He woke in a hospital bed. At least he could still tell that much. Whatever they had given him—morphine?—made his entire body feel heavy and slowed his thoughts to a snail crawl.

But the meds were wearing off now, and pain was his new unpleasant companion. Landon clenched his teeth over a hiss, trapping it and swallowing it back down. Every inch of him was on fire.

He tried to convince himself that the pain was a good thing. It meant that he was alive. It meant no nerve damage. It meant that, unlike the wilderness of California, he wasn't really burning.

It all came rip-roaring through him then in an avalanche of memory. Keller's tank. The dog. The tree.

The woman.

But it wasn't just a distant morphine memory hovering over him now. Landon blinked once and watched as the face above him sharpened into stunning detail.

It was the woman, the same woman—the nurse, a vague recollection told him—looking down on him. Her lips were parted slightly in surprise, and there was a strand of golden blonde hair trailing down the left side of her face. Her eyes were wide-set and intelligent—and blue. God, how he missed that color. Used to be, he could just look up at the sky and lose himself in blue for a bit. Now, with the fire raging, he was lucky if he could get a clear fix on the sun.

"Would you look at that?" His voice was cracked and dry from disuse. He was surprised when actual human words came out and not a puff of ash. "My angel's back. Guess this must be Heaven."

"You're not in heaven, Mr. Brenner," the nurse said as she reached behind her for a glass of water. "You're in the hospital."

"Huh." Landon made a show of glancing around himself as if he hadn't noticed. She passed him the glass, eyes betraying honest amusement at his act, though her serious mouth remained unmoved. "So you're saying I lived?"

"You lived, despite your best efforts."

"You think I brought that tree down on myself—with efforts?"

The stern mouth melted into a chuckle, a bubbling laugh that almost struck Landon as a giggle. It was surprisingly girlish, light and airy, and seemed to slip past her lips without her noticing. If her own laugh took her by surprise, her face didn't register it; Landon wondered if she realized she had made the sound at all.

There was a certain severity about her, a no-nonsense firmness that just begged to be tested. Maybe it was simply the drugs and the too-bright hospital light that made him think this.

"And I'm a nurse. Not an angel. We've met before, you know.”

"How could I forget?" He had just needed to cut through the drug haze to remember. "Back when Kingston was laid up after the helicopter accident. Didn't catch your name that time."

"I didn't offer it."

"I didn't ask." He was sure to convey the proper amount of regret in his tone. "Now that I'm the patient, do I get a do-over?"

The nurse smiled in amusement and then proceeded to tap the nametag fixed above her left breast pocket.

Landon squinted. The letters swam a bit in his vision, but thankfully it was a short name. Alex. "Nice to meet you, Alex."

"Nice to meet you as well, Landon. I wish our paths had crossed again under better circumstances."

"You and me both." He groaned as he sat up, but next thing he knew, there was a gentle hand at his back to guide him. "What's the damage?"

"Physically? You've got a lot of second-degree burns. You'll be in pain for a bit, but we'll keep you numb to the worst of it. You may notice some chest pain when you breathe too deeply. That's because a tree fell on you."

"Wait a minute.” He narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean by 'physically'?"

Alex chuckled and shook her head. "Sorry. I just mean there's nothing I can do about the death wish."

"Death wish?" Landon echoed in amusement. "What makes you think I've got one of those?"

"Just my medical opinion." Alex sat down in the chair beside him. Landon realized it had been there all along, and he wondered who would have bothered keeping vigil at his bedside while he was out. The chief, maybe, or Chase. Or . . .

"You say you're not an angel, but something tells me you're the one who’s been watching over me," he said as she took hold of his arm to check the bandages there. He winced and was rewarded by the sight of Alex pulling her plump bottom lip between her teeth in concern. He hated to betray weakness, but if she was going to look at him like that . . .

"Did that hurt just now?"

"No."

"Don't lie to me, Mr. Brenner," she chastised lightly. "I know your type, and every single one of you plays down your injuries so you can rush back out there into the fire."

"Okay now, that hurts," he emphasized. " 'Mr. Brenner'? I thought we were already on a first-name basis, you and me. And if you think I'm cut from a mold just because I wear a department-issued helmet and carry a big tank to work, you're wrong."

"Am I?" Alex was busy prepping his morphine dose, and Landon had the sudden impression he wasn't being listened to. "I have an insight into this sort of thing that might surprise you."

"Surprise me."

"Lie back now, please, Landon."

How could he resist when that soothing voice said his name? Landon did as instructed and let her ease him back down fully into his pillow. "Kinda nice, knowing someone's looking out for me," he murmured as the drugs began to flood his system.

