Honey I'm Home- Tagged

[Deleted]

When Emily's landlord had refused to fix the heat for the fifth time this month alone, she had literally taken all she could take in dealing with the man. She had packed up most of her things in her car, and told the man that she'd be out by the weekend. So maybe she hadn't been thinking rationally and planned this out the best, but she'd said it and now she was in her car headed to her bother's house. Steven lived in the family home with their mother and she knew that her room was there for her if she wanted it; at least she hoped it was still there for her, and it just so happened that she not only wanted it she needed it by this weekend.

She had never really imagined herself moving back home, temporarily of course, but maybe it would help Steven out some too.  She could help take care of their mother so he could actually get out and live his life for once, and in her opinion it was about time that he was given that chance.  Steven had given up a lot so that she and her sister were able to live the life that they had, and he had worked really hard to provide for them.   In her younger years she really didn't understand everything that he had sacrificed but the older she got the more she understood.

She parked her car, making sure to lock it before walking to the door.  Maybe she should have called him first and given him a little warning...but warning would have given him the chance to say no.  Emily knew that today was his day off and she saw his car in the driveway so she knew he was home.  She knew she probably didn't have to knock but something just didn't feel right about walking into someone else's home without knocking, so she stood on the front porch and knocked on the door waiting for someone to answer.

Tag: Steven Hudson

[Steven Hudson]

Steven was in the process of making lunch and dinner or at least attempting it. He had the Tupperware lined up next to the stove for the soup that was cooling to freeze for lunch later that week. He could imagine he dad laughing at him attempting to be domesticated though by now he had it down to a science and the simple fact that the freezer was his friend if he wanted to pre-freeze meals that he could simply chuck out to defrost in a morning. Yes he was all set up for soup for at least a week and with dinner slow roasting, two birds and one stone.

A day off was nice to have to simply get things sorted for the next week, food under control he had finished tiding up the garden earlier and now all that was left was a few household chores. He was half way through peeling the potatoes for dinner when he heard the door. Steven moved to the front door as he peeked out of the front window to see the familiar car as he wondered why anyone was knocking if it was his sister. Sometimes he had to wonder if he had done right by then as he went to the front door.

“It’s open.” He yelled standing back from it as he threw it open anyway and grinned at Emily and waved her inside. “Honestly have I taught you nothing.” He stated rolling his eyes lightly, “This is your home too you know, you don’t have to knock ever Emily.” He said though he understood why as he would have knocked on both of his sisters doors rather than just bust in on them but then it was hardly likely he was going to have a rave. He was just not that type or too boring to even think of it.

Still it was good to see her and catch up though he had to wonder what had brought her over. “Everything okay?” He asked her knowing how to figure out if there was a problem. It was that and the stuff he had seen in her car unless she had a new place he was unaware of. Oh there was something off he thought as he eyed her carefully not sure if he was going to have to play twenty questions or bribe it out of her.

@emily,

[Deleted]

Emily saw him roll his eyes at her when he asked if he had taught her nothing, that she didn't have to knock. She rolled her eyes right back at him, "You've taught me a lot...but I'm still going to knock, I'd hate to walk in on you and a lady friend." Emily had heard rumors about her brother hanging out in ICU with a patient, sometimes it paid to know nurses in other departments. "...so for now I'll stick to knocking. Speaking of which, is there a new lady I should know about?" She smiled and poked him in the side. Emily smelled something cooking, "Apparently I either have really good timing, or extremely bad...I didn't interrupt anything did I? If not, what's for dinner? It smells amazing."

Emily nodded when he asked if everything was ok, "Uhm...yeah, I guess so. Well I hope so anyway." She walked past him heading towards the kitchen. She laughed as she turned to face him again, "You know it's really funny that you should mention that this is my home." She started fidgeting a bit and looked at the floor while deciding how to go about asking her brother if she could move back home.

She sighed and looked at Steven deciding that it would just be better to go ahead and ask already, "So...you see my landlord, who is a total jerk by the way, has been refusing to fix things...namely the heat. I may or may not have finally had it today and told him that I would be moved out by the weekend. The problem being...I don't have anywhere to go just yet. So I was wondering...if I could crash here for awhile, you know just until I find something else because I don't want to be a bother or anything. If it's not ok, just let me know I'm sure I can crash with someone from work, but I could help out with Mom, and you know I can cook...and I'd pay half of everything. Please?"

