Sudden Response (EMS 1)

The woman looked like she was about to cry and really if they didn't get the hell out of here soon so he could go home he would, too. "Do you mind if I look?" he asked the woman with patience he wasn't feeling.

She nodded as she handed him the binder with her thumb bookmarking a section. "That's for Adam. He's supposed to take three pills, three times a day, but when I counted the pills there are ten too many in each bottle. I don't think he's been taking them."

"Let me see those," Donny snapped, grabbing the bottles and quickly counting the contents of the first bottle. After the first count he counted again and his face went pale. "This can't be right."

Great, so they had no f**king clue when the guy took his pills last.

"Police," a familiar voice announced with a loud knock at the door. A few seconds later Tyler, a cop they'd run into from time to time stepped into the house.

"Hey, Tyler," Joe said with a warm smile.

"Hi, Joe."

Call him crazy, but Eric really didn't think the smile and look Tyler was giving Joe was something a happily engaged man should be doing. It was certainly doing a great job of pissing him off though. He was already pissed about this bullshit call and having a cop devour Joe with his eyes was not helping.

"They want us to play the boogie man and scare a patient into taking his meds," Eric said brusquely, drawing Tyler's attention back to him.

Tyler frowned. "Are you f**king kidding me?"

"Nope," Joe said, making the word pop.

"He's, um, he's very dangerous without his meds," Donny stammered defensively.

"Considering no one seems to know the last time he took his pills maybe you should have called his doctor instead of 911," Eric pointed out.

Donny opened his mouth probably to argue, but then sighed and nodded his head. "You're right. I'm really sorry about this, but could you please give us a hand since you are here?" he asked, sounding close to crying. When Eric and Joe shared a look with Tyler, Donny quickly added. "Adam's upstairs right now if you want to talk to him."

Joe opened her mouth to say something only to be cut off by the linebacker now gawking at them. "You're here for Adam?" he asked in disbelief. "Good luck with that. That guy's a crazy son of a bitch!" The rest of the patients quickly nodded their agreement.

Oh, that couldn't be good, Eric thought dryly. When all the psychiatric patients could agree on what patient should scare you shitless it was never a good sign.

Apparently Joe agreed if the glare she sent him was any indication. "You are so buying me dinner tonight. Don't even think about arguing," she said in the same tone she used one week every month when she couldn't get enough chocolate and everything he did seemed to piss her right the hell off. Was it the twenty-third already, he idly wondered. Nah, he still had another two weeks before he had to wear a cup.

"Fine, but I hope you like ordering your meal through a clown's mouth," he snapped back.

Shaking her head in disgust, Joe gestured for Donny to show them to the patient. After a pregnant pause the man reluctantly started up the stairs, followed by Joe and him at eye level with her perfectly rounded ass. Hey, if he was stuck doing a bullshit call he was going to enjoy the perks.

"You're buying me a steak dinner," Joe hissed softly to him so she wouldn't startle their soon-to-be unhappy patient.

He snorted. "The only steak dinner you'll get out of me tonight is a burnt hamburger patty covered in canned gravy."

"You cheap bastard!" she hissed, making him grin. That is until the bastard trailing after them that he'd forgotten all about opened his big mouth.

"I'd be more than happy to make this call up to you, Joe, with a steak dinner," Tyler announced eagerly.

Without pausing Joe looked back at Tyler and gave him the sweetest smile. "Aw, you're so sweet, Tyler," she whispered as she turned to watch where she was going, but not before she stuck her tongue out at him.

Eric glared over his shoulder at the other man. "You betraying bastard!" he whispered, more like hissed.

Tyler grinned triumphantly as he mouthed, "I know."

Chapter 9

Joe bit back a yawn as she watched Donny cautiously approach the small sleeping figure curled up on one of the two twin beds in the small and rather depressing room. Her eyes darted to the other twin bed and noted that it was stripped. No roommate in her opinion was a good thing since they usually got in the way. She really hated it when they tried to "help."

"He's engaged," Eric whispered in her ear as they waited for Donny to grow a pair of balls and wake the guy up. He was adding way too much drama to the situation and was bound to agitate the patient.

"So?" she whispered softly, keeping her eyes on the patient.

She could practically feel Eric roll his eyes behind her. "So, I don't think his fiancé would appreciate you going out for a steak dinner with him," he explained softly near her ear.

Now it was her turn to roll her eyes. "He's not buying me a steak dinner tonight."

"Good."

"You are."

His answer was an amused snort. "Good luck with that, sweetheart."

"Keep it up and I'll be adding an appetizer and a dessert to my list of demands," she whispered softly back.

He was quiet for a moment. She assumed that he was probably wondering when this guy was going to get around to talking to the patient instead of standing there shifting nervously near the bed.

"Are you planning to put out?" he whispered, his warm breath teasing her ear and neck, sending goose bumps racing along her skin.

It was a little unnerving that she almost shouted, god yes. Her reactions to him were seriously starting to creep her out a bit. This was Eric, her best friend, the guy she'd grown up with and most likely the guy she'd fight with over the last tapioca pudding in fifty years at whatever nursing home was stupid enough to accept both of them.

She needed a real vacation, some rest and she definitely needed to start dating again. That was the only explanation for her reactions to him. It had been way too long since the last time she'd been with a man. Was it May or June of last year that she ended things with that cop from Northville? A year and a half without sex was obviously making her crazy.

Okay, so in all fairness she'd been aware of Eric that way for far longer than a year and a half. What heterosexual woman in her right mind wouldn't be? He was devastatingly handsome in that bad boy way that she really liked. He was also smart, funny and great to be around. If he wasn't her best friend she would-