EMS Heat 06 - Red Lights and Silver Bells (6 page)

It wasn't easy, but Dylan somehow managed to find a vein and sink the line into it. Once he had the IV going, he opened it wide so he could get as much fluid as possible into his patient to replace some of the volume lost to bleeding. Fire came with the equipment quicker than he thought, so he inched out to give them more room to work.

"See? I didn't get hurt at all," Dylan felt compelled to point out to Lisa once he had his feet firmly grounded again.

 

Lisa smirked. "The shift isn't over yet."

 

He made a huge point of checking out his watch. "Actually, our shift ended ten minutes ago…or rather it would have if someone hadn't jinxed us."

 

She gave a sad sigh. "You're not going to let me live that down, are you?"

 

"Not until I get home and into a hot bath." Lisa picked up his coat and helped him into it. "Just so you know, I think Chad is the biggest jerk in the world. I like you and all your friends. I don't give a rat's ass that you're gay."

 

"Thanks." He smiled at her.

 

"Except maybe for Lucas, I have a real issue with him."

 

That surprised Dylan. Everyone loved his easygoing brother. "Why not? Did he stomp on your puppy or something?"

 

"No, he took Matt off the market. I used to have the biggest crush on that smartass." She scrunched up her face playfully.

It dawned on him that he and Lisa managed to grow closer in the last few minutes than they had the past few weeks of working together. A heavy dose of guilt hit him as he realized that he'd been a bit shallow and jerky to have judged her so quickly. While she may have her moments of air-headedness, she did actually have a great personality. He could see them really

getting close.

 

Dylan pulled her into a half-hug. "You know what, I just realized something."

 

"What's that?"

 

"I'm really lucky to have you as a partner."

She toed a bit of snow and ducked her head. "You're the first one who's ever said that. Usually my partners can't ditch me fast enough. They all realize how stupid I can be sometimes and don't want to be around me."

"Well, that makes each of them as big an idiot as Chad, because you're great."

 

A blush came over her cheeks, adding to the redness already there from the cold. "Great, now you made me a little ticked at Kaleb, too, because I think you'd be a great catch, too."

 

"I'll make sure to point it out to him the next time we fight that I have you waiting on the wings to snatch me up," Dylan teased.

 

Chapter Six

By the time Dylan got home, it had grown dark. As he opened the door, he wondered if it'd be too much to hope that Kaleb would have another bath ready for him. A smile came over his face as he wondered just how much persuading it would take to get his firefighter to join him in the tub again. Dylan felt certain, that with a decent amount of maneuvering, they could manage to fuck while still in the water. After all, he'd always been pretty flexible. He'd just have to make sure that they were reasonably covered up when they finished and made a dash for the bedroom though. Now that Becca lived with them, he didn't want to be responsible for giving her an education in Naked Guy 101.

As he opened the door, the sounds of
Frosty the Snowman
greeted him, followed by the scents of lasagna and….pine? He sniffed again, the scent unmistakable. It had a fresh bite to it, too, not like the stuff that came from a can of freshener. Confused as to why that smell would be in their apartment, he cautiously inched his way in, almost as if he expected to be accosted by an evil, animated tree with homicide in its heart.

"Hello?" he called.

 

"In here," Kaleb answered, his voice coming from

 

the living room.

Dylan walked in and paused at the threshold, a small sound of surprise bursting past his lips. A huge, fresh Christmas tree filled what seemed like half of the room. Kaleb stood on one side of the thing, Becca on the other. Both of them wearing huge smiles.

"Surprise!" Becca called, her eyes glowing with excitement. She even bounced on the balls of her feet a few times.

 

He pointed stupidly to the tree. "You guys bought this?"

 

"Yes, plus a ton of lights and decorations," she gushed.

 

Kaleb shrugged, the move a bit self-conscious. "We waited for you to help us put them on though."

 

"But I thought you didn't celebrate Christmas," Dylan replied in a small voice.

 

A flush came over Kaleb's face before he gave Dylan a look of utmost adoration "I've never had a reason before now."

Warmth pooled inside Dylan's gut at their thoughtfulness. Never in his life had he felt so cared for…so loved. All the sadness of being away from home and his parents washed away as he realized that all this time he'd actually
been
home and where he truly belonged. He glanced at Becca. "And here I thought I was the one supposed to be taking care of you."

