Chapter Four: some just can't find a sense of closure

"okay Susan let's go over the three c's." Helen looked down at her notebook. Susan searched her memory. "The three c's are checking the surroundings, calling for help, and caring for the person." Helen smiled. "correct. Now let's go over caring for an unconscious person." Susan walked over to the fire station dummy that Helen had laying on the floor. Susan knelt down by it. She gently placed her hands on it's shoulders. "are you okay? Can you hear me?" she asked it. She pretended to check the dummy for a pulse. "good. What should you do if the person remains unresponsive?" Susan moved into position to do CPR. "if they remain unresponsive, perform CPR unless they have a spinal injury." Helen smiled. "I think you will do well on your exam." Susan let out a nervous sigh. "don't remind me Helen. Not with the testing anxiety that I have." Susan helped Helen clean up. "I am worried about going to Newtown though. I really don't want to leave Trinity by herself." Helen touched her shoulder. "you have Mandy and Ellie who can look after her don't you?" Susan nodded. "I suppose so. I'll have to ask them." Susan looked at the clock. "speaking of Trinity, I have to go and get her. I'll see you later Helen." Susan walked out to her van. She heard the Bluetooth in her van going off. She tapped the button behind the wheel.

Susan: hello?

Ellie: hey girl. I picked Trinity up from school. Hope you don't mind.

Susan: No that's fine. I just finished up training for the day. I have a question for you.

Ellie: shoot

Susan: I was wondering if you could watch Trinity for me? I'm going to Newtown to take my certification exam. I hope I'm not going to be away for too long.

Ellie: I can do that for you. I know how important this exam is to you. Please take your time

Susan: thanks Ellie I owe you one. I'll be by the house to get my things for the week.

Ellie: See you when you get home

Susan went by Ellie's house to get her things. Trinity was playing in the front yard. Susan walked out of the house. "are you sure you're going to be okay with taking care of Trinity?" asked Susan. Ellie nodded. "Sure I'm sure. Good luck with your exam." Susan hugged both girls before getting into her van. Trinity climbed up onto Ellie's back. She waved to her Aunt as she left the driveway.

Ellie carried Trinity into the house. She made sure that the front door was locked up tightly behind her. Being alone in the house with a child only made the anxiety she had worse. Trinity trotted off to her room to play. Ellie sat down on the couch turning on the TV. Perhaps I should call Penny. I may need another person in the house. No telling if my dad is going to come back. She thought. She dialed her friend's number. Penny picked up after the fifth ring.

Penny: what's up Ellie?

Ellie: hey girl hopefully I'm not interrupting anything.

Penny: no your cool. What can I do for you?

Ellie: listen, I know I'm sounding paranoid but I was wondering you wanted to come stay the week at my house. Susan left me alone with Trinity and I don't want anything bad to happen to her.

Penny: alright. I'll make my way over there.

Ellie: thanks Penny. It's just that I'm worried my dad might find out where I'm hiding.

Penny: isn't your dad behind bars?

Ellie: no he isn't Penny. The officers lied about catching him.

Penny: okay. Just try to relax. I'll be over soon.

Ellie laid her phone down on the table. She sighed sinking down further on the couch. Penny showed up at her house about an hour later. She smiled seeing Penny walk into her house. Penny joined Ellie on the couch. "where's Trinity?" she asked. "she's in her room playing." Replied Ellie. She noticed that Trinity was rather quiet. "I better check up on her." Ellie got up from the couch. She headed down the hall to check on Trinity. Trinity was all tuckered out on her bed. She laid on top of the covers sleeping. Ellie let out a sigh of relief. She carefully closed the door a crack before heading back out into the Living Room.

Susan arrived in Newtown about four hours later. She rented out a hotel room to stay in for the week. She sighed sitting down on the bed. Testing anxiety had kicked in. She checked over her notes to see if she could remember anything that Helen taught her. "I really hope I do well on this exam. I don't want to make Helen look bad." She tapped her pen against the spine of her notebook. "I hope Trinity has caused Ellie too much grief. I better call to check up on them."

