Chapter One

The call came just before ten in the evening.

Laura Burton ran through the station toward the ambulance as the dispatch squawked again, echoing up to the rafters of the rescue squad’s garage. She jumped inside the ambulance and slammed the passenger door shut just as it pulled out of the station into the hot, hazy night. Jordan, the other paramedic on shift, put the pedal to the floor while punching the siren and lights that would wake the dead, not that the sound bothered her anymore after eight years on the job. Her phone buzzed, and she pulled it out to check the name before answering.

She held on as Jordan raced over the hills in the inky black dark. She knew they weren’t far. After a few tense minutes of racing through the dark August night, orange light in the Montana sky rose like a dawn of death, above the dense pine trees on the old, winding country road. The flash of blue and red lights flickered on the trees ahead of them as they approached the curve.

Jordan careened around the bend, revealing a towering blaze through shards of tortured guardrail. The brakes squealed in agony as they pulled up next to the fire truck and Sergeant Ashleigh Myers’s cruiser. Laura didn’t wait. She jumped out, pulling her bag over her shoulder and running toward the valley, down the hill.

Fifty yards away, the blaze lit up the valley like a sun radiating from a crumpled ball of expensive metal at the core of the fire, laughing in the face of whatever the firefighter was trying to douse it with. Laura couldn’t tell if it was Megan or not but hoped to God she was there or coming from the truck. Megan was as pink and bubbly as bubble gum, but damn, she was fierce and knew how to do her job.

Laura sprinted toward a figure she recognized as Ash twenty yards away, now crouched above a body fresh from the flames of hell. The rumpled body lay limp.

Laura slid down to kneel, the gravel from the nearby river biting into her knees through the uniform. The wave of heat hit her face, illuminating the man in front of her in an eerie flickering glow. She felt for a pulse and leaned in to listen for signs of breathing. Both were faint. The body reeked of alcohol.

“What do we know?” she asked, ripping open the seal on an oxygen mask.

Sergeant Ashleigh Myers’s voice cut to the chase like the cold, precise edge of a knife, short and sharp to compete with the sirens. “Megan got him out. I’m thinking DUI. There were some bottles on the floor. I’ll need to come to the hospital and get a blood alcohol. He likely has injuries to limbs and severe burns—the car’s electric. Batteries keep catching. Went off the road and rolled down into the valley.”

The fire made everything orange. Laura couldn’t see Megan but knew her best friend and the station’s top firefighter would be right in the thick of the flames.

Laura pulled out a penlight and shined it onto the hands and face to see the damage before applying the mask. A quick glance told her his hands had gotten the worst bit. One side of his face was red and swollen—

Her breath left her in a rush. “Oh my God.”

Jordan slid down next to her with the backboard.

“How bad? Third?”

“No, first, maybe second on the hands. But…I know him.”

The older paramedic muscled over, ready to jump in as he always had whenever she needed as long as they had worked together. “Here, I’ll take over if you can’t—”

“No, I got this. Patient has a history of drug and alcohol abuse.” She steadied her voice and got a grip.

“Laura, are you sure?” Ash’s voice was softer now. They had been tight friends since Laura had become a paramedic.

“No, seriously. I’m okay.”

Ash touched her arm until she looked up. Her violet eyes searched Laura’s in the dark for a quick second before nodding once. Laura both understood and didn’t mind. Friends in their line of work had to look out for each other.

Now was not the time to get all up in her head. Laura rattled off what she knew, while they went into the seamless dance of triage they had trained for. Each pulled out equipment before the other could ask for it. Muscle memory pulled Laura through the movements, as they secured him on the board.

“Stable for transport? Med evac?” Ash asked, her hands on her hips, badge glinting in the firelight.

“Blood pressure looks okay. We’re taking him now.”

“I’ll follow.”

Laura didn’t turn around to face her friend, but finished securing the head restraints, careful of the burns on his face, and latched onto the handrails of the backboard.

“One, two, three.” Jordan counted as they hauled what was left of Carter Price up and marched toward the hill he had rolled his car down. Laura caught a glimpse of the fire Megan and the other firefighters were beating into submission. The flames reached for the stars above with a frantic desperation. For no reason in particular, Laura remembered her mom’s wood stove. She had always thought fire looked like hands of the damned in hell reaching for benediction. The light stretched their shadows, unnatural in the dark night, on the mountain prairie.

The weight in her hands brought Laura back to the present. The large body overwhelmed the backboard, his feet reaching the edge of the board. Carter had always been tall, but the years had changed a lot. He wasn’t the same wiry kid from high school. Even unconscious and injured, Carter had a powerful presence, no doubt—what was once skin and bones was now muscle. Laura felt her arms start to give when another firefighter came up behind and helped take up the weight. They trudged up the steep climb, stumbling in the dark on the spot where Carter’s tires had plowed through grass, carving their own path.

The ambulance looked like a literal heaven with the pure white light pouring out of the back windows. The team loaded Carter inside, and Laura hopped in the back while Jordan slammed the doors shut. Laura heard the driver’s door close in the front, and with a lurch, they sped off into the dark.

In the clear light, she rechecked vitals and assessed the damage again. It looked and felt like a fracture, but she couldn’t be sure. Heart rate was elevated, but that could be a mix of adrenaline, pain, or whatever else Carter was pumping in his body these days. His face was banged up. Laura pulled out a burn kit and applied the medicine to his hands and face.

He looked familiar enough as the guy from around town back in high school. What had it been? Fifteen years now? God. Why was he back? He hadn’t wanted to see her ever again, and now they were locked in a steel box together. Had he gotten a say, she was probably the last person he’d want to see again after things had finished between them.

