Lori Avocato - Dead On Arrival

“I…you…nothing! Huffer Slick slugged you and you hit your head.”

He tried to turn, but groaned at the movement.

“Stay still,” I said. “They’ve got Slick down in the ambulance. You’re next.”

“Like hell.” He tried to get up, but I firmly pushed him down. He looked at the tubing coming out of his arm. “What the…this had to be your idea, Nightingale.” He tried to get up again.

“Like hell you are getting up,” I said. “And, by the way, I enjoyed every minute of sticking you with the IV needle. I was going to use the largest bore needle, the size of a freaking garden hose, but Buzz wouldn’t let me.”

He growled at me and tried to get up once more, but I was relentless in my effort, and ER Dano didn’t stand a chance. “You think you are fine?” I asked.

He glared at me-a not-too-pleasant glare in fact. “Absolutely.”

“Then how is it that a girl like me can hold you down?”

“Shit,” he muttered, just as Jagger and Buzz came into the room with another stretcher.

Chloe had stayed by Slick’s side after numerous apologies to us all for what Silver Streak had done to ER Dano.

I had to shake my head and say a little prayer for the two sad young people, whose lives were obviously owned by inhalants, pot and probably alcohol. What a waste.

Dano continued to sputter and curse until the guys had him on the stairway-with a few close calls of him nearly sliding feet to head with Jagger. When they got to the lowest landing and had to make a narrow turn, I heard a smack.

Buzz Lightyear lay sprawled out on the landing.

“Oh, Lord!” I yelled, but before I could get to him, Buzz was up again and grabbing the stretcher, while Dano muttered some curses.

I shook my head at the thought that these things always happened to the poor kid. He shook his head a few times as if that would help take away any pain.

“You all right, hon?” I asked.

“Yes, Ms. Pauline. I’m fine.”

Dano looked up. “You look like shit. You should be on this ironing board instead of me.” He shut his eyes and said, “Get me the hell out of here before one of us gets killed.”

Once he was safely out and tucked into the second ambulance, Dano ordered, “Go get in Four five six with your patient, Nightingale.”

I took his hand and held it, all the while sneaking a feel of his pulse. “There’s been a change of assignments. Jennifer’s crew took Slick so we can transport you.”

Dano looked at me questioningly.

I nodded. “Yep, Buzz too. He didn’t want to leave you. Isn’t that sweet?” As soon as the words came out I knew I should have chosen more wisely.

“Ef’n sweet,” he said. “All I need is a good stiff drink to get rid of this headache.”

“And about seven stitches,” I added as we pulled up to the ER at Saint Gregory’s Hospital.

Suddenly I felt something on my hand. ER Dano was holding it!

He winked, despite the pain it must have caused as evidenced by the wince that followed. “Then I’m glad you’ll be with me, Nightingale.”

And my heart fluttered.

Wow.

“Well, they didn’t get to fix the giant hole in your head, but they did a decent job with the small gash,” I said to ER Dano as we walked out of the emergency room.

He grunted.

Buzz was behind the wheel of #456, and I know ER Dano would not want any other transportation back to TLC. How fitting.

We climbed into the back and sat on the bench. Buzz turned around, gave ER a thumbs-up and then pulled slowly out of the driveway.

I felt Dano’s knees bump against mine as the ambulance took several turns. Yum. I shouldn’t be ogling an injured guy like this, but damn, I felt something. ER Dano had made a darn lousy first impression-and I am sure an impression that he thrived upon-but in the end, a different guy came through-and I liked him!

I had a sobering thought. Hopefully, he wasn’t involved in the fraud or…the stabbings, and damn, but I had a gut feeling that the two crimes were related.

In my heart I didn’t believe it was true about Dano, so I had to trust my instincts yet again. And this one was the clincher: Jagger wasn’t keeping me away from him. If anyone suspected ER Dano of anything nefarious, Jagger would know, and I sure wouldn’t be sitting here!

The ambulance stopped and before I could say a word, the back door was flung open and Buzz stood there as if he’d just stepped out of a brand-new toy box I could swear he was made out of plastic, the way he held his shoulders straight in that crisp uniform, legs apart as if at attention. And such a serious look on his face.

“Need any help?” he asked Dano, who looked at him and groaned. “Okay, sir. I’ll be here if you need me.”

I had to smile to myself as Dano stepped to the side, then turned and hurried to open the door. I leaned toward Dano and said, “He was only trying to help. Cut him some slack.”

“Cutting a kid like that slack is not going to get him skilled in this profession, Nightingale. He has to toughen up. One time he was about to zap a patient with the cardiac defibrillator, and I had to point out to him that she was still holding onto his leg. Does the term ‘clear’ mean anything to you?”

I wanted to say, “But he’s such a sweetie,” but realized Dano was correct. Buzz obviously had to toughen up. I remembered the look on his face when he’d seen Pansy.

I tried not to feel negative about his future, but I wondered how long Jeremy would last as an EMT at TLC.

Since our duty day was nearly over, I sat back on the couch in the lounge and sipped my tea while everyone fawned over ER Dano-from a distance. Obviously they were not stupid people. I saw him wince a few times, and I guessed it wasn’t from pain.

“What the hell are you smiling about, Nightingale?” he said.

“Hmm? Oh, nothing.” I hadn’t realized I was.

He eased away from Jennifer and Lilla and straddled a chair from the table in front of me. “Yeah, right. You’re loving this.”

This time I chuckled. “Okay. You got me.”

He kicked my foot with his. Just a gentle touch. A sensual touch even through my shoe. Wow.

It wasn’t easy to rein in my thoughts, when I had to work with him so near. I sighed.

He looked at me.

Damn. He knew. He knew that he was causing a reaction-the bad boy! And, the worst part was, I was losing control of my reactions.

Buzz came over to ER Dano with a cup of black coffee. “Here ya go. How you feeling?”

Whoops. I thought Dano was going to fling the mug at the poor kid. But he did take it and mumble something. I was going with “thanks.”

Dano took a few sips and then shut his eyes.

Dear Buzz could not take a hint, I thought as I bit my tongue.

“So, you know the ER doc, Dr. Richard Pringle, does not want you alone tonight. He said you need someone to check up on you,” Buzz said, clearing his throat. “Someone has to keep waking you up in case you have a concussion.”

Oh, boy. I started to send mental notes to Buzz to shut up, and even used my facial expressions to try to capture his attention before he ended up wearing Dano’s coffee; but darling Buzz kept up. Being zapped by a defibrillator would be nothing compared to what Dano might do to him.

“So, I will volunteer. I can bunk at your place, boss, and wake you up every hour or so. You know. Ask you what day it is. Who the president is-”

Before Buzz could keep rambling on, ER Dano was up and out of his seat and had Buzz’s unwrinkled tie in his hand-I think, about to yank. But Dano staggered and had to let go. He dropped back to his seat with a thud and a curse that would make a longshoreman blush.

The room hushed.