Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

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

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, Joe might have felt bad about it, but she was. Some people might enjoy light duty, but she was not one of them. Neither was Eric. It was 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 for her. Hell, if they ended up with a heavy patient, she wouldn't be allowed to help them. They'd have to call for another ambulance while she stood around feeling completely 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 the next 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 on his lap. "There. That's much better," Eric mused as he 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, he 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 that 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 fingertips over her arm, back for yet another betrayal. She couldn't believe he'd sold her out to Mom, but this was worse, so much worse. This was twenty-four hours of boredom and he knew damn well that she didn't do well with downtime. He knew that and it pissed her off like nothing else that he went 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, Joe 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 the guys said, but she ignored him and the snickers and snorts of laughter that followed and walked outside.

With nothing else to do, Joe 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 glare at her until she walked away.

True to his word, he hadn't allowed her to do anything. She hadn't been allowed to grab more run slips, check the ambulance, get more supplies, or make the stretcher. Standing around watching them work had been embarrassing.

She could do this job and they both knew it. She wasn't going to let a head injury 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 he felt responsible for what happened the other night.

Getting injured was a hazard of the job and he knew that. Well, he used to know that. Now, he was just hellbent on pissing her off.

"Are you mad at me?" Eric asked with a little pout that she refused to find adorable when he joined her, so she pointedly looked away from him.

"Yes."

"You know that you shouldn't even be at work right now," Eric said as he sat down next to her.

"I'm fine," Joe bit out and she was. Her head didn't hurt that much, she could see straight, and she no longer wobbled when she walked. In her book, that meant that she was more than fine.

"It's just for a little while," Eric said, sighing as he reached over and took her hand in both of his.

Joe 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," Eric 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!"

He went to put his arm around her shoulders, but she shrugged him off. "I don't want you to be upset about not being able to participate in the muster this year. There's always next year," Eric explained with a reassuring smile.

"What the hell do you mean I'm not participating?" Joe demanded, coming to her feet to better glare at him.

He noticeably winced as he looked past her. "You didn't tell her?"

"I thought you did," she heard Bill mutter like the coward he was.

She turned her glare on her boss. "I'm on light duty for a week? Really?"

He shot a nervous look at Eric before nodding. "I'm afraid so. You suffered a head injury and we don't want you to strain yourself. I'd rather you stayed home on medical, but-"

"Fine," Joe said, cutting him off.

"What?" Bill asked, frowning.

"Fine, I'm on medical. I'm going home. I'll be back in a week after I get cleared medically," Joe said, heading inside to grab her things and fighting the urge to stomp her foot like a child.

There was no way that she was going to come in for a week and put up with this bullshit. One twenty-four-hour shift of twiddling her thumbs was bad enough. There was no way in hell that she was going to be able to do it for an entire week. Since she would be getting paid no matter what she did, Joe decided that she'd rather take the week to get some work done around her house and run some errands that she'd been putting off.

"Joe?" Eric said, but she didn't stop. She walked past the guys, who were either too focused on the game or recognized a woman on a war path and left her the hell alone.

She walked to the bunkroom, grabbed her belongings, not bothering to fold them, and stormed out of the bunkroom and back through the break area and past Bill, Eric, and Greg. For a moment, she almost felt bad about Greg, but she knew she really wouldn't be much help right now.

It would probably stress him out to be forced to interact with the patients, and to be honest, if he couldn't suck it up and try, then he didn't belong in this field. He seemed like a nice enough guy, but she wasn't exactly a miracle worker.

"I'll see you in a week," she said to Bill and, hopefully, Greg. She'd like to see him pull through, but it fell on his shoulders now.

"I'll swing by and check on you if I get a chance," Eric said as he followed her outside.

"Don't bother."

"You really can't still be mad at me."

Joe continued scraping the garage door as she ignored the man who wouldn't take a damn hint and go away. She'd been doing this for two hours, hoping that hard work and the sunlight would exhaust her and dull some of her anger, but so far, it wasn't helping.