Tag: Steven Hudson

[Steven Hudson]

Steven raised his brow at her before he grinned and shook his head, “Me and a lady friend, mum never leaves the house unless it’s the back garden... trust me, feel free to walk in any day and don’t knock. It’s your place too.” He said meaning that, Steven knew he had been hanging around ICU to see Alyssa but then that was ‘complicated’ or at least given she was in ICU he was hardly going to bring her home yet. He squirmed under her poke to the side as he grinned and shook his head. “If there is a new lady you should know about I’d tell you, she’s just a friend besides I get to hang around the hospital to see you and Isla so what more could I ask for?” He said though yes he did hang around to see them both but this was different reason.

“Thanks. Good timing today, dinners in the oven. It’s roast chicken, veg and potatoes. Have you eaten yet?” He asked Emily giving her a look over to see if she was skin and bone or at least to see that she had been eating too. “You’re eating properly? And I don’t mean snack bars or vending machine food.” He said knowing he would make her a stock pile of food if he had to. If there was one thing Steven was good at it was worrying over family and that he took to a whole new level most of the time.

Steven watched as she walked passed him heading to the kitchen, she hoped so? Well that one was new he thought as he followed her waiting to hear what was going on. He found it hard to hide his smirk when she spoke about it being funny he mentioned the house being her home too as he watched her fidget. Oh there was something good he thought as he stood and just smiled waiting for her to say what was going on with her.

He walked over to his sister and places his hands on her shoulders. “Emily.” He said with a semi serious look on his face. “You can crash here any time you want to, you won’t pay anything, sure you can help out with mum and if you want to cook that would be good too.” He said grinning at her, “Now do you want me to go beat up your landlord? Worked for Isla’s fiancé that time.” He asked her teasing of course. “It’s good to have you back home anyway, so do you have your things or do I need to get them for you?” He asked her not liking the fact that someone had forced her out of her home then again he was happy to have her back home so he was slightly conflicted on that point.

@emily,

[Deleted]

"Relax Steven, I promise I've been eating and although there is nothing wrong with snack bars and vending machine food...I do try to supplement my diet with some real food occasionally. Haven't eaten tonight yet though, so I might let you feed me." She smiled at him, knowing that it was in his nature to worry about her. Sometimes he went overboard and it got annoying, but she always tried to remind herself that even though it might be annoying he really did mean well.

When he put his hands on her shoulders and told her that she could stay, but she wouldn't pay she stamped her foot and shot him a look, "You do know that I have a job now, a pretty good one...so while I'm staying here I will pay for my part of things. Ok? Now that we've gotten that straight.." She rolled her eyes and shook her head when he offered to beat up the landlord, she wasn't quite to the point where she was ready to make jokes about what her brother had been through with Isla's fiancé. "No...I think I can handle him myself, but thanks for the offer." She smiled sweetly when he asked if he needed to get her things for her, "I got most of my things into the car...just a few bigger things that I'll need to get before the weekend, I'm pretty sure I can get the rest of it in my car on the next trip I'm not worried about most of the furniture."

Emily took a seat at the table and decided to see if she could get under her brother's skin a bit, good natured ribbing came fairly easy to Emily. "So since this is my house, and you're not bringing any ladies over...that means I'm free to bring all my guy friends over right?" She waited for her brother's reaction before she started giggling, "It's all good big brother, relax I don't have time for guy friends...and if I did, I'd know better than to bring them here anyway."

Tag: Steven Hudson

[Steven Hudson]

Steven nodded before he shook his head on the snack bars comment. So sure he loved off those when he was working, coffee, cookies, chocolate anything with fast food or a high sugar content and he was telling his sister not to. Like it was ever going to work. “Well I mean I can share but if you don’t want dinner then...” He teased smirking at her for a moment, “Course I’ll feed you, I’m not a total monster.” He set about making another place at the table for her glad to have her home for a while for at least someone to talk to who was not stuck in the same four walls.

Steven gave her a look when she stamped her foot seeing her look as he listened to her. “Yes you do however if you want a new place you need to save so think about it... besides it’s been a while since i’ve done anything like this for you or Isla so just let me help out.” He said grinning as she rolled her eyes, she could be stubborn at times but then again it Emily without being stubborn simply was not his sister. “Oh you know I’d do it, just give me the word and I’ll have the fire department descend on the guys place.” He said knowing it was still a touchy subject but then if he could laugh about it, it beat the other option.

“After dinner I’ll go help you get what you need. Furniture and all, I can take my car too.” He said grinning, if she needed it or wanted it then it was coming with her he thought trying to decide if he wanted to strangle her landlord or thank him for getting her back home so he could have someone else to speak to. It was a fifty fifty thing as he watched her take a seat at the table. “A... what... you mean...” He spluttered looking over at her, “Okay, name and address right now.” He stated knowing he would find out what the guy ate for breakfast before he made a choice on any guy his sister was dating.

