Lights to My Siren (25 page)

But now, I had to wonder...could I be pregnant?

Would I be happy if I were pregnant?

I was happy now.

Ever since I had taken Sebastian’s property patch, things had changed.

Sebastian was more open about everything that was going on.

I found myself flooded with information about the club, and not all of it was even from Sebastian. Trance spoke to me. Loki spoke to me. Porter spoke to me. Porter’s wife, Minnie, spoke to me. Hell, even Silas spoke to me.

I’d attended multiple barbeques. We’d go out to lunch and have one of the guys join us. We’d be relaxing at Sebastian’s home, or mine, and one of the Wardens would show up to hang.

Motorcycles became a constant and permanent fixture on my driveway.

Everyone loved my house because I had a pool that was perfect for playing volleyball in, and I had a new large deck that held a lot of people.

With the addition of Sebastian’s new grill, it was a fun, safe place to enjoy a little break.

However, there were things I didn’t like.

For instance, I was on the receiving end of all kinds of petty women’s tongue-lashings.

The club whores didn’t like me; mainly it was because I didn’t allow any of them in my house, and because I just plain didn’t like them.

I wasn’t looking down on them for what they did; I looked down on them for how they acted. It was like high school all over again. All the women were rude, snappy, and hateful. They were also mean to Kettle’s new girlfriend the one time he had persuaded her to come to a barbeque at the clubhouse.

And she’d never been back, which made me dislike the whores even more.

There were only so many times I could handle the glares and petty comments before I snapped, and if their antics kept up, my control would be non-existent. Sebastian was mine, and they just needed to get that through their hair sprayed skulls.

Another thing I disliked was how Sebastian would just...disappear. His father would call him, and he’d jump. Every single time. It didn’t happen often, but when it did, Sebastian would be out the door and on the road in the next instant, expecting me to be there when he got back.

The door to X-ray opened, emitting a very exasperated looking Sebastian carrying a very angry Johnny. “I want my Monster!”

The smile that overtook my face made the scowl on Sebastian’s face disappear.

“They look at the x-rays yet?” I asked as I took Johnny from his arms.

Sebastian relinquished him readily, looking a little frazzled around the edges.

I’d heard Johnny screaming the entire time they were in there, but it must’ve been a lot worse inside for Sebastian to look so roughed up.

“Not yet. They’re making sure they have a clear one. He was moving a lot.” Sebastian shook his head.

The doctor entered their room a few minutes after they were settled with the X-ray film and a grimace. He walked straight to the light that they hung the films up on and turned it on before placing the film over it.

With only one glance, I knew it was broken.

I couldn’t help but cringe as I saw the very obvious separation in the bone that was supposed to be together.

“As you can see, it’s broken. This is the ulna here that you’re seeing. We’re going to put a cast on, and you’ll have a follow up with your pediatrician in 48 hours. Once that’s done, they’ll let you know what they want to do from there. We’re just going to go ahead and do the waterproof one, since he’s only three. It takes a bit longer, but I think it’ll be worth it. We’ll have to sedate him though. Which means we’ll have to get an IV started.” He said, grimacing.

I figured out that trying to give a child an IV was much like giving a cat a bath. When they didn’t want to be there, it became extremely hard to do without getting your eyes gouged out.

Then the authoritative father slipped into place, and Sebastian leaned in and looked at Johnny calmly.

“You will sit still and have this done. Stop the screaming.” He ordered.

With me on his lower body, Sebastian held the still straining Johnny down effortlessly.

Where before I’d been struggling to hold just his arm in place, Sebastian held one hand planted firmly over Johnny’s chest, and the other holding the arm that was getting the IV still, and stared in Johnny’s eyes while the needle slid in.

My heart broke at the sound of pain from Johnny, but continued to hold him until they got the IV in place, and then the medicine started to do its job.

“Wow,” the nurse said, slightly flustered. “I cannot tell you how many times a day we have to wrap these kids in a sheet, and then have half the hospital staff laying over the top of them to get one IV in. This was a Godsend having you here. Do you need a job?” She teased, eyeing Sebastian with admiration.

