Chapter 2 of The Paramedic’s Angel is structured around a single act of courage: Dean picks up the phone and calls Ashley. That might not sound like much — but for readers who have spent book one watching this earnest, professionally fearless paramedic completely lose his composure around one particular ER nurse, the moment lands with real satisfaction.

What makes the chapter work so well is the contrast between Dean’s two preoccupations. On one hand, there is the phone — and Brynne, grinning from across the squad room, unwilling to let him stall for one more second. On the other, there is the darker question he is actively trying not to think about: Brynne’s former partner Zach was at the fire scene. The same Zach who recently tried to recruit Dean into an anti-Unusual movement. Was it coincidence?

Why readers searching for “urban fantasy with romance subplots” love this chapter

The tension between the call Dean needs to make and the suspicion he cannot shake is a masterclass in pacing. The chapter holds both simultaneously — the comic awkwardness of a guy who can intubate a patient in a moving ambulance but cannot dial a phone number, and the genuine threat lurking just underneath. For readers who want their paranormal fiction to have real romantic stakes alongside the action, this is exactly the balance they are looking for.

When Ashley picks up and immediately says “I’m glad you called me,” the reader gets the payoff. But the chapter does not let them rest in it. Almost before Dean can register what just happened, Brynne calls from the ambulance bay: another call is coming. He climbs into the rig, picks up the radio mic, and they drive back out into the night. Duty always interrupts life. That is not a complaint — it is a defining characteristic of the series, and readers who love it know it is also what makes the personal moments feel earned.

Brynne as comic foil and emotional anchor

Brynne’s role in this chapter is perfectly calibrated. She pushes Dean to call, leaves the room with impeccable timing to give him privacy, and comes back with exactly the right mix of teasing and warmth. She is not a cheerleader; she is the experienced partner who has watched too many probies let the good things in life slip past because the job never stops. For readers who love mentor figures who are funny, genuinely caring, and never saccharine, Brynne Garvey is a standout character in the genre.

The villain the chapter does not quite name

Zach’s presence at the fire scene is never resolved in this chapter — it is left as exactly what it is: a question. That unresolved tension is what keeps the chapter from being purely a romantic interlude. It signals to readers who enjoy urban fantasy with conspiracy-level stakes that something larger is building. The threat is not just supernatural. It is organized.

✚  Find out what happens with Ashley and Dean — get the full book on Jamie Davis’s website.Get the Book →

 

CHAPTER TEXT

The Paramedic’s Angel — Chapter 2

Back at Station U, in the run-down industrial park on the edge of Elk City, the paramedics parked their ambulance and went about their duties after a call. Since Brynne had taken the lead on patient care, she went into the crew quarters to complete her patient report on the computer. Dean took care of the tasks needed to restock the ambulance and put the unit back in readiness for the next call, which could come at any time. He took his time and even scrubbed the bugs off the windshield before closing the outer garage doors on the ambulance bay and going into the crew’s squad room.

Dean looked at the phone on the desk as he walked in, then thought maybe he should make up the beds in the bunk rooms with fresh linens while he was thinking about it. He was stalling. Deep down he knew it. He had lots on his mind following that call tonight with the burn victim. It had been an intentional attack, and he had seen Brynne’s former partner, Zach at the scene. The former Station U paramedic had arranged a meeting with Dean a few days before. He had tried to enlist him in an underground movement against Unusuals. Was the ex-paramedic involved in the attack in some way, or was it coincidence? Brynne had noticed him, too, but she hadn’t talked about that on the way back. She had steered away from the horror of the previous call, choosing instead to rib him about Ashley. He looked back at the phone again.

“My bet still stands, Probie,” Brynne said without looking up from her workstation where she was still going through the documentation from the ambulance call. “She’ll pick up. You just need to call.”

What if Brynne was wrong, and Ashley was just being friendly? “I don’t know, Brynne.”

“What don’t you know?” Brynne asked, spinning around in her desk chair to face him. “Do you not know if you want to wash the ambulance for me for a week, or do you not know if you like Ashley?”

“Of course I like Ashley,” he blurted out without thinking. He paused, gathering his thoughts. “I mean, what’s not to like? She’s pretty, funny, knows what I do, and still talks to me.”

“Fine, call her, and the bet is off whether she answers or not,” Brynne offered. “Either way, you need to make that call. I don’t want you pining around the station for the next two days about the one that got away.”

Dean looked at the phone, then at Brynne, and then back to the phone. He picked up the handset and his finger hovered over the speed-dial for ECMC emergency department’s number. He paused a few seconds, then pressed the button.

Brynne got up and crossed the room to the ambulance bay door. “I’m going to do a quick inventory,” she said as she left the room. “I’ll be in here if you need any help.”

Dean was about to shout a snappy retort, but a woman’s voice picked up on the other end of the phone line.

“Elk City Medical Center Emergency Department, Nurse Moore speaking. Hi, Dean,” Ashley said from the other end of the line. “I’m glad you called me.”

“Uh, yeah, sure, no problem,” Dean said. How had she known it was him?

“You were calling for me, right?” she asked. He swore he could hear her smiling over the phone line.

“How did you know it was me?” he asked. Could she read his mind?

“Caller ID on this end,” she explained. “You still haven’t answered my question.”

“Uh, yes, I was calling for you,” Dean answered. “I wanted to take you up on that offer for something to drink after work. I could swing by the hospital and we could, maybe, go somewhere downtown?”

“I actually get off at five AM,” Ashley said. “I think you’re on until six, right? It might make more sense for me to meet you over there.”

“Uh, it’s not in a great part of town. Do you know where it is? Maybe it would be better if I met you somewhere,” Dean countered.

“Aren’t you sweet,” Ashley chuckled from the other end of the line. “I know where you are, and I can take care of myself. I’ll see you at six when you get off work. You pick the place for a nice breakfast, okay?”

“Sounds like a plan,” he said. “See you later.” She said goodbye on her end, and he hung up the phone. That had worked out alright. He stood, looking at the phone where it rested on the desk.

“Dean,” Brynne called from the doorway to the ambulance bay. “We’re about to get a call; I got a heads up from headquarters on my cell.”

Even as she finished talking, the familiar tones sounded on the radio speakers set in the ceiling. The musical tones were followed by the female voice of the dispatcher. “Ambulance U-191, proceed to 1231 Main Street, Sabatani’s Restaurant for a trapped subject.”

Dean headed out to the ambulance bay where Brynne had already started up the rig and was sitting in the driver’s seat waiting for him. No time to think about the phone call with Ashley. Such was the life of the paramedic. Duty always interrupted life. He climbed inside and picked up the radio mic as they drove out into the night. “Ambulance U-191 en route.”

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