Killer Cuisine

by Velvet Vaughn

  “I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Dorian told Alex.

  Alex shook his head. “Hate hospitals,” he croaked.

  “Suck it up,” she told him “Dan needs us.”

  That did the trick. He straightened and followed her to Luke’s Escalade.

  “I’m fine to drive,” Luke insisted, his ruined voice mocked that statement. She knew it wouldn’t do any good to argue and she needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible. Luke sped through the streets, pausing at stop lights to hack up a lung. She was getting coughing in stereo with Luke in the front and Alex in the back.

  “Both of you, promise me you’ll get checked out when we get there,” she said.

  Luke made a non-committal noise. He was tough, but so was she. She’d make sure the doctors looked at both of them.

  Wheeling into the parking lot, he’d barely shifted to park before she jumped out. Logan was in the waiting room on the phone. He disconnected when he saw them.

  “How is he?”

  “He woke up in the ambulance. Asked for you.”

  Kait headed for the doors marked “No Admittance”, but Luke pulled her back. “You can’t go in there, sis.”

  A nurse approached eying Luke, Logan and Alex. She shook her head. “What a motley crew. The three of you look like you could use medical attention.”

  “I’m fine…”

  “Don’t need it…”

  “All good…”

  The trio spoke at once. Kait narrowed her eyes. “Yes, you do.” She addressed the nurse. “They inhaled quite a bit of smoke.”

  “Kait…” Luke’s voice held a note of warning.

  She met his stare without flinching. “I don’t care. You’re going to make sure you’re okay.” Her gaze encompassed Logan and Alex. “All of you.”

  “Follow me.” The nurse spun around and marched through the doors, holding them open until three very reluctant men followed. They bombarded Kait with dirty looks promising retribution.

  “Kaitlyn?”

  She spun around to see Jade Bradley hustling for her. Even though she knew Jade was pregnant, she wasn’t showing yet. Jade hugged her.

  “Logan? Dan?”

  “Logan inhaled smoke, but he’s okay. A nurse just took him back to be checked out.”

  “You must have made him go because I know he wouldn’t do it himself.”

  Kaitlyn smiled wryly. “He’s not happy with me at the moment.”

  “He’ll get over it,” Jade said. “The man could sever a limb and he’d slap a Band-Aid on it and call it good.”

  Kait smiled. “Luke’s the same way.”

  Jade sobered. “How’s Dan?”

  “He was unconscious when they took him in the ambulance but Logan said he woke up. I haven’t been able to see him.” Her stomach cramped with the need to be with him, hold his hand, assure herself that he was alive. “Where’s Isabella?”

  “I dropped her off with Aunt Trudy. I didn’t want her around all the germs and it was all I could do to keep Trudy away, too.” Trudy raised the boys and showered them with love and affection. They’d both grown into amazing men and they had her to thank for that. “I had to promise I’d call her as soon as I knew anything.”

  “Isn’t that Juliet LaRue?” A couple of teenage girls were gazing at Jade adoringly, trying to decide if the Oscar winner was actually standing in the hospital. One was nudging the other, trying to get up the courage to ask for an autograph.

  “I’ll cause a distraction so you can sneak back.” Jade winked conspiratorially.

  “Thank you.” Kait hugged her and then waited for her opportunity. Jade turned to the girls and they squealed, jumping up and down. Kait didn’t wait to see what happened, she slipped through the doors.

  She tiptoed down the hallway, peeking into rooms looking for Dan. Logan was in one room with an oxygen mask and a nurse taking his pulse. He spotted her and narrowed his eyes. Yipes. She scurried past. Alex was strapped down with an oxygen mask and he didn’t look happy. He was shaking his head at something the nurse said. Zipping right along. Luke was in the next one and, oh, no, it was Dr. Amelia Howell. She was Maggie McQueen’s college roommate and had become the unofficial doctor to the COBRA Securities team. Kait zoomed past and hugged the wall, breathing rapidly. She heard laughter. Familiar laughter. She’d recognize that sound anywhere. She smiled and headed for the room and then stopped suddenly. That laughter she did not recognize. And it was decidedly female.

