All Chapters of Loved From Afar: Chapter 11 - Chapter 19

His words were more effective than a bucket of ice water.She released her hold on him, leaned back, and watched him take two shaky steps backward, both of them panting for breath.“Maybe you’re right. The last thing I need is to rush into anything right now,” she conceded after a long silence.He nodded, and she could see what it cost him to agree with her.“Not that I’m not insanely attracted to you, Karli. That’s not it at all, trust me. I have wanted to be with you for a long, long time. But I also don’t want to see you get hurt anymore.”“Would you hurt me?” she asked, her eyes locked with his.“Never, if I could help it,” came the earnest response. “But if we are ever together, I need to know it’s because you want to be with me. Not because of loneliness, or physical attraction… or grief.”She nodded silently, weighing her disappointment against the wisdom of what he was saying.Then she hopped down out of the truck, whispered, “Thanks for dinner,” and hurried past him toward Sa

She gasped.“But we only hung out a few…”.“It’s been way, way longer than that,” he interrupted, taking another step closer.“I fell in love with you the moment I saw you at that frat party seven years ago. But my feelings did not need to be the reason I told you. Was Evan’s cheating wrong? Absolutely. Did you deserve to know? Absolutely. But I questioned my motives for wanting to reveal Evan’s secret. Not to mention, I didn’t want to tell you something I knew would hurt you. Does that make sense at all?”“I…I can’t be around you right now,” she whispered, and slowly turned and walked to her car.“Punch me,” he offered, striding after her. “Scream at me. Throw things. Whatever you need to do. But please, Karli, please. Don’t try to drive while you are this upset. Please.”She whirled around again, and her face crumpled as she began to sob.“How could you do that? How could you just… keep quiet like that?”He put his arms around her, and she struggled at first.“No! Get away from me!”

“So, that wasn’t so bad,” Karli decided as they left their first childbirth class later that afternoon. “A lot of that stuff I already knew, and I am totally okay with the idea that watching the video isn’t required.”Jordan grinned.“I thought that might make you happy. I’ve had to watch it, as part of my EMT training. It’s pretty, um, intense.”“You know what else is intense? This heat,” she observed, fanning herself with the welcome pamphlet they’d been given. “Late summer in Texas is always a beating, but being almost eight months pregnant in mid-August? That sucks on a whole new level.”“Sounds like you could use air conditioning, a bowl of ice cream, and a foot rub,” Jordan mentioned. “And I just happen to know a place that has all three.”“Lead the way,” she urged. “Before we melt.”In a half-hour, Karli was stretched out contentedly on Jordan’s couch, a bowl of her favored sea salt caramel ice cream in her hands.She was also moaning lightly as Jordan gently worked a knot out

After three hours, the general surgeon came out to the waiting room.“I’m sure you all will be glad to know EMT Baker should make a full recovery,” he began, and the room erupted with cheers.The surgeon smiled and waited a moment before motioning for quiet so he could continue.“The surgery went well. The knife missed all major organs, thankfully. He did have muscle and ligament damage that required repair, so you all will have to do without him wrestling a gurney for a little while. We’ll keep him for a few days, then send him home.”“How soon can we see him?” Tim asked.“Immediate family only until he’s out of ICU,” the doctor replied. “He’s in post-op right now, and we’ll be moving him to ICU within the next two hours.”“His girlfriend’s right here,” Tim pointed at Karli. “Can she see him in post-op?”Karli lurched to her feet and came to stand beside Tim with hopeful eyes. Tim put an arm around her.“Give us ten minutes,” the surgeon said, “and I’ll send my nurse out to come get