Thank you to all who have been faithfully reading my story. I am really enjoying writing it. Thanks again to Soldier Heart for being my beta reader. You are doing a great job. Please keep on reviewing!

"Thank God, she's back in sinus rhythm," Kel Brackett said, putting the paddles back into the crash cart as he visibly relaxed. He sighed as he said, "Karen, you are going to make me go gray prematurely."

"She almost didn't make it," Joe Early said, as he started another IV and hung the bag.

Another nurse in the room was putting Karen's head back on the pillow and making her more comfortable.

Dixie was taking Karen's vital signs as she said, "I hope Roy and Johnny got Emily Stanley calmed down."

"I know. Emily is usually so calm. I couldn't believe she was freaking out when Karen crashed. I was afraid she's pass out," Joe said, as the other nurse left the room, pushing the crash cart.

"I'm going to talk to all three of them in a few moments. Karen is really giving us a run for our money. I thought for sure she was gone this time. She does that many more times, she may not make it. Her heart couldn't handle it," Kel replied, adjusting the heart monitor and respirator.

"I'm worried about that too. Her body has been through so much stress from the accident and the surgery," Joe said.

"It's really a miracle that she is still here with us. God has been really looking out for her," Dixie said quietly from the foot of Karen's bed.

"You're right about that, Dix. A lot of prayers must be going up in her behalf. Well, I'm going to go check on Emily and let her, John and Roy know how she is doing," Kel said as he walked for the door.

"I'd better go check on Hank. He had to know the code blue was for Karen's room. I'm sure he is panicking right now," Joe said, walking right behind Kel.

"I'm going to stay here for a few minutes," Dixie said as she raised the head of Karen's bead.

Joe and Kel left the room, leaving Dixie by herself.

Dixie's mind began to wander, thinking back to when Karen first joined the paramedic program. Karen had been a firefighter for a bout 3 years before she started the classes. Dixie had seen her only a couple of times, usually just when she was injured. Dixie remembered the conversation she and Karen had the day Karen had signed up. Karen had looked a little depressed and Dixie decided to take her under her wing and talk to her. She knew Karen didn't have any family, except her grandmother who had just been put in a nursing home a few month before. Anytime Karen had been injured in the line of duty, there was no one to call. Dixie had asked how long her parents had been gone. Dixie's heart ached every time she thought about the story Karen had told her that day.

"I had only been a firefighter for about 6 months. We got a call about 20 minutes into one of our shifts that there was a pile-up on the 405 freeway. It was my first pile-up. The paramedic program was still being formed, so all we had was the rescue squads. When we got there, me and the rest of us on the engine crew fanned out to check for survivors. It was a horrible mess. There was some victims walking around dazed and some who would never walk again. I came to a bend of highway where about 10 cars were piled closely together. The first one I came to I thought the car looked familiar. All the cars were smashed completely. My heart jumped into my throat when I realized it did look familiar. It was my parent's car. They were going to come to the station that day to meet my crewmates and see where I worked. I looked in, saw my parents and knew they were gone. A truck carrying steel rods had been in front of them and part of his load had come backwards through the windshield of mom and dad's car. There was no way my parents could have survived. That's all I remember. Next thing I knew I woke up on the ground next to the engine, one of the guys from the rescue squad was bending over me. I had passed out. They asked me why. My crewmates were shocked when I told them my parents were among the ones in the wreckage and they were both dead. I was crying uncontrollably."

After Karen had told her the story, she had told Dixie that she knew she wanted to be a paramedic, to spare another family from going through what she had. But Karen couldn't bear to do it right away, the pain and grief was too much.

"That's why I'm here today Ms. McCall, signing up for the program. I knew it was now or never. I made the decision the day my parents died to be a paramedic. After the bill passed the legislature, I knew I should sign up for a class. But when that happened, I was still grieving for my dead parents. I wouldn't have done anyone any good. I'm hoping I'll be able to help others because I want to."

Karen was one of the first females to apply for the paramedic training program at Rampart. She did survive the course. Dixie remembered being so proud the day Karen passed her exam. She had been in the top of her class. Everyone from instructors and students to hospital staff were impressed with her. Karen was well liked and admired by all.

Dixie had been excited that Karen had been assigned to be trained at Station 51. Dixie knew Johnny and Roy would take care of her and that they did. Karen was now a fine paramedic, taught so well by Johnny and Roy. Karen loved her job. The pain from her past caused her to show more empathy than any other paramedic she knew for the victims, which, when she had to work with him, drove Craig Brice crazy.

Dixie's mind came back to the present, her eyes filling with moisture as she looked at the young girl who had lost both parents violently, who had become a wonderful paramedic and had grown into a beautiful woman.

She knew the guys at the station looked out for her. They were very protective of Karen. She saw the subtle change in the A-shift crew of Station 51. She was glad that Karen had found her niche in life.

Dixie stood up, berating herself for letting her mind wander like it had. She took one last look before she hurried out of the room to continue her shift.