Chapter 76

76

ZACH

"What do you think Will's big news is? Did he drop any hints?" Wearing briefs and freshly showered, we were in the process of dressing for dinner in the city with Sammy and Will.

"Nope. I couldn't get a damn thing out of him. He insisted on waiting until tonight at dinner." Jason stepped into a pair of slacks, pulling them over his hips and zipping them up. Pity.

"Okay, so do we think wedding news or moving in together? Or something else?" I pulled on my shirt and began fastening the buttons.

"I don't know. They kind of already live together, don't they? Maybe they set a date for the wedding."

"Possible, though it wouldn't surprise me if they just up and went to the courthouse without telling anyone."

I lost my train of thought as I watched Jason do up the buttons on his shirt, fingers efficiently brushing against the fabric. It wasn't often that he needed to wear anything more formal than athletic clothes or his uniform, but when he did, he made it hard for me to concentrate.

"What do you think about us moving in together?"

The seriousness of his tone pulled my focus back up to his face. He was looking at me with a hesitant expression. It took a moment for his words to register, but when they did, a slow smile overtook my face.

I stepped toward him, closing the distance between us. "Finally. Ugh," I said with a playful roll of my eyes. "I thought you'd never ask!"

He grabbed my hips and pulled me into him. "You're the one who should do the asking. It's your house after all…"

"I didn't want to assume you'd move in here. Maybe you want me to move into your house?"

"Honey, we've never even spent a night together at my house. I think it's safe to say this is my home. Here with you."

"Mmmm," I said, my lips brushing against his. "I love the sound of that."

I kissed him, as always, savoring the feel of his lips against mine. This time, I couldn't help but feel a sense of wonder that I'd been so lucky. Not just that he'd given me a second chance, but that he loved me so deeply, despite everything that had happened.

"I guess we'll have our own news to share tonight." I started to lean in for another kiss when the buzzing of my phone interrupted me. I turned to where I'd tossed it on the bed while I was changing and picked it up. My eyes shot to Jason's. "It's Sarah."

I swiped to answer, but was surprised when it wasn't Sarah's voice I heard on the other end of the line. "Zach, you have to come over here. She's on the ground, and I don't know what to do."

"Slow down, Sean. Who's on the ground?" I switched to speakerphone so Jason could hear.

"Aunt Sarah. We just got off the bus and found her on the floor in the kitchen. She's not moving."

Jason jumped in, his EMT training taking over. "Can you tell me if she's breathing?"

"Um, I don't know. I can't tell." I could hear the tears in his voice.

"Sean, I know this is really scary, but I need you to?—"

A faint moan sounded on the other end of the line. "Aunt Sarah? Wake up, okay? We need you to wake up." Sean's voice came through a little softer, as if he'd pulled the phone away from his face.

"Sean," Jason said, volume pitched a little louder to be heard. "We're going to head over there, but I need you to hang up and call 911." We'd already put on the nearest shoes we could find and were heading toward the garage. "Sean? Can you hear me?"

"Yeah, I can hear you."

"Okay. We're on our way. I'm disconnecting the call. Call 911, and they'll tell you what to do."

We took my car, getting across town in record time while Jason texted Will to cancel our dinner plans. The fire station was located on this side of town, so the medic beat us there, and I could tell Jason was warring with whether to barge into the house or stay out of the way. In the end, the kids decided for us, making a beeline straight over to us as soon as we got out of the car.

Jason scooped up a frantic Lauren while I pulled Sean and Rusty forward, wrapping my arms around their shoulders and squeezing them tight. Moments later, Sarah was wheeled out on a stretcher, her eyes open and responsive, though her color was quite pale.

"Mommy!" Lauren called out, trying to launch herself out of Jason's arms so she could get to her mom.

Jason kept hold of her but carried her across the yard toward Sarah and the other medics from his department, while the boys and I followed at a distance. I saw Jason speak to one of the EMTs and then lean over so Lauren could give her mom a hug. One of Sarah's arms came around her, patting her back weakly, and then Jason pulled Lauren away so they could load Sarah into the ambulance. I caught sight of Sarah swiping at her face just before they shut the doors.

"They're not entirely sure what's going on. It doesn't appear to be a cardiac event, but there are a lot of reasons a person can collapse, so they're taking her to the hospital to get her stabilized and run some tests."

"Can we go there?" Lauren asked, her big brown eyes swimming with tears. "I want my mommy."

Jason's eyes met mine, and I finally understood how couples had entire conversations without speaking. He was letting me make the call. "Yeah, honey. We can go."