Drilled - Jayne Rylon Page 0,1
his cousin and one of the men he respected most in the world was going to witness his epic failure. He wouldn’t blame Eli if he changed his mind and hired a new foreman to build his home. It was becoming more and more apparent that Joe was way out of his league. This was Eli’s future house, the place he would bring his baby to in a few months. He’d want it to be perfect, not haunted by the ghosts of construction accidents or full of flaws caused by his family’s poor management abilities.
Eli parted the ring of shocked workers and crouched down on Adam’s other side, without looking in the least ruffled. He took one look at Joe’s face, which was probably whiter than spray foam insulation fresh from the can, and said, “Ambulance on the way?”
Joe nodded, unable to speak.
Eli squeezed Adam’s shoulder gently, then stood, already off to assist. That’s what a true leader did, while Joe felt frozen inside. “I’ll meet the paramedics out by the street and bring them back. Hang in there, buddy.”
Things started happening really fast then, making up for the time warp that had stretched the instants it took Adam to drop from the sky. Soon people were crawling all over the spot like ants on a piece of hard candy. Paramedics, cops, Uncle Tom and Ms. Brown, the rest of the Hot Rods… Hell, the star of Hollywood’s latest blockbuster might have been there too, but Joe wouldn’t have noticed.
He stuck by Adam’s side until they loaded him in the ambulance and would have ridden along except the guy who’d yanked the hose came up beside him then. “Mind if I go instead? It’s my fault. I…I’m so sorry. I totally understand if you fire me. I can’t believe I did this. Adam…hurt…because of my dumb ass.”
Joe didn’t respond, unsure of what the hell the right protocol was in this situation. Mike or even Eli would have known what to say. He had no clue how to strike the balance between stern reprimand and reassurance.
As he debated, Adam shrugged one shoulder and said, “I know you didn’t do it on purpose. Yeah, Cole, I’d appreciate it if you’d come along. If that’s all right with the boss. And, Joe, please don’t can him. It wasn’t only his mistake. I should have been paying better attention.”
Joe looked between the two, his eyes narrowing as he caught a spark of something awfully familiar between them. He’d fucked up a bunch already, but he didn’t want to interfere with whatever was happening there on a personal level. “Yeah, of course. It’s Adam’s call. I’ll drive over to see how you’re doing as soon as they’re done with me here.”
Adam winced as he shifted on the gurney. Cole was there, adjusting his pillow before saying something Joe couldn’t make out. The ambulance squad settled into place, too. Just before the driver shut the back doors, Adam called, “Thanks, foreman.”
“For what?” Joe nearly fell on his ass.
“For keeping me calm. And getting help so fast.” He let his head fall back then. “And for doing the right thing with Cole. Thanks for giving a shit.”
Eli came up behind Joe and put his hand on his cousin’s back as the doors were closed and the vehicle’s sirens drowned out any chance Joe had at formulating some kind of response.
After the flashing red lights disappeared around a bend in the wooded forest road and the siren had faded to a dreadful wail, Eli asked, “You okay?”
“Me? I didn’t just take a header off the fucking roof.” Joe punched his palm. “I should never have let them be doing both of those tasks at the same time.”
“Did you tell them to?” Eli wondered.
“No. But I wasn’t paying enough attention. I didn’t see it until it was too late. What the hell am I doing here?” Joe looked to Eli, tugging the hair his fingers were now tangled in.
“Hey, calm down. This is what you have insurance for.” Eli squeezed Joe’s shoulder. “Accidents happen. Construction is dangerous work.”
When Joe still didn’t say anything, Eli lowered his voice and asked, “You do have insurance, right?”
“Yeah. Yeah, of course. But we’ve never had to use it before at Powertools. And here I am having to dig out the policy already.” Joe swallowed hard. It was the foreman’s responsibility to look out for the crew, and he’d failed. Big time. It was only his second week on the damn job and he’d