Chapter Text
The apartment complex was quiet as Kate made her way inside and up to the fourth floor. It had been a long 48 hours but finally she was off duty and able to relax for the next three days. The elevator dinged to a stop on her floor, the doors opening to reveal the long empty hallway. She pulled her keys from her pocket when she was close to her door, number 406. The door next to hers opened as she fit the key into the lock.
“Good evening Kate! How was your shift?” Richard Gecko, her neighbor for the past three years, smiled at her as he left his apartment testing the knob to make sure it was locked behind him.
“Evening Richie. It was long, I’m glad to be home. How’s Kisa?” She didn’t want to get into the specifics of her shift, it hadn’t been long enough for her to share how emotionally taxing it had been to lose not one but three patients before they even made it to the hospital.
Richie’s face lit up at the mention of his longtime girlfriend. “Kisa’s doing as well as can be expected. She’s starting to show and her clothes don’t quite fit anymore so she’s constantly in a bad mood.”
“That’s understandable. I’d be upset too if I had a body like hers and suddenly started gaining weight. Just remind her that it’s the baby and in a few months she will be able to get back to her normal size. “ From what she had been able to gather over the years, Kisa had been a dancer until she met and fell in love with Richie. If there was one thing Kate was certain of, it was Kisa’s pride about her slim waist and full bust. Losing it, even though she would probably get it back, had to be killing the beautiful Latina.
Richie got that smirk on his face, “Well, let’s hope not everything goes back to its normal size.” He winked and gestured to his chest.
“You’re a perv.” Kate giggled. “If it helps, tell her I’ll go shopping with her. We can have a girls day, get mani-pedi’s, and shop for baby stuff. It’ll be fun!”
“I’ll tell her. Thanks Katie!”
“Anytime. See you later.”
Richie waved and walked off toward the elevator. Kate couldn’t for sure say what he did for a living but considering the way he dressed, the car he drove, and the way he spent money it had to be very well paying. Shaking her head, Kate opened her door and walked in, hanging her keys on the wall hook and making sure to lock the deadbolt and chain behind her. She pulled the rubber band from her hair letting it fall in long loose dark auburn waves. Sighing in relief, Kate started stripping off her clothes as she made her way back to her bedroom and waiting shower.
Stepping into the bathroom, she turned on the hot water letting it warm up before immersing herself under the steaming spray. The past two days had been tough. It was never easy doing her job but the rewards far outweighed the cons. Saving lives was her thing, it was why she had become an EMT. If she could save even one life, it was worth it. The hot water eased her aching muscles even as the past two days flashed through her memory. Most of the pages had been for small accidents that required minor treatments and the occasional trip in the ambulance, but then had come the big accident less than twelve hours ago. The head on collision between an old mustang and a VW bug. Three of the patients had died on scene despite the efforts of Kate and the other EMTs, only one had lived and even then she was holding on by a thread. Thankfully after that call no others had come in and Kate was able to finish the rest of her shift in peace at the department.
Once the grime of her 48 hour shift had been washed off, Kate got out of the shower and dressed in a warm set of flannel pajamas. After a quick snack, she fell into bed ready for a nice long sleep.
Her dreams were red, as they always were. Blood ran everywhere and there was nothing Kate could do to stop it. She was drowning in it, the thick red liquid filling her lungs making it impossible to breathe. Kate woke up gasping for air, her hands clutching at her throat. Once she realized she could breathe again, Kate began to calm down. Reaching into her bedside table, she uncapped the bottle of prescription anti-anxiety meds and hastily swallowed two. The medicine usually took about an hour to kick in and Kate knew she wouldn’t be going back to sleep until they did. It was rare that her dreams ever got this bad but when they did, they were horrible. Kate slid out from under her covers and off the queen sized bed, the floor was like walking on ice so Kate pulled her lavender bunny slippers from under the bed and put them on before heading out to the kitchen. Even with the lights off, Kate easily found her way. Over the past three years that she had been living in the apartment, the layout had become as easy to navigate as the back of her hand.
Knowing that the pills would settle easier in her stomach with food, Kate pulled out some leftover Chinese and heated it up in the microwave. While the food heated, she poured a glass of iced tea and waited. Sometimes it felt like all she ever did was wait. She knew that moving through life going from day to day just letting life happen to her was no way to live. But what else was there? The biggest decision she had ever made was letting Scott go and leaving the comfort and safety of Bethel for the big lonely city of Houston. Pulling her now steaming food from the microwave, Kate sat down and began to eat. Being alone wasn’t all that bad, she reasoned. She never had to share food or the covers, never had to worry about whether or not someone else had used all the hot water. But sometimes the lonely life got to her. Sure she had tried dating in the past but no man had ever been able to live with her 48 hours on the job 72 hours off lifestyle. But at least she had the occasional company of Richie and Kisa. They had been a godsend when she had first moved into the building. Not only had they helped her move in but they had been the friends she didn’t know that she desperately needed.
