Chapter 1 #3
She sighed. “Yes and no. My mother would. My father would just be pissed off that I interrupted him in the middle of a big real estate deal.”
“Are you kidding? He would get mad at you if you’re ill?”
“I’m not ill! This project he’s working on is out of the country. If he had to fly home, it would probably take a couple of days to get here. And yeah. Unless I was in a full body cast, he’d be pissed.”
Dante shook his head. “Let me see what’s keeping Noah.” He called his brother and waited. When he didn’t answer, Dante held out his keys. “Here. Wait in Joanna. I’ll go get Noah, and we’ll drive you home.”
She took a step back. “I—I can find my own way home.”
He tipped his head and looked puzzled. “Oh, you don’t know where I parked. It’s right there. The black Camaro.”
“That’s okay. You keep your keys. It’s stopped raining now. I’ll wait by the car until you come back.”
Dante hesitated but finally said, “Okay,” and walked into the hospital.
* * *
He heard rather than saw his brother. Noah’s voice sounded angry, and there was a female responding in an equally frustrated tone.
“Oh shit,” he muttered. What had his little brother gotten into now?
“Sir, you need to stop here and fill out a form,” someone said as Dante strode by.
“I’m fine. Just here to see someone in there.” He pointed toward the double doors and kept on walking.
“So, you’d just let someone go on hallucinating rather than trying to help her?” Noah spat.
“If she doesn’t want to wait while more critical patients go first, I can’t force her to.”
“But you should have at least spoken to her. She said she was just left sitting and waiting—in the hall!”
Dante didn’t expect to see Noah so worked up about Mallory’s situation. He hadn’t even wanted to get involved. Why was he all hot under the collar?
Ah. He saw it now. The young woman in the white lab coat was just Noah’s type. Long, straight dark hair. Petite figure. The sparks flying were pure sexual chemistry. His tall, trim brother was standing too close and looming over her.
And she wasn’t backing down—she met his intense stare with her own. Dante figured he’d better rescue Noah before this woman tied him to a chair with her stethoscope.
He moved closer to the heated exchange. “Come on, Bro.”
“Hell no. This doctor has some explaining to do.”
“I already explained. We have a triage system. Your friend was going to be seen, but the trauma cases have to come first. It could be a matter of life and death.”
“Well, if she goes home and commits suicide, that’s on you.”
The young doctor gasped. “Oh my goodness! Is she suicidal?”
“Hell, I don’t know, but if she is—”
Dante grabbed Noah by the shoulder. “Come on. Mallory’s waiting by the car.”
Noah glared at the doctor, and she leaned forward, placing her hands on her slender hips as if challenging him to continue his ridiculous tirade.
“Fine. Goodbye,” Noah said. “Have a crappy day.”
As she strode away, Dante heard her mumble, “Son of a monkey’s butt.” He rolled his eyes, grabbed his brother’s arm, and dragged him away.
By the time they reached the parking lot, Mallory was nowhere to be seen. Dante sputtered a slew of curse words under his breath.
“See, dude? She doesn’t want help. And like the doctor said, you can’t force it on her.”
“Unbelievable. Now you’re taking the doctor’s side, after chewing her out and wishing her a crappy day.” He unlocked the car doors.
Noah chuckled. “Yeah, I stepped in it, didn’t I?”
After they both jumped in, Dante answered. “You sure did. I hope you never get brought into that ER for smoke inhalation. She’ll probably leave you in the hallway for a month.”
“No. She took the Hippocratic oath. That would turn it into a hypocritical oath.”
Dante shook his head and drove out of the parking lot.
* * *
Noah had to do something to pull his brother out of this funk. They had three days off, and he didn’t want to spend them watching Dante mope around.
“Hey, how about if we go out tonight? There’s a new club downtown.”
Dante stretched out on the couch. “Nah. I’m not in the mood to go clubbing.”
“Well, I am. I’d like to meet someone, and you’re my wingman.”
Dante smirked. “Yeah, your wingman with real wings.” Being a phoenix meant sometimes you had to make lame jokes.
“Somehow, I don’t think you’ll need them. Just distract the girl I don’t want so I can swoop in on the one I do want.”
“I know how being a wingman works.” Dante grabbed the remote off the coffee table.
“Then how about it? Will you do that for me?”
After a long pause, Dante sighed. “I guess so. As long as you don’t expect me to get involved with anyone.”
“I don’t expect anything of you, except that you go with me so I don’t look like a total loser with no friends. Tonight is all about me.”
Noah knew how his brother would react if he even hinted that he was going to turn the tables on him. His plan was to push Dante toward someone who might interest him. Someone other than Mallory Summers.
Dante was a ladies’ man. He couldn’t help flirting with a pretty girl, and Noah knew it.
He’d even flirted with Gabe’s girl, Misty, once.
He’d only done it to push Gabe into her arms, and it had worked.
Even though it had looked like Dante might get a punch in the nose for his trouble, he’d turned on the charm like a pro.
Hopefully, this club would be full of attractive single women. Noah hadn’t had a girlfriend in a while, and thinking about meeting someone did appeal to him. But tonight really wasn’t about him. It was about Dante.
“Do you have something decent to wear out?”
“What do you mean? I’ll wear whatever I usually wear.” Dante frowned and clicked on the TV.
“I just thought, you know, maybe we can go out and get something a little newer.”
Dante clicked off the TV. “What’s going on?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re acting weird.”
“I am not. What’s wrong with just wanting to look good when we go out?”
Dante sat up. “Are you hoping I’ll look good so I’ll find someone other than Mallory to focus on?”
Noah shrugged. “You could at least be open to it. Mallory Summers isn’t the only girl on the planet. Who knows who you’ll meet, if you’re not a total a-hole?”
