"I'm not good at grand gestures."
"That's why I'm here." She sat up, eyes bright with excitement. "The hospital. You should propose at the hospital."
"At the hospital?"
"Think about it. You're a firefighter. She's an ER doctor. Your worlds collide there all the time. It's perfect."
"I can't just walk into the ER to propose."
"Not if you coordinate with Dr. Park." She grinned. "Schedule a real fire safety demonstration. Do the whole thing—extinguisher training, evacuation procedures, whatever. And then at the end, when everyone thinks it's over..."
Shane looked at Maya. Maya looked at Shane. They both looked at me.
"She's not wrong," Maya said.
"The kid's a genius," Shane agreed.
That’s how I ended up in full turnout gear at Queens General Hospital on a Tuesday afternoon.
Dr. Park had arranged everything. Annual training requirement, mandatory attendance. Ava had texted me that morning:Stuck at a fire safety thing today. Apparently, your people are coming to teach us how to use extinguishers. Kill me now.
I'd typed back:Sounds boring. Good luck.
She had no idea I was part of the crew.
The demonstration went smoothly. Shane walked them through extinguisher basics—PASS method, proper stance, when to fight, and when to flee. Garrett covered evacuation routes. I hung back, letting the crew take the lead, watching Ava stand with her colleagues, looking professionally attentive and personally bored.
God, I loved her so much.
"Alright, that concludes our demonstration," Shane announced. "Thank you all for your time. Before you head back inside, Lieutenant Torres has a few final words."
Ava's head turned sharply toward me. Confusion flickered across her face—she hadn't realized I was here.
I stepped forward. The crew shifted behind me. Shane reached into the truck and pulled out the sign Zoe had painted in bright red letters:
This Is Not A Drill
"Brian?" Ava mouthed. "What are you?—"
I walked toward her. The ER staff had gone silent, phones already out, recording. Dr. Park was grinning. Hands in his pockets. Like he'd been waiting for this.
"I've spent my career running into burning buildings. Never hesitated." I stopped in front of her. "But I hesitated for years with you. Because this scared me more than any fire."
"Brian—"
"But the only thing that ever scared me was losing you."
I dropped to one knee, right there on the concrete of the ambulance bay, still in my turnout gear. I pulled out the ring box and opened it.
"I almost lost you twice, and I won’t risk a third time." I looked up at her—at this woman who had changed everything, who had made me braver than I ever thought I could be. "Ava Rothwell, will you marry me?"
She was crying. Laughing. Both at once. Her hands were pressed to her mouth, her colleagues cheering around her, the whole ER watching through the windows.
"Yes," she said. "Yes, you absolute idiot. Of course, yes."
I slid the ring onto her finger. It fit perfectly.
Then she was pulling me to my feet, kissing me in front of everyone—her colleagues, my crew, Dr. Park, who was very clearly crying. I lifted her off the ground, and somewhere behind us, Shane was whooping, the ER staff was applauding, and none of it mattered because she'd said yes.
