Romance: The Second Chance - Contemporary Romance (Romance, Contemporary Romance, Suspense Romance Book 1) (17 page)

              The ceiling was still coming down. They probably had just moments until the whole thing collapsed on top of them, and he couldn’t carry both Abby and Tucker to safety. It wasn't a difficult a choice.

             
I'll have to come back for him,
Eli told himself, as he turned toward the door. He could hear the house groaning, a noise like a living thing. The second floor gave way just as he reached the door, falling with a mighty crash—and Eli jumped.

              Not quite airborne, but high enough, far enough, that he could taste the clean, sweet air of the world beyond. He turned his body to shield Abby from the concrete, and then they hit the ground hard. More pain. Pain cracking through him, his head and his hand and his freshly skinned shoulder and leg, and as he screamed the house finally collapsed behind them, a roaring black mess of flaming debris.

             
T
he street was a swarm of activity. Lights flashed. Firemen pulled at  hoses, dousing what was left of the house. There as a police cars on scene, and someone would no doubt want to talk to Eli, at least—probably both of them, now that Abby was awake.

              She sat on the edge of the ambulance as a paramedic, waiting as one of the  paramedics flashed a light in her eyes. They’d done the same for Eli, diagnosing him with a mild concussion, and then had him sit for a while with an oxygen mask. A paramedic had cleaned and dressed his hand, and they would be taking them to the hospital soon, just after they gave their reports to the police offers. But the EMT told him that he didn't expect them to have to stay more than a night for observation.

              Eli pulled himself to his feet. His whole body ached, but it didn't stop him. He made his way across the scene, beneath two “Police: Do Not Cross” tapes. When she saw him, she jumped from the back of the ambulance in the middle of her assessment. The paramedic called out to her, but she was already firmly in Eli’s grasp, and he was holding onto her with everything he had. He never wanted to let go of her again.

              She kissed his cheek, then whispered into his ear, “My hero.”

             
Hero.
Boy did that feel strange to hear coming from her. It was even true, this time around, but he honestly didn't care; the only thing he cared about was in his arms. And he would run into a hundred burning buildings for this woman.

              “I thought I’d lost you,” he said, trying to hold back tears.

              “You did...” She looked him in the eye as she pressed her palms gently against the sides of his face. “...and yet here I am.” She smiled, and suddenly everything in the world was right again. No more pain. No more guilt. No more running. It was just him and her... and he would fight to the end to keep it that way.

              “Here you are...” he whispered. Their foreheads touched, and each stared into the eyes of the one they cherished most.

Then Abby looked over at the house. The house she had grown up in. The house her grandmother lived in, and cherished.

              Eli pulled her face back towards his. “We’ll rebuild it. No matter how long it takes. No matter how difficult it gets. We’ll rebuild it right, together, and it’ll be stronger than ever.” He reached out, wiping a tear from her cheek. “Trust me. I'm not going anywhere.”

              Abby smiled. “And neither am I.”

              With that, they leaned together in unison, kissing with more passion and intensity than some felt in a lifetime. Their love was true. It saw the ugly, and said it was there to stay. They weren’t pretending everything would be easy or perfect, but as long as they were together they would make it through. And in doing so they would live a dedicated, devoted, and passionate life. Loving each other endlessly.

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