Caitlyn and the Alien Protector (Intergalactic Brides 7)

by Jessica Coulter Smith

  The firefighter stepped back over the sill and onto the ladder. Holding out his hand, he helped her alight in front of him. With his arms sheltering her, she made her way down the ladder, her heart racing in her chest. She wouldn’t feel truly safe until her feet were firmly planted on the ground. Another cough consumed her, racking her body until her lungs burned and her eyes watered. The alien behind her soothed her as best he could and helped ease her further down the ladder. Her feet finally touched the ground and she breathed a sigh of relief, only to end up coughing again.

  The ambulance had arrived and a paramedic rushed to her aid, practically carrying her to the white and red van. He settled her on the gurney and gave her oxygen before checking her vitals. Caitlyn knew he was asking her questions, but all she could hear was a roaring in her ears. He turned and it looked like he shouted something out to the people gathered nearby her brother rushed over. She saw his lips moving and thought she recognized her name, but had no clue what they were talking about. Jake reached for her, smoothing her hair back from her face, his hand trembling, probably from his fear for her safety.

  The fireman who’d helped her down the ladder came over, presumably to check on her. She wanted to thank him, to tell him how grateful she was for saving her life, but with the oxygen mask in place she couldn’t. Even without the mask, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to speak well enough to be heard.

  The paramedic climbed into the back of the van and closed the doors before settling next to her. He gave her a reassuring smile and then she felt the lurch of the vehicle as it began moving. She assumed they were taking her to the hospital, which must mean she was worse off than she thought. There was nothing for it but to wait and see what happened. Maybe the doctor would release her tonight. She frowned. If he did, where would she go? Her purse had been in the apartment and by now, it was surely engulfed in flames, along with the rest of her things. She had no home, no money… things were looking rather bleak. Jake would offer her a place to crash, but he didn’t have a spare room, and she’d just as soon not sleep on his couch.

  When they pulled to a stop, the paramedic rose and opened the doors. The second man, who had obviously been driving the vehicle, helped slide the gurney out of the van. She saw the bright red sign of the Emergency Room a split second before she was wheeled inside. A nurse hurried over and Caitlyn was rushed to the back. The men transferred her to one of the E.R. beds, said something she couldn’t hear, then left.

  Another nurse came forward, a clipboard in hand. They tried to give it to her, along with a pen, but her hands were too burnt to take either one. She tried to show them, hoping they would understand. They gave her a sympathetic look and then glanced at one another as if trying to figure out what to do.

  Caitlyn coughed once more, gasping and wheezing.

  One of the nurses patted her on the leg, then disappeared. It wasn’t long before she returned with a doctor. He listened to her lungs and checked her ears, then looked at her eyes. He did everything but check her poor hands. She watched as he turned to say something to the nurses. One of them nodded and popped the locks on the bed, releasing the wheels.

  The fluorescent lights overhead zoomed by as Caitlyn lay on the bed. One corridor turned into four, an elevator ride and three more hallways later, she was pushed into a room. An orderly who looked like he’d been a football player in high school helped her move from one bed to the next.

  Everyone walked out again, leaving her alone once more. She was anxious, not knowing what was going on, but she tried to remain calm. It was obvious they were trying to help her, despite her lack of admission forms, and that soothed her a bit. After another bone-rattling cough, she closed her eyes, thinking that perhaps some rest would do her a world of good. She found that she was rather tired and before long, she fell asleep.

  * * *

  Cosmir stopped at the triage desk in the E.R., hoping to find out what happened to Caitlyn. She’d been in his thoughts ever since he’d relinquished her to the paramedics. Even with her face grimy from the smoke, she’d been beautiful, and it had been a face he’d recognized at once as Jake’s sister. Her blue eyes had been fearful and he’d wanted to make everything better. He couldn’t, in good conscience, return to work until he knew what had become of her. It had taken a bit of convincing, but finally the chief had relented and released him, calling in another firefighter to finish his shift. There were always guys looking for a little overtime. He’d promised Jake a full report after he’d seen Caitlyn. Cosmir wasn’t sure if Jake was trying to keep busy so he didn’t worry about his sister, or if something else was going on. He’d been surprised when his friend hadn’t gone after Caitlyn.

