Simon froze for a moment, his hands convulsed on the shoulders of the man he'd been trying to drag to safety, but over the past year he'd learned to compose himself in dangerous situations. Long before that, as a surgeon, he'd learned to keep his hands steady no matter what was happening around him or under his knife.
"Well," he said, voice acerbic but unwavering, "if it's so hopeless you might as well just leave me to it." "Cranky when you're scared" River might have observed if she wasn't locked up somewhere and he had time to think: If I die now I really will have left her. I won't get another chance. Then the young man groaned softly and Simon lowered him to the ground as gently as he could. Eyes never leaving the demon he pressed a hand to the man's uninjured shoulder in silent apology before he straightened up to his full height and moved to stand between his patient and the demon.
"What now?" he asked, trying to sound resigned but unable to keep his gaze from flicking to the hunk of metal he'd dropped to get his patient behind cover, just a step away from being within his reach. "Maybe you'll get your moment," he remembered Jubal Early saying what felt like a lifetime ago.