“Yeah, she’s been the delight of my life for the last six months. I’m so thankful for her. And thank you so much for coming as fast as you guys did.”
“Oh, we were actually around the corner, coming from dropping a patient off at home who had just been released from wellness rehab after back surgery. We were only two blocks away when we got the call.”
“Well, we appreciate you,” Mommy stated before she walked with the female paramedic to the door.
“Yeah. So, uhm, . . . are you married now? I mean, is the baby’s father still in your life?” Christian asked as we followed Mommy and the other paramedic, whose name I learned was Essence. They chatted happily about something.
“No, I’m not married. And uhm, . . . her father, he uhm, he passed away,” I lied.
I felt horrible about the lie. I wasn’t ashamed of how my daughter was conceived, but I didn’t want people from my past judging me, especially considering all I had been through.
He stopped in front of me and crossed those massive arms over his chest and nodded. I wondered if he had added any more tattoos since I had last seen him.
Taking a step closer, Christian, standing at six-four, easily loomed over my height of five-six. “I just want you to know that I still consider you a friend. You were always good people and the girl most of us would have been lucky to have. I miss seeing you around, girl.”
“Thanks, Chris. That means a lot. Uhm, how did you happen to get assigned to this call?” I asked, knowing that he lived and worked on the opposite side of town, almost forty minutes away.
That was one of the reasons I had moved to this side of town, because it was unlikely I would run into anyone from the old crew.
“Oh, I moved. I’ve been on this side of town for the last five months now. When I first got approved for a transfer to move to my dad’s station, I moved to this side of town at that time.”
“Oh. Well welcome. I hope you enjoy living over here.”
“I do. Well, I guess we’d better be out,” he stated, when his partner, Essence, waved him down the stairs.
“Thanks again, Chris.”
“It was an honor, Angel. I’ll be seeing you around.” He graced me with that beautiful smile again.
I nodded and smiled back, though I hoped that didn’t happen. Because wherever Chris was, the rest of them were likely to follow. And it was the rest of them that I didn’t want to deal with.
Chapter 2
Christian Holly
“A’ight, I’ll get up with y’all. Take it easy,” I stated to my crew. I grabbed my backpack from my locker and locked it back up.
“What are you getting into after we get out of here?” Essence asked me, tugging her bag and her purse up her shoulder.
“Sleep. Man, I’m tired.”
“Yeah, this has been one crazy shift. I didn’t think it would ever end.”
“You know. Everything seems to get crazy when the holidays arrive,” I declared.
We had been called out to a fire in a subdivision, only to find that there were explosives on the scene. The police had been called out to a domestic violence situation between two roommates. One of the men had found his woman having sex with his roommate, and he had lost it. He set off a series of explosions, and he had threatened to blow up his girlfriend as he held her hostage.
That was the most challenging of all the situations we’d had to deal with over our last twenty-four hours, but it wasn’t the only one, and the others weren’t easy by far.
“Yo! Holly! James! Come back here,” Raheim Timberson called out.
We both turned back to look over our shoulder. “Nah, Timberson. We’re outta here,” I declared.
“Not yet, you’re not. You’ve got a visitor. Think y’all might wanna come say hi.”
I looked at Essence in confusion, and she stared blankly at me with a shrug. “Guess it won’t hurt,” Essence replied.
“Maaan, my bed is calling me.”