She came over and gave him a tight embrace. "You have and now it's my turn to make sure you're taken care of. Kaleb and I make a great team when it comes to that, too."

 

"Yeah, you guys do," Dylan agreed before he shed his coat and took off his boots.

He rushed over to Kaleb and give him a slow, deep kiss. They took their time, stroking their tongues together in lazy paths. Kaleb groaned his approval as he pulled Dylan into his arms. It wasn't until Becca giggled that they broke away.

She shoved boxes of lights into their hands, then took charge. "You two put these on so we can get the tree done. Lucas and Matt will be here soon for dinner."

 

Dylan sniffed the air. "Tell me that my nose hasn't been lying and you're making your special lasagna?"

 

"Only the best for my two favorite brothers and my newest favorite brother-in-laws. Now hurry up and get the decorating done so we can eat."

They got to work, first stringing the lights around the tree, then putting up the numerous decorations. Once they were done, Becca pulled on their arms. "There's still one more thing to do."

"What's that?" Dylan asked as she dragged him closer to the pine.

 

She answered him by lying down on her back, her head stuck under the tree. "We have to look up at the lights. Just like when we were little."

 

A warm heat came over Dylan's face. "You did not tell Kaleb about that."

 

"Yes, I did. Now get your scrawny butt down here."

The thought of reliving that childhood moment in front of Kaleb made Dylan feel like a dork, but he knew better than to fight Becca on this. Once she made her mind up about something there was no arguing with her. He gave Kaleb a small shrug.

Dylan laid down by her. He began to feel even more self-conscious and stupid until Kaleb joined them, settling on the other side of Dylan.

 

"You're right, Becca, this is kind of neat," Kaleb observed.

 

"We'll probably have needles fall in our eyes and end up in St. Michael's ER," Dylan predicted.

 

That comment earned him a poke in the ribs via Becca's elbow. "Stop being Grinchy and enjoy the moment."

 

Dylan exchanged amused looks with Kaleb. "I don't think Grinchy is a word."

 

"Well, if Sarah Palin can make up words, why can't I?" she asked.

 

Dylan thought for a moment, but couldn't come up with a good answer. "Okay, I'll give you that one."

 

The door opened, announcing Matt and Lucas's arrival. None of them moved to leave the tree though.

 

"Shoot, Trippy fell again, but this time he dragged Kaleb and Becca down with him," Matt snarked as they came into the living room.

 

Dylan flipped him off, while Lucas let out a whoop of laughter. "You're looking up at the lights!"

Before Matt could fire off another smartass comment, Lucas dove onto the ground and joined the rest of them under the tree. It was starting to get a bit crowded, but Dylan didn't mind. After a second, Matt threw his hands up in surrender before he flopped onto the ground beside Lucas.

"Wow, this is kind of pretty," Matt shocked Dylan by admitting.

Dylan could only imagine the picture they presented, all the bodies lying in a semi-circle, staring up into the branches, much like a mechanic would look up into the underbelly of a car. At that moment, he no longer felt any embarrassment. In fact, he probably would have named this one of the best moments of his life.

Then Becca broke the moment by asking, "So, Matt, which one of you is the top and who's the bottom?"

 

Matt let out a sound of shock.

Dylan bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. Just when he thought the moment couldn't have gotten better, Becca proved him wrong. He never thought he'd see the day where someone threw the cool, suave Matt for a loop.

Dylan slammed the back doors shut on the rig, glad that his shift was only twenty minutes from being over. After rushing out early to buy Becca and Kaleb's gifts, then another busy day at work, his back ached and he could barely keep his eyes open.

He turned to the double doors leading to St. Michael's ER in hopes of seeing Lisa. She had volunteered to do all the paperwork for the last call and he gratefully accepted—if he had to see another run sheet today, he'd puke. So what if she dotted all her
i's
with little hearts, just so long as he didn't have to fill the damn things out.

"You look beat," Lucas observed as he came out. He wore his normal blue scrubs, but had pulled on a leather jacket in defense against the weather.

