Page 2 of Phoenix Rising

Her daughter Ember stood with her hands on her hips. Ember's beautiful red hair made Becky think of those fiery flames she had cut through in her daydream. Ember was trying to grow her hair out from a rather rash short cut. The wavy bobcame down to her chin. Even though Ember was masculine in how she was, the short hair hadn’t been the one on her. Her wild unruly mane of red hair suited her better, Becky thought to herself.

She's looking more and more like her mother,Becky thought.

She sometimes thought it was a curse that her daughter looked so much like Becky's ex-wife Alison, but she guessed Alison deserved that since she had carried Ember and all.

Becky’s own hair was a sandy color. A reddish gold. So, close enough to Ember’s that most people at a glance mistook her for Ember’s biological mother. But Ember shared Alison’s strong powerful beauty and tall frame.

Not that biology mattered, Becky thought to herself. Ember was as much her daughter as if she had birthed her herself. And more so perhaps. It wasn’t like Alison had turned out to be much of a mother over the years. Becky and Ember, although they bickered a lot, were closer than Ember and Alison had ever been.

"That was quick. Were you waiting for me?”

Ember strode into her office and leaned on Becky's desk. "You don't look too great, mom."

"Chief," Becky corrected. "Even if you are mydaughter, at work, I'm your superior officer. “I know you haven’t been working under me for a long time, but let’s not forget protocol.”

"Got it, Chief Mom." Ember saluted as she rifled through some of Becky's papers.

Ember had taken a sabbatical from her job as a firefighter. She had been unstable and risking her life too much. It was only in meeting Becky’s friend Dr. Josephine Mars and settling down with her and having their beautiful little girl, Natalie, that things had really changed with Ember. She had taken 5 years out from her job as a firefighter to be at home for Natalie and her family whilst working as a mechanic. Now, she was covering occasionally as a firefighter again when they were short and Becky was enjoying this new, much more mature and stable Ember.

"Josephine wanted me to tell you that you shouldn't be worried about this Dr. Everett coming in.”

Becky inhaled deeply. The new head of trauma at Phoenix Ridge Hospital, Dr. Lucinda Everett, was already a growing thorn in her side. Of course, her best friend Josephine would sense that from a mile away. Josephine was the head of Phoenix Ridge Hospital, so she would know if the Britishdoctor was going to cause them any trouble with her fancy ideas.

"Why would I be worried?" Becky said bitterly.

Ember clicked her tongue. "Because she's trying to change all of your emergency protocols?"

"How much did Josephine tell you?" Becky tried to rub the sleep from her eyes.

Ember smiled. "I mean, I had to do a little convincing." Her daughter wiggled her eyebrows at the suggestive joke.

Becky hadn't loved the idea of her close friend and daughter dating in the beginning, but now that she had seen their love for each other, Becky was able to let it pass. But that didnotmean she was comfortable knowing about their sex life.

"Ember," Becky warned.

Ember laughed. "But she told me all about Dr. Everett’s suggestions and how they conveniently all combat your proposals." Her daughter tilted her head. "Have you met her yet? I heard she's a real looker." She mockingly lifted her eyebrows.

"Please don't ever refer to anyone as a 'looker' ever again. You sound like a grandpa," Becky said dryly.

Ember put her hands up defensively. "Just repeating what I heard, Chief.”

She rolled her eyes. "No, I haven't met her yet. However, I am well acquainted with her proposed changes to the emergency disaster plans. She wants to focus on long-term preparedness instead of immediate response." Becky ran her hand over her face. "Yes, that's a good idea for two years from now, but how is that going to help if we have an emergencytomorrow?"

"You have a point," Ember said matter of factly.

"And then on top of that, she wants to keep the public uninformed." Becky sighed. "I hear she's from London. That would probably work for the Brits but not Americans. Could you imagine?"

It's not that she didn't understand what Everett was trying to do. But how could someone come into her city and mess with all of their protocols without even being here for twenty-four hours?

Ember shook her fist in the air. "Those damn Redcoats!"

Becky let a smile touch her lips. "Shouldn't you be in the briefing room?"

"That's why I came.” Ember picked up the packet labeled with that day's date. "It started five minutes ago."

"Shit, why didn't you say that first? You were acting like we had all the time in the world." Beckysnatched the folder from her daughter's hand and rushed down the hallway.

"I was playing therapist. I figured you needed it.”

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