The Heart Wants What It Wants

"Nate!" Sierra cried in relief, too happy to even process the fact that he might have heard her confession while lying there. "You're alive!" 

"Barely," Nathan coughed out. 

Barely was okay. She would take barely—it was a million times better than not being alive at all. She knew the nurse said he would make a full recovery but she hadn't entirely been able to believe that until he woke up. Seeing him lying there unconscious and covered in burns had been absolutely terrifying.

"How are you feeling? What hurts?"

"Everything," he groaned. "Talking hurts too. At least I can still move. I really thought that was the end for me."

And yet he had charged in as fearlessly as always. Her earlier anger about his complete disregard for his own life came flooding back now that the worry had subsided a bit. She would have smacked his arm if it wouldn't seriously hurt him.