Sudden Response (EMS 1)

Holding Adam's legs down was the only thing stopping him from kicking away and getting his hands on the gun sooner, but Joe knew it was only a matter of time before he managed to pull the trigger and shoot someone. He was out of control, acting feral, 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 he wanted her to run and save herself, but she couldn't do it. She wasn't on some bravery kick. No, she was absolutely terrified. She couldn't leave this room and leave him behind. Joe was scared out of her mind that if she left now she would never 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 and in the next second she shoved to her feet, hard. Adam hadn't been prepared for her sudden movement and Joe used his surprise 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.

Then all hell broke loose.

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

Just as she prepared herself for another strike Adam released a cry of pain and was slammed down to the ground with his arms twisted behind his back. She absently wiped at the hot liquid dripping near her eye as she watched Eric place a knee in the middle of Adam's back, ignoring the smaller man's cry of pain he leaned in to whisper near his ear.

"If you ever touch her again I will f**king kill you," he said in a cold lethal tone that sent chills down her back. "You so much as look at her and I will kill you."

Adam squeezed his eyes shut so he wasn't looking at her. She might have laughed if she wasn't truly frightened. She'd never seen Eric like this before and was a little worried about what he might do.

"I got him," Tyler said, gesturing for Eric to move over. After a slight hesitation he moved off Adam, but held his arms back so he couldn't move. He looked over at her and frowned.

"Joe?"

"Huh?" she said in a daze. When had she closed her eyes? And when exactly had her head started to pound?

"Gets a couple of head injuries and she passes out," she heard Eric mumble. "Such a girl."

Chapter 10

"I want him written up!" the social worker demanded, again.

Eric ignored her as Bill tried to calm her down. He didn't give a rat's ass what they did to him. The only thing he cared about at the moment was behind those double gray doors, being examined.

He rubbed a shaky hand over his face. She'd really scared the hell out of him tonight. Over the years they'd been in more f**ked up situations than he could count, but none of them like tonights.

When that little bastard went after Tyler's gun he swore his heart stopped. The only thing he could think of was getting Joe out of there before he pulled the trigger. Any other woman would have made a run for it, but had Joe?

Oh hell no, not miss, "I'm one of the guys." She not only stayed, but she just had to risk her life. That damn gun could have easily gone off when she decided to use her body to knock Adam's hands away.

He dropped his face into his hands. He did not want to think about how close he came to losing her. What in the hell had she been thinking? It had been sheer luck that the gun hadn't gone off when she slammed into Adam's hands.

It was f**king selfish, that's what it was. She could have gotten herself killed and left him all alone. Did she even think about what her dying would do to him?

No.

It was so f**king important to her to be one of the guys that she never once stopped to think how it would affect him if something happened to her. If something happened to her he would-

"The three of them attacked him! He was forced to defend himself," the social worker declared loudly, drawing the attention of everyone in the crowded waiting room.

"Ma'am, you don't know the full story," Bill said, keeping his tone polite, but Eric knew the man was pissed. Not even an hour ago he'd been in the nurses' break room when Bill stormed into the room after seeing Joe and slammed the door shut. Then for good measure he kicked a few chairs across the room.

After a rather loud shouting match between them and two nurses running away from the room in a panic they calmed down enough for him to tell Bill what went down. Hearing what happened only seemed to enrage the man more and set off another bout of chair kicking.

Eric would have joined him if a doctor hadn't shown up at that moment to ask about Joe's closest relative, nearly taking twenty years off his life. After explaining that they needed permission to treat her because she was still unconscious he reluctantly explained that she didn't have any relatives.

He certainly didn't count her mother since no one had seen or heard from her in almost fifteen years. When the doctor refused to explain what was wrong or what they needed to do, he of course lied and told him that he was Joe's medical proxy. Although technically it wasn't lying since they had filled out the paperwork, but they forgot to have it notarized.

It took a few minutes of arguing and Bill flat out lying to back him up to convince the doctor, but finally he relented. They'd already ruled out a spinal injury as well as a skull fracture, but he was positive she had a concussion and they required permission to treat the deep gash along her temple. He quickly gave it and obediently followed a nurse to the waiting area to fill out her paperwork.

The paperwork hadn't provided the distraction he needed. In less than five minutes he had it filled out and returned to the triage station. He'd hoped it would take longer so he didn't have to think about Joe being helpless and alone.

"I know that three so called professionals took it upon themselves to gang up on a helpless man," she said with an indignant sniff. "Thanks to their brutal tactics that poor man is in there getting his broken arm fixed."

Yeah, he broke the little bastard's arm. Did he care? Not one f**king bit. He knew without a doubt that if the little bastard had gotten his hand on the gun he would have shot them and everyone in that house. Throw in the fact that he'd attacked Joe when she was bleeding and down and would have probably killed her with his bare hands if Eric hadn't grabbed him then he would say the guy had got off pretty lucky.

"If they'd done their jobs properly my client would not be-"

"And if you had done your job," Eric snapped, sick of her bullshit, as he got to his feet, "then you would have known that facility was not providing him with proper care and that he needed a medical intervention. If you had done your f**king job we wouldn't be here right now and my partner and an officer would not be stuck in this hospital getting patched up."