Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 90721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 454(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 454(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
That was just too hard to explain to someone who’d never had any basic medical experience.
I didn’t really know how it happened, but one thing led to another, and I found myself strapped into a Kevlar vest and neck guard, heading into a building where there was a gunman.
And my brother was pissed.
He’d gotten into a fight with Downy, and instead of waiting, I just went in.
At the time, I wasn’t really thinking of the consequences. There was only one thing I thinking of and that was that there was an injured person in there, and I wasn’t letting her die if I could help it.
***
Sebastian
“Where is she?” I growled, once I pulled up on my bike.
I parked the bike as close to the tape as I could without actually running it over with my bike.
The cops probably wouldn’t see that in a good light.
Everyone looked around nervously. There was a crowd behind the bright yellow strip of police tape, made up of her friends and fellow workers. They all looked concerned and very reluctant to tell me where she was. The surprising thing was that Luke was the one to point out where she was.
I found her sitting on the floor of the open doors of her own motherfucking ambulance. She had a dressing pressed against her forehead, and the white t-shirt she normally wore underneath her uniform top was stained bright red with blood.
When no one said anything, I assumed she’d gone inside and then had the nerve to get hurt in the process.
Not waiting for permission, I stomped forward, in precise steps toward the woman who was about to feel the pain and terror I felt in that hour drive over here. I’d been so goddamned scared that she would get hurt, and low and behold, she was hurt.
When she saw me, her smile widened, but immediately fell when she saw the expression on my face.
She came to her feet warily. “I know you’re upset, I really do. But I was completely...”
“Enough.” I hissed.
Her mouth slapped shut so hard her teeth clicked together.
She looked worried about what I was about to say, and she should be. “I’ve never had these feelings before. Never. I went through two tours of deployment. Watched my three best friends burn alive in front of me. I’ve just spent the last hour of my life worrying about you; whether you were dead or alive. I have never...never...felt this way before. It felt like a piece of my heart was ripped out. What in the holy fuck were you thinking?”
I was all but yelling by the time I was finished.
She sneered at me. “I’m a paramedic! We’ve taken an oath to preserve life! What’d you want me to do, let her die?”
“Yes! You’re carrying my goddamned kid! You can’t put yourself in those kind of situations anymore! Because you have a responsibility to the life that you’re carrying inside of you that trumps any motherfucking oath you took!” I bellowed.
Her mouth, which had been open to yell right back at me, closed again with another audible snap. I could also see the crowd that was gathering, watching the interaction, but I could care less at that point. The woman I loved, the one who was carrying a part of me within her, almost took that part of me away with one reckless act. One heroic feat that could have ended so much more differently than it had.
“I know that you think I was in danger, but I really wasn’t.” She said petulantly.
“Really? Were you the one in control of that gun?” I asked sarcastically.
“No...”
“Did you have control of the four other men in there with him? Do you think you can take on four men at the same time? Because I’m not even sure that I could do that!” I growled.
She shook her head, not saying anything this time.
“I didn’t think so.” I snapped. “I think it’s time for you to grow up a little. Stop blaming all your problems on your disability. Let me know when you can act like an adult. Keep that kid of mine safe. I don’t want to hear about you going into any more dangerous situations. You won’t like the results if I do.”
With that parting comment, I stalked back to my bike. Ignoring the anger on the women’s faces, even my sister’s. The men looked like they agreed with me 100%, but that was to be expected. No man wanted to find out that their woman went into a mother-fucking bank with a gunman and four other assailants to help a teller that’d been shot.
I didn’t care if the woman was dying. My woman had a responsibility. And it sure as hell wasn’t to the woman who was injured, but to the unborn life inside of her that depended on her to keep it safe.
I’d been in the down room at the station when I’d looked up at the Breaking News Alert on the television. It’d said that a paramedic had gone in to help a hurt teller during a robbery. The gunman, and leader, had allowed it to happen in exchange for a freaking helicopter.
When I’d heard about the paramedic going in, I just somehow knew, knew, that it was Baylee. The girl had no fear, and although she blamed that little tidbit on her ADHD, this time it wasn’t going to fly. She had to learn that she couldn’t do that anymore. Not if I was with her. I couldn’t handle that. My heart couldn’t handle it.
***
Baylee
“You okay?” Luke asked me.
I looked up at my big brother in his SWAT uniform and grimaced.
No, I was anything but okay, and he damn well knew it.
When Luke’s hand came out and swiped a few stray tears coursing down my cheek, I broke down.
Luke pulled me close, and I buried my face into my big brother’s arms, just as I used to do.
Although, the last time I remembered doing it was when my boyfriend broke up with me because my ADHD was too much for him to handle.