Nathan Cole's day was supposed to be over. Another twelve-hour shift behind the wheel of an ambulance, and his body felt like it had been running on fumes since midnight. The ambulance bay was quiet for once, just the hum of engines cooling and someone laughing in the distance.
As he clocked out, he popped his trunk and tossed his paramedic kit into the backseat of his old sedan. That kit had been in more crime scenes than ambulances lately. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, the last of the day's coffee wearing off.
That was when his phone buzzed— It was an unknown number. Usually, when he got calls like that, it meant his life of crime was in need of his emergency medical practices. Though he needed the money, this time around he needed the rest more. He almost ignored it until the voice hit his ear.
"Job's hot, Cole. Three minutes out. I need you now."
Nathan froze with one hand on the door handle. "Marco? What the hell... I just got off work. Call one of your other guys."
"You're the only one I trust. Triple the usual. But you gotta move."
Triple. Nathan's eyes flicked to the envelope sticking out of his bag— the one stamped in red with overdue notices. Rent. Lily's meds. The oxygen tank. The social worker's warning last week still echoed in his head: if things don't improve, we'll have to re-evaluate custody.
He clenched the phone tighter. "Where?"
"Riverton and 12th. You've got two minutes."
The call cut.
Nathan swore under his breath. He didn't even get to say no. "Every damn time," he muttered, sliding into his car and firing the engine.
...
The rendezvous point was an abandoned parking garage on the edge of downtown— Half the lights were dead, leaving the place dim and reeking of old oil. As Nathan's sedan rolled in, he killed the headlights and checked his watch.
He was here faster that even Marco could probably have thought, thanks to all the times he spend behind an ambulance wheel. It wouldn't have been a stretch to assume he knew the city like the back of his hands. He sat there tapping his fingers in an habitual rhythm, with this kind of situation something that wasn't new to him
A distant screech of tires cut through the night. Then a black SUV burst into the garage, with its tires screaming and skidding to a stop. The doors burst open before the wheels stopped moving. Two men and a woman spilled out, one of them dragging another whose shirt was already soaked through with blood.
Nathan's body moved as he assessed the situation. He had the kit open and his gloves on by the time they hit the concrete. "Lay him flat! Now!"
Marco's snapped back, his voice high with panic. "Forget that, we gotta move!"
Nathan's tone cut through the chaos. "You want him alive or in a bag? Hold pressure, now!"
Sirens wailed faintly in the distance. Not ambulance sirens. It was the Police and they were getting louder.
"Cole!" Marco barked. "We don't have have the time!"
Nathan didn't stop moving. "Then hold the damn pressure while I keep him alive."
"Driver's hit!" the woman shouted. Nathan glanced up just in time to see the guy behind the wheel slump sideways. A dark patch spreading across his side, with his eyes rolling back.
"Shit," Marco cursed. Then his eyes locked on Nathan.
"No." Nathan shook his head immediately. "Absolutely not."
Marco tossed him the keys anyway. "You're driving, Cole. Move or we're done."
Nathan hesitated just a fraction of a second. The sirens hit another octave, echoing off concrete, closing in. He looked down at his hands, they were slick with someone else's blood even as his fingers tightened around the keys.
"You're going to double up on that triple you promised me," he said, shoving the gauze into place one last time. He swung into the driver's seat, slammed the gearshift forward, and floored it.
The SUV screeched out of the garage just as red and blue lights flashed at the street entrance.
The city unfolded in a blur of dark streets and flashing lights. Nathan's grip on the wheel was steady despite the adrenaline pounding through his body. This wasn't the first time he'd driven fast with someone's life bleeding out in the back. His eyes scanned every corner, every exit, like he was back behind the wheel of an ambulance. Only this time there was no siren to clear the road and no hospital waiting at the end.
"Left!" Marco yelled.
"I see it!" Nathan yanked the wheel, tires squealing as they cut into a side street. The sirens followed, closer now.
"Where the hell did you learn to drive like that?" one of the men groaned from the backseat.
"Saving idiots like you who don't know how to treasure their life," Nathan shot back, his eyes still scanning for an exit route.
The woman's head jerked up. "Barricade ahead!"
Nathan's gut twisted as the barricade flashed into view and flashing lights appeared at the next intersection. With no time to think. He yanked the wheel, slammed the brakes, and spun the SUV in a tight reverse turn so tight it felt impossible— that scraped the body of the car against concrete. The car fishtailed into an alley with inches to spare.
The SUV rattled as it straightened out. Nathan's heartbeat thudded in his ears, steadying his hands even as the sirens closed in.
Marco gripped the dash hard enough to leave dents. "Jesus, Cole."
Nathan didn't answer. His hands were steady on the wheel as he looked down for a split second to the blood smeared across the steering wheel. For the briefest moment, all he could see was Lily's tiny fingers curled around his thumb.
"Hang on, kid," he whispered, barely audible over the engine.
They shot through another alley, then another. Nathan threaded the SUV through the maze of streets like his life depended on it. The sirens shifted behind them, some fading, some splitting off.
"Almost there," Marco muttered.
Nathan kept his eyes on the road. "You and I are gonna talk about what 'triple' means when this is done."
Marco gave a humorless grin. "If you live, Cole. If you live."
The SUV shot around another corner, swallowed by the city and the sound of sirens behind them.