Code Red (The Sierra View Series Book 2)

by Max Walker

  “Can you get us tickets to the premier now that you guys are best friends?”

  The voice startled Caleb. He was so into the trailer, he hadn’t even realized someone walked into the break room.

  “Dean,” Caleb said. It was Dean Harper, an emergency doctor at Sierra View and one of Caleb’s closest friends. He was also Noah’s husband, and he almost seemed more excited about meeting Red than Caleb ever was. “Stop trying to get into the same room as Red. I know you want to jump him and I won’t let you. I like Noah too much.”

  Dean laughed as he grabbed his lunch from the fridge. He walked over to the microwave and threw it in, turning around to catch the last bit of the trailer before Phoebe came back on with her guitar.

  “Pftt. It’s Noah I have to worry about. He keeps asking me to get the ‘tea,’ I’m pretty sure I’ll have to carry a taser if we ever do meet him, just to get Noah off him.” Dean laughed at that idea. Caleb smiled, feeling good that his best friend was finally happy. Ever since Noah came into his life, his smiles had gotten wider and his laughs deeper. “So” Dean continued. “I’m just asking for him… Is he that good looking in person or do the explosions and gunfights add to the appeal?”

  “Just for him, huh?” Caleb said, laughing as Dean shrugged innocently. Caleb shook his head. “He needs zero guns or explosions to be sexy. That man is a walking fountain of sex.”

  “Fair enough.” Dean leaned on the counter, his eyes narrowing. “So… did you get to take a sip from the fountain?”

  “Yeah, right there in the middle of the set. Cameras were everywhere, but I didn’t care. I boned him right there. Got a standing ‘O’ when I was done.”

  “Ok, you don’t have to give me attitude,” Dean said, chuckling as he grabbed his lunch from the microwave. The smell of his homemade lasagna filled the room. “And I’m sure it was a great ‘O’.”

  “I met Selena, too.” Caleb wanted to get off the topic of Red. The longer he talked about him, the more his mind raced down different impossible avenues. Impossible. Nothing was ever going to happen between them, and that was probably for the better.

  And yet, over the past week, he couldn’t shake off the feeling of missing out on something. As if life had been screaming at him to say something back inside the trailer, but he never did and now his chance was gone. It was a supremely shitty feeling, but one that would hopefully disappear soon.

  “Oh damn, how’d that go?” Dean asked

  “Fine,” Caleb shrugged. “She didn’t seem to care much about me, but it’s not like I was expecting her to.”

  “True,” Dean said. “But that doesn’t mean she can’t pretend. She’s an actress, after all.” He dramatized the word ‘actress’ as he took the seat across from Caleb. He tipped his plate toward Caleb, offering the delicious smelling lasagna. Caleb could see the cheesy goodness melting off the sides.

  “I’m ok, thanks though,” he said. “How’s everything on your end? Noah’s been ok lately, right?”

  Dean nodded as a cloud temporarily cast over his features. “The panic attacks are pretty much non-existent. The therapy sessions have been great. I’m starting to feel like we can finally put all that shit behind us.”

  Caleb’s brows furrowed. “I’m sorry you guys had to even go through it.”

  Dean and Noah had both been stalked, and attacked, by a crazy lunatic who thought he had a claim on both their lives. It happened months ago, but the event had shaken the two up and left everyone at Sierra View reeling. It was a scary thing to hear about, and a terrifying thing to live through.

  “I’m thinking of surprising him.” Dean shoveled a forkful of lasagna into his mouth. Caleb always wondered how the doctor could eat like he did and still keep the figure he had. Not that Caleb had seen what Dean was sporting under his scrubs, but he could tell he was fit. Meanwhile, Caleb needed to log all his meals and bust his ass at the gym just so he could have a few ridges on his stomach.

  “I’m thinking of adopting,” Dean said through the lasagna.

  Caleb’s eyebrows shot up. Did he misunderstand? “A kid?”

  “No, no.” Dean looked startled. He laughed before taking a drink from his water bottle. “A dog.”

