55. After
FIFTY-FIVE
After
STEVE
When Kiro walked into the treatment room, the doctor was stitching up a laceration above Steve’s eyebrow. There were more cuts on his face and his left arm and torso were covered in bruises. The doctor hadn’t yet started treating Steve’s ankle, but he’d get there soon enough.
His turnout jacket had been tossed on a chair in the corner.
Kiro stepped into the doorway and smirked. “You know… I can’t really tell if you fell or single-handedly break up a bar fight.”
Steve lifted the mask off his mouth and nose. “Fuck you,” he wheezed and then coughed a few times.
“You’re sounding better at least.” Kiro leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, casually watching the doctor care for Steve’s injuries. “I think you owe Derek and me a drink after today.”
Steve coughed again and spoke in a scratchy whisper. “I owe Tim at least two. He dug me out. Is he doing okay?”
“Mask on,” the doctor ordered.
Steve shot him a dirty look but complied.
“He’s about like you,” Kiro held up his hand and made a circle in the air around Steve’s face, “minus the whole bar fight look, and he managed not to break his mask, so yeah. He’ll be fine.”
Grateful his fellow firefighter was going to be okay, Steve nodded in relief.
“Tara’s here.”
Steve stiffened and stared at Kiro. “Why?” His heart rate increased.
Kiro caught the increase on the heart monitor and hid a smirk. “She’s worried about you.”
Steve grunted.
Kiro rolled his eyes. “What happened last night, man?”
The X-ray technician brought an X-ray of Steve’s arm for the doctor.
“I’m not the one who ran outside with my ex.”
“You don’t even have an ex,” Kiro said, matter-of-factly. “Come on. She likes you. Celeste told me how upset she was when he showed up out of the blue. Said he tried to explain how the girl she caught him cheating with meant nothing. He all but admitted he’d said the same thing about Tara.”
“Asshole,” Steve said under his mask.
“Yep,” Kiro agreed. “Word to the wise? Never let Tara think she means nothing to you. You mean something to her. Though, for the life of me, I don’t understand why… because you’re kind of being a total dick right now.”
“She means something to me.” Steve’s voice came out as a raspy shell of its former self.
“I mean, I know it’s only been since yesterday, but you need to talk to her….” Kiro stopped himself. “Wait. She what?”
“She means something to me,” Steve repeated.
“Looks like they’re not broken,” the doctor said of both Steve’s ankle and wrist, interrupting their conversation. “You’re going to have to wear a brace for a while though with the sprain. That means light duty for the next few shifts.”
“A whole week?” Steve spread his arms wide. “I’ve gotta work, Doc.” His wheeze broke into a cough, so he pulled his mask off in annoyance.
“Not this week, you’re not.”
The doctor left, only to be replaced by a nurse.
“Put the mask back on, Mr. Cook.” The nurse fitted it back over his nose and mouth with a glare that rivaled any his fellow Marines could give. “I’ll be back in a while to check on you. You’re here for another couple of hours, so sit back and make yourself comfortable.”
Kiro nodded to the nurse as she left. “So, should I send her back here?” Kiro extended his hand toward the waiting room. “She’s here to see you, remember? She’s worried.”
Steve shook his head. “No.”
“No?”
Steve coughed again. “No. Tell her I’m fine. I don’t want her to see me in here.”
“Really?” Kiro laughed. “You’re playing the pride card?”
“Get outta here.”
“Yep.” Kiro turned but paused with his hand on the doorframe. “Tara’s great, Steve. Don’t fuck it up.”
Kiro tapped on the doorframe before heading through the doors to the waiting room. He shook his head as he approached Derek, who was flirting with a nurse. He smacked him on the arm. “About done here?”
“See you tomorrow night.” Derek flashed a smile at the nurse, who wiggled her fingers in a wave, then fell in step next to Kiro. “Figured I’d come back and search for you.”
“Really put a lot of effort into that, didn’t you?”
“Got distracted.”
“Uh…huh.”
Kiro returned to an anxious Tara and Celeste sitting in the waiting room. Derek was right behind him.
Tara popped up. “Well?”
“He’s gonna be fine.”
Tara held her hand to her chest and closed her eyes in relief. “Thank goodness.”
“Granted, he looks more like he got into a bar fight than fell a story or two in a burning building, but he’ll be okay. He has to stay on oxygen for a while to make sure his lungs are clear.”
Tara’s eyes widened. “He fell? Can I see him?”
“Sorry, family only.” Kiro exhaled. “Hospital is pretty strict about that.”
Derek arched a brow but said nothing.
Tara pressed her lips together and nodded as Celeste and Kiro exchanged a knowing look. “Okay. Thanks.”
“Look.” Kiro nodded toward Derek, who remained conspicuously silent. “We’ll bring him back to town later tonight. He’ll probably just sleep it off and be better in the morning. You can probably catch him then.”
Tara dropped her shoulders. “Okay.”
Celeste rubbed circles on her back. “Come on. Let me take you home.”
Disappointed, Tara nodded in agreement and let Celeste lead her out.