The Naughty List Bundle - Kylie Adams [233]
The smoke was thicker, filling the air while frantic animal growls and cries echoed off every wall. Gabe hadn’t seen any signs of an actual fire, but then the smoke tended to mask things. He had enough trouble just breathing. As Gabe struggled to release an older German shepherd, he tripped over a pile of feed and went down. His head hit the edge of a metal cage, and he saw stars.
“Gabe!”
As if from a distance he heard Lizzy calling him, and panic engulfed him. Was she hurt? He tried to raise himself, but everything spun around him. And then she was there, her arm supporting his head. She coughed several times before she was able to say, “Gabe, you have to stand.”
Gabe could tell she was crying, and it cut him deeply. “Lizzy?”
“Please, Gabe. Please.” She tugged on him and finally he managed to get his rubbery legs to work, leaning heavily against her. Something warm ran into his right eye, and he wondered vaguely what it was before Lizzy’s insistence that he move forced him to concentrate on her demands. It was slow going, the smoke so thick he couldn’t see at all.
Then blessedly clean air filled his lungs and he dropped to the ground. Lizzy knelt over him, her soft hands touching his face. “Oh, my God. You’re bleeding.”
Gabe said, “The animals…”
Elizabeth swabbed at his face with the hem of her dress, giving him a peek at her panties as she did so. “You’ve got a nasty cut.”
“I’ll be fine,” he muttered.
She ran off but she was back within seconds. “Here, hold this against your head. Can you do that, Gabe?”
She handed him a soft pad, and he realized it was from the clinic. He pressed it hard to his head to stem the flow of blood.
“Don’t you dare move, Gabriel Kasper.” Her voice shook, thick with smoke and, he thought, perhaps emotion. “And don’t you be seriously hurt, either.” He saw her wipe tears from her face with a soot-covered hand, and he tried to smile at her, but his head was pounding painfully. “I’ll never forgive you if you’re seriously hurt.”
Before he could reassure her she was gone and a new panic settled in. Dear God, she’d gone into the clinic! Gabe summoned all his strength to stand, to fetch her and keep her safe, and then he heard the sound of approaching sirens and knew Morgan was almost there. He’d take care of things. But Gabe was needed still; he had to help her….
Morgan’s big hands settled on Gabe’s shoulders. “Don’t move, Gabe.”
“It’s just a knock on the head. Stupid cage got in my way.”
Morgan pressed him down. “Damn it, I said don’t move, you stubborn fool!” Speaking to someone else, Morgan said, “Go ahead. I’ll take care of my brother. Get the animals out.”
“Lizzy?” Already Gabe’s head was starting to clear, even as a throbbing pain settled in. The sirens were blasting, not helping one bit, keeping the animals frenzied and his head pulsing. He glared at Morgan. “Get Lizzy.”
“She’s inside?” Morgan jerked to his feet, but at that moment Lizzy stumbled through the doorway, aided by two firemen. She had a box of mewling kittens in her arms, and she was a dirty mess. “Here she comes now.”
Morgan went to her and took the box of kittens. “Sawyer was right behind me. He’ll fix Gabe up good as new.”
Gabe watched her lean against Morgan for just an instant, then she straightened and hurried to Gabe.
“Shh. It’s all right, babe. I’m okay. I just got knocked silly.” He pulled her to his side as he carefully sat up. “Morgan! Shut the damn sirens off.”
Morgan barked a few orders, and one fireman rushed to do as he was told. When silence settled in, Gabe touched Lizzy’s blackened face. “Are you all right?”
She wasn’t listening to him. She’d spotted Sawyer and she ran to him, then practically dragged him to Gabe. He had Jordan with him, and Jordan looked frozen with shock.
“What the hell happened?” As Sawyer spoke he opened his bag and began swabbing off Gabe’s face. To Lizzy he said, “Head wounds bleed like the very devil. If he’s not hurt anywhere else then he should be fine.”
Gabe took pity on Jordan. “I’m fine, Jordan. Go check your animals.