Hearts on Fire 7: Claiming Catalina(8)

Not a man like Frederick Price. His friendship and business relationship with Castella Moya and Ruiz Mateo, who had been killed by Jeremy and some friends trying to save their woman Sophia, ran deep in their blood. Frederick wanted revenge, and so did Castella, but Agent Jones had information they could surely use to keep the illegal government business deals in motion. They just needed the names of other undercover agents, and Jeremy knew exactly who they were.

Clover couldn’t wait. He’d tortured and killed so many agents before that getting this one, and his entire family if necessary, would be fun. They were the enemy and stood in the way of success and getting rich. For that alone, the Jones brothers all deserved to die.



* * * *



Cooper was across the walkway with a group of firefighters, training them on better procedures and safety measures while Don was having the firefighters do some physical conditioning and training to stay fit and increase their tolerance for high-cardio workouts. There were numerous stations set up, but the one that seemed to be gathering the most attention was a timed competition. They each had to carry over a hundred pounds of fire hose on their shoulder up ten flights of stairs and then use a fire extinguisher to put out a fire on the top floor.

Once the fire was out, they hooked up their ropes to descend down the side of the building and swing into the second floor, where they ran back up the staircase then down the side using the same ten flights they took to the top floor. As soon as they ran across the parking lot and past the orange cones, time was up. It was a very intense and difficult contest, and many of the firefighters failed to beat the top ten best times.

As Don stood by the next set of events, he chuckled as he heard four rookies getting ranked on by the more seasoned firefighters. They started talking trash, and then Cody heard a bunch of yelling and someone saying to “cool it” and “put that down.” As Cody turned, he saw one rookie, who had been nothing but a wiseass from the start, swinging around his Halligan tool like some sword fighter. It was too late when he realized the kid had lost his grip. The tool went flying, hitting Don in the leg.

“What the fuck!” he roared as he grabbed his leg, the blood already seeping through his camo pocket pants.

“You stupid asshole. Get him the fuck out of here,” one of the fire chiefs yelled as Cooper came running over, as did the other firefighters and their friends.

“Shit, Don,” Ice said as he helped him to sit down. The guys were already over him, cutting his pants and looking at the damage to his leg.

“You need fucking stitches,” Cooper said, but Don had known immediately he did.

“Fuck. What’s wrong with those four fucking rookies? They think this is a goddamn joke? How the fuck did they pass the academy?” Don roared in anger, the pain now getting worse. His leg looked a mess.

“Let’s apply pressure and wrap it up. We can get one of the guys over here with an ambulance. They’re parked down the way,” Bull said to him.

“Fuck that. Cooper will take me to the emergency room.”

Cooper pointed at Ice and Bull. “You two take those fucking four asshole rookies and make them regret fooling around here. Tomorrow morning, I’m taking a look at their files and talking to the chiefs. I’m going to recommend they be re-evaluated and reinstated into the academy. The Halligan tool is not a fucking toy.” Cooper then helped Don to get up.

Don couldn’t believe this had happened, and at a fire training facility, no less. What the hell?



* * * *



Catalina was standing by the main desk when she got the call from Bull and Ice that Don had been hurt during training at the fire center. She was immediately concerned as he explained what had happened over the phone.

She got the attending physician to wait with her as Cooper and Don arrived. She could see the coloring in his face wasn’t good. He was losing blood, and the shock of it all was hitting him.

“Lie down and relax, Don. This is Dr. Anders,” Catalina told him as she placed her hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, Doc,” Cooper said, but remained watching Catalina. She was so worried, she felt her heart racing. Even though it wasn’t a life-threatening wound, Don would still need stitches.

“Hi, Catalina. I was hoping you would be here,” Don admitted and gave her a wink.

She cleared her throat and looked at Dr. Anders, who smirked, and she tried to act professional.

“We missed you,” Cooper said, flirting as the doctor looked at the damage and cleaned up the wound with Catalina’s help.

She locked gazes with Don.

“There are better ways to visit then getting hit with a Halligan tool,” she replied.

“How did you know it was a Halligan?” Don asked her.

“Bull and Ice called me and gave the heads-up.”

