Parker should've died that night and the whole world knew it. He was an innocent bystander, shot through the heart with at least three bullets and somehow, by some Gods miracle, he pulled through.
But everything came at a cost.
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FD Academy, Chicago, 2005
After a long and extraordinary lengthy grilling from Noah, Parker had shipped himself off to Chicago, only two months after being fully discharged from the hospital.
Despite Noah being happy about Parker choosing a career path that was meaningful, but it was such a rash decision and one that he was certain his eldest son hadn't thoroughly thought through.
Parker had spent every second planning, over planning even, every little detail that could happen over the next few months in Chicago. The loan he had taken out would take a while to repay but if he was able to graduate out of the Fire Departments academy in record time, it'd be less of a burden on him.
Knowing how one of his best friends nearly met their demise really pushed Parker into the role of a fire fighter, but it was the thought of something like that ever happening to his own family that really drove it home.
Fear drives people to do the craziest of things, but it can also help with clarity, to clarify to them what matters the most in the world.
The February's in Chicago were unforgiving, the warmth of the sun didn't hit the ground people stood on, but according to the locals, it was better than January's weather. As February rolled into March and then March to April, the weather improved, slightly.
"Candidates!" A loud and domineering voice called out, spooking all of the students who weren't expecting anyone for another ten minutes.
Most of those around him looked like deers caught in a cars headlights, Parker's leg began to bounce. Luckily, he had remembered to place a little bit of card underneath where his heel would hit to mute the sound.
A girl, maybe a year or so younger than him noticed, but said nothing- at least for a while.
As the captain of some fire department continued to grill the new candidates, the girl placed her hand on top of Parker's knee to prevent the sound from irritating her further.
"That's annoying, and I'm Murphy. Eden Murphy."
Murphy, Parker thought to himself, wondering where she hailed from since her accent wasn't identifiable. Though, accents weren't a specialty of Parker's, he hadn't travelled far across the US to notice those.
"Parker Stilinksi, nice to meet you- but I'm not sorry about the tapping." Parker mumbled his response back as quietly as he could before his foot tapping returned.
For once, he did hope that he'd be paired with someone who knew his name, and someone who had an easy one to remember in return. Maybe if he invited her out for drinks after their first day, he could have a new friendship in the works- or, he could do what Parker usually did and make things awkward.
