Wayward Hearts by Susan Anne Mason Read Free Book Online Page B

first.”
    Suddenly the smoke took its toll. Jason bent over, hands on his knees, gasping air into his straining lungs. When the ground stopped spinning, he raised his head and went to find Maxi.
    True to her stubborn nature, she was on her feet, refusing the paramedic’s offer of an oxygen mask. Her desperate eyes sought Jason. “Where’s Mama? Is she OK?”
    She took a few unsteady steps toward him before her legs gave out, and he caught her.
    “I think so. They’re looking at her now.” Maxi’s colorless lips matched her pale skin. “You need oxygen.”
    “I have to see her first.”
    There was no use arguing with her. She was as stubborn as a spreading fire. He half carried her to the ambulance, motioning for the paramedic to follow. Once Maxi spied Bernice lying on a gurney, she pushed out of his arms.
    “Mama.” Her croak turned into a cough. “I’m here, Mama.”
    Bernice’s lids flickered open for a moment. She gave a brief smile before they fluttered closed again.
    “Is she all right?” Maxi asked the attendant.
    The man, in his forties with a brush cut and a no-nonsense attitude, avoided her question. “We need to get you all to the hospital.” He nodded at Jason. “You too, sir.”
    As much as he hated it, Jason knew the guy was right. Plus he wanted to make sure Maxi received treatment. She’d been unconscious for who knew how long.
    Before she could protest, he grabbed her by the waist, hoisted her into the ambulance, and then climbed in after her. With the adrenaline waning, exhaustion crept into his body like water trickling through a dry creek bed. After Maxi was settled, he let the attendant place the mask over his face, then leaned back, waiting for the ambulance to take them away.
     
     
     
     

6
     
    Maxi fought her way through dense fog, battling for breath. She had to find Drew. He was in this maze somewhere. She coughed, unable to find air. Heat singed her eyelids.
    Fire!
    She shot up as a scream ripped from her throat. Strong arms pulled her close where a steady heart thumped under her cheek.
    “It’s OK. You’re safe.”
    Jason . Relief spilled through her. Everything would be all right now.
    “Where’s Drew?”
    She felt him go still and pulled back to look at his face. Under his tousled mop of hair, sympathetic eyes watched her.
    “You were dreaming, Max. Drew died a long time ago, remember?”
    The confusion in her brain refused to clear. “Where are we? What happened?”
    Jason held her shoulders. “You’re in the hospital.” His voice was low and calm. “A fire started in the barn and spread to the house.”
    Oh God, no. Not another fire.
    Adrenaline surged through her veins. Where was her mother? She tried to push Jason away and get out of bed, but he kept a hand on her shoulder.
    “Your mom’s going to be fine,” he said, as though reading her mind. “She suffered some smoke inhalation. Not as much as you, but because of her illness, they want to keep her for a day or two.”
    Tears blurred her eyes, partly from gratitude, partly from the force of what they had escaped. They both could’ve died. “How—how did we get out?”
    She fought to recall any detail, any tiny scrap about it. All she remembered was waking up on the grass with someone pushing an oxygen mask over her nose.
    “I got you out.”
    She wiped the moisture from her cheeks and stared at him. His face was grim; his jaw clenched tight.
    Jason had saved them?
    “You? How?” Her throat burned with every word.
    “I was on my way home and saw the flames in the distance. I didn’t realize it was your place until I got closer.” He shrugged but the look on his face told her just how bad it had been.
    “So you came and got us out?”
    Jason looked uncomfortable. He shifted on the bed beside her. “It’s what I’m trained for.”
    Maxi tried to comprehend the magnitude of what he had done, scrambled to find the words to express her gratitude, but all she could do was cough. It was an effort