Sudden Response

by R. L. Mathewson

  running his fingers over her arm back for yet another betrayal. She couldn't believe he'd sold her out to mom, but this worse, much worse. This was twenty-four hours of boredom and he knew damn well that she did not do well with downtime. He knew that and it pissed her off like nothing else that he'd gone behind her back and did this to her. He was her best friend and was supposed to have her back, not screw her over.

  With a muttered groan she climbed off his lap, barely resisting the urge to ram her elbow into his stomach. She ignored his questioning look and walked away.

  "Uh oh, looks like someone's in trouble," one of guys said, but she ignored him and the snickers and snorts of laughter that followed and walked outside.

  With nothing else to do she walked over to the picnic table on the side yard and sat down on the table. Barely an hour into her shift and she was already feeling useless. She thought about washing the ambulance, but Eric already did that and when she tried to help he actually had the nerve to shoo her away.

  True to his stubborn word he hadn't allowed her to do anything. She hadn't been allowed to grab more run slips, check the ambulance out, get more supplies, or make the stretcher. Standing around watching them work had been boring and kind of embarrassing.

  She could do this job and they both knew it. A simple little head injury wasn't going to interfere with her job and he knew it, but he was being so damn stubborn and she didn't know why. Being overprotective of her wasn't exactly something new, but he'd never gone this far with it before. The only thing she could think of was that the other night had thrown him through a loop and he felt responsible for her injury, which was really stupid.

  Getting injured was a hazard of the job and he knew that. Well, he used to know that. Now he was just hell bent on pissing her the hell off.

  "Are you mad at me?" he asked with a little pout that she refused to find cute so she pointedly looked away from him.

  "Yes."

  "You know you shouldn't even be at work right now," he said as he sat down next to her.

  "I'm fine," she gritted out and she was. Her head didn't hurt as much, she could see straight and she was no longer wobbling when she walked. In her book that more than constituted fine.

  "It's just for a little while," he said, sighing as he reached over and took her hand into both of his.

  She yanked her hand away as she turned to glare at him. "What do you mean by 'for a little while'?"

  His eyebrows arched slightly in confusion. "Bill didn't tell you?"

  "No."

  "Oh, well," he cleared his throat, "you're on light duty until the stitches come out," he said, giving her a reassuring smile that pissed her off.

  "You......bastard," she bit out evenly.

  He went to put his arm around her shoulders, but she shrugged him off. "I don't want you to be upset about not participating in the muster this year. There's always next year," he explained.

  "What the hell do you mean I'm not participating?" she demanded, coming to her feet to better glare at him.

  He noticeably winced as he looked past her. "You didn't tell her?"

  "I thought you had," she heard Bill mutter like a coward.

  She turned her glare on her boss. "I'm on light duty for a week? Really?"

  He shot a nervous look at Eric before nodding. "I'm afraid so. You suffered a head injury and we don't want you to strain yourself. I'd rather you stayed home on medical, but-"

  "Fine," she said, cutting him off.

  "What?" Bill asked, frowning.

  "Fine, I'm on medical. I'm going home. I'll be back in a week after I get cleared medically," she said, heading inside to grab her things and fighting the urge to stomp her foot like a child.

  There was no way she was going to come in for a week and put up with this bullshit. One twenty-four hour shift of twiddling her thumbs was bad enough. There was no way she was going to do that for an entire week. Since she would be getting paid no matter what she did, she decided that she'd rather take the week to get some work done at her house and run some much needed errands.

  "Joe?" Eric said, but she didn't stop. She walked past the guys, who were either too focused on the game or recognized a woman on a war path and left her the hell alone.

  She walked to the bunkroom, grabbed her belongings, not bothering to fold them, and stormed out of the bunkroom and back through the break area and stormed past Bill, Eric, and Greg. For a moment she almost felt bad about Greg, but she knew she really wouldn't be much help if she couldn't help him by showing him how to perform his job.

  It would probably stress the hell out of him to be forced to interact with the patients. To be honest, if he couldn't suck it up and try over the next week then he didn't belong in this field. He seemed like a nice enough guy, but she wasn't exactly a miracle worker.

  "I'll see you in a week," she said to Bill and hopefully Greg. She'd like to see him pull through, but it fell on his shoulders now.

  She heard someone sigh behind her and didn't need to look back to know that Eric was there. "I'll swing by and check on you if I get a chance."

  "Don't bother," she said, unlocking her door.

  "Fine. I know you're mad. I'll see you in the morning," he said softly.

  She shook her head as she climbed into her car. "Don't bother."

  *******

  "You can't still be mad at me."