Kate was disturbed from her musings by a series of alternating harsh and faint knocks on her door. Going to the cabinet above her television, Kate pulled out the gun that Richie had gotten her for her last birthday and insisted she keep in case of trouble. Looking out the peephole, Kate saw nothing but a head of dark hair. “Hello?”
The figure whispered but it was so faint that even Kate’s keen hearing couldn’t pick up the words. Unlocking the deadbolt but keeping the chain securely in place, Kate cracked the door open so she could hear him better. “What did you say?”
Deep dark brown eyes met hers for only a moment, “Richie.” The man whispered before collapsing onto the ground. It was then that Kate caught sight of the blood. So much blood. Carelessly tossing the gun onto the couch, Kate undid the chain holding the door closed and opened it, the motion causing the man who had been leaning against it to fall forward into her apartment. Kate jumped over his motionless body and began loudly knocking on Richie’s door.
“What the hell, Kate?” Richie opened the door, rubbing his eyes.
“He was asking for you, he’s hurt.” She went back to the man on the floor and began to lift him by the shoulders.
It took Richie a moment but his eyes widened when he finally registered what he was seeing. “Fuck, Seth! What the hell happened to you?” He leaned down and helped Kate pick up his fallen brother.
“Don’t take offense when he doesn’t respond, I’m pretty sure he’s out for the count.” As they moved Seth into Richie’s apartment and onto the couch, Kate was mentally taking notes of his apparent injuries. Several facial lacerations, the cuts above his eye and on his lip would probably need stitches, his side was bleeding heavily but the cause was unknown. “We need to get his shirt off so I can see what is causing this bleeding.”
“God Kate, at least by him dinner first.” Richie quipped without thinking, the smart-ass comment coming naturally. The glare Kate sent his way could have melted stone and Richie knew he should probably keep his mouth shut if he ever wanted to have more kids.
“Get some scissors.” Kate ran back to her apartment and grabbed the medical bag that she always kept with her in case of emergencies. When she returned, Richie was standing over Seth with the scissors looking lost. “Cut his shirt off.” He did as she commanded and began to cut the black fabric of Seth’s t-shirt. From her bag Kate pulled rolls of gauze, gauze pads, and a bottle of peroxide, setting each one down on the coffee table by the couch. By the grace of God, Kate managed not to gasp when she saw the three bullet holes dotting Seth’s side. Richie, however, didn’t have the years of practice she did at holding her reactions in and quietly exclaimed, “Holy fuck.”
Kate turned nervous green eyes toward Richie, “He needs a hospital, we need to make sure that the bullets didn’t hit anything essential.” The feeling of a calloused hand tightly gripping her arm made her jump.
His deep brown eyes were cracked open just enough to glare at her. “No hospitals.” His voice was still weak but Kate knew that he was serious. She looked to Richie hoping he would override Seth’s demand.
“Sorry Katie, big brother has spoken. No hospitals. Can’t you fix him up here?” He was hopeful.
Kate sighed, “I can try. I can get the bleeding to stop but if he has any internal injuries there is nothing I can do.”
Richie looked at his brother then back at her. “I can’t go against his wishes. Kate, please do all that you can to help him.” He knelt down beside her and grabbed her hand. “Please Katie.”
“Fine. I’ll do what I can.” Dropping his hand, Kate went to work first cleaning then assessing the wounds. “You’re not even going to file a police report? Getting shot is pretty serious.” She asked as she pulled on a pair of blue gloves. “He’s not allergic to latex, is he?”
“His dick would have fallen off by now if he was.” Richie chuckled, somehow managing to find humor in the situation despite the fact that his brother was bleeding out on the couch.
Kate was torn between wanting to laugh and focusing on removing the blood. The bullet holes were her main focus. “Roll him on his side, I need to see his back.” Richie did as told and propped his brother on his side. “There’s no exit wounds. The bullets are still inside. Hand me the tweezers in the front right compartment of my bag. We’ll need the flashlight too.” He grabbed both. “Are you squeamish? Because I am going to need you to hold the light on the hole while I try to pull out the bullet.”
