August 2022

Like any first responder, Sutton could tell people without a doubt that there was no such thing as a normal day at work, and her 30th birthday was no exception.

Sutton disconnected from the phone for what felt like the hundredth time today, leaning back in her chair and huffing a sigh. Before she could relax for a moment, the phone rang again, and she sat right back up to answer it. "9-1-1, what's your emergency?"

"My boyfriend just stabbed me!"

Sutton widened her eyes a bit from the sentence she just heard. "I'm sorry, did you just say your boyfriend stabbed you?"

"Yes! My boyfriend stabbed me with a fucking candle!"

"Babe, how many times do I have to tell you that it was an accident?!"

Based on what she was hearing, Sutton began to type her notes into the computer. "Okay, ma'am, what's your address?"

"I'm at 675 Lillard Street." There was a pause as the woman let out a cry of pain. "Please send an ambulance!"

"We'll get help sent to you, ma'am," she assured the caller. "What's your name?"

"Debbie," the woman answered. "And my boyfriend's name is Rick, who's an idiot for thinking that shoving my face in my birthday cake was a good idea. Now there's a damn candle in my eye!"

"It went above your eye, Debs!"

"Well, it was close enough that I could've lost it!"

Sutton held back a sigh of annoyance as she pressed the button on her screen to set off the fire station's tones, then hovered her foot over the pedal under the table and put pressure on it so that she was talking on the radio. "LAPD, Station 133, respond to 675 Lillard Street for a female patient with a traumatic injury above the eye from a birthday candle."

A few seconds later, a male voice from the fire channel called out and responded with, "Dispatch, this is Captain Mehta with Station 133. We're en route to 675 Lillard Street."

"Dispatch, this is 5-A-32. We'll be en route to 675 Lillard Street as well."

"Dispatch copies, both units en route."

"Ugh, this is the worst birthday ever!" Debbie shouted on the other end of the line.

"If it makes you feel any better, today's my birthday, too," Sutton told her.

Debbie scoffed in response. "At least you don't have a candle stuck in your face."

Sutton winced at Debbie's remark. "That's true, but is the cake any good?"

"Oh, yeah. It's lemon, my favorite. Rick made it for me. He's a great baker." She paused for a moment, then continued talking in an irritated tone like before. "Though I should take what's left of it and shove it right up his--"

"Dispatch, 5-A-32's on scene at 675 Lillard Street."

"Copy, on scene," Sutton replied with her foot on the pedal for a second before lifting it off to speak with Debbie again. "Okay, Debbie, I'm gonna let you go now." She paused as she thought about her next choice of words, though maybe they weren't the best ones. "And...Happy Birthday."

"Yeah, Happy Birthday to you, too. Watch out for birthday candles!"

With that, Sutton pressed the button on the keypad next to her to disconnect the phone, exhaling while doing so.

"Did you really just say that to her?" Bronwyn Matthews, a fellow dispatcher and Sutton's best friend, asked from the next console over.

"Maybe she needed to hear it from someone she didn't know," Sutton explained.

Bronwyn shook her head. "If I had a candle shoved in my eye, the last thing I'd want is for someone to wish me a happy birthday, whether I knew them or not."

"It was above her eye."

"Either way, she's still not having a very happy birthday."

Sutton couldn't help but let out a small laugh at her comment as she took off her headset and stood up, ready to go take her short break, with Bronwyn right behind her.

"Speaking of birthdays, are we still going to Blue Lights after we get off to celebrate?" the blonde questioned in anticipation, following Sutton into the break room.

"Yeah, I texted Maddie, Josh, and Emily to meet us there later," Sutton answered, grabbing a paper cup and pouring some coffee in it from the pot on the counter.

"Did your mom or sister call you today?"

Sutton shook her head in response. "Not surprised, though. I guess that's what happens when you're too busy with your perfect lives to worry about anything else."

"Which is shitty of them to do," Bronwyn stated. "And that's why I think you should ditch the next Friday Night Dinner as payback."

