Chapter 2: Incidental Contacts
Lily's eyes fluttered open, and she groaned. She felt like she had a vicious hangover – head pounding, lips dry and cracked, throat like the desert. There was an oxygen mask covering the lower half of her face, and a machine to her left was beeping boredly in her ear. Beyond that, she could hear nurses chattering, someone retching, and the whirring and clicking of God-knows-what type of medical equipment doing its best to keep patients alive.
"Lily! Oh, thank God, love," a familiar voice murmured. The speaker grabbed her hand and kissed her palm, and she turned to face him, squinting against the fluorescent hospital lights.
"Remus," she croaked, her brow crinkled in confusion. "What are you doing here?"
"Apparently you've listed me as your emergency contact in your phone." He smiled, but it looked so worried. He smoothed her hair back from her forehead. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I've been eating sand," Lily rasped. She sat up quickly, pulling the oxygen mask from her mouth. "Buttercup! Is she all right? Did they get her?"
"I…I don't know." Remus frowned and placed a hand on Lily's shoulder, urging her back to the bed. "They didn't mention her when they called me. I hardly got any information, just hurried straight here."
Lily's eyes burned, but she didn't seem to have any tears left. She fell back against her cot with a sniff. "I left her," she whispered, defeated. "I left her, and now I don't even know—"
"Shh, love," Remus interrupted, his tone soothing. "Don't worry about that right now, all right? Just tell me what happened."
"It's all so blurry," Lily said softly. "I guess I fell asleep making dinner, and when I woke up my apartment was on fire. And I started having …flashbacks, I guess. It was so scary." She swallowed hard, and Remus squeezed her hand. "But I was trying to get Buttercup, and then these two, like, beautiful firemen grabbed me and carried me outside. They said they'd get her. And I remember thinking—this is so weird, why would I notice how hot they are while my house is burning down and my cat is missing. And then I don't remember anything after that."
Remus closed his eyes and sighed with relief. "I'm just glad you're all right," he said, still clutching Lily's hand. "When I heard you'd been in a fire, I nearly lost it."
"I'm okay. It sort of feels like a dream." Lily noticed for the first time the IV in her left arm and the paper-thin hospital gown she was wearing. She wet her chapped lips and looked at Remus with puzzled eyes. "I don't even know how I got here. Or whether the gorgeous firemen I remember were real, or some sort of…hallucination triggered by the trauma. Like, I'm so used to taking care of myself, and then when I need it most, I get this fairy tale rescue?" She shook her head. "My life's never been a fairy tale."
As if on cue, Sirius pulled the privacy curtain partially open and poked his head into her makeshift hospital room. Lily gasped, and Remus started in surprise. "Nope, not a fairy tale!" Sirius announced cheerfully. "But two gorgeous firemen, at your service." He paused and added, "Mind if we come in?"
"No, of course not," Lily said, still too confused to be embarrassed he'd overheard her. She rubbed her forehead and asked, "You're—did you bring me here?"
"No, that would be the ambulance," Sirius said, flashing her a quick smile before he glanced over his shoulder and shouted, "James!"
A moment later the other fireman, Lily's first rescuer, appeared behind Sirius and pushed his way through the curtain.
And Lily's heart stuttered in her chest.
He was even better-looking than she'd remembered. Both he and Sirius were still in their protective trousers and suspenders, but they had removed their outer jackets, revealing the tight, navy blue FDNY t-shirts they wore under their uniforms. James' chest was as broad as Lily had thought it was, and his biceps and shoulders made clear he was no stranger to the gym.
His angular jawline gave his face a certain intensity, and without the soot-stains Lily could see he had golden-brown skin and the full, soft lips she'd first noticed when he'd cradled her in his arms. His black hair looked shiny and soft, just long enough on top that she could see dense curls there. And she could understand now why she'd compared his eyes to semi-precious gems – in the harsh light of the ER, they were iridescent. First green, then gold, then copper, changing with each step he took towards her.
Even with his eyebrows drawn together in a worried frown, James was exceptionally handsome. And then his expression smoothed itself into an easy smile, one corner of his mouth a little higher than the other, displaying a row of even white teeth, and Lily's heart stopped stuttering and started beating so fast she worried one of the monitors around her would send up an alarm.
"Ah," he said, coming to a stop on the side of her bed not occupied by Remus, "la leona's awake."
"Lily-ona?" Remus said, butchering the Spanish and yet somehow making it sound musical with his Northern Irish accent.
"It's just Lily," Lily mumbled, blushing. "Lily Evans."
"Lily Evans," James repeated, still smiling. "I know. But I'm callin' you la leona." He put extra emphasis on the last two words, then explained, "It means lioness in Spanish. It fits you, you know? You got that wild red hair, and you're crazy brave—"
"Or just plain crazy," Sirius interrupted, winking at her.
