Taylor awoke to the aroma of coffee brewing in the kitchen. She wiped the sleep from her eyes as she walked in.
"Oh good morning dear. Did you sleep well?" Beth asked her daughter
"Yeah, I slept better than I have in days." Taylor admitted, of course at this point any sleep was better than what she had had in the past few days.
"Do you work today?" Beth asked
Taylor nodded. It seemed like every waking moment of her life was spent at work these days. There was a memorial service in the afternoon that she would be attending and then work.
Taylor sat down on a chair at the table while her mother poured two cups of coffee.
"You know that you can come here whenever you need to." Beth said
"I know mom." Taylor replied
"I just don't want you to feel alone." Beth said
"I already feel alone." Taylor admitted, "There's a huge hole inside of me that nothing will ever be able to fix."
Beth wasn't exactly sure what to say next, so she went with silence.
Taylor finished her coffee. "I need to go take a shower and get dressed." She said as she stood up and put her coffee cup in the dishwasher.
She went upstairs to take that shower. A short time later she returned to the kitchen wearing her dress blues.
"Your father always looked so handsome in his." Beth smiled and remarked as she adjusted her daughter's collar. "They look good on you."
"Thanks." Taylor smiled. "Thank you for everything."
Taylor gathered her things up and then went outside to get a cab to the service.
In an effort to help Taylor cope with the loss of her father, Lt. Johnson and Doc asked her to fill in as a medic. Truthfully, the 5-5 hadn't fully recovered from the loss of Bobby Caffey, and then 9/11 happened and there was no one recovered from that tragic day. Taylor agreed to fill in, doing whatever was best for the house. She was a team player and though she didn't really want to give up her seat on the Squad, she did. 233 days after the collapse, Angus Taylor was found. A few days later he was laid to eternal rest. He was one of the lucky ones, if you can call it that. He was one of the ones whose family got closure because he had been found. Over the next eight months, so many families would not have the same opportunity. Eight months and nineteen days after that tragic day, the clean up efforts at the World Trade Center site were halted. Some form of normalcy was returned to the Heroes of September. Shortly after her father's funeral, Taylor returned to the Squad. After all, she always wanted to be a firefighter first, paramedic second.
On September 11, 2001 so many rescue workers responded to a call that resulted in such a terrible tragedy. 343 fire fighters, and 126 pieces of apparatus would never return to their houses. The loss was substantial. But the Heroes of September are healing, a little more each day.
This story is dedicated to ALL of those Heroes of September, including the Firefighters, EMTs, Paramedics, Police Officers, and all of those involved in the Search and Recovery efforts (including the Canines that gave their lives to the efforts). May all of those lost rest in the eternal peace and serenity of the Kingdom of Heaven, and those left behind- the survivors, may find peace within themselves.
