"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. As 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.
As 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 five years ago, agreed.
"I guess that leaves me with no choice but to run," she said solemnly seconds before she tried to make her escape.
Unfortunately for her she wasn't fast enough and was soon strapped tightly to a backboard and hoisted up in the air. She had to bite her lip to stop herself from begging them not to shave her head, dye her skin or strip her only because she didn't want to give them any ideas.
Why the hell hadn't she accepted Eric's offer to pick her up after work? Because she was a moron that's why. She wanted to go home, freshen up and look beautiful for him since he was taking her out to celebrate her first official day. Now thanks to her damn vanity she was facing a future without hair or being purple.
"Maybe we can talk about this? Guys?" she said, hoping they'd let her go, but of course they wouldn't. She decided to ignore their laughs and jokes as she tried to break free from her restraints, but unfortunately for her they knew how to do their damn jobs.
When they brought her outside she tried not to squirm and draw attention to herself, but of course that was pointless. The building that housed dispatch was right next to city hall and across the street from a strip mall. She prayed that they would keep this little display of insanity private and throw her ass in an ambulance and take her back to the station, but of course they didn't.
They decided to stand her up and lean her back against the black iron fence that cut across the front of town hall. She couldn't see past the thick wall of men that suddenly surrounded her, but she was pretty damn sure that a crowd was forming and that some of them were taking pictures. She tried to ignore them as she renewed her struggles to break free, but there was no give.
"Guys, don't do this!"
Jeff merely shrugged. "Sorry, but it's for your own good, Joe," he said with a wink before they all stepped back as one and Joe felt her heart skip a beat as her eyes landed on Eric.
She swallowed hard as she looked him over and felt herself melt against her restraints. He looked incredible in his dress uniform as he walked towards her.