Chapter 12 #2
“Yes, mm-hmm, a girl. I held her. She’s small with a puckered face. Her name is Iris. I was going to bring her yellow outfits. Lena likes yellow, and it’s a gender-neutral color.”
“Wow, we’ve both had busy days. Congratulations, Uncle Chip.”
A twisted sort of smile played on his tight lips. “I hope you don’t ever get hurt again.”
“I hope so too, but there are no guarantees in life, babe. Look at what we do. I run into burning buildings, and you skate around on blades and get knocked into boards. We’re both in high-risk jobs. All we can do is be as careful as we can be.”
His head bobbed, curls bouncing. “I will be. You be careful too.”
“Cross my heart.” My belly roared. “Guess that’s a good sign. Maybe I should see if the nurse will bring me something to eat. I don’t feel quite as sick.”
“I do not recommend a burrito.”
That made me chuckle. It hurt my thick head, but it was totally worth a little pain.
Much like the love I felt as I gazed up at Chip.
I loved him. Now all I had to do was find the courage to tell him.
After I told the rest of the world about us.
Maybe he wouldn’t have to worry about my dangerous job after I came clean to Sully.
I was enjoying my hospital breakfast the next morning when Sully peeked into my room.
“Come in,” I called, making sure not to let the twinge in my head show on my face when I spoke too loudly.
He eased into the room to present me with a bouquet of flowers he had obviously purchased in the gift shop.
“You’re supposed to give flowers to your wife, Cap, not to some fool who got himself blown across town. ”
“She’s a sure thing. No need for flowers after twenty-some years of marriage.”
“I’m telling her you said that at the Fourth of July cookout,” I said with a waggle of my spoon at him. He waved it off with the bouquet of mums and baby’s breath.
“You look good,” he said, placing the flowers on the windowsill. The curtains were drawn tight, and the lights were low. It was like resting in Dracula’s den sans the coffin in the corner.
“You can tell me the truth,” I replied as I spooned up some yogurt. The food was good. Scrambled eggs, oatmeal, yogurt, toast, and coffee. Last night, I’d only gotten a snack of some Jell-O and ice water since I’d been feeling sick beforehand. That stayed down so today I was ready for real food.
“Okay, you look like you were blown off your boots then flew ten feet or so to kiss a brick alcove.” Sully took a seat on the left side of the bed.
“Cool. Chicks dig that look.”
“Since when do you care about what chicks think?” He sat back, coat still on, and rested his ankle on his knee.
“I don’t really. My brain is bruised. That just came out. I think I was looping an old video game or some testosterone-fueled movie.”
“Tim is taking a few days off. You’ll be given two weeks and an evaluation by a doctor before you can return to duty.”
“Figured.” I sighed as I poked at the remnants of my eggs. “Any casualties?”
“No, amazingly. Some burns and smoke inhalation. Lots of physical damage to the surrounding buildings. We still have teams out. Overhauling the sites to ensure no flare-ups. Portnoy and his crew from the fire marshals are on scene now. All utilities are off in a four-block radius until clearance is given from the investigators.”
“Good, no loss of life. Any of our men hurt?”
“No, just a few injuries. That explosion could have killed a lot of our people if you hadn’t yelled out beforehand.
Don’t pish posh it off. Those few seconds gave our team, and a few others, the chance to duck and cover.
So, take the accolades. Speaking of our people, they’re itching to visit you, but I told them to wait until you’re home to drop by.
No one needs to hear Morgan talking nonstop about soap when they’ve got a crushing headache. ”
“True.” I took a sip of coffee. It was strong as hell, but man, was it delicious. The door opened slowly. I expected it to be Mom, but it was Chip sticking his head through the crack. Bouncy curls and bright green eyes. I felt my heart do a flip-flop as I gazed at him. “Hey, come in.”
The rush of emotion I just had upon seeing Chip was the nudge I needed.
Life was too damn short to hide a huge part of what made life so worth living.
If Sully suspended me, then so be it. I was in love, and I wasn’t going to conceal it any longer.
I’d been ready to tell Sully yesterday, then things went sideways. If not now, when, to quote Eli.
He pushed through the door, Sable at his side, and stood just at the foot of my bed like a robot.
“Chip, this is Sullivan Wright, the station captain at Station Eight. Cap, this is Chip Cornish. We were called out to a fire at his gym about two months ago. We met, got to know each other, and are dating.”
There. It was out. Chip’s attention darted from me to Sully to me to Sully while my captain chewed on my announcement like it was boot leather.
“That’s a touchy situation, Dane,” Sully finally said.
“Yes, sir, I know it. I also know when you care about someone, you shouldn’t bury those feelings under a bushel, or something like that.
” I held out my hand to Chip, who slowly crept closer to thread his fingers into mine.
Sable sat at his side, ears perked, as if she too sensed how big this moment was.
“The correct saying is not to hide your light under a bushel basket. It originated from the Bible when Jesus was giving a sermon on the Mount, when he told his disciples they were ‘the light of the world’ and a lamp should be placed on a stand and not under a basket.”
Sully blinked. I smiled and then squeezed Chip’s hand gently. “I knew it was something along those lines. So, this is us. If you feel disciplinary action is required, I fully understand.”
He said nothing for quite some time. “You realize this could be a dicey situation for the department. I’ll make a few calls to get advice on how those above me will view this. It’s not a nothing, Dane, you know that.”
“I do. Whatever Internal Affairs decides will be accepted without argument.”
Sully gave us a long look, exhaled deeply, and rose. “I’ll leave you two to visit then. I’ll keep you informed of what goes down. Know that I’ll do my best to present your case to reflect what a valued member of the station you are.”
“Thank you,” I replied as he gave Chip a nod and left. Chip sat down beside me on the bed, his teeth working his lower lip. “Hey. It’s going to be okay. No more hiding now. That’s a good thing.”
“What if you lose your job?”
“Then I find a new one. It’s easy to find a job. It’s much harder to find a boyfriend.”
I lifted his knuckles to my lips. His eyes flared then grew softer. “I think I’m going to like being your boyfriend.”
“I think I’m going to like being yours too.” He leaned in to kiss me gently, as if he were terrified of harming me. Oh yes, I was going to like being his boyfriend so, so much.