My parents, who'd driven in from the Bronx to celebrate before I'd even taken the test, because that’s what the Torres family did. We showed up. We believed in each other.
And Ava. God, Ava.
You believed in me. That's not nothing.
A different voice surfaced, one I hadn't heard in weeks. Carmen, distant now, fading like a photograph left in the sun.
I want someone who's going somewhere.
I took a breath. Let it out slow.
I reminded myself that I was going somewhere. Running into burning buildings, pulling people from wreckage, holding their hands while they took their last breaths or their first breaths of clean air. That was going somewhere. That mattered.
And today, I was going to prove it.
I clicked "Begin Exam."
Two days later, I got the results.
I was at the station, trying not to check my phone every few seconds, when the email came through. State EMS Certification Board. Subject line: Examination Results.
My hands were shaking as I opened it.
Dear Mr. Torres,
Congratulations. You have successfully passed the National Registry Paramedic examination...
I stopped reading right there.
I passed.
Paramedic. That was me now.
"Torres?" Shane's voice cut through the haze. "You okay? You look like you're about to pass out."
"I passed."
"What?"
"The exam. I'm a paramedic."
Shane's face split into a grin. Then he was grabbing me, pulling me into a hug that cracked my ribs.
"I knew it!" He pulled back, hands on my shoulders. "I told you. Didn't I tell you?"
"You told me."
"Damn right I did." He turned, shouted across the bay. "Hey! Torres passed his paramedic exam!"
What happened next was chaos. Garrett appeared from somewhere, offering a handshake and an actual smile. Rodriguez emerged from his office, clapping me on the shoulder with a look of genuine pride. Someone found a bottle of something that definitely wasn’t supposed to be there, and suddenly, there were toasts being made.
"To Torres," Rodriguez said, raising his paper cup. "Who finally stopped selling himself short."
"To Torres," the crew echoed.
I called Ava. She answered on the first ring.
"Well?"
