Redemption

Ambulance captain O'Neill had died in the line of duty.

Even though such things were not uncommon in the fire department, each time was still impossible to get used to. And... no one wanted to get used to it. Two consecutive blows had forced Cathy Weber to see a psychologist for an evaluation of her mental state. This was not an expense she could simply choose not to pay. Though the New York City Fire Department offered subsidies, it was not entirely free.

For dangerous jobs like paramedics, failing a psychologist's evaluation could mean being removed from the front lines and assigned to an easy post, with a substantial pay cut. In severe cases, they could even be ordered to take mandatory leave.

So Cathy Weber had no choice but to pretend she was perfectly fine, dealing with doctors who could not find anything wrong with her. She had also gone to the hospital's neurology department for tests because she kept seeing hallucinations. Naturally, the results had been inconclusive.

But she was in no hurry to obtain clearance to return to work. Cathy Weber accepted the fact that she was deeply depressed and avoided every attempt to drag her back into a normal life.

Her partner had called about O'Neill's funeral. It was today.

But the call went straight to voicemail. Cathy Weber did not even have the strength to pick up the receiver and refuse. She merely lay sideways on the sofa, listlessly watching an old black-and-white movie.

This was not something she could excuse with an accident or with not being capable enough to lessen her guilt. She had clearly "seen" that outcome and tried hard to change it, yet the result had still been disappointing.

Was the future truly impossible to change?

A familiar sound came from