Nodding, Caden collected their bags and slung them over his shoulder as Makenna grabbed some things from the fridge. Maybe he could treat this weekend just like he did a run in the ambulance. When a call came in, Caden was able to focus on the crisis at hand in a way that blocked all the other shit out. In those moments, all that mattered was the person in need and what he could do to ease their pain and save their life. Just like someone had once done for him.
Surely he could focus, hold himself together, and do this for Makenna. “Of course it’s gonna be great,” he said, “because I’ll be with you.”
CHAPTER TWO
“So tell me about some of the weird calls you’ve responded to,” Makenna said, smiling over at Caden. God, he was sexy sitting in the driver’s seat of his black Jeep, big hands gripping the leather steering wheel. Though they were going home to visit her family, he was driving—he found her car, a little silver Prius, more confining than he could stand. They were halfway between her home in Arlington and her dad’s place in Philadelphia and, as always, they never had trouble finding things to talk about. Heck, that was part of what drew her to Caden in the first place.
“There have been more than a few weird ones over the years,” Caden said, quirking a small grin as he looked her way. “Let’s see. There was the woman who got her hand stuck in the garbage disposal. Her sweater snagged on part of the internal mechanism. The sweater was cashmere and she was really pissed that we had to cut it.”
Makenna grimaced. “Why’d she put her hand in the garbage disposal?”
“Dropped a ring down the drain,” he said with a shrug of his broad shoulders. “We found it for her though.” He pursed his lips and his eyes narrowed. “Oh. And once we got a call that a woman was hearing a man yell and scream through her apartment wall. We showed up with the police ten minutes later and he was fine. Turned out he’d been, uh, severely constipated and having a hard time…going.”
Makenna burst out laughing. “That is gross. He must’ve been so embarrassed.”
Caden chuckled. “I don’t know. I think the woman who made the call was more embarrassed than he was. When we got there, she came out into the hallway with us because she was so worried about the guy.”
“That’s a big old case of TMI,” Makenna said, enjoying the conversation. Being an EMT meant Caden confronted a lot of intense and often tragic situations, things about which he didn’t always want to talk when he came home after a shift. So it was nice to learn more about this part of him.
Grinning so big it brought his dimples out to play, Caden nodded. Makenna loved how smiling made his face look so much younger and more relaxed. Between his head scar, the widow’s peak of his shaved hair, and the piercings on his lip and eyebrow, his face could appear harsh, maybe even intimidating. Except when he smiled. “Then there was the guy who called because he thought his penis was going to explode. It turned out he’d borrowed Viagra without a prescription and taken three of them at once. Four days later, he still had an erection.”
“Aw, God. What is wrong with people?” Makenna laughed and turned in her seat toward Caden.
“I don’t know.” Caden winked. “You’d be surprised how many strange calls we get. And dispatch gets the weirdest calls of all. People call to complain about fast food restaurants not getting their orders right, or to ask if the police could go to a movie theater and hold the show time up because they’re caught in traffic, or to find out what the weather is. One old man called because he thought his house had suddenly started having a heartbeat. It turned out his new neighbors next door were in a band and he was hearing the drums. Oh, and then there was the old lady who called because her 72-year-old husband wanted to spice up their sex life by having a threesome. She wanted him arrested.”
“Wow.” Makenna shook her head. “I think I’ve called 9-1-1 exactly one time in my life, and it was when someone on the Metro thought they were having a heart attack. Even then I was nervous to dial the numbers.”
“Well, that’s how it should be,” Caden said. “So many calls to 9-11- aren’t emergencies at all.”
Makenna reached over and laced her fingers with Caden’s. Their clasped hands rested on his thigh, giving her a view of the dragon tattooed on the back of his right hand. “Okay, now tell me about some really great calls you went on.”
“I’ve delivered three babies,” he said, a small smile on his lips. “Those were my favorites. Such an amazing thing to be a part of, watching a life come into the world. You know? One of the couples named their son Grayson.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Aw, Caden. That’s so special. I can’t imagine how scary it would be to know a baby was coming and not be able to get to the hospital.” For a moment, Makenna’s imagination ran away with the picture of this muscled, inked, pierced, scarred man holding a brand new baby in those big hands. What a sight that would be. She smiled.