Sudden Response (EMS 1)

If she wanted to go back to school that was more than fine with him. He'd take care of her, pay off her regular bills and take as much overtime as he could get to help pay for college. Hell, if she just wanted to relax for a few months he'd be more than fine with that. As long as she didn't have to worry about her any longer he'd be more than fine with whatever she wanted to do.

He closed the door behind them as Joe began the tedious job of making her bed. She sent him a questioning look, but thankfully didn't say anything as she tucked the top sheet in. After a minute he realized there was no point in putting it off any longer. She'd find out soon enough and really it was better that they handle this in private.

Praying she wouldn't kick him in the balls, he said, "You're on light duty."

She paused mid-tuck. "What did you just say?" she demanded without looking back.

"I said you're on light duty," he repeated, trying not to wince when she abruptly stood up and glared up at him. "For the entire shift. You're not allowed to lift or drive," he quickly explained, mentally kicking himself for not wearing a cup.

"If I'm not allowed to lift or drive then what the hell am I supposed to do?" she asked evenly as she walked over to him, crossing her arms over her chest as she waited for his answer.

"Rest?" he suggested seconds before she slammed her foot down on top of his. When he leaned down to check his poor abused foot she shoved him out of the way and stormed out of the room, probably to track down Bill and give him a piece of her mind. He just hoped the man didn't sell his ass down the river and inform the grouch that it had been his idea to keep her on light duty.

Of course the man would rat his ass out. His only hope was that Joe didn't turn her anger on his balls.

Chapter 14

"Are you still in a pissy mood?" Eric asked as he sat next to her on the couch and threw his arm around her shoulder.

In answer, she rammed her elbow into his side. "Shit!" he gasped as he bent over and sucked in a breath.

If she wasn't stuck on light duty she might feel bad about it, but she was. Some people might enjoy light duty, but she was not one of them. Neither was Eric. It was boring, incredibly boring and now she was stuck on it for at least this shift, a twenty-four hour shift, she'd like to point out.

The only thing she was allowed to do for the next twenty-four hours was sit around, walk with Eric and Greg to get patients. She wasn't allowed to drive, help with the stretcher, move a patient, or even fill out paperwork, because apparently that would be too strenuous, she thought dryly. Hell, if they ended up with a heavy patient she wouldn't be allowed to help them. They'd have to call for a lift assist, another ambulance or an available supervisor would be asked to come help lift the patient, while she stood around feeling useless.

She liked staying busy during her shifts, especially during her twenty-four hour shift. It made the time pass by quickly. As much as she loved her job, and she did, it could get a little boring when there was nothing to do and it appeared that she had nothing to do for twenty-four hours.

"Such a baby," Eric said, sighing heavily as he stood up, grabbed her hand and yanked her to her feet so that he could steal her place on the couch and yanked her back down onto his lap. "There. That's much better," he mused as he settled back into the corner of the couch and got comfortable.

Most of the guys were used to their odd relationship and didn't care enough to tear their eyes away from the game. Greg on the other hand wasn't and every few minutes sent them a questioning look that she decided to ignore. She was pissed and in no mood for any bullshit today. She swore if he asked her out again she was going to stomp on his foot, too. The only thing she wanted to do was sulk all day.

Of course she also wanted to get the bastard who was absently 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.