Dylan sniffed, the cold making his nose run. He went to wipe it away only to discover the snot already half-frozen. He scrubbed at it with a gloved hand before responding, "I just have one more day ahead of me and then I get the rest of the week off. How about you?"

Lucas shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket. "I have to work first shift tomorrow, too. I'm low in seniority here like you are at the ambulance company, which means I get stuck with the shit detail."

"Why don't you and Matt come over after we all get off tomorrow and we can have a late Christmas celebration?" Dylan suggested.

 

"Look at you getting into the Holiday spirit," Lucas teased gently.

 

"I didn't exactly have a choice. Becca kind of thrust it down my throat."

 

"Come on, you can't tell me you didn't enjoy yourself last night." Lucas narrowed his eyes knowingly.

 

Dylan laughed, knowing when he was busted. "Okay, I had a blast with the tree and dinner."

 

"Ha! I knew it," Lucas crowed triumphantly.

Dylan turned to grab something from the driver's side of the rig when a burst of pain slammed into his head. The force of whatever hit him threw him into the ambulance, his face colliding with the side of the ambulance in a sickening slapping noise.

At first he assumed he'd pulled off another one of his clumsy moves, but then another blow came, this one driving him to his knees. He glanced toward the source just in time to see a foot coming to his midsection. Dylan tried to move away, but it was already too late. The boot connected solidly with his gut.

"Dad! What in the hell are you doing?" Lucas screamed.

 

Oh, that's who it is. I should have known,
Dylan thought, numbly as he fought the urge to retch. Pain radiated from his stomach, cheek and head, making his sight swim lazily.

 

"You just had to make Becca leave, too, didn't you?" Dad screamed.

Dylan glanced up, his vision bleary, looking at his father for the first time in months. Nothing about the man had changed. While their mother was small and dark-haired like he, Lucas and Becca, Dad was the complete opposite. Prematurely gray and standing at over six-feet, Dad had to weigh well over two-hundred pounds. Every inch of his fury was directed at Dylan, too.

"Please," Dylan held up a hand to ward off further attack.

Fuck, he hated himself for begging. A part of him desperately wished for the strength to just once be able to stand up to the prick. At that moment, however, Dylan just felt lucky enough to be conscious.
Before Dad had a chance to swing again, Lucas jumped onto his back. "Leave Dylan alone."

Since Lucas was even shorter than Dylan, it only took their father a few seconds to throw his son off him. Dad made sure to do it with a lot of force, too. Dylan let out a cry of alarm as he watched Lucas hit a nearby wall.

"Don't hurt him. It's me who you're pissed at," Dylan pleaded.

It succeeded in getting Dad's full attention on him again. Dylan found himself pinned, face down on the dirty, slushy ground. He sucked in a breath, choking when he inhaled some of the muck. It took a few moments to realize that it was Dad's boot holding him in place. Dylan let out a yelp of pain as the hard, sole dug into his spine. Even through his many layers of clothes, it still hurt like a mother fucker.

Just as he'd given up any hope of rescue, Gladys's angry voice rang out, "You leave those boys alone."

 

"Butt out, bitch," Dad sneered as he ground his foot more into Dylan.

 

"I'll do no such thing. I've already called security and they're on their way."

Dylan blinked in surprise when he saw Gladys charge his father. Aside from Lucas, in all of Dylan's life, he'd never seen anyone brave enough to take on his father. Yet, she did it without hesitation. She even went so far as to shove him off Dylan

Dad stumbled back a few steps and for several heatpounding moments, Dylan thought he'd attack Gladys. He the end, he just shot his sons one more venomous glare before he turned and left.

Chapter Seven

 

"I still think it would be a good idea for you to stay overnight for observation," Gladys nagged as she helped Dylan into his coat.

 

He winced from the pain the movement caused. "No, it's just a couple bruises."

 

"It's a lot more than that," Lucas argued from the next bed over. "You hit your head pretty hard."

 

"Yeah, maybe you should listen to them," Matt added. Since the medic had arrived a half hour ago, he refused to leave Lucas's side.

Dylan glanced down at his cell, checking for what had to be the hundredth time to see if he had any missed calls. A twinge of disappointment went through him when he saw nothing. He must have given himself away because Matt shot him a sympathetic smile.