Sutton snorted. "Yeah, because that would go over so well." She could only imagine the shitshot that would be.

"Well, that's what they get for not bothering to call you on your birthday."

Sutton didn't say anything back as she put some creamer in her coffee, then took a sip of the drink. She knew the longer she thought about it, the more bitter she was going to get, and she'd rather not let them ruin her birthday for doing absolutely nothing.

"Hey." Sutton snapped out of her thoughts and looked over at Bronwyn when her name was called. "Don't worry about them. We're gonna have a good time tonight."

Nodding her head, Sutton forced a small smile, trying to convince herself the same thing.

*******

It was after the shift was over and Sutton and Bronwyn changed into more casual and comfortable clothes that Sutton was starting to get excited about going out to celebrate. Maybe she wasn't as excited as Bronwyn appeared to be, but nonetheless, she was glad not to be sulking at her apartment for the rest of the night.

Blue Lights Bar & Grill opened up a few years ago after a retired police officer bought the place and fixed it up, where it quickly became the hot spot for first responders, as it was the perfect place to unwind after days of hard work in their respective fields. Sutton often came to the joint with her friends, some of whom were dispatchers, and her one friend, Emily Olson, who worked as a pediatric surgeon intern at the Los Angeles County Hospital. She even had Zachary tag along a few times when they were together, though he eventually stopped going when it became obvious that he didn't fit in with Sutton's crowd.

The bar was almost packed with people when Sutton and Bronwyn stepped inside. They scanned around to find their friends, eventually spotting Maddie and Josh waving the girls over at the end of the bar in the corner, to which Bronwyn led the way to the empty chairs next to them.

"There's the birthday girl!" Josh exclaimed, a wide grin on his face.

Sutton smiled back, sitting in between Maddie and Bronwyn. "We don't need to let everyone here know," she said jokingly.

"Actually..." Maddie went digging into her purse and pulled out a pink sash with DIRTY THIRTY printed on the front in white letters. "We do."

Sutton felt her face get hot as the others laughed, reluctantly taking the sash and putting it over one shoulder while her friends cheered. While adjusting it, she saw Emily enter the bar and dash over to the group once her eyes laid on them.

"Sorry I'm late," Emily said apologetically as she took the last seat next to Bronwyn. "I had to finish some paperwork before I left." She paused and looked over at Sutton, smiling big. "Happy Birthday. I can't believe you're leaving me behind to join the Thirties Club."

"It's only for a year," Bronwyn pointed out. "Then we'll be here next year celebrating your initiation in the club."

"I'm looking forward to it," Emily stated. "But right now, let's celebrate Sutton and get some shots coming."

So the group ordered a round of tequila shots, clinking their glasses and throwing back the drink, letting the burning sensation from the tequila and the salty and tart flavors from the rim and lime wedge take over their mouths. After that, two more rounds came their way, and Sutton was starting to feel the alcohol running through her system.

While the next round of shots were being poured, Sutton glanced behind her at the packed bar, noticing the new decor of pictures and memorabilia for each type of first responder: police officers, firefighters, and paramedics.

"You know, they really need to add dispatchers to the wall."

Sutton turned around and immediately wished she hadn't, rolling her eyes at the smug look Evan Buckley had on his face. For the last six months, she was having a hard time avoiding him with their jobs, though she did her best not to interact with him, and when she did, it was merely a passive glance or snarky comment. But of course, he had to be here tonight and annoy her on her birthday, of all days.

"Buck!" Maddie exclaimed, a smile on her face. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I saw you guys and I wanted to say hi," he replied, his eyes moving to Sutton's birthday sash. "But I'm also gonna buy the birthday girl over here a shot."

"I rather you didn't," Sutton spoke up.

"Oh, come on, you only turn thirty once," he pointed out. "You're really gonna turn down a shot?"