  The pretty blonde at the desk finally looked up and smiled at him, her eyes lighting in appreciation. Being a Terran, he’d had his fair share of females stare at him adoringly, but add in a fireman’s uniform and they damn near swooned.

  “May I help you, sir?”

  “I’m with the F.F.D. and I came to check on a woman who was brought in earlier. Caitlyn Wright.”

  “Oh, the fire victim? Poor thing. If it weren’t for the paramedics, we wouldn’t even know her name. Miss Wright is on the second floor in room 218.”

  “Thank you.” He hurried through the double doors at the other end of the room and made his way to the elevator. Taking it to the second floor, he found her room easily enough.

  Pausing inside the door, he wasn’t sure if he should proceed or not. She appeared to be sleeping and he didn’t want to disturb her rest. Her hair, the color of ebony, was spread out on her pillow. Her face still held the grime of the fire she’d survived. It irked him for some reason that no one had taken care of her, cleaned her up a bit. He knew she’d only been in the hospital for about an hour, but surely that was long enough for someone to assist her.

  He moved further into the room and surveyed the monitors. At least they’d taken the time to hook her up to a machine or two. Her heart rate seemed steady and he noticed she was still on oxygen. Depending on how bad the smoke inhalation had been, she could be on oxygen for a few days. He hoped he’d gotten to her in time, but the fire had already been raging out of control for a good half hour before they were able to respond, having been on another call when dispatch told them of the apartment fire. The next closest station was on Rivercrest, but they’d responded to an elderly assist and hadn’t returned yet.

  He neared the bed and gently took her hand. She whimpered and he turned her palm over, cursing at the red skin he saw there. Why hadn’t someone wrapped her hand? It was apparent that their exam of her had been cursory at best. He felt his temper rise and he turned and marched himself down the hall to the nurse’s station. The nurse on duty smiled, but when she saw what he assumed was a thunderous look on his face, her smile faded.

  “Is something wrong?” she asked.

  “Want to explain to me why the woman brought in earlier for smoke inhalation hasn’t been treated for her other injuries?”

  The nurse turned to the computer in front of her and began tapping on the keyboard. She frowned. “I don’t see where she has other injuries.”

  “Then someone did a shitty job of checking her over. She burned her palm. I find it hard to believe no one noticed.”

  The nurse picked up the phone. “I’ll get someone up here right away. Maybe they just forgot to note it in the system. I’m sorry, Mr. --”

  “Cosmir.”

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Cosmir. I promise we’ll get her taken care of.”

  Cosmir, while somewhat appeased that they were going to correct their mistake, was still inwardly fuming that she’d had such poor care thus far. If he hadn’t come to check on her, who knows how long her palm would’ve gone untreated.

  He pulled a chair over near the bed and sat down. He’d taken a fast shower when he’d returned to the station and he ran his fingers through his damp hair. The fact she hadn’t been taken care of really bugged him. Rising once more, he went into the adjoining bathroom and
wet a white gauze, putting a tiny dab of soap on it. He returned to her side and, as gently as possible, began removing the grime from her face. The soot blackened the rag and he went to get another one to wipe her face with cool water.

  Her eyes fluttered open and he smiled down at her. “How are you feeling?”

  She looked confused and he realized she still couldn’t hear, or at least not well enough to know what he was saying. He’d heard sometimes the roar of the flames drowned out everything else and left the victims a little hard of hearing for a bit after the fire, even though it had never happened to him. He looked around the room, but didn’t see anything to write on. He held up a finger to let her know he’d return in a moment and he hurried back down to the nurse’s station. He grabbed a pad and pen and went back to Caitlyn’s room.

  Quickly scratching a note, he asked how she was feeling.

  “Throat hurts,” she rasped.

  Do you remember me? he scratched on the pad.

  She nodded.

  My name is Cosmir.

