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Jake flexed them. “Aye.”

“Good. Keep the sling on and stop trying to move it.”

“Bossy.”

“I might understand why they left you in the ceiling.”

Jake stared at him.

The paramedic stared back.

Then Jake laughed and immediately clutched his ribs. “Ow. Fuck you.”

“And that’s why I told you not to move.”

Jake tapped the oxygen mask. “Got any of the harder stuff than this? The fun oxygen?”

“Not for you.”

Jake pulled the mask down again. “Oh, come on. Most people want me sedated.”

“Can see why.” The paramedic shook his head and scribbled something on the chart.

Jake craned his neck. “If you’re putting your number on there, regret to inform, I’m sort of taken.”

“Pity the man.”

Jake chuckled. “Aye, reckon he might think the same.”

Jake then turned his attention back to the chaos beyond the open ambulance doors, and as he did, Harrison looked up. Even from across the scene, Jake felt the impact of those brown eyes.

God, that look.

Jake would crawl through another ceiling for that look.

The thought made him chuckle.

But through the noise and confusion, everything else faded into the background. Harrison had been moving non-stop since dragging him out of that service void. Yet the second he spotted Jake sitting in the ambulance, his focus altered completely. He dismissed the officer speaking to him and strode towards him.

Jake couldn’t look away.

Harrison’s suit was filthy from the rescue. Dust coated his sleeves. His trousers were stained from lying on the roof to pull him out of the hatch, and his shoes were scuffed from nearly falling through the thing. Yet somehow, it only made him more attractive. Maybe near-suffocation had damaged Jake’s brain. That had to be most logical explanation. Because by the time Harrison reached the ambulance, Jake’s pulse had climbed to a speed the monitor didn’t approve of.

Maybe it’d get him some of the good shit.

“How’s the patient?” Harrison asked the paramedic.

The paramedic looked up from his notes. “Injured. Uncooperative. Thinks he’s funny.”

Harrison slid his gaze back to Jake. “Does he?”

“We don’t currently have a treatment for the last two.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

Jake lowered his head, smiling behind the oxygen mask.

The paramedic finished recording something before straightening. “Vitals are stable. Oxygen saturation’s improving. I’ve immobilised the shoulder and there’s significant swelling around the ankle. He’s also got tenderness over the right ribs, so I want imaging for all three. Cuts are superficial, but given the fall, the length of time he was trapped and the dust exposure, he’s going in for a full assessment.”