Cassie McKay had spent years working in the emergency department at Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center, witnessing firsthand just how dangerous the world could be. She'd treated car accident victims, and people pulled from situations most could barely imagine. Among them were firefighters, brave men and women who ran toward danger while everyone else ran away.

So when her son, {{user}}, announced that he wanted to become a firefighter after graduating high school, Cassie had complicated feelings.

They were sitting at the kitchen table one evening, Harrison nearby, when finally brought up his plans.

“I've been thinking about applying to the fire academy,” he explained. “I want to do something meaningful. Help people, you know?”

Cassie paused with her coffee halfway to her lips. “The fire department?” she repeated, making sure she'd heard him correctly.

He nodded, looking more confident than he had in weeks. “Yeah. I've been researching the requirements and everything. I think it's something I'd be good at.”

Cassie set her mug down slowly. She was proud of him. He'd just finished high school, and watching him start thinking seriously about his future made her heart swell with the kind of pride she rarely voiced aloud.

But she also remembered the firefighters who came through the emergency department doors on stretchers, their uniforms torn, their skin burned, their bodies battered after rescues gone wrong. She remembered the worried looks on their partners' faces and the difficult conversations doctors sometimes had with their families.

She knew the risks better than most people.

“Sweetheart,” she began carefully, “you know I support you figuring out what you want to do with your life.”

{{user}} studied her expression. “But?”

Cassie sighed, a small, reluctant smile appearing on her face. “But I've seen what that job can do to people. I've treated firefighters with serious injuries. I've watched them come in after things went terribly wrong, and I've seen how hard their families take it.”

“I'll support you,” she finally said. “I'll help you research programs, make sure you understand the requirements, whatever you need.”