Disclaimer: I own nothing except my imagination.
Thanks to everyone for the reviews for my last chapter, hope you like this one too.
Abbey's POV
Monday morning rolled around. I had to be there at nine and it was two three hours essays with lunch between the two and an hour multiple choices test.
"Are you ready?" Mills asked me as I was quickly shoveling food in my mouth.
"Uh huh." I was chewing frantically, nervous as hell.
"Slow down before you choke." I swallowed the last bit of toast I had in my plate.
"All good." I smiled nervously. "Are you ready? I'll drop you at 51 before going to class."
"All ready. Let's go." We walked out the door and I dropped him off for his shift.
"Good luck." He smiled showing me his fist.
"Thanks." I bumped mine to his and lingered there.
"You'll do great. Now get out of here."
"Ok see you later when I'm done." And I drove off to class.
MILLS POV
I looked at her drive away until I couldn't see her SUV anymore as she turned the corner before going in the station.
"She off for her exams?" Dawson called when I came in the common room.
"Yes. She's a ball of nerves though."
"The way I know her, she'll recover quick when she sits in those seats."
"I hope so. She's supposed to come by after to finish the shift with us."
"Yeah, chief kept me up to speed with her schedule this week."
"I think it'll calm her nerves to be around the house."
"Good thoughts." She smiled at me and turned around.
We had a few calls and after each, I would look at my watch and try to imagine where in her exams she was. Then I made lunch for everyone to take my mind off of it. Just as I looked at my watch after lunch, the bell rang for a call and I knew she was going into her second essay. It was a rather long call because it was two hours later when we came back. I knew for a fact that if she finished the second essay ahead of time, she could go onto the next room for the multiple choices without having to wait for everyone to be done the essay number two. As we pulled back up to the house after the next call, she pulled up right after us. I jumped down and didn't wait to get out of my turnout gear that I was running up to her.
"Hey, how'd it go?"
"I think it went well. I managed to finish the second essay after an hour and a half and I went directly to the next room."
"That's my girl. Come on if I were you I'd go change up fast because it's been one call after the other."
"Thanks see you in the common room."
DAWSON POV
I saw Abbey walk in quickly and say hi to everyone before dashing straight for the locker room. I found her sitting on the bench staring at her locker.
"How's my favorite soon to be candidate?"
"I can finally catch my breath." She looked in my direction and smiled.
"I'm sure you did great. I wanted to talk to you about the rest of the shift."
"I'm all yours. There's nothing more I can go over for the next three days."
"No but we can get you as ready as you can be. You'll be riding shotgun in the ambo with me. Shay will ride along strictly as an observer unless it gets too hairy. You think you can handle that?"
"Yes mam." She smiled again and got up. We both made our way back to the common room and chatted up with Shay about everything other than calls and school." The rest of shift graced us with one call after the next, which was great practice for Abbey. When we came back from our latest call, it was midnight and we had had seven different calls since four in the afternoon.
"Ok Abbey, you're done for the night."
"I'm fine Dawson I can keep going." She argued.
"I know you can keep going but you need to sleep so you're ready for the next three days."
"But." She was about to keep going.
"No buts. This is how we'll be doing that until your done with your exams. You'll do runs until midnight and then you'll sleep so you're ready for the morning."
"Ok Dawson." She couldn't argue anymore since I had the final say so she turned around said good night to everyone and went for the bunks."
Abbey's POV
I went in the direction of the bunks even though I was far from being tired. I knew I needed the rest but at the same time I was extremely wired for more calls. I sat on my bunk with my hands curled under my chin thinking about tomorrow, lost in my thoughts.
"Hey, you should get some sleep. It's going to be a big day for you tomorrow." Mills pulled me out of my thoughts.
"Yeah I know but I'm still wired, I can go for a few more hours."
"That I know, but you'll kick yourself in the head tomorrow if you're not 100% focused."
"I guess you're right."
"As usual." He laughed.
"Cocky much? Get out of here you goof."
"Good night."
"Night." He left and I lied down and put my hands behind my head. I heard footsteps coming in but I tried to ignore them until they stopped next to my bunk.
"Can't sleep huh?" It was Casey that was there this time.
"Nope." I turned my head to look at him. "Dawson wants me to rest up for tomorrow but I'm still pumped from our last calls I could keep going."
"That I know but she's just looking out for you." I sat on the side of the bed again.
"I know but she should know I'm still good to go."
"Trust me she knows but she's your PIC and her job is to have you ready. That means avoiding your hard head to get in the way. You haven't been here long but we already know how you are."
"Fine." I raised my hands in surrender. "I'll go to bed. Now get out of here. Between you and Mills, there's way too many words of wisdom for your own good." I chuckled.
"Good night."
"Good night lieutenant." He walked away and I lied back down on my cot and this time, as soon as my head hit the pillow, I fell asleep. I was woken up at seven by Mills even as I could hear the buzzing of my phone.
"Time to get up." He shook me lightly.
"I know, I can hear my alarm buzzing."
"It's been buzzing like that for fifteen minutes."
"Crap, time for a shower." I quickly got up and went for the showers. I did a quick wash and dressed in my blue pants and a button down white shirt, customary EMT class uniform. I quickly made my hair in a bun and walked straight for the common room. I grabbed a coffee and as I was about to go make toast, Mills put a plate of eggs with toast in front of me.
"Thanks Pete." I smiled at him and made good time eating the whole thing quietly. The common room was practically deserted except for myself, Mills and Mouch who was watching the morning news on tv.
"So three days huh?" He questioned from the couch.
"Yup, that's the plan."
"And when will you know if you passed?"
"Somewhere next week. They review all the exams on Friday and I should get my results somewhere next week."
"I'm sure you'll do great."
"Thanks Randy." I knew he preferred we call him by his real name but everyone just enjoyed calling him Mouch. I looked at my watch; it was time for me to head out soon. I got up again and thanked Pete for breakfast and hurried to go brush my teeth. I grabbed my keys and drove off. The next three days went exactly the same way. I would go to class, do my two simulations a day and finish shift at 51 with either first or second watch to make sure I covered every kind of situation. Then Thursday rolled around and I finished my last simulation in a record time. I came back in just in time for lunch.
"Hey guys." I called as I walked in.
"Hey, you're done." Mills engulfed me in a big hug. "How are you feeling?"
"Relieved but the stress will start kicking in soon because you know me, I'll get nervous waiting for that stupid envelop in the mail." I smiled.
"Don't worry, I'm sure you passed with flying colors. Come on, let's grab you something to eat."
"Thanks I'm starving." I made myself a bowl of the chicken and rice Pete made and quickly ate it, scared we would have a call that would interrupt our meal. On top of being my last day of exams today, it was also year one of losing my father. I made a mental note to go by the CFD before end of shift if it was quiet enough. We only had one call as soon as we were done eating and it then became quiet. Casey was sitting at the end of the table as per usual when I heard his phone ring. It wasn't common for him to have calls while on the job.
TBC...
a/n : again, thank you for all for sticking with me throughout this story and your reviews are always I pointed out before, since I've wrote this story a while ago, it'll all be in direct connection but at some point I will start jumping in time so the story can move forward.