Sebastian snorted. “I have too many as it is, honey. I’ll always be here for my son though, so you’ll never have any problems from him. That I can guarantee.”

“What color cast do you think he’ll want?” The nurse asked before leaving.

Sebastian looked at me for direction.

“What colors do you have?” I asked.

In the end, we chose a neon orange to match Johnny’s shoes that he loved so much.

When we were driving home that night, I could tell that Sebastian had something on his mind, but no matter how much I tried to coax the problem out of him, he wasn’t talking.

The incident in the room wasn’t spoken of again for quite some time, but as the days, and then weeks went by, I had a niggling feeling that I knew the truth. Yet I was scared to even think about it, and I put it out of my mind. Not actually admitting it was like it wasn’t really true...right?

Chapter 19

Oh, you were about to eat? Sleep? Pee? Let me play you the song of my people.

-Life lesson-tones drop at inopportune times

Baylee

Beep. Beep. Beep. Deedooodeedoo.

I growled as the tones dropped. I looked down at my hamburger and French fries with a deep-seated sadness. Son of a bitch.

“Medic three, Engine three. Gunshot victim at First National Bank on Broadway. Patient status unknown. Please standby.”

“Son of a bitch.” I cursed, placing my delicious hamburger in the fridge, hoping it would still be there when I got back.

“Noooo!” Winter yelled from the other room.

She’d just laid down for a nap.

Apparently, her daughter was teething and she didn’t get much sleep the night before.

Dillon and Bowe banged through the door that led to the back patio and ran heavily towards the engine. Tai and PD were already suited out and in the truck.

I followed closely behind, hopping into the bus and starting it.

Winter pulled up the rear, buttoning her shirt as she went.

“I really, really could use another three hours of sleep. I’m about to go crazy.”

As we pulled up three blocks away from the bank, a uniformed police officer met us, and explained what was going on.

“We’ve got some gunmen holding up the First National Bank. We know that one teller has been shot and, as far as we know, has sustained a non-life threatening shot to the leg. We...”

“Rawls!” A man boomed from the edge of the police line.

I followed the sound of the man’s voice to find James standing there in full SWAT gear.

“Shit, must be really serious if they have the SWAT team here.” Winter observed as Rawls, as James had called him, went running to him.

James didn’t even spare them a glance as he spoke to the uniformed officer and then took off. The officer returned moments later bearing instructions.

“He wants us to move back. Says the main guy has a hunting rifle and could easily hit anyone from this distance. We’re going to need you to park around that corner right there.” He said, indicating the next side street.

Winter moved the bus and Bowe moved the engine; we waited for what felt like hours.

“Do you think they’ll deliver pizza over here?” I asked over the radio to Dillon.

Static.

“Negative. The Chief would kill us.” Bowe replied good naturedly.

“What about going to that Subway over there. I’m dying here.” I continued.

Seriously, there was a Subway not even two stores down from us. We’d been sitting in the parking lot of the Speedy Lube for well over an hour, and I was dying. And I had to pee.

Just as I was about to suggest it when Downy, my brother’s best friend and fellow SWAT member, rounded the corner.

He looked pretty darn hot.

I don’t mean sexy hot, either. Not that he wasn’t easy on the eyes...well, really easy, but he looked like he was sweating his ass off.

He was in long sleeved cargo pants, a long sleeved shirt, a helmet, a protective Kevlar vest, a neck covering, and sturdy black boots. Then he had multiple weapons strapped on; one to his thigh, one across his back, a knife on his left leg, a utility belt, and, finally, one in a shoulder holster under his left arm.

He looked well and truly pissed, too.

Which was unusual for him.

Downy was what you would call the class clown.

He was tall, about two inches taller than my brother. He had broad shoulders, a strong firm jaw, and beautiful red hair.

