Endless as the Stars Read online

  between you two soon, you’ll see what we mean and it’ll destroy your

  friendship with her.”

  Carina frowned and looked to Tia. She couldn’t imagine losing her as

  a friend. But she couldn’t allow her family to dictate who she should be

  close to. There was nothing between her and Tia except friendship. She

  wouldn’t ruin that out of fear. “I appreciate your concern. Both of you. But

  I’m fine.” She turned and headed back to Tia.

  It took her a minute to look up, Tia studying her wry eyes. Carina

  found the courage and faced her with a sincere smile. Her family was being

  dramatic like always. There was no doubt she cared about Tia, but not in the

  way they described.

  “You okay?” Tia asked.

  “I will be.”

  *

  “You sure you’re okay?” Tia asked for the fifth time. They were back

  at Carina’s house. She helped put the leftover food away in the fridge as the

  kids slugged their way up the stairs. All that excitement tired them out.

  Carina stared off, lost in her thoughts. A hand brushed her arm and

  she jumped back, startled. “Oh, I guess I’m tired.”Carina regretted the

  words the moment she spoke them. She was nowhere near tired and wanted

  to spend more time with Tia without her kids interrupting them, but fear got

  the best of her.

  Tia smiled. “Okay. I get the hint.” She put the last of the food away

  and said goodbye, heading out of the house doing her best not to appear

  disappointed.

  In regret, Carina sighed, covering her face with shame. She’d let her

  mom and sister’s words get to her. No matter how much she defended her

  relationship with Tia to them she was being a hypocrite now. “Way to go,”

  she told herself and headed upstairs.

  Alone in her room, Carina had nothing but time to think about

  everything. What her sister and her mom implied… Carina couldn’t allow

  her thoughts to go there. It would be foolish and naive to even try. They

  were wrong.

  In need of a shower, Carina opened the drawer to pull out clean

  clothes. She stopped and walked over to the second dresser where all of

  Bruce’s clothes were. She hadn’t found the courage to pack his things. Had

  it been too long? Over seven months since his passing and she couldn’t let

  him go. Her hands shook as she opened the drawer. It was a collection of

  his tank tops and briefs. Carina ran her hands over his things.

  In grief, she slammed the dresser shut, turning her back to it. She

  hated being without him and wanted to bury herself in his belongings. Part

  of her knew she needed to move on, but the other half wasn’t ready. It was

  too soon.

  Carina took a long breath and whispered the words Tia gave her.

  “One day at a time.”

  Chapter Eight

  Tia

  “Tia. You haven’t found a decent partner yet. And it’s not because

  people don’t like working your shift. You’re not giving anyone a chance.”

  Her supervisor had called her in before her shift started.

  Instead of listening to her supervisor, Tia listened to the wind blow

  harshly as rain fell from the sky. It was a terribly cold night to be working.

  Nearly Halloween, she and Bruce would normally decorate their

  ambulance.

  “It’s been 10 months. Perhaps, you should have another extended

  holiday vacation. You have more than enough PTO. Take it.”

  Tia nodded. “I’ll consider it.”

  Her supervisor sighed and leaned back into his seat. “This paramedic

  you’re working with has served two tours as a combat medic. Just got back

  into the states. He’s experienced and downright funny. I think you two have

  a lot in common. Give him a chance.”

  Tia smiled, saying nothing more. She stood. “Can I get to work?”

  “Go on.”

  Headed to her rig, Tia didn’t bother making conversation with

  anyone. They all knew not to try. She wanted it that way.

  It seemed they found her a permanent partner. I’m sure the

  supervisors warned him about her, so she was a bit curious as to why he’d

  agreed so easily to be her partner.

  She opened the back rig, finding a man who appeared to be in his mid

  30s. He was tall, with blonde hair and green eyes. He smiled and offered his

  hand. “I’m Joe Burton. You must be Benson.”

  Tia studied his hand for a time, wondering if she should even try. Her

  contemplating took too long, and he pulled his hand away.

  He smiled. “I get it. I look creepy.”

  Tia frowned, confused by his statement. She gave him a second

  glance, trying to figure out what the hell made him look creepy. She was

  about to dismiss him altogether when she noticed a scar hiked up the side of

  his neck to the end of his jaw. It was almost an inch thick and who knew

  how long. The bottom half of his scar hid underneath his shirt.

  Instead of acknowledging his scar, Tia climbed in and began going

  over their supplies. Even the ones he’d already went over. He seemed

  unbothered by her task of checking over his work. After several minutes of

  making sure they had all they needed, Tia climbed into the driver’s seat,

  checking all their lights and sirens.

  He climbed in and put on his seatbelt. He didn’t bother trying to reach

  for the mic or ask her anything else, he simply looked forward and waited.

