Sudden Response (29 page)

ambulance as it rode down the middle of the road, forcing cars to pull off to the side or get hit.

******

didn't belong working in an ambulance and he sure as hell didn't belong behind the wheel.

"Oh shit," Eric snapped, turning on the emergency lights and grabbing the mike as she watched in horror as Greg ran through a

red light and was slammed into by a tractor trailer that hadn't been given an ounce of warning to stop.

"Echo seventeen to dispatch," Eric said as they sped through the parking lot, watching as the ambulance rolled over several

times until if finally landed on its hood only to have the truck slam into it as the sound of screeching breaks broke through the

sounds of metal being crushed.

"Echo seventeen."

"We are onsite at an MVA involving an ambulance and a tractor trailer at Washington and Paramount. Requesting assistance

from fire and ambulance," Eric said, smoothly turning onto Washington.

"Received Echo seventeen, MVA at Washington and Paramount."

"That fucking idiot," Eric growled out as he moved through traffic, switching the sirens as he requested the right away.

Once they reached the scene of the accident he pulled up and blocked the road that the destroyed ambulance occupied. He left

the emergency lights on as he jumped out, glad to see the other ambulances that were stationed alongside of them earlier

heading towards the accident.

When he got his hands on the little bastard he was going to kill him, he decided as he and Joe worked quickly to pull their

stretcher out, load it with oxygen, a trauma bag and the long board. Just as he was about to push the stretcher towards the

overturned ambulance Joe jumped back into the ambulance. Seconds later she was jumping out with a fire blanket in her arms.

"Glass," was all she said. With a nod of understanding they headed towards the ambulance.

A s soon as the scent of gasoline hit his nose he shot a look towards Joe and mumbled a few curses that she thankfully missed

over the sounds of sirens drawing near. He didn't want her anywhere near this accident, but he didn't have much of a choice.

They had three patients inside the fucked up ambulance and were going to need as many hands as they could get to get them all

out of there before the damn thing caught fire.

It was probably selfish, but he was glad that Joe was moving on and finding other things that interested her. He wanted her safe

and happy.

He knew accidents could happen anywhere probably better than most people and that she could just as easily get hit by a bus

than get hurt working on an ambulance, but it made him feel a hell of a lot better to know that she wouldn't be in a position to

take risks soon.

Well, she wouldn't be taking risks fulltime anymore and when she did he would be there to keep her safe. He'd still worry, but

for her he'd deal with it. A s long as she was happy he would deal with anything even if that meant she stayed on the truck

fulltime. He wouldn't like it, but he would accept it for her.

"Eric," Joe said, her voice breaking.

"What?" he asked, shaking his head clear and forcing himself to focus. It was only then that he realized that they'd stop pushing

the stretcher and Joe was kneeling next to the mutilated driver's side door.

"He's dead," she said hollowly.

Praying that she was wrong, he moved to kneel next to her and tilted his head to look at the bloody mess. When his eyes landed

on Greg's vacant expression and the severe damage to his head and neck he knew the man was gone.

Legally they weren't allowed to pronounce someone dead and were technically supposed to do whatever they could for Greg

but there really was nothing they could for him. They also had multiple patients and as the first EMTs on the scene it was their

job to access the damage.

Without a word they stood up and hurried over to the passenger side to find Greg's partner in the same condition.

"The third rider," Joe said flatly as she got to her feet and moved to the side doors of the patient compartment.

When she couldn't get the doors to budge he helped, but it was more than obvious that the doors weren't going to open without

the help of the Jaws of Life. They quickly moved to the back of the ambulance and he let out a sigh of relief when the doors

opened and he heard the young woman sobbing.

"We need a neck collar and the long board," Eric said.

With a nod, Joe took off to grab the stretcher while he inspected the scene inside the ambulance. The stretcher had come out of

its hold and was on the floor, or rather ceiling. He grabbed it and pulled it out, giving it a good shove away from the ambulance

so they had room to get the woman and get the hell out.

He noted the broken glass and medical supplies scattered on the floor before moving his eyes to the woman hanging upside

down in the tech seat. Blood dripped off her as she struggled to free herself.

"Hold still. We're going to get you out," he said, crouching low as he walked towards her.

"I-I c-can smell gas!" she cried.

"I know," he said soothingly. "We're going to get you out as fast we can and get the hell out of here, but I need you to do exactly

what I tell you to do, okay?"

"O-okay," she agreed, forcing herself to remain still even as she trembled with fear.

He heard broken glass being crushed behind him and wasn't surprised when Joe and Justin, an EMT that worked for a large

private ambulance company, moved in behind him. He damn near sighed with relief. Justin was a large guy, but most

importantly he knew his shit and would help get the woman the hell out of here. More importantly he'd work fast so that he

could get Joe the hell out of here.

"I'll secure her neck if you two gentlemen and I use that term loosely," Joe said, forcing herself to get into the rhythm of things

and keep everyone calm as she moved towards the patient, "would be so kind as to get her down and out of here."

"Sounds good," Justin said, shifting to Eric's left.

They both donned gloves as Joe carefully worked the collar around the woman's neck. Eric reached over and held the woman's

head still as Joe secured the neck collar. When she was done he removed his hands and Joe got into a position where she could

hold the woman's head still and stay clear of the area while they worked.

He knew from experience that job was extremely uncomfortable and sometimes had to be held for a long time while crews

worked around the patient, but that wouldn't be the case today. They needed to get the hell out of here. He hoped that Fire was

on its way since they'd take care of the gas problem quickly.

