Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Hunter
O’Connor throws himself into the armchair, and the springs groan from the impact. It tilts back, the front two feet coming off the floor a few inches before landing back on the floor with an audible thud.
“You don’t love us anymore,” he tells me with a pointed glare.
Without taking my eyes off my phone, I say, “I never loved you to start with.”
He gasps, and I catch both of his hands flying to hold his cheeks out of the corner of my eye. “LT! I’m heartbroken.”
I place my phone down on the arm of my chair and make a show of rolling my eyes toward him. “What do you want, OC?”
“Well, I have a bone to pick with you. First of all—” He holds up a finger. “—you’ve been smiling. Something I didn’t think you were capable of doing,” he says, and then his eyebrows arch up toward his hairline. “Have you been hijacked by aliens? Blink three times if you need rescuing.”
I flip him off.
“I haven’t been hijacked by aliens,” I mock.
He lets out an exaggerated sigh of relief. “Phew. I would’ve had to get the plunger, and that wouldn’t have been a pretty sight.”
“Why the plunger?”
“To suck the alien out of you.”
“There’s no such thing as aliens,” Spencer chimes in, taking a seat on the couch. He’s holding a plate with two toasted sandwiches and a handful of chips. It’s coming up to 7:00 a.m., and as we only have a little over an hour left on shift, there’s no point trying to get some sleep now.
O’Connor lunges and snatches one of the sandwich halves from his plate, causing several chips to fall onto the floor.
“Motherfucker!” Spencer snaps. He quickly scoops the fallen chips off the floor and puts them back on his plate. He wipes his hand on the front of his sweatshirt, then glances up to see us watching him. “What? Five-second rule.”
“When was the last time this floor was cleaned?” I ask.
“I dunno.” Spencer shrugs, then shouts over his shoulder for the probie. “Rob-meister, when did you clean the floor in here?”
“Before we left for the bar fight last night,” Robbie calls back.
Spencer gives me a sardonic grin. “See? I’ve trained him well.”
“We’re getting off topic,” O’Connor states after he’s finished eating his stolen sandwich. “Lieutenant. Bowen. My man LT, why the fuck are you keeping secrets from us?”
“I’m not,” I say automatically.
“Uhh, yes, you are. Because unless I’m the one who has been hijacked by aliens—”
“I think you mean possessed. Hijacked isn’t the right word,” Spencer corrects.
O’Connor whirls toward him. “Can you stop interrupting me, or I’ll be sending you to fucking space.” He turns his attention back to me. “As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted by Captain Dickhead over here, you have failed to tell us you have a new beau.”
Still holding his plate and now sporting a wicked grin, Spencer leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees. It feels like I’m about to be interrogated.
“And your point?” I ask blankly.
“My point? My point, he says. After failing to tell us he is dating a fucking NHL player, he asks me what is my point?” O’Connor waves his hands around as if the answer will magically appear in thin air.
“That, my friend, is the whole point. You didn’t tell us.
Why? Did we do something to hurt you? Are we no longer buds?
Sure, I stole your shirt that one time to wipe up something from the floor, but it was only the once. Nothing to warrant the secrecy.”
I hold back my laughter and manage to remain seeming unbothered. “You cleaned the floor with my shirt?”
He waves me off. “It’s irrelevant. When were you going to tell us about Elliot?”
It’s not that I’ve purposefully been keeping him a secret, but similar to that morning in Walt’s kitchen, there’s this fierce protectiveness I have over Elliot. I see his sensitive heart. His vulnerability. The way he mentioned people take advantage of him because of his job.
Even more so now with the way I royally fucked up the other night by assuming he already knew he was on the spectrum.
Fuck. I’m so lucky he wasn’t upset or mad with the way I put my foot in it.
“How did you find out about Elliot?” I ask.
“I bumped into your uncle at the grocery store the other day, and he was over the moon with the news his grumpy-ass nephew finally found someone who makes him happy again.”
I can’t help but smile because Walt has been incredibly happy since I told him the news about me and Elliot.
He’s desperate to meet him, but with Elliot being on the road for a week, we haven’t found the right time.
But when I see Elliot tonight, I’m going to ask if he would be up for having dinner with us one night when he doesn’t have a game.
“I didn’t tell you because I knew you would be a bunch of weirdos about it. Like you were when you found out Lucas’s boyfriend works with guys who are married to two of the players.”
O’Connor feigns shock. “I would never.”