He hated riding the sudden feeling of inebriation, fighting it until he was too doped to hate anything, anymore. He gazed up into Alex's face, and she gazed back. He could spend forever counting every silky lash that fringed those baby-blue eyes of hers, before moving on to number those little silver flecks in each iris.

"I'll stay right here," she promised, and he believed her. He watched the way her ruby-red lips moved sensuously and knew no morphine dream could compare to his new reality.

The wildfire can wait, he thought as he sank down into utter bliss. I've got a new fixation, and something tells me she's even more feisty and unpredictable.

He looked forward to seeing her when he woke up.

"Where's Alex?" was the immediate question out of his mouth when he was wakened from sound sleep a few days later. Up until now, she’d always been the one to wake him, taking his vitals this time of day.

"Who wants to know?" This new night nurse, Cherise, sounded like a total ballbuster.

Landon grimaced as she laid her ice-cold hands on him. Cherise was practically old enough to be his grandmother, but her strength was formidable—and her bedside manner, at least with him, left something to be desired.

"Her favorite patient wants to know."

"Even Alex needs a day off every once in a while,” she rasped, in a voice that would have done justice to a pack-a-day habit. “You can't expect her to be here every day."

"You're making me feel like a needy asshole, Cherise."

"Well, if the boot fits," Cherise clucked as she pivoted away to write his latest vitals on the white board near the head of his bed.

Landon hated how petulant he sounded. Maybe it was just because of Cherise's more mature age that he suddenly felt like a kid again.

He had gotten so used to seeing Alex every day, making her laugh while she treated his burns and wrapped his arms, that even a single lonely night spent without her felt like the first time they’d unhooked him from the morphine drip all over again. "Listen—between you and me—is Alex single?" He pitched his voice low and raised a conspiratory eyebrow.

When Cherise turned back from her writing and fixed him with a look of disbelief, Landon reached for her hand and took it. "Please, Cherise. This is a matter of life or death."

"Is it, now?" She sounded understandably unconvinced.

"Nobody understands matters of life or death better than I do."

"I bet you do, Mr. Brenner. Wouldn't be here sittin' with me now if you didn't!"

"So come on," he pleaded. "What's the harm in telling me? Help a poor man who’s been downed in the line of duty, will you?

"She's single, all right," Cherise said as she reclaimed her hand from him. Landon lay back and refrained from pumping his fist in victory. "But she'll want nothing to do with you, make no mistake about it."

"I've made plenty of mistakes before."

"Again, wouldn't be here sittin' with me now if you didn't," Cherise noted as she snugged the bandages around his arm. "You're a patient at our hospital, Mr. Brenner. It would do you good to remember that."

Well, he wouldn't be a patient forever. The pain in his body, and the drugs administered to numb it, dwindled by the day. Any smarting shifts or sharp aches were to be taken as good signs. He was getting stronger by the day, and his recovery was progressing faster than Cherise and the others had anticipated. He knew it was only a matter of time before they discharged him . . . which meant his time to win Alex over was running out.

Cherise left soon after, abandoning Landon to his thoughts. Five minutes later, he craned himself forward to try and get a good look at a nurse passing outside his window, then dropped back down onto the hospital bed with a disappointed sigh. Every pair of pink scrubs made him think of her; hell, even his room by itself was a stark reminder of Alex. The boredom he felt when she wasn’t hovering by his instrument panel, or by his bedside as she touched him teasingly, was excruciating. Landon couldn't think of a more effective torture.

So he thought about something else. He stared so hard at the door that he practically went cross-eyed . . . and watched it open slowly in his mind's eye. Alex slipped in through the crack, darting a quick glance back over her shoulder into the hallway, before closing it softly behind her. Her hair was down, and she wore . . . wait for it . . . Landon hadn't seen her outside of her scrubs, so it took him a moment to conjure up what he wanted. A . . . sundress?

Yeah, that worked. It had a tight flowered bodice, and a flared skirt that swished several inches above her bare knees as she turned back to him. Her lush red lips were pursed, and her eyes caught the light from the hallway and twinkled wickedly.

"Hey, big guy. I know it's my night off, but I thought I'd come visit you anyway," she said as she came closer. "I think it's time for your sponge bath, don't you?"

"I didn't know a sponge bath was on the schedule for tonight," Landon murmured, allowing her to ease him back against the headboard. He watched her hand travel down his chest, skimming between his pecs and stirring the thin material of his gown.

Alex's hand alighted on the erection swelling between his legs, and he groaned. "Did you to bring the sponge?"

"No." Alex gripped him between his legs, and Landon bucked in her hand. When he reached for her, she pushed away his arms gently, maddeningly. "Lie back," she instructed.

