I shrug my shoulders, knowing she’s so much better than she thinks she is. Her confidence when it comes to her nursing abilities is lacking, but her skill is not. We’ll just need to work on that some more.

“Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I almost vomited all over my patient right after I was told I had to give her an enema. Imagine that!” I laugh and stretch out on my bed. Googie is perched on my pillow, and I rub her like I do every day. She’s as old as I am, and her stuffing is practically gone.

Cassie chuckles and I can hear the shower door close.

“Just think, this time next year, we’ll be on our own in a hospital, saving lives every single day,” I call out to her and wait for her response.

“Fuck that!” she says from the shower. “I need to find something else to do.”

“Stop being so dramatic,” I say and roll over on my side. “Always so damn dramatic.”

The water turns off and she’s in the room with a towel wrapped around her head and another one around her body. Drips of water trail behind her.

“Didn’t you dry yourself off at all?” I scold her as she drips onto the carpet.

“You didn’t listen to a word I said, Sam. Really listen. I can’t do this anymore.”

Her expression is serious, and I sit up on the bed. I quickly toss Googie to her and she catches her clumsily.

“Googie says you can do it, so you can. Now stop this nonsense and get your shit together.”

She looks at my floppy childhood friend, and I see the smile in her eyes.

“Well, if your dog thinks I can do it, then maybe I can.” She tosses Googie back to me and laughs out loud.

She slips into comfy leggings and a tank top and crawls into her own bed. Her eyes find mine and they glisten a bit. “Sam, I’m so proud of you,” she says.

“Don’t get sappy on me now,” I respond, wondering where this conversation is going.

“Seriously, look at you. You’re the star student. You do everything with ease and you have this innate desire to help people. You want to make them all better. Every last one of them. You have a gift and you don’t even know it.”

Her tone is serious, and I know she means every word that she’s saying. Aunt Peggy says the same words to me all of the time.

“It’s weird, Cass. I feel like I have a purpose, you know? I appreciate what I have and how I can help others. It scares the hell out of me that somehow I’ll mess it up, but I know what I’m supposed to be doing. Don’t you feel that way?” I ask her, curious.

“Hell no,” she answers definitively. “I don’t know what my purpose is or the reason I’m even in nursing school. I’m following your lead. Following in your footsteps. I see what makes you happy. What makes you tick. And I want to feel the same way. I want to be like you.”

I snort out loud.

“No you don’t. Trust me. You know me better than anyone and know everything that I’ve gone through. You do not want to be like me.”

“Sam, what you’ve overcome is tremendous. I’m going to get sappy on you again for a second, and you have to bear with me.” Her eyes are still wet, and I lie back down on my bed, staring up at the solar system poster tacked to the ceiling above me.

“Yeah, your life at sixteen was torn the fuck apart. I completely get that. But your entire outlook on life and how you function day-to-day is remarkable. Your strength is astonishing. You almost drowned when you were seven. What did you do? You got swim lessons and learned pool yoga.”

I shake my head and shrug my shoulders. Her analogy is comical.

“Psycho Todd Mitchell tries to feel you up in a pool. What do you do? You nut-crunch him and then become a black belt in kickboxing.”

All of this is true.

Hearing Todd’s name, however, makes me cringe. A few months after the incident in Trish O’Toole’s pool, Todd was arrested for multiple rapes and attempted murder. He’s been in prison since he was convicted of all of his crimes. The faces of the victims are still fresh in my head. Every single one of them. The media played out the story over and over again and it made my skin crawl. I wish I could have hurt him more than I did that day he attacked me in Trish’s pool. I was definitely one of the lucky ones, and I became a stronger person for it.

Cassie continues, “Your parents get killed by a deranged psycho drug addict and you vow to become a nurse to help people get better. You save people’s lives every single day, Sam. You’re amazing.”

Hearing her describe my parents’ murder sends a jolt to my heart, and I take a quick breath and hold it. What little reminders I have of them adorn my room. My bracelet dangles from a hook next to my bed. The blue ribbon is attached to the poster that I fall asleep staring at every night. My Googie sleeps next to me, reminding me of their comfort and love.

I exhale slowly and turn on my side again to look at Cassie.

“I’m done earning my badges,” I say softly. “It’s time for me to give back.”

Her eyes light up with victory.

“Exactly my point,” she says and turns off the light.

Garrett

Past

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Age 25

“I CAN’T BELIEVE HE DID IT,” I say, shaking my head and tossing back my sixth shot of Jameson.

“Dude, I can’t even.” Tristan does the same and clinks his empty shot glass against mine.

“Can’t believe who did what?” Kirsten chirps as she slides onto the barstool next to Tristan.

“Alex, man. Dude got married.” Tristan’s eyes glaze over, and his smile freezes on his face. He’s about to pass out.

Kirsten pokes him in the side, and he sits up with a jolt. “Why don’t you go upstairs?” She nudges him and holds a plastic key in front of his nose. He swipes at it until it comes into focus and stands from the bar stool. “Whoa, I shouldn’t have stood up so fast.” He wobbles a bit on his feet and backs up toward the hotel lobby. We’re in the bar after Alex and Tabby’s wedding reception. It ended two hours ago, and the newlyweds are long gone.

“Where’s Alex?” Tristan acts confused. And drunk.

“He’s upstairs sleeping with his bride, Tristan. Exactly where you should be.” Kirsten waves at him and blows him a kiss.

“Will you be up soon?” he asks, hopeful.

“Of course.”

Tristan stumbles to the elevators and practically falls in. He disappears behind the doors, and I laugh.

“What an amazing wedding,” Kirsten says as she flags down the bartender. She orders a glass of Pinot Noir and turns to face me. “Don’t you think?”

“Sure, it was amazing.” I humor her with what she wants to hear. If she starts talking about flowers and centerpieces, I’m out of here.

The bartender places a large glass of wine in front of her and says, “This is on me.” He winks at her and she ignores his advances.

“I think he likes you,” I joke and grab the last shot of whiskey that was lined up in front of me. I toss it back and take a large swig of my beer.

“Nah, he’s just hoping for a big tip.”

She sighs, raises her glass of wine and says, “Cheers.”

I take another sip of beer and nod.

“There aren’t two people in the world more deserving than Alex and Tabby.” Kirsten is Tabby’s best friend and boss. She owns a bookstore in the city and seems to be pretty successful.

“Yeah, so happy together,” I muse.

“What about you, Garrett? When do you think you’ll finally settle down?”

She can’t be serious. Settle down? Me? I nearly choke on my words. “Let me say this in a way that you’ll completely understand. Never. Ever.”

“I don’t believe you. Beneath that womanizer exterior is a soft and tender heart. I’m convinced of it.”