"Late again, Bennett?" Lieutenant Chad Williams chuckled from Squad's table as he read from his paper.
"Actually, right on time, Lieutenant," I smirked.
"A firefighter isn't on time unless he's early."
"Good thing I'm not a firefighter yet."
"You're still on that?" Duke Harris asked with a scoff. "You do realize they make that test easier for women, right?"
"Just because they went easy on you means they're gonna make it easier on the rest of us ladies?" The room filled with snorts and giggles.
"Yeah? Keep that sass, girl. It'll keep you alive here but, out there, it'll only get you killed."
"Roll call, everyone!" Lieutenant Enzo Jiménez called out. The Squad table rose to their feet and made their way inside, but Harris stopped in front of me and leaned in close.
"Just forget about becoming a firefighter, Bennett. Nobody here's gonna respect you. Your best bet is to stay on your ambo and in the kitchen."
"Wow, sexist comments at work?" K'eon chastised. "I wonder what Chief Jackson would think, seeing you're already on his shit list."
"Of course you'd be a snitch."
"I'd snitch on you any day if it got your ass out of the house. And trust me, pink is not your color." Harris rolled his eyes and made his way inside.
"Did you just threaten him with a pink slip?" I chuckled.
"Man, fuck him! Fucking pig. Ain't nobody gonna fuck with my home girl. He's just mad because he was told if we become firefighters his position in this firehouse is at risk."
"Well then, it looks like we're gonna have another reason to celebrate."
"Damn straight. Us becoming firefighters and Harris getting thrown out on his ass." K'eon roughly pat my shoulder and we headed inside for roll call.
"You're late," Chief Jackson scowled as we entered the briefing room.
"Sorry Chief," I apologized.
"You two better have a good excuse."
"We were busy picking up the shattered remains of Harris' pride off the floor," K'eon explained with a smirk.
"You got something to say boy?" Harris growled.
"What? Me? Oh no, I don't have anything to say. It's just funny watching you squirm in your boots knowing your seat in the house is being questioned. With two up and coming firefighters on their way in, that is."
"Enough!" Chief Jackson intervened before Harris could get another word in. "K'eon, Zahra, see me after roll call." We quietly took out seats. "Now, may I continue?"
"Yes, Chief," I nodded.
"Good." Chief Jackson cleared his throat. "Call out. Zahra Bennett."
"Sir," I answered.
"Curtis Frye."
"Sir," Frye answered.
"Bryson Greer."
"Sir," Greer answered. Greer was the newest firefighter in the house; he's been with us for two years now.
"Duke Harris."
"Sir," Duke answered, his narrow eyes glued to the back of K'eon's head.
"Enzo Jiménez."
"Sir," Lieutenant Jiménez answered.
"Xiao Kang."
"Sir," Kang answered.
"K'eon McNeil."
"Sir," K'eon answered.
"Tony Melton."
"Sir," Melton answered.
"And finally, Chad Williams."
"Sir," Lieutenant Williams answered.
"Good. Now, morning watch said the day has been kind of—"
"NOOO!" Everyone screamed.
"—quiet—"
"Aww, come on!" Frye groaned.
"Seriously?" Greer whined.
"Great, now it's gonna be a total shit show," Kang muttered.
"Quiet!" Chief Jackson called out over the clamor
of protests. "I don't care what your superstitions are, I just wanna get this meeting over with, can we do that?"
"Yes, Chief," everyone groaned in unison.
"Thank you. Again, morning watch said the day has been...slow...so keep on your toes. They also have asked me to remind you that we have to share the beds here so if you could refrain from..." Chief Jackson rolled his eyes and cleared his throat. "...masturbation if you don't intend on changing the bed sheets or, and I quote, 'do it in the shower like normal people.'"
"Yeah, Bennett," Harris teased, making the room full with laughter.
"Harris," Chief Jackson warned. "It's exactly comments like that that has you up before the review committee. Keep it up and you'll give them more than enough ammunition to terminate you." Harris rolled his eyes in response.
"Anyways...I'd also like to inform everyone that this weekend is K'eon's and Zahra's fitness exam. If they pass, they're firefighters."
