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Fourth of July in Texas is never predictable. Nothing in Texas is ever predictable, not in Austin, and not for the 126.
Still, the day had started benign enough, and TK let himself hope for a night of simple bliss with his husband-to-be. With their shifts hardly ever lining up anymore, TK found himself smiling at the thought that they had the whole weekend together.
Although the part of TK that was the pessimist kept insisting that it was too good to be true.
And of course, TK, the danger magnet, would be right.
***
TK buttoned up his floral shirt and ran a hand through his hair. As silly as it was, he wanted to look nice for Judd and Grace’s barbecue. Well, he wanted to look nice for Carlos, who was also going to the barbecue, so that was like the same thing.
The door to the loft opened, and Carlos emerged with an overflowing bag of groceries.
“Babe- you do know that they have food at the party, right?” TK teased the taller man as he unloaded his armful.
“Yes, I am aware of that. Thank you. But your father…”
TK rolled his eyes in good faith at the mention of his father. “No, don’t tell me..”
“That he messaged me an SOS to stop at the store and pick up some lean meats and vegan options?” Carlos raised his eyes as if TK would ever doubt the antics of the captain. “Because I think you need to talk to your dad about what an actual SOS is for.”
TK shook his head, the grin persisting. “You do know that you can stand up to him, right? Let him know when he’s being pushy?”
“Maybe once we’re officially in-laws. For now, I am all about keeping the peace, and besides, it’s the Ryders that might take offense, and Grace and Judd are more than capable of handling themselves.”
TK went to help Carlos prep the food. “Wait- does this mean my dad’s no longer coming? Why are we on health-nut duty?”
His fiancé just shrugged in response. “He had a budget meeting that he thought might run late.”
“I guess. Well, hey, at least we won’t be going empty-handed!” TK shook a newly packed container. “We got tofu for days! “
***
“My dad’s gonna be sad that he missed out on this.” TK held up his phone to record the ongoing armwrestling match between Marj and Paul, with Mateo egging them on as the ‘judge’ hovering just above the chaos.
“I don’t know TK.. I think your daddy gets enough of this back at the station as-is.” Judd laughed as he took another sip of his beer and bounced a nearly sleeping Charlie on his lap.
The sun was beginning to set, and half of the party had retreated to camp chairs lined up near the edge of the park where, just above the trees, you could see the sporadic fireworks beginning to go off.
“Hey, I’m gonna grab another mineral water out of the cooler- want anything, babe?” TK asked, rising from his chair and making his way to the picnic table.
Carlos had barely begun shaking his head when Nancy jumped in. “Hey, I’ll take another Dr. P if you’re doing refills!”
“Sure thing, Nance- anyone else, while I’m up?” TK was interrupted by a pop of a firework just overhead, far too close for comfort.
“Now, who the hell is setting those off so close to the park?” Paul’s brows furrowed as he stretched his arms for another round with Marjan, who was annoyingly still tied with him.
“Well, whoever is acting a fool obviously doesn’t know they’re in the presence of Austin’s best firehouse.” Grace began, running her hand along her husband's back.
TK was just about to joke about his fear from earlier today that something was going to go wrong when he was stopped short.
He heard the shot ring out before he felt the pain. He registered the blinding light before he lost his balance.
TK was shot.
Again.
What was it about his bad luck?
Pain blossomed up his abdomen and curled deep into his side, momentarily distracting him from the pulsing ache coming from when his head collided with the gravel-laden grass. TK wasn’t sure how many concussions he was away from permanent brain damage, but he had to be close.
The initial shock wore off, and the pain came pulsing in full force. TK felt as if his whole body was on fire. It was only as he tried to sit up that he realized he was indeed on fire.
He tried to roll and smother out the flames, but moving catapulted him off the deep end, darkness closing in on his vision. TK hit the ground for a second time with an equally sickening thud.
***
Carlos nearly flipped his chair in the rush to run to his fiancé’s side, falling to his knees beside him. The paramedic had been convulsing and, to Carlos’s horror, went eerily still.
Judd had passed Charlie to Grace and was on his feet, his inner captain taking over.
“Carlos- you need to get the flames out. Strickland, Chavez- secure the scene and make sure there are no more injuries. Marwani, I need you to find out who the hell is lighting up this neighborhood like a damn fool.”
“Grace, can you get a bus over here?” Nancy asked as she joined Carlos on the ground.
“Already on it.” Grace nodded with her practiced calm from years on the job.
Judd massaged his jaw, stress igniting through the firefighter. “Good, good. Gillain, what do you need?”
By now, Carlos had ripped his overjacket off and had successfully smothered out the flames, removing TK’s shirt, still dancing with embers. It looked bad. Violent red marks covered TK’s skin, taunting Carlos with their blistering reach.
“Judd, I keep a medkit in my car- under the back seat.” Nancy tossed her keys towards him, not taking her eyes off her fallen partner.
Sweat and blood were gathering on TK’s face, and Carlos tried gently to wipe them away from his eyes. All he ever wanted to do was protect him- how is it that he was always finding himself distressed over his unconscious body?
