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Time passed in a blur of noise and fear. When the emergency services arrived, Dean continued working, reassuring the frightened people trapped in their car. It was as though he’d thrown a switch and dropped into rescue-mode. He was focused on the people caught up in the collision.
I watched as Jason was loaded into the ambulance. Would he be okay? I felt as though I knew him, now that our lives were linked through an accident of circumstance. If we hadn’t been waiting to cross the road at that point, what would have happened to him?
There was nothing I could do to help. I sat on the wet pavement, my knees tucked up to my chin, and watched my boyfriend saving lives. I was frozen and couldn’t stop shivering, but I wouldn’t leave him there even if I had somewhere to go.
A policeman spoke to me. “Hello. Were you in one of the vehicles? Do you need help?”
I shook my head. I was so cold my teeth were chattering, and it made it hard to speak clearly. “No. I’m a witness. I called you.”
He frowned, and then held out a hand to me. “I think you need to get dry. Come with me, and I’ll take your details.”
I followed him on shaky legs, grateful to get out of the rain. Moments later, I sat in the open back of his car, a blanket around my shoulders, while I tried to tell him what we’d seen—how it happened. I couldn’t focus, and I kept muddling up my words, but he was patient with me.
“Steph,” shouted Dean.
I couldn’t see him. I stood and tried to place him in the crowd. “Here,” I shouted back.
He jogged across the road and leaned on the roof of the car. “I thought you’d gone. You feeling alright?” He guided me back into the seat, out of the weather.
I nodded. “Just a bit cold.”
Dean spoke to the policeman over my head. I caught the word hypothermia, and then he was at my side again. “I’ve nearly finished. Will you stay here a bit longer and wait for me?”
I nodded again. It was easier than speaking.
“Good girl,” he murmured, then bent down and pressed a warm kiss against my lips. “Don’t go anywhere without me, ’kay?”
This wasn’t what I wanted tonight. We were supposed to be dancing to Shapeshifter, and then heading back to the hotel for a night of wild sex, not this. I couldn’t stop thinking about the biker and how scared he was. Or the woman, who was screaming for someone to get her child out of the car. Dean helped them, because that was what he did. He wasn’t on duty. He could have walked away at any moment, but he didn’t.
My eyes filled with tears, and I brushed them away on the back of my hand. If I had any doubts before, I knew the truth now. I was in love with him. How could I not be?
In the midst of the chaos, with my flip-flops kicked off and my feet curled up on the seat, I must have dozed off in the back of the police car. I woke with a jolt, to find Dean’s hand on my shoulder, a tired smile on his face.
“Hey, sleepy, we’re getting out of here. This nice policeman is going to drop us at the hotel,” he said.
I forced my tired eyes to stay open. “We can walk,” I protested.
“Nah. He said he’s going that way anyway.” Dean sat next to me and fastened my safety belt, before attending to his own. “I think Shapeshifter have finished by now. Sorry about that.”
“What time is it?”
He looked at his watch. “Almost eleven.”
We left the rock concert an hour ago, but it felt like forever. I snuggled into Dean, and he wrapped an arm around me. His T-shirt was wet, and clung to his skin, so I shared my blanket.
“You were brave tonight,” he said. “I was very proud of you.”
I wasn’t brave. I didn’t do anything. I was too tired to argue with him, though, and instead, rested my head on his chest and closed my eyes again.
He woke me when we arrived at the hotel, and then helped me out of the police car. I felt like a refugee, with a blanket around my shoulders, but Dean didn’t seem bothered. He swept me through the deserted lobby and into the lift, before leading me to our room. My teeth had resumed their chattering, and another bout of shivers struck me when I stepped through the door.
Dean made a tsk noise. “It’s fucking freezing in here. I’ll reset the air con while you get under the shower.”
“I just want to go to bed.”
“Nope. Shower first, for both of us.”
That was when I saw the blood smeared on his bare arm. My heart lurched. “Dean. You’re bleeding.”
He cupped my cheeks with cold hands. “Sweetheart, it’s not my blood. That’s why we’re showering.” His voice was patient. “Bathroom. Now.”
Did he call me sweetheart? Christ, but I was tired. I didn’t have the strength to stand under the hot, gushing water, so I sat in the massive walk-in shower, head bowed. In my mind, I kept seeing the accident. The moment when the motorbike swerved. When everything went crazy.
“Hey.” Dean joined me. “You feeling warmer now?”
“Mmm huh.”
I heard washing sounds above my head and smelled something sweet and soapy. Next minute, Dean sat next to me and raised my chin with his fingers. “I’ve ordered room service. I want you to have something to eat before we go to bed. You’re in shock, and your blood sugar has probably gone haywire.”
That made sense. Sort of.
Dean ran a soapy sponge down my back, and then lifted my arms one at a time and washed them. His touch was gentle.
“How do you do it?” I asked. “Without freaking out?”
He paused. “Training, mostly. I’ve learned to switch off, and get on with it.” He resumed the washing process on my front. “It’s hard sometimes, though. That fire at the school... I told you, I froze. The others were going in, and I stood there like a dick. The guy I was buddying was furious. He slapped me around the head and told me to move my ass, and I lost it.” He looked down and squeezed the sponge, twisting it left and right, his focus on the bubbles running into the drain.
“I’m not perfect, Steph.” His voice was low. “I just do the best I can, and sometimes it isn’t enough.”
I didn’t like seeing Dean get lost inside in his head. Was he thinking about Hal? I hitched closer to him. “You saved Jason tonight. And that kid in the car. You made a difference tonight, Dean. It was more than enough.”
I had to get out of the shower at some point. Dean helped me up, handed me a towel, and then blotted my hair with another, before I sat down to the food.
I didn’t feel like eating, but I forced some scrambled eggs and toast down, after making a deal with Dean that he also ate some. My limbs were heavy, and I couldn’t keep my eyes open a second longer. I crawled into bed and huddled into Dean’s arms, the only place I wanted to be.
He kissed my forehead, the tip of my nose, and then my lips. “Go to sleep, sandy girl. I’ve got you.”
I’d never felt so wanted before, as though I was precious. As though I mattered. “I love you,” I whispered.