One bad fiancé for Isla was bad enough and Emily, oh he was hardly going to make that same mistake twice he thought as he heard her giggling. “Relax? Are you kidding me? Right you don’t have time for them and what’s wrong with bringing them here?” He asked as he raised his brow at her being deadly serious. “I’ll have you know that I talk to the hospital staff too you know, doctors and nurses so I’ll find out who it is.” He said grinning, “So spill it, who’s the guy if you do have one?” He asked her watching her carefully as he grinned.

@emily,

[Deleted]

“I really don’t need my furniture and the only thing I’d want anyway is my bed, which I don’t think is going to fit into either vehicle. So after dinner we can go over there on one condition…if the landlord shows up, you keep your mouth shut and let me handle him. If you think you can handle that I will gladly accept your help moving the rest of my stuff.” She smirked at him knowingly. “Besides…it’s not all bad, even though I never in a million years ever imagined myself moving back home I could definitely think of worse places to be. Thank you Steven, I really do appreciate it.”

After watching his reaction she went from giggling to full on laughing. “Case in point right there, I think you just about had a stroke…when I even mentioned a guy. I mean with all the stuttering… I think I may need to take you in for a CT Scan. Makes me feel real good about bringing one home… but don’t worry, there isn’t anyone you need to worry about just yet.” She grew silent for a minute thinking about the whole fiasco that was her personal life at this point.

Shaking her head she said “I promise you’ll be the second to know if anything ever gets anywhere close to that point. Besides I really don’t have time for men, I spend most of my time working and the rest of it with my friends or at home.” She glared at him when he threatened to talk to her coworkers, “Really? You’re gonna go there? My coworkers don’t know much about my personal life… well most of them anyway. So, unless you know who to talk to…that will lead you nowhere.” She definitely didn’t need him poking and prodding around at work, he might find out more than they both bargained for.

She cocked her head to the side and watched him right back, “Maybe…just maybe I’ll be a little more forthcoming with information, when I know what’s going on myself. So unfortunately, there’s nothing to spill at this point.”

She stood up from the table and hugged her brother before going to the sink and washing her hands, “Now what can I do to help you with dinner?”

Tag: Steven Hudson

[Steven Hudson]

Steven was going to try to argue the point about keeping his mouth shut though he knew what he was like. It was the one thing about family; they knew exactly what he was like too as he resorted to nodding at her. “I can handle that but if he says one bad thing about or to you then I’m not being held responsible.” He stated deciding that sure if Emily was okay with moving out and back home then he was okay with it but the landlord needed to know it was no way to treat people. “You never thought you’d move back home... I’m hurt, I thought you loved it here.” He said with a grin as he shrugged. “You’re family Emily, it’s not like I’m going to see you homeless besides I promised to take care of you and Isla so that I will do no matter what it is.”

“A stroke no I’m just... you know asking. Besides I’m a guy so trust me I know guys.” He tried to explain away his reaction to what she had told him or rather what she had failed to tell him. Was he really going to have to sit her down and have the ‘talk’ with her. “Yet? So that means there is a possibility of a guy, who is he?” Steven asked deciding he would run by CPD and ask for a full back ground check, he had managed to mess up with not scaring one sisters fiancé to death before he laid a hand on her he was hardly going to fail a second time.

Hearing her grow silent and seeing her shake her head he nodded to her. “Good, I’m not arguing about not having time for men. That’s a good thing you know.” There was no way he wanted to encourage her toward the path of any guy though seeing her glare, oh he was for this time he thought as he nodded. “I might not know who but there’s only so many of them... I’m sure I’d find out something in a week or I’ll just ask our sister.” He said not exactly sure how much the two of them shared but then if he could pry it out of one of them then he was going to try his best.

Steven grinned watching as she cocked her head to the side. “So there is something to tell about something... so spill it. Start with a first name and what do you want to be going on or what do you think there is going on?” He asked her deciding that he was hardly going to let this one go now he knew there was something there to do with a guy. Steven hugged her back tightly for a moment before he let her go glad that she was home. He might never admit it to either sister but he did miss having them around. “Okay do you want to do the taste test on desert? Or make the gravy?” He asked her with a smirk.

@emily,

[Deleted]

“You’re not a guy… you’re my brother. Totally different.” She said sticking her tongue out at him. “I’m not telling you anything Steven, nice try though. I know you and you’d be running background checks and hunting him down to threaten him… I’m not ready for all that yet. Besides there is no need… we’re friends at this point. That’s all.” She shook her head and smiled at him, “I get it though, I do. I know you worry about me and I appreciate it… even if it does drive me crazy.”

