Page 22 of A Sudden Response

“Did you take them tonight?” Eric asked.

“Yes!” Adam said without any hesitation.

“No, you didn’t, Adam,” Donny snapped from the safety of the doorway, obviously feeling a hell of a lot braver now. “You refused to take your pills tonight.”

“Shut up!” Adam screamed, taking a threatening step towards Donny. Joe automatically shifted to the right to block the move. “I took my pills!”

“No, you didn’t take your pills, Adam, and if you don’t take them, they’re going to-”

“Stop,” Joe said firmly, cutting off Donny before he could make this worse. She kept her eyes locked on Adam, who nowlooked tensed and ready for a fight. “We’re not going to do anything. We were simply asked to come here and see if you’ve taken your pills.”

Adam snorted. “They don’t send the police over pills.”

“You’re right. They shouldn’t have called us over this,” Eric said, no doubt giving Donny a pointed look.

“Why don’t we go downstairs and sit down and talk this through?” Tyler offered.

Adam looked like he was considering it when Donny opened his mouth. “He’s not allowed out of his room. He’s on room restriction until he takes his pills.”

“I took my pills!”Adam screamed, leaping from the bed to attack Tyler. It took Joe a few seconds to react. She honestly hadn’t seen it coming. She’d been prepared to take him to the ground, but for an attack on Donny, who couldn’t seem to shut the hell up.

“Shit!” Eric snapped as he attempted to pull Adam away from Tyler, but the much smaller man wouldn’t give up his hold. He swung, kicked, and bit Tyler while Eric struggled to pull him off.

Joe moved low and grabbed hold of Adam’s legs, hugging them close as she ignored the brutal kicks to her ribs and stomach. “Get him down!” she yelled, squeezing Adam’s legs together before she dropped her weight to help bring him down, but she only managed to anchor his legs against her body.

“Oh, my God, he’s got a gun!” Donny screeched from the hallway.

Joe’s gaze shot to the doorway in time to see Donny running down the hallway, shoving patients and staff out of his way as he made a mad dash to safety. The rest of their audience wasn’t too far behind.

“Someone call for backup!” Tyler yelled from above her. She turned her head and felt her eyes widen as she watchedTyler and Eric struggle to pull Adam’s hands away from Tyler’s holstered gun.

“Get out of here, Joe!” Eric yelled as he struggled to take Adam to the floor and stop him from getting his hands on that gun.

Joe would have rolled her eyes if they weren’t busy at the moment.

“Let go!” Tyler groaned as he worked at tearing Adam’s hands off his gun.

Somehow over the loud grunts and shouts she heard the snap of Tyler’s gun holster giving.

“Shit!”

“Run, Joe!” Eric yelled, sending her a pleading look as he fought to keep Adam’s finger away from the trigger as he started to pull the gun away from the holster.

She couldn’t do that. She couldn’t leave him. At that moment, she was more afraid of what would happen to Eric if she let go of Adam’s legs.

“FUCKING RUN!” Eric bellowed.

Holding Adam’s legs down was the only thing stopping him from pushing away from them and being able to point that gun at one of them. But she knew that it was only a matter of time before he managed to pull the trigger and shoot someone. He was out of control and the two large, well-trained men above her were having a hell of a time getting him under control. If they didn’t do something soon, he was going to get that gun clear and pull the trigger.

“Please, Joe, let go!” Eric pleaded, breaking her heart.

She knew that he wanted her to run and save herself, but she couldn’t do it. She wasn’t on some bravery kick. She was absolutely terrified. She couldn’t run and leavehimbehind. Joe was scared out of her mind that if she left now that she wouldnever see him again and she couldn’t risk that. She didn’t know much, but she knew she couldn’t live without Eric.

Taking a deep breath, she did what she had to do. She let go of Adam’s legs and in the next second, she shoved to her feet, hard. Adam hadn’t been prepared for the sudden move and Joe used that to her advantage to break his hold on the gun with her head and shoulders, slightly cringing when her head slammed into the butt of the gun, but she didn’t stop until she broke Adam’s hold around the gun and sent it flying across the room.

That’s when all hell broke loose.

As Tyler stumbled back, Adam turned his anger on her. With a feral screech, he pulled his fist back and slammed it into the side of her face, knocking her back onto the floor.

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