She turned her head to look at her classmate. "Thanks for the offer."
He shrugged. "I'm heading your way."
Her steps slowed for a moment. "I thought you lived on Thirty-third."
Dex sighed. "Guilty. But it's a few more streets. And maybe I feel like I need to do something good to stock up on my Karma points."
"For the exam?" She shook her head. "You're going to pass with no problems. You've put in your work."
Maybe it was her imagination, but he seemed to stand a little taller after her comments. "I've been chasing your grades for the better part of the year."
"Chasing is hardly the word. You're with me at the top of the class."
He laughed and stepped ahead to open the door for her again. "A friendly competition to excel."
"I like the sound of that better." She nodded and darted ahead to hold open the next door for Dex. "With both of us working as hard as we did, the real winners are the patients we're going to see."
She followed him to his car and gladly slipped into the passenger seat. Dex's car might be a slightly older model that he'd bought second hand, but it had the benefit of warm seats.
It didn't take more than a minute or two to make her feel a little toasty. It was so much better than the cold plastic seats on the bus.
Yes, things were looking up.
KALEO
He wasn't sure if it was his imagination or not, but he had a feeling that he'd gotten on the wrong side of his new lieutenant.
No, not Gibson Braun. Gibson was the lieutenant in charge of Ladder Truck Forty-two.
Kaleo had been assigned to the Rescue Squad to fill the empty space in the crew.
But every time he'd come across Lieutenant Isaac Mackenzie, the other man didn't seem to look him in the eye.
While most of the shift was bunking down in the sleeping quarters at a little after eleven, Kaleo was sitting on a bench in the apparatus area, looking over the trucks and vehicles assigned to work at Twenty-nine.
The room was silent and almost dark, kind of suiting his mood.
There were safety lights around the floor which would keep people from walking into the various rolling racks in the space.
It was crazy how big the space was compared to the smaller station he worked at on the island of Oahu. In Center City he wouldn't be surprised if there were bats in the rafters. It would take him a pair of binoculars to see them.
The door to his right swung open and the light from the community area beyond darkened for a moment.
"Uh... You okay out here?"
Kaleo had to turn a little more to see who it was in the doorway. "Rock?"
"Good memory."
"I try." His attempt at humor seemed to fall short, but he was glad it was dark, so he didn't have to see Rock's expression.
"Mind a little company?"
"Not at all." Kaleo moved over on the bench. "Have a seat?"
Rock stepped out and the door swung closed, rocking back and forth on the hinge.
He took a seat on the bench and Kaleo leaned back against the wall.