  She ripped the curtain back a little too forcefully. Both heads snapped around. Well, look at that. Mattel had apparently developed a Bimbo Nurse Barbie. Kait narrowed her gaze, then she focused on Dan and forget anyone else was in the room. His eyes lit up and a smile spread across his soot-covered face. He reached a hand out to her.

  “Kaitlyn.”

  With a cry, she rushed forward and hugged him. His grip was strong and she shuddered, thinking of how close she’d come to losing him. He smelled of wood and smoke and a smell that was unique to him.

  “Excuse me, ma’am,” Barbie snapped, tapping her on the shoulder. “You aren’t supposed to be back here.” She held a cloth in her hand poised to wipe the ash and smoke from Dan’s face. Kait plucked the rag from her surprised grip.

  “I’ll do that.” She proceeded to gently wipe away the soot and grime. His eyes never left hers much to the nurse’s chagrin.

  The nurse harrumphed and spun around. “I’m getting the doctor.”

  Kaitlyn and Dan shared a secret smile. It wasn’t the first time they’d gotten into trouble together. Probably wouldn’t be the last.

  Dan tossed a rock at Kaitlyn’s window…well, he aimed for the window. Unfortunately, he tagged the side of the house instead. He picked it up and tried again. When the stone made contact with the glass, the ding was so loud, he was afraid he’d cracked it. Kaitlyn’s head popped up, her eyes wide. Dan smiled and motioned for her to come down. She narrowed her eyes and shook her head. He nodded and motioned again, more forcefully. She rolled her eyes but she turned around and disappeared. He paced in the yard, waiting for her to come outside.

  “Danny?”

  He yelped and spun around. He hadn’t heard her approach.

  “What are you doing out here?” She hugged herself and glanced around the area. Kait was a tomboy but she mostly acted tougher than she was. No Disney princess nightgown for her. She wore a pair of sweats with the Indianapolis Colts logo all over them. He’d bet they were hand-me-downs from one of her brothers.

  “Come-on.” He tugged her hand. “It’s almost time for the eclipse.”

  “You made me come outside at two in the morning to see the friggin’ moon?”

  Dan smiled. She picked up bad habits from her brothers. Her mom was forever trying to get her to act more ladylike. “It’s a lunar eclipse and it’s just about to start. Let’s go.” They ran to the park across the street and took seats in side-by-side swings.

  “It’s a total lunar eclipse,” Dan explained. “That means the moon, sun and Earth are aligned with the Earth in the middle.” He glanced at Kait to see her staring raptly at him. “The moon passes behind the Earth into its…” What the heck was the word the man used? It was a funny one and he tried to memorize it. Umbrella? No, umbra. That’s it! “Umbra.”

  “What’s an umbrella?” Kait asked.

  Dan grinned. “Umbra. It’s the Earth’s shadow.”

  “You are so smart,” she whispered. “You know stuff like my brother Luke.”

  Luke was cool so he took the compliment easily. He didn’t mention that he repeated virtually word-for-word what the man on television said. He’d scribbled it down as fast as he could in his notebook then memorized it. The solar system fascinated him. Maybe he’d be an astronaut one day.

  “Look,” Kait gasped. “It’s red.”

  The man explained why but, zoom, that went right over his head. Something about rayleigh scattering or some such. “It’s called a blood moon.” That much he did remember.
/>   “Ew,” she shuddered. “That’s—”

  “Boo!”

  “Ahh!”

  Kait screamed and leaped from the swing. Dan got all tangled in the chain trying to escape.

  “Ben.”

  Dan stopped struggling and looked up to see Kait’s brother rolling on the ground, holding his stomach as he laughed.

  “You should’ve seen the looks on your faces,” Ben hooted. “I wish I’d brought a camera.”

  Kait stomped over and kicked him.

  “Ow! Hey! No need to get violent.”

  Kait crossed her arms and stared at her eleven-year old brother. “What are you doing out here?”

  He pushed to his feet and dusted off his jeans. “What are you doing out here, Katydid?’

  “Don’t call me that,” Kaitlyn groused. “Why are you here? I asked first.”

  “I heard you sneak out—not very stealthily—and followed you.”

  “I am too stealthily.” Her button nose scrunched up. “What’s stealthily?”

  “It means quiet,” Ben told her.

