forty-three | right here with us

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     IT WAS NOW OR NEVER. That's what Carson kept telling herself as she sat impatiently in the passenger seat of the ambulance with JJ in the driver seat.

"So, Ricky was okay with you taking this?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah, something like that," JJ responded vaguely. That meant that Ricky was most definitely not okay with JJ taking it.

"You realize what will happen if we get caught, right?" she reminded him.

"I know," he said. "That's why if you want to back out, you still can." He was obviously not going to force her to stay, but he was hoping that she would.

"Oh hell no, I'm not dipping. The fun's only getting started," she said. He laughed before clicking his phone to check the time.

"Waiting on your call, John B," he said. The sound of a police siren made Carson jump. She pushed herself into a sitting position from where she had previously been slouched in the seat.

"Act cool. Act cool," she said.

"Shut up," he mumbled. He turned his head slightly to the side and tapped on the steering wheel to try to act nonchalant.

"I hate when it's slow like this, you know?" the officer commented.

"Tell me about it, man," JJ said.

"Hey, what happened to Ricky?" the man asked. "He bang out?"

"Something like that," JJ answered.

"One three Eddie. We got an unknown at KC Detention," a woman's voice spoke over the radio. JJ reached over and grabbed the radio.

"Uh, yeah, ten-four. I'll be right there. Thank you so much. Over," he said awkwardly. "Duty calls. I'll see you later, Officer. Uh, you have a good night though, okay?"

"Hold up," he said.

"Shit," Carson muttered under her breath.

"I got nothing to do," the officer said. "I'll pace you."

"The one time a cop wants to fucking be helpful in this town," Carson said. The closer they got to the jail, the more nervous Carson was feeling. The plan sounded too easy and deep down she knew that something was bound to go wrong.

"Alright, load him up," JJ called out after backing the ambulance into the bay.

"You gonna get your patient here, chief?" the nurse asked.

"Go get your patient," Carson said quietly. "Go, go."

"Yeah, right on," JJ said. "Yeah, I'm gonna get my patient." Carson hopped out of the side and followed JJ around to the back, trying to keep her nerves in check so that she wouldn't raise any alarms.

"Where's Ricky?" the nurse asked.

"Ricky? Uh, food poisoning," JJ answered. "You know, uh, Ming Dynasty off of Highway 25? Them egg rolls, dude. Now they'll get ya. They'll get you good."

"And you are?"

"In training," Carson responded. "Yep, first day on the job." The nurse seemed a bit uncertain but JJ jumped in before she could question anything.

"Uh, so where's the patient at?" he asked.

"Patient fell out. No LOC but he's orthostatic," she said. "Stage 4 lymphoma. He's been in and out of chemo for the last three months." JJ glanced down at Carson and she just shook her head slightly. Their plan was already getting messed up.

"Uh, is that the only patient tonight there, ma'am?" JJ questioned.

"Why? You wanna take more than one tonight?" she said with a bit of a laugh.

"I mean, I would if I had to. That's what I'm trying to say," he said. "I was just thinking that I was called in because my patient had appendicitis. No? Okay."

"This is our only patient," she said.

"How many patients do you typically get in a night?" Carson asked her, trying to make herself sound more like a curious EMT-in-training rather than a curious teenager who was trying to break her best friend out of jail.

"It depends," she said. "Where did you say you work?"

"Dare County, ma'am," JJ said to try to continue to uphold their facade.

"I worked over there. Never seen you," she said.

"Well, that's 'cause, you know, I just moved up in the ranks so fast," he responded. "Look, I would love to sit and chat, but we gotta get moving, alright? We gotta get our patient to the hospital."

"JJ, is that you?" the inmate suddenly asked.

"He's delusional as shit," JJ said. He tried opening the back door but struggled with the keys. "We just got different rigs up in New Bern." Carson glanced over to the wall as the phone rang, wondering if that call would be about John B.

"So, you're driving while he looks after the patient?" the nurse asked Carson.

"Oh, no, ma'am, like I said I'm in training," she said. "Gotta be back there to, you know, train."

"They told me that the officer could drive," JJ said.

"No, he's an inmate. I gotta be in the back," the officer said.

"Wait, hold on, officer. You're saying that you're gonna be responsible for me not taking care of my patient and for her not to help me? Is that what you're telling me?" JJ said. "Because look at him. He's weak, feeble and pale and shit. And I gotta do medical stuff on him, or else we're gonna lose him, okay? You don't want that on your hands." He threw him the keys before stepping aside for Carson to jump in. Together they grabbed each of the doors and pulled it shut.

"What the fuck are we going to do now?" Carson whispered as soon as they started driving.

"I don't know," he said. He tried unlocking the back door but it wouldn't budge as they drove. A pair of cop cars with their lights on began following them and that's when they knew they were shit deep in trouble.

"JJ, they're following us," she said.

"I know," he said, pulling out his phone to text Kiara for back-up. "I know, okay?" He reached over and grabbed her hand. "Listen, if they pull us over, the second that door opens you jump out and run. Don't wait for me, just run."

"JJ, I-"

"No, Carson, I know you said you're with me but I won't let you take the fall for this," he said. "I need you out there with Pope and Kie, trying to get John B's name cleared."

"Please don't let this happen," she said, now starting to panic a bit at the thought of JJ actually being arrested. It had been one thing when he took the blame for Pope and the boat situation, but this would end up way worse. "Please, JJ, I can't lose you." He grabbed her face in his hands to try to keep her eyes focused on his.

"It's gonna be okay," he told her. He was trying to remain calm for her but she could see the fear on his face. He pulled her in towards him and they held each other with tears in their eyes as they waited for the inevitable to happen. However, the inevitable did not happen because all of a sudden, they were being slammed against the wall as the ambulance came to a halt.

"Sorry, I'm so sorry." Carson had never been so happy to hear Kiara's voice.

"C'mon, let's go," JJ said, pulling her with him as he threw open the side door and sprinted out. Carson felt like crying tears of joy as her and JJ ran away from the scene. She didn't even know where they were going but she didn't care. Eventually they were able to escape into Kiara's car, which she was more than grateful for. The second they were in the backseat, Carson rested her head against the cold glass of the window in exhaustion.

"I'm seriously not even gonna ask," Kiara said.

"Look, we busted the wrong guy out of jail. Sue me," JJ said exasperatedly.

"What?"

"At least we were trying," he said.

"Why are you always doing such stupid shit?" Kiara asked.

"Hey, don't talk to him like that," Carson said. She knew that she also joked about JJ's stupid plans, but right now, she wasn't in the mood. All she wanted to do was defend him because he was right in the fact that at least they tried. Plus, he was just about to take the fall for the whole thing if they got caught so the least that she could do was continue to be by his side in this situation.

"It's fine," he said. "I'm gonna end up in jail anyway, so... so why does it matter?" She could tell the whole thing was getting to him. So many people reminded JJ that he was always going to end up in jail that maybe he started to believe it himself. Yes, they joked about his future in jail a lot but it was never serious when it was between the Pogues. The fact of the matter, though, was that it was a fear of JJ's.

Carson leaned over and put her hand gently on JJ's leg.

"Hey," she said. He just continued to stare off. "Would you look at me, please?" He finally cast his gaze towards her. "You're not him. You're not your dad, JJ."

"Car-"

"No, you listen to me. Jail is not where you'll be," she said. "You'll be right here with us." If it were anyone else, he might have thought she was just saying that to make him feel better. The fact that she was there and sounded so sure of herself, he could see that Carson would always believe in him, even if no one else did.

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