  Dispatch sounded over the intercom, giving another ambulance unit a

  call when she picked up the mic. They were the only ambulance left

  without a call. It was a busy night. “This is Medic 111 to Dispatch, we are

  on the air and ready for a post.”

  A few seconds rolled by when a call popped off.

  “This is dispatch to Medic 111…” The dispatch gave them the

  address and Tia turned on her lights and sirens knowing that at 6pm they’d

  have rush hour to get through. It was dark out as the blue and red lights

  turned on.

  It was a call to a possible overdose in a vehicle parked at a grocery

  store. It took them seven minutes to arrive and they were first on scene. Tia

  put on her gloves, grabbing the gurney and airway bag. She walked up to

  the truck, knocking hard on the window. There was a man inside. He didn’t

  move, his head draped to one side.

  “The door’s locked,” she told Joe, going around to the back passenger

  side door. “All the doors are locked.” She pulled out a tactical pen that

  could shatter glass. “I’m going to smash his back window in.”

  “Sounds good,” he didn’t argue.

  Tia took a step back and used the tip of her tactical pen as it slammed

  against the window and shattered it. Tia wasted no time, being careful as

  she reached over and unlocked the door, twisting her arm further inside and

  unlocking the front passenger door. Thankfully she wore protective eye

  gear; a few glass pieces hit her chin. She moved around to open the front

  door and pressed the control to unlock all the doors.

  Joe opened the door to where the man sat unconscious, taking

  abnormal, high-pitched breaths every several seconds. He pulled the patient

  forward, pressing him into the steering wheel to check his back f
or dirty

  needles. Tia checked his sides. She looked down at the floor of the driver’s

  seat and grimaced, pointing out calmly. “Gun.”

  He followed her line of sight, flinging the man forward and carefully

  reaching for the gun to place it under the car on the ground. “Cleared,” he

  shouted.

  “Needle between his legs,” Tia called out.

  “Damn, you have good eyes. Copy,” Joe said, complimenting her as

  he removed the dirty needle.

  Their safety came first. Now that they had everything cleared, it was

  time to work to save their patient. The fire truck pulled up—one paramedic

  —assisting them to extricate their patient out of the truck and plant him on

  the gurney. The patient’s hand jerked up and smacked the paramedic in the

  face.

  “Damn it.” The fire paramedic worked to remove his shirt and cut his

  pants legs open.

  Tia went for the airway bag, pulling out a King airway tube. “I’m

  going straight to a King tube,” Tia announced. She made sure the balloon

  was deflated, tilting his head back and slid the thick tube down his throat.

  There was no gag reflex, which would make this easy. Once placed inside,

  she inflated the balloon and attached the bag-valve to it, forcing air into his

  lungs with every breath he attempted to make.

  He was a big guy. He took another breath as she forced more air into

  his lungs. “Restrain him,” she ordered.

  The fire paramedic frowned, shaking his head. “There’s no need. He

  won’t be able to do anything with all of us over him.”

  “No disrespect, but this is my ambulance at the end of the day. I want

  him restrained.” There was a time Tia wouldn’t have made a big deal about

  it. But after losing her partner to a patient, one who appeared violent at the

  time, Tia had a hard time trusting her own patient’s intensions. She’d found

  this man with a gun and he might wake up irrational. She needed to have

  him restrained.

  “My partner says restrain him. We do that,” Joe agreed. He locked

  eyes with Tia and went back to attaching him to the cardiac monitor. The

  fire crew worked to restrain his ankles and wrists.

  “I’m going to give him Narcan,” Joe said.

  Once administered, it took their patient a few minutes before it kicked

  in. He snapped his head to one side, shaking his arms to get free. His eyes

  rolled back. He was better with the Narcan but not out of the danger zone.

  His saturation was still low, and he still needed assistance breathing.

  “I’ll get us to the hospital in five.” Tia hopped out the back and went

  to the driver seat, ready to take off. It took her exactly five minutes to get to

  the hospital.

  There was no time for breaks. As soon as they cleared one call

  another popped up. It seemed like they were the shit magnets for tonight.

  By the end of their shift, Tia pulled into the ambulance bay, ready to

  take a nap in the back of the rig. They’d been running call after call with no

  breaks.

  “Well…seems I took the calm out of your shift tonight,” Joe joked.

  Tia nodded, and turned off the rig. She was about to open the door

  when Joe sighed as if something was on his mind. “Yeah.” She looked to

  him, waiting for him to tell her she was rude or something along those lines.

  “My first tour lasted 13 months. I had a whole unit I worked with.

  Out of those 13 months, the first 10 were the best because I had my best

  friend beside me. Until we were gunned down and trapped in a building for

  27 hours. And for 20 of those hours, I sat beside my best friend with a

  bullet lodged in his head.”

  It took Tia a minute to process that. She eventually acknowledged

  him, finding pain in his eyes. He was opening up to her and she hadn’t even

  tried with him. Her supervisor was not kidding when he said they’d have a

  lot in common.

