31. Chapter 31
“Hey,” she answered.
“Hey, cupcake, you at work?”
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”
Right, why wouldn’t she be? “I’m coming back to HQ, but this is a warning call so you don’t panic.”
“Panic about what?” Her voice already sounded that way. Judging by the look Flip gave him, he definitely could’ve chosen better words.
“I hit my head and need a couple of stitches. It’s not a big deal, but I’m letting you know so you aren’t surprised.”
“What happened?”
“I tackled a suspect and smacked into a door frame.” No way in hell was he going to tell her that the guy had been about to shoot him.
“Levi.” He could just imagine her shaking her head. “Just a couple of stitches?”
“Yeah, babe. The EMT said one or two just to keep it from coming open and bleeding anymore. It doesn’t even hurt that much.”
“Did you call Allie?”
“I think Scarlett did when Flip called her.”
“How long until you get here?”
“We’re pulling in the garage.”
“Stop on my floor, I’ll be waiting.”
“Ok.”
He thanked Flip for the ride and hopped out. When Melanie got on the elevator with him, the first thing she did was hug him. Then she hit the fourteen button, only to pull him down by his shoulders a second later to see his head.
“I’m ok.”
She let go of his shoulders and stepped off the elevator when it dinged behind her. They walked down the hall to one of the exam rooms. That she hadn’t said a word to him since they got off the phone spoke volumes. He sat down in one of the chairs and pulled her into his lap. “Words, Mel. I know you’re full of them.”
Her sigh puffed out against his cheek as she laid her head against his. “I’m sorry about last night. You were being nice to me and I was a bitch.”
“You weren’t.” He kissed her temple and rubbed her back.
“If we hadn’t been fighting, then you probably wouldn’t have gone off and tried to be a hero today. So I’m sorry anyway.”
“We weren’t fighting.” Not really. Not like they did that one time that they yelled at each other over something so stupid he couldn’t even remember why it was a big deal now. “And I didn’t get hurt because of you.”
“I’m not going to give you a hard time about your job because I know you love it, but you know I worry about you.”
“I know.”
The soft knock on the door before it pushed open made Melanie stand. Allie walked in with a smile on her face and a bag in her hand.
“Hi,” she said, putting her stuff down and looking at them.
“How’s it going?” he asked.
“Better for me than you I assume.” She popped on a pair of gloves. “Let me take a look, nephew.”
One night about three months ago he, Allie, and Andrea had a drink at the house and laid everything out in the open. Mostly Allie had demanded to know the story, and they explained. It turned out that she knew more than she thought she did. She had already known about the fire, the boy Andrea saved, that she sometimes went to see him, and that Andrea evaded her security to go see someone to get information. What she hadn’t realized was that he was both the boy who had been saved and the source of the information. Now that she knew, she sometimes called him her nephew as a joke, the same way he called Andrea Mama A.
“Honestly, I think we can glue it up. It’ll only leave a tiny scar and it’s in your hairline, so you probably won’t even see it,” she said when she pulled back.
“Whatever you think,” he said.
“Ok. Give me a minute.” After she threw away the gauze that had been on his head, she took off her gloves and washed her hands. “You’re lucky today is my last day off before I go back on rotation. Otherwise, you’d have to come to me at the hospital or let Dr. Walker with his big old ego fix you up here.” She laughed to herself. Apparently she wasn’t a fan of the male doctor who rotated through DeLaney when she wasn’t available. Levi had never met him, but he knew some of the guys preferred him when it came to more sensitive matters like rashes on their junk. Not that he was going to say that to Allie.
“I’m glad it’s you,” he said instead.
Melanie sat down beside him and rubbed his hand when she pulled it in her lap. He captured it, looking over to smile at her.
“How’s Bril doing?” he asked as a distraction.
“Good. Valerie has been on the go a lot lately, so he’s been staying busy.” She pulled some stuff out of her bag and then the drawer. “He’s also buying the house on Riverside from Andrea. The one that used to be Bryan’s. So that’s exciting for him. He’s got some plans to update it. Of course, he wants to do most of the work himself and keeps saying I can help him.” She popped on another pair of gloves and looked at them with a smirk. “I told him I don’t have a single clue about that sort of thing. I live in an apartment for a reason. They fix what needs fixing and I work a million hours when I’m on rotation. He counters with—this might be cold,” she said pouring something on his head before catching the excess with some more gauze. “He counters with there’s no time like now to learn.”
“When we bought our house, it didn’t even need that much, but I was grateful we hired someone. After seeing the work they did to get that awful tile up, it was worth it,” Melanie said, still squeezing his hand.