He reminded me of a Scottish Highlander with all those ropey muscles and Scottish heritage attributes. All he needed was a blue face and the mullet, and he could totally pull it off.

He’d been on the police force when my brother had met him, and together they’d broached the subject of a SWAT team with the Chief of Police.

He’d assigned a senior officer to the team, and Downy and Luke had been the first actual members.

They’d become fast friends, and I absolutely adored him.

I’d never seen him mad before, but with one glance at him now, I could definitely cross that particular item off my list.

He’d approached the firefighters first, and when he didn’t get what he wanted, he came to us.

“They’re allowing a medic to go in there and help the lady that was shot. You don’t have to do it, but they said they’d let the other hostages go if we showed good faith by sending one of our own in. I need one of you to tell me what to do, and we’ll see if we can help her.” Downy rushed out.

That was just too hard to explain to someone who’d never had any basic medical experience.

I didn’t really know how it happened, but one thing led to another, and I found myself strapped into a Kevlar vest and neck guard, heading into a building where there was a gunman.

And my brother was pissed.

He’d gotten into a fight with Downy, and instead of waiting, I just went in.

At the time, I wasn’t really thinking of the consequences. There was only one thing I thinking of and that was that there was an injured person in there, and I wasn’t letting her die if I could help it.

***

Sebastian

“Where is she?” I growled, once I pulled up on my bike.

I parked the bike as close to the tape as I could without actually running it over with my bike.

The cops probably wouldn’t see that in a good light.

Everyone looked around nervously. There was a crowd behind the bright yellow strip of police tape, made up of her friends and fellow workers. They all looked concerned and very reluctant to tell me where she was. The surprising thing was that Luke was the one to point out where she was.

I found her sitting on the floor of the open doors of her own motherfucking ambulance. She had a dressing pressed against her forehead, and the white t-shirt she normally wore underneath her uniform top was stained bright red with blood.

When no one said anything, I assumed she’d gone inside and then had the nerve to get hurt in the process.

Not waiting for permission, I stomped forward, in precise steps toward the woman who was about to feel the pain and terror I felt in that hour drive over here. I’d been so goddamned scared that she would get hurt, and low and behold, she was hurt.

When she saw me, her smile widened, but immediately fell when she saw the expression on my face.

She came to her feet warily. “I know you’re upset, I really do. But I was completely...”

“Enough.” I hissed.

Her mouth slapped shut so hard her teeth clicked together.

She looked worried about what I was about to say, and she should be. “I’ve never had these feelings before. Never. I went through two tours of deployment. Watched my three best friends burn alive in front of me. I’ve just spent the last hour of my life worrying about you; whether you were dead or alive. I have never...never...felt this way before. It felt like a piece of my heart was ripped out. What in the holy fuck were you thinking?”

I was all but yelling by the time I was finished.

She sneered at me. “I’m a paramedic! We’ve taken an oath to preserve life! What’d you want me to do, let her die?”

“Yes! You’re carrying my goddamned kid! You can’t put yourself in those kind of situations anymore! Because you have a responsibility to the life that you’re carrying inside of you that trumps any motherfucking oath you took!” I bellowed.

Her mouth, which had been open to yell right back at me, closed again with another audible snap. I could also see the crowd that was gathering, watching the interaction, but I could care less at that point. The woman I loved, the one who was carrying a part of me within her, almost took that part of me away with one reckless act. One heroic feat that could have ended so much more differently than it had.

“I know that you think I was in danger, but I really wasn’t.” She said petulantly.

“Really? Were you the one in control of that gun?” I asked sarcastically.

“No...”

“Did you have control of the four other men in there with him? Do you think you can take on four men at the same time? Because I’m not even sure that I could do that!” I growled.

She shook her head, not saying anything this time.

“I didn’t think so.” I snapped. “I think it’s time for you to grow up a little. Stop blaming all your problems on your disability. Let me know when you can act like an adult. Keep that kid of mine safe. I don’t want to hear about you going into any more dangerous situations. You won’t like the results if I do.”