  Joe continued scrapping the garage as she ignored the man who wouldn't take a damn hint and go away. She'd been doing this for two hours, hoping that the hard work and the sun would exhaust her and dull some of her anger, but so far it hadn't. She was still super pissed about getting screwed over.

  "I brought you a Milky Way milk shake," Nathan said, sounding hopeful and damn him for knowing her weakness.

  With an annoyed little sigh she stopped scraping the cracked white paint off the garage door and turned around. She took the large fast food cup from Nathan and took a long sip and couldn't help but let out a little moan as the delicious mixture of chocolate, caramel and vanilla hit her tongue.

  "So, you forgive me?" Nathan asked, rolling back on his heels as he sent her a puppy dog look that had her rolling her eyes as she continued to drink the delicious beverage.

  After taking one last healthy sip she sighed heavily and handed him the scraper. With a frown he took it, sending her a questioning look.

  "Fine. I forgive you," she said, gesturing regally towards the garage, "now you may help me."

  Chuckling, he stepped forward and began to work. "You're so generous, Joe."

  "I know," she said, nodding in agreement as she turned her attention back to the delicious beverage that required her focus.

  "You want to tell me what he did to piss you off this much?" Nathan asked, reaching back and swiping her drink. Before she could launch an attack to retrieve her drink back he took a long sip and was handing it back to her.

  She decided not to hurt him since he was helping her and of course since she'd be sending him out later to get her another one. Not that he knew that, but he would. Nathan was such a pushover when it came to her and Alice. He could never seem to do enough for them and she normally wouldn't take advantage of his giving nature, but this was a Milky Way shake, the king of shakes. Besides, he had no one but himself to blame for getting her addicted to the damn things in the first place.

  When they were in high school he got a part time job at a burger joint so that he could earn some money to buy a computer. She would have loved to work with him, but she'd already taken a job with Eric at a lumber yard. Every day she stopped by on her way home and he'd make her a Milky Way milkshake before walking her home.

  "Well?"

  "Well, what?" she asked, enjoying the last sip of her drink. Yeah, he was definitely going to have to go out and get her another one.

  "What did he do?"

  "Who?" she asked, playing stupid since she didn't feel like talking about the big jerk that screwed her over. She dropped the empty cup in one of the trash cans she'

d pulled away from the garage, grabbed another scrapper, and went back to work.

  "You know who."

  "If you're speaking of your brother then you should know that he's dead to me," she said with a sniff as she focused on her work.

  "Uh huh," he said like he didn't quite believe her.

  "What the hell's that supposed to mean?" she demanded, perhaps scraping a little more forcefully than what was needed.

  "Exactly what it sounded like," he said, pausing in his work to use his tee shirt to wipe sweat off his face.

  "Meaning........," she prompted, feeling her annoyance with the man renew. If he kept this up she was going to tell him to leave.......

  Right after he got her another shake.

  "You've never been able to stay mad at him for more than a few hours, a day at the most. By tomorrow night you'll forgive him for trying to get you to quit and find another job and the two of you will be back to.....to....to.....oh....shit." Nathan's words trailed off when he looked up and met her glare.

  "What the hell are you talking about, Nathan?" she demanded, gripping the scrapper in her hand tightly as she ran his words through her head again.

  "Um, what are you talking about?" Nathan asked, trying to backtrack as he dropped the scrapper and stepped back.

  "He's trying to get me to quit?" she asked, stepping in front of him and blocking his exit. "Why?"

  "You'd really have to ask Eric about that," he said, shifting nervously.

  "I'm asking you," she said, tossing the scrapper away so that she could cross her arms over her chest to intensify the effect of the glare.

  "I-I don't think I should say," he said, licking his lips as he moved to step around her only to find his exit cut off.

  "You can."

  "I can't."

  "I'll cry," she threatened, knowing she just might have to do the unthinkable and shed a few tears to make the big softie confess.

  He narrowed his eyes on her. "You wouldn't."

  Oh, but she would. Her bottom lip wasn't quivering ten seconds before Nathan broke down and confessed. An hour later she was sitting on the hood of her car, sipping a new milkshake and contemplating manslaughter.

  Chapter 15

  He couldn't remember the last time he'd been this relieved that a shift was over, but he was. When dispatch dismissed him after holding him over for five hours he damn near kissed the ground in thanks.

  Wincing when the muscles in his right shoulder protested in agony, he grabbed the two bags of takeout and shut his truck door. Thanks to Greg he'd fucked up his shoulder when the little bastard lied about being able to lift a hundred and fifty pounds.

