Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13

" W hat do you think you're doing, young lady?"

Pasting a smile on her face, Joe turned around and tried not to wince under the glare that was being sent her way. She seriously wondered when that look would lose its effect on her. Probably never, she thought with an inward groan.

"I was just looking for something to read," Joe lied, hoping Alice would go back to whatever she was doing so that she could find the backup set of car keys she had lying around somewhere.

She'd already searched through her small desk, the pullout couch, and her bookshelves to no avail. The damn things had to be here. She definitely remembered tossing them in here when she had them made last year.

"If you're looking for something to read, then why are you dressed?" Alice demanded, arching a brow as she waited for Joe to lie to her.

"I was cold?"

"It's seventy-five degrees in here, sweetheart," Alice pointed out the same time that she stepped to the side and gestured for Joe to get her butt back to bed. It was a small gesture, but one she recognized, nonetheless.

There was no point in arguing, Joe decided grumpily. She'd already tried that multiple times over the past five hours and failed miserably every single time. Every time she tried to argue, Alice simply ignored her and shoved more green Jell-O down her throat for "sustenance," as Alice liked to put it. She'd made damn sure that Jell-O stayed down, knowing that the next step in Alice Parish's home care treatment was beef broth.

She couldn't even begin to stress how much she hated beef broth.

"Where are you going?" Alice asked when Joe veered to the left instead of heading to her bedroom.

"I'm going to get a cold drink," Joe said as she tried to come up with a way to get back at Eric for this. They were supposed to be partners. After all the shit they'd gone through and all the times she'd covered for him, she couldn't believe he was doing this to her. Granted, he probably knew that without Mom here that she'd find a way to get to the fire station.

Damn him.

"I can get it for you, sweetheart. You should be resting," Alice offered. "I can make up some broth if you think you can handle it."

Joe couldn't help it, she cringed. "No, that's okay, Mom. Thanks."

Her stomach growled viciously, reminding her that she hadn't eaten anything since yesterday morning and she sure as hell wasn't counting the nasty green goop Alice practically shoved down her throat as food.

"You want more Jell-O? I made a big bowl."

No, she wanted the delicious steak that Eric owed her but probably wasn't going to get anytime soon, thanks to her babysitting detail.

"No, thanks, Mom," Joe said, grabbing an ice-cold Coke from the fridge and headed back to her room. "I think I'm just going to lie down and take a nap," she said, knowing that she didn't have a choice in the matter.

"That sounds like a good idea," Alice said, following her as though she didn't trust her, which would actually hurt if she hadn't been caught trying to climb out of the bathroom window two hours ago.

"Do you need anything?" Alice asked as she pulled back the covers and fluffed the pillows.

She needed to get to work, but Alice wouldn't be happy to hear that, so Joe forced a smile and said, "No, I'm going to take my pills and get a little more sleep."

"Okay," Alice said, smiling pleasantly as she picked up the pill bottle and held it out to Joe with a look that told her to get on with it. Again with the trust, Joe thought with an inward sigh as she took the bottle and swallowed a pill.

"You don't have to stick around, Mom. I'm most likely going to sleep well into the night now," Joe said, hoping Alice would take pity on her and leave. It was bad enough that she was stuck at home, she really didn't need to add being fussed over on top of that. If she was going to be stuck here, then she'd rather do it in peace and quiet so that she could contemplate all the ways she was going make Eric pay for this.

"Well, I do have a few things that I have to do, but I promised Eric that I'd wait until he got home," Alice said, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she looked at her watch. "I guess he got held over."

Joe absently nodded as she pulled off her sneakers. "It happens, but he'll probably be here soon," she said, not knowing if that was the truth or not and not really caring. For all she knew, it could be hours before he got here and she had the pleasure of kicking his ass out.

"I'll stick around for another half-hour, but then, I have to go before the grocery store closes," Alice said, making Joe frown.

"Berkley's doesn't close until ten," she pointed out.

"I can't go there anymore," Alice admitted after a slight hesitation.

"Why not?"

"Camie," Alice said as though that would explain everything, and, sadly, it did. She sent another nervous glance down at her watch before she looked back at her, making Joe bite back a sigh.

"Mom, you can go. Don't worry about it. If anything happens, I'll call one of the guys."

"No, I'll wait around a little while longer," Alice said with a stubborn nod.

Knowing that there was no point arguing, Joe sighed heavily and headed for the bathroom, grabbing Eric's favorite tee-shirt, an old faded...well, she really wasn't sure what it was anymore, but she knew that it was Eric's favorite. Ten minutes later, she was curled up in bed and drifting off, wishing that it was Eric's arms wrapped around her instead of his old tee-shirt.

