Ezra watched him instead of the penlight. I’d known about them. Everyone close to them had. Three years ago, it had burned hot and fast and then… stopped. No explosion. Just silence. Now there was something electric in the air. “You could have at least pretended to be impressed with my driving, Cap,” Ezra added.
“You ran two red lights.”
“For you? I’d run them all.” Gio’s jaw ticked, something akin to shame flashing in his eyes, just for a moment. Anya glanced between them, catching it. Filing it away. She hadn’t been on nights, hadn’t beencomfortableenough to catch the tension between them.
“We have a job to do,” Gio said sharply, trying to pivot back to control. “There’s a structural assessment pending, and I can’t sit here for four hours because he’s dramatic.”
Ezra pushed off the counter. “You’re not going anywhere until she clears you.”
“I’m fine.”
“You weren’t fine when you blinked at me like you’d never seen my face before.”
“That was not confusion.”
“Was it awe? I tend to have that effect on people.” I coughed to hide a laugh, but Anya didn’t miss it. She never did, shooting me a look. Professional. Neutral. But I saw the corner of her mouth twitch.
She stepped closer to Gio, her tone cooling just enough to command attention. “If you lost consciousness, even briefly, you’re at risk for a concussion. If you return to an active scene and your reaction time is compromised, you put your entire crew at risk.” A calculated pause. “You put civilians at risk, Chief.”
Gio held her gaze, but she didn’t blink. I was an adult man, and I wasnotturned on by the way my girl was going toe-to-toe with a well-respected, albeit stubborn, fire chief.
I’ve been called a liar before, though.
He exhaled through his nose. “…Fine.”
Ezra beamed as if he’d personally won something. “See?” he said lightly. “Phenomenal teamwork, everyone.”
Gio shot him a look that would’ve flattened a lesser man. But it did absolutely nothing to Ezra. If anything, it made him brighter. I adjusted my stance beside the bed; the prosthetic responded smoothly. No wobble. No hesitation. As Anya began cleaning the wound, Giovanni winced despite himself.
Ezra leaned in slightly. “You always were dramatic.” He chucked his chin gently. “Good thing we got you here quickly.”
Gio’s eyes cut to him. “You’re enjoying this entirely too much, Becker.”
“Three years of pent-up ‘I told you so,’” Ezra replied. “Let me have this.”
“If you two are finished…” Anya secured the bandage. “We’re ordering a CT. If it’s clear, you’ll be discharged with monitoring instructions.”
Gio opened his mouth to argue — Ezra beat him to it. “Say thank you, Chief.”
He stared at him. Then, begrudgingly, “Thank you, Doctor Volkov.”
Anya nodded once. As the tech wheeled him toward imaging, Gio’s hand shot out, catching Ezra lightly by the wrist. It wasn’t aggressive, but it certainly wasn’t subtle either. “I did not lose consciousness,” he said quietly.
Ezra’s expression softened in a way that almost no one ever saw. “You did, Gio,” he replied just as quietly. “And it scared me.” That seemed to land. Gio released him as the stretcher rolled away. The trauma bay exhaled.
I looked across the room at Anya. She looked back at me. That silent language again. The one built on surviving things. Ezra stood there a second longer than necessary, watching the empty doorway. And I couldn’t help but notice a silent language hanging in the air between him and Marshall.
Pining was a quiet thing. It didn’t shout.
Chapter 53
Anya
Giovanni returned about twenty minutes later, looking just as angry as he had before. “Your tech wouldn’t tell me what the CT showed.” He grumbled, arms crossed over his chest, as the nurse locked the bed back into place.
“Of course they didn’t,” I laughed, scanning my badge at the computer. “That’s not their job; it’s mine.”
Ezra chuckled from the small chair in the corner. “Don’t try to tell Doctor Volkov how to do her job, boss.” His smile was chipper. “Desmond has been training her. She’s got thick skin.”