  Caleb let his head fall back. “Duh.”

  “Duh? What? Do I look like I can’t have kids? You don’t think I’m a certified daddy?”

  Caleb’s smile turned crooked. He crossed his arms and shook his head. “You might be a daddy, but I don’t think it’s the type you're thinking of right now.”

  Dean laughed and sat back in his chair, shaking his head. “Whatever. I’ll take that, too.”

  “Oh yeah you will.” Caleb choked back a laugh. He loved joking around with Dean. They continued to joke for a while longer, trying to discuss the exact timeline required for a daddy to evolve into a daddy.

  The door opened again. This time, Caleb wasn’t caught off guard. He looked toward the entrance to say hi to whoever walked through. Unlike in the last hospital he worked at, he actually got along with everyone here. It felt like a tight-knit family. No one was better than anyone else. They were all there to save people’s lives, and that made heading into work every morning enjoyable. Of course, like with any family, drama did sometimes happen, but never with the frequency or intensity that it occurred at Caleb’s last hospital.

  But the person who walked through that door changed all that. The man who stepped into the break room was the last man Caleb ever wanted to see and ever thought he would see. He thought he had left all of that behind. He was sure that by transferring to Sierra View, he would never have to set eyes on that man again.

  No. Why? Why is he here?

  Jackson Ford, the top plastic surgeon at Trinity Grace Hospital and Caleb’s ex-boyfriend. He was standing there, wearing a shit-eating smirk with a gold-plated stethoscope hanging from his neck that yelled ‘this guy’s a raging douchebag.’ This was the man who almost single-handedly destroyed Caleb’s life. It took a long time for Caleb to recover from the damage Ford had inflicted. The mental scars still throbbed on occasion, reminding him that he was too easy to trust. Too willing to hand out his heart, only to have it returned in shattered pieces.

  Dean cocked his head. He was looking at Jackson, seemingly wondering who just walked into their break room. He must not have picked up on the sudden and extreme shift in Caleb’s demeanor. His back was surfboard straight, his eyes pinned to a mark on the pale wall ahead.

  “Hi, I’m Jackson Ford,” he said. Hearing that voice again felt like being shocked with a car battery. “I’m interviewing for the opening in plastic surgery. Just had a meeting with Dr. Sanchez. Great woman.”

  Dean smiled and stood up, walking over with a hand to offer. Caleb’s hands fisted at his side. Sweat started to form all over. It was that icy kind of sweat. His eyes burned through the mark on the wall.

  “I’m Dean Harper, an emergency doctor. Glad to meet you. Where you coming from?”

  “Trinity Grace,” he said. The voice seemed to be directed at Caleb now. Caleb wouldn’t have known. He continued to stare at the wall. Back stiff.

  “Oh…” Dean must have realized. He wasn’t dumb and Caleb had told him about Jackson before. Not in huge detail, but enough of the story for him to get it. This guy was a monster.

  “Hey, Cal—”

  “—Caleb Forester, please go to room 47V.”

  The request over the intercom couldn’t have had better timing. Caleb got up from the seat, threw the apple core in the trash, barely missing Jackson, and walked right out, never once looking him in the eyes.

  Nine

  Red Miller

  The hospital buzzed with life outside of his room. He could see the action through the window, the thick tan curtains pulled aside, but couldn’t hear anything through the double-paned glass. They had placed him in the VIP section. He was sitting on the edge of an examination table which could have easily doubled as an incredibly comfortable bed. The walls were wooden, and the lights were adjust
able, along with the sound system, which had its own library of audiobooks and music Red could pick from. A knock came from the door.

  “Red…”

  Red looked across the room, drawn to the voice, his eyes immediately locking with Caleb’s. He was surprised. Not that Caleb was at his door, but at the expression that flashed on Caleb’s face for a fleeting moment. For some reason, Red expected Caleb to be somewhat happy seeing him again. Sure, the circumstances weren't ideal, but fate had a weird sense of humor. And yet, initially, there was a look of pain on his face. And another expression Red couldn’t quite place. Like he had just seen a ghost. Something definitely shook him.