  “We’re watching the eclipse,” Dan explained, hoping the older boy didn’t punch him for dragging Kait outside in the middle of the night. The Colton boys were notoriously protective of their baby sister.

  “Oh yeah?” Ben glanced at the moon. “Cool. It’s red.”

  “It’s called a blood moon,” Kaitlyn supplied, looking pleased to know something her brother didn’t.

  “No shit?”

  “You aren’t supposed to say that word,” Kait chided.

  “You gonna tell on me, Katydid? Maybe I’ll just have to tell on you.”

  “Don’t you dare—”

  Ben took off running. “I’m telling Mom and Dad,” he sing-songed.

  Kait bolted after him. Ben looked over his shoulder and chortled, not even seeing the rock in his path. He tripped and tumbled roughly to the ground.

  Kait screamed his name and rushed over to him. “Are you okay?”

  “Ow.” Ben’s eyes were closed and he cradled his arm to his chest. “Bad news Katydid. I think I broke my arm.”

  “Oh, no.” Kait grabbed his arm and he cried out.

  “It hurts.”

  “I’m getting Mom and Dad.”

  “You’ll get in trouble.”

  Kait glanced at Dan. “Go home,” she told him. “I’ll tell my parents I came out on my own. You don’t need Aunt Trudy grounding you, too.” She took off for the house. Dan looked down at Ben, who was clearly in pain.

  “I wasn’t really going to tell,” Ben gritted out as he sat up and supported his broken arm. “You better go before my parents get here.”

  “It’s my fault,” he said. “I’m not leaving.”

  Kait and Ben’s parents hurried outside in their robes and pajamas, followed by Luke, Grant and Kaitlyn. Mr. and Mrs. Colton fussed over Ben and then guided him to their car for a trip to the emergency room. Grant helped his brother while Luke held on to Kait’s hand. She marched over to Dan, dragging Luke in her wake.

  “You were supposed to go home,” she chastised.

  Luke glanced between Kait and Dan. “What are you doing out here this early in the morning?”

  Dan tried not to let his nerves show. “I wanted to show Kaitlyn the eclipse.” Dan pointed to the sky and Luke spun around to view the giant red orb.

  “Cool,” he said. Then he faced Dan again, his eyes narrowed. “You drug my baby sister outside in the middle of the night for this?”

  Dan gulped. “Y-yes?” It came out as a question, which he guessed was better than a squeak.

  Luke looked like he wanted to pummel Dan. He was a star high school football player and he was being recruited by several colleges. He could crush Dan under his size fourteen Nikes.

  “Luke, Kait,” their mom called out.

  “Coming,” Luke yelled. He towed Kaitlyn as he headed for the family car. “Don’t do it again,” he ordered Dan.

  Dan breathed a sigh of relief, having avoided a major beat down. He turned and raced across the yard to his house sneaking back in the way he got out.

  #

  Dan smiled at Kaitlyn as he recalled the time when their clandestine trip outside injured her brother. Ben had been in a cast all summer and he wielded it at Dan several times, threatening to conk him in the head. It wasn’t his fault Ben didn’t look where he was going. But Ben got his pay-back when he told Logan all about it. Logan took his big brother duties seriously, lecturing Dan and telling him the next time he wanted to sneak out, to come get him. He would have taken him to see the eclipse.

  He focused on Kait again and breathed deeply for the first time since the fire broke out. He had no idea what happened or how he got here. The last thing he remembered was guiding Kendall to safety. “I was worried about you. When I woke up, you weren’t there.”

  “I wanted to come with you,” she insisted. “But Logan was hurt, too, and they would only let one ride in the ambulance.”

  Dan stiffened. “Logan’s hurt?” He bolted upright, causing a machine to beep insistently. “Where is he?” He tried to climb out of bed but Kait stopped him.

  “Stay where you are, Dan.” The beeping was getting louder. “He’s down the hall. He and Luke had smoke inhalation from pulling you out of the fire. Alex, too. They’re fine but are getting oxygen treatments.”

  Logan and Luke had both been injured saving him? And Alex? Dan collapsed against the bed, causing his head to pound.

  “Dan? Are you okay?” Judging by Kait’s worried tone, he didn’t conceal the grimace.

