by Claire Adams
"Cam!" Danny called. "Cam, ease up, the guys gotta go in! Let 'em in!"
I braced myself against the porch railing and kept aiming the water at the flames that were quickly consuming the house. Danny tried to pull me back, but I shook him off and continued my one-man attempt at putting out the fire. Danny pulled at me again, but this time I shoved him hard and moved forward with a singular goal in mind.
"Connor!" Chief Riley shouted as I ran up the stairs and into the house spraying water into the flames. "Connor, step down!"
"No, Chief, I won't!" I shouted back. "I'm not gonna lose it!"
"CONNOR! That's an order not a request!" Chief yelled as he grabbed my arm and yanked me off the porch. "Get your ass off the porch and let the guys get in there and fight the damn fire!"
"No, no, no!" I yelled as I flailed against the Chief's grip. "Let me go! Let me go!
QUINN!"
Chief Riley pushed me to the ground and stood over me daring me to get up. The next thing I knew I was rubbing my elbow and cursing as a warm wet tongue bathed my face. I shook my head and opened my eyes to find myself face to face with Tesla, my big yellow Lab. She was frantically licking my face as her tail wagged a mile a minute. Her breath was terrible and I threw up a hand to stop the onslaught.
"Get back, girl," I grumbled as I gently pushed her away from my face. "I don't need a bath right now."
Tesla sat down and began softly whining and pawing at me as I leaned against the bed and held my head in my hands. I felt like crying, but like many many times before this, the tears wouldn't come.
I looked up at the clock and realized I had to be at the station in two hours. That would give me just enough time to take Tesla for a run, make coffee and grab a hot shower before I had to face another day of fighting Chicago fires.
"C'mon, girl," I said as I patted my dog on her head and smiled down at her. I was rewarded with a furious tail thumping on the floor as I said, "Let's go for a run."
CHAPTER TWO
Alex
"Miss Pierce, did you hear me?" the formidable brunette woman said as she gripped a clip board and looked over the top of her cat eye glasses. She was dressed in a stiff, navy suit under which she wore a cream colored blouse buttoned up to her neck and on her feet were sensible pumps, the kind that looked professional but could be worn all day without pain. She was a sensible woman who didn't have time for nursing students who didn't pay attention.
"Yes, Mrs. Rikka, I heard you," I said as I stepped forward and received my security badge and locker number. "Thank you, ma'am."
"Miss Pierce, I'm going to recommend that while you're here at Chicago General, you pay closer attention when people speak to you," she said, narrowing her eyes. "If you are not going to listen, then there is absolutely no point in you being here. Am I understood?"
"Yes, ma'am," I nodded as my face turned red with shame. I'd been listening until my best friend, Liz Baker, had elbowed me and asked if I'd brought my lunch. Now I was worried that I'd incurred the wrath of our nursing supervisor, Mrs. Fran Rikka, and that I'd pay a heavy price for it the rest of the year.
"Old bitch," Liz muttered under her breath as she flipped her flaming red ponytail and wrinkled her nose as if she'd smelled something bad. "She doesn't need to be dressing us down on the first day."
"Well, I wasn't listening to her," I admitted.
"Alex, you're going to need to grow a backbone, babe," Liz said as she slipped her arm through mine and pulled me down the hall toward the cafeteria. "Otherwise they're going to eat you alive!"
"I just think it's better to follow the rules and be polite," I said defensively. "I don't see what's wrong with that!"
"There's nothing wrong with that," Liz replied as she looked over the lunch offerings. "It's just that you do it so often that I think you forget that sometimes it's good to raise a little hell."
"I don't feel the need to raise hell like you do, Liz," I said looking at her sideways. Liz had been my best friend since we were ten, when she'd waltzed into my elementary school, looked around and chosen me as her life long best friend. She was wild where I was calm, mouthy whereas I was polite, and rebellious whereas I was a definite rule follower. I calmed her and she, well, she got me into more trouble than I could imagine.