Dante rose, still clutching the remote control. “If this is a setup…”
“It isn’t. I swear. I really do want to get out there and meet somebody for myself. I’ll admit I wouldn’t be unhappy if you found somebody too, but—”
Dante threw the remote on the floor. “I knew it.”
“Knew what?”
“I knew you didn’t like Mallory. Just because she’s having some sort of medical issue or crisis doesn’t mean you get to pass judgment on her. She’s none of your business.”
“That’s what I was saying this morning. But no. You had to drag me into it, and frankly, I’m kind of glad you did. It seems like you need some perspective.”
Dante raked his hands through his hair. He looked like he was going to explode. Instead, he just dropped back down on the couch. “Maybe it’s time to get my own place.”
Noah staggered back about a foot. “Your own place? Why? Just so I’ll mind my own business?”
“Yeah.” Dante picked up the remote and clicked on the TV again.
“Look,” Noah said. “We’re best friends as well as roommates. And brothers on top of that. There’s no way we can stay out of each other’s business. If you want to get your own place, fine. But it’s going to be a shithole. We can’t afford anything decent on our own.”
Dante ignored him.
Noah had to leave before he said anything more incendiary. He didn’t want his brother to start packing. Real estate in Boston was ridiculously expensive, even to rent.
They had a sweet setup here. Dante was able to walk to work, so there wasn’t much wear and tear on the expensive vehicle he loved and babied.
Noah hadn’t been working as long as Dante had, but he was saving for his own vehicle…a Jeep or something he could take off-roading on the weekends.
Living in South Boston and working downtown was plenty convenient.
On good days, he could walk, and when the weather was rotten, Dante took pity on him and dropped him off at work before going to the South Boston fire station.
It really was a shame he couldn’t shift and fly.
But a phoenix with its colorful plumage would attract way too much attention.
It hurt to think his brother would just up and leave. Noah needed to give him some space and let him calm down. So he grabbed his coat and set off on a long walk.
After wandering for a while, he turned toward the Quincy Market area. Sometimes things were going on down there, by Faneuil Hall or Government Center. Who knew, maybe there’d be some sort of protest, or street performers would be doing something interesting.
It was a Wednesday, so there wasn’t much happening. Just the usual tourist buses rolling by, foot traffic going in and out of shops and restaurants, and the business commerce that took place every day.
Noah spotted an old bookshop on the corner that he’d forgotten about.
The place looked like it had been there for at least a century.
They specialized in rare and antique books.
Feeling drawn to the place for some inexplicable reason, he stepped over the threshold onto wide oak floorboards.
Row upon row of bookshelves held any number of leather-bound tomes, torn book jackets, and an impressive amount of dust.
He scanned titles as he strolled by with his hands in his pockets.
At the end of one particular shelf, a book leaned precariously.
Noah picked it up, only intending to straighten it, until something caught his eye.
The gold lettering on the cover glinted in the sun filtering through the windows.
He tried to read the title and quickly realized it was in Latin.
He’d had to take one year of Latin in school but never saw the point in spending a lot of time or attention on a dead language.
He flipped open the book and found himself fascinated by some of the beautiful scrollwork on the capital letters at the top of each page.
It wasn’t like a religious text. There were columns that looked like bullet points.
Like lists. It almost looked like a recipe book.
He frowned at some of the text, but he recognized the word for gold and couldn’t help being curious.
Dante was better at Latin. He had taken two or three years of it in school, and Noah wanted to show this to him. There was something about this book…
* * *
“I think this is alchemy,” Dante said as he examined the book a few hours later. “You brought me a book of ancient science experiments, turning lead into gold.”
“Seriously?” Noah exclaimed.
“Yeah. From what I can tell…” He got up off the couch. “Let me get my iPad. Maybe we can find some kind of Latin app or downloadable translation software.”
“You don’t have to do that now.”
“I’m just glad to get off my ass and do something. I actually watched the fishing channel, and the only thing more boring than fishing is watching people fishing.”
Noah laughed and followed him as far as the hallway.
The whole time he was fetching his iPad from his bedroom, Dante kept talking. “You’re the science geek. Maybe you can set up a lab in the spare room.”
“Sure. And instead of taking a second job to afford another place, I can just churn out enough gold to stay here.”
Dante had just exited his room, iPad in hand, but stopped in his tracks and hung his head. “I’m sorry, Bro. I didn’t mean that part about moving out.”
“Good. I was hoping that was the case.”
“You didn’t deserve that. I know you’re trying to look out for me, but…”
“But deciding what’s best for you is out of line. I know.”
Dante nodded. “I’m glad I didn’t have to be the one to say it. So, do you still want to go out tonight? I’m willing to wing it for you, if that’s really what you want to do.”
“Yeah. I’d like to meet somebody. Even if it’s not ‘the one,’ I feel like doing things with someone other than my brother. No offense.”
“None taken. I’m still bummed about Mallory, but I can turn on the charm when I need to—as long as we’re there for you, not me.”
“It’s either that or stay home and set up an alchemy lab to keep me busy in my old age.” Noah was still planning to turn the tables, but he’d be a lot more subtle about it.
Dante laughed. “Old age. What are you, twenty-three?”
“Yup. And I’ll be twenty-four in about two months. I’m getting up there.” He aimed a teasing grin at Dante.
“Yeah, and a month later, I turn twenty-six. When are you going to catch up, Little Brother? I keep trying to wait for you…”
It felt good to be kidding around with his brother again.
They had been living here for three years, ever since Noah had gotten through firefighter training and his probationary period.
They’d had their ups and downs, but neither had ever talked about splitting up and going their separate ways… until today.