I thought I'd try something a little bit different this time. Hopefully it works...

Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Hawaii Five-0 (other than seasons 1-4 on DVD). I do, however, own Chloe and the other OC's that appear in this fic. This is unbeta-ed so any and all mistakes are of my own making.

Prologue.

I've wanted to be a paramedic for about as long as I can remember.
My mom claims my obsession with becoming an EMT stems from the time my older brother, Jack, broke his leg falling out of the giant oak tree at the bottom of our garden. I was three and extremely shy, the sort of kid who had to be pried from around their mother's leg in any kind of social situation, but I took a shine to one of the medics who turned up to cart my brother off to the emergency room and refused to let him out of my sight. His name was David and he let me help fit the brace that would stabilize poor Jack's broken leg for the ride to the hospital. I cried myself to sleep in my mom's arms when David had to go out on another call.
More than twenty years on, Mom still refers to him as 'my little Chloe's first crush'.

Despite my ongoing dream of becoming a qualified paramedic, when it came time to go to college I ended up following in my daddy's footsteps by studying accountancy at the University of Illinois.
I met Eddie Ray at a house party when I was in my freshman year. He was a senior and the captain of the football team, but behind the swagger and boyish bravado, there was something rather sweet about the cute, sandy-haired quarterback from Washington State. He asked me out on a date the next afternoon.
Four months before I graduated, Eddie was offered what he touted to me as 'the opportunity of a lifetime' – a three year contract working as a junior consultant for a large construction company based in Hawaii. I was twenty-two and head over heels in love, so I packed up all of my belongings and followed Eddie out to Honolulu just as soon as the ink had dried on my diploma. Eight months later, he left me for a forty-something year old widow he'd met at a party the company had thrown for him the week he arrived.

I spent the better part of a week sobbing into a pint of Ben and Jerry's before Katie, my best friend on the island, told me to get a grip. At the time, I was a little hurt by her attitude. The man I'd moved halfway across the country for hadn't even had the decency to dump me face-to-face. Surely I should have been allowed to wallow in my own self-pity for just a little while longer before being forced to sort through the mess that was my life?
Katie did what all good friends do when their bestie has just been dumped by text message; She raided her closet for what she referred to as her 'get lucky' dress and dragged me out to a club in downtown Waikiki. I spent the night knocking back fancy cocktails and pretty-colored vodka shots in an attempt to numb the pain in my heart.

I don't remember much of what happened after the second Fishbowl cocktail appeared on the table in front of me but when I woke up the next morning, I found a print out with contact details for the Kapi'olani Community College admissions office taped to the door of my refrigerator. Already late for work, and suffering with the hangover from hell, I shoved the sheet of paper in a drawer and forgot all about it until Eddie the love rat came crawling back for the rest of his belongings a few weeks later.

The night Eddie officially moved out, Katie cornered me in the kitchen as I was hunting for a corkscrew to open the bottle of wine she'd brought with her to celebrate my new life as a single woman.
Just think about it, she'd ordered, shoving an application form into my hands before she decanted a healthy amount of Pinot Noir into my glass. It was probably the drink talking but by the end of the night, I was convinced that it was now or never. I was staying in Hawaii and I was more determined than ever to take the first step towards following my dream.

14 weeks later…
My hands are shaking as I walk into the Kapi'olani Community College admissions office armed with a bulging manila envelope containing my carefully filled-in application forms, a copy of my drivers license, CPR certificate, background check and vaccinations record tucked under my arm. As excited as I am, it's all I can do to hold back the tears as I hand my application over to the admissions clerk to be checked. The guy must think I'm a total loon, welling up over paperwork but this is so much more than just a college application. This is my chance to start over.

I'm pretty sure that Eddie expected me to hightail it back to the mainland after he broke my heart but I had other ideas. I had to beg and borrow from my parents in order to scrape together enough money to take the anatomy and physiology classes that are a prerequisite for the EMT basic course I'm applying for. Money was tight as I was still living in the house we'd chosen based on having a joint income. Instead of partying, I spent my nights pouring over textbooks and doing coursework. I pleaded with my colleagues and offered favors in exchange for shift swaps to get enough time away from work to do my CPR certification. It's been tough but I hope that the extra few hours spent filing Sandra-from-payroll's paperwork and entertaining Bradley-from-management's adorable little girl will all be worth it in the end.

Katie is waiting for me when I step back out into the sunshine. She's been my rock over the last few months and I don't think I'll ever be able to repay her for everything she's done for me.

"So?" she asks, smiling encouragingly as I sink down onto the faded wooden bench beside her. "How'd it go?"

"That was one of the hardest things I've ever done," I tell her honestly. Katie laughs and I can't help but smile. Her attitude is somewhat contagious now that I've successfully conquered the first of my demons.

"Well, you better get used to it," she says, nudging my shoulder with her own. "You should be proud of yourself. You just gave Eddie Ray the Chloe equivalent of the finger."

I snort at that but despite my laughter, my heart still feels like it's about to burst out of my chest so I lean back against the bench's slatted backrest and take a deep breath, allowing the heat from the sun to calm the strands of apprehension that are coiling in my belly.

Have I done the right thing? I don't really know…
All I can do now is wait and see.

As always, any feedback/opinions would be very much appreciated.