Page 22 of No Take Backs
I sigh deeply, a long exhale that barely covers the sound of my mom prattling on about her weekend plans with her bridge club. It’s the same old routine—she’ll segue from her own social calendar into mine, inevitably landing on the topic of how I need to find a nice man, settle down, and give her the grandbabies she’s been hinting at for years. And I’m not in the mood for that today. Not when I’m trying to psych myself up for my first day on the job.
“Fine,” she huffs, but I hear the smile in her voice. “You made it an entire ten minutes this time. Does that mean you’re softening up to the idea of giving me more grandbabies?”
“No.” Cutting her off at the root is the easiest course, especially when babies mean that I have to find someone who can tolerate all my craziness for longer than a night. “It just means I didn’t sleep well last night and I’m starting a new job today. I love you. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Bye. Go set some broken bones and get people to the hospital. Love you, Virginia.”
I cringe, the familiar discomfort creeping up my spine at her use of my full name. It’s a name that’s always felt too formal, too stiff for someone like me. No matter how many times I’ve tried to get her to use the nickname Ella gave me when we were little, she refuses. To her, I’ll always be Virginia, the name she chose, the one that ties me to a lineage of strong women in our family, bound to our life and heritage.
But to me, it’s just another reminder of the expectations I’ve been trying to escape. The weight of tradition, of the life she envisions for me, presses down hard. Almost as strongly as I resist the idea of settling down and having kids before I’m ready. I want to live my life on my own terms, and right now, that means focusing on my career, not on fulfilling someone else’s dream.
If I wanted kids right now, it would be different. But I don’t even know what I want in life.
I haven’t really lived yet.
I stare at the open bay doors of the Birch Fire Department and smile as I grab my duffel bag from the passenger seat.
“Here’s to new beginnings.” Talking to no one in particular, I get out and run a hand down my uniform t-shirt, which I just picked up that morning.
On the back of the blue shirt is BFD, and the right breast has my title, Paramedic, both in red.
I really did it, and there isn’t any looking back. Through the schooling, the clinical hours, and all the shit that life threw in my path, I’ve managed to achieve what I never thought I would.
I’m walking up to the building, my duffel slung across my shoulder, when a brunette about six inches taller than me walks up to my side.
“Hey.” She sounds out of breath. “I wanted to grab you before you made it inside.”
Unsure of what is happening, I stop and look over to see she is wearing an identical shirt as me.
“I’m Gem.” She holds out her hand, and I take it, smiling. “You must be the new paramedic.”
Nodding, I introduce myself. “Nia.”
“Great.” Gem lets go and starts walking toward the building, and I have to almost double my steps to keep up with her. “My name’s actually Genevieve, but I hate it, so people call me Gem.”
I snort. “We’re gonna get along great. I’m Virginia, but I hate it and prefer people call me Nia.”
Gem chuckles, leading the way through the immaculate firehouse and into the same conference room that I had my interviews in.
Unfortunately, we are one of the last to walk in, and I’m greeted by the smiling faces of almost a dozen men, all of whom stop talking as we make it into the room.
“Hey, Gem,” Fire Chief Hayes says with a smile.
The one to interview me, he is a little bit older than the rest of the men. Okay, not a little bit older. He is at least sixty, if he is anything, but there isn’t a doubt in my mind that he’ll still be able to pull a body from any burning building.
The man in his forties who stands next to him is Captain Harvey, the other man who was present for my interviews and he’d also been one of my instructors in school, too. Not only that, but his daughter is one of my friends.
Gem and I take the only two seats available at the tables as she offers greetings to the various men who are still staring openly at me.
“Don’t worry,” she whispers once we are sitting. “They’re just curious. Laura, the paramedic you’re replacing, was a bit of a bitch.”
“You’re being too kind.” The firefighter sitting at the next table scoffs. “Bitchiness we could handle, but she didn’t let it sit there. She thought she was in control of every scene and tried to get the department shut down by reporting it to the state.”
“That’s enough,” Captain Harvey snaps irately. “She’s gone. Our department is still here, and we’ve got a brand-new paramedic on A shift with you.”
I hear more people shuffle in behind us, but I don’t bother turning around to see who it is. There is plenty of time to get to know everyone after roll call. Especially since I know some of them from school and from growing up mostly in Birch County.
“Alright, everyone. Truck, during downtime you’re going to Birch Harbor Elementary for a safety demonstration.” Captain Harvey looks down at his clipboard. “As all of you geniuses have figured out, our new paramedic, Nia Davidson, starts today. Be welcoming. Don’t scare her away. We don’t want to lose her to any of the two dozen other departments that were vying for her to join them.”