When he told her it was a good thing that she didn’t have time for men, she laughed. “So you want me to turn into an old maid and live here with you forever?” When Steven went on to point out that she only had so many coworkers and he could always just ask their sister, Emily crossed her arms across her chest and laughed, “Oh really? I’m pretty sure Isla knows nothing, because there is absolutely nothing to know at this point… and asking her will only make her start asking questions too, and honestly that’s the last thing I need because she would know who to ask.”

She giggled at Steven when he kept on, “There is nothing to tell about anything at this point, I promise. Nothing to spill, and I’m not sure I feel comfortable giving out any names yet. I don’t know what I want or what he wants. I am however pretty sure he doesn’t want or need the Hudson family interrogation when we’ve only just met… so I’m begging you to please drop it for now so I can figure things out for myself. I’m a big girl I promise… I’ve got my eyes wide open.”

After he turned her loose and asked if she wanted to make gravy or taste test dessert she grinned at him and asked, “What… I can’t do both? We both know I make better gravy than you do, so I better do that. I think I can handle both responsibilities though. Why don’t you have a seat and let me finish up? It’s the least I can do.”

Trying to change the subject entirely she leaned back against the counter and asked, “So…were you working that day earlier this week when we had to lock the ER down and divert all incoming patients to other hospitals? Not sure exactly how much of that info got passed on to the EMS providers, and I was glad Isla wasn’t there that day… but I figured either not too much got out about it or you weren’t working because you didn’t show up to be the hero.”

Tag: Steven Hudson

[Steven Hudson]

Steven grinned seeing her stick her tongue out at him as he did the exact same back. He might have been heading for forty but who said he had to act older than four at times? “Friends, so at this point implies that there could be more to it in the future?” He asked her trying to decide if he needed to invest in a private detective to find out what she was keeping secret. “Driving you crazy, it’s a brother thing but I do worry so I’m not letting you down with this. If it’s a guy who’s serious about you then I meet him to make sure he’s okay.”

He was a little crazy when it came to his family but then after what Isla had to go through he was hardly going to fail a second time with that. “Now that you mentioned it, sure what’s wrong with old maid and living with me forever?” He asked her pretending to be hurt as he frowned for a moment at her. Steven chuckled when Emily crossed her arms, “Oh so really I should just to go her for the answers on this... I will ask her who to ask and figure this one out. Trust me Emily, it’s for your own good. Embarrassing brother will figure it out eventually.” He said grinning at her.

“Look if you promise you’re okay to handle it then I’ll let you okay but anything at all you let me know. He’ll get the Hudson family interrogation if he decided to look at you side ways and you can tell him that too.” He stated knowing that as soon as he knew anything was remotely serious it was going to be a case of making sure whoever it was had good intentions for Emily and was going to be kind to her. Or the other option was him doing a second stint in cuffs for trying to defend his sister which he was more than happy to go along with.

“Okay agreed about the gravy but you can do both since you’re back home.” He said grinning at her as he nodded. “Multi tasking it’s what us guys are good at so it’s a skill I will try to pass on to both of my genius sisters.” He said smirking as he nodded and moved to take a seat, “Sure go for it, let me know if you need a hand.” He offered glad for the help after all cooking had never really been the greatest strong point for him. He could do it but there were days when it all went wrong for whatever reason that was.

Steven listened to her talk about the ER lock down and the divert for all incoming patients. It was inconvenient give that he had been all of five minutes out from the hospital but a fifteen minute diversion had the same result in the end. Steven gave her a worried look as he shook his head, “I had nothing on that, thought it was a training exercise for you guys. What happened?” He asked her having that uneasy feeling that he should have been there to play the hero for her. “You’ve got me worried, why was the ER on lockdown Emily?” He said giving her his best ‘tell me everything’ stare.

@emily,

[Deleted]

Emily laughed when Steven stuck his tongue out at her in return. Sure they were both probably too old to be sticking their tongues out at each other, but it brought back good memories from when they were kids. Emily spent a lot of time sticking her tongue out at her older brother when they were younger, and then when Isla had come along they had both tormented him a bit. Just when she was starting to feel horrible for treating her brother badly when they were kids he had to open his mouth and try to fish out more information. She sighed, “Yes… friends. We’re just getting to know each other, and I know you worry. It’s sweet really, and I promise that you will get to meet him if things ever get that serious.” She crossed her arms before continuing, “However… I also expect that I’ll get to meet this mystery woman at some point, because not just anyone is good enough for my brother.”

