CHAPTER TWO
Deacon pulled on a button up shirt that matched the gray in his eyes, tucking it into worn jeans before he left his large bedroom. He slipped his feet into some chucks by the door and decided to take the sports car tonight for a change, heading into the garage to start it with a grin as he slid the garage door open. The two brothers were close since their parents were both gone following a robbery in their home town of Denver. Wrong place at the completely wrong time. The boys were only twenty-five and twenty at that time and Deacon was already in the military with the Seals, so James stayed with their Grandpa and went to the local community college. Once he died a couple of years later, James joined his brother on the east coast and they were both doing well, apart from the divorce issues and Deacon’s current state of unemployment from what he loved.
Deacon pulled out onto the quiet street, keeping the speed safe as he headed towards the main road. The sun was setting and he looked ahead of him intently as he noticed the red light, hitting his brakes carefully. It was a gorgeous night out and he lowered the windows as he drove, paying no mind to the stares that he received as he passed the other cars.
He and James were both good-looking guys with dark hair and the same eyes that could be bluer or grayer, depending on a few factors. They’d had their fair share of women over the years until James had gotten married and Deacon got involved in his military service, always keeping things casual and very short lived at that point. His job was his life and he didn’t want to settle down with the instability of where he’d be at any given time.
Even since he’d stepped away from his career three years’ prior, Deacon still hadn’t really dated. He focused on getting his knee as healthy as possible so he could stay in the shape that he was accustomed to. That had turned into working out several hours a day until he started working with James and soon Deacon found himself with little free time to even consider a relationship. Once James started dealing with his marital issues - that turned into more working hours so that Deacon could support his brother emotionally as well as helping him run his increasingly successful business.
Deacon pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant, seeing James standing beside his black Tahoe dressed for work and very similar to himself. They’d always leaned toward the same style and Deacon parked before getting out of the car and ribbing his brother good-natured as they headed inside. Deacon noticed a crowd by the hostess station and stepped forward to look over everyone to see a woman passed out on the floor. “Call 9-1-1.” He told the hostess, who looked terrified as she dialed on the phone. He made his way down to the floor carefully, feeling for a pulse as he took in her dark skin and caramel highlighted curls that framed her face, trying to figure out what was wrong. “What happened?”
“She was picking up a to- go order and just fainted. It just happened,” a customer babbled in his ear as he nodded and realized that she was stable and breathing, still needing to get to a hospital. “She teaches my Art Literature class at the college…I just saw her today. She seemed fine.”
Deacon glanced up to see that his brother was thinning out the curious crowd as sirens sounded over the loud music in the foyer of the restaurant. Flashing red lights filled the room as the door was pushed open and two guys rushed inside with a stretched. “Deacon...what did you do here?” Steven greeted him, taking in the situation. He’d worked with Deacon on a few volunteer shifts after he ended his career with the Navy.
“This woman fainted getting her order. She’s stable but needs to be checked out.” Deacon told the paramedics as they loaded her carefully onto the stretcher and towards the bus as Steven glanced at him with curious brown eyes. Deacon looked at James who stepped forward and clapped his brother on the back.
“You know that you like to see things through as much as I do. We’ll grab some grub after. Got room for two?” James asked Steven, who nodded as the men headed out with them. They knew James as well just from town and Steven moved next to the woman once she was secured inside as they brothers sat beside each other.
“Any idea of what her name is?” Steven asked, checking her over quickly as they both shrugged.
“Someone said she’s a teacher at the school. Maybe American? Art something.” Deacon replied, looking at her as they sped through the streets.
The woman appeared to be in her late twenties or so and was curvy, wearing a loose plum dress that seemed to hide her body from what Deacon could tell. He didn’t mind a little meat on a woman and he looked at her face to see her full lips moving before he took in her tight curls that were spread out onto the canvas. “How is she?”
“Stable, like you said. The docs will have a look at the ER.” Steven replied, letting out a breath as he looked at the brothers. “The call before this was a head on out by the monuments. A family was killed by a drunk driver, so this is a welcome change.”
“Asshole,” James muttered under his breath, both of them hating people that took the lives of others so carelessly. It had started with their parents, who had just been stopping for some milk on the way home. They’d both seen some awful things since then, particularly Deacon.
Little did they know the situation that was right in front of them!
They arrived at the hospital and she was rushed into a small room as James and Deacon stood back by the nurse’s station to observe from a distance. She was moved onto a bed and the staff surrounded her as Deacon watched closely. There would always be a part of him that wanted to save people, beginning from when he was a kid and saving every animal that he could. His mom had always told him that he had too big of a heart even as she adopted every domestic pet that they could handle as he gave her his wide gaze. Deacon glanced up as he heard someone greeting him, half-smiling at one of the nurses that he’d gotten to know when he was helping out on the bus. “What are you doing here? I thought you chilled out on the volunteer work.”
“Came in with her. We were going to eat but she fainted by the hostess stand and you know me.” Deacon nodded in the direction of the room as Lisa smiled and shook her head. She told them that she would check on the woman and stepped over to look in and talk to the doctor that was looking her over.
“They’re going to take some blood and run some tests. If you guys want to grab something in the cafeteria, I’ll text you when I know something.” Lisa told them, smirking as James rolled his eyes.
“That’s just like Hill Country.” Deacon punched him in the side as he looked at Lisa.
“Headed there.” He shot James a mock glare as they walked away, noticing his brother’s eyes lingering on the lithe strawberry Blondie for a long moment. “Keep it in your pants, Casanova. She’s my friend.”
“Why didn’t you tap that again? She wanted you bad.” James reminded him, watching as Deacon shrugged.
“Timing.” He’d been a mess after he was done with the Navy and dump that on a nice girl like Lisa wasn’t a good plan. He pushed the button for the elevator to head to the ground level cafeteria and stepped onto the empty car as he ran a hand through his hair.
“There’s this thing called casual sex, D. It feels really good.”
“Says the man who keeps getting involved with his rebounds,” Deacon reminded him as James leaned against the carpeted wall of the elevator. They got off and grabbed some coffee and two sandwiches to take to a corner table as Deacon paid with a large bill. James sat back and glanced around the large room where families sat around tables dealing with the bad or the good and a few of the hospital staff tried to have a decent meal.
The brothers discussed work and the following day as they ate the turkey sandwiches that would tide them over until Deacon was ready to leave, something James really didn’t mess with him over. He knew how much his brother had always tried to save everything and everyone that he could, particularly since losing their parents.
The phone vibrated on the table as Deacon reached over to look at the screen. “It looks like she’s awake. I just want to go say hello and make her comfortable.”