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He shared a look with Joe and knew that she was considering killing Bill for forcing them to put up with him. Two weeks they had to put up with him, he thought with a groan as he took Joe's water from her and took a sip before returning it to her. With one look at her face he knew they were both on the same page.
As long as Greg did what he was told, watched his mouth and didn't pull any bullshit they'd deal with him, but the second the little shit stepped out of line he'd yank him back and if that didn't work he'd drop his ass back at the station. He didn't give a flying f**k if the city council had a problem with that. As a trainer that was his right. It was also his right to refuse to sign him off, which he'd already done and wouldn't hesitate to do again. He didn't give a damn who the kid's uncle was. If he wasn't fit to work on a truck then he needed to find another job.
He was fine with giving the kid a second chance. Working on an ambulance was a stressful job and he knew there was nothing out there to prepare a person for what to expect. Greg was a nervous wreck and he could work around that. What he couldn't deal with was too much attitude, which the man apparently had in spades.
Every time Greg f**ked up he got even cockier to hide his nerves and now that he thought his job was protected by his uncle it was only going to get worse. It was the same problem everyone had with Teddy. He didn't belong on a rig, but his training officer, from another station he'd like to add, had let him slide by and signed him off. They'd paired him with a senior EMT who was more than happy to run the show and by the time everyone realized what an ass**le he was it was too late. He'd made it past his probationary period and made it into the union.
That wouldn't be happening with Greg. If the man couldn't get his act together and accept some help with learning this job then he'd be out of here. Let his uncle push him off onto another station because he sure as hell wasn't going to sign the kid off and have some patient's death on his conscience.
Without a word, Joe grabbed a shift checklist and headed for the garage. He followed after her, chuckling as the guys' smart ass remarks followed. They walked over to the pegboard and found the slot for ambulance seventeen's keys empty. Hoping the crew from last night simply left the keys in the truck they walked over to the van style ambulances and found Greg and Teddy leaning against the ambulance, trading bullshit stories about women they'd f**ked.
He cleared his throat and thankfully they got the message. They sent Joe a look before changing the conversation. Teddy was a pig, but he knew better than treat any of the females that worked at the station like shit. Every man here would be all over him if he made any of them uncomfortable, well on purpose anyway. The guy seemed to make everyone uncomfortable.
Joe tried to open the driver's side door, but it was locked. When she groaned in annoyance after peaking through the window he knew the keys weren't locked inside. Great. They were going to be down a truck until whoever worked the truck last night hauled their ass back here with the keys or Bill came in and unlocked the backups.
"Guess we have to call dispatch to see if they can track down a set of keys for us," Joe said resignedly, shifting her backpack over her shoulder.
Greg shook his head as he held up the keys for the ambulance. "There's no need. I got them right here."
"Did you check the truck out?" Joe asked, holding her hand out for the keys, but Greg either didn't see her or ignored her as he put them back in his pocket.
"That's the crew's job to do at night. It's a waste of time to check it out in the beginning of the shift," he said with a shrug, moving to turn his back on Joe.
"It's part of the job, Greg. We need to check the truck out before we go into service. Hand me the keys, please," she said tightly and he knew she was just barely reigning in her temper.
He simply shook his head. "The truck's all set," he said dismissively.
Before Joe could take another calming breath he was in the little bastard's face. "She's your training officer. When she asks you to do something you better f**king do it. I don't give a flying f**k who your uncle is. If you don't pass our standards you will not be working in this station. Understand?" he asked as he held his hand out for the keys.
Grounding his jaw, Greg reached into his pocket and handed the keys over. He shot a look to Teddy who of course kept his mouth shut. If he thought that Teddy was going to put himself out for him he was mistaken.
He tossed Joe the keys as he gestured to the ambulance. "Get in there and start checking out the truck."
With a glare in his direction Greg moved his ass and he knew he was going to have to double check everything afterwards. The man hadn't been here a month and he was already adopting Teddy's work ethic. As Joe walked past him she muttered a few unkind words about his ego, but he let it go since he knew she was just pissed off that he had to handle the prick for her.
By the time he bought her breakfast, and apparently since it was his fault that she couldn't grab a bite to eat before they left for work this morning he was treating, she'd forgive him. He supposed since he loved her that he could spoil her a little. O'Malley's bakery ran a two for one deal on coffee rolls every Tuesday so he supposed he'd get her one.
"Is it true what I heard about you and Joe?" Teddy asked.
"Depends on what you heard," he said, climbing in the back of the ambulance and double checking the oxygen levels.
"I heard lots of things, but I was referring to you finally manning up and going for it."
"We're together. Is there a problem with that?" he asked in a bored tone.
"Nah, I'm just shocked that Joe became that desperate that's all," Teddy said, sounding amused and he had to wonder how many times today he was going to hear that.
"I'm not desperate!" Joe yelled from the front of the truck. The admission pleased him until she added, "I was drunk."
"I'm not buying you breakfast for that, smart ass!"
"You really are a cheap bastard," he thought he heard her say, but decided to ignore it and the bastard laughing at him.
Chapter 26
"Let me get that for you, Joe," Greg said, reaching past her to pay the cashier when Eric stepped in front of him, forcing the man back and making Joe wish that she banged out today.
Their shift only began two hours ago but already she wanted to bitch slap them both. Not a good sign when she still had fourteen more hours to go before her shift ended. She really wasn't sure she'd be able to tolerate this little pissing contest for that long.
In Eric's defense, Greg really did seem to be going out of his way to piss him off. It was pretty obvious to her at least that Greg hadn't appreciated being put in his place and was trying to use her to piss Eric off. Every five minutes he seemed to be hitting on her, but only when Eric was around. The only thing it was accomplishing was giving her a headache.