"I'll take the burger, fries and a bowl of chili...please," Liz said to the woman behind the counter then looked at me and flashed a big cheesy grin. "Happy now?"
"Oh, Liz, you're a piece of work," I said shaking my head. I turned to the lunch lady and said, "Salad, a bowl of chicken soup and a wheat roll, please."
"Gross," Liz said as she made another face. She had the most animated face I'd ever known, and was always shaping and reshaping herself to fit some new idea of who she thought she should be. It was entertaining, but sometimes I worried that Liz really didn't have any idea who she was.
"Do you think Rikka will hold today against me?" I asked once we were seated at a table near the window so Liz could watch people pass by. I loved the fact that I'd be able to observe the doctors and nurses as they worked on patients and then relaxed over lunch. I wanted to soak up as much about the hospital as I could, and the cafeteria was an excellent place to do it.
"Seriously doubt it," she said as she crammed two catsup covered fries into her mouth and chewed. "Hey, look at that guy. Do you think he's homeless or just a hipster whose mom didn't do his laundry this week?"
"Liz! That's so mean!" I laughed before turning and looking at the young guy crossing the street and adding, "Definitely hipster. He's got a messenger bag slung over his shoulder. Homeless guys always use grocery sacks to carry their stuff."
"Hmmm, yeah, you're right," Liz nodded as she watched the boy cross the street. "He's cute, then."
"Elizabeth Marie Baker! You are incorrigible!" I laughed as I speared some lettuce and stuffed my mouth. I chewed for a few moments then said, "I wonder who we'll be working with."
"I hope I get the ER," Liz said with her mouth full of burger. "I want to meet a handsome doctor who will sweep me off my feet and meet me in the broom closet for a scandalous rendezvous."
"Liz, is there ever a moment when men are not part of the equation for you?" I laughed already knowing the answer.
"Alex, my darling, the answer to that question, as you very well know, is no," Liz grinned. "There's absolutely nothing wrong with being a red-blooded, American girl who enjoys sex, so don't judge me."
"I wouldn't dare," I smiled before turning the conversation to a more serious matter. Sometimes Liz's reckless behavior scared me. She took chances that I knew I'd never be brave enough to take, and most of the time her gamble worked out just fine, but the few times when it hadn't, well, it had spelled disaster. I looked over at her stuffing fries in her mouth and said, "I'm just worried that I won't be able to manage all the coursework on top of working at the hospital. I can't afford to lose my scholarship, Liz."
"I know, kiddo," she said patting my hand. "You're going to be just fine. We're going to kick ass and take names so that when we walk across that graduation stage, we'll be super stars!"
"I hope you're right," I sighed as I finished the rest of my salad. "I really hope you're right."
#
Later that afternoon, Liz and I walked into our classroom and found our professor setting up an anatomy lesson covering the skin. Liz muttered a few choice curse words under her breath while I took note of what the professor had written on the board.
"It's not going to be that bad, Liz," I whispered as we took our seats in the middle of the classroom. "It's just basic anatomy. Stuff we've been studying forever."
"Well, that would be helpful if I'd been studying it," Liz said mournfully.
"Liz! Why didn't you tell me you needed help?" I whispered. "I would have shared my flashcards with you or helped you study."
"I know, I know," she said. "Well, now's as good a time as ever to turn it all around!"
Twenty minutes later, Professor Jackson began the lecture and I found
myself lost in the intricacies of human anatomy as it related to the skin. I loved learning about the way the body was not only designed to be an efficient machine, but also how easily that machine could be disrupted by even the smallest abnormality. It wasn't that I wanted people to get sick, it was just that I loved learning how we, as medical professionals, could learn how to identify the problems and contribute to the process of fixing them.
"So, you can see how important healthy skin is to the overall function of the body," Professor Jackson said as she tied together the main points of the lecture. "Any time the skin is compromised, you have to keep an eye out for infection. A breach in skin layers can be as small as a paper cut or as large as a third-degree burn, and cause major problems either way. This is why good hygiene is so vitally important when you are dealing with the skin. Now, any questions?"