"If they pass," Harris muttered to himself, but Chief Jackson didn't hear him.
"I'm sure everyone will join me in wishing you two the best of luck." A loud beep filled the building causing everyone to fall silent.
"Truck 24, dumpster fire. 55 West 14th Street." Dispatch announced on the overhead speakers.
"Okay guys, apartment dumpster fire. Get to it." Kang, Greer, Frye, and Jiménez got up from their seats and rushed out towards the truck. "Everyone else, you're dismissed." Everyone got up and made their way out the door. "Not you two." K'eon and I instantly stopped in our tracks. "Shut the door." I let out a quiet sigh and shut the door before we turned to Chief Jackson.
"Chief, about earlier—" I began.
"It's my fault, Chief," K'eon butted in. "Harris was giving her a hard time and it rubbed me the wrong way."
"What part of Harris rubs anyone the right way?" Chief Jackson smirked. "Still, that kind of behavior does not belong in my house, is that understood?"
"Yes, Chief," K'eon nodded.
"Okay. You two ready?"
"Yes, Chief," K'eon and I said in unison.
"It's not too late to turn back." K'eon and I glanced at each other in confusion. "What I mean is—you two haven't exactly explained why you wanna be firefighters." Chief looked between K'eon and I before turning his attention back to K'eon. "Why do you wanna be a fireman?"
"I—I want to help people," K'eon answered.
"And you can't do that as a paramedic?"
"I can...but when I'm at the scene of a fire, I wish I could help more. I feel helpless until they're ready for us to step in...I wanna do more." Chief Jackson nodded and turned to me.
"And you?"
"My brother," I answered. The room fell silent.
"Zahra, you don't have to live in his shadow."
"I'm not trying to."
"And following in his footsteps won't bring him back."
"...I'm aware," I responded through gritted teeth.
"Then why?"
"Just like K'eon said, felt helpless and wanted to do more." Chief studied my face for a moment before letting out a quiet sigh.
"Okay. I just don't want to see you two doing it for all the wrong reasons. I may be your Chief, but we've been in this game together for over a decade. With everyone we've lost over the years, us three are the last OGs of this house. We've been through so much together. And I know your transfer from 37 wasn't easy—"
"Chief, we're not going anywhere," I reassured.
"I hope not. It'd be hell of a damn job to replace the two of you. It's already hard to pick your replacements on the ambo." Chief Jackson gave us a smile. "Alright, to your duties. Oh, and K'eon? You're cooking today."
"Me? I thought it was the probie's job?" K'eon asked.
"It usually is, but people here have grown tired of Greer's cooking. A person can only eat soup before getting sick of the shit. Think you can mix it up?"
"Sure."
"And please refrain from 'homeland' dishes. Some of us, particularly me, can't handle spicy food."
"How about sliders?" I asked. "It's quick and easy, people can pick their fillings, and he won't be in the kitchen all day." Chief Jackson looked to K'eon for approval.
"Sliders is good for me," K'eon nodded.
"Okay. When it gets closer to lunch time, go on a grocery run and get what you need, have them put it on our tab."
"You got it," K'eon nodded and he and I exited the briefing room. "Are you serious? Sliders?"
"It's quick and easy," I explained. "Plus, I knew you were about to make a comment that would've gotten you in trouble."
"Of course I was! It's not my fault he has bubble gut. Insulting my country's cooking, the nerve of him."
"Relax, K'eon. If you want, you can cook us something when we get home."
"And get stuck cooking twice? Psh." K'eon playfully rolled his eyes. "What sounds really good is your mom's meatloaf."
"Yeah," I softly smiled.
"I always loved coming over for dinner. She was an amazing cook. She made it all. Meatloaf, lasagna, mac and cheese, the works. I swear I was fat growing up because of her." I rolled my eyes in amusement. "Seriously though, why haven't you made her food for the house?"
"Because half the people here don't deserve her food."
"Damn straight. Disrespectful mother—" A loud beep filled the building once more.
"Ambulance 17, possible overdose, 230 Vesey Street." K'eon instantly looked to me.
