I thought the firefighters had invited my son for one unforgettable day. But the moment the captain looked me in the eyes, I realized this visit wasn’t what I believed it was.
Nick slept through almost everything those last few days in the hospital.
I used to sit outside his room whenever I couldn’t bear another minute of watching the monitors. That morning was supposed to be our last one there. After a year of chemo, we were finally talking about going home.
I should have felt relieved. I didn’t.
Marissa, one of the night nurses, walked past me twice before she finally stopped.
“You look like you haven’t slept in a week,” she said gently.
She sat down beside me and pressed a paper cup of coffee into my hand. I didn’t ask for it. I noticed that.
“Listen,” she said, “we have something planned for Nick. A surprise. The local fire station heard about him. They want him to come, once he’s had a little time to recover. The captain reached out himself.”
I turned to look at her. Her eyes were kind, but there was something careful in them, the way you’d look at a woman who might shatter.
“A whole tour. Trucks, helmets, the whole thing.”
“I’ll need you to sign a release before you leave today,” Marissa added. “Just permission for us to share your contact information with the fire station so they can arrange everything directly.”
“That’s what we hoped.”
When I told Nick that afternoon, he sat up in the hospital bed so fast the IV pole rattled.
“A real fire station? Like, the trucks and everything?”
“Mom, they’re going to let me sit inside. I know they are. I have a feeling.”
What happened next changed everything… FULL STORY on the next page.
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