“Well, guess what, buddy? Welcome home,” she said in a dry voice.

Had he been any other patient, Laura would’ve done her thing, alone with no witnesses. They were a small town with a small team of paramedics only going out two at a time, which meant she was alone in the back.

She had learned of her ability through pets and skinned knees when she was young. She didn’t know how she came by it, but all she needed to do was close her eyes and visualize the wounds healing to make it so. She’d been practicing for years and had helped everyone she’d ever reached on the job, provided they weren’t already gone. She knew she couldn’t help the deceased. Burns, bones, and gashes, she could kickstart the healing process before carefully wrapping them in bandages. By the time the nurses at the hospital removed all the coverings, the wounds were well on their way and past the point of infection.

It was the same with heart attacks and pneumonia. Laura would remove her gloves, place her arms on the patient, and with her eyes closed, visualize the heart beating and the lungs draining of fluid and filling with sweet air. Some cases were more complicated, but she did what she could in the short drive between the pick-up and the hospital.

So why wasn’t she doing it now?

His face was the one she still thought about from high school. Laura bit her lip and pulled off her gloves before placing them on his skin, tacky with sweat from the fire. Even he deserved help and her oath required it, but something about this situation felt different.

She drew in a breath and tried to calm her mind. The warm glow from within didn’t come. She tried to imagine his burns healing, the broken bone knitting together, but nothing happened. Laura tried again, mimicking everything she had done for years. Starting to panic, she placed her hands on his chest and gave it another go with a steadying breath. A faint tinge of warmth came from within, but the reaction wasn’t the same. Why wasn’t it working?

The ambulance lurched over the speed bump, welcoming them to the hospital parking lot. She felt the ambulance make the turn into the emergency department entrance, right before the squeal of brakes signaled the end of their journey. A team of nurses opened the doors and pulled Carter Price out of her hands. Jordan followed, giving the notes.

Melanie Harrigan, who went by Mel and was Laura’s favorite ER nurse, hustled over in her blue scrubs. “This my car crash? Laura?”

What had gone wrong? She sat there, searching his features, trying to think of why this might be happening.

Mel waved her hand in Laura’s face. She snapped out of it and nodded. “Sorry. Burns, broken leg, and a few gashes. Patient has a history of drugs and alcohol.”

Mel’s eyebrows furrowed as she reached up to play with her wedding band, which was strung on a necklace. “You tested him?”

“No, I knew him a long time ago.” Mel’s eyebrows rose. Laura kept going. “Ash needs blood alcohol; she’ll be here soon. Thinks DUI.”

“Gotcha. Fire out?”

“Not when I left. Megan was there though.”

“It’s electric,” Ash said, coming up from behind them. “Those fires can go on for days. All those battery cells.”

“Damn technology,” Mel said with a shake of her head. “I’ll get your test results, but you know I don’t like to do a blood draw on my patient when they’re unconscious.”

“Supreme court authorized it, and I’ve already called in for a warrant.”

“Yeah, well, the warrant would make me feel better, but I still don’t have to like it,” Mel said over her shoulder as she walked through the sliding doors into the golden light of the emergency waiting room.

“He’ll fail,” Ash said to Laura. “He reeked of alcohol.”

“If he’s anything like I knew in high school, yeah, he will. Big time.”

“I’ll read him his rights when he wakes up. When do you think that’ll be?”

“He might wake up tomorrow, but he’ll be out of it for a few days.”

“Surgery?”

Laura shook her head. “I don’t think so. I’m thinking a fracture.”

Ash nodded and folded her arms. Her badge glinted in the light from the ambulance behind them. “You okay?”

“Me? Yeah, why?”

Ash’s violet eyes stared at her close enough that Laura felt like Ash was looking into her soul. “Tough running a call with someone you knew.”

Laura shrugged. “Business as usual. It was a long time ago.”

“How’d you know him?”

Laura paused. There was no getting around it. Ash could sniff out a liar, and they had been friends for years. Lying would just piss Ash off. “We dated for a bit.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah.”

“You sure you’re okay?” Ash asked with a pointed look.

“Yeah, rock steady. I mean, come on. Do I look like I’m that type?”

Ash shrugged. “Old feelings—”

“Yeah, no. There’s no need to worry about that.”

Ash didn’t look convinced. “If you’re sure.”

“Yep. I am.”

“Where’s Holden? You don’t normally run nights.”

“Yeah, I got a sitter for tonight. He’s good though. All about Elmo right now, and Mickey Mouse.”

“Good. I needed ideas for his birthday.”

“Yeah, I gotta plan that.” Laura pulled her hair into a knot on top of her head. Birthday parties seemed to creep up out of nowhere. Did she need to invite kids? His birthday was just over a week out. Crap.

“Yep. Good luck with that. Let me know if there’s anything I can do,” Ash said, heading to her cruiser.

“What about that whole hating kids thing?” Laura leaned back against the bumper, still waiting for Jordan to come back.

“Holden’s not a kid. He’s my lil dude. Totally different,” she said, walking backwards. “I’m going to call you later. Check in.”

Laura would’ve told her not to bother, but Ash wasn’t going to listen anyway. Instead, Laura waved her off. With a salute, Ash walked back to her cruiser, no doubt to call the cops who had stayed behind at the scene of the crash, leaving Laura to wonder what had gone wrong.

━━━━༻❁༺━━━━

Chapter Two

The next morning, Laura handed over the last two bills she had in her wallet to the sitter who was still stretching from waking up on the couch in her two-bedroom apartment.