Emily could be just as protective over her family as Steven was although she’d never ended up in handcuffs for it. The jerkface that Isla had gotten herself mixed up with was probably lucky it was Steven that had shown up and not her, of course if she had shown up she’d probably still be in jail for killing the guy. Nobody messed with her baby sister. Shaking her head at Steven for asking what was wrong with being an old maid and living with him forever she laughed, “I hardly think your new lady friend would want your little sister living with you forever, plus I would like to have my own family someday.” She glared at Steven when he laughed at her, “Just leave Isla out of this, she is stressed enough with her boards coming up that it’s best to not drag her into anything as silly as this. Just remember if you go digging around too much, I could just walk up to ICU and introduce myself someday.” She threatened with a smile on her face. “Embarrassing brother will figure it out when I’m ready to tell him about it and no sooner. Ok?”

She nodded and assured Steven that she was perfectly capable of handling herself and that she would let him know if anything happened. “Geez Steven you win I give up his name is Josh and he’s with the FBI ok, he’s the team leader of the hostage rescue unit so I’m sure that if he can pass their background check that he could probably pass yours. When I’m ready for you to meet him, I’ll gladly introduce you. Are you happy now?” She asked before sticking her tongue out at him again. She never had been very good at keeping secrets from her brother he always found a way to get the information out of her eventually.

She laughed when he agreed with her on the gravy and snorted when he mentioned that guys were good at multi tasking. “You might be halfway decent at multi tasking but that’s only because Isla and I taught you how at a young age.” She smirked at him before heading to the stove to start on the gravy. Once the gravy was going and she had stirred it a couple times she had brought up the incident in the ER trying to fish out how much her brother knew about it.

“Well I guarantee it was no training exercise… We had a psych patient get loose with a knife.” Debating on exactly how much to tell Steven so that he wouldn’t get too upset she grew silent for a moment. “He… uh the psych patient held a nurse at knifepoint for a little bit, before I was able to calm him down enough and talk him into eating some ice cream so that he’d turn me loose. Funny story really, but Josh he was there thankfully and helped me, and I’m Ok… really so no need to panic over something that’s already happened.” She tried to laugh a bit to reassure Steven that she really was doing fine after the ordeal, half afraid that he’d go into overprotective mode and tell her that the ER wasn’t a safe place for her to work.

Tag: Steven Hudson
OOC: Sorry Emily gets a little long winded at times.

[Steven Hudson]

It was fun to just act like a kid again, especially when he remembered her spending way too much time sticking his tongue out at her and then when Isla came along it was double trouble. His job was to fish for information and frankly when it came to his family he wanted to know that they were alright especially when it came to his little sisters choices in men. He half expected to keep digging but when she mentioned his mystery woman it became instantly more complicated. Just when he thought he had a handle on what he was looking for she had to bring that up.

“Oh well, no mystery just you know a woman who’s a friend besides you have guy friends right?” He asked her trying to dig his way out of that conversation without having the shoe turned on him. Steven knew that he had lost it that day, usually he never took to beating people up but that day seeing his sister hurt and the guy responsible for it oh no there was no stopping him. He wanted to kill the guy but had it not been for the cops there he might have gotten a little closer to it. “Awww and I’m sure any lady friend of mine would be okay with you being here besides you could bring your family too?” He said grinning at her as he started back on his fact finding mission.

“Listen I can find ten reasons why you cannot get into ICU besides I know how to bribe the nurses up there.” He said, yes was that going to be awkward if his sister met the woman he had been spending time there when there was nothing really to tell yet? “Fine but Isla, yeah no stress for her at the moment I do agree with. She needs to relax; maybe you could talk to her?” He asked knowing that he was far from a nurse and truly had no idea what she had to go up against. He was sticking with the paramedic side of things because he loved doing what he did.

“Yes at last... wait he’s a what? Where did you find him?” He asked her as he listened to the FBI part of a team and a hostage and a background check. Oh sure the federal government had passed him but Steven had still to do his own research into the man just in case the feds had missed something. “Course I’m happy if you are, and now I have a name to work with I can find things out so I can tell you if he has and skeletons in his closet too. Trust me dad would have done the same and Isla would too.” He stated though he was sure their father would have done if he was there though Isla, yeah he was sure she would too.