"If I cut her down do you think you could grab her?" Eric asked Justin.

With a firm nod, the man got his hands into position, ready to hold the woman where she was until Eric could help move her.

He'd love a few extra hands, but there wasn't enough room or time for that. Shooting a nervous glance at Joe he grabbed his

trauma shears out of pants and cut the lap belt off the woman.

"I-it was a-a priority three call," the woman said softly as tears rolled down her cheeks, surprising the hell out of them.

Priority three calls were not allowed to use the emergency lights or sirens. Those were the calls for patients who were in

absolutely no danger and therefore the State decided that that the crews operating the ambulances and people on the road would

not be put in harm's way as a result. A priority three patient was supposed to get a nice, calm ride to the hospital.

"Mark told him to shut down the lights, b-but he wouldn't listen," the woman said, sobbing softly.

"Shhh, it's okay," Joe said, trying to give the woman what little comfort she could.

"I didn't want to ride with him," the woman admitted softly and Eric didn't blame her one bit. Not that he voiced that opinion,

but he shared a look with Joe that communicated exactly how he felt.

"On my count," he said, drawing back their attention to getting the hell out of there as he prepared to cut her shoulder belt.

"One, two......three."

When the belt gave way he dropped his shears and reached up to grab the woman and gently guided her down. Carefully, but

quickly, the three of them managed to keep her neck stabilized and moved her to the long board. Justin moved to the doors and

picked up the foot of the backboard while he picked up the head. Joe kept her hold on the woman's head as they moved out.

They didn't bother with straps at the moment since it was more important to get the hell out of there before it blew up. A s Eric

reached the backdoors he smelled the unmistakable scent of smoke.

"Fire," he yelled.

Thankfully Joe and Justin reacted quickly as did the EMTs waiting outside the ambulance to help. Several men grabbed the

side of the backboard and together they hauled ass towards their ambulance and not a moment too soon.

Immense heat flashed behind him with a loud explosion sent him stumbling, but thankfully they didn't drop the patient. A s soon

as they were safely behind their ambulance they placed the backboard on the ground and worked together to secure her. Since

their stretcher was now consumed in flames one of the other crews took their patient.

"Let's get the hell out of here," Joe said after she finished giving her statement to the police. Knowing that she needed to get the

hell out of there he nodded as he took her hand and gave it a squeeze as they headed for their ambulance.

Chapter 30

"Echo twelve is on scene."

"Echo twelve is on scene at 16:22," Joe said, shooting a glance at her monitor's clock as she put the crew on scene.

"I'm sorry I'm late," Derek said as he hurried to her side.

"Don't worry about it," Joe said, waving it off as she got to her feet and stepped away from the call center station so that Derek

could sit down and take over.

"I meant to pick up a coffee for you on the way here to celebrate your first official day, but Lindsey and the baby were sick. I

really appreciate you covering for me," Derek said, pulling on the headphones that she'd just pulled off.

"There's always tomorrow," she said with a wink as she headed for the door of the dark room. They kept the room dark to help

block distractions and help the dispatchers focus on the monitors. It took a while for her to get used it. Once she started to work

unofficially full time as a dispatcher she'd quickly acclimated to her new surroundings.

She'd been working as a dispatcher fulltime now for about a month, but today was her first official day as a fulltime dispatcher,

something that made her both happy and miserable. She was happy with the job. She loved it in fact and was glad when a

fulltime opening unofficially became available after the accident.

A s much as she hated to admit this that accident freaked her out pretty badly and she had desperately needed a break. She was

glad when the dispatching position became available, but she felt guilty leaving Eric before he started school. He said he was

fine with it even when he got stuck with Teddy for two weeks straight, but that didn't make her feel any better. She felt like

she'd abandoned him, but she honestly couldn't have kept working on the truck.

She'd burned out and she knew it and he probably did as well. It happened and she was just glad that she had her dispatcher

training to fall back on. Not that she had to worry about money, for a while at least. She had her paramedic nest egg which she

decided to use to splurge on a tropical vacation for her and Eric before he started school, which would happen in three months.

Of course it didn't hurt that Eric had moved in pretty much the night of the accident and decided that he would take over the

bills, something they constantly argued about.

It was nice having him around even if it was unofficial. She liked having him there at night and in the morning. Loved having

him around to spoil her. She just plain loved the man.

"Have a good night, Derek," she called out as she opened the door and stepped into the brightly lit hall.

"You too!" Derek said, sounding amused as she squinted against the sudden brightness. When her vision cleared she felt her

brows arch clear to her hairline at the site that greeted her.

"Hey, Joe," Jeff said with an evil grin that didn't bode well for her as he lazily waved around a folded strap. "We just thought

we'd give you an official goodbye from the station," he said, gesturing to the dozen or so firefighters and EMTs that blocked

both sides of the hall.

Oh, damn.......

Why hadn't she considered this? She really should have considered this happening since she was usually part of the official

goodbye party for anyone that left their station. With a forced smile she reached back to open the call room door only to find it

locked. She swore she heard Derek laughing his ass off but she wasn't sure.

"That's, um, real nice of you guys, but I'm kind of running behind as it is. Perhaps another time?" she asked, sounding hopeful as

she discretely shifted towards the left, but the men simply closed in on her, grinning.

"I think now is a great time. What do you think, guys?" Jeff asked.

"Sounds good to me," Rick, a large firefighter that she may have helped shaved from head to toe when he joined their station