“Holden slept great after dinner and hasn’t moved an inch. Maybe you’ll get a chance to lie down,” Jessica whispered.

“Here’s hoping. Thanks for giving him a bath.”

Jessica waved her hand. “No worries. Happy to do it. Let me know when you need me next. I’m going out of town for the next two weeks, so I won’t be available for a bit.”

“I’ll work around it,” Laura said before thanking her again and shutting the door into sweet silence.

The apartment wasn’t great, but it wasn’t the worst thing ever. Located in the basement of another townhome, though the two were disconnected—Laura never would’ve gone for someone having a door to her space—the apartment’s plan was well laid out and felt roomy inside.

Just enough for her and Holden, who thankfully was sleeping in for once.

Laura threw the lock and pulled off her shoes, placing them down without making a sound. She would kill for a shower after her shift, but that wasn’t going to happen with how loud the spray was in the bathroom. Holden had the hearing of a bat hunting at night and the ability to go from zero to sixty in the time it took for her to turn on his bedroom light.

There wasn’t a true foyer to speak of—the door of the apartment opened right into the living room. A hallway led toward the bathroom and two bedrooms, which were surprisingly large. Through the living room was a dining area and then a standard apartment kitchen complete with a washer and dryer. She had loved the layout so much that she was willing to overlook the thin, worn carpet and the cabinets, which probably weren’t real wood and definitely weren’t on trend.

Overall, the price had been right, and that’s what mattered these days and ever since her husband of a year and a half, John, had walked out never to be heard from again. Laura had found out she was pregnant two weeks later.

The court had granted her a divorce by default after an expensive lawyer, every reasonable attempt to find him, and a waiting period. Full custody of Holden was awarded to her, terminating any parental rights should John ever reappear—not that she thought that would happen. At first, she had searched and waited, but now presumed him dead. Laura hadn’t found her life to be much different without him. It hadn’t been a happy marriage and was heading toward divorce when he had walked out of their small rental house for the last time.

Laura walked to the kitchen and started a pot of coffee before walking the nine steps it took to get back to the living room and sit in her recliner, the one splurge item she had bought herself as a new mom. It had come in handy on those seemingly endless nights when Holden would only sleep against her.

She rested her eyes and listened to the sound of the Mr. Coffee heating the water. The knots in her shoulders relaxed from the tension they had been clinging to. She didn’t have to work tonight, which meant she could catch up on sleep after her night shift. The remainder of the evening hadn’t been memorable, with only a couple of calls that required a vitals check but no transport, but that wasn’t what had occupied her mind.

It was Carter. The man who had broken her heart back in high school. In hindsight, he was probably the reason John had seemed like such a great idea at the time, and look how that had turned out.

But it wasn’t bad memories that were weighing on her. Why hadn’t it worked?

Laura had been able to heal everyone she touched except for Holden and her mom. Given they were both family, she had written them off as exceptions. After all, there wasn’t a handbook to this kind of thing, and she had never told another soul, especially since Holden had come along. A single mom with a low credit score who started talking about X-Men powers was not going to have many fans in Child Protective Services.

Besides, she wasn’t hurting anyone. It was the opposite. She quietly helped everyone she could, while scouring the internet late at night to find anyone else like her who didn’t live in a fantasy novel.

While Laura didn’t know where or how or why, she had based her life’s work around it, wanting to become a doctor or nurse since she was a young girl. Money, timing, and an unexpected baby had all been bumps in the road, but some day she would make it.

The coffee pot beeped, but Laura’s eyelids didn’t flinch. Just a little rest was all she needed before—

“Mama!”

Laura drew in a breath and tried to open eyes that somehow had become magnetic and were now glued to each other.

“MAMA! I pooped!”

That got her up.

She headed for the hallway lined with pictures of Holden, pulling her uniform top off and slipping out of her pants before reaching for an old cotton robe in the bathroom. God, her clothes still smelled like smoke from the crash. Carter’s crash. She needed a shower and a long sleep before she gave him any more thought.

“Coming, baby!” she said, cinching the tie tight around her middle.

“Mama! I’m taking off my Pull-Up!”

“Here I am! Good morning—” The smell almost knocked her flat.

“It’s a big poop,” Holden said, his brown eyes growing wide to clue her in to the magnitude of what awaited her.

Five minutes later, after she had cleaned and dressed Holden for the day, Laura carted out the carnage that was the diaper in a grocery bag she threw on the outdoor step to take to the dumpster later. Armed with enough room spray to blind a moose, Laura ushered Holden out toward the living room, much to his cranky dismay, and let loose.

“Alright, let’s get you some cereal.”

“‘Eerios! ‘Eerios!” His cheeks jiggled as he ran over to the table and scrambled up into his chair.

Laura laughed at Holden’s interpretation of the name just like always, imagining him going into marketing to rebrand the General Mills cereal for Halloween. She poured out the honey-nut circles into Holden’s favorite Mickey Mouse bowl before getting the matching spoon, one of his Christmas presents.

She sat with a cup of coffee and watched the toddler dig into his breakfast with delight, milk dribbling down his chin.

“How was last night with Ms. Jessica? Did you have fun?”

Holden looked up, chubby cheeks filled to the brim like an adorable chipmunk. He bobbed his head. “We watched Mickey Mouse and she made mac and cheese!”

“Was that yummy?” Laura asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

Holden shrugged, his new favorite move. “A little bit. I wanted ice cream.” He shrugged again bringing his shoulders clear up to his ears.

Laura chuckled and was going to ask another question when the phone rang.