  “What’s going on in here?” An older nurse ripped back the curtain, the metal rings shrieking against the bar. The younger nurse followed, the one who was flirting with him earlier, a smug look on her face. The older nurse turned off the annoying machine and checked the numbers.

  “I told you to leave,” the younger nurse snipped at Kaitlyn. Dan squeezed her hand harder, having no intention of letting her go. He needed her at his side.

  “She’s okay, Bobbi.” Dr. Amelia Howell scanned Dan’s chart as she entered the room.

  “Yes, of course, Dr. Howell.” Nurse Bobbi slinked outside.

  “Hey, Amelia. What brings you here?” Dan quipped.

  She rolled her eyes. “Always the funny man. But I hear you played hero today.”

  Him a hero? Logan was the hero in the family. Dan shook his head, causing it to pound again. Amelia walked over and checked under the bandage. “Doctor Fredericks has already examined you and you’ve had a CT scan. We’re just waiting on the results. Do you recall what happened?”

  “Just the fire. Getting Kendall out. Then it gets fuzzy.”

  “You’ve got a heck of a bump,” Amelia told him. “It looks like something bashed you over the head.”

  Bashed him…that didn’t make sense. Then he remembered the blinding pain before everything went dark. He nodded slowly. “Something hit me hard.”

  “Luke saw a metal beam close to where you were found. If that’s what hit you, you’re lucky your skull’s not cracked. As for smoke, it helped that you were so low to the ground.”

  A nurse stuck her head inside and handed a file to Amelia. She read over it and then looked at Dan. “It looks like you have a mild concussion—”

  “Good, I can go home then?”

  She shook her head and smirked. “Nice try. We’re keeping you overnight for observation since it’s not your first bump on the head.”

  “Come-on, I’m tough,” he tried. “My head doesn’t hurt nearly as bad as last time. Besides, I can rest at home better than I can here.”

  Amelia narrowed her eyes. “It is hard to get a good night’s sleep in a hospital,” she conceded. “But you’ll need to be woken every few hours, just to make sure you’re okay.”

  “I’ll do it,” Kait offered.

  Amelia raised her brows. “Alright.” She scribbled on a pad of paper and ripped off a couple of sheets. “I’ll have someone fill these prescriptions for pain. M
ake sure to take them so you can rest.” She handed them to a nurse walking by, then she went over signs for Kait to check for when she woke him during the night. “If he seems the least bit disoriented or unfocused, get him back here immediately.”

  “What about my brother? Luke? Alex?”

  “They all had mild cases of smoke inhalation, with Alex being the worst. We’ve put Luke and Logan through a cycle of oxygen and they should be free to go soon. Much to his dismay, I’m keeping Alex overnight to monitor his lungs. He punctured one a few months ago so I want to keep an eye on it.”

  Dan knew how much Alex hated hospitals. “I imagine that went over well when you told him.”

  “Let’s just say that he invented a few colorful words.”

  Dan winced. He needed to see his friend before he left the hospital. The curtain shifted and Jade’s beautiful face appeared, followed by his brother’s soot covered mug. Relief dropped his shoulders to see Logan up and about. He remembered waking up in the ambulance and talking to him, but he hadn’t realized he’d been hurt saving him. They hurried to his side and Kait stepped back to give them room. He mourned the loss of her touch.

  Jade hugged him gently and ran a hand over his face. Tears popped into her green eyes. “We were worried about you.”

  He couldn’t speak over the sudden lump in his throat. He loved his sister-in-law like a real sister.

  Logan was next and he hugged him and thumped him on the back. “You’re going to have to quit getting bashed in the head, little brother,” he scolded. “You take years off my life.”

  “Sorry,” he managed. “Where’s Bella?”

  “With Aunt Trudy and that reminds me…” Logan pulled out his cell and typed a quick text to their aunt. When he finished, he looked up. “You best call her when you feel like it. You know how she gets.”

  “Did we miss the party invite?” Luke stepped inside, followed by Ben and Ben’s wife Rachel. Kait rushed over to hug Luke and he picked her up.

  “You smell like a chimney,” she choked, tears clogging her voice.

  “Kinda feel like one, too.” He sat her on her feet and addressed Dan as she hugged Ben and Rachel. “How are you feeling?”

  “A little sore but fine.”