  “I’m Caitlyn,” she said in a near whisper. He barely heard her.

  He smiled and picked up the pen again. He’d already known that of course, having met her at the station not too long ago. Cosmir would have to get to the bottom of whatever was going on with Jake at a later time. When he’d realized Jake planned to finish his shift, he’d asked off to watch over her.

  Hello, Caitlyn.

  She returned his smile and began coughing again. He was sorry to have woken her, as she seemed to have been resting peacefully.

  A noise had him turning in his seat and he watched as a doctor strolled into the room. The man held out his hand.

  “I’m Dr. Montgomery.”

  “Cosmir, and this is Caitlyn.”

  The doctor nodded. “I hear we missed something when she was brought in.”

  “Her hand is red.”

  The doctor made a hmmm noise. “That would explain why she didn’t fill out the forms downstairs. She was seen by an E.R. doctor when she first arrived, but they immediately sent her up here and by the time I came on scene, she was already resting. I decided sleep was better for her than waking her.”

  “She can’t hear,” Cosmir said.

  “I’m sure her hearing will return by morning, possibly sooner. Considering the reddish cast to her skin, it seems she was rather close to the fire.”

  Cosmir nodded. “It had eaten its way into her apartment and was fast closing in on her. If the window hadn’t been open, if she hadn’t leaned out, we would’ve never known she was up there. Her brother works with me, but she’d told him she was going out for the night.”

  “So you’re one of the firemen?” the doctor asked.

  “I’m the one who saved her.”

  Dr. Montgomery smiled. “Then I’m sure she’ll be anxious to speak with you, once she’s able. It’s probably going to be a few days before her voice returns to normal, but she should be able to communicate better by morning.”

  Cosmir moved out of the doctor’s way, allowing him access to Caitlyn. He watched as the doctor checked her hand then turned to a cabinet across the room. Removing gauze, some tape and some sort of ointment, he returned to the bed and began treating the minor burns. When he was finished, he checked her other hand. It was apparently burned as well because he began bandaging that one, too.

  When the doctor was finished, he put his supplies away and gave Caitlyn a reassuring smile before turning to face Cosmir.

  “She’ll be fine now. I’ll have one of the nurses bring her something for the pain. It will have to be an injection though. There’s no way her throat is up to swallowing pills.”

  Cosmir nodded his understanding and shook the doctor’s hand once more before the man hurried out the door.

  Cosmir picked up his pad and pen. Is that better?

  Caitlyn nodded and blinked slowly. He figured she must still be tired and didn’t want her to stay awake on his account.

  Sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up.

  She smiled and closed her eyes.

  Cosmir settled himself in the chair, ready to keep watch over her all night, since he had already arranged for Katy to stay with a sitter. There was something about Caitlyn, something that drew him to her side. Maybe he felt protective toward her because he’d been the one to pull her from the flames, but he had a feeling it was more than that. Whatever drew him to her, he hoped she would allow him to spend enough time with her to figure it out. It seemed Jake had gotten his wish. Cosmir was more than a little intrigued by the female, and wondered how she felt about children.

  Chapter Four

  Caitlyn glared at the sun creeping through the blinds. Her back ached from sleeping on Jake’s sofa, but she’d refused to kick her brother out of his bed. It had been a week since she’d been home from the hospital and she wasn’t any closer to figuring out what she was going to do. She’d contacted her insurance company after she’d gotten home from the hospital and they were working on her claim. The entire building had been consumed by the fire and Caitlyn had lost everything she owned.

  Thankfully, she had some money in savings to get her by until the insurance company cut her a check for ten thousand dollars. It wasn’t a lot when she thought about having to replace all of her furniture, kitchen things, linens, and everything. Her clothes alone had been worth a decent amount, especially her shoes. But regardless of the value of the things lost, her insurance paid a flat ten thousand dollars and not a penny more.