“Hang on, sweetie.” She jogged over to the door and dug in her purse to find her cell, tossing out pouches of applesauce, fruit snacks, and a couple of used tissues. She really needed to clean this out. Finally, her hands touched the glass.

“Hi, this is Rachel. I’m calling from Goldvein Apartments, LLC. Is this Laura Burton?

Holden let out a shriek in the background and started banging his spoon on the table to what could be considered the alternative rock ABCs.

“Holden! Inside voice! Sorry, This is Laura Burton. Let me just go into another room.” She slipped into her bedroom and shut the door behind her, which only managed to muffle the LMNOP. “How can I help you?”

“I’m calling because we have not received your rent payment—”

Laura strained her neck back and up toward the builder-grade, so-called white, painted ceiling as she mouthed a very bad word.

“I’m so sorry. Time just got away from me. I’ll drop off a check this afternoon.”

“Mama?”

“Hang on, buddy, Mama’s on the phone,” Laura called through the hollow core door. “Hi, are you still there?” she said into the phone.

“Yes, ma’am. I also wanted to let you know—”

“MAMA!” On the other side of the door, a chubby fist rapped on the wood before shaking the doorknob with persistent determination.

“Just a second, buddy! Listen, I’m sorry this isn’t a great time. Can I call you back?”

“Ms. Burton, it’s urgent that I speak with you today.”

“MAMAMAMAMAMA!”

A loud phwap shook the door, followed by another—the sound of an empty Mickey Mouse bowl colliding with the wall, no doubt spraying bits of milk everywhere.

“I understand. I’ll call you back.” Laura didn’t wait for a goodbye before she ended the call.

She tossed the phone on her unmade bed, thought better of it, and plugged it into the charger, before raking a hand across her hair and pulling it down her face. Not great for skincare, but hey, who cared at this point? How could she forget the rent again?

“Okay, baby!” she said, opening the door. “What’s wrong?”

“Quick! Come see!” His chubby little feet covered with Goofy socks sprinted back toward the dining table before he clambered back up to his seat. “See!” He gasped and puffed out his cheeks, pointing at an apparently offensive speck of milk almost invisible to the naked eye. “I spilled!”

Laura drew in a long breath. “It’s okay… Mistakes happen. The important thing is,”—she reached over to the counter and grabbed a dish towel—“that we clean up.”

Ten minutes later, breakfast was all cleaned up, and the melodic and maddening sounds of Mickey Mouse cartoons filled the apartment. Holden had proceeded to dump his basket of toys all over the floor. Combined, the toys and the show bought Laura twenty-two minutes of peace where he could entertain himself.

Laura grabbed her phone of its charger and eased into the recliner, holding a now-cool-to-the-touch cup of coffee. She could get up and microwave it, but she was so exhausted, she was just going to call it iced coffee to make herself feel fancy.

“Miska Mouska Mickey Mouse!” Holden called out right on cue to the TV, while holding a car in one hand and his stuffed rabbit in the other.

In lieu of a coaster, Laura set the mug down on the worn Disney World planning book and felt her eyelids droop. A little rest wouldn’t hurt anything.

The phone buzzed again in her lap.

Laura didn’t move. They could leave a message. She’d drop off the rent check after she took a shower, to hopefully wear out Holden for a nap. A long walk should be enough to get him to go down. She wouldn’t take the stroller.

“GRAMMA!”

Holden grabbed the phone with her mom’s picture on the screen and slapped his little hand across it like he had seen Laura do many times.

“No, no, no. Bring it here.”

Holden grinned like he was going to make a run for it, but Laura faked him out and grabbed the phone, hitting the green button to answer. Her mom’s face popped into view with a smile.

“Hey—”

“Hi, Gramma! Look, Donald’s so silly!”

“Is that Donald Duck? I know him! He is silly. Did you put some money in the bank that I gave you?”

Holden’s eyes got big and serious. “Yeah, five monies!” He held up his chubby little hand, splayed out to show all five fingers.

“Hey, Mom.”

“Hey, yourself. Just wanted to call and check in.”

“We’re okay here. How are things going over there?” Laura sat up in the chair and considered Holden for a moment, who was still transfixed on whatever puzzle was on the screen. “Therapy still going well?”

“Slow, but I don’t want to talk about that.”

“You sound good.” One of the many things Laura had to be grateful for was that her mom hadn’t lost much of her speech with the stroke. She had been moved to a rehabilitation facility in Missoula about a six-hour drive away.

“Thanks, been trying to keep busy. I spoke with your aunt earlier.”

Laura listened to her mom fill her in on all of the goings-on in the family and the rehab facility, which she had chosen because it was one of the best in the state. She and Holden missed seeing her but made the drive as often as they could and called with video almost every other day. Thank God for technology. It was so much easier than a twelve-hour round-trip drive with a three-year-old. Hopefully, her mom would be out soon, and they could all be back in the same town again.

It wasn’t that her mom didn’t know how to live on her own. She was still sharp as ever and had been doing as well as could be expected after Laura’s dad died of cancer a few years ago, but the stroke had taken the left side of her body, and walking, dressing, and even making a cup of coffee was all a slow battle to relearn. The goal was that her mom would get a small apartment and become independent again, but there was a long road ahead of her.

Laura listened and chatted until Holden’s show ended, promising to call tomorrow.

“It’s overrrr!” Holden announced as she disconnected the call.

“How about we clean up and go on an adventure outside?” Laura said, leaning forward.

“YAY!”

Thirty minutes later, they were walking hand-in-hand outside around the apartment complex in the sun. Montana was known for fierce winters, but the summers were gorgeous. Blue skies that went on for miles were a welcome reward after the heaps of snow.

