clean clothes for work….
Which settled it. She was getting a shower. And if Sean didn’t wake up on his own by six, she’d leave him a note and remind him that Billy would be over some time in the morning. It was a plan—a plan that just required retrieving her duffle bag from the family room.
She turned off the bathroom light so opening the door wouldn’t shine light over the basement, and then tiptoed out into the hallway. Her bag should be right over—
“You okay, D?” Sean’s voice was a low rumble in the dark.
“Yeah. Shit, I’m sorry. I was trying not to wake you up.”
“You didn’t. A hazard of sleeping a lot of nights at the firehouse is always having one ear tuned to what’s happening around you whether you’re asleep or not.”
“You need anything?” she asked, finding her bag where she’d left it next to one of the chairs.
He didn’t respond long enough that she thought he hadn’t heard her, but then he finally murmured, “No. I’m good.”
Something in his tone didn’t sound good. “Sure?”
“Yeah.”
“Why don’t I get you some meds? It’s been at least six hours.”
“Nah, it’s bearable.”
She moved closer, as if proximity would make deciphering him easier. “You don’t need to tough this out, especially not so soon. If you’re feeling pain, you should take the meds. The more you can stay ahead of the pain the better it’ll be.”
“Watch your eyes.” It was the only warning he gave before he turned on the lamp beside him.
Dani blinked against the brightness, but her eyes adjusted quickly after being in the bathroom. “Hey,” she said.
“Hey.” He peered up at her with an expression that was way…softer or more open, maybe, than anything she’d ever seen him wear before.
And she didn’t know how to read it.
“Will you help me get this off?” he tugged at the rectangular pad Velcroed around his chest through which the ice water flowed.
“Yeah. Did it help?” she asked as she began removing the straps that held the plastic pad in place.
He turned a little so she could better reach his back. “I think it did. But I guess I’ll take some more meds, too. Don’t really like needing them.”
“I get it. But it’s only been two days. Use the ice machine as much as you want though, just don’t try to carry it yourself. I’ve got a whole line-up of help coming this week, starting with Billy sometime this morning. There.” She moved the pad, straps, and cooler unit aside.
“Thanks for doing all this, D.”
“You’re welcome.”
How unusual was it for the two of them to have an exchange marked by sincerity instead of sarcasm? It was…weird. Very adult of them, but weird.
“I’ll get your meds and then I’m going to hop in the shower if that’s okay. I have to be at the hospital by seven, so I’m just going to head in early.”
“My shower is your shower.”
She smiled, remembering him saying the same thing about ‘Deadpool’ last night. “Thanks. I’ll check in with you to see how you’re doing, okay? My next day off is Thursday, so I’ll be back then.”
Sean peered up at her and shook his head. “You don’t have to do that.”
“What, are you kidding? I know I don’t have to, but you promised me an education and I want more Marvel.” She wasn’t just saying that either. The idea of coming back…surprisingly wasn’t something she felt obligated to do. In fact, she hadn’t felt obligated to do any of this. Really, it’d never been a question to her. She’d just done it—the ambulance, the night at the hospital, spending yesterday with him.
His grin was immediate. “Yeah? All right then. It’s a plan.”
An hour later, Dani was on her way to University Hospital, a long shift in front of her. But something about her conversation with Sean had chased all those messy middle-of-the-night emotions far, far away, leaving her simply feeling ready to tackle her day.
The knock at the back door came a little before eleven.
Sean turned off the TV from the whole lotta nothing he’d been watching, heaved his ass off the couch, and found Billy waiting, plastic container in hand.
“There’s the man,” Billy said. “How the hell are ya?”
“Hey, B. Come on in.”
The button-down shirt tucked into a pair of black dress pants clearly meant Billy had taken time out of his workday to stop by. The guy held out the container. “From Shayna, who’s upset she couldn’t get away from work today. She promises to come