In Memoriam
“Royal blue looks pretty, but I think that one’s a superior choice. Goes better with the flooring too!” Barbara exclaimed while inspecting the paint samples the salesman was showing her.
“Yes ma’am, I agree. We’re going for navy blue then: I’m placing the order as soon as I hear back from our warehouse.” the young man replied.
The first two weeks of renovations had been insane. Now, Station 11 was finally close to its old splendor: all thanks to the effort of the restless team the two new captains managed to put together, with the precious help from friends and neighbors. There was an entire community going through a rebirth, not just a place that needed a little dusting.
“What’s going on?” Melissa asked with a confused look on her face.
“I’m giving this place a well-deserved facelift.” Barbara answered, her lips forming a smirk.
“This was not in our agreements. We’re running out of money…and time. We’re supposed to be operative in five days.” the firefighter argued.
Melissa Schemmenti and Barbara Howard’s first encounter left them on bad terms, but having a common goal they soon decided to set some ground rules in order to achieve a peaceful co-existence. Their deal was pretty simple: a split budget each of them could spend on her own area of expertise, all done while carefully minding her own business.
“I’m using what’s left of my share. I don’t need your approval to lay a coat of paint. ” the paramedic clarified. She was having too much fun with all that pointless bickering.
“The station’s ready. It doesn’t need to look cute, it needs to be working.” the redhead complained. She didn’t want it to look different from what she remembered.
“The station’s depressing.” the brunette remarked “Did you know that blue’s a relaxing color? It lowers blood pressure and reduces anxiety. I’m doing you a favor.”
Melissa didn’t know a single thing about colors, but she knew what made her blood pressure go up: her colleague’s audacity. How could a wonderful woman like her be so annoying?
“This ain’t a children’s ward.” the Italian joked with a resigned face “You know what? I’m going home. Have fun drawing clouds and rainbows.”
Barbara was initially truly mad at her coworker for bringing up her private matters during their first conversation. It was a low blow, but looking back she realized she asked for it by questioning Melissa’s stability. She wanted to get a reaction from the younger woman, and it came with a taste of her own medicine. Also, it was hard to resent someone who had the habit of playing phone games on her lunch break.
“It’s an honor to be here with all of you brave men and women today.” Melissa announced before ceding the floor to the woman standing next to her.
“Captain Schemmenti and I firmly believe we’ve chosen the right people to be in our crew and we can’t wait for everyone to prove their worth out there.” Barbara added with a proud smile.
The room was full of firefighters and paramedics in their ceremonial uniforms: after almost a month of hard work, the time had come to officially celebrate the station’s reopening. It was a chance at a fresh start for everyone involved and an overdue service to the struggling people of Philadelphia. Despite their rough start, Barbara and Melissa had proven their maturity and professionalism, successfully completing their mission’s first bit.
“As you probably already know, the squad must be divided in smaller groups, each group covering different shifts.” the redhead explained “The first one’s gonna start in a couple hours: I want firefighters Coleman, Stevens, Martinez, and Borowski with me, while Captain Howard is…”
“...While I’m going to take paramedics Teagues and Hill in the rig with me.” the brunette interrupted, hoping her colleague would take the hint. She was in no need of a spokeswoman.
“Well, Station 11 is back in the game. May God and good sense be with you all.” Melissa announced, making the audience burst with joy and excitement.
Melissa didn’t mean to step on Barbara’s toes, but it was clear as day that the older woman thought she did. The situation was way too awkward for her to apologize, and she was sure it wouldn’t have made that much of a difference anyway. The other woman was impossible to read, but she had already convinced herself she hated her, so there was really no point in trying to figure out how the brunette actually felt about her.
“Captain Schemmenti, are you busy right now?” Barbara asked.
“I was just going to change into my working uniform, but there’s still plenty of time before our shift. Is something wrong?” Melissa fumblingly replied. She could feel a lecture coming.
“It’s about what happened last week. I wanted to show you something.” the older woman said. She laid her eyes on her coworker’s figure for the first time that day and couldn’t help but notice how good she looked in a suit.
A lot had happened during the previous week, but they both knew what the paramedic was referring to. A couple days after discussing renovations, the two women got into a big fight after one of them got a little carried away with the cleaning. While throwing away some old stuff, Barbara put in the trash all the dead flowers and faded cards folks had left to pay their respects to the firefighters who died in the accident, and seeing them gone was Melissa’s last straw. The argument got heated: the redhead simply went crazy on her colleague saying all kinds of things, and the other woman was too angry to explain herself and apologize for her mistake.
“It’s there, in the meeting room.” the brunette said while pointing at a big metal door.
“You ain’t coming? This looks like a mousetrap situation.” the other one commented trying to hide her anticipation with a joke. Why was her heart beating so fast?
“It’s not my place to be. Also, never forget that I can speak for myself. See you later, Captain.” Barbara said, leaving her alone.
“All right, Schemmenti, just open the damn door. Even if it's definitely an ambush.” Melissa murmured to herself.
Displayed on the wall in front of her were the smiling faces and the dear names of the beloved friends she had tragically lost: fourteen beautifully framed pictures of some of the people she had cared about most in her life. In the middle, the Fire Department’s emblem and a touching quote on love and death. It wasn’t just a beautiful tribute to her family, but also a kind gesture towards her aching soul, and Melissa could barely hold back her tears. That was Barbara’s way of asking for forgiveness, and only a fool or a stoic could’ve turned that down.
Unable are the Loved to die
For Love is Immortality
- Emily Dickinson