“How long have you been a paramedic, Jack?”<\/p>\n
Jack Kemp sighed. “Almost five years. I wanted to be a doctor, but my family couldn’t afford medical school.”<\/p>\n
“Couldn’t you get any scholarships?”<\/p>\n
He laughed curtly. “I tried. It turned out that my GPA was one point too low for a scholarship at the school I wanted to go to.”<\/p>\n
“Why didn’t you just go to another school?”<\/p>\n
“Because even with a full scholarship I couldn’t afford to pay for both rent and textbooks. The place I wanted to go, I could have lived at home…saved a bundle.”<\/p>\n
“I’m sorry.”<\/p>\n
“The worst part about it is sometimes I feel so helpless.”<\/p>\n
“Helpless? You save people’s lives, Jack.”<\/p>\n
“I know. It’s just..when I see the ones whose lives are saved, too many times they’re so broken and scarred they wish they had died. Or even if they don’t…I just wish I could have done more.”<\/p>\n
“Well, at least you can do something. You have to remember, my profession may have a lot of glamor, but it’s not known for giving you a whole lot of purpose.”<\/p>\n
“You sound pretty disillusioned.”<\/p>\n
Ferne glanced down at the strange garment she was wearing, the simplest thing she’d worn in a long time. “Disillusioned doesn’t even begin to cover it. Sometimes…this is awful, but sometimes I wish the gunman had succeeded. There are days when I would do anything to get away from it. The only thing that keeps me sane is that I love acting.”<\/p>\n
With a sad, but accepting smile, Jack reached out a hand to the reluctant star. She took it gratefully.<\/p>\n
“If there’s anything I can ever do to help, just let me know.”<\/p>\n
Ferne smiled sadly. “I don’t need anything right now. You wouldn’t believe how nice it is to be away from all the crowds. I kind of hope we have to stay here for a while.”<\/p>\n
“I guess that wouldn’t be so bad,” Jack agreed with a smile.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“How long have you been a paramedic, Jack?” Jack Kemp sighed. “Almost five years. I wanted to be a doctor, but my family couldn’t afford medical school.” “Couldn’t you get any scholarships?” He laughed curtly. “I tried. It turned out … Continue reading