Page 12 of Second Alarm
"For four months. I told you for four months."
"Relentlessly." I finish the water bottle and squish it into a small bundle.
"Hey." He punches me in the arm. "Don't be mean to me at a structure fire where my little sister is working. I'm emotional."
I roll my eyes. "Noted."
We stay on scene for another hour. Overhaul, salvage, the gas company cutting off the line, the homeowner's neighbor showing up to take her in, the dog pissing on my boot, which is fine, which is medically fine, because a dog pissing on my boot is the third most vulnerable thing that has happened to me today.
On the drive back, Derek leans forward from the back seat. "I'm creating a betting pool."
"No," Harrison says flatly.
"I'm making a bet that I can make Paramedic Larsen laugh by end of shift." He pitches it in a conspiratorial whisper, like he's proposing a heist. "Twenty dollars, gentlemen. Does anyone want in?"
Cal, the idiot, laughs. "I'll take twenty against you. My sister's poker face is legendary. You'll die trying."
"Big Jim always takes the other side," Harrison says.
"Even retired, Big Jim will take any side," Beck says.
"Noted." Derek pivots. "Rivera, you want in?"
Rivera doesn't look up from his paperwork. "Ten dollars against Derek. This is a sure thing."
"Deluca?"
"I'm a probie. I don't have twenty dollars."
"I'll spot you," Derek offers.
"Thanks, Derek."
Derek turns to me. "Brennan? You want a piece of this action?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't gamble."
"You gamble every day of your life," Deluca says.
"Not with money."
"You're such a boy scout."
"Mmhmm."
I keep my face still. I keep it very still. I don't look out the window for the ambulance. I don't need to look out the window, because I know exactly where the ambulance is. The ambulance is forty feet behind us, and she's driving it, and it's fine.
I've had a decade of practice.
I'm going to need a lot more.
Chapter 3
Hanna