  But, that was all seemingly pushed aside when Caleb stepped into the room. Neither of them could deny that something happened between them whenever they shared the same air. It was potent. Stronger than the chemicals locked up in the hospital cabinets.

  “So you are a real nurse then,” Red said, wincing through the pain that shot out from his ribcage. It broke the spell that had held the both of them in place moments before.

  “Oh, this?” Caleb motioned to his light blue scrubs. “No, no. I just liked playing one so much in your movie, I figured I could pull it off in real life. This is only my tenth day.”

  Red chuckled at that. Even as miserable as he was, Caleb somehow managed to pull a genuine laugh out of him. The chuckle ended in a sharp draw of breath.

  “Ah, shit.”

  “Here, let me see.” Caleb moved toward Red, setting his folder of files aside. Red raised his shirt. His left side was sporting a dark black and blue bruise the size of a baseball.

  “What happened?” Caleb asked. Red could hear intense concern in his voice. As though he were showing his injury to a close loved one instead of a working nurse.

  “Nothing major. I was just practicing a stunt and ended up taking a bat swing to the side.”

  “Jesus,” Caleb said, “you sure it was rehearsal or was the other guy trying to kill you?”

  Red once again chuckled-winced. “I don’t think anything’s broken. I know what broken bones feel like and it’s not this, but I figured better be safe than sorry.”

  “Good idea,” Caleb said, taking a step back so that he could write in his notes. “You aren’t short of breath right?”

  Not since you walked in.

  “No.”

  Caleb nodded. “And you haven't coughed up any blood?”

  Red shook his head. He went on answering the questions as best he could without losing his focus. He kept wanting to get distracted by how full Caleb’s lips were. Even with his side on fire, he still imagined himself getting up and pushing Caleb back against the wall. That way he could feel those lips for himself. He wondered if they were as good as in the dreams he had been having.

  Red watched Caleb work. He hated coming to the doctors and never felt very comfortable in hospitals, but Caleb had an air about him that was entrancing. Even the way he jotted down notes was fucking sexy. Those blue scrubs he had on were doing nothing to hide the outline of his package. His biceps made the sleeves tight around them. He wasn’t built like a bodybuilder, but he appeared to spend time in the gym. The palms of his hands were rough, but he had such a soft touch when he was examining Red.

  Thank god this isn’t a pants-off kind of injury.

  Well...Then again.

  “Ok,” Caleb said, after taking down all of Red’s vitals. “Everything seems good to me. We’ll see what the doctor ends up ordering.”

  “For a new nurse, you seem to really know what you’re doing.”

  Caleb dusted off his shoulder. “Eh, comes with being an Oscar winning genius raised in the Chilean jungles.”

  Red tried holding back the laugh. He knew it would hurt his ribs.

  He laughed anyway.

  “You’re crazy,” he said, smiling through the pain.

  “And you’re hurt. Stop finding me so funny.” Caleb crossed his arms and flashed an unbelievably sexy and intriguing smile. If a smile could be trademarked, his would be it. It suddenly had Red’s heart beating like a drum. He was grateful he wasn’t hooked up to a heart monitor because it would have been sounding like an EDM song with all the beeps and alerts going off.

  It was then that Red knew he needed to know more about Caleb. He wanted to spend more time with him. Doing anything, anywhere. Hell, he would have been fine sitting in the hospital and just talking about each other. There was something so interesting about Caleb. He spoke with genuine emotion, something that had been hard to find in Red’s world. Conversations always felt fake to him. With Red’s status, it was hard to find anyone who didn’t want something from him. Whether it was sex, money, or just plain attention. And it was always clear to see.

  In acting, one of the main lessons is that every line is said with an intention underneath. A need. The character always needs something, and it’s the actor’s job to bring that need to life. That push and pull between the two actors is what usually makes for the best scenes. Unless that need is entirely one-sided, then the scene becomes boring and predictable. The stakes are small.

