Page 76 of Devil's Hour

“Over here,” he yelled as loud as he could. The light beams turned toward him. “Over here!”

It wasn’t an angel who stepped through the rolling black smoke and dropped down beside them, but it was close enough. Royce took a shuddering breath, so grateful for their rescue. Sawyer’s grip on his belt loop slackened as he collapsed to the floor.

“Take him first,” Royce pleaded.

The fireman fixed a mask over Sawyer’s nose and mouth and hoisted him over his shoulder like he weighed nothing.

A second fireman joined them. “I got you, Locke.” He recognized the voice. It was Zeke. Royce tried to thank him, but he couldn’t speak. Zeke placed a mask over his face and glorious oxygen filled his nose, then he picked Royce up and carried him out of hell. Royce inhaled deeply, which sent him into a coughing fit. “Nice and easy there, Locke.”

Zeke didn’t set him down right away, which meant he had no idea where Sawyer was or if he was even okay. He started to squirm, but Zeke just tightened his grip and held on until they reached the waiting ambulances. Royce scrambled off the gurney as soon as Zeke put him down.

“Royce, let them check you out.”

He ignored them and stumbled over to the second ambulance, allowing him to see Sawyer for the first time. He fell to his knees when he saw the burns on his legs, chest, arms, neck, and face. Part of his hair was even singed on the right side of his head.

The paramedics were wetting sterile gauze to place over smaller burns and covering the larger burns with dry gauze.

“Is he okay?” Royce asked, trying to crawl into the back of the ambulance to get to Sawyer.

“Royce, you need to stay out of their way.” Blue. He was so relieved to hear his friend’s voice he broke down sobbing. The big man hoisted Royce up and carried him back to the other ambulance.

“I need…” he gasped, struggling to get free.

“To get looked at. The quicker they assess your lungs, the quicker you can see Sawyer, but it needs to wait until he’s evaluated at the hospital. He’s at high risk for infection, and he cannot afford that. You cannot be with him until it’s safe.”

Royce knew he was right, but it fucking hurt so bad. He remembered how much comfort he’d felt by having Sawyer with him after he got shot. Blue set him down gently and pinned him with a fierce glance.

“Okay, Blue.”

Royce nearly lost his shit when Sawyer’s ambulance left, but Blue calmed him again. Blue got in the back of the rig and rode with him to the hospital, assuring him that both he and Sawyer would be okay. Rigby was waiting for them when they reached the hospital and accompanied them to the ER room.

“Sawyer,” Royce said, pleading with her to get an update.

“I’ll go see what I can find out. His family is on their way.”

Royce nodded.

“He’ll be okay, man,” Blue said, wiping his face with a washcloth. “Is there anyone you want me to call for you.”

“Holls.”

“He already did,” she said, stepping inside the room. Royce was surprised to see she wasn’t alone. Jace was with her, looking sick with worry. “Is this how it’s going to be every few months? Not sure this partnership with Key has worked out all that well for you.”

“He’s hurt bad, Holls.” Royce closed his eyes and recalled the open wounds and charred skin. Someone patted his forearm, and he was stunned to see Jace when he opened his eyes.

“He’s gotta be tough if he’s willing to take on the Locke kind of crazy,” Jace said, offering a crooked grin.

Royce returned the smile. “True.”

“Or a glutton for punishment,” Holly teased, slipping her arm around Jace’s waist and leaning into him.

“That’s also true,” Jace said, dropping a kiss on her head. He turned and met Royce’s gaze, nodding to tell him everything was going to be okay. Jace didn’t often have a lot to say, so the simple gesture felt huge to Royce, calming him while the medical team assessed his injuries.

After what seemed like hours, the ER doc told him he’d been very lucky. “You’ll probably have a sore throat for a few days and sound like a chain smoker, but it won’t be permanent. Sucking on hard candy or cough drops will help soothe the ache. You’ll want to follow up with your family doctor if a persistent cough develops. The key thing to feeling better is a lot of rest.”

The key thing was getting to Sawyer. “I’m not leaving until my guy does,” Royce said.

“That isn’t wise, son,” the kindly man said. “You’re no help to him if you make yourself sicker.”