Nancy checked his ABCs and made eye contact with Carlos for a split second, which was enough to make the officer need to throw up. This was bad.
“ETA on the ambulance, Grace?”
“Another five minutes at least. Nancy, what do you need?”
Nancy’s vision was beginning to cloud as tears sprang up; she couldn’t lose another partner. Not like this, not again. She had to compartmentalize; it was her job to work over the feelings, but she couldn’t help but see flashes of Tim’s body burn in front of her.
“I need my equipment- I don’t know what-” Nancy choked down her self-doubt and began compressions.
“He’s got some second-degree burns for sure, a head wound, but my main concern is his heart. The impact of the fireworks messed up his rhythm.”
She continued to deliver compressions, pushing through what were cracked ribs, no doubt.
Judd had arrived with her med-bag, and she had Carlos take over CPR while she got the life pack set up.
“Okay, Carlos, on the count of three- I'm going to need you to step away. One, two, three. Clear!”
Carlos’s heart jumped along with TK’s as the electricity pumped into his fiancé, causing his chest to compress against itself.
It was a horrible, sickeningly long second while they waited, the air thick around them. Nancy was about to administer another shock when they heard a soft groan.
TK’s eyes were fluttering open, glazed over with pain.
“Babe?” Carlos’s voice was barely above a whisper.
Nancy was moving quickly to hook up the external oxygen to TK’s nose, checking his pulse, which was erratic but more stable.
TK coughed and tried to get up, confusion surrounding him; he wasn't sure where he was. What had happened? Why was Carlos looking down at him so worried? Is he okay?
The siren songs of help enveloped the area, and Carlos allowed himself a second of relief.
“Hey, hey, it's okay, babe. You're okay,” he said, refusing to let go of TK’s hand, gently rubbing circles across his skin to ground them both.
Awareness was coming back to TK in waves. There had been a bang. A gun? No, a firework.
“Is everyone else okay? Charlie?” TK tried to push himself up to assess the situation, worried the damage to the party had been worse.
“Shh, no, baby. Everyone else is fine. It was just one stray, but you gotta stay down until they can help you.” Carlos nodded towards the incoming paramedics.
TK nodded, the tears in his eyes from the pain blurring his vision. He could relax if everyone else were okay; if someone had to be hit, he supposed he was glad that it was him.
Carlos stayed by his side as they loaded him into the ambulance. Worry was still etched on his face, but TK’s responsiveness brought relief.
“I’m sorry our holiday didn’t turn out how we wanted.” TK smiled through the oxygen mask.
Carlos couldn’t stop his eye roll.
“You better not be apologizing. You can’t help the fact that you are a chaos magnet,” he laughed.
“Oh yeah-I texted your dad. He’s going to meet us at the hospital.”
TK smirked. “That’s the second 9-1-1 text between you two today.”
“Well, TK, I daresay that you are more important than tofu. And I think Owen would agree with me on that.”
The sirens were beginning to fade into the background as TK nodded, feeling grateful for his fiancé, who was still holding his hand as the medics wrapped his chest in gauze. Carlos was here, and that was all that mattered.
***
“We found the kid who was messing around with his parents' fireworks. Gave them a fire safety lesson.” Paul said as the team crowded around TK’s hospital bed.
Mateo shook his head. “Can’t believe you almost got killed by a kid…again. What is that- number three? We gotta get you protected from the youth out there, man.”
“The youth? Mateo, you are starting to sound like Judd.” TK smiled, adjusting the bandage digging into his collarbone.
“Hey, I’m just trying to look out for you, bro.”
Owen clapped Mateo on the back, shaking his head in amusement. “Not that I disagree- but the doc says TK needs his rest, and some of you-” he eyed Paul and Marjan. “Have a shift coming up.”
They all started to file out until it was just TK and Owen. “Hey, son. How are you feeling?”
TK grimaced. “Like I was hit with a firework.”
In all honesty, the pain was still as strong as it had been earlier that day, but it had morphed from a sharp, hot sting to a full-body ache.
“Carlos is bringing some things for you from your apartment. Anything you need from me?” Owen asked, ruffling TK’s hair.
The younger man shook his head. “All I need right now is some sleep.”
A soft knock came to the doorway, and the two Strands turned to see Nancy leaning her head in.
“Is it okay if-?” She hesitated before coming any further.
“Yeah, yeah, come on in. I was just heading out. TK- call if you need anything.” Owen headed out the door with a final look at his son, still worried but confident in his care.
Tenitively, Nancy came into the room and took a seat by TK’s bed.
“Hey, Nance, you just missed everybody.”
She nodded. “Sorry. I know it sounds stupid, but I just had to make sure that you were okay before I could see you. TK… I was really scared. I froze, and I just couldn’t stop thinking about Tim and…”
TK nodded, understanding. “Hey. You are not getting rid of me that easily. Besides, Nance, without you, I might have been human barbecue for real.”
“Ooh, that’s not very vegan of you, TK- what would Cap say?”
TK smiled. If there was one thing about the unpredictable chaos of the 126, it was that they were always there for each other.
Maybe he’d have better luck next Fourth.