Ellie: hello?

Susan: hey how's Trinity?

Ellie: she's doing well. She's sleeping right now

Susan: good. I just wanted to check up on you guys. I hope she hasn't been too much trouble.

Ellie: no she hasn't. I'm glad you called. How are you doing?

Susan: oh I'm holding in there. Testing anxiety is being a bit of a bitch right now. I really don't want to mess this up.

Ellie: you won't Susan. If you can pass a firefighters' exam then you can pass your first aide certification.

Susan: I hope so Ellie. I don't think I passed my firefighters' exam.

Ellie: well you did but you left before you could be transferred to PontyPandy.

Susan: I see.

Ellie: a part of me still feels like it's my fault. I didn't mean for my family life to endanger you.

Susan: Ellie I don't blame you for it. My family just didn't feel comfortable with me being in Newtown anymore. I have to go. I'll call you tomorrow when I finish up the first round of it.

Ellie: okay Susan. Please just to relax okay?

Susan: (chuckles) I'll try to. Bye.

Susan laid back on the bed. She turned over onto her side.

Susan woke up early the next morning. She yawned sitting up on the bed. She checked her phone to find that it was only five in the morning. "I guess I can go back to sleep for a few more moments." She muttered. She laid back down her side going to back to sleep. The next time she woke up she was an hour late to the exam. "fuck!" she yelled when she checked her phone again. She tossed the blankets back getting out of bed. She quickly got dressed. She tossed her night clothes onto the floor. She grabbed her keys off the table rushing out of her room. She left her phone on the table in her hurry. Susan got into her van pulling away from the hotel. She made it to her testing room about an hour late. She took a seat near the back of the classroom. "alright guys the first part of your test is the essay portion. Keep your eyes on your own paper and you are free to go once you're finished. Good luck." Prompted the instructor. Susan got to work on her essay. It was about the history of first aide. Susan had to rack her brains to remember. 150 years ago, a battle in northern Italy sparked an idea that has since changed the world. Henry Dunant, a young Geneva businessman, witnessed horrifying suffering and agony following the battle of Solferino. He mobilized the civilian population, mainly women and girls, to care for the wounded. He left them with the necessary materials and supplies and helped form the establishment of temporary hospitals. The clock slowly started to fade away as Susan continued writing. She finished writing her essay. She handed the essay in to the instructor who dismissed her. Susan reached into her pocket only to find out that her phone wasn't in her pocket. She went off down the hallway finding a quiet corner. "FUCK MY LIFE!" she shouted. "the one thing I forget!" She sighed leaning on the wall. She headed out to her car. She couldn't help but feel like someone was watching. She shook the feeling off as she sat down in her car. She glanced over at one of the benches near the college. Her heart rate suddenly plummeted. She spotted a man wearing dark color clothing watching her. Something about him looked oddly familiar. Her hand shook when she started the engine up. She quickly pulled away from the college. A part of her wished that she had her phone on her. She needed to call Ellie.

The man watched Susan pull away. He got in his car following her. Susan looked up into her rearview mirror. She spotted a silver car tailgating her. It was the same man that had been watching her at the college. Susan pressed down on the gas gunning her engine. She was determined to lose her stalker. The man kept chasing her. Susan bobbed and weaved out of traffic. She dared herself not to look behind her. She turned off down one of the side streets. The man lost Susan the minute she turned off. Susan sat in the alleyway panting. Her hand sat over her chest.

I do hope you guys have been enjoying this story so far. I do apologize for the late updates. I've just been taking a small break from writing. As I said in RTR I am also working on a collab with Mo Will. If you have not checked out the collab you should. We worked hard on it. If you want me to do a request for you, you can request to have a story done I'm always happy to accept requests.

I also want to announce that there is a QnA session going on featuring the cast of Fireman Sam (characters) as well as my ocs. If you want to ask either character a question, just leave your question in the review section. I will do this at the beginning of each chapter if and when I do receive questions.

As always I hope you guys enjoy

-The Doctor