Don smiled.

She shook her head at him and needed to remain professional here, despite how sexy and charming he looked. The fact that his friends had called her about the accident probably indicated to him that other people were thinking they were already in a relationship.

“We’re still on for tonight, right, Catalina?” Don asked and looked at the doctor, who seemed surprised, and then got serious.

“I think you’ll be in bed resting, Don. Just relax and we’ll take care of everything,” she reprimanded him, and Dr. Anders chuckled.

“You’re going to need a good amount of stitches. If you’d been hit any harder, there would be serious tendon damage,” the doctor told him.

“He jumped out of the way pretty quickly. He knows it could have been a lot worse, and we’ll be taking care of those rookie firefighters tomorrow morning,” Cooper told the doctor.

Catalina could see how angry Cooper was. She couldn’t help but want to touch him, caress his arm, and give him a reassuring smile so he knew it was okay, but he just stared at Don as the doctor explained what he was going to do.

Dr. Anders asked her for several things, and when she got the tetanus shot, she reached out and held Don’s arm.

“This might hurt a bit,” Dr. Anders said to him, and Cooper cringed, but she felt Don’s hand caress her outer thigh and then he didn’t even flinch as the doctor injected the shot into the cut to ensure he didn’t get an infection. She couldn’t believe he didn’t feel a thing. She held his gaze, his eyes completely focused on her.

“When do you get off work?” Don asked, and the doctor chuckled.

“When Dr. Anders says so.” She turned toward the doctor and gathered the things needed to begin stitching up Don’s leg.

“Cat, can you hold his thigh here so I can get these stitches nice and tight?” the doctor asked, and Catalina nodded and then ran her hand over Don’s thigh and pressed where he told her.

“Sweet Jesus.” Don exhaled, and she glanced at him and then at Cooper, who had his arms crossed and was chuckling.

As the doctor worked on the numerous stitches to Don’s leg, she caught sight of something moving to the left and saw Bear and Ice peak around the large curtain separating them from the rest of the patients.

“Hey, you guys didn’t have to come down,” Cooper said, but then Jeremy and Cody walked in behind them, looking concerned.

“You guys had some visitors show up at the training facility. Thought we’d follow them over,” Ice said and winked.

“Hey, Catalina. Got the best nurse in the place and the best doctor, huh?” Bear teased as he came next to the side of the bed and gave Don’s shoulder a squeeze.

“Sure did,” Don said and caressed Catalina’s hip.

Catalina saw Cody’s and Jeremy’s expressions as they witnessed their brother caressing her hip, and she couldn’t help but feel interested and excited. They were all here in one room. Jeremy and Cody were in town. What the hell was she going to do?



* * * *



Cody knew something was up. He couldn’t take his eyes off of Catalina, and he saw the expression in Don’s eyes as he caressed her hip and looked at Cody, then Jeremy. Catalina wasn’t pulling away, and she looked a little flushed.

Jeremy moved closer and brushed by Catalina’s side. Cody saw her expression and her cheeks turn a nice shade of pink.

“There we go. I’ll just let Catalina clean this all up for you and then get everything you need,” Dr. Anders said.

“We’re going to head out. Take care of yourself and rest up tonight, Don. That was a good hit to the leg, and thirty stitches is a lot,” Ice said and shook everyone’s hand, along with Bear.

“Later, Cat,” Bear said, and she waved.

They both exited the room, and then Cooper shook the doctor’s hand as Dr. Anders brushed by Catalina, placing his hands on her hips to pass by her. Cody was instantly jealous.

As the doctor left the room, Cody and Jeremy greeted Cooper then Don.

“We meant to surprise you by showing up unannounced, but it seems you surprised us,” Cody said to Cooper as he gave a hug and slap to Cooper’s shoulder. They chuckled.

“This is fucking crazy, and all from some rookie firefighter?” Jeremy asked, but didn’t take his eyes off Catalina.

“Yeah, well, it’s over, and I’m fine, especially with my number-one nurse taking care of me. She was waiting on standby,” he teased.

“You were there waiting for them? How did you know?” Jeremy asked her as he stepped closer.