Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
Gibson found himself smiling a little more than normal at work, which was something that the other firefighters noticed.
Including the Chief and his family.
Gloria Campanelli liked to come in every few weeks and cook for them, especially on days when they were constantly on the move with calls.
As soon as they pulled onto the apparatus floor in the ladder truck, Pits commented on the smell.
"We're eatin' good tonight, boys!"
In the front passenger seat, Gibson turned to look at the other men in the cab of the truck. "Manners, boys."
Mats leaned forward and drew in a deep breath. "Magic. Smells like Missus Campanelli has graced us with her skill!"
The doors practically blew open when Pits put the truck in park and the men bailed out like they were on a sinking ship. Gibson slid down from his seat and called out as the men rushed inside trying to beat the rescue crew to the food. "Wash your damn hands!"
He went to the equipment room first to make sure that he had a clean set of bunker gear waiting for him. He felt like his coat was a few pounds heavier than it had been when he'd put in on a few hours before and when he looked up, he saw his reflection in a shiny glass surface a few feet away.
He looked like he'd walked through darkness and come out wearing it.
The news crews that had been at their last call had been practically crawling all over them until Chief Campanelli had told them to back off.
It was amazing how people who didn't wear a stitch of safety gear think that they can get within a few feet of a fire and come out unscathed.
And that sometimes meant that they moved in too close, training their focus on the fire and what would be the most dynamic shot, paying no attention to the dangers they were opening himself up to.
A soft voice reached him in the middle of his thoughts.
"Braun? You okay?"
He looked up and smiled at Gloria Campanelli. She was everyone's unofficial mom at the fire house.
It didn't matter how much salt anyone had in their hair, she took care of them all.
"Good, Gloria. How are you doing?"
The look she gave him said she didn't believe that he was good.
Having been married to a firefighter for nearly three decades, she could pick out a lie, no matter how well intentioned it had been at thirty paces. She moved through the room, surrounded by turnout gear and other equipment looking as though she could head out on their next call with them.
She looked right at home.
"Aldo says that you're not staying at your apartment these days."
Gibson grinned. "Cutting right to the chase, hmm?"
"I believe the direct method is the best." She shrugged and folded her arms across her chest. "Over the years, Aldo can talk his way around pretty much anything to try and make me feel better even though he knows how much I'd rather hear the straight truth."
Gibson's smile deepened. "He's lucky to have you," he nodded. "And so are we."
She smiled brightly at that.
"So, from what I hear through the Station House grapevine is that you've fallen for Kay Hata at the hospital." She lifted her chin in the direction of Cole Medical. "How are things going?"
"I didn't expect to be living with her, but that's what we're basically doing right now, but it's mainly because she'd had a few break ins at her place."
Gloria raised an elegantly curved brow at that. "But it's more than that, isn't it?"
Gibson leaned against the wall and smiled at her. "I love her, Gloria. I think I've loved her for a while now."
"You think?"
"That I love her? Or how long I've been in love with her?"
Gloria watched him carefully. "It's not about what I think, Braun. It's all about what you think."
"Well, when I'm around Kay, sometimes thinking isn't the easiest thing to do."
"Ah, I remember those days," she smiled. "Those halcyon days when it was easy for us to have... What was it they called it? Ah, yes. Roman hands and Russian fingers."
Gibson had to smile at that. "What does Vitalia say when you tell her that?"
Gloria shook her head. "My darling daughter has been known to clap her hands over her ears and sing LA LA LA LA when I'm talking about what things were like with her father back in the day." Gloria was a woman who lived with her heart on her sleeve.
Her daughter, and yes, his Fire Chief's daughter was a force of nature, and seemed to blend the personalities of her mother and father, but that didn't mean that she didn't have unique characteristics all of her own.
Gibson knew Vitalia well.
You couldn't work in Fire House Twenty-Nine and not know who she was after a few short weeks. While Vitalia was also a firefighter, she didn't work at her father's fire house.
It wasn't that it was completely against the rules but if family did work together at one house there were hoops that they needed to jump through to keep the white-shirts happy, but Vitalia knew she wanted her own identity without having to play limbo with the expectations of the brass at CCFD headquarters.
That didn't mean that anyone who worked within the walls of House Twenty-Nine considered her an outsider.
To them, Vitalia Campanelli would always be the princess of the house.
"How are things working with your schedules?"
He appreciated Gloria's no-nonsense questions.
