.
“You need some lip balm or something,” he said. “I’ll ask the doctor for some. Or the nurse. I’m sure someone will have it on hand.”
I nodded, which was a herculean feat considering how stiff and achy my joints were. Luke gave me a sympathetic half-smile, cocking his head to one side. “You look like you’ve been to hell and back. And from what I’ve been told about the fire… that doesn’t seem too far off from the truth,” he told me. He took a deep breath. “You know, they tell me you saved me, Casey. That you went back for me. You nearly died in the process. I’m grateful, of course, and amazed, but I’m also just so angry at you. I can’t believe you would run straight into danger like that! You could have been hurt. Or killed.”
I managed to shrug slightly, and Luke scoffed, shaking his head. “I’m serious, Casey. You’re hardcore. You’re the kind of guy I assumed did not exist outside of dramatic soap operas. You’re like a superhero or something. Does that make me Lois Lane? I guess it kind of does, huh? Damn it,” he swore, chuckling to himself. I smiled painfully again.
“Luke Lane,” I whispered, my voice so rough and weak it sounded like a rusty door hinge. I coughed, the pain in my chest making me nearly double over. Luke hurried to put his hands on my shoulders, standing up to support me as though I might topple out of the hospital bed at any moment. I hated feeling weak like this.
“Hey, hey, take it easy,” Luke insisted. “You’ve basically just had a brush with death, Casey, you have to relax a little. I know how hard that is for you, but it’s the doctor’s orders.”
I leaned back and sighed heavily, rolling my eyes to the ceiling. There was a nasty brownish stain up there. I looked back at Luke. He was much more pleasant to look at. He sat back down and took my left hand, raising it to his lips and kissing it.
“You’re going to be okay, but only if you rest,” he told me emphatically. “I’m just so glad you’re alive. I can’t believe it. You’re one resilient man, Casey Harlowe.”
I opened my mouth to try and say something back, but just then the door creaked open. Chief Reyes came spilling into the room, a look of pure fear on his face. The panicked expression softened when he saw that I was awake and lucid. He grinned and held his hand over his heart, shaking his head at the sight of me.
“Well, I’ll be damned. You did it again, kid,” he said gruffly. I could hear the emotion spilling over behind his words. He looked over at Luke, then back at me, raising an eyebrow. I rolled my eyes, which made Chief burst out laughing.
“Even when you can’t speak, you still manage to find a way to sass me,” he said, walking over to Luke, who stood up. Chief held out a hand for Luke to shake. “I’m Mateo Reyes, Chief of the fire station. I’m Casey’s boss, but damn it, I love this tough guy like he’s my own kid,” he said, jolly as always.
“I’m Luke Reynolds, head of marketing at the Sentry Casino. It’s good to meet you. Casey’s told me a lot about you and his other coworkers,” he replied. Chief chuckled.
“All good stuff, I hope,” he said.
Luke nodded, smiling. “All good.”
Chief crossed his arms over his chest and stood at the foot of my bed, staring down at me with wordless relief. I managed to choke out, “What are you looking at?”
He smirked. “Just takin’ it all in. You know, when the doctors told me and your mother about your prognosis, I admit we were concerned.”
“Mom?” I said, coughing.
He nodded. “Yes. She’s been hanging around here without a single break ever since they brought you in. Kept trying to get them to let her be your nurse, then she asked if they would transfer you to her clinic. Needless to say, they told her no. Ironically, she only went home finally about an hour ago. The doctors convinced her to go get some rest. She’ll be a little miffed to know that you decided to wake up after she left. I’ll let her know you’re awake. I’m sure she’ll come back up here the second she finds out, so we should give her a little time to rest first.”
“I wish I could have gotten a chance to say hello to her,” Luke remarked. I felt a rush of affection for him, even though the idea of introducing a debonair guy like Luke to my scatterbrained, overly talkative mom was a little nerve wracking.
“You’ll get your chance. Karen Harlowe is a wonderful lady. Chatty, sweet as molasses. And one hell of a cook. I assume that’s where Casey gets it from,” Chief mused aloud.
“Yes, I have been anxiously anticipating the day when I convince Casey to bake me something,” Luke said, grinning. “I would love to meet Mrs. Harlowe and thank her for raising such an amazing man.”
My cheeks were burning, and I felt restless. It was uncomfortable having both men fawn over me like this without my being able to properly respond. It was nice to know they cared about me, of course, but I wasn’t used to people being so effusively kind and gentle with me. Chief seemed to catch onto this and changed his tone a little.
“Anyway, Casey, I didn’t just stop by to say hello and check on you. Don’t get me wrong, I’m overjoyed to see you’re awake, and you have all your faculties about you. It sure is great to see some color in those cheeks again. You damn near scared us all half to death with that stunt you pulled,” he said, then seemed to realize he was bordering on a lecture again and pulled back. He sighed. “The point is, we’re glad you’re okay. But it is going to be a long road to recovery, kid. A long, winding road.”
I frowned, forcing myself to sit up a little more. “What do you mean?” I coughed out.
Luke put a hand on my arm. Chief shook his head and looked down at my legs. I was confused now, and worried. It seemed like he was trying to keep some big secret from me, and I didn’t like it. “What?” I asked again, my voice like pure gravel.
“You fractured something in your right leg, Casey. Something about the way you fell when you collapsed. I don’t know how you managed to keep moving after that… the doctors say it must have been very painful. Agonizing. But you’re nothing if not stubborn. You pushed right through the pain and got Mr. Reynolds here to safety before conkin’ out cold,” Chief explained slowly and cautiously.
“And?” I prompted.
“And that means you’re going to be on bedrest for a few days. Then you’ll be in physical therapy for a couple weeks. You might need a wheelchair or at least some crutches and a brace temporarily. It’s not a forever problem, and to be honest with you, kid, you really lucked out. It could have been much worse. You must have one attentive guardian angel keeping watch over you. You got nine lives like a cat or something,” he sighed. “But what this means is that you’re going to have to take some more time off. That little vacation I made you take just got a little bit longer, I’m afraid,” he admitted at last.
I sat up and shook my head vehemently. “No. I need to go back to work,” I said before getting caught up in a brutal coughing fit again.
“Casey,” Luke said softly.
“I can’t just sit in bed like a bum,” I protested, trying to swing my legs over the side of the bed. Luke and Chief rushed to stop me, but I was determined. I made an attempt to stand up, but as soon as I was upright, a lightning jolt of excruciating pain lit up through my right leg, and I let out a bellow of agony before crumpling back onto the bed. I had a pretty damn high threshold for pain, and even I could feel tears stinging in my eyes. Luke nearly jumped over the bed in his haste to come around to me. He knelt down in front of me, taking both my hands in his as I sat rigid and stiff with pain.
“Casey, you can’t be so cavalier about this. It’s serious. You’re going to make a full recovery, but you have to give yourself a chance to heal,” he insisted.
“Not again,” I muttered. “Not again, damn it.”
“Kid, you’re going to be alright. Take your time. Get well again. You can’t save anyone if you’ve got a bum leg, alright? Don’t worry. The fire station will still be there waiting for you when you’re recovered. You can come right back to work like nothing ever happened. But for now, you have got to relax,” Chief ordered.
A moment later, the nurse came back in to administer more pain medication and bring me a very pale and sad-looking lunch on a tray. Chief stayed for a little longer before heading back to work, and Luke stayed by my side, mostly just holding my hand and reminding me that everything was going to be okay. Even though, to me, it sure as hell didn’t seem that way.