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“Tell the EMTs it’s a right pneumothorax. That means collapsed lung… Most likely from a cracked rib.” He coughed and winced. “Or ribs,” he amended.

“Oh my god!” She threw a hand over her mouth, but Eli shook his head.

“Not…your…fault.” He coughed again. “I was an asshole.”

Beth dropped down into the grass beside him. “Lie back down,” she ordered him, voice trembling.

Eli didn’t need to be told twice.

He swore as he tried to gingerly lower himself, his head falling in her lap. As much as it hurt to simply inhale, it still somehow felt so good to lie here like this, touching her, even if he was barely hanging on to consciousness.

“You were an asshole…” Beth choked on something that was part laugh, part sob. “But, Eli…”

He shook his head. Or maybe he didn’t move at all. It was getting to the point that he couldn’t tell. “I’m gonna be okay. It’s not as bad as it looks.” Except it felt as bad as it probably looked. Eli wanted to comfort her, but somehow the shallow breaths he took between words coupled with the fact that his only expression at the moment was a wince probably wasn’t doing the job. “But first I think I’m gonna black out for a few minutes, so remember…pneumothorax, ribs, not your fault…” Was he forgetting anything? “You…you did good tonight. You’re so strong, Beth. I should have given you more credit.”

“Eli…” His name sounded like a plea, or maybe it was a promise.

“Just stay until they come,” he added. “Is that okay?”

He could see bright lights in the distance moving closer.

Then he felt her hands in his hair, her trembling lips against his forehead.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she whispered. “Even when they get here, I’m staying with you. Is that okay?”

He laughed, then pressed his left palm to his right side.

“Yeah,” he whispered. “I love you. So I think it’s okay if you stay.”

The blackness started at the edges of his vision, and before he could gauge her reaction to what he thought he might have just said, someone turned out the lights.

Chapter 24

When the ambulance arrived in the middle of the muddy field, Beth was still in shock about so many things. Too many things.

“Beth!” someone called, and she looked up to see Captain Carter Bowen of the Meadow Valley Fire Station and, if she remembered correctly, Eli’s friend. Beside him stood another uniformed paramedic whose name tag read JT. The stretcher on which they’d soon carry Eli away stood beside them.

“He…he…” Her voice shook.

Carter dropped to a squat next to where Eli still lay unconscious with his head in her lap. “It’s okay,” he said calmly. “I know Eli well enough that we can skip some of the general health history, but whatever information you can give me will help us get him the treatment he needs as quickly as he needs it. Was he awake when you found him? Did he tell you anything to tell me?”

Right. Right. Right.

“His lung!” Beth told Carter. “And his ribs. On his right side. He said it was a pneumo…a pneumo…”

“Pneumothorax?” Carter asked, and Beth nodded earnestly. “Good, Beth. You’re doing great. And he thinks it’s due to his ribs?”

She nodded again. “His lips…the color… Is he not breathing? Are you going to give him oxygen? Can you fix him?”

The other paramedic was on the ground fitting a metal contraption to Eli’s height before splitting it in two and placing one half of the device on his right, the other on his left.

Carter gave her a reassuring smile. “We’re going to do our best to get his oxygen levels back where they need to be. You see this?” He hovered his open palm above Eli’s chest, and Beth was able to detect the slight rise and fall.

“He’s still breathing,” she said through her own shuddering breath.

“Yep,” Carter confirmed. “That’s a good sign, and we’re going to make things even better, but we need to get him to an emergency room as quickly as possible so he has the best chance of avoiding complications. Do you have someone who can—”

“I’m riding with him!” she blurted. “I can do that, right? Eli said I could. I mean, I know I’m not immediate family, but he said he loved me, so that counts for something, right?”