Fighting the Flames by Leslie Johnson Page B

There was no escaping it.
    He lifted a hand to explore himself and quickly lowered it when agony rippled through him. Safer to just open his eyes, inspect himself visually.
    “Ryan? Oh thank God, you’re awake.”
    He blinked several times to clear his vision and see Jess’ face hovering over him anxiously.
    “What…” he tried to talk, but his voice came out barely over a whisper.
    “Sshh, be still, don’t say anything. I’m calling a nurse.”
    “Wait… water.” His throat was on fire but she was gone, the door closing softly behind her.
    Moments later, two women entered. One a nurse and the other was clearly the doctor. Jess came in behind them, hovering near the door, her face a mask of worry.
    “Welcome back, Mr. James. I’m Dr. Steadman, critical care specialist. Do you know where you are?”
    “Hospital,” he managed to rasp out, then wanted to punch the woman for asking such a silly question. “Wha hap?” He couldn’t manage more. “Water,” he finally said.
    “Yes, you’re at Mercy General in the intensive step-down unit. Let me do a quick assessment and then we’ll see about that water.”
    She poked and prodded until he was grinding his teeth but Ryan kept his gaze fastened on Jess to give him much needed strength. Finally, she seemed satisfied and poured an inch of ice water in a cup and lifted the straw to his mouth. It was heaven but he could only take a few sips before starting to cough. It was enough and he felt better with just that tiny amount.
    “Before I list your injuries, I thought you would want to know that the little boy you saved is doing just fine,” Dr. Steadman said, her eyes soft with compassion. “It was a very brave thing for you to do. Foolish, but brave. I’m afraid you’ve paid quite a price.”
    He waited, afraid to ask.
    “The good news is that I expect you to heal completely, but it will take a while. As I’m sure you realize, you have significant smoke inhalation and are being treated aggressively. You landed on your left side, which resulted in four broken ribs, a broken collar bone, dislocated shoulder and a severe concussion. There was also internal bleeding which resulted in your spleen being removed.”
    He said nothing, waiting for her to go on. He felt sure she would add several more broken somethings to the list. When she didn’t, he licked his lips to give them a tiny bit of moisture before managing to ask, “How long?”
    “You’ve been here four days.”
    Shit. “Home?” he rasped out.
    “I plan on keeping you here for at another twenty-four hours, possibly forty-eight. Your incisions from the splenectomy are healing nicely but, now that you’re conscious, I’ll want to monitor you closely for complications from the smoke inhalation as well as the concussion.”
    “But…”
    “No buts,” Dr. Steadman gave him her best authoritative stare. “You are very lucky to be alive and I plan on keeping you that way.”
    ****
    True to her word, Ryan was in the hospital for the next two days and Jess hardly ever left his side. Because he could barely talk, she just sat near him, holding his hand and spooning warm broth and Jell-O in his mouth.
    Once he was transferred from the step-down unit to a regular hospital room, all the guys from the fire hall came to visit. The Jernigan’s came too, all tears and thank yous. Little Jake even brought him a stuffed teddy bear of his own.
    “You… very… brave,” Ryan whispered to the boy who was on the bed and curled against his right side.
    “When I grow up, I’m gonna be a fireman too,” Jake said, nodding emphatically. “That way I save people like you do.”
    “And teddy bears.”
    “Yep, ‘specially teddies.”
    The next morning he was released and Shane and Jess got him home and into his own bed. It was wonderful, sinking into the familiar pillows and he realized someone had washed his sheets and blankets because they smelled wonderful.
    “Thank you.” He was talking better now. Still