"I brought you a Milky Way milkshake," Nathan said, sounding hopeful.

Damn him for knowing her weakness!

With a sigh, Joe stopped scraping the cracked white paint off the garage door and turned around. She took the large, fast-food cup from Nathan and took a long sip and couldn't help but let out a little moan as the delicious mixture of chocolate, caramel, and vanilla hit her tongue.

"So, you forgive me?" Nathan asked, rolling back on his heels as he sent her a puppy dog look that had her rolling her eyes as she continued drinking the delicious beverage that was starting to make her feel better.

After taking one last healthy sip, Joe sighed heavily and handed him the scraper. With a frown, he took it as he sent her a questioning look.

"Fine. I forgive you," Joe said, gesturing regally towards the garage, "now, you may help me."

Chuckling, Nathan got to work. "You're too good to me, Joe."

"I know," she said, nodding in agreement as she turned her attention back to the delicious beverage that required her focus.

"You want to tell me what he did to piss you off this much?" Nathan asked, reaching back and swiping her drink. Before she could launch an attack to retrieve her drink, he took a long sip and was handing it back to her.

She decided not to hurt him since he was helping her. That, and she'd planned on sending him to get her another milkshake later. Not that he knew that was her plan, but she had no doubt that he would do it. Nathan was such a pushover when it came to her and Alice. He could never seem to do enough for them and she normally wouldn't take advantage of his giving nature, but this was a Milky Way milkshake, the king of shakes. Besides, he had no one to blame but himself for getting her addicted to the damn things in the first place.

When they were in high school, he got a part time job at a burger joint so that he could earn money to buy a computer. She would have loved to work with him, but she'd already taken a job with Eric for a landscaper. Every day, she stopped by after work and he'd make her a Milky Way milkshake before walking her home.

"Well?"

"Well, what?" she asked, enjoying the last sip. Yeah, he was definitely getting her another one.

"What did he do?"

"Who?" Joe asked, playing dumb since she didn't feel like talking about the big jerk right now. She dropped the empty cup in one of the trash cans she'd pulled away from the garage, grabbed another scraper, and went back to work.

"You know who."

"If you're speaking of your brother, then you should know that he's dead to me," Joe said with a sniffle as she focused on her work.

"Uh-huh," Nathan said like he didn't quite believe her for some reason.

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Joe demanded, throwing him a questioning look.

"Exactly what it sounded like," Nathan said, pausing in his work to wipe the sweat off his face with his shirt.

"Meaning..." Joe prompted, feeling her annoyance with him renew. If he kept this up, she was going to tell him to leave...

Right after he got her another shake.

"You've never been able to stay mad at him for more than a few hours, a day at the most. By tomorrow night, you'll forgive him for trying to get you to quit and find another job and the two of you will be back to...to… oh, shit!" Nathan's words trailed off when he looked up and met her glare.

"What the hell are you talking about, Nathan?" Joe demanded as she ran his words through her head again.

"Um, what are you talking about?" Nathan asked, trying to backtrack as he dropped the scraper and stepped back.

"He's trying to get me to quit?" Joe asked, stepping in front of him. "Why?"

"You'd really have to ask Eric about that," Nathan said, shifting nervously.

"I'm asking you," Joe said, tossing the scraper away so that she could cross her arms over her chest to intensify the effect of her glare.

"I-I don't think I should say," Nathan said, licking his lips nervously as he moved to step around her, only to find his exit cut off again.

"You can."

"I can't."

"I'll cry," Joe threatened, knowing she just might have to do the unthinkable and shed a few tears to make the big softie confess.

He narrowed his eyes on her. "You wouldn't."

Oh, but she would. Her bottom lip wasn't quivering ten seconds before Nathan broke down and confessed. An hour later, she was sitting on the hood of her car, sipping another milkshake and contemplating manslaughter.