He knew how to get the information from her eventually but it was more a case that she had never been good at keep secrets. Which was all good in his head given that if she did he needed to up his game on things. Steven laughed as they spoke of multi tasking, “What would I ever have done without you two, you’ve taught me so much.” He said grinning as he watched her, he was glad she had turned up because dinner just was never the same when she had moved out or at least the gravy side. Usually he managed to burn it or worse as a few times there had been flames when he had forgotten about it after a while.

Steven sat there and listened to her explain about what had happened in the emergency room that day. He half wanted to asked her why she had kept that from him but then given how he reacted to most things like that, maybe it was the best choice. He was about to ask which nurse it was when he realised that she was actually talking about herself. With that he was off his seat hearing her laugh as he shook his head. “Why didn’t you? He was there? Panic!” He said as he moved over to hug her tightly. “You sure you’re okay? Why didn’t you tell me what happened?” He asked her, oh if she thought the boyfriend interrogation was bad as he realised something else. “So your Josh is that Josh?” He asked not sure if he wanted to kill the guy for not getting held hostage himself instead of his sister or thankful that he was there.

He would have told her that the Emergency Room was unsafe but then she could just have easily turned being a paramedic was unsafe of him given that was how their father had died. It never mattered to him if the incident was before or after he was still going to freak out and panic about it knowing her next shift he would repeated call her just to make sure she was okay.

Steven Hudson ,

(Do not worry about it, it is great)

[Deleted]

Emily smirked at her brother, “Have I ever given you reason to doubt my choice in men? Let me answer that for you… No, no I have not because I’ve never been serious enough about one of them to cause anyone to worry. I’d like to think I could handle myself. You on the other hand seem to attract psychos, and honestly I’m a bit concerned about this woman who you’ve been visiting in ICU you need to introduce her to your sister so that I can check her out.”

She nodded when he asked about her having guy friends, “I’ve got plenty of guy friends, and you’ve never thrown this much of a hissy about any of them. Of course I work with most of my friends and if you pestered them too much it would probably make your visits to the ER a bit awkward.” She laughed at him when he told her that any lady friend of his would be ok with her being there, “Let me tell you something about women big brother, none of them will want your little sister hanging around… they like any house that they live in to be their house and have it the way they like it. I’m sure that we wouldn’t see exactly eye to eye on how things should be, and she’d have me on the curb before the first week was over.”

She sighed when he said there were at least ten reasons that she couldn’t get into ICU, “Hate to burst your bubble Steven, but I’m in ICU at least once a day. A lot of our patients end up going there and who do you think has to take them up and give report on them, because it certainly isn’t the doctor. She’s very pretty Steven, and as long as she’s not a psycho and will treat you right and make you happy she’s perfect in my book.” She nodded in agreement when he went on to agree with her about no more stress for Isla, “I’ll try to catch her soon… seems like she’s avoiding me, but my guess is she’s too buried in those books to take time for anything else. I remember being in the exact same place not too terribly long ago.” Emily had done the same thing the last few weeks before her test, she had locked herself up with her text books and only took time for the necessities. Sure she had been miserable, but she had been sure that she had missed something in class that would cause her to fail the test. “She’s got nothing to worry about Steven, she’s going to pass. I’ve spoken with her instructors, who were also my instructors… she’s got this in the bag. However, if she’s anything like me… you won’t be able to convince her of that.”

She laughed at her brother’s reaction to the information she’d given him. “He’s an FBI agent, Leader of the hostage rescue team… He actually found me, when he walked into the ER injured and I was his nurse.” She glared at her brother when he said that now that he had a name he could find more things out, “Steven… we’ve only just had lunch together… so help me if you mess this up, before I even get a chance to really get to know him on my own I swear you won’t have to worry about any psycho woman taking you out. I’ll do it for them. Just remember we agreed to leave Isla out of this.”

Emily sighed and wondered to herself why she couldn’t seem to keep a secret from her brother… ever. “You big brother would have been lost without us.” She stated matter of factly before she stirred the gravy again. She turned back to him and giggled, “Ok fess up… how many times has the fire department had to come extinguish your attempt at gravy?”

She laughed some more as she returned her brother’s hug, “First of all I’m fine. Second I didn’t panic because me panicking would have been no good to anyone. Third I knew Josh was there, and he wasn’t going to let anything happen to me… I could see it in his eyes. Lastly I didn’t tell you about it because I knew that you would panic, and I was still dealing with everything myself. I needed to wrap my mind around it before I had to deal with you panicking too.” She smiled as she saw exactly when her brother realized what she had said, “Yes… Josh is that Josh.” She saw the look that crossed her brother’s face, and crossed her arms across her chest before defending him. “Trust me there is no reason to blame him for what happened, he’s doing enough of that on his own. The doctor had just finished sewing him up and I left the room to grab some ointment when the guy grabbed me. There was nothing he could have done any differently to keep the guy from getting ahold of me. It was my coworkers fault for turning the crazy guy loose to start with. You should be happy that he was there, he stayed right there with me through the whole thing and helped keep me calm. He pulled his stitches trying to help me, when he didn’t have to. He even stuck around afterwards to make sure I was ok.”