"—tryna crawl back into a burning apartment to rescue your cat. Your cub," James finished. "Like a mama lion."
Remus, who had been gawking at the two firemen as they spoke, turned back to Lily in alarm. "Is that what you did?"
"Maybe," Lily said stubbornly. She glared at Remus as though daring him to scold her, then lifted her chin and gestured at James. "Listen to the fireman. He said I was brave."
"And crazy," Sirius reminded her.
James' eyes sparkled as he laughed. "Hey, watch it. Don't insult my…" he blinked and glanced from Lily to Remus, his lips twitching with held-in words. "New friend," he finished quickly, offering them a half-smile. He nodded at Remus and added, "My bad, bruh, we haven't been introduced. James Potter."
"And I'm Sirius," Sirius said, extending a hand across Lily's body.
"Remus," Remus said, shaking Sirius' hand and nodding at James. He looked bewildered. "I'm sorry, I'm still not sure I follow. You're saying Lily tried to go back into her apartment…" his voice trailed off for a moment, then a look of understanding crossed his face. "To save Buttercup. Of course she did. Of course you did," he repeated, turning an accusing glare on Lily.
"I couldn't leave her behind," Lily whispered, her lip trembling. Her eyes were wet again as she blinked up at James. "Did you find her? Is she okay?"
"Oh, I thought you knew!" James' face lit up. "We got her, she's fine! Had to be treated for a little smoke inhalation, like her mama—" he reached out and patted Lily's shoulder "—but she'll be like new by morning. I had my friend Frank take her back to the station."
Lily's smile was bright as sunshine, even as a shiver coursed through her body at James' touch. "Oh, my God! Thank you so much! I feel so much better." She reached out, intending to – what? Grab James' hands in a show of gratitude? Throw her arms around his waist? Run her fingers over the clearly defined muscles of his chest?
No, not that last one, probably.
In her moment of hesitation, Remus took the decision out of her hands. "Brilliant," he said, wrapping Lily in a hug. She hugged him back tightly, even though his wasn't the body she wanted against hers at that moment. "And you'll come stay at mine until your place gets sorted."
"Thank you," Lily murmured. She met James' eyes over Remus' shoulder and noticed he was frowning. She slowly pulled away from Remus' embrace and leaned back against her pillows.
James dropped his eyes, and when he looked up again, his features had relaxed into an expression Lily couldn't read. He clapped his hands together, a little too loudly, and shrugged. "Well, we should get outta here."
"Oh, you don't have to," she said quickly. "I mean, unless of course you need to—"
"No, you need to rest," he said firmly. "And you should put that mask back on. You inhaled a lot of smoke."
"I'm fine," she insisted. "I just want to get out of here and see my kitty and then sleep for, like, twenty-four hours."
"Well, you better let that dream go, 'cause the only part that's happening tonight is the sleep," Sirius teased, but his smile was kind. He gave Lily a mock salute and nodded at Remus before turning to leave, calling over his shoulder, "Good to meet you! Stay out of trouble, okay?"
Lily laughed, but it turned into a hacking cough, which is how she discovered coughing hurt her chest, and her throat, and her abdomen. After a figurative eternity, she finished coughing and fell back on her pillow, exhausted from the endeavor.
"I guess I do need that oxygen," she mumbled.
"Mmhmm," James said, in an I-told-you-so tone. He reached over and slipped the oxygen mask back into place, tucking her hair behind her ears as he did so. "There," he said softly.
Lily stared into his hazel eyes, unable – or maybe just unwilling – to tear her gaze away from his. Her cheeks and ears were on fire where he'd touched them. And her neck, though he hadn't touched that. Come to think of it, her whole body was burning up.
It felt kind of nice.
"Thank you," Remus said brightly, scattering Lily's fuzzy thoughts like dandelion seeds in the wind. She flinched, and James jerked his eyes away from hers and over to her friend. Remus smiled at him. "She's stubborn, as you can see."
"Shut up," Lily mumbled, swatting half-heartedly at Remus' hand. She turned back to James, hoping to reignite the spark she was sure had flickered between them. But his eyes, eyes that had drawn her in with their warmth and intensity just a moment ago, were cool now.
She tried to hide her disappointment. "Thank you for rescuing me," she said sincerely. "And Buttercup. And thank you for coming here."
"Anytime, Miss." James' voice was stiff, but his lips tilted up in a crooked smile as he added, "It's not every day a man gets to see a lioness up close."
...
AN: Thanks for reading, and I hope you're enjoying so far! Please leave comments, feedback, keyboard smashes, whatever - it's all appreciated :-)