They took the long route, avoiding the community playground on their way to the leasing office. Laura figured business before play. Once Holden was on the slide, there was no coming off without a tantrum.

“Good morning,” she said as they walked into the cheery office where Rachel sat behind a counter. They were about the same age, but Rachel put way more thought into her clothes. Today she wore a maxi dress and jean jacket. Her hair was always the same, pulled back into a tight bun.

“Good morning! Hey, Holden. What do you have there? A flower?”

Holden clutched a dandelion in his fist and hid behind Laura’s legs, peeking out and giggling.

“I see you!” Rachel pulled out a basket filled with lollipops and glanced at Laura, who nodded. After a short-lived game of peek-a-boo, Holden had an orange sucker balancing out the flower.

“I’m just here to drop off my rent check. Sorry about that. Time just got away from me,” she said, passing it over.

“Thank you,” Rachel said as she reached over. “I’m glad you came because I have some paperwork for you.”

“Rent going up? Isn’t it time to renew my lease?” Laura asked, keeping an eye on Holden, who was walking in a circle by the door.

“Well, actually…” Rachel pulled her lips tight like someone does when they’re about to give bad news. She pulled an envelope from a stack and passed it to Laura. “We’re renovating the basement properties, so we need them empty for three months. Failed inspection and we have to do it now. Old pipes, and some of the units had traces of lead paint.”

Laura’s stomach dropped a little, but she tried to stay calm. “Okay, do you have another property available?”

Rachel pulled her lips tight again, and Laura’s body felt like it got hot all over. “That’s why I was calling earlier. I just leased the last one.”

Laura’s heart started to pound, while she processed this. “So what does this mean exactly?”

Rachel looked like she might be sick and looked down at her desk before looking back up. “I’m really sorry, but you’re first on the list to get your place back in three months. They need the apartment clear no later than thirty days from now, so I’m sorry, but you’ll need to move out.”

━━━━༻❁༺━━━━

Chapter Three

“Alright, where is it?” Jordan said as they pulled into the park with the siren going. Laura was back on call after a full twenty-four hours of worried attempts at packing and falling asleep, neither of which she’d made any progress on.

“There’s the party,” she said, pointing toward a pavilion decorated with pink balloons for a child’s birthday party. A crowd of people crouched around what looked like a child lying on the ground, while some adults ushered a few tear-stained kids toward the playground.

Jordan pulled up as close as he could. Laura jumped down and jogged over with her bag.

A woman rushed over, eyes wide with panic. “Thank God you’re here. She’s never had any allergies before, but we gave her some trail mix maybe fifteen minutes ago. She said she felt tight and that she couldn’t breathe.”

“Okay, what’s her name?”

“Katie. She’s my niece.”

“And you’re sure there aren’t any known allergies?”

The woman hugged herself and started rocking. “Not that we know of. Her mom’s right over there.”

Laura thanked her and found Jordan had already reached the mom, who was crying and shaking her head. She went right to the little girl on the ground and knelt before her.

“Hi, Katie. My name is Laura and I’m here to help you.”

Katie looked to be about seven and was wearing a unicorn T-shirt and jean shorts. Her black hair stuck to her tear-stained cheeks and had bits of mulch stuck in it. A quick check of her vitals revealed an elevated heart rate, low blood pressure, and wheezing.

“Does your throat feel tight?”

Katie nodded.

“Can you tell me what happened right before you felt this way?”

Her voice was hoarse, high-pitched, and Laura couldn’t understand what she was trying to say. Katie’s eyes started to panic as her breathing picked up.

“Stay calm. Just look at me,” Laura said, seeing Jordan already pulling out a syringe and a vial of epinephrine to the side. “My friend Jordan is here to help too. He needs to poke your leg.”

Katie shook her head and grabbed Laura’s hand, tugging it toward the back of her calf, which was red and swollen.

“Did you get stung?” Laura asked.

Katie nodded as two more big tears fell from her eyes down her cheeks.

“Have you ever been stung before?” Katie shook her head back and forth.

“Okay, I’m going to need to check that, but first Jordan has to give you a shot. I’m going to count to ten. Hold my hand.”

Katie’s mom knelt down now too and took hold of her other hand. Jordan administered the shot while they counted to ten together. Laura had to hand it to the girl—she was a trooper and didn’t flinch after the first shock of the needle.

“We’re going to need to take her to the hospital. You can drive her or we can transport her,” Jordan said to the mom, who nodded and swiped away her tears.

“Okay, let me grab my purse from my car and tell the other parents.”

Jordan and Laura helped Katie onto the stretcher and moved her into the back of the ambulance. Jordan talked with the mom and the dad once more, giving Laura a few minutes alone.

Katie watched Laura with big eyes, tracking her every move. It was so much easier to heal patients who were unconscious.

“I’m going to wash my hands and take a look at your leg now.”

“Will it hurt?” Katie croaked out.

“No, I’m just looking. If it hurts, just tell me and I’ll stop, but I’m really just looking.” She waited until Katie nodded.

Laura pulled off her gloves and cleaned her hands. “I’m going to touch your leg and tilt it toward me to get a better look at it.”

Katie nodded and watched. Laura drew in a breath. She was nervous, this being her first attempt to heal since Carter. She had so many questions, but mainly—would it work again? There was only one way to find out.

She touched her hands to Katie’s calf, pulling it slightly to reveal the red welt. Laura took another breath to quiet her mind and closed her eyes, visualizing the swelling going down. The familiar warmth and tingling started in her chest again before she opened her eyes and saw the red blotch retreating slowly. Laura could hear Jordan and the mom coming closer, so with another breath, she steadied her mind and visualized Katie’s airway opening back up.