“I can handle it.” He clicked the flashlight to life and shined it on the hole that Kate was currently working on.
Over the next hour Kate carefully removed all of the bullet fragments and sealed the holes with stitches.
“Richie, what’s going on?” Kisa called coming out of the bedroom.
Richie set down the flashlight, “She’s not Seth’s biggest fan. I’m going to go talk to her about this.” He murmured to Kate before standing and walking Kisa back into the bedroom.
Once his stomach was taken care of and carefully wrapped, she turned her attention to his face. “Who did you piss off?” She mused out loud as she cleaned his cheeks and chin of blood. From the bedroom came a loud crash and the sound of raised voices. Part of Kate wanted to go and try to calm the situation but the EMT part of her knew that she needed to focus on the patient.
“50 bucks says they have angry make up sex.” The sound of his voice startled her enough that she dropped the gauze pad she had been using to clean his face.
Kate smiled when she saw his eyes once again cracked open and looking at her. “I just hope I’m not close enough to hear it.” She quipped earning a small twitch of his lips.
Seth tried sitting up but groaned in pain at the effort.
“I wouldn’t try that. You’ll reopen your stitches.” She pushed his shoulder until he was laying back down on the couch. “Your lip isn’t as bad as I thought, I don’t think it will need stitches but the cut above your eyebrow definitely will.” She explained putting the gauze pad down on the pile of bloody cloths and reaching into the bag for a needle and thread.
“Just to forewarn you, I don’t usually do stitches so they might be a little rough.”
“Whatever princess, do your thing.” Seth lay his head back and closed his eyes.
“Do you want anything for the pain?”
“I’m fine.” He muttered.
Even so, Kate put a little bit of numbing ointment on the cut before she started sewing his skin back together. Every so often he would wince but other than a small twitch in his face, he showed no sign of even feeling the needle entering his skin. “You must have a high pain tolerance.”
“Comes with the territory.” He responded not opening his eyes.
“And just what territory is that?”
He opened his eyes all the way locking the full intensity of his dark orbs solely on her. “One that you never want to visit, sweetheart.”
“You’re awake!” Richie came out of the bedroom, happy to see that his brother was awake and talking. Whatever had been passing between Seth and Kate broke as both turned to look at Richie who now sported a slowly blackening eye. “Nice job on the stitches Katie!” He clapped her on the shoulder as he examined her work.
“Thanks.” Kate blushed at the praise, not used to hearing compliments. Usually all she heard was insults from the hospital staff about how sloppy her work was and how they would have to redo everything she had done. Well she’d like to see them try to start an iv on a patient in a vehicle that was going upwards of 80 miles per hour. She tied off the last stitch and cut the thread. “Try not to get the wounds wet for at least a day, two if possible.” She instructed as she packed up her bag and carefully put the bloody cloths into a biohazard bag. “Is there anything else? Any other wounds or aches?”
“I’m fine. I don’t suppose you happen to have any pain meds in that magical bag of yours, do you?” Kate shook her head no.
“Sorry, but you can take some ibuprofen whenever the pain gets to be too much. If there’s nothing else, I’m going home.” Seth and Richie both shook their heads no. “Goodnight.” She shouldered the bag and walked out the door.
“Oh, and Seth?” She peeked her head back in the door and waited until his gaze was fully on her. “I believe you owe me 50 bucks.” Without another word she left missing the small smile that appeared on Seth’s face. Richie glanced back and forth between the door and Seth, not liking that he was missing some part of the puzzle.
Just as Kate was opening the door to her apartment, Richie’s door opened. “Umm… I just wanted to say thanks. I really appreciate what you did for him tonight.” Richie sheepishly rubbed the back of his head as he spoke, reluctant to meet her eyes. When he did look at her he saw no judgement and knew that there was nothing to fear, she wouldn’t run to the cops. In fact, if he had to guess, she was completely in the dark as to the identity and current legal status of the man she had just patched up.
Kate smiled. “Anytime. Tell Kisa I’ll be by tomorrow to see if she wants to go shopping.”
“Sure thing. Goodnight Kate.”
“Goodnight Richie.” With a smile and a wave Kate walked into her apartment shutting and locking the door behind her. Leaving the bag by the door so the medical waste could be disposed of properly tomorrow, Kate quickly cleaned up her midnight snack and washed her hands. The gun was retrieved from the couch and returned to its safe hiding place in the entertainment center where hopefully it would never have to be removed from again. And finally, after what seemed like forever, Kate was able to collapse back into her bed and fall into a deep peaceful slumber.