Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

" D id they arrest him?" Greg asked Teddy as the two of them leaned back against one of the box trucks.

Teddy shrugged as he pulled out a cigarette. "They probably will."

Eric shifted the empty oxygen tank to his left hand so he could reach over and flick the cigarette out of Teddy's mouth. "No smoking in the garage, dickhead," he said, gesturing to the sign behind him.

With a sigh, Teddy put his pack away but made no move to help Eric as he prepared truck fifteen for service. That didn't surprise him since the prick was fucking lazy. He only exerted himself when he had to, and he made damn sure that he didn't have to most days. Normally that was bad enough, but today, they had Greg third-riding with them because the damn kid still needed to complete his training time. He really wished Bill had managed to get someone else to fill in for Joe today. He hated having this asshole influencing any of the newbies since the last thing any of them needed was another Teddy.

"Has anyone showed you how to fill the tanks?" Eric asked Greg.

"Yeah, I learned that a few days ago," Greg said, shrugging it off.

"Good," Eric said, shoving the empty tank in his arms. "Then, fill this up."

Greg looked like he was going to argue, but thankfully, for his sake, he kept his mouth shut. Eric wasn't in the mood to deal with any bullshit today.

"What will happen to him?" Greg asked, picking the conversation back up as he reluctantly did what he was told.

"He'll be sent for an evaluation and have his medication tweaked until they find a dosage that works. Then, he'll most likely be sent to a new residential program," Eric said, walking over to the supply shelves to grab a box of extra-large synthetic gloves. He was just about to grab a box of mediums out of habit when he remembered that Joe wasn't working with him today.

"He's not going to get arrested for hurting Joe?"

"No," Eric said. "He's a psychiatric patient. He's pretty much covered while he's receiving help."

"That's fucked up," Greg said.

"That's the job," Eric said, grabbing a box of pens and a fresh pack of run sheets.

"What about the residential home? Will they get into trouble?"

Eric chuckled without humor. "A slap on the hand."

"Joe could sue the program," Teddy suggested, mostly to start shit.

"She can sue?" Greg asked, sounding too fucking eager for Eric's peace of mind.

"She could, but she won't," Eric said firmly. That was too much drama, time, and bullshit for Joe.

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 on the 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.

"Holy shit!" Greg gasped. "Weren't they supposed to stop?"

"Yup," Eric said, switching the sirens, letting the cars in front of him know that he needed them to move out of the way. "You'll find that most people have enough common sense to move out of the way or stop at intersections so we can go, but there are others-"

"Assholes," Teddy added, and for once, they were in complete agreement about something.

"-who will refuse to move out of the way or will rush through the intersection whether or not they had the green, and my personal favorite are the assholes who ride on our tail, hoping to use us to beat traffic."

"Those are the ones who usually get hit," Teddy pointed out.

"Seriously?" Greg asked.

"It usually happens when they try and follow an ambulance through an intersection," Eric explained, pulling into the long driveway of Sunflower Home.

"That sucks," Greg mumbled distractedly.

"Echo seventeen on scene," Eric said into the mic as he pulled to a stop at the front entrance.

He shut the ambulance down and pulled the keys out. Some crews left the trucks running or the keys in the ignition. He'd be the first one to admit that he used to make that mistake until a really pissed-off patient stole an ambulance left running outside of an emergency room a few years ago.

The patient didn't damage the ambulance, but she did have a hell of a time. Three hours later, the police found the ambulance parked behind an abandoned building with the crew's lunch smeared all over the inside of the ambulance. Thankfully, no one had been hurt, but it could have easily gone the other way.

"What did you mean about all the falls being unwitnessed?" Greg asked when Eric opened the doors to the back of the ambulance.

"It usually means that whoever witnessed the fall or caused the injuries doesn't want to get written up, so they usually report it as an unwitnessed fall," Eric explained as he jumped into the back of the ambulance and loaded the stretcher with the backboard and the trauma bag.

"And they get away with that?" Greg asked in disgust.

"Every fucking time," Teddy said, grabbing a handful of gloves to stuff in his pocket.

"Are we going to report them?" Greg asked.

"Can't report them unless you have clear proof or you witnessed the incident," Eric explained, hoping to calm the kid down.

"So, they get away with it?"

"No," Eric said, shaking his head and wishing Joe was here. She usually answered these questions and did a hell of lot better job than he was doing. "You have to remember that not every injury is abuse, especially when you're dealing with the elderly population. A lot of the calls you get that claim the patient fell and no one was around are true. A lot of patients, young and old, are bullheaded and hate asking for help or get sick of waiting for help and try to do things on their own that they know they shouldn't. So, don't go jumping the gun and assuming abuse every time you get one of these calls."

"But you said-"

"I know what I said," Eric said, cutting him off. "The only thing that you can do is write down every detail of the call and that includes the scene and what the staff says. Don't ever voice your opinion on a run sheet. That's the fastest way to find yourself either fired or facing a lawsuit. Stick to the facts. It will not only cover your ass but provide your patient with evidence if they need it."

"I hate to admit this, but he's right," Teddy said, helping Eric pull the stretcher out of the ambulance. "If you go around writing up staff members, you're going to find your job a lot harder to do when the staff snubs you."

"Just mind your own business, take care of the patient, and cover your ass and you should be fine," Eric said in what he hoped was a reassuring tone, but judging by the nervous expression on Greg's face, he'd fucking this up.

Actually, upon closer inspection, he noticed Greg was starting to look a little under the weather.

"You're going to puke, aren't you?" Eric asked, even as he pulled the stretcher out of the way. Teddy must have noticed the look on their third rider's face because he quickly moved back.

"No, I'm not- oh, shit !" Greg said, covering his mouth and making a mad dash towards the bushes.

Eric and Teddy shared a look before they headed for the front door as he made a mental note to make the kid carry breath mints from now on.