Page 28 of From the Flames
“Shhh,” Willy told her as he lifted her up. “We need to let Kevin rest.” He zoomed her away.
“Do me next,” Grant said, and their voices faded as they crossed the park road toward the stream with its ducks and geese.
Kevin’s phone vibrated in his pocket, and he fished it out and put it on speaker. “Hello.” He didn’t want to open his eyes. Maybe the painkillers were kicking in.
“Kevin….”
“Captain. I’m okay. No permanent damage, but Rosco told me I needed some time to let my lungs heal. I should be back in three or four days. He gave me some of the good stuff.”
“I get that. Call in a few days to let us know you’re okay. Where are you staying?” he asked. “You’re not home alone, I hope.”
“I’m with Willy,” he answered. “I’ll call you in a few days.” He ended the call and kept his eyes closed. The pain had receded, and exhaustion had settled in. He just let himself relax and dozed off, waking when Willy put the kids in the car, and then they were off again.
He woke enough to get inside, with Willy guiding him into bed. “Rest well, and I’ll check on you in a little while.” He leaned over the bed and kissed him. “You gave me a real scare. Don’t do that again.” Willy’s touch lightly trailed down his arm. Kevin opened his eyes and took Willy’s hand.
“I didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t know the ceiling was going to fall.”
Willy leaned over him once more. “I know that. I just hate that you’re hurt. It scared me when Chase called, and I raced to the hospital. So take care of yourself, rest, and get better.” He kissed Kevin once more, this time harder than the last time. “I hope that sends you into dreamland with some happy thoughts.”
It did.
Chapter 11
WILLY STAYEDout back with the kids for much of the afternoon, letting them run off their energy. They seemed to have an endless supply of it, but once it got close to dinnertime, he got both kids inside and made a simple dinner. Just as he got the two of them at the table with their plates, a knock called him to the front door.
“Hey, Chase,” he said as he let him in.
“How’s Kevin?” he asked quietly.
Willy turned to the closed bedroom door. “He’s still asleep. Whatever he took knocked him out hours ago. I checked on him, and he’s sleeping hard, so I don’t want to interrupt him. But I’m concerned that if I don’t get him up for a little while, he’ll be up all night.” He closed the door and led Chase through to the kitchen. “What’s up?”
“The fire today… it was set the same way that someone used to burn down what was left of your building.”
Willy offered him some dinner, but he declined. “I guess mac and cheese isn’t your thing.” He smiled. “It’s not mine either, but these two munchkins like it.” He hated the stuff, but he wasn’t going to argue when the kids wolfed it down.
Chase nodded. “The thing is, the building that burned today, the one where the ceiling came down on him….”
Willy pulled out the chair. “Let me guess. It was built by the same people who did the apartment building.”
Chase nodded.
“And since it was built for sh… badly, the ceiling came down on Kevin.” Whoever was behind all this, Willy wanted to smackthe living hell out of them. “Do you know what else they built in town?”
“That’s just it. They built a few things and then they were gone. It was a short period of time, and then I guess word got around that they were doing crappy work and they went back to Philly. But whatever they built, they seem to be willing to put people’s lives in danger to try to cover it up.”
Willy nodded. “This is more than building code violations. It has to be. Why put a bunch of people in danger for something like that after all these years? Something else is going on.”
“What something else?” Kevin asked as he padded out of the bedroom, beautifully disheveled in Willy’s robe.
“Uncle Kevin,” Grant said as he jumped up from the table and raced over to him. Kevin humphed as Grant slid to a stop, his arms around his legs. “Are you better now?”
“I will be.” He caught Willy’s gaze, looking a little confused.
“While you were sleeping, we decided that Uncle Kevin was what the kids would call you instead of just using your name. It’s more respectful.” Willy loved the surprised and pleased expression.
“Why don’t you finish your dinner and we can play Legos afterwards.”
Grant returned to the table, and Willy guided Kevin to the sofa and covered his legs with a dinosaur throw blanket he’d gotten at Target at Grant’s insistence.
