When Timur first met Aoibheann, it wasn't supposed to be anything more than a whirlwind spring break romance, if one could even call it that. They were supposed to go their separate ways, return to their respective universities and get on with their lives. However, a few months after doing exactly that, both realized they couldn't shake the other from their mind. That turned into Timur transferring from UCLA to NYU in time for the start of winter semester of his junior year. Neither of them expected their fling to blossom into a relationship and eventually into a marriage with three kids. To this day, recalling how it all turned out still makes them smile and laugh.
The oldest of their children, Kitana, came as an early Christmas gift in 1987. They weren't quite prepared for parenthood, but they conquered it together with a lot of learning along the way. Improvised diapers, incorrectly prepared formula, and even an incident of accidentally leaving her in the car made them more prepared for when her two siblings came into the family. She was a relatively quiet and non-fussy baby, every parents dream. Not much changed as she aged into a toddler, with the exception of the rare temper tantrum, and occasional mess of coloring on the walls or throwing her food onto the floor. At first they thought maybe something was wrong with their daughter, given all the horror stories they'd heard from other parents, but eventually realized they were just very lucky.
As she grew a little older, she took up an interest in books, reading whatever she could until she practically became an encyclopedia of random facts. Her mother wanted her to take up lessons for a musical instrument, preferably the piano, but after a month of Kitana saying how much she hated it she was allowed to switch to the violin. Kit found it a little easier to learn and enjoyed playing it more to the point where it wasn't uncommon for her to put on shows for her family during holiday gatherings.
In an attempt to keep their children as well rounded as they could, Timur and Aoibheann encouraged Kit and her siblings to engage in sports. For her, it was a bit of trial and error as she quickly realized she wasn't the most athletic one of the Alexeev children. She eventually found her comfort zone in softball, and even began to excel at it the longer she stuck with it. Between softball, the violin, and school, Kit stretched herself thin even from an early age. Despite all that, she appeared to thrive well under pressure and preferred to keep her plate relatively full.
High school showed to be no different, often seeking permission to take more advanced classes after completion of her freshman year and having it granted. She continued to play softball, and made sure to dedicate an hour or two each night to playing the violin depending on how much schoolwork she had to conquer first. She missed the entirety of her junior year of softball due to rupturing the Achilles tendon in her right leg; Kit had considered giving up the sport but at that point in time, quit wasn't a word in her vocabulary. She was able to return to the field for her senior year and even led the team in home runs and stolen bases while also being one of the captain's. However, despite her achievements on the softball field, it was her academic prowess that got her accepted into Yale.
Her first semester at Yale was spent getting used to being on her own despite the fact that she wasn't terribly far away from home, and branching out more than she ever had while in high school. An attempt to truly put herself out there, Kitana poked around the Greek life on campus and eventually ended up pledging Kappa Alpha Theta. Soon after she found herself with a full plate again trying to balance working as a waitress, her classes, the coursework that came with it, softball, and Theta obligations - sometimes it was nothing short of a miracle that she even found the time to sleep. By her final year of undergrad she had it down to a science, time management and multitasking had both become second nature to her.
Having been accepted into Yale's med school, Kit used that summer leading up to her first year to regroup and let herself relax. She spent the time with her family, and even some of her Theta sisters. It was a much needed break from the constant stress she had put on herself the last eight years of school and when the fall term came she felt mentally and physically prepared for what would undoubtedly be another difficult four years or more, depending on what she wanted to specialize in.
With the end of the first half of the year coming to an end, Kappa Alpha Theta hosted a party to celebrate both the end of the term as well as Christmas. Offering to stay behind and clean up, it was well past midnight by the time Kit found herself walking back to her car. What happened next is something she would prefer to forget, permanently. She was attacked from behind, beaten pretty badly and raped. Kit doesn't fully remember losing consciousness but she knows she did since she woke up in the hospital, she spent her birthday and Christmas there with her family surrounding her. It wasn't until a few days after Christmas that she was released and returned home to Brooklyn with her loved ones. The remainder of her break was spent in her room, hardly leaving it or talking to anyone.
The time spent hiding in the safety of her bedroom gave her the ability to make some decisions, one of which was to drop out of med school. Her parents tried to talk her out of it, though they assured her they weren't disappointed if that was truly what she wanted to do. Not wanting to give up her dream to be in the medical field, she decided to enroll in a program to become a paramedic instead. She was uncomfortable with thrusting herself back into the world so quickly, but also knew she couldn't spend countless months as a hermit in her parents house. Classes started the January following the attack, and shortly after she began to feel sick. She chalked it up to stress, despite having never gotten physically ill because of stress before. After the nausea refused to subside and a missed period, she felt even more sick to her stomach at the thought of what that could mean, and she quickly booked an appointment with her doctor. After a test confirmed she was in fact pregnant, Kit found herself struggling to keep her focus on her courses, often drifting in thought as to what she should do. A few weeks were spent internally debating her options and it eventually boiled down to her not wanting any sort of reminder of that night, leading her to make the decision to terminate the pregnancy.
Wanting to put everything behind her once and for all, Kitana put her sole focus on her courses and finding time to see a therapist. She began attending meetings for a support group once a week, and while she would never be fully okay with what happened to her she at least found herself being less anxious in her class around the guys. She wasn't quick to trust men she'd never met before, but after a while she began to relax and let them in, even forming a few friendships with those taking the same courses as her. Despite the major derailment her life had suffered, she was determined to get it back on track the best she could. Once she completed the first program, sixteen months later, she went right into the next one that would take twelve months to complete.
By May of 2013 she was a freshly minted paramedic and in the market for her first job as such. She was hired by the FDNY as part of the EMS Station 39 crew, where she was able to get her feet wet. She didn't hesitate to dive right in and found that she enjoyed it more than she probably ever would have if she had become a doctor instead. A few months after she started at 39, a brand new station had opened up as did a position with better hours and more options. Kit didn't need to think twice about it before accepting the offer to transfer to EMS Station 35, while it meant having to meet new people and getting used to unfamiliar men, she settled in at her own pace. Two years later and she feels like she's been there for a decade.
For the most part, Kit has her life right where she wants it. She has made leaps and bounds in her healing though there are some things that still linger. She continues to attend the support group and visits with her therapist once a week. She doesn't know what the future holds for her, but she hopes to continue making strides and taking one day at a time.
