Chapter 29

CHAPTER 29

" J ust let me explain," Joe said as she tried to climb off his lap, but the damn man pulled her back down and wrapped his arms around her, keeping her right where she was.

"That's before I found out that you did something insanely stupid," Eric snapped. "I'm calling Bill and telling him that you changed your mind," he said, shifting her on his lap so that he could pull his phone out of his pocket.

She snatched the phone out of his hand before he could make that call and tossed it on her seat where he couldn't reach it. She knew he'd be mad about this, but she couldn't force herself to go through with this.

Six months ago, she would have done anything to become a paramedic, but now...

Now, she wanted something different. She loved working on the truck, probably always would, but now, thanks to Eric, she knew that she also loved working in dispatch. For the past few months, she'd been picking up extra shifts in dispatch and as much as it pained her to admit this, Joe realized that she loved dispatching more than she loved working on the truck. She also loved teaching. She taught CPR and first-aid at the community center and ran re-certification classes at the station.

She still loved working on the truck, but she didn't want to do this full-time anymore. She wanted to work full-time in dispatch and teach, but for now, she'd work on the truck with Eric until he finished paramedic school. And then…

She'd move on.

"Give me the phone, Joe," Eric said, trying to move her off his lap so that he could grab her phone.

"It's not what I want anymore, Eric," Joe admitted, still trying to figure out how she went from wanting this so badly to turning it down without a second thought.

"Explain," Eric said as he shifted her on his lap so that she was facing him.

"It's your fault," Joe said with a heartfelt sigh, deciding that was the best way to go. When his eyes narrowed on her, she rethought that plan and went with another approach.

"I love working on the truck and I love working with you, but..."

"But?" Eric said quietly when she hesitated.

"But I want to try other things. I still plan on keeping my ticket and working on the truck with you part-time, but I think it's time to move on," Joe said, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she thought about the other reason that she wanted to move on.

She wanted all of those things that she always told herself that she would never have. She wanted to get married, have children, a family of her own, and she wanted that with him. The problem was, she had no idea what he wanted anymore.

"I need to know if I'm part of the reason that you turned this down," Eric said quietly.

"And if you are?" Joe asked, knowing that she should be happy with the way things were, but…

She wanted more.

She wanted to fall asleep in his arms every night and wake up in his arms every morning. She wanted to fight with him over the remote, trick him into giving her backrubs every chance she got, and she wanted to know that he was hers.

He pressed his lips against her forehead. "Please tell me that I'm the reason, Joe."

"Why?" she asked, closing her eyes as she savored his touch.

"Because I need to know that you want me as much as I want you," he whispered hoarsely against her forehead.

"And if I do?" Joe asked, smiling as she relaxed in his arms.

"I wish like hell that we weren't having this conversation at work," Eric said as she pulled back so that she could run her fingertips along his jaw.

"I'm in love with you, Eric," Joe said, sighing softly as she reached up and cupped his jaw.

"And I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Joe," Eric said as he leaned in and brushed his lips against hers.

When he moved back, Joe followed him, moving her lips against his as she shifted on his lap and moaned when he deepened the kiss. She would never be able to get enough of this man, Joe thought, wrapping her arms around him as his hands slid up her thighs, around her hips and cupped her bottom, using his hold to pull her closer so that she could feel just how much he wanted her. He-

"We have to stop," Eric said, gasping as he broke off the kiss. Knowing just quickly this could get out of control, Joe forced herself to climb off his lap and willed her trembling legs not to give out as she climbed back into her seat.

Needing something to do besides think about how badly she wanted to climb back onto his lap and pick up where they left off, Joe grabbed the pastry box off the dashboard. Biting back a sigh, she handed the apple fritter to Eric and grabbed the chocolate- frosted coffee roll for herself. She took a bite and tried to focus on something besides Eric and all the things that she wanted to do with him, but it was difficult being this close to him.

"I don't want you to quit for me, Joe," Eric said softly, taking her by surprise.

"That's what you wanted a few months ago," she reminded him.

"I don't want you to give up something that you love because of me. I don't want you to regret this," Eric murmured, looking lost in thought while he sat there, staring out the window.

She reached over and took his large hand in hers. "I'm not going to regret this, Eric. I love dispatching and teaching and if it doesn't work out, then I'll go back to working on the truck full-time and reapply to medic school."

"I only want you to be happy, Joe," Eric said, raising their entwined hands so that he could press a kiss against the back of her hand.

"I am happy," she promised him before releasing a long-suffering sigh. "But I'd be happier with an orange juice."

