The Spark Between Us by Stacy Travis

Chapter Thirty-Six

Sarah

I assumedhe’d come on an errand. That was the only reason I could fathom for Mitch standing there. Sadly, I’d noticed I accidentally packed that damned hoodie Braden loved so much, and a couple of his T-shirts had gotten mixed up in my laundry. No doubt I’d left some things behind as well.

“If you’re here for the ritual exchanging of breakup items, you can forget it. I’m burning his hoodie, and he can do the same with my stuff.”

He walked toward me, the look in his eyes heavy and laced with sadness. “Sarah . . .”

My heart started thundering. Something had happened to Braden—I knew it in an instant. “Tell me. What’s wrong?”

A slew of thoughts bounced through my mind, possibilities ranging from sadness about our breakup to something much, much worse. But my mind couldn’t go there.

Then I took in Mitch’s face and posture, the totality of it—the dark circles under his eyes, the defeated slump of his shoulders, the soot staining his cheeks. The man hadn’t showered. He hadn’t looked in a mirror. After whatever had happened to Braden, he’d come straight here.

“What happened?”

Finn had parked the car and heard enough to understand something was wrong. He put an arm around me protectively.

“We got called out to an apartment fire. They’re complicated, high heat, poor visibility.” I nodded rapidly because I’d learned enough over the past few months to understand all the variables at play. “People were trapped inside. Braden stayed inside longer than he should have. He saved two people’s lives.”

Mitch swallowed hard and I stood frozen, feeling a knot of bile rise into my throat. My legs started shaking, and my breathing went shallow, waiting for the final edict. Even without him saying so, I knew what he was about to tell me couldn’t be good.

I grasped his arms and focused my eyes on his. “Mitch. I need to know. Please.”

“He got everyone out. They wouldn’t have made it without him. He always said fighting fires was the hill he’d die on. I think he went into that blaze expecting it might be his last.” I gasped and immediately felt like I needed to heave. And almost as if he could read my mind, he shook his head. “I tried to stop him. It’s important to me that you know that.”

I felt the sting of tears in my eyes. Mitch sucked in a breath and sighed. “He’s still alive. But he lost consciousness and suffered from smoke inhalation. He wasn’t out of the ICU when I left, but I wanted to tell you in person.”

Nodding, I shuffled through the myriad thoughts competing for dominance in my mind, trying to decide if any of them deserved to be said out loud. I blamed myself for leaving. I blamed him for taking unnecessary risks.

Finally, I said the only thing that felt like it mattered. “I love him.”

Finn’s grip tightened on me. “Can we go see him? Can he have visitors?” he asked, knowing I was too stunned to come up with logical next steps.

Looking dazed and exhausted, Mitch nodded. “Once he’s out of the ICU, yes.” He looked at his phone. “Not sure when that will be.”

“I don’t care. I’ll sit there and wait. Is that okay?”

Mitch nodded, and I eased out of Finn’s grip to pull him into a hug. He clung to me like he needed the contact as much as I did. “Thanks for coming to tell me,” I said.

Despite the worry and concern, his lips tipped up into a smile. “Of course. You’re family.”

“You want me to drive you down there?” Finn put an arm around me. I knew he had to teach a class in two hours and would probably rather wait until after that to go.

“Thanks, but I’m okay. I’ll take my car.” I wanted to leave immediately. And unlike a regular drive, I knew nothing would distract me from getting to the hospital.