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The hospital was busy, but Kylie’s room was quiet, minus the regular beeping of the heart monitor. Lucy sat at her bedside, checking her face every few minutes for signs that she was waking up. Her eyes remained closed; at least she looked peaceful enough.
Sighing, Lucy returned to her phone. She’d pulled up some of the required reading for the sergeant’s exam. It was both easy and hard to focus. Easy, because it was quiet and she had always been a good student; hard, because she was concerned about Kylie and James and Harper and the wildfire and Liam’s last victim and she couldn’t stop the flashbacks of her and Tim huddled together under the fire shelter as flames raged over them…
She put her phone down and rolled her neck from side to side. She was thoroughly exhausted. It had been a very long day, and Kylie wasn’t showing any signs of rousing. Maybe it was time to call it a night. She would return in the morning to check on her.
There was a knock at the door. Somehow Lucy wasn’t surprised when she turned to see Tim leaning against the doorframe.
“Hey,” she said, and cleared her throat. Her voice was still hoarse from smoke inhalation.
“Hey.” He came in and offered her the styrofoam cup he was holding. “Brought you something.”
“Thanks, but I’m about to head home,” she replied. “Coffee is the last thing I need right now.”
“I know,” he told her with a tired smile. “That’s why it’s tea.”
She accepted the cup, their fingers barely brushing. “Thank you,” she said. “You always seem to know what I need.”
“I try.” Crossing his arms, he looked down at Kylie. “How is she?”
“Doctors said she’ll pull through, but she has a long road to recovery.”
“Good thing she has you to look after her.”
Lucy glanced at him; his eyes met hers, steady and grounding. He had that look on his face that made her feel like something precious. She’d missed that look.
“Good thing,” she repeated softly.