Mateo restrained his desire to flip off his superior officer. Cordova wasn’t the type who tolerated behavior like that from his officers, even if it was so richly deserved.
McClunis had beat him to the Medic, dressed in her standard navy uniform. He gazed longingly at the big red ladder, wishing he was going to a call in his turnouts.
“Together again,” she said and got behind the wheel in Medic 15. “You going to quiz me again about protocol?”
“No,” he grumbled. It had only taken a few days this month of his questioning to prove she knew all the Cleveland Fire protocols forward and backward. “You want to talk about football instead? We’ve got a pool going for who the Browns are going to play in the playoffs this year.”
“I don’t really watch football or care about it,” she said, ignoring a golden opportunity to form rapport with the guys. Most of them understood dedicated female football fans where they did not have a similar frame of reference for female firefighters.
“Fine then. I’ll tell the other shifts you’ll be happy to cross-cover during football games. It’ll give guys a chance to go home and watch the games since they actually care.”
“Will it get me on the engine?” Leslie asked, just as raring to leave the cramped confines of the Medic rig as he was.
“Very funny. Desk.”
“Killjoy.”
Chapter 4
Itwasabeautifulquiet day near the Oak Park pool.
Or it would have been if it hadn’t been for an unconscious man missing his arm on the sidewalk.
“What the hell kind of dog did this?” Mateo asked since his arm had been taken off at the elbow and his chest was a bloody ruin.
Leslie didn’t flinch at the massive amount of blood and pulled out the tourniquets. “His pulse is shitty. You sure this is safe?”
“Animal control was here. They said no dog. They’re still searching.” Medic 15 had passed the animal control van, who’d briefly told them the scene was secure.
“There’s not a single dog, cat, or bird on the street.” Leslie tightened the tourniquet. “Might have run off, but what if it’s rabid or something?”
Mateo cued his radio. “Good point. This is Medic 15. Can we have police at the corner of Achmere and Oak Park? Possible dog attack, and we need assistance with redirecting traffic and civilians.”
“I don’t like this.” She kept sneaking glances around them like a monster was going to jump on them from behind a parked car.
“He’s losing too much blood,” Mateo said to refocus her. “We need a volume expander.”
“I’ll grab an IV and a liter of normal saline.” McClunis jumped to her feet and sprinted off to the ambulance.
Mateo lost the guy’s pulse. “Oh, shit. McClunis, I need your hands. Pull the epi. He’s coding.”
Silence answered him.
Mateo started CPR in the center of the guys gaping chest. “McClunis?!”
Still nothing.
Some of the ribs, which were visible, cracked under his pressure. “Get over here!”
“Lieutenant.” Her voice was a monotone. “We have a problem.”
“What the fuck do you mean ‘we have a problem’? Get me the damn epi!”
“Lieutenant. Don’t move. Don’t talk.”
Mateo slowly lifted his head to view the ambulance and saw what was making McClunis act so strangely. “¡Qué carajo!”
Leslie McCluniswas standing next to the ambulance, and about ten feet away was the biggest fucking bear Mateo had ever seen.