I give him a droll look.
“Okay, so maybe I would be a little bit weird, but only because I’m happy for you.”
Spencer gives a thumbs-up and nods in agreement. “What he said.”
“And maybe I would only ask for tickets like once,” O’Connor adds with a shrug. “You can’t fault a guy for trying when they’re a couple hundred bucks each.”
“What these two jugheads are trying to say is, we’re happy to hear you’ve found someone who fills your cup. There’s been a lightness about you recently that hasn’t gone unnoticed,” Lucas says, appearing from behind, and hands me a coffee.
“Thanks, I appreciate it.”
And I do. We tease each other like brothers here at Engine 3, and while I may have kept it quiet, I still appreciate their support.
Before I can take a sip of my coffee, the alarm blares throughout the firehouse. We all jump to our feet, listening to the dispatcher as it reads out the call.
“Engine 3. Truck 43. Ambulance 61. Multi vehicle collision. Possible mass casualty alert. Roosevelt and Lake Shore. Special extraction equipment needed.”
“Ah, man, this is going to be shit,” Charlie groans as we climb into the rig.
Yep, it is, but I don’t voice my agreement. I quickly glance over my shoulder, making sure everyone is in before I give him a clipped nod, letting him know we’re all set. The wheels screech against the floor as he pulls out of the station, switching on the sirens and lights.
When we arrive on the scene, Charlie parks the rig at an angle, blocking off the area. There are four vehicles involved, and one has the front completely smashed in. Police have cordoned off the intersection, diverting the early morning traffic to other routes.
Once the chief has assessed the scene, he comes over and gives out the commands.
“We have five patients. Three adults, two children. We have one red tag, two yellow, and two green. The red-tagged patient is in the silver Mercedes, trapped from the waist down. Lieutenant Bowen, I need you to oversee O’Connor and Spencer.
Time is critical, and we need to get her extracted fast before she loses too much blood.
Wilson and O’Byrne, I need you to attend vehicle two.
The blue Jeep. The patient has a head wound.
He’s conscious but also mentioned he has back pain and is unable to feel his legs… ”
I listen as the chief gives the remaining instructions, and then we get to work.
As I walk with O’Connor and Spencer toward the Mercedes, my eyes land on a midnight-blue Jeep, and my heart lurches in my throat.
Elliot has the same car. And the chief mentioned it was a male.
Fuck. It can’t be him.
No. No. No.
As panic sets in, I pick up the speed of my steps, and when I get close enough, I look through the shattered window. A sigh of relief escapes me when I see the flash of dark hair.
The man’s pained eyes land on me, and I hate the relieved feeling in my chest over the fact it isn’t Elliot.
Is this what it’s going to be like now that my feelings for him are getting stronger?
Every time I see something remotely relating to Elliot while I’m at work, am I going to go into a panic, thinking it’s him?
“I’m Lieutenant Bowen. You with me, sir?” I ask.
“Yeah, my body hurts,” he groans, and when he goes to move, I hold my hand out to stop him.
“Don’t move, sir. My team is on their way to help.”
As soon as Lucas and Charlie are close, I jog over to the Mercedes to assist O’Connor and Spencer.
I cover the patient with a protective sheet to keep her safe from any debris, and keep her calm as they cut part of the roof and remove the door.
We move out of the way for the paramedics, who step in to stabilize the patient for extraction before transferring her onto a backboard.
Luckily, we get everyone out safely, and those who require medical assistance are transferred to the local hospital.
By the time we pull the rig back into the station, my body aches, and my eyes are so dry from exhaustion.
Our shift has officially ended, and I don’t hang around any longer than necessary.
I fire a quick text off to Walt, letting him know I’m going straight to Elliot’s.
As I drive around the block to Elliot’s apartment, I’m feeling spooked by how I reacted earlier at the scene.
Distractions can cause mistakes, and mistakes can cost someone their life.
I need to get my emotions in check because I can’t risk that happening.
The moment Elliot opens the door, he jumps into my arms and wraps his legs around my waist.
“Fuck, I missed you. It’s crazy that I missed you, right?” he mumbles into my neck.
I kiss the side of his head and hide my smile in his hair. “If it’s crazy, then I’m right there with you because I missed you too.”
Without putting him down, I walk into his apartment and close the door behind me. I take off my shoes and carry him into the living room before falling back onto the couch. He settles into my lap, knees on either side of my hips and loosening his grip on my neck.