"From you, yes." Sutton rolled her eyes as the fourth round of shots were placed in front of her and the others, grabbing the glass and downing the alcohol, not turning her head to look at Buck again, knowing he was still standing behind her. Before she knew it, an extra shot glass was placed in front of her, a light brown drink with frosting and multicolored sprinkles around the rim, and the temptation to throw it in his face came over her.

"Just in case you change your mind," Buck said.

"I doubt I will," Sutton retorted, pushing the glass away.

Buck's eyes broke from hers as he looked up at the rest of the group. "Hope you guys have a good rest of your night." He didn't even give Sutton a second glance before turning around and walking away from them, much to her relief.

"You really not gonna drink that?" Bronwyn asked. "Because if not, I'll take it."

"No, he got it for Sutton," Emily pointed out. "And I think it was nice of him to do that."

Sutton scoffed in response. "Still doesn't change the fact that he's the reason the date went badly."

"Hey, that's my brother you're talking about," Maddie warned.

Sutton eyed her before mumbling, "Sorry."

"I can't believe it didn't work out between you two," Josh chimed in. "Maddie and I were so sure it would."

"Well, it didn't, so can we just please talk about something else?"

"Okay, we can talk about your love life in general," Josh said.

"What love life? All she does is work," Bronwyn spoke up.

"That's not true," Sutton protested.

"Right, coming from the one who didn't take the day off for her 30th birthday."

Sutton attempted to shrug off her friend's remark. "So what if I worked on my birthday? People do it all the time."

"Yeah, miserable people."

"I'm not miserable, Bron."

"That's what someone who's miserable would say."

Sutton let out a sigh, leaning back in her seat. "I'm happy with my life. I have great friends and a job that I love. I'm right where I want to be."

Bronwyn raised her eyebrows, then nodded her head, looking as if she still had more to say. "Well, if you're happy, then that's all that matters," she merely said, almost like she was accepting defeat that she lost this discussion. Her eyes went to the bartender, motioning him for another round of shots. "Let's enjoy the rest of the night celebrating just that."

So the group continued on with a few more rounds, changing their topics of conversation to anything not involving work or Sutton's love life. By the time everyone was feeling a buzz, they called it a night, getting up from their seats and heading out of the bar, with the birthday shot from Buck still sitting on the table.

Bronwyn, Maddie, and Josh were the first ones to leave once they stepped out into the Los Angeles night, bidding goodbyes as they got inside their Ubers and rode away, leaving Emily and Sutton waiting for their rides to show up. While standing on the sidewalk, the two were silent for a moment before Emily looked at her and broke it.

"Did you mean it?" she questioned.

"What?" Sutton replied.

"When you said you were happy with your life. Did you mean it?"

She was quiet for a moment, then nodded her head, hoping Emily wouldn't notice her reluctance. "Yeah," she answered.

"You don't have to lie to me, Sutton."

"I'm not lying. I really am happy."

Emily opened her mouth, almost saying something in response, but simply nodded her head and gave her a reply that ended the conversation. "Okay, just making sure." As her Uber pulled up, in which she gave Sutton a smile and a wave goodbye before piling in the car and heading down the street, leaving Sutton alone.

The longer she stood outside, the more she thought about her discussion with Bronwyn from earlier. Sure, most people would've taken the entire day off when it came to starting a new decade in their life. But Sutton chose to work her scheduled shift, wanting to treat this day like any other day, because that was what it was to her. At least, that was what she told everyone. But a part of her wondered if she only said that because being at work on this day served as the perfect distraction to the fact that she was thirty and...well, still single. Maybe Bronwyn had a good point, after all.

"I see you didn't take that shot I bought for you."

Sutton pursed her lips as she turned around to find Buck standing behind her once again. "I didn't need you to buy me one."

"It's the thought that counts."

"As if I care."

Buck let out a chuckle, though his annoyance was slowly starting to show on his face. "You ever heard of the phrase, 'new year, new attitude?'"

"That's for New Year's."