  “I know and understand what it’s like to lose your partner. The person

  who understood you better than anyone, could read your thoughts. Know

  when you needed to take a shit. Someone you trusted with your life. My last

  tour, the combat medic I had to work beside…” He chuckled. “I didn’t want

  to know her. Get close to her. But I had no choice. It’s life or death. I either

  do it alone, or open up and hope she’s worth trusting. Hope I don’t lose her

  too.”

  In the back of Tia’s mind, that had been her second greatest fear. That

  she’d trust someone new and lose them too. She took in a long breath,

  fighting back to urge to cry.

  “Honestly…during my orientation here, when people told me about

  you and the partner you lost, I asked for you.” Tia shifted a glance his way,

  shocked and curious. He smiled. “I figured if anyone would take this job

  seriously, it would be you. You carry so much pain for the person you lost. I

  thought you’d understand me and the decisions I’d have to make on calls

  we go on. Decisions you’d make with me. And when you finally opened up,

  you’d have my back and I’d have yours.”

  Joe smiled. “I’m not expecting you to share your past with me and

  call me a friend tomorrow. I just hope that you can try.” He opened the door.

  “Have a good night!”

  Tia sat in the rig for some time, thinking about all that he said. The

  sun was barely coming out. For people who worked through the night,

  morning was their bedtime. Tia had to admit he was cool and knew what he

  was doing. There were even moments they worked where they flowed

  together without much being said. He was competent. Bruce would like him

  and tell her to give him a chance.

  There was no point in deciding now. She was tired and needed to find

  a bed, or for her, a couch. She’d think later.

  *

  “How was your shift?” Tia woke up to her dad eating a bowl of rice

  on the small sofa next to the one she slept on. He had the TV volume on

  low, but his chewing woke her up. She really needed to find a place to live.

  Tia had given up her apartment to save money and help Carina with

  bills and other things. Carina never took her money, but allowed for her to

  buy groceries and other things.

  The last few months had been up and down between them. Something

  had changed for Carina and she was trying to maintain some emotional

  distance. Tia suspected it had to do with the family picnic she went to a

  couple months back.

  She saw the kids about once a week, but even less of Carina. They

  talked on the phone, but it wasn’t the same thing.

  Tia sat up. “It was okay.” She didn’t want to get into the shift she had

  or her new partner. She checked her phone, finding a missed call from one

  of her friends, Jayden, whom she hadn’t seen in a month.

  After showering, Tia found a text from that old friend and they agreed

  to go out for drinks. She met up with Jayden, finding her flirting with a girl

  sitting at the bar.

  “I can go home and back to sleep if you want,” Tia joked.

  Jayden rolled her eyes and turned to give her a hug. “I was just

  talking to this lovely date of mine.”

  “Date?”
Tia frowned, confused.

  “Hi, I’m Janet.”

  Tia gave her friend a suspicious look but shook the woman’s hand.

  “Did you text me just so I could be your third wheel?” Tia asked.

  “No,” Jayden said slowly. She smiled cheekily and pointed to the

  booth. “I thought, well, Janet’s roommate needed to get out and I thought,

  why not hit you up and all four of us come out and socialize.”

  “Just to be clear, I warned her this was a bad idea,” Janet explained.

  Tia looked to the direction Jayden had pointed to, finding a woman

  sitting alone staring at her phone. She had brunette hair with a round face.

  She looked elegant from the light makeup she wore to her colorful clothes.

  She was full figured and looked well defined for her.

  Jayden clapped her hands once. “I knew you’d like her,” she said,

  pulling her date back to the table.

  Here she was on a blind date. Tia decided to go along with it and

  headed over. She introduced herself, finding out her name. Bailey.

  “Tia’s an EMT,” Jayden bragged.

  “I’m sure they don’t want to hear that,” Tia chastised. She didn’t like

  for people to know. Then the questions would come up, asking about her

  worst calls. No one really ever wanted to hear the truth about the worst

  calls. Only the funny ones. Since losing Bruce, it was even harder for Tia to

  share anything about her job.

  Bailey smiled. “I knew you looked familiar.”

  Tia looked up, confused.

  Bailey smiled awkwardly. “God. You’re the one who lost your

  partner.”

  All light left Tia’s eyes from the mention of Bruce. Tia said nothing,

  picking up her drink to distance herself emotionally.

  “I’m an RN. I work in the intensive care unit at Unity. That night, I

  was working as a resource nurse and they needed helping hands in the ER. I

  worked on your partner.”

  Out of all the people to meet, Tia couldn’t take this right now. She

  stood, pulling out a 10. “I’ve got to go.” She rushed out.

  She felt utterly alone and heartbroken. She wasn’t ready to let go of

  Bruce. Every time she tried, something or someone else always pulled her

  back in. Tia didn’t want to go home. It was after 10. She considered going