Katie took in a deeper breath than before and blinked a few times.

Laura let go as the mom stepped up, then turned to pull on a fresh pair of gloves.

“Can I sit by her? I’ve never been in an ambulance before.”

Laura spent the rest of the ride keeping an eye on Katie and her mom. Katie was improving with the medicine and the healing, but her mom hadn’t improved much, still choking back sobs and apologizing to Katie about her birthday party.

“Happy Birthday, Katie,” Laura said. “I didn’t know that was your party.”

Katie gave her a shy smile and murmured a thanks when her mom prompted her.

The tell-tale sign of the speed bumps announced their arrival at the hospital. Katie’s mom thanked them both several times before she followed her daughter inside with the nurses.

“I’m going to grab a quick bite. Want to come? It’s roasted chicken today,” Jordan said, walking backwards toward the door to the cafeteria.

Laura waved him on. “You go ahead. I’ll grab something from vending.”

“Alright. See you in twenty,” he said, taking a left down the hallway into the belly of the hospital.

Laura shut the doors to the ambulance and walked inside, veering right instead of left. The little girl named Katie was going to be fine, but any calls with kids made her nervous and really brought all the mom-guilt right to the forefront of her mind.

She slid her phone out of her pocket and checked the preschool’s app for updates on Holden, who apparently had not eaten his vegetables again today and had a bathroom accident. There was a picture of him coloring something that resembled a Jackson Pollock, and another shot of the playground with a blur of him mid-run.

Laura popped the phone back in her pocket and headed to the vending machine just as her stomach squirmed audibly. She was starving, and the roast chicken at the hospital wasn’t bad at all, but she needed money for whatever deposit she was going to have to make. The last time she looked for an apartment, she had picked something she liked that was almost the cheapest on the list, which meant no matter where she went, it would be more money that she really didn’t have.

It wasn’t that she was totally broke. She had cash—enough to keep her car in working order, save a little, and feed Holden’s Mickey Mouse addiction. But no one said paramedics made great money, and the lawyer’s fees had wiped out most of her savings from before she had Holden. She wasn’t in the hole, but she wasn’t very far ahead either, and every time she had a little cushion, something always came around to take a bite out of it.

Laura bought a peanut butter candy bar, figuring it at least had some protein that might get her through until she could go home and eat something real. As she nibbled away, she found a bench to sit on, waiting for Jordan to finish off his lunch.

At least she had one thing going for her. She had been able to heal Katie at least a little—enough to know her powers were there. When she hadn’t been able to heal Carter, a small part of her had worried she was losing it. If she wasn’t able to heal, her job would take on a much different meaning. Not that she hadn’t been trained for it, but having her power as insurance helped her sleep a lot better at night. It was one of the few things she hadn’t lost in her life. Her ability to heal was a constant, and without it, she wouldn’t know who she was or what she would do.

The thought niggled at the back of her mind. Except for Holden and her parents, she had been able to heal everyone else. She had tried to heal her dad. He was the only one who had ever found out. When she had first learned of the ability with a friend who fell off her bike, he had been the first one she had told in the garage when handing him her helmet. Laura still remembered the concerned, fearful look on his face, as he held her hand in his own and told her in a low voice to never tell anyone about what she might be able to do.

Might. Even then she knew he was too afraid to admit to the possibility. She wanted to show him, but he shook his head and warned her to be careful and never let anyone see. For a confused and curious child, seeing her brave, gregarious father shaken haunted her.

He never spoke about it again, but he offered a quiet smile filled with pride but laced with worry every time she spoke of going into the medical field. When she was older, she tried to assure him no one would find out, but he held up a hand and shook his head before asking her just to be careful.

She was. Since then, there had been countless people, and the process was always so effortless that it was easy to lose track of how many people she had helped. No one suspected a thing.

Laura glanced up and down the corridors and started walking, tossing her wrapper in the trash can as she passed.

She knew the hospital’s layout after having spent a fair amount of time there, so she soon found the unit she was looking for—post critical care.

Two oversized doors blocked her entrance with a keypad on one side. Laura bit her lip and started to leave. It was a stupid idea to see if she could try and heal him now to show herself she could do it, so she could put this whole thing behind her.

One door swung open and a nurse walked out, and it was someone she recognized.

“Hey, I think I know you,” Laura said before she could stop herself.

“Hi…yes, I think we’ve crossed paths before. I sometimes work down in the ER. How can I help you?”

“I’m looking for a patient we transported here a couple of nights ago. Burns and a broken tibia.”

“Oh yes, he woke up and is doing well. Would you like to visit? I heard through the grapevine one of the paramedics knew him before.”

He was up?

“Word gets around fast,” Laura said.

“I’ll take you back. He’s been asking about what happened to him. Doesn’t remember a thing.”

“Oh, no, that’s not necessary,” Laura said. “I just wanted to make sure he was okay and stuff.”

“You sure? I don’t mind.” The nurse pulled her badge with the white keycard hooked on it. “Might help him get some questions answered.”

Laura glanced at the clock on the wall. Jordan wouldn’t be back for another ten minutes, and with any luck, Carter would be asleep, so she could test herself and get out of there before he woke up. After what he had been through, he would almost certainly be knocked out by medicine.

“Well, okay, but I only have a few minutes.”

The nurse smiled and touched her keycard to the pad, escorting Laura inside.

The unit looked like most others with the nurses’ station in the center and doors all around to various rooms.

“He’s right over here in this room.”