Shooting her a mock glare, Eric started the truck again as he muttered, "Little gold digger."

"That's me," Joe easily agreed as a siren drew their attention to find Greg racing across the empty parking lot with his lights flashing and the siren blaring.

"What a fucking idiot," Eric muttered as they watched Greg peel out in front of an SUV before racing down the middle of the road, forcing cars to pull off to the side or get hit.

"Remind me to have Bill give OEMS a call about that little prick," Eric said as they watched Greg force another car off the road. He-

"Oh, shit!" Eric snapped, turning on the emergency lights and grabbing the mic as they watched in horror as Greg ran through a red light and was slammed into by a tractor-trailer that hadn't been able to stop in time.

"Echo seventeen to dispatch," Eric said as they drove across the parking lot, watching as Greg's ambulance rolled over several times until if finally landed on its hood only to have the truck slam into it a second time as the sound of screeching breaks competed with 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 as he moved through traffic, switching the sirens as he requested the right of way.

As soon as they reached the scene, Eric pulled around and blocked the road. He left the emergency lights on as they 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, Eric decided as he and Joe worked quickly to pull their stretcher out, load it with oxygen, a trauma bag, and the longboard. 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 with a muttered, "Glass," and shoving the stretcher.

As soon as he caught the scent of gasoline, Eric 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 they were going to need as many hands as they could get to get them all out of there before the damn thing caught fire. They-

"Eric," Joe said, her voice breaking.

"What?" he asked as he watched Joe kneel down next to the driver's side door.

"He's dead," she said hollowly.

Praying that she was wrong, Eric moved to kneel down next to her and took in the bloody mess. When his eyes landed on Greg's vacant expression and the severe damage to his head and neck, Eric knew that he was gone. Without a word, they stood up and made their way 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, Eric gently pushed her aside and grabbed hold of the door and pulled, only to curse when they didn't budge. Praying that they weren't too late, they quickly moved to the back of the ambulance and-

Sighed with relief when he heard the third rider crying.

"We need a neck collar and the longboard," Eric said as he yanked the back door open.

With a nod, Joe took off to grab the stretcher while he inspected the mess inside the ambulance. He grabbed the stretcher that was lying across the ceiling and pulled it free before shoving it away from the ambulance so that he could reach the third rider hanging upside down in the tech seat. He quickly made his way inside, ignoring the sounds of broken glass breaking beneath his boots and focused on the small woman struggling to free herself.

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

"I-I c-can smell gas," she mumbled in a daze.

"I know," Eric said soothingly. "We're going to get you out of here as fast we can, but I need you to do exactly what I say, okay?"

"O-Okay," she agreed, forcing herself to remain still.

He heard broken glass being crushed behind him and wasn't surprised when Joe and Justin, an EMT who worked for a large private ambulance company, moved in behind him. Justin was a large guy, but most importantly, he knew his shit and would help get this woman out of here quickly.

"I'll secure her neck if you 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."

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

They quickly pulled on gloves as Joe carefully worked the collar around her neck. Eric reached over and held the woman's head still as Joe secured the neck collar. When she was done, Eric removed his hands and Joe got into a position where she could hold the woman's head still so they could work.

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

With a firm nod, Justin 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, Eric grabbed his trauma shears out of his pants and cut the lap belt.

"I-It was a-a priority three call. He wasn't supposed to use the emergency lights or sirens," the third rider said softly as tears rolled down her cheeks, surprising the hell out of them. "Mark told him to slow down, b-but he wouldn't listen."

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

"I didn't want to ride with him," she admitted as Eric shared a look with Joe.

"On my count," Eric said, focusing on getting the hell out of there as he prepared to cut her shoulder belt. "One, two... three ."

When the belt gave way, Eric dropped his shears and reached up to grab hold of her and gently guided her down. Carefully, but quickly, the three of them managed to keep her neck stabilized and moved her to the longboard. Justin picked up the other end of the backboard while he picked up his end while Joe did her best to keep her head stabilized. They didn't bother with straps as they moved their asses and-

"Fire!" Eric yelled when he caught the scent of smoke.

Thankfully, Joe and Justin reacted quickly as did the EMTs waiting just outside the ambulance. The moment they cleared the ambulance, everyone grabbed hold of the backboard and moved their asses. Within seconds, immense heat flashed behind them with a loud explosion that sent them stumbling. As soon as they were safely behind their ambulance, they placed the backboard on the ground and worked together to secure her to the backboard. When she was secured, they placed her on another crew's stretcher and let them take over since their stretcher was now consumed in flames.