"Shhhh, go back to sleep," Eric said softly sometime later as he curled his large, warm body around hers.

"Get out," Joe mumbled even as she snuggled back against him.

When he chuckled, Joe buried her face against her pillow and decided to ignore him.

"How are you feeling?" Eric asked quietly as he gently ran his fingers through her hair.

"Like kicking your ass," she muttered into the pillow. "I can't believe you called Mom on me."

"You didn't leave me with much of a choice, now did you?"

"Bastard."

"Get some sleep," Eric said, pressing a kiss against the top of her head.

"I'm going to work tomorrow," she informed him, inwardly daring him to argue because if he did, she was going to kick his-

"I know," Eric said, surprising her.

"You know?" she repeated back slowly, not sure if this was some kind of trick.

"Mmmhmm, I know you're too stubborn to listen to the doctor. I already talked to Bill and he figured as much, which will actually work out because we have Greg again."

That got her attention.

She rolled over, shoving Eric away so that she could face him. "Why the hell is he still third-riding?" The man should already be assigned to a more senior partner to finish his probation period, especially since they were only required to do five ride-alongs and he must have done at least a dozen by now.

"He's still nervous as hell. Every time he comes close to a patient, he loses his lunch and if it's an emergency, he loses it as soon as the ambulance comes to a stop. No one's even let him get behind the wheel, afraid that he'll black out and crash the truck," Eric said, lazily scratching his bare chest as he rolled over onto his back.

"If it's that bad, then maybe he should really consider doing something else," Joe suggested, feeling bad for Greg but not bad enough to risk him endangering a patient because he couldn't do his job.

"Bill wants you to take another crack at him and see if you can help. If he doesn't improve within a week, he's going to have to let him go," Eric said, fighting back a yawn.

She sighed heavily as she laid her head on Eric's shoulder and wrapped her arm around his waist. While she tried to figure out a way to help Greg deal with his nerves, she snuggled closer to Eric. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head as he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer.

"I'm not sure if a week's enough time to help him," Joe said as she absently traced circles on Eric's chest and stomach, loving the way the light dusting of hair felt against her fingertips.

"No, it's not. Normally, I'd offer to grab a few extra shifts to train him, but with you injured," she rolled her eyes at that, "and the Fireman Muster games this weekend, we won't have a chance. I'm hoping Bill will give us until next Friday before he makes his decision."

As bad as she felt for Greg, her mind had already moved on to another pressing matter. She couldn't believe she almost forgot about the games especially since she was competing this year. "We're going to kick ass this year," Joe said with a firm nod.

For years, they'd competed together in the ambulance portion of the muster, a competition between neighboring fire departments to put their skills to the test, and they always won. For the last four years, she got stuck behind the scenes helping out, but this year, she told Bill that he was going to have to find someone else to deal with the vendors because she was going to kick some ass instead.

Eric gently ran his fingers through her hair, careful of her stitches. "Are you sure you're up to it?" he asked softly.

"Of course, I'm up to it. We are so going to kick some Blackford ass this year!"

"They kicked our asses last year and the year before," Eric pointed out.

"That's because I wasn't competing," she reminded him.

"There is that," Eric admitted, pressing another kiss against the top of her head. "Get some sleep, Joe. Tomorrow's our twenty-four-hour shift and I have a feeling we're going to need every minute of rest that we can get."

Frowning, she tilted her head back to look at him. "Why do you say that?

He sighed heavily as he pressed a kiss against her forehead. "Because we have Greg for the entire shift," Eric said, making her groan.

"I'm demanding a raise," Joe muttered against his chest.

"Damn straight."

This wasn't going to end well, Eric thought, biting back a heavy sigh as he followed Joe to their bunkroom even as he couldn't help but wonder how he should tell her. He'd considered making a run for it while she was in the shower this morning and leaving her a note or sending a text message, but he knew that would just piss her off more.

It was probably for the best if he just told her.

Decision made, Eric closed the door behind them as Joe began 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 this off any longer. She'd find out soon enough and, really, it was better that they handled this in private.

Praying that she didn't go for his balls, Eric said, "You're on light duty."

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

"I said you're on light duty," Eric 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?" Joe asked evenly as she crossed her arms over her chest while she waited for an answer.

"Rest?" Eric suggested seconds before she slammed her foot down on top of his. When he leaned down to check on 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 little brat that it had been his idea to keep her on light duty.

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