Landon did as he was told. She climbed up onto the bed, throwing one leg over him and straddling his waist. When she sank down onto his chest, Landon swore—she didn't push his hands away a second time when he grabbed hold of her thighs.

His fingers dug into her skin, bunching the fabric of her dress, and he watched as the hem climbed a few inches higher. Even through the gown, he could feel the hidden heat between Alex's legs. All he had to do was push that skirt up a bit more to see if he was confirmed in his guess that she wasn't wearing underwear—

"Good evening."

Landon started up out of his fantasy. He hadn't even noticed the door to his room open, and the real Alex enter.

She had her hair tied back from the elegant curve of her neck, and her rose-pink scrubs looked freshly laundered. Fantasy Alex dissipated, scurrying away in a million motes like a dandelion before a strong wind.

He let his hands fall back down to the bed and suppressed a groan.

"Sorry, am I interrupting something?" Alex didn't sound apologetic. Hell, she didn't even sound suspicious of his strange response to her sudden entry. She was obviously just making conversation.

Landon shook his head. "They told me you had the night off," he muttered.

She shrugged one thin shoulder. "One of the other nurses called in with a sick kid. I told the hospital I could cover for her."

She moved to check his vitals, and Landon shifted a bit to hide the beginnings of an all-too-real erection. He shouldn't have let himself get carried away, but it had been a long hospital stay, and he was in desperate need of release.

He watched Alex's movements, taking in her natural sensuality, her grace—and he wet suddenly dry lips. An idea was forming in his head— he just wasn't sure which head he was thinking with at the moment. Maybe his lurid thoughts didn't have to live in his imagination.

He was going to go for it, he decided. Just as soon as Alex turned around—

She turned, and the words caught in Landon's throat. He stared uncomprehending. He knew it was Alex, but for a moment he barely recognized her. He hadn't gotten a good look at her face since she’d entered the room, but . . .

Her complexion was pale, almost ashen, and her eyes were glassy, bloodshot and red-rimmed. Had she been crying? He didn't see any evidence of dried tears on her face, but still . . .

"You sure you weren't just looking for an excuse to see me?" he asked her. He couldn't stand seeing her like this, but he didn't know what was wrong; worse, he didn't know how to ask. Her all-too-evident sorrow threw him, and considering that he had been just about to hit on her for real, he felt deeply ashamed of himself.

No hitch in her shoulders to betray a laugh, no nothing. Usually Alex was game for his flirting, or at least weathered it with gentle exasperation.

Had he crossed a line somewhere? He racked his brains for a moment when he might have come on too strong but came up short. If anything, he had held himself back in her presence up until this point.

Alex gazed at him for a long moment. "How am I supposed to answer that?"

"Honestly," he said. "Unless the answer is 'no.' Then I'd prefer it if you lied."

"Why do you try so hard?" she demanded. She had dropped her voice to a vehement whisper, but her eyes were round and tracking back and forth between his. She wanted a real answer; no more games.

Landon tried to push himself up to meet her, but she held her hand out and pressed against his chest to keep him immobile. Even in the moment, she was looking out for him.

"I mean it, Landon. You're always cracking jokes, but it seems like you're putting in a special effort tonight. Why?"

"Because I love the sound of your laugh. And the look you're wearing now makes me think I'll never hear it again. That's all." He realized, in the aftermath of saying it, that it was the most painfully honest he had been with her.

Alex seemed to sense it, too. She glanced up, pale blue eyes wide, and seemed to really study him for the first time that evening.

If embarrassing himself was how he would cut through the bleak cloud hovering over her, then so be it.

"You . . ." she started to say, but the door opened, and they both glanced quickly at the intruder.

Cherise poked her head in. "Am I interrupting something?" the night nurse inquired.

"You nurses are always afraid you're interrupting something," Landon said. He glanced sidelong at Alex and saw the tail end of a decidedly guilty expression leave her face.

"Not at all, Cherise. I'll be right out."

Cherise withdrew, and Alex rose from his bedside.

Before he could stop himself, Landon reached out and seized hold of her wrist.

Alex stopped, arrested for the moment, and trained her startled expression on him.

"Sorry," he said. "I—sorry." He let his hand fall from her arm. "Don't know what came over me."

Alex's mouth twisted in soft sympathy. The sadness in her eyes was back, dimming their natural brightness. It was almost enough to make him want to look away. Whatever ghost haunted her, they were both eyewitnesses to it. He just wished he knew how to exorcise it.

"Get some sleep. You've had a long day."

"You too," he said. "When you can."

Again, he watched the sad curve of her mouth flex a little. Then she was gone.

Landon sank back into his bed and stared at the fissures in the ceiling panels he had mapped over and over again this past week.