"Is this going to be on the exam?" Violet Metzler asked in a bored voice as she looked down at her nails. "And if it's not, could you be so kind as to give us an idea of what will be on the exam?"
"Ms. Metzler, it would be safe to assume that everything I lecture about will be part of an exam," Professor Jackson replied. "After all, this knowledge is what you will need in order to function as a nurse."
"Yeah, but see, I'm planning to be an administrator," Violet replied in the same bored tone as she flipped her hair over her shoulder and said, "I don't intend to have to actually deal with patients, so I don't want to waste my time memorizing things that aren't going to be useful in my administrative capacity."
"Ms. Metzler, administrators normally work their way up through the ranks, so you're going to need to actually practice nursing before you are allowed to supervise other nurses," Professor Jackson said raising her eyebrow.
"Yeah, no. My daddy is going to put me in charge of the nurses at his hospital as soon as I graduate, so I don't need to worry about all that stuff," Violet said waving her hand impatiently.
"And I wish you, and him, the best of luck with that," Professor Jackson said turning back toward the board. "Are there any other questions?"
"How can you quickly recognize skin infections, Professor Jackson?" I asked without raising my hand. "I mean, how do you know the difference between an irritation and an actual infection?"
"Good question, Ms. Pierce," she said. "Let's talk about the differences!"
For the next half hour, Professor Jackson laid out the various ways in which we could differentiate between irritations and actual infections as I scribbled notes as fast as I could. She covered bacterial, viral and fungal skin infections in detail explaining that when in doubt, we should always ask for a second opinion from someone who is outside of the case. She explained that sometimes the caretakers working on a case were too close to see things clearly, so it was always good to get a second set of eyes on the problem.
"In closing, I'd recommend that you also remember that while it is tempting to go for the most complex diagnosis," she said looking around the room, "often the right answer is the simplest answer. Now, I want to remind you that we have exams coming up at the end of the term and you'll need to score 90% or higher in order to move on to the next level of your training. This means you need to hit the books, ladies and gentlemen."
"Why is she looking at me?" Liz grumbled as we packed up our things, pulled on our coats and gloves, and got ready to head to our next class.
"Maybe she can sense that you are a lost soul who needs saving?" I teased as we walked across campus toward the hall where our psychology class was held. It was freezing outside, but the sun was shining and it reflected off of the fresh snow, making the campus look like a winter wonderland. Chicago could be brutally cold in the winter, but days like this, the ones just before we turned the corner and headed toward spring, were the ones I loved best.
"Maybe she needs to focus on straightening out the attitude of little Miss Rich Girl," Liz said flipping her ponytail. "I'm not the problem, she is."
"Maybe Professor Jackson has given up trying to teach Violet anything because Violet doesn't see the value in learning," I suggested, pulling my scarf more tightly around my neck as the wind picked up. "She's right about the fact that she's not going to have to work in the field like the rest of us will, so why expend energy trying to make her see things differently?"
"Good point," Liz muttered as she reached around and dug into her backpack with one hand, pulling out a tube of lipstick and then proceeding to freshen the color as we walked.
"I can not for the life of me understand how you do that," I said admiringly. "I'd have it all over my face if I tried that."
"Eh, it's not so difficult once you get the hang of it," Liz said as she started to instruct me in the art of walking and applying lipstick.
"You really should reconsider learning that skill," a voice behind us said. I turned and found Violet Metzler walking five feet behind us with a knowing look on her face. Little puffs of frozen air drifted from her mouth as she sneered, "It's so tacky and common."
"Well, Vi, takes one to know one," Liz said as she turned and stared at Violet while she continued to walk backwards.
"Funny, Baker," Violet said in a voice that indicated she thought it was anything but funny. "You really should spend more time focusing on your studies and less on your appearance, since you really only have hope of improving the former."
"Why you--," Liz growled as I quickly grabbed her arm and squeezed it hard.