What in the hell was she doing here? Laura visiting a patient who was her ex-boyfriend was so not a good idea. “Look, he’s probably sleeping. Maybe I’ll just come back another time.”

The nurse opened the door, and there was Carter. He looked like he was asleep, reclined, but not quite flat on his back, his leg in a cast and parts of his face and hands covered in bandages.

Laura stopped and stared, a cocktail of emotions flooding her chest. Regret? No, that wasn’t it. Revenge wasn’t right either. Remorse for not being able to heal him was the loudest and the only reason she took a step forward.

His head turned to her, and those dark green eyes zeroed right in on her, stopping her midstride.

Laura opened her mouth and closed it, not knowing what to say.

Carter shifted and blinked as if trying to sit up and say something to her, not that he had much success. The nurse pumped the hand sanitizer on the wall and rushed over, rubbing her hands with the foam.

“This is one of the paramedics who brought you here. She stopped in to see how you’re doing.”

He kept blinking and squinting at her with his brows furrowed.

“Um…hi. Look, I’ve got to get back to work. It’s nice to see that you’re awake, and I hope you get some rest and have a smooth recovery,” Laura said, stepping backwards. “Thanks for your time and for letting me on the unit,” she added to the nurse. “I’ve gotta run.” She darted out of the room and out of the unit to save herself the embarrassment of any further conversation.

As she raced back to the ambulance, she figured she had been right. Laura Burton really was the last person Carter Price wanted to see.

━━━━༻❁༺━━━━

Chapter Four

“That was nice of her to come and check on you,” said the nurse, who began checking his vitals for what felt like the fifteenth time that day.

Carter tried to sit up, but his head was pounding, his leg was throbbing, and the only feeling he recognized was pain, but he knew who he’d seen.

Laura had just been standing in the doorway of his hospital room, looking like she had seen a ghost from the past. She was probably right to look that way, considering how things had been left between them.

There was certainly no love lost there. At least, not on her part anyway.

Laura had been great. Funny, beautiful, smart, a little shy to go on adventures in a pickup truck deep into the country. For a while, things had been amazing between them—or so Carter had thought. He had been chasing her since sixth grade when they first met in history class. Their teacher, Mrs. Mildrew, had paired them together to work on a project on Abraham Lincoln. Laura had done most of the work because Carter had been too busy sitting staring at her dark hair up in a ponytail and her huge brown eyes framed with perfect black lashes, trying to figure out how to untangle his tongue.

They had received an A on the project, which was purely because of Laura, and Carter had set out on a quest to learn everything he could about her. While he was at it, he tried anything to get her to notice him, which unfortunately meant he got more attention from every teacher than anyone else in his class. His mom hadn’t noticed, as she was too busy being a waitress after his dad walked out. Carter craved attention from Laura and a glimpse of her soft, pink smile, all kindness and warmth. Any chance he had to act a fool, he relished in before glancing over to catch her giggle, which resulted in a lot of detention…which resulted in a lot of hanging out with kids who thought the rules were suggestions…which resulted in a slow slide into breaking other rules.

Carter had pulled it together for a little while, however, with Laura’s help. Thank God for Mrs. Nelson, who had partnered them up for a chemistry lab right before the homecoming dance. By this point, Carter’d had over four years of practicing confidence, and when he asked Laura out over the Bunsen burner, the pink tinge in her cheeks and delighted smile were the sweetest rewards he could’ve counted on. They had dated for what would turn out to be an incredible school year and the kind of summer kids remembered for the rest of their lives. Until it ended.

It had been in August and they had been to a bonfire on his friend Bradley’s family’s property. No one lived there, they just owned the land, which is why it was the perfect hangout for a bunch of teens. Carter had met Bradley and his girlfriend in detention, forming a fast bond over too many poor choices to count. They had never liked Laura, worried she’d call the cops, but Carter had promised them she would play it cool and wouldn’t snitch. Turns out they’d been right, but not for the reasons they’d feared.

Carter closed his eyes against the memory, but the vision was seared into his mind. He had just gotten his license and bought an old truck earlier that summer before his junior year. Carter didn’t remember most of the bonfire other than Bradley laughing until he cried over something stupid Carter had said. Laura had been cool, and everything was going well until the accident. It was the trip home at the end of the night that changed everything. Bradley’s Bronco in front of them, speeding, taking a curve too fast, smashing into a tree. Bradley and his girlfriend were thrown from the vehicle. Carter took off toward them. And that’s when Laura called 911. When the cops came, they found all the drugs Bradley had been selling stashed inside the back seat. He had been high and drunk while driving, and his girlfriend was dead.

They read Bradley his rights while the paramedics checked him over, and the whole time Bradley was screaming every name in the book at Laura, who stared with glassy eyes in shock at the drugs on the hood of the cop car. That’s when Bradley outed Carter too.

Lying in the hospital now, tears stung his eyes as he remembered the look of betrayal Laura had given him when the cops found the additional drugs in the very seat she had been sitting on. Her expression as the police car pulled away with him in the back seat was forever burned into his memory. He and Laura hadn’t communicated again—until today.

“Oh, I’m sorry. That hurt you,” the nurse said, seeing his tears and offering him a tissue, which he accepted. “Let me go and grab your pain medicine. It’s about that time anyway. I’ll be right back,” she said as she pumped the sanitizer and left the room.

Carter sighed and looked around the room. It reminded him of juvie.

Bradley had been tried as an adult and had gone to jail for a long time for killing a passenger while driving under the influence. Carter got a misdemeanor for possession and spent a little time in juvie before heading to the alternative school across town where he probably belonged. The whole situation just about killed his mom. She couldn’t look him in the eye for a long time. That’s when he met Coach.