She smirked at him, “Don’t even think about telling me that my job is too dangerous, when you know very well that what you do is ten times more dangerous than my job. Go ahead and get your panicking out of the way now, and I’ll plan on ignoring multiple calls from you next shift if you can figure out when that is.” She turned around to finish the gravy.

After a few minutes, she cut the stove off and turned back to her brother, “My amazing gravy is done, so where is this dessert I’m supposed to taste test?” She smiled when her phone started ringing, but she silenced it and sent off a text message and shoved her phone back in her pocket. “Hey you, snap snap… I’m still waiting on this dessert.”

Steven Hudson

[Steven Hudson]

Steven raised his brow at her lightly, no that was the simple answer he had for her. Emily had never given him reason to doubt her choices in men, his own head was enough of a doubt to give way to any reasonable doubt of a guy looking twice at either one of his sisters. “Fine okay, I know you can handle yourself but I worry about you and I’m your brother so it’s a thing I’m entitled to do.” He said as he grinned and shrugged, “Psycho’s really I mean I know I’ve not exactly had the best luck with girlfriends but the woman in ICU is just that a friend so she doesn’t need checked out anymore than any of the colleagues do.”

He was sure enough that a few of them might fit the psycho bill but where was the fun in that if everyone was straight laced and forward facing. “Oh I can make my ER visits as awkward as possible and I can pester you know I’m good at that. You’re friends I will point out have your best interests at heart too just as much as me.” He stated though he would make sure that if he had to make things as awkward as possible they would be that way until they have up the information he wanted. It was that or threaten to kidnap one of them which at the moment he was considering just in case.

“You think I’d let any lady friend of mine do that to my sisters? No way, you guys are welcome here anytime and if she did kick you to the curb I’d be coming out to bring you back in over them. If that’s how she wants things, she’s looking at the wrong guy. Besides I share with mum so whoever my lady friend is they had better get used to that.” He said grinning, yes he was hardly down for the bachelor of the year when he lived at home still with their mother who moved around the house at any given moment when she fancied.

“Seriously? You’ve been checking her already?” He asked though honestly why he was surprised he would have done the same thing had the boot been on the other foot. “Aww, well thank you for that Emily if it get’s anywhere near that I will let you know but she is just a friend well not even that I guess. I just pulled her out of a plane so I’ll tell you that people are literally falling out of the sky to meet me these days.” He said chuckling knowing that was hardly the case but then he would still give that line to anyone who would listen for the simple fact that it sounded about as cool as his day got.

“You don’t have to remind me, trying to pull you out of those books I’m surprised there aren’t more claw marks on your door.” He teased lightly as he nodded, Steven had no idea what it was like to study that much. He hardly had time for study beyond what he needed for his work though a nurse was a lot different than just delivering people to the door for the professionals to do their thing. “I’m glad because you both deserve it. I maybe don’t say this often enough but I’m proud of the both of you and I’m sure dad would be too.” He said knowing that there was not a person in the family that could ever have been anything other than proud of his sisters.

Steven listened to the information about the guy, “FBI and hostage rescue... seriously does he have a bat belt too?” He joked though if she said yes he would fall through the floor. The more he found out the more he realised just how out of the loop he was when it came to Emily and what was going on in the ER. “So nurse and patient then huh?” He teased as he glared for a moment, “You went to lunch with the guy? I mean sounds to me like you know him a lot more than you’re telling me but i’ll get a full file on the guy by the end of the week.” He said though when she said she would make sure he hardly had to worry about the psycho woman he shook his head. “Fine Isla is out of it but I’ll still make sure that this fed is a good fed.”

The last thing he needed was to be negligent on a second count of his sisters picking a bad guy. “I know, without you and Isla telling me how to tie my shoes...I’d have been a lost cause years ago.” He said with a grin though in many ways they had taught him a lot of things which he was grateful for. “Surprisingly not that many because I ban gravy from my meals as a matter of safety but let’s just say it’s more than one hand of fingers but a little less than two hands.” If he had to put a number on it, it was around eight times and now he just never attempted it unless he was trying to cause a call out of the services to rescue a paramedic from his food.