She cared, but she wasn't going to tip toe around the point.
"So far, it's okay. My apartment was closer to the firehouse than her home, but I've been keeping myself busy during the day when she's at work."
She nodded. "With the break ins I'm sure you put up cameras and outdoor lights."
He smiled at how easily she understood. "It's the same system I set up for you and the chief at your house."
"You're a good man, Braun."
"I'm trying to be the best man for her."
Gloria pressed a hand to her chest and gave him a smiling sigh. "That's so sweet."
Sweet.
Not a lot of his feelings for Kay were sweet.
Quite a few of the things that he did to her and with her were definitely not sweet.
Her husband stepped into the room and looked at them both.
"Really, Glo?"
The look on her face was priceless.
She was still smiling but the way one brow bowed up as she turned to look over at her husband spoke volumes. "Yes, Aldo?"
Gibson's Chief pressed his lips together, forming a thin line.
His wife prompted him to continue on. "You had something to say, dear ?"
Gibson cleared his throat. "I should go-"
Gloria swung her gaze back to him and he froze like a deer in headlights.
"You, Mister Braun," oh shit, "will stay right there."
Then she turned back to her husband. "You were saying?"
Gibson saw his chief straighten his spine and put a loving smile on his face as he stepped into the room and wrapped his arms around his wife.
He gave her a kiss on her cheek and then leaned back to look in her narrowed eyes. "Sorry, honey. I was just trying to give Braun some breathing room."
Gibson tensed up at his words as Gloria gave her husband a big, broad smile. "Braun seems to be breathing just find, dear ."
Oh, boy.
"And you, Aldo, you should want to know that he's happy outside the firehouse."
"And he is!" Chief Campanelli turned to look at him with an overly bright grin on his face. "You are, aren't you, Braun?"
"Happy?" Braun smiled even more. "I'm good. Really good. Happier now that there haven't been any more incidents at Kay's house."
His chief loosened his hold on his wife and his expression softened to one of mild concern. "Incidents?"
Oh, yeah. He hadn't told Chief Campanelli what had been going on at Kay's house.
The speakers above their heads blared, calling out another fire in their area.
Gibson ducked past the chief and his wife, climbing back into the firetruck as the others spilled out of the lounge doors.
As they loaded up, Gibson saw the chief step into the ladder truck with them and leaned forward until he had a hand on Gibson's chair. "Okay, Braun. Fill me in on the way to the fire."
"Fill you in on the fire, sir?"
Pits gave him a glare side-eye.
Behind him Mats almost covered a snort.
Before their chief decided to kick his ass, Gibson started talking. "It started when someone broke the back windows of her house..."
Kay was busy at work seated on a rolling stool in one of the ER exam areas. She looked up and smiled at the little girl seated on the bed, clutching her teddy bear to her chest. "How are you feeling, Sophia? Okay?"
Sophia's eyes were round and blinking back at her. "You... you can start now, Doctor Kay. I'm... I'm ready."
Smiling at the young girl, Kay nodded. "I'm already halfway done, sweetie."
Sophia sat back, narrowing her eyes at Kay's face and then down at her foot. "I didn't think you started... I couldn't feel anything."
Kay bent over to add another stitch to the cut on the girl's foot. "I just have a few more and then we can bandage you up to go home."
"A bandage? Is it a pretty color?"
Kay grinned and looked up at the nurse who was attending with her. "Thuy? Can you bring in the bandages?"
Thuy nodded, smiling. "I'll bring in a roll of all the colors so Sophia can choose."
Sophia beamed at her. "Thank you," her voice had softened. "Can teddy have a bandage, too?"
Thuy gave the little girl a wink. "Absolutely. Doctor Kay knows how important it is to keep stitches and ouchies clean."
"Thanks, Thuy."
Kay continued to stitch the cut on Sophia's foot and thought about the girl's mother who had been hovering during the examination. As soon as her mother had stepped outside, Sophia had calmed down. It could just mean that her mother was high-strung. It happened.
But when the stitching was over, Kay would keep an eye on the mother and daughter to see if there was a reason to call CPS for a visit to check on Sophia.
"How did you hurt yourself again?"
Kay kept her gaze fixed on the bottom of Sophia's foot. She didn't want to put the little girl on the spot.
"I was playing around and dancing to some videos on YouTube. My mom told me to sit down and be quiet, but I was having a lot of fun."