  Maybe that was why Red could so clearly see the need that oozed from those surface-level relationships. They always wanted Red for something, but it was always so one-sided.

  Caleb felt different. There was a need from the both of them, pushing and pulling and driving Red slowly but surely crazy.

  “Alright,” Caleb said, nodding toward the door. “So, Dr. Lugo is going to come around and give you a final once-over, but I’m pretty sure you’ll be ok. She’ll most likely want an x-ray and then you’ll be out of here.”

  “Thanks, Caleb.” Red had to think fast. Time was running out. How was he going to come onto Caleb without making it too obvious he was coming on to him?

  That’s when another thought struck him. Something he hadn’t even been considering since the moment they met… what if Caleb wasn’t even gay? He could potentially be outing himself to someone that may not be interested in him in the slightest.

  Caleb started to walk but stopped when he looked up from the floor and locked eyes with Red. Something was there; it was undeniable to both of them. Red understood the power of eye contact, but he never imagined being this taken aback by looking someone in the eyes. His career was built on eye contact, and yet nothing compared to the loaded moment that tethered them together in that exam room.

  “Alrigh—” Caleb started, pointing over his shoulder at the door.

  “I’m having a party next week.” Red took in a sharp breath. “Might be rain checked. Well, my agent is throwing a party at my place. He thinks it’s a good idea to network. Anyway, you should come. It’ll be fun.” Red cocked his head, smiling through the burn in his ribs, trying to drive his point home without being too over-the-top-come-fuck-me about it.

  Caleb seemed to consider it. Red wasn’t used to that. He normally got an enthusiastic response seconds after an invite.

  He liked being made to wait.

  “I, uhm,” Caleb was reaching for something. An excuse. Red narrowed his eyes.

  “Bring your friends,” Red said, sweetening the pot.

  Caleb’s lips pursed into a smile. He considered it. “That sounds good. Yeah, I’ll see you then.”

  “Perfect.” Red was all smiles as they exchanged numbers, even though his ribs were bruised and battered and throbbing in pain.

  Ten

  Caleb Forester

  Two Weeks Later

  “There’s absolutely no way he’s into me,” Caleb said, shaking his head as vigorously as he could without inducing a migraine. “No fucking way. One: he’s a hugely famous actor and two—which should be number one, actually—he’s with Selena.”

  Noah sighed and raised his hands. “I give up.”

  “On what?” Dean asked, keeping one hand on the steering wheel and the other behind Noah’s head.

  “On hooking Caleb up with one of the hottest actors around and getting us comp tickets to all the award shows.”


  Caleb scoffed from the backseat. “Who said I’d take you two?”

  Dean laughed. “It is kind of odd how he specifically requested for you at the hospital.”

  Caleb perked up at that. “Wait, what?”

  He asked for me?

  Dean nodded his head. “I thought Natalia would have mentioned it to you. She said she was checking his vitals when he casually brought up your name. She said she freaked out. She thought she had done something to get him upset, but I don’t think that’s what it was.”

  Caleb looked out the window. Mansion after mansion blurred past as they drove deeper into Beverly Hills. The streets were wide and the palm trees tall. It felt like money was in the air itself. Even though it was already dark out, the street lights did more than enough to show off the extravagant driveways and perfectly manicured lawns and army of expensive cars.

  “No...Natalia wouldn’t offend a fly.” Caleb had to agree with Dean on that one. She was an incredible nurse. There had to be another reason.

  “Did you have to give him my favorite ‘look sideways and cough’ test? And if you did, why didn’t you tell us this earlier?”

  Dean shot a sideways glance at Noah. “You’re a little too excited there, buddy.”

  Noah chuckled and reached a hand over to squeeze his husband’s thigh. “You’re the only cough test I care about.” He swiveled back in his seat, dropping his voice to a stage whisper. “But seriously, how big was he?”

  Caleb laughed, eyes rolling. “I didn’t see anything, and I’m not breaking HIPAA laws either if I had.”

  Noah tsked. Dean shot another glare before chuckling.