Carter shifted in the hospital bed and let out a sigh of relief when he saw the crumpled paper that had been in his pocket on the night of this most recent crash. He reached out, straining his muscles and skin to the point of agony, and picked up the program from Coach’s funeral.

The former marine turned math teacher had coached the alternative school’s intramural football team and had taken Carter under his wing, taking him to get burgers and fries once a week so they could talk on the hood of his old beat-up truck. They kept the routine up, even when Carter had earned his way back into his old high school where he spent his last year on the honor roll and football team. Laura had still been there, but he was too ashamed to talk to her. Instead, he focused on school, with Coach’s help.

It was because of Coach that he got into Stanford, graduated with an MBA, and had started his own tech company. Carter owed all of his success to Coach and had invited him on a trip to Wall Street to see him ring the bell on the floor of the Stock Exchange. After, Coach insisted on taking Carter out to get burgers and fries. The next day, Carter returned the favor by treating the closest person he had to a father to a real pastrami sandwich.

He had stayed sober until after the burial.

God, it was some kind of irony that Laura had pulled him out of whatever fiery crash had happened, bringing them right back to where they started. Her doing the right thing, him a drunk screwup.

His phone buzzed next to him on the nightstand. One of the nurses had even been kind enough to plug it in for him. Checking the number, Carter shifted as much as he could with his leg in a cast to grab it.

“Hey, Mom,” he said, trying to disguise his labored breathing.

“Oh, I’m so glad to hear your voice. I’ve been calling the nurses twice a day, trying to get through to you. Do you need me to come up there?”

“What? No, I’m fine. Just ran off the road, got banged around a bit.”

He could almost hear his mom chewing her nails. “I don’t mind coming up there. I already talked about it with Fred.”

Carter’s mom had married Fred and moved to Florida a few years ago. Most of her time was spent trying to learn how to crochet and sending him pictures of the flowers on her patio. She was truly happy for the first time in years, probably because she had money ahead of her and didn’t have to worry about Carter. Until now.

“No, seriously. I’m okay.”

“The doctors told me you have a broken leg and a lot of burns. Are you sure? I don’t mind. Really.”

“Mom, it’s fine. I’ll send you a picture to prove it.”

“Okay. If you’re sure.” His mom sounded anything but sure.

“I’ll call you every day. I’d rather you come visit when I get home. You can help me with my garden.”

“Say when and where and I’ll be on the first flight.”

“Okay, sounds good.”

“Carter?”

“Yeah, Mom?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“You scared me.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll be okay and I’ll call tomorrow.”

“Only if you feel up to it. I don’t want to bother the doctors.”

“I’ll make sure to call when I can,” he said before promising her two more times and ending the call. He held his phone in his hand and let his head fall back. He hated worrying his mom, and though he’d been past that for fifteen years since the arrest, all it took was one crash in Goldvein to bring back the not-so-good days. Then again, his mom always worried.

Carter’s phone rang again. Mom almost always called back after hanging up. He rested his eyes and answered.

“OH THANK GOD YOU’RE OKAY.” The screeching on the other end had him jerking the phone away from his ear. The distance didn’t lower the volume.

It was Ruby, his VP. “I have been trying to get ahold of you for two days, and you know how I get when you ignore my texts. Where the hell have you been?”

“It’s nothing, really. Car went off the road—”

“WHAT?! You were in a wreck and you didn’t even bother to tell me? How am I supposed to find these things out? Why did you even go back there for so long? Could’ve flown in and out for the funeral. Done. You said you hated that place and never wanted to go back—”

“It’s fine, I’m okay, but yeah, I guess things have been a little crazy around here. I just have a few scrapes and bruises,” he said, frowning at the bandages covering most of his arms where he could feel the tightness of the skin starting to sting again. Thank God the nurse was coming back with the medicine. He didn’t think now was a great time to bring up his broken leg.

“Okay, great. So when are you coming back? We have the board meeting to prepare for. We cannot mess this up.”

“I’ll make it back. I just need a few days to sort some things out.”

“I can fly out there, you know.” Her voice softened, like it always did when she changed gears.

Ruby was always so willing and eager. She had been dropping hints since day one about the two of them working late together and maybe grabbing dinner. She always wore the tightest dresses with staggering, red-soled heels. At first, Carter had been interested, and they grabbed dinner a few times, spent a few late nights together, but after a long weekend away with her, he had seen her true colors start to peek through and had tried to let her down and distance himself. She was smoking hot, funny, and smart, but there was just something that rubbed him the wrong way, especially given she was his employee.

“Look, there’s no need for that. Just give me a few days to get things straightened up and I’ll be back in California in no time,” Carter said, tamping down her repeated offers.

A dull ache was beginning to form at the base of his head. Did he have a concussion? He hadn’t thought to ask the nurse. Ruby’s overwhelming concern wasn’t helping. He cut her off midword.

“Well, thanks again for calling.” He glanced at the still-closed door. “The nurse is coming in now—”

“YOU’RE STILL IN THE HOSPITAL?”

Carter jerked the phone away from his ear again. “I’ll give you a call in a few days.” He hit the red button to end the call and let his head fall against the almost paper-thin pillow.

Everything ached, and Carter knew his body needed rest, so he let out a slow breath and tried to relax. Carter had two thoughts as he drifted off to a restless sleep. He needed to thank Laura—and at least this trip couldn’t get any worse.

━━━━༻❁༺━━━━

Her Captive

Elizabeth Schechter

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