"Well, maybe you should get ahead for next year."

Sutton let out a scoff in response. "How original," she said in a sarcastic tone. "You really haven't changed since our date, Buckley."

"I could say the same about you, Calloway."

Suddenly, a horn honked behind Sutton. Looking up, she saw her Uber parked in the middle of the street, and she hurried to get inside the car, not looking back at Buck.

"The night's still young! Try not to get a birthday candle jabbed in your eye!"

Sutton stopped once she got to the car door and spun her head back toward Buck, in which he flashed a smirk her way. She didn't say anything else as she got inside the Uber, barely having the time to get buckled in before the driver sped off, which she was grateful for. Of course he was listening to the scanner when her call came in today, but he still got it wrong.

It was above the eye, dumbass.

She took the opportunity to check her phone, where she saw numerous Facebook notifications from people wishing her a happy birthday, along with a text message from Ingrid and a voicemail from her mother. Sutton decided to check the text first, opening it to see what her sister said:

Happy Birthday, little sis! Sorry I didn't tell you earlier. Been busy with wedding planning all day with Mom. Hope your day was great!

Sutton shook her head and closed out the message. Dread came over her as she went to her mom's voicemail next, pressing the phone to her ear and letting her voice ring in her ear.

"Hi, Sutton. Just calling to wish you a happy birthday. Hard to believe you're thirty today. Time flies, doesn't it? Anyway, I hope you didn't have to work on your birthday. It'd be nice if you went out and maybe met--"

Sutton didn't even bother to finish the rest of the voicemail, knowing where she was going with it. Annoyed by her mother's words, she deleted the voicemail and put the phone in her lap. Looking out the window, it gave her time to reflect on starting a new decade, wanting to believe her words that she was happy with her life. But now, she started to think that wasn't the case.

Maybe I really am miserable with my life.

"Did you have a good birthday?"

The driver's voice caused Sutton to jump a little, confused as to how he knew today was her birthday, then remembered she still had on the sash Maddie gave her to wear for the evening. "Yeah, it was nice."

As nice as it can be for someone who's actually miserable.

"That's good. It's nice to see people celebrating the big milestones."

Sutton could only nod in response, shooting him a weak smile.

It wasn't long after that the driver pulled up to the apartment complex. Sutton gave him one last grin before telling him goodnight, hearing him drive away as she entered inside the building. She took the elevator to the fourth floor, dragging her feet down the hallway and in front of her door, unlocking it and stepping inside her apartment.

Sutton's apartment wasn't big by all means, but it wasn't small, either. Although she had a hard time keeping the place neat and tidy, something she got in the habit of after her breakup with Zachary. During the time she was living with him, it was easy cleaning their apartment, despite how much she worked while they were dating. Nowadays, she found herself putting things off, as she didn't see a reason since she was the only one living there. Nevertheless, she had things somewhat organized, and that was good enough for her.

The first place she headed to was her kitchen, where the mail was piling up at the corner of the counter, some envelopes that hadn't been opened yet. She opened the refrigerator door and pulled out the single cupcake she bought a couple of days ago, then went into one of the drawers and found a candle and lighter (she was confident that she wouldn't somehow stab herself with the candle). Placing them on the counter, she pushed the candle inside the cupcake, then lighting it and staring at the flame, her eyes closed for a moment.

Make a wish, Sutton, and make it a fucking good one.

Opening her eyes, she blew out the candle, seeing the smoke float up and dissolving in seconds as she exhaled. "Happy Birthday to me."

~~~~~~~

A/N: AHHHHHH CHAPTER ONE IS HERE.

I know not a lot of the 118 was in this chapter, but they'll show up in the story soon! I thought it would be best to just have Buck in this chapter (speaking of that, what do we think of him and Sutton already?)

Also, please keep in mind that some of the calls are gonna be similar to how they are in the show where they tend to be bizarre and sometimes unrealistic.

Comment, vote, more to come soon!

-A