Tank (Moonshine Task Force Book 2)(42)

“Hang up the phone, Trev, they’re on their way.”

She’s still thumping her back, and I’m praying with everything I have to hear her cry – if she cries that means she can breathe. After what feels like an eternity, Stella violently expels a mouthful of formula all over Blaze.

The entire group collectively makes a noise as we hear Stella make a noise.

“She’s okay, she’s okay,” Blaze turns her over, checking her out. “Her color’s good, and I don’t hear any laboring.”

Right then we hear the wail of the ambulance, and I jump up to let them in. It’s a whirlwind as they check Stella, making sure everything is okay. I watch as they put a little oxygen mask on her as a precaution; they won’t be taking her to the hospital. Blaze excuses herself to go clean up in the bathroom while mom and dad dote over their baby.

I follow Blaze, I need to be close to her after what’s happened. But I’m too slow, she’s shut the door to the bathroom. “Blaze, let me in,” I try the knob, and it turns easily.

When I open the door and she looks up from where she’s sitting on the ledge of the bathtub, my heart breaks for her. She’s got tears streaming down her face and her hands are shaking. “I just need to get washed up,” she stands and walks over to the sink, soaping up her hands, and using a washcloth to clean her clothing.

I shut the door softly behind me. “It’s okay if you were affected by that, I think we all were.”

She stops what she’s doing and braces her hands against the counter, letting her head fall between her shoulders. “It’s so damn hard to see a baby fight for breath like that,” she cries, her shoulders shaking. “And I was scared to death, what if I couldn’t get the airway unobstructed? How would I be able to look at myself again? How would you be able to ever look at me again.”

Walking over, I take her in my arms, putting my chin on top of her head. “I never doubted you, babe, because I know you’re damn good at your job. We were all fucking scared out there. You were the one though who handled it like a champ. You grabbed her up, did your thing, and made sure she was breathing. That takes skill and guts.”

“That’s the hardest part of my job, knowing what to do, but not being in control of everything. We can sometimes do all the right things and the patient still doesn’t make it. I worried about that with her, especially after the first few times she didn’t respond.”

I turn her around, folding her in my arms. Like they have their own honing beacon, my lips find hers and I kiss her hard. There’s no passion, which is so unlike us. Instead it’s a relief that we both feel. “Thank you for being there when our family needed you,” he breathes heavily. “Thank you for being the person who stood up, kept a level head and did the most badass thing I’ve ever seen in my life. I don’t think I could have done it, I know I couldn’t have done it. Thank you for being with me.”

She giggles, disrupting the flow of the tears down her cheeks. “I’ll gladly stand next to my Batman.”

“Fuck that, your Batman will gladly stand next to you.”

Blaze

I’m shaken when we get home, terrified of what I just did and who I saved. It feels like it did the afternoon I saved Trevor. My teeth are chattering as he pulls us into his drive.

“Are you okay?”

I nod. “I think it’s delayed shock to be honest with you. It’s been a long time since I’ve been that scared. To see someone you love going through something and you aren’t sure whether you can do anything about it. It affects you.”

His blue eyes flash with annoyance, and it takes me by surprise. “You’re really gonna go there, Blaze?”

I watch as he opens the door to the truck and stalks into what’s now our house. “What did you mean am I going to go there?” I burst through the back door, following him. He’s already at the fridge with a beer out, taking a large drink of it.

“Let’s talk about the elephant in the room, sweetheart. Let’s talk about how I was affected by what I saw you go through.”

I’m speechless because I know at the end of listening to him tell me his story, I’m going to have to tell him mine.





CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE




Tank


I turn around, ready to face whatever this fight is going to be. “So this is it, huh?” She questions, hands on her hips, lips pressed into a firm line. Blaze is fucking pissed, and I can’t say that I blame her. “We’re gonna have it out now? After all these months of walking on eggshells with each other, you’re finally going to let me have it?”

“Do you really want it?” I take a pull off the beer in front of me. “Be careful what you’re askin’ for, sweetheart. Make sure you can handle it.”

“I think I saved Stella today and I showed you how important my job is for the world at large. That should count for something.”

She’s right, it does count for a lot, but there’s always going to be a fear I have after seeing what I saw. “You didn’t see what I did,” I argue.

Blaze gets in my face. “And you didn’t see what I did when you were in that truck, Trevor. The difference between us? I told you after it happened, I told you how scared I was, I shared my feelings. You’ve been tight-lipped about everything when it comes to the day you got smacked in the face with how real my job actually is. It’s not fair to me, it’s not fair to us, and it’s going to fucking ruin our relationship. Is that what you want?”