Page 153 of Daddy’s Fortitude

Who was holding her hand? His hand was so large that it had to be a guy. Whoever he was, he had a tanned, sexy hand.

“Thanks,” a male voice said, and she moved her gaze up, seeing Ammo sitting next to her bed, staring at her.

Oops. Had she said that out loud?

“I’ve got something in my nose.”

Okay. That wasn’t what she’d meant to say. She’d meant to ask him if he was all right, because he seemed kind of stressed.

Also, she could have asked where they were. Because this definitely wasn’t her house.

She reached up with her other hand to try and pull the thing out of her nose, but he shook his head at her and grabbed that hand too. She glanced over at it. It had a bandage on it and something sticking out.

Was that an IV line?

Why was she on an IV? Was she in a hospital? Why was she in a hospital with Ammo sitting by her bed?

“Why does my throat hurt? Where’s Springy?”

“I don’t know what Springy is,” he said to her.

“It’s this spring in my mattress that always digs into my hip. No matter where I sleep on my bed, it just seems to find me.”

“Right, so we can add getting a new bed to the list of things you need,” he said in a raspy voice.

“Hey, your voice sounds like mine. Why does my throat hurt so much? Have I got some sort of infection or something? Am I in the hospital? And what’s up my nose?”

“You’re in the hospital in Lager. The thing up your nose is to give you oxygen. Smoke from the fire is the reason that your throat hurts, because you inhaled quite a bit of it. You’re lucky to be alive.”

She blinked at him, unsure what to say to all of that.

Fire? Smoke?

“Good afternoon.” A nurse walked into the room. “It’s good to see you awake, Aimee. I’m Minnie. I’m your nurse for the next few hours. How are you feeling?”

Afternoon? How long had she been asleep for?

“Hi. My throat really hurts.”

“I bet it does,” Minnie said with some sympathy. “The doctor’s going to be around later to talk to you. You’re actually pretty lucky. If this guy hadn’t gotten you out when he did, you’d likely have died from smoke inhalation. We’re keeping a close eye on your throat and lungs.”

“How long have I been here? Got me out of where? What smoke?”

Ammo and Minnie shared a look before Ammo turned back to her. “There was a fire at your house. You were trapped inside.”

Oh God.

That was terrible. Her mind raced.

“Oh my God, Kevin!”

What had happened to Kevin? Had the smoke inhalation hurt him?

Ammo’s face tightened and she braced herself for bad news. “We don’t know. Kirsten is waiting until she’s allowed near the house and she’s going to see if he escaped.”

A sob escaped her. Poor Kevin. She couldn’t stand it if anything had happened to him.

Tears filled her eyes and dripped down her face. “Owly?”