"Well, let's get to it." K'eon and I quickly made our way to the ambo and sped out of the garage, lights and sirens going. We drove in silence for a moment. K'eon looked at me from the driver's seat as I quietly stared out the window.
"You okay?"
"Yeah," I softly nodded.
"You wanna talk about it?" I shook my head. "You know you can talk to me, Zahra. I was with you when he died."
"I know...I just can't."
"Okay," K'eon sighed. "But you should talk to someone about it, even if it isn't me." We drove in silence for a few more minutes before pulling up to our location, which turned out to be the Brooklyn Place Shopping Center.
"Thank God you're here," a security guard spoke up as he rushed over towards us. "There's this guy who's been hanging around here off an on. I kick him off the property at least once a day. Normally, all he does is sit there and be quiet, maybe take the occasional leftover or spare change from people, but today he came here and someone reported that he looked dead. I figured he was just sleeping or drunk, but when I checked on him, he was barely breathing."
K'eon and I quickly grabbed the stretcher and our gear from the back and followed the security guard, pushing our way through the quickly growing crowd. "Out of the way!" I snapped. "Any of you guys ever heard of showing some fucking respect? Move it!"
The crowd finally parted and a haggardly man came into view by the planters. I quickly knelt down and rolled him onto his back and began the examination as K'eon hooked him up to an ECG machine. I listened to his breathing, it was shallow and yet rough, almost like a short snore. "He's tachycardic."
"His breathing is shit, he's going down the drain and fast," I added.
"Pushing Narcan now." I watched as K'eon grabbed a syringe and injected the Narcan into the man's exposed upper arm. I set up a resuscitator mask, giving him some much needed breathing assistance.
"Come on come on," I muttered. We waited for a couple of minutes, but the man didn't respond. "Push another Narcan."
"Pushing now." K'eon injected the man with a second dose of Narcan. The crowd was silent as they watched the scene unfold. The man's eyes suddenly opened and frantically began to sit up.
"Relax, you're alright," I softly reassured. "Sir, just breathe and try to calm down. I'm Zahra and this is K'eon, we're paramedics. Do you know where you are right now?"
"No," the man whined.
"Do you know what year it is?"
"No!"
"Do you know your name?"
"Nooo!"
"Sir, look at me!" The man turned his attention towards me. "You're outside a mall, you overdosed. You nearly died, but we brought you back. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"...no..."
"We should take him in," K'eon insisted.
"We can't take him against his will," I argued.
"No, but he's not answering us properly. I'm not sure if it's because he's delirious, if it's the drugs, or if he's just being a classic asshole, but I don't feel comfortable leaving him here where he could go back into his overdosed state."
"You hear that?" I asked the man. "We're gonna take you to the hospital."
"No!" The man protested.
"Then you need to show us that you're coherent. Who is the president of the United States?"
"Nooooo!" The man tried to sit up once more, but K'eon held him down.
"That's good enough for me." I turned to the security guard. "Think you can help us wrangle him onto the stretcher?"
"Sure," the security guard nodded and took his place beside the man. As he and K'eon grabbed an arm, I grabbed the man's legs.
"On three, ready?" K'eon looked to us and we gave him a nod. "One...two...three." We each lifted the man and quickly placed him in the gurney and began to attach restraints as the man began to flail.
"It hurts!" The man cried. "It hurts!"
"Sir, we're not hurting you, we're helping you."
"It burns!"
"What burns?"
"The fire! Please make it stop!" I looked down at the man's legs and froze at the sight of thickened, spiderwebbed skin that reached beyond his shorts' pant legs.
"Zahra!" I quickly looked up at K'eon who looked back at me with concern. "You okay?"
"Yeah," I nodded.
"Then let's go." I nodded once more and helped push the gurney back towards the ambo. "You drive." K'eon tossed me the keys as he entered the back of the ambo with the man. I shut the doors and rushed towards the driver's side door.
"Is he gonna be okay?" The security guard asked.
"He responded well to Narcan, but we gotta get him to the hospital or he could overdose again. Did you call it in?" The security guard nodded. "You possibly just saved his life." I gave the security guard a soft smile and climbed into the ambo and drove towards the hospital in silence.