“That’s what I keep telling him, but you know him. He can do it cheaper and do it how he wants.” She pressed hard on the spot she was cleaning. It made him bite his tongue. “I’m excited for him.”
“How long have you two been together?” Melanie asked.
“Three years, well closer to four now I guess.” She grabbed the tube of glue and held it up for him to see. “This stuff stings like a burn. It won’t last long though, so don’t jerk away from me or it’s gonna be all in your hair and you’ll have a hell of a time getting it out for a few days.”
“Got it.” He would stay still. He also hadn’t really thought about the fact that Bril and Allie had been together for so long. It made him wonder why Bril hadn’t popped the question yet, or at least why they weren’t living together? Maybe that was the plan since he was buying the house?
The burn wasn’t that bad. What hurt more was when she pressed the skin back together and held it. “What about you two? Am I going to be a great aunt anytime soon?”
Melanie chuckled, and he glanced over at her, not sure what to say. “Valerie said you told her they needed to have more kids so you could have more little babies to love you and think you were their ‘cool aunt’,” Melanie said.
“I am the cool aunt! I can’t wait for them to get older so I can take them out and show them all the fun stuff,” she said with a laugh, pulling her hands off his head.
“I can only imagine,” he said, smirking when she gave him a glare.
“Don’t worry I was the tame one compared to my sister.”
“No doubt.”
“Ok, don’t touch it for 24 hours. Try not to scratch it at all. Don’t get it wet for 72 hours. You can shower, but use a shower cap until after that. The glue will go away on its own so no need for removal. Do you have any lightheadedness or blurred vision?”
“No.”
“Yeah, the knot isn’t big either. I think you just caught it at the right angle to tear the skin.” She dried her hands and came back over with a light, flicking it in his eyes a few times. “If you feel sick to your stomach or dizzy, call me and we’ll get you in for a CT, but honestly I think it’s more superficial than anything.”
“What about work?” Melanie asked for him.
“It would be best to take the rest of the day off if you can. Ice twenty on twenty off for a few hours until the rest of the swelling goes down. Drink plenty of water and if you stay at work, don’t be chasing people down.”
“Got it. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now get outta here and don’t make this a habit,” she said, patting him on the shoulder.
“I’ll try.”
Melanie pulled him up, never letting go of his hand on the way to the elevator. “Are you going home?” she asked.
“Only if you come with me.” He didn’t want to go home alone.
She looked at her watch as they stepped off on her floor. “I’m meeting with Andrea in fifteen minutes. After that I can go.”
“We can reschedule for in the morning,” Andrea said as they rounded the corner. She had been leaning against the wall outside Melanie’s office, obviously waiting on them. “How’s the head?”
“Still attached.” He turned and tilted it down for her to look at.
“That’s good. I’m sure Allie said you should go rest.”
“She did,” Melanie said.
“Then go home. Both of you. This can all wait until morning.”
“But you wanted—”
She was cut off with a wave of the hand. “It’ll be fine. I was going to be rushed anyway because I had a last minute lunch meeting pop up with the PC. No doubt it’s about what you did today. I’ll see you at 8:30 tomorrow.”
“Ok,” Melanie said.
“Thanks,” he said. Whatever the PC had to say about how things played out today, she better be grateful. Two of her officers probably would’ve died if they hadn’t gotten there so fast.
“Get some rest.” She walked away while they went in the office.
“I swear she just pops up when you least expect her,” Melanie said while grabbing her stuff and shoving it in her bag. “She’s never early to our meetings. If I had known she was waiting, I wouldn’t have said anything in the hall.”
“Are you upset that she canceled?” He was confused.
“Yes. I put in a lot of effort to gather what she wanted by today.” This was more of that irritability that had been an issue all week.
“Mel, she was here because she didn’t come upstairs to the fourteenth and she knew I would be with you. I know you don’t know this since you’re mostly just in your office, but she checks on everyone after they’re hurt. No matter how big or small the injury or what time it happens.”
She looked up at him with a frown. “Really?”
“Yes. Even that guy who broke his arm when he fell off the ladder a few weeks ago while replacing light bulbs in the garage.”
“That’s crazy. Sometimes it takes all I have to get out of bed, get dressed, and come to my desk job. How the fuck?” She shook her head. “I swear,” she said under her breath. He wasn’t exactly sure what that meant.
“Come on, let’s go home before you decide you need to stay.” He grabbed her bag for her and put a hand on her back. “We can get some takeout on the way.”
“Burgers? I want something greasy.”
That made him smile. “Yeah, cupcake, let’s get burgers.”