911: Eclipse of the Heart

Chapter 1 - Reason

Kymberly Douglass of San Diego, California, lived a fairly straightforward life. She grew up in a small house with her two parents and three siblings.  Kymberly was the oldest, along with her twin brother, Kyle. They had a little brother, Kent, and a little sister, Kayla. Kent and Kayla both moved away after graduating from high school, they always said that they would come back after graduating from college, but never did. Kymberly and Kyle both stayed in San Diego with their parents, attending school at MiraCosta College in Oceanside.

It was a pretty normal life until the accident happened a year before. Kymberly and Kyle were the best of friends, and since neither of them were in relationships, they shared an apartment together. They spent as much time together as they could, until one day, Kyle didn't come home from work.

Kymberly was distraught when she heard the news, her twin brother and her best friend, was killed in a head on collision with a drunk driver. The EMTs and firefighters weren't able to get him out of the car in time to save him. Going home to their apartment everyday was hell, so a month after his death, Kymberly moved back in with their parents. Kent and Kayla came for the funeral, but left with their families immediately following.

It was hard to go on with life after Kyle's death. Kymberly was tired of her redundant accounting job at the little bank down the road from her parents house. That's when she decided she needed a change. After much consideration, the thirty-five year old decided that she wanted to become an EMT to save the lives of people like her brother.

Upon finishing her EMT training, Kymberly realized that she needed to get out of the city that she grew up in. Expand her horizons. She applied to the LAFD and was very quickly accepted. With that, she was off. Her parents helped her load all of her belongings into the U-Haul and watched as she drove north.

It has been a week since Kymberly had moved into her new apartment at this point. She was to start her new position at Station 118 the next day. With her arms full of paper grocery bags, Kymberly managed to pull open the front door. She made it up the stairs to the third floor, and almost to her apartment door before tripping over the rug in the center of the hallway. Food went flying in the air as Kymberly fell to the floor. "Are you alright?" a man asked, running down the hallway to her assistance.

"Yeah... Yeah, I'm fine." Kymberly propped herself up on her knees, and looked up to see that the man had reached out his hand to help her up. She grabbed it and hoisted herself to her feet before wiping the dirt and dust off of her pants. "Thank you."

"Of course... Here, let me help you." the man bent down to pick up one of the paper bags and start filling it back up with the food, scattered around the floor.

"Oh, you don't have to do that." Kymberly blushed as she looked up at his face.

"But I want to." he smiled at her.

"Well, I appreciate that." Kymberly said as she grabbed another bag and started picking up the apples that had rolled all over.

"You must be new here. I don't believe we have met." he stood up, holding the bag under his arm.

"Yeah, I moved in last week." Kymberly said, standing up, "My name is Kymberly... Kymberly Douglass. But you can call me Kymber."

"Nice to meet you, Kymber. I'm Robert Nash, but you can call me Bobby." Bobby smiled as he extended his hand for her to shake.

"Nice to meet you, as well, Bobby." Kymber shook his hand before turning to her door, "I was so close to making it."

"It's alright. It gave us a reason to meet." Bobby said, "Let me grab that bag from you."

"Are you sure?" Kymber asked, as Bobby nodded. She handed him the bag before sliding the key into the doorknob.

"So what brings you to LA?" Bobby asked as Kymber pushed open the door.

"Work." Kymber smirked as she led Bobby into her apartment.