  Then again it was possible that he'd been telling the truth and the patient simply startled the hell out of him when he started seizing on their stretcher. If it hadn't been for Brian, the paramedic that filled in for Joe, the stretcher would have tipped over, but thankfully the man jumped in and grabbed the stretcher and righted it just in the nick of time. It hadn't saved his shoulder though. It hurt like hell, but nothing some ice and rest wouldn't fix.

  He had the next two days off and planned on spending them with Joe. He had a game plan to not only make her to forgive him, but one that would get the ball rolling on her starting to think about employment, safe employment, elsewhere. It would take time and a whole hell of a lot of charm, but he was pretty damn sure that he'd have her thinking it was a great idea before they started in on dessert. He just had to find the right moment to approach the subject.

  "So, you want me to quit working on the ambulance, huh?" Joe asked casually as she stepped out of her house and leaned a hip against the small porch railing.

  Apparently there was no time like the present.

  "Do you think we can go inside and discuss this while we eat?" he asked, raising the bags of takeout.

  "Sure," she said, shrugging and surprising the hell out of him.

  He'd expected a fight, but he wasn't going to complain. He was too tired and hungry at the moment to question it. Without another word he followed her inside and placed the bags of food on the table.

  "I'll be right back," he said around a yawn as he walked down the long hallway towards her bedroom. He could have used the guest bathroom, but he preferred hers.

  On the way to her bathroom he grabbed a pair of his grey boxer briefs out of her bureau. He stripped out of his clothes and jumped in the shower, wishing he could take a nice long leisurely shower to work the strain out of his muscles, but he was starving and wanted to take advantage of Joe's receptive mood while he could.

  Five minutes later he walked into Joe's kitchen, feeling slightly better. He just wanted to eat and get this conversation out of the way so that they could focus on her future. Joe was just starting to fill their plates when he walked past her on his way to the refrigerator.

  He grabbed an ice pack for his shoulder and thought about grabbing a couple of beers, but he didn't want her to drink in case she took a painkiller. So instead he grabbed a couple of Cokes. He placed one by her plate and sat down across from her at the small round table.

  Other than a murmured "Thank you" she didn't say much to him as they ate for which he was immensely relieved. He was so damn hungry. They had back to back calls all night and the only thing he'd eaten was a stale packet of peanuts he managed to wrestle from a vending machine.

  "You want to tell me why you want to get rid of me?" Joe asked when he finished his third helping.

  "I'm not trying to get rid of you, Joe," he said, feeling exhaustion threaten to knock him on his ass.

  "That's what it sounded like to me," she said, leaning back in chair as she crossed her arms over her chest. "From what I hear you tried to unload me on Nathan." Her tone was friendly, but the look she was giving him was anything but.

  Shit.

  "This isn't the way I planned on doing this, but I've been thinking that maybe it was time for you to move on and do something else with the rest of your life," he explained. When she only sat there glaring at him he decided that perhaps he needed to explain the situation a little better before she decided to go for his balls.

  "Well," he said, clearing his throat and feeling a little uncomfortable under her glare, "you know you couldn't do this forever." She cocked a brow at that little announcement so he added, "Could you really see yourself doing this job when you were fifty?"

  "Yes," she said with absolutely no hesitation and made his job of convincing her to do something else more difficult. He decided to get rid of the bullshit pleasantries and get to the point.

  "There's no way you'll be able to lift a grown man when you're fifty, Joe, and if you think so then you're crazy. Hell, you'll probably have problems doing it when you're forty. Besides that, Joe, you shouldn't have to do a job like this where you have to put your neck on the line and never really able to have a life because you never know if you're going to get out on time or have to pick up a shift," he said, noting the way her eyes narrowed dangerously on him.

  "I have a life," she shot back defensively.

  "Oh, really?" he asked, cocking a brow. "When's the last time you had a date?"

  "I don't know," she said, shrugging it off like it was nothing, "it doesn't mean anything."

  "Uh huh, and when's the last time you got laid?" he asked, silently daring her to lie to him. He knew it had been at least a year and a half for her.

  "It's none of your business!" she snapped as she visibly tensed in her seat.

  "Yeah, that's what I thought, Joe," he said, pushing his plate away. "You don't date. You don't have much of a life outside of work. Hell, I can't remember the last time you turned down overtime. You're thirty, Joe, and if you keep this job you're going to be forty and lonely and wondering how the hell life passed you by. You need to find something else that's safe and will allow you to have a life. I was thinking that I could help with-"

  "What about you?" she suddenly demanded, interrupting him and sounding pissed.

  "What about me?"

  "You don't have a life. You don't date and I doubt you've gotten laid in the last year," she announced and he had to grind his teeth as he forced away the memory of why he hadn't gotten laid -->