"Ladies, ladies, ladies," I said stepping between them without letting go of Liz. "Let's not start a brawl in the middle of campus., shall we? Violet, I'm sure you have much better things to do than to stand around trading insults with Liz, so why don't you move along and get to them?"
"You should hang out with better company, Alex," Violet said as she walked past us toward the student center. "Someone like that will only drag you down and keep you from achieving your highest potential."
"I'll take my chances," I said dryly. "But thanks for your overwhelming concern."
"I swear to God, I'm going to lay her flat one of these days," Liz fumed as we picked up the pace so we wouldn't be late to class. As nursing students in the same cohort, we all took the same classes together. Fortunately, Violet had gone to some fancy prep school where she'd received credit for many of the general education classes we had to take, so she wasn't in our psych class.
As we sat down and pulled out our books, I looked over at Liz who was staring down at the textbook on the desk with a look of mixed anger and sadness. I grabbed her hand and squeezed gently as she reached up and wiped away a stray tear that had escaped her eye.
"I'm going to kick her ass someday," Liz said fiercely.
"Let's work on doing it in a way that doesn't end up with you being booked for assault, okay?" I whispered as Liz flashed me a grateful smile.
If I was honest, I, too, wanted wipe that smug grin off of Violet Metzler's face. I just didn't know if it could be done.
CHAPTER THREE
Cam
When Tesla and I arrived at the station for my shift, I saw that Danny and the new guy, Victor, were cooking breakfast for the squad. Once everyone had said good morning to Tesla, she settled down in her usual spot next to the television and proceeded to chew on a bone that Mike Kelly had brought from his father's butcher shop down in Pilsen.
"What's up, Connor?" Victor asked as he stirred the scrambled eggs in the pan. "Haven't seen you in a while."
"Not sure why;, I've been here," I shrugged as I picked up a copy of the Tribune and read the headlines. "Where have you been?"
"Around," Victor said concentrating intently on the eggs. "Just making friendly conversation, no need to get your boxers in a twist."
"They're not," I said over my shoulder.
"Guys, c'mon!" Kelly said as he poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table. "We're all in this together today. No need to pound chests or engage in insults, right Connor?"
"Whatever," I shrugged again. "He started it."
"What
did I start?" Victor asked raising his voice. "I was just commenting on the fact that I hadn't seen you in a while!"
"Aw, c'mon, Vangel," I said irritated that he was forcing me to acknowledge him this way. "You're a prick on a good day and you know you are, so let's just get that out of the way and move on with our day."
"How am I a prick?" Victor demanded. "You're the one who broke the rules and forced the Chief to discipline us!"
"That, my friend, was not my fault," I replied without looking up from the newspaper. "And you know it as well as I do."
"God, you are such an ass, Connor," Victor said shaking his head. "You refuse to take responsibility for anything."
"I am more than willing to take responsibility for what I actually do," I said. "But I made a judgment call and lives were saved. I think you're forgetting that you went along with me."
"Did I have a choice?" he spat.
"Guys! Knock it off!" Danny said as he slapped butter on the last two slices of toast and brought the plate to the table. "Cam. Victor. It's over and done with. Why can't you two let it go?"
"He's the one making a big deal of nothing," I shrugged again. "Not my fault."
"Fuck you, Connor," Victor said as he dumped the eggs into the serving dish in a heaping pile and turned to yell, "Breakfast is served! Come and get it!"
The dining area quickly filled with hungry firefighters coming on shift and soon the conversation turned from the grudge between Victor and me to speculation on who was going to win the World Series this season.
"Spring training just began," Mike said with a mouth full of eggs. "You can't possibly know whose going to win."
"I do," Danny said confidently. "I'm positive the Cubs are gonna take it to the series this year. They were ready last year, they just couldn't catch a break."
"Is that what you call it?" Mike laughed. "I'd say they were out of their league!"
After breakfast, Chief Riley called a meeting and explained that there were some big changes coming, but that the brass downtown hadn't given him a lot of information about it.