Page 29 of A Sudden Response

He finished checking out the ambulance and gestured for Teddy to get his ass in the truck when the other man headed for the door, no doubt he thought he was planting his lazy ass onthe couch and staying there until they got a call. Normally, Eric wouldn’t care, but he had a lot of shit to do today.

“Let’s go,” Eric said, grabbing the oxygen tank from Greg and secured it into its hold before attaching the valves.

“We don’t have a call,” Teddy pointed out when Eric jumped out of the back of the ambulance. “Until we get one, I’m taking a break,” he said, absently running his fingertips over his taped nose.

“I want to go check on Joe,” Eric said, gesturing for Greg to climb in the back. After a slight hesitation, Greg grabbed his backpack and climbed inside.

Eric walked around to the driver’s side.

“Check on her?” Teddy repeated, sounding confused. “Oh, come on!” he said seconds later. “You just talked to her!”

“Are you done with your hissy fit, cupcake?” Eric said, pausing by the driver’s side door. “Cause if you are, I’d like to go check on Joe before we get a call.”

Teddy waved him off. “Then, go and pick me up afterward,” Teddy said, heading for the door.

“Get in the truck,” Eric snapped, already done with this bullshit.

He wasn’t about to receive a write-up because he left his crewmember behind. If they received an emergency call, it would be his ass in the sling for not having his partner. He’d have to refuse the call and that’s a game he wouldn’t play.

“Or what? You’ll write me up?” Teddy snorted.

“In a heartbeat,” Eric said with absolutely no hesitation as he climbed into the driver’s side. He pulled on his seatbelt and started the vehicle, ignoring the little tantrum the prick was having outside his door. He wasn’t surprised when Teddy climbed into the passenger seat and slammed the door shut a minute later.

“You’re a fucking asshole, Eric,” Teddy bit out angrily.

“Uh-huh,” Eric said absently as he reached for the mic. “Echo seventeen to dispatch.”

“Go ahead, Echo seventeen.”

“We’re on the air,” he said, ignoring Teddy’s murderous glare.

“One minute, Echo seventeen.”

Eric slowly drove out of the garage as he waited for dispatch to tell them that they were clear. Even though he’d left her less than two hours ago, he was anxious to get back to her and make sure that she was okay. Thankfully, his mother had a free day, not that she wouldn’t have dropped everything to take care of Joe, otherwise he would have banged out of his shift to take care of her.

He didn’t want to be here today working with this prick, but he knew that if he missed work that would just piss Joe off more and only make her more determined to get back to work. She was too damn stubborn sometimes. He was not looking forward to the bullshit he was going to have to go through to get her off the truck permanently, but as long as she was safe, it would be worth it.

“Echo seventeen?”

“Echo seventeen,” Eric said, biting back a sigh, knowing that they were about to get hit with a call.

As long as it was a quick call, he didn’t care. He just hoped they didn’t get screwed all day. Not that he had a problem with working, he didn’t. He hated to sit around and normally loved to stay busy, but he was hoping for a chance to swing by Joe’s and bring her something for lunch, knowing his mother wouldn’t allow her to eat anything more than Jell-O and broth all day.

“Echo seventeen, I need you to respond to Sunflower Nursing Home on 34 Chestnut Avenue for an unwitnessed fall.”

“Echo seventeen, responding to Sunflower Nursing home for an unwitnessed fall,” Eric returned.

“Son of a bitch,” Teddy snapped, pulling out a run sheet as Eric flipped the emergency lights on.

“No one saw the patient fall?” Greg asked from the back of the ambulance, thankfully sounding a lot less nervous than he had last week.

Teddy snorted at that. “They’re all unwitnessed,” he said, filling in their information on the run sheet.

“What does that mean?”

“It means,” Eric started, only to pause as he slammed on the brakes as some dumb fuck sped through the intersection and almost slammed into them.

He chuckled when he spotted the police car waiting in the opposite lane throw its emergency lights on and go after the prick. Eric paused in the middle of the intersection, allowing the police officer to take the turn and go after the prick. With a wave of thanks to the officer, Eric proceeded through the intersection.

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