  She heard the shower kick on and knew Jake was awake, which meant there would be coffee brewing soon. No way in hell was she touching his special coffeepot. Damn thing had more buttons than an Xbox controller. As far as Caitlyn was concerned, there should be one button. The On/Off button. She liked things simple when it came to her kitchen appliances. Hell, she liked simple in all aspects of her life, not that they ever turned out that way.

  Shoving the covers off her legs, Caitlyn rubbed the sleep from her eyes as rolled off the couch and padded into the kitchen. She pulled out eggs, cheese, ham, and some milk. In a bowl, she mixed the eggs and milk until it was light, then she poured it into a warm skillet. Making omelets seemed like the least she could do after everything Jake had done for her. No, he hadn’t rushed to her side after the fire, but she hadn’t expected him to either. It wasn’t like she’d been dying or anything. She knew Jake well enough to know her brother would want to work and keep busy and not pace in a hospital. Although, it had been nice for the sexy alien to come check on her.

  A silly smile graced her face as she flipped the omelet. Cosmir. He had come by the hospital several times to see her, but since she’d been home, he’d made himself scarce. She wasn’t sure how much of that was due to Jake. Her big brother could be protective of her, but hadn’t blocked her from dating since high school. If she mentioned she was interested in Cosmir, she was fairly certain her brother would be okay with that, maybe even set up a date for them. Not that she couldn’t set up her own dates, but she wasn’t sure how things worked on the alien’s home world. What if women were supposed to be meek and the men handled everything? She snorted. It had been a long time since someone had called her meek, and the last man who had dared ended up with a broken nose courtesy of her right hook.

  “Something smells good,” Jake said, stopping beside her long enough to kiss her cheek, then moving further down the counter where the coffeepot mocked her.

  In a minute or less, he had the machine going and the sound of coffee perking filled the air. Caitlyn plated the ham and cheese omelets and placed them at the breakfast bar. She took down two juice glasses and poured some O.J. before getting out forks and tearing off two paper towels. Once everything was ready, coffee as well, they sat down to eat.

  “I’m going to get spoiled,” Jake said. “After you leave, I’ll be back to heating up bagels or eating cereal.”

  Caitlyn rolled her eyes. “Or you can get your flavor of the night to cook for you. I know I’m cramping your st
yle right now, but hopefully I can get another place before too long. I’m just waiting on the insurance company.”

  Jake bumped her shoulder. “It’s not like I’m throwing you out. Mom and Dad would come back from the dead and kill me if I tossed you out. Besides, it’s nice having you around.”

  “You mean you like the fact your house is clean, your laundry is washed, and someone is making you breakfast.” She smiled at him slyly. “Of course, you could have all that every day if you found someone and settled down.”

  “Not in this lifetime.”

  Caitlyn laughed. “Well, I personally would love to find Prince Charming and settle down, have some kids, maybe get a house with a white picket fence. Alas, I’m afraid he doesn’t exist.”

  A gleam entered Jake’s eyes and it worried Caitlyn. Just what was he thinking?

  “What if Prince Charming wasn’t human? Did you ever think of that? If you want to settle down so badly, I’m surprised you didn’t enter the bride program.”

  “Because I want to live here, not in outer space.”

  Jake took a swallow of his coffee. “In case you hadn’t noticed, there are aliens who have made their home on Earth. Who’s to say you couldn’t date one of them? As I recall, Cosmir was rather attentive while you were in the hospital.”

  “And he hasn’t made an appearance since. I think he was just being nice.”

  Jake grinned and took his dishes to the sink.

  “What do you know that I don’t?” she asked, having seen that grin hundreds of times growing up with her big brother.

  “I’m going to have a barbeque this afternoon. You should probably shower and put on something that will make a certain purple alien want to flirt with you. I’m assuming you bought something worthy of flirting and not just baggy shirts and knit shorts?”

  Yes, she did have something, but she wasn’t sure she should wear it. Just because she’d been attracted to the alien didn’t mean she should actually make a play for him. Cosmir might live here now, but what if he wanted to return to his world one day? Any woman who attached herself to him would have to go with him. Caitlyn wasn’t sure she could leave her brother behind, and there was no way Jake would move to a world with no available women.