“I’m not panicking, see face not panicking.” He said as he tried to reason that freaking out was either less or more than panic phase. “Good, if he blames himself then that’s fine with me as long as you’re alright Emily. You’re co workers did what? Crazy guy, they stayed pinned down for a reason. Who do I need to scream at?” He asked her being deadly serious though was he happy that a federal agent was there and his sister was interested in the guy. In a sense yes because his sister was safe and no because the federal agent should have done something a lot faster than letting his sister get grabbed by a crazy guy.

“Oh I bet he stuck around.” He said before realising that if he went off on the guy who was not in front of him it was likely only to upset Emily. “I’m just glad you’re okay. Why didn’t you call me? I’d have brought a whole swat team with me and the fire department too.” So many the entire CPD if he could have managed it but still he would have been there as fast as he could have been for her. When she smirked at him he rolled his eyes. “It is dangerous but I’m not stopping you just try and keep yourself safe. I’m not losing either of my sisters to crazy patients.” He said being serious about that, no there had been enough loss in their family already. Their father, his wife all of a short while no there was no way he was losing a sister too.

Steven grinned when she cut the stove off as looked at the gravy. There was a reason why he was bad at it because Emily was great at it he thought as he stared before she spoke again and he shook his head lightly. “Oh yeah dessert right... it’s in the fridge.” He said as he went over and pulled out a plate full of baked Alaska. Well it had intended to be that way but it was more like a meringue, ice cream flan base mix that resembled more of a strange put together plate that might have been done by a professional three year old.

@emily,

[Deleted]

Emily smiled at him when he said he’d choose his sisters over a lady friend, “I appreciate that, but I would never let it get to that point. As long as she treats you right, I would never let myself interfere with your relationship. Besides I’m sure that any lady you would choose would be ok with mum staying here and if she wasn’t I’d kick her out myself.”

She shrugged her shoulders and smiled innocently when Steven asked her if she’d been checking on his friend already, “I may have seen her in passing when I took a patient up, but you can relax I didn’t introduce myself or anything.” She laughed when he joked about women falling out of the sky to meet him, “Pulled her out of a plane? Sounds like an interesting story, and women hurt themselves all the time to see you… I guess this one just took that concept to the extreme.”

Emily giggled when Steven teased her about claw marks on her door, “Now I wasn’t that bad, was I?” When Steven spoke of being proud of them and added that their father would have been too Emily looked at the floor before smiling sadly and swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat, after a few seconds she looked back to Steven. “I know I don’t say this enough, but I appreciate everything that you did for me and Isla growing up. I know it couldn’t have been easy, and you missed out on so many things just to take care of us. I know that Dad is more than proud of you not only because you followed in his footsteps but for everything else that you’ve done, and the person you’ve become.” Emily sniffled and wiped her eyes before trying to joke to lighten the mood, “Now don’t let that go to your head, or I’ll take it all back.”

When he asked about Josh having a bat belt Emily couldn’t help but laugh, “I’m not sure about the bat belt I was too busy distracting him while the doctor stitched up his side to pay much attention to his belt.” When Steven glared at her and asked about going to lunch with him she glared back, “Yes, he took me to lunch. They sent me home from work early following the little incident, and Josh wanted to make sure I was ok. So we went to lunch, and talked for awhile. It was really nice.” She couldn’t help but smile as she finished her statement. Sighing in defeat when he insisted he’d have him checked out by the end of the week, “Fine, you do whatever you feel like you need to do… but please don’t mess this up for me. He’s a good guy Steven, you’re not going to find anything.”

“You did wear velcro shoes for an awful long time, someone had to step in and tell you how it was done,” She said giggling. Emily snorted in laughter when he admitted to banning gravy from his meals, “It’s a good thing I’m here now then, you can have my gravy for awhile and if you’re lucky I’ll teach you how I make it.” She could only imagine the amount of crap Steven would have gotten at work following calling the fire department for some burnt gravy.

“I didn’t call you because I really didn’t have a chance, and you charging in with the cavalry probably would have made the situation worse. Besides there was an expert there and he told me that I impressed him, so maybe little sister is able to handle more than you give me credit for.” When he rolled his eyes she stamped her foot, “Don’t you roll your eyes at me mister, and trust me it’s not something I would voluntarily go through again.”

Emily laughed when he pulled out the dessert, “Well it’s not the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen, but I bet it still tastes amazing. You always did make the best desserts, mine looked prettier… but yours always tasted better. Used to make me so mad